Character map

Author: Jin Wen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: The Jin Dynasty (Hu Pu Mi) recorded in the Imperial Annals of the Five Emperors (): "Tai Hao Emperor Pao Xun Shi, of the Feng clan, was born in the era of Suiren. In the Leize Lake, there were giant footprints, and Hua Xi, stepping upon them, became pregnant and gave birth to Fuxi in Chengji."
Imagine, thousands of years ago, a brilliant tribal leader—Hua Xi—was strolling outdoors and came upon Leize Lake. She saw a giant footprint and, curious, used her own foot to measure it. This led to her pregnancy, which lasted twelve years before Fuxi was born. This legend emerged in the primitive, ignorant days of humanity. To us today, it seems miraculous and even absurd, but it is important to remember that in ancient times, men and women mingled freely without arranged marriages, practicing exogamy within blood clans. Thus, people knew only their mothers and not their fathers. The legend, therefore, reflects the simple, honest pursuit of "tracing roots" among primitive ancestors, and this "root-seeking" consciousness is the very source of the Chinese nation's enduring spirit.
Fuxi's birth marked the transition of Chinese society into a patrilineal clan system, where "power" became an object of worship. Fuxi was the embodiment of wisdom and strength. Leading his people, he conquered numerous tribes in the Central Plains and created the totem of the Chinese nation—the dragon. The dragon, drawing essence from the sun and moon, gathering the spirit of heaven and earth, possessed divine courage across the sky and sea, and embraced the vastness of the world with an open and inclusive heart. This is the soul of the Chinese nation.
Fuxi's greatest contribution was his invention of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), which opened the door to Chinese civilization.
Legend has it that Fuxi, leading his people in hard labor—"cutting bamboo, tying it, throwing mud, hunting meat"—still struggled to provide for his family. This mirrors the saying: "If a ruler does not govern for the people, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes." But even sweet potatoes were scarce then. His strong sense of responsibility and the gap between his ideals and reality troubled him. In his free time, he would sit atop mountains, gazing at the movements of the sun, moon, and stars, observing the laws of mountains and rivers, and pondering ways to enrich his people. He did so without fail, regardless of weather.
His sincerity and determination moved heaven and earth. One day, while meditating on a mountain peak, Fuxi heard a sudden explosion. Across the Wei River, a mountain split open, revealing a dragon-horse with wings taking flight. It drifted down the river and landed on a giant stone in the middle, its body glowing with trigrams. At the same moment, the stone transformed into a three-dimensional Taiji symbol, with yin and yang intertwined, radiating brilliance.
This sight broke through Fuxi's contemplation. The Taiji diagram deeply entered his mind, revealing the secret of harmony between heaven and humanity: the universe consists only of yin and yang. To ensure people could enjoy nature's blessings for generations, he transformed this revelation into simple symbols—using a solid line to represent yang and a broken line to represent yin, arranging them in the eight directions to form the Bagua.
With one stroke, Fuxi opened the door to rational thought, guiding those struggling in hardship toward a blessed future.
After hearing these miraculous tales, let us now travel through time to explore the places where gods and humans once lived, and experience the civilization of the primitive era.