Fuxi
Fuxi, the founder of Chinese culture, is also revered as the "Emperor Xi".
Basic information
Other names: also known as Fu Xi, Pao Xi, Fu Xi, Bao Xi, Mi Xi, Bi Xi, etc., with the surname Feng.
Background of birth: Mother's name is Hua Xu. It is said that during her travels in Leize, Hua Xu became pregnant by stepping on giant footprints and gave birth to Fuxi in Chengji (today's Shuiqinzhou area).
Main achievements
- Starting with the Eight Trigrams: Looking up at the celestial phenomena, observing the geography, and creating the Eight Trigrams based on natural phenomena and changes in all things, using eight symbols to represent the eight things in nature, helping people understand the laws of nature. This is a great innovation in the history of Chinese culture.
- Invention of writing: "Creating books and deeds to replace the politics of tying ropes". The early invention of carved writing, using carved symbols to help remember and convey information, replaced the method of tying ropes to record events, and was the germ of writing.
- Marriage planning: Living in the transitional stage from matrilineal to patrilineal clans, a wedding ceremony was planned using two pieces of deer skin as a gift, teaching the people how to marry and transforming blood based marriages into exogeneic marriages, promoting clan reproduction.
- Improving production: Inspired by spider webs for catching insects, the invention of nets greatly improved the efficiency of fishing and hunting production, promoted the emergence of animal husbandry, and ushered humans into the era of fishing and hunting.
- Establishment of official positions: The principle of "divisional governance" was established, dividing the sphere of influence into nine regions and employing six capable individuals to assist in management, simplifying the division of labor for humanity and promoting the progress of social management.
- Establishing a calendar: creating a calendar system, determining solar terms, and guiding people to produce according to the four seasons and eight periods, meeting the requirements of agricultural production for grasping solar terms.
- Drilling wood to make fire: Invented drilling wood to make fire, allowing people to easily make fire without flint, and also taught people how to make cooked food, ending the era of eating raw meat and drinking blood.
- Pioneering medicine: tasting hundreds of medicines, making nine needles, and establishing Chinese medicine.
- Invented music: made qin and se, composed movements, and pioneered the oldest music art in China.
Character influence
The innate eight trigrams created by Fuxi, which were interpreted by King Wen of Zhou into the 64 trigrams of the Book of Changes, are a global research discipline. In the 17th century, German philosopher and mathematician Leibniz was inspired by the sixty-four hexagrams and invented binary arithmetic, laying the foundation for modern computers. In Qinzhou, the hometown of Emperor Xi, there is an international Fuxi Culture Research Association that holds grand Fuxi worship activities every year, attracting Chinese people from all over the world to come and seek roots and worship their ancestors.