Chapter XV · Mythical and Legendary Kings

Pʼan Ku as the Divine Ancestor—The Mythical Age—Gods as Kings—The Prometheus of China—Fu Hi as Adam—Doctrine of World’s Ages in China—Links with Babylonia and India—Legendary Kings—The Chinese Osiris—Reign of the “Yellow God”—Empress and Silk-worm Culture—Royal Sons of Star-gods—Yaou, Son of the Red Dragon—Shun, Son of the Rainbow—The Hea Dynasty—The Emperor Yu—Star Myths—Yu and the River God—Yu as Pʼan Ku—The Flood Myth in Legends of Yu—The Dynasty of Shang—Moon and Egg Myths—The Wicked Wu—A Hated Queen—The Dynasty of Chou—A Chinese Gilgamesh—The Pious King Wen—Divination by Tortoise and Grass—The Chous as Invaders—Historical Dynasties—Ancient Iranian Traders—Trade and Civilization promoted by the Dread of Death.

Towards the end came the period “Having Nests”, which indicates that houses were built. Then came the period of Sui-zan, “the Fire-producer”, who has been referred to as the “Prometheus of China”.

A new age was ushered in by Fu Hsia or Fu Hi, the so-called “Adam of China”. He is the first monarch of China’s legendary history, and was supposed to reign from 2953 till 2838 B.C. Some regard him as the leader of a colony which settled in Shensi. But he is more like a mythical culture hero. He was the offspring of a miraculous conception, and had dealings with dragons. Like the Babylonian Ea he instructed the people how to live civilized lives. Before Fu-hi came, they lived like animals; they knew their mothers but not their fathers, and they ate raw flesh. They kept records by means of knotted cords, and he instructed them in the mysteries of lineal figures, which had a mystic significance. These were eight in number—the eight kwâ or trigrams, which represented: (1) the sky; (2) water of lakes and marshes; (3) fire, lightning, and the sun; (4) thunder; (5) wind and wood; (6) water as in rain, springs, streams, clouds, and the moon; (7) a hill; (8) the earth.

Fu-hi also instructed the people to worship spirits, and he instituted sacrifices. He kept in a park six kinds of animals, and sacrificed twice a year at the two solstices, causing the days to be regarded as sacred, so that the people might show gratitude to heaven.

According to the Taoists, Fu-hi disturbed the primal unity, and caused the people to begin to deteriorate.

In some accounts of the early period, Fu Hi is succeeded by his sister, the Empress Nu Kwa, the heroine of the Deluge.

Fu Hi’s usual successor, however, is Shen-nung (2838–2698 B.C.), the Chinese Osiris, who introduced the agricultural mode of life and instructed the people how to make use of curative herbs. He was worshipped as the god of agriculture. Thus an Ode sets forth:

That my fields are in such good condition,

Is matter of joy to my husbandmen.

With lutes, and with drums beating,

We will invoke the Father of Husbandry,

And pray for sweet rain,

To increase the produce of our millet fields,

Shen-nung was not content with two annual sacrifices, and fixed two others at the equinoxes, “that in spring to implore a blessing on the fruit of the earth, and that in autumn, after the harvest was over, to offer the first fruits to the ruler of heaven”.

After Shen-nung died the emperor Hwang-Ti (“The Yellow God”) ascended the throne. He was in the literal sense the “Son of Heaven”, for his real father was the thunder-god, and he had therefore “a dragon-like countenance”. As in the case of Osiris, who was reputed to have reigned over Egypt, it is difficult to conclude whether he was a deified monarch or a humanized deity. He belongs, of course, to the mythical period of the “five Tis” in Chinese legendary history.

The account of his origin sets forth that one night his mother witnessed a brilliant flash of lightning which darted from the vicinity of the star chʼoo in the Great Bushel (the “Great Bear”) and lit up the whole country. Her Majesty became pregnant, but did not give birth to her son until twenty-five months later. Hwang Ti was able to speak as soon as he was born. When he ascended the throne, he possessed the power of summoning spirits to attend at the royal palace, and his allies in battle included tigers, panthers, and bears, as those of Rama, the hero of the Indian epic, the Rámáyana, included bears and gigantic monkeys. Hwang Ti was a lover of peace, and because he caused peaceful conditions to prevail, phœnixes nested in his garden, or, like swallows, perched on the palace roof and terraces and sang in the courtyard. Other spirit-birds haunted the residence of the “Yellow God”.

He built a large temple so that he might not be prevented by bad weather from offering up sacrifices and performing other religious ceremonies at any season of the year, and he instructed the people in their duties towards the spirits, their ancestors, and himself. He fixed the holy days and introduced music in temple worship. His wife undertook the duty of nourishing silk-worms and producing silk. An enclosure on the north side of the temple was planted with mulberry trees, and in this grove the Empress and the ladies of her court attended to the silk-worms specially kept for the silk required for religious ceremonies. Her Majesty was the goddess as her husband was the god, and had therefore to promote reproduction and growth. She therefore visited also the enclosure on the southern side of the temple in which grew the cereals and fruits offered to the deities.

Hwang Ti was specially favoured by the goddess known as “the heavenly lady Pao”, who on one occasion stopped the heavy and destructive rains that had been caused by the enemy.

When the Emperor was in his seventy-seventh year, he retired from the world, like an Indian ascetic, to practise austerities beside the Jo water. He died in his one hundredth year. Some tell that when he was ascending to heaven an earthquake occurred; others hold that he never died but was transformed into a dragon. After he passed away, either as a soul or dragon, to associate with the immortals, a wooden image of him was made and worshipped by princes.

His successor is said to have been the Emperor Che, whose dynastic title was Shao-Hao. This monarch was the son of a star god. One night his mother beheld a star, which resembled a rainbow, floating on a stream in the direction of a small island. After retiring to rest she dreamed that she received the star, and, in due course, she gave birth to her son. Phœnixes visited the royal palace on the day that he ascended the throne. This monarch had some mysterious association with the west—probably with the goddess of the west—and is said to have commanded an army of birds.

He was followed by the Emperor Chuen-Heugh (Kao-Yang). He, too, was the son of a star-god. It chanced that his mother witnessed the Yao-Kwang star passing through the moon like a rainbow. She gave birth to her son in the vicinity of the Jo water. There was a shield and spear on his head at birth, a tradition which recalls that when the Indian princess Pritha gave birth to Karna, son of Surya, the sun-god, he was fully armed.

Chuen-Heugh was a great sage. “He invented calendaric calculations and delineations of the heavenly bodies,” and composed a piece of music called “The Answer to the Clouds”.

Next came the Emperor Kuh (Kao-sin) who, like Richard III, had teeth when he was born. He similarly rose from the rank of a State prince to the Imperial throne. The State of Yew-Kae was conquered by him. His son, named Che, proved to be unworthy, and his younger son, Yao, was selected as his successor.

The Emperor Yao was the son of a red dragon, as well as of the Emperor, and was not born until fourteen months after conception. He is said to have been ten cubits in height when full grown. There were two pupils in each of his eyes. He was a great sage and wonderful happenings occurred during his reign.

A mysterious grass grew on the palace stairs. It bore a pod on each day of the month. He selected as his colleague and successor the sage Shun, who had held an undistinguished position. It is told that this selection was approved by five star-gods whose spirits appeared as five old men and walked about among the islands of the River Ho. On another occasion a bright light came from the river; then beautifully-coloured vapours arose and a dragon-horse appeared, carrying in its mouth a scaly cuirass for Shun, whose appointment was thus definitely approved by Heaven. Thirty years later a tortoise rose from the water and rested on the altar. On its back was an inscribed order instructing Yao to resign in favour of Shun. This divine command was duly obeyed.

Shun’s mother had conceived after seeing a rainbow. As has been stated, a rainbow was believed to emanate from the gigantic oyster that lay in mid ocean. When the child was born his mother and father detested him, because his body was black and his eyes had double pupils, and because he had a dragon face and a large mouth. When he became a youth he reached the height of six cubits, and was thus like the Egyptian Horus and the Norse hero Sigurd, a veritable giant. His parents endeavoured on more than one occasion to cause his death by giving him difficult tasks to perform, and acting treacherously towards him. On one occasion they ordered him to plaster a granary, and when he was engaged at the work they set fire to the building. But Shun was clad in “bird’s work clothing”, which seems to indicate that he had power to assume bird form, and he flew away. He was next ordered to deepen a well. He went to work obediently, and while engaged in his task the well was suddenly filled up with stones. But Shun had “dragon’s work clothing”, or was able to assume a dragon form, and contrived to escape through the side of the well. Like Hercules, he performed all his difficult tasks and escaped without injury.

Although Shun is usually said to have been selected by Yaou as his successor, a vague tradition states that he dethroned Yaou by force and kept him a prisoner. Before long, however, he degraded the young ruler and took his place.

On ascending the throne, Shun publicly worshipped the spirit of Shang Ti (Ruler of Heaven, the personal god). He enacted new laws, so that the government of the Empire might be regulated and strengthened, and he was the first monarch to create Mandarins. Shun is credited with selecting his successor Yu.

The Emperor Yu was the first monarch of the Dynasty of Hea. According to tradition he was the son of a star-god. It is told that one night his mother saw a falling star and became pregnant. She afterwards swallowed a pearl that had been dropped by a spirit. In due course she gave birth to Yu.

A similar myth is attached to the memory of the Irish Christian saint Ciaran of Saigir, which was probably taken over from some ancient Celtic hero, the son or grandson of Sirona (the aged one or star-goddess). A Gaelic poem, believed to have been composed in the ninth century, sets forth:

Liadaine (his mother) was asleep

On her bed (a saying not wrong).

When she turned her face to heaven

A star fell into her mouth.

Thence was born the marvellous child,

Ciaran of Saigir who is proclaimed to thee

And thence (a saying without pride)

Osiris, as the son of the cow-goddess, was a son of the moon, from which fell a fertilizing ray of light. The Egyptian deities had star forms. As stars, they rose from malachite pools and perched in swallow-shape on the branches of the world-tree of the Great Mother. Hathor and Isis were personified as the star Sirius, from which fell the tear, or drop of dew, that caused the low Nile to have increase and rise in flood. As the morning star, the goddess was the mother of the rising sun. Much star-lore surviving from ancient times remains to be gleaned.

The Irish hero, Cuchullin, was likewise a marvellous youngster. He had “seven toes to each foot, and to either hand as many fingers; his eyes were bright, with seven pupils apiece”, and so on.

Yu was probably a historical character, to whose memory many floating myths and legends were attached. He figures as the hero of a deluge. One night, during his youth, he dreamt that while bathing in the Ho (the Yellow River) he drank up the water. He also beheld a white fox with nine tails—a particularly good omen. This was during the reign of Yau. Shun came to know about him and showed him special favour, causing him to be promoted until he became an influential man in the Empire.

The gods were well pleased because he was loved by them. One day, as Yu stood on the banks of the River Ho, gazing at the water, a god appeared as a tall, white-faced man, with the body of a fish, like the Babylonian Ea. He addressed Yu and said: “I am the spirit of the Ho. Wan-ming shall regulate the waters.”

The god then gave Yu a plan of the Ho, which gave full details regarding the regulating of the waters, and sank into the river.

It has been suggested by some that Yu constructed a great embankment to prevent the Yellow River changing its course—a task even greater than constructing the Great Wall, and that he formed dams and opened irrigating channels. It may be that he did much work in reclaiming land and regulating the government of the Empire. But there can be little doubt that the traditions surviving from his age were mixed with the older traditions regarding the Babylonian flood. Yu is no mere canal cutter. He hews the rocks and forms chasms between the mountains, like Pʼan Ku, the Chinese Ptah or Indra, he constructs the embankments of lakes, and makes channels for the great rivers, and he drains the marshes. The grounds are made habitable and fit for cultivation. There are even faint echoes of the Osirian legend in the stories regarding his achievements.

The sixth Emperor of the Hea Dynasty was another famous man. This was Shao-Kʼang. His father had been murdered, and his mother took flight and concealed herself. She gave birth to her son during her reign in Shan-tung, when he became a herdsman. Like Horus, he was searched for by the monarch who had usurped the throne, and he had to take to flight and become a cook. In time he was able to collect an army and win a great victory, which enabled him to regain the throne of his father.

The last few Emperors of the Dynasty of Hea were weak and licentious men. It is told of Kʼung-Kea, the fourteenth of his line, that he was the cause of much misfortune, and caused the government to decay. Among the terrible things he did was to eat a female dragon which had been slain and pickled for him. Kwei, the seventeenth Emperor, was the first to introduce men-drawn carriages, but the omens of his reign foretold the approaching doom of the dynasty; the five planets wandered from their courses, and stars fell like rain in his tenth year. He was overthrown by Tʼang, the founder of the Dynasty of Shang.

Tʼang had seven names, one of which was Li. He was descended from the Empress Keen-tieh, who, having prayed for a son, entered a river to bathe. A dark swallow came nigh and dropped a variegated egg from her mouth, which the Empress swallowed. She became pregnant, and gave birth to a son named See, who, when he grew up, was appointed by Yao, Minister of Instruction, and was given the principality of Shang.

Thirteen generations later the wife of one of See’s descendants gave birth to Tʼang, the future Emperor. She had become pregnant after seeing a white vapour passing through the moon. The child had whiskers at birth, and his arms had four joints. He grew to the height of nine cubits.

A successor is remembered as the first man who used ivory chop-sticks. The Viscount of Ke admonished him, saying: “Ivory chop-sticks will be followed by cups of gem; and then you will be wanting to eat bears’ paws and leopards’ wombs, and proceed to other extravagances. Your indulgence of your desires may cost you the Empire.” This was Chou-sin, an intemperate and extravagant tyrant. He came under the influence of a beautiful but wicked woman, called Ta-ke, whom he married. “The most licentious songs were composed for her amusement and the vilest dances exhibited.” A park was laid out for her amusement. “There was a pond of wine; the trees were hung with flesh; men and women chased each other about quite naked.” Drinking bouts were common in the palace, and when the princes began to rebel, new and terrible tortures were introduced. The queen had constructed a copper pillar, which was greased all over. It was laid above a charcoal fire, and culprits were ordered to walk on it. When they slipped and fell into the fire, Ta-ke was “greatly delighted”.

The Dynasty of Shang was overthrown by King Wu, the founder of the Dynasty of Chou. Wu was descended from the famous lady Kian Yuan, already referred to (see Index). After treading in the toe-print (or foot-print) made by God, she gave birth to her son, Hau Ki, suffering no pain. Like Gilgamesh, Sargon, Romulus and Remus, Karna, and other famous heroes, the child was exposed after birth, the lady’s husband, according to one Chinese commentator, having been displeased with what had taken place. In the Shih King the ode, which relates the legend of Hau Ki, says:

He was placed in a narrow lane,

But the sheep and oxen protected him with loving care.

He was placed in a wide forest,

Where he was met by the wood-cutters.

He was placed on the cold ice,

And a bird screened and supported him with its wings.

When the bird went away,

Hau Ki began to wail.

His cry was long and loud,

The dynasties of Hsia (Hea) and Shang

Had not satisfied God with their government;

So throughout the various States

He sought and considered

For a State on which he might confer the rule.

God said to King Wen:

I am pleased with your conspicuous virtue,

Without noise and without display,

Without heat and without change,

Without consciousness of effort,

Following the pattern of God.

God said to King Wen:

Take measures against hostile States,

Along with your brethren,

Get ready your engines of assault,

After Wu became the Emperor the worship of ancestors was promoted, and dragons, tortoises, and phœnixes made regular appearances, while vegetation flourished, and the mugwort grew so plentifully that a palace could be erected from it.

The tortoise-shell and stalks of a variety of grass were long used in China for purposes of divination. What the tortoise and the grass revealed was supposed to be the will of the spirits. Nowadays lots are drawn, spirit-writing is believed in, and revelations are supposed to be made when a bean symbol is tossed in the air, as is a coin in the West; when the flat side is uppermost the tosser is supposed to receive a refusal to his prayer.

The Chou Dynasty was founded, according to Chinese dating, in 1122 B.C., and lasted until 249 B.C. It has been suggested that although the Chous claimed to be descended from one of Shun’s ministers, they were really foreigners partly or wholly of Tartar origin. King Wu introduced the sacrifice of human beings to the spirits of ancestors, and favoured the magicians, whom he appointed to high positions in his court. His empire consisted of a confederacy of feudal states, and its strength endured so long as the central state remained sufficiently powerful to exact tribute.

After holding sway for about eight hundred years, the Chou Dynasty, and with it the Feudal Age, came to an end. The State of Chin or Tsʼin, which had been absorbing rival states, became so powerful that, in 221 B.C., its king, Shih-huang-ti, became the first Emperor of China. He resolved that the future history of China should begin with himself, and issued a decree commanding that all existing literature should be burned, except medical and agricultural books, and those dealing with divination. Those who disobeyed his order and attempted to conceal the forbidden books were put to death. Fortunately, however, some devoted scholars succeeded in preserving for posterity a number of the classics which would otherwise have perished. This extraordinary decree has cast a shadow over the fame of the first emperor, who was undoubtedly a great man.

The Great Wall is said to have been built in ten years in a straight line of about 1200 miles, the average width at the base being 25 feet, and the average height 30 feet. Strong “block-house” towers were constructed in the wall for the accommodation of bodies of troops.

It was during this Dynasty that China and related forms of that name, based on “Tsʼin” or “Chin”, came into use in the west. The dynasties that followed the Chin or Tsʼin (221–200 B.C.) are as follows:

The Han Dynasty 200 B.C. – 200 A.D.

The Minor Dynasties 200 A.D. – 600 A.D.,,

The Tʼang Dynasty 600 A.D.,, – 900 A.D.,,

The Sung Dynasty 900 A.D.,, – 1200 A.D.,,

The Mongol Dynasty 1200 A.D.,, – 1368 A.D.,,

The Ming Dynasty 1368 A.D.,, – 1644 A.D.,,

The Manchu Dynasty 1644 A.D.,, – 1900 A.D.,,

The evidence afforded by Chinese archæology, and Chinese religious beliefs, symbols, and customs tends to emphasize that the early inhabitants of Shensi province were strongly influenced by culture-drifts from the mid-Asian colonies of the ancient civilizations. Hunting and pastoral peoples adopted the agricultural mode of life, and with it the elements of a complex civilization which had its origin in those areas where grew wild the cereals first cultivated by man.

The Chinese are a mixed race. In the north the oblique-eyed, yellow-skinned element predominates. Like the Semites, who overran Sumeria and adopted Sumerian modes of thought and life, so did the Mongoloid tribes overrun northern China and became a sedentary people. Petty kingdoms grew up, and in time found it necessary to unite against the hordes who invaded and plundered their lands. The invaders included Siberian nomads, Manchus, Mongolo-Turki peoples, the Sacæ (western Scythians), and the blue-eyed Usuns or Wusuns who are believed to have been congeners of the kurgan-builders of southern Siberia and southern Russia. It was against Manchus and Mongols that the Great Wall was erected, after northern China had been united as a result of those conquests which made petty kings over-lords of ever-widening areas. During the Han Dynasty southern China was subdued. There the brownish-skinned Man-tze stock is most in prominence. Ancient Indonesian intrusions have left their impress on the racial blend.

The laws of supply and demand operated then as now on the trade-routes, which brought communities of regular traders into touch after they had cultivated plants or manufactured articles to offer in exchange for what they received. Before these routes could, however, have hummed with commerce, a considerable advance in civilization had to be achieved. States had to be organized and laws enforced for the protection of property and property owners.

The Iranians, who obtained silk from China, were not the originators of the culture represented by this commodity; they simply stimulated the demand for silk. Chinese civilization dates back to the time when the early prospectors and explorers came into touch with backward peoples, and introduced new modes and conditions of life. These pioneers did not necessarily move along the routes that were ultimately favoured by merchants, nor even those followed by migrating tribes in quest of green pastures. They wandered hither and thither searching for gold and gems and herbs, sowing as they went the seeds of civilization, which did not, however, always fall on good ground. But in those places where the seed took root and the prospects of development were favourable, organized communities gradually grew up with an assured food-supply. This was the case in Shensi province, in which was settled the “little leaven” that ultimately “leavened the whole lump” of northern China. It was after the empire became united under the Tsʼin Dynasty that organized trade with the west assumed great dimensions, and was regularly maintained under assured protection.

Myths as well as herbs and gems and garments were exchanged by traders. With the glittering jewel was carried the religious lore associated with it; with the curative herb went many a fable of antiquity. Laufer has shown in his The Diamond how Hellenistic lore connected with that gem crept into Chinese writings. It is consequently possible to trace in the mosaic of Chinese beliefs and mythology certain of the cultural elements that met and blended and were developed on the banks of the Yellow River.

Elixirs and charms were in great demand in all centres of ancient civilizations. It can be held, therefore, that behind the commerce of early times, as behind the early religious systems, lay the haunting dread of death. Gems warded off evil, and imparted vitality to those who possessed them, and curative herbs renewed youth by restoring health. Even the dead were benefited by them. Progress was thus, in a sense, increasing efficiency in the quest of longevity in this world and the next.

In China, as elsewhere, the dread of death, as expressed in the religious system, promoted the arts and crafts; artists, engravers, architects, builders, jewellers, and scribes, as well as priests and traders, were engaged in the unceasing conflict against the all-dreaded enemy of mankind, the God of Death. The incentive that caused men to undertake perilous journeys by land and sea in quest of elixirs, to live laborious lives in workshops and temples, and to grasp at the mythical straws of hope drifted along trade-routes from other lands, was the same as that which sent the Babylonian Gilgamesh to explore the dark tunnel of the Mountain of Mashu and cross the Sea of Death, and it is found on the ninth tablet of the most ancient epic in the world:

Gilgamesh wept bitterly, and he lay stretched out upon the ground.

He cried: “Let me not die like Ea-bani!

Grief hath entered into my body, and