Yellow Emperor

For Huangdi (Emperor of China), see Emperor of China.

Yellow Emperor
黃帝
The Yellow Emperor as depicted in a tomb from the mid 2nd century AD. The inscription reads: "The Yellow Emperor created and changed a great many things; he invented weapons and the well-field system; he devised upper and lower garments, and established palaces and houses."[1]
PredecessorFuxi
SuccessorZhuanxu or Shaohao
BornGongsun Xuanyuan
Spouse
Issue
Names
FatherShaodian
MotherFubao
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese黃帝
Simplified Chinese黄帝
Literal meaning
  • "Yellow Emperor"
  • "Yellow Thearch"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHuángdìⓘ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhHwangdih
Wade–GilesHuang2-ti4
IPA[xwǎŋtî]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationWòhng-dai
JyutpingWong4-dai3
Southern Min
Tâi-lôN̂g-tè (col.)
Hông-tè (lit.)
Old Chinese
Baxter–Sagart (2014)*N-kʷˤaŋ tˤek-s
Yellow Emperor
Member of Wufang Shangdi
Major cult centreMount Song
PredecessorChidi (Wuxing cycle, also political with the Flame Emperor)
SuccessorBaidi (Wuxing cycle, also political with Shaohao)
PlanetSaturn
As depicted by Gan Bozong, woodcut print, Tang dynasty (618–907)

The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (/ˈhwɑːŋ ˈdiː/), is a mythical Chinese sovereign and culture hero included among the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and an individual deity (shen) or part of the Five Regions Highest Deities (Chinese: 五方上帝; pinyin: Wǔfāng Shàngdì)[3] in Chinese folk religion.[4] Regarded as the initiator of Chinese culture,[5] he is traditionally credited with numerous innovations – including the lunar calendar (Chinese calendar), Taoism,[6] wooden houses, boats, carts,[7] the compass needle,[8] "the earliest forms of writing",[9] and cuju, a ball game.[5] Calculated by Jesuit missionaries, as based on various Chinese chronicles, Huangdi's traditional reign dates begin in either 2698 or 2697 BC, spanning one hundred years exactly, later accepted by the twentieth-century promoters of a universal calendar starting with the Yellow Emperor.

Huangdi's cult is first attested in the Warring States period,[10] and became prominent late in that same period and into the early Han dynasty, when he was portrayed as the originator of the centralized state, as a cosmic ruler, and as a patron of esoteric arts. A large number of texts – such as the Huangdi Neijing, a medical classic, and the Huangdi Sijing, a group of political treatises – were thus attributed to him. Having waned in influence during most of the imperial period, in the early twentieth century Huangdi became a rallying figure for Han Chinese attempts to overthrow the rule of the Qing dynasty, remaining a powerful symbol within modern Chinese nationalism.[11]

  1. ^ Birrell 1993, p. 48.
  2. ^ a b Sima Qian; Sima Tan (1739) [90s BCE]. "五帝本紀". Shiji 史記 [Records of the Grand Historian] (in Chinese and English) (punctuated ed.). Beijing: Imperial Household Department – via Chinese Text Project.
  3. ^ Fowler (2005), pp. 200–201.
  4. ^ Storm, Rachel (2011). Sudell, Helen (ed.). Myths & Legends of India, Egypt, China & Japan (2nd ed.). Wigston, Leicestershire: Lorenz Books. p. 176.
  5. ^ a b Chang 1983, p. 2
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Huangdi". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :100273 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Ivanhoe, Philip J.; Van Norden, Bryan W. (2005). Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company. p. 380. ISBN 0-87220-781-1. OCLC 60826646.
  10. ^ Su 2017, p. 50
  11. ^ Witzel, Morgen (6 December 2019). A History of Leadership. Routledge. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-351-66649-7. The Yellow Emperor, who was believed to be the ancestor of the Chinese people and who was – and remains – a symbol of Chinese nationalism.