Origins of Civilization in China
2 min readEvery ancient people has legends about the origins of the world and humanity.
According to Chinese tradition, in the beginning the universe was a primordial mass of Chaos.
Eventually, Chaos gave birth to a giant named Pangu. Wielding a great axe, Pangu rent Chaos asunder. Over the course of 18,000 years, the lighter elements of Chaos gradually rose up to become Heaven, and the denser parts gradually sank to become the Earth. In this way, our world was created.
After the world was formed,a goddess named Niwa used six days to create the six types of domestic animals-birds, dogs, sheep, pigs, cattle, and horses. On the seventh day, she used mud to shape human beings. Niiwa was responsible for human procreation, and her elder brother, Fuxi, was responsible for agriculture, hunting, and shelter. Together, Niwa and Fuxiinvented the sheng,a wind instrument, and the qin,a string instrument, giving rise to music and dance.
Painting of Niwa and Fuxi, Tang Dynasty(618-907 AD)
The greatest tribal leaders of ancient China were the legendary Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, and Yan Di, the Yan Emperor said to live four to five thousand years ago. The Yellow Emperor fought for many years to defeat numerous ghosts and demons. He defeated and assimilated the tribe of Yan Di, and over the course of many years established the Huaxia, or Han Chinesepeople. For this reason, Han Chinese people all over the world refer to themselves as”descendents of Yan Di and the Yellow Emperor.”
