《歷世真仙體道通鑑》

The Yellow Emperor, Xuanyuan, had the surname Gongsun and was the second son of Shaodian, ruler of the state of Youxiong. Older accounts connect his surname to the place where the Ji River converges, associating it with the surname Ji, but the basis for this claim can no longer be established. They also say that Fuxi fathered Shaodian, who in turn fathered Shennong and the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor later inherited the imperial throne and lived in his fief at Youxiong.

The Yellow Emperor’s mother was a woman of the Xiqiao clan named Fubao. One night, she saw a brilliant flash of lightning circle the pivot star of the Northern Dipper and illuminate the countryside. After being stirred by this vision, Fubao became pregnant. Since tradition held that the Yellow Emperor was born from the pivot star, some also said she had conceived “Heaven’s Pivot.” She carried the child for twenty-four months and gave birth to Xuanyuan at Shouqiu, a place east of the gate of Lu.

The Yellow Emperor was gifted and perceptive from birth. Even as a young child, he was quick to understand and already able to speak. As he grew, he became honest, diligent, and exceptionally intelligent. His appearance was extraordinary: his face was shaped like a dragon’s, his brow shone like the sun, his eyes resembled rivers, his forehead was high, his complexion blue-green, and his shoulders broad. He first studied at Daxiang and grew up in the region of the Ji River.

At fifteen, the Yellow Emperor had such broad and far-reaching understanding that he seemed to know almost everything. He therefore took up the rulership of Youxiong and inherited its fief. Tradition says that he established the forms of ceremonial dress and carriages, earning him the title “Xuanyuan.” He governed the realm through the virtue of Earth and was called the Yellow Emperor.

The Yellow Emperor also appointed Shelong to govern the East and Zhurong to govern the South. Zhurong is associated with fire and was the title of an official in charge of it. The text explains that the South belongs to Yang and is marked by brightness, which is why it is called “Zhurong.” The Yellow Emperor then appointed Huofeng to govern the West and Houtu to govern the North. The text also explains the names of the directions through references to such things as sunrise and the crowing of the rooster.

The Yellow Emperor married a woman of the Xiling clan and established her as his principal wife at Daliang. Her name was Leizu.

His consort bore two sons, Xuanyao and Changyi. At first, the Yellow Emperor was pleased that the people of the realm supported him. Later, he took no pride in this, instead following nature and living at ease. He governed the people so that each could remain in their proper place. In those days, people were transformed without being commanded and encouraged one another without being rewarded. They took joy in their hearts without pretense and acted simply without affectation. This was called the age when the “Great Clarity” first flourished.

Those who farmed did not encroach on their neighbors’ field boundaries, and those who fished did not compete for places along the banks. Prices were not agreed upon in advance at the markets, and the marketplaces did not close at night. Traveling merchants yielded goods to one another, and households left their doors unbarred at night. This was called the “Great Harmony.”

After governing the realm for fifteen years, the Yellow Emperor still worried that the people’s lives had not been properly settled. He therefore exerted his intelligence and abilities to the fullest, carried out measures that benefited the people, and established teachings on Virtue. He assessed achievements and conduct, devoting himself to perfecting moral instruction. At that time, his primary consort, the Lady of Xiling (traditionally said to be the Yellow Emperor’s wife), began raising silkworms and gathering silk. Later, the empress made offerings to the First Sericulturist, the legendary first person to teach people to raise silkworms; tradition says that the figure worshipped was the Lady of Xiling.

Five worthy ministers, including Tian Lao, assisted the Yellow Emperor in governing the realm and spreading moral instruction. The Yellow Emperor drew on the trigrams of Fuxi and, following the meaning of the sixty-four hexagrams valued by Shennong, developed an account of the Eight Trigrams called the “Eight Inquiries,” using it to explore the meanings of layered hexagram images.

At that time, the ministers Cao Hu made clothing, Boyu made lower garments, and Yuze made shoes. Building on their work, the Yellow Emperor created ceremonial headwear: the guan, a formal cap worn on the head, and the mian, a type of cap higher at the back than at the front. These garments replaced the old custom of wearing fur and animal hides. The saying “the Yellow Emperor let the robes hang down, and the realm was governed” refers to this. The Yellow Emperor also used clothing and headwear to distinguish rank, and arranged for men and women to live separately, taking as his model the meaning of Heaven and Earth: Heaven is honored, Earth is humble.

When the Yellow Emperor saw that floating leaves could carry things, he thought of making boats. His ministers Gonggu and Huadi helped make boats and oars, giving rise to the saying “hollowing out wood to make boats, and shaping wood to make oars.” The principle of boatbuilding was drawn from the Hexagram Huan: Huan means both dispersal and unobstructed passage, and boats help people cross places otherwise impossible to traverse.

The Yellow Emperor also observed how tumbleweed rolled along in the wind and invented the cart. At that time, a miraculous horse was born in a marsh, so it was called the “Marsh Horse.” It was also known as Jiguang or Jiliang and came from the state of Dafeng, an ancient state said to have been east of present-day Bozhou. Its coat was white as plain silk, and its mane was crimson. A person who rode it could live for a thousand years.

In the stable of Jiliang, where Jiliang horses were kept, there was a divine steed that appeared at a call. Xue Zong said it was the same kind of mythical creature as Tenghuang, though the two came from different countries. Ge Zhichuan (Ge Hong, whose courtesy name was Zhichuan), however, said that Tenghuang was a horse and Jiguang a beast, so they were not the same. This differs from the account that Jiguang was a horse and Tenghuang a beast.

Another mythical creature called Tenghuang was yellow, shaped like a fox, and had two horns and dragon wings on its back. According to another account, a creature with dragon wings and the body of a horse was called Chengruo, also known as Feihuang. Some called it Guhuang, or Cuihuang. It came from Japan, lived for three thousand years, and could travel ten thousand li in a day. Riding it could extend a person’s life by two thousand years.

The Liudian records that the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen dynasties all had an official in charge of the chariot service for Chenghuang. The Imperial Stud Office today has a Chenghuang Bureau, referring to this same institution. After the Yellow Emperor obtained Chenghuang, he rode it around the Six Directions—that is, throughout heaven and earth. This is what is meant by riding a dragon with eight wings as it roamed the world. The Yellow Emperor thus traveled from place to place without a fixed abode.

The Yellow Emperor first taught people to ride horses. His minister Hai invented the method of harnessing oxen to pull carts. The Shiben says this was “to harness oxen and ride horses, carrying heavy loads and traveling far,” adapting their use to different needs. The Yellow Emperor’s minister Huang Yongfu first devised the method of pounding grain: he cut wood to make a pestle and dug into the ground to make a mortar, thereby helping the people. This idea was drawn from the Small Exceeding hexagram in the Yijing, where “small exceeding” means going beyond what is usual and thereby making progress.

The Yellow Emperor invented the stove and thereby began the practice of cooking. He also ordered people to cast pots and make steamers for cooking rice. People then began steaming rice and boiling porridge, changing their former custom of eating raw meat and drinking raw blood.

The Yellow Emperor’s minister Hui began making bows, and his minister Yimou made arrows. This meant bending wood to form a bow and sharpening wood to make arrows. According to the Shiji, however, the bow and arrow were invented by the Yellow Emperor. Their power could be used to awe the world, an idea drawn from the Kui hexagram in the Yijing. “Kui” means estrangement and opposition.

The Yellow Emperor began building houses and palaces to shelter people from heat and cold, dryness and dampness. A palace is a place where people live. This is what is meant by “setting beams above and placing eaves below to keep out wind and rain,” an idea drawn from the Great Strength hexagram in the Yijing. “Great strength” means flourishing and growing strong.

The Yellow Emperor also ordered people to build walled towns, so they could settle in one place and change the ancient custom of living in trees or caves. He established successive gates and had people patrol by beating wooden clappers, to guard against sudden raids by bandits. This idea was drawn from the Yu hexagram in the Yijing: making preparations in advance for unforeseen events.

He also changed the ancient custom of wrapping the dead in grass and firewood for burial, replacing it with burial in a coffin and an outer coffin. This idea was drawn from the Great Exceeding hexagram in the Yijing.

After fasting in the Central Palace, the Yellow Emperor went to the banks of the Luo River and sat in the Stone Chamber of Xuandu with Rong Guang and the others, observing their inner thoughts. Suddenly, a great bird carrying a chart in its beak appeared before him. The Yellow Emperor bowed twice and received the chart.

The bird resembled a crane, with a chicken’s head, a swallow’s beak, a tortoise’s neck, and a dragon’s body. Its wings were folded together, its tail resembled a fish’s, and its body bore five colors. Three sets of markings formed characters on its body: “careful in Virtue” on its head, “trustworthiness and righteousness” on its back, and “benevolence and wisdom” on its belly. Tian Lao said that the front half of the bird resembled a qilin and the back half a deer; its neck was like a snake’s, and its back bore dragon patterns. It walked with measured steps and had a powerful tail. It possessed nine fine qualities: a broad chest; a heart aligned with the law; keen ears and clear vision; a tongue able to extend and curl back; feathers displaying all the colors; a sharp crest; bright eyes; a resonant voice; and a broad belly.

This bird was also called the yan. The male was called the feng and the female the huang; it stood five or six feet tall. Its call at dawn was called “Ascending at Dawn”; its daytime call, “Auspiciousness Above”; its evening call, “Returning to Prosperity”; its call at dusk, “Constancy Preserved”; and its nighttime call, “Long Life Protected.” Its calls corresponded to the lü and lü, the ancient standards used to determine pitch. When it appeared, peace came to the world.

The Yellow Emperor said, “When the world is in disorder, this bird departs and settles among the Nine Yi. It appears in the eastern Land of Gentlemen and on Mount Danxue.” According to tradition, the Yellow Emperor’s ministers Ju Song and Cangjie observed the tracks of birds and devised writing, marking the beginning of written characters. Ancient scholars disagreed about the origins of writing: some held that it began with the Three Sovereigns, others with Fuxi, while still others said that writing arose at the same time as Heaven and Earth. Here, following the accounts of Sima Qian, Ban Gu, Wei Zhao, Bing Fu Xuan, and others, Cangjie is identified as a minister of the Yellow Emperor. The records of different authors also disagree about Cangjie himself and his deeds.

The Yellow Emperor put Virtue and righteousness into practice, and the world was well governed. He therefore summoned Tian Lao and said, “I dreamed that two dragons carried a white chart out of the Yellow River and gave it to me. What does this mean?” Tian Lao replied, “This is a sign that the Yellow River Chart and the Luo River Writing are about to appear. Perhaps Heaven intends to bestow them upon Your Majesty. Please fast and observe again.”

The Yellow Emperor then fasted in the Central Palace, dressed in yellow and wore a yellow ceremonial cap. Riding in a chariot drawn by a yellow dragon, with a banner bearing intertwined dragons aboard, he traveled through the region of the Yellow and Luo rivers with Tian Lao and five sages, searching for the chart from his dream, but found nothing. The Yellow Emperor then sank a jade disc into the Yellow River. A dense fog immediately spread over the river and lasted for three days. He went on to the Cui Gui Spring, where he saw a great perch swimming upstream from the river, and offered a sacrifice of three animals—a cow, a sheep, and a pig. Heavy rain then fell continuously for seven days and seven nights, and a yellow dragon bearing a chart on its back emerged from the Yellow River.

The Yellow Emperor asked the five sages, including Tianlao, “Have you seen what has appeared in the river?” Tianlao and the other four stepped forward, knelt, and received the diagram. It displayed all five colors: its white patterns resembled orchid leaves, with red writing attached to them. The Yellow Emperor handed the diagram to them. They unfolded it, examined it, and called it the Diagram of Recorded Patterns. He ordered his attendants to make a copy and announce it to the people throughout the realm. The Yellow Emperor said, “This is the Book of the Yellow River Chart.” It was autumn that year.

After receiving the dragon-and-phoenix charts and the writing devised by Cangjie, the Yellow Emperor established a system of writing to replace the government’s use of knotted cords to keep records. He also created documents and contracts. This was probably inspired by the Guai hexagram in the Book of Changes (Yijing): “Guai” means to decide, suggesting the use of writing to judge and manage all kinds of affairs.

(From instituting robes and skirts to devising writing, the Chronicle of Imperial Eras by Huangfu Mi records nine achievements of the Yellow Emperor. They are listed here one by one to show their association with him. The Appended Statements section of the Book of Changes (Yijing) traces these developments from the Yellow Emperor through to Yao and Shun. For this reason, some earlier scholars argued that the Yellow Emperor did not originate all these achievements by himself. According to Huangfu Mi’s account and the other texts cited here, however, all nine were initiated by the Yellow Emperor. The sages of later generations, down to Yao and Shun, merely followed and refined what he had established.)

The Yellow Emperor then assigned names to all kinds of things and founded the teaching of the Eight Trigrams (Bagua), known as the “Eight Cords.” He was also called Lord Hong and the Returning Storehouse Lord, and he named the canonical texts he had established the Book of the Returning Storehouse. This is considered the beginning of the Changes.

After instituting the system of robes and skirts, the Yellow Emperor made ceremonial garments embroidered with dragons and painted the sun, moon, and stars on them to symbolize Heaven. Hence, poems were composed in praise of the dragon-embroidered robes.

The Yellow Emperor took Nüjie as his consort. Later, Nüjie saw a great star like a rainbow descend above Huazhu. She was moved by it and joined with it, giving birth to Shaohao. (The Chronicle of Imperial Eras says that Nüjie was Leizu, but this is incorrect.)

The Yellow Emperor also took as a wife a woman of unattractive appearance, called Momu, and had her instruct the women of the palace. Momu was virtuous and worthy, and poems were composed in the palace praising the “Six Virtues.” The Yellow Emperor also took a woman of the Feixiu clan as his consort.

At that time, the people ate well and dressed comfortably. They loved their own customs and were content with their homes, without coveting or envying what others had. Neighboring states could see one another, and the cocks’ crowing and dogs’ barking could be heard across their borders. Yet the people did not visit one another even into old age, because they had nothing to seek from each other. This is what is meant by saying that the Yellow Emperor governed the realm and brought contentment to the people: it was a peaceful age of great flourishing.

At that time, the wind did not stir the branches and leaves enough to make a sound. It was called the “joyful wind” of the realm. Rain fell without breaking apart the clods of earth—hence the saying, “rain does not break the clods”…

A light rain fell each day, answering to the sign that civil virtue was flourishing throughout the realm; a heavy rain fell every fifteen days, in keeping with the workings of Heaven’s seasons.

People also used auspicious grain as food, its ears of grain especially unusual, and sweet spring water as wine, to nourish the elderly. Five kinds of numinous fungi grew in the garden, known as the “Five Fungi.” These rare plants included zhiying, purple fungi, and black fungi, all precious medicines consumed by immortals. At that time, creatures of the waters appeared in great numbers, while the mountains were filled with carriages and horses, spread across the open country. The emperor’s virtue moved Heaven, bringing forth such auspicious signs as the Yellow Star. Shaped like the moon, it could add radiance to the moon and was called the Jing Star.

Red and blue square clouds also appeared, joined together: two stars were within the red cloud and one within the blue, making three in all. A wondrous herb grew in the courtyard as well. On the first day of each month it put forth one leaf, and by the fifteenth it had fifteen leaves. From the sixteenth day onward, it shed one leaf each day, until all had fallen by the thirtieth. If a month had only twenty-nine days, the final leaf responded to this and did not fall. This herb was called mingjia, or lijia, and served to show the months. The Yellow Emperor therefore cast mirrors in imitation of it, making fifteen divine mirrors, also known as treasured mirrors.

At that time, Da Rao was skilled at investigating the changes of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) and observing the direction in which the handle of the Northern Dipper pointed. He established the ten Heavenly Stems, beginning with jia and yi, to mark the days, and the twelve Earthly Branches, beginning with zi and chou, to mark the months. He then paired the twelve branches with birds and animals, forming the sexagenary cycle of sixty combinations and establishing the jiazi system of year reckoning. The Yellow Emperor studied Fuxi’s three-line trigrams, combined the Eight Trigrams (Bagua), and divided them into the twenty-four solar terms, thereby establishing the calendar and fixing the years. He honored Da Rao and made him his teacher. He also assigned three periods of the day to each of the four directions and divided them into the early, middle, and late periods. From then on, the method of Yin-Yang was established.

When the Yellow Emperor heard that the phoenix was about to arrive, he put on yellow robes, tied a yellow sash around his waist, and wore a yellow cap. He fasted in the central palace. Then the phoenix came, blotting out the sunlight. The Yellow Emperor descended the steps, faced east, and bowed twice, touching his head to the ground. He said, “Heaven has bestowed such great blessings. How could I dare refuse its mandate?” The phoenix then alighted in the Yellow Emperor’s eastern garden, gathered in the parasol trees, and built a nest high in the palace. It would not eat unless offered bamboo seeds, nor drink unless offered sweet spring water. As it drank, it sang and danced, its voice like that of the sheng and xiao flutes.

The Yellow Emperor then sent Ling Lun, an ancient master of musical pitch—written as “Ling Lun” in the Book of Han—to the region of the Ruan Yu Stream, west of Daxia and at the northern foot of the Kunlun Mountains. Daxia was a country in the west, ten thousand li from Chang’an.

The bamboo was gathered from Xie Valley, a place name. They selected stalks with evenly sized holes and cut a section between two joints, measuring seven cun and seven fen in length. When this bamboo tube was played, it produced the pitch of Huangzhong. Huangzhong was the pitch for the eleventh lunar month, the time of the winter solstice, when Yang energy begins to arise and all things begin.

The ancients followed the fundamental principles of the workings of Heaven and Earth, believing that musical pitches corresponded to changes in the vital energies between them. According to tradition, the Yellow Emperor could comprehend the movements of the sun and moon and harmonize the energies of Yin and Yang. He therefore established the twelve pitch standards, divided into six Yang pitches and six Yin pitches. The Book of Jin records that a pitch pipe was one chi long and had six holes, which together corresponded to the pitches of the twelve months. Bamboo was used to make the pipes because it is naturally round and straight; jade was used because it is firm, pure, and lustrous.

At that time, Rong Cheng, a descendant of Nüwa who was skilled in music, began to establish the systems of musical pitches and calendrical reckoning. The calendar was dated from the year Dinghai (the Annals give the year Xinmao; here the account follows the Chronological Record of the Mixed Origin). Rong Cheng also calculated the sun’s position at the winter solstice: among the constellations, it lay behind the Southern Dipper. He consulted the Heavenly Elder and received books on the Celestial Origin and the sun, moon, and stars, which he used to record the seasons.

The Yellow Emperor’s minister Li Shou was skilled at calculation. He was the first to devise numerals and write works on arithmetic. Another minister, Ling Lun, established weighing standards and measuring vessels: weights were used to weigh, and measures to determine capacity.

Only after the Yellow Emperor obtained Chiyou did he begin to understand astronomy. (According to the Guanzi, Chiyou knew a certain art; the account continues … but the original text breaks off here.) The Yellow Emperor also obtained a precious tripod. He then observed the shadows cast by the sun and calculated the calendar, following the patterns of Heaven and Earth while also observing the sun, moon, and stars. He made a canopy-style instrument to observe the heavens and calculate the divisions and degrees of the constellations.

He divided the twenty-eight lunar mansions into twelve celestial stations: the mansions Horn and Neck belonged to the station Shouxing; Room and Heart to Dahu; Tail and Winnowing Basket to Ximu; Dipper and Girl to Xingji; Emptiness and Rooftop to Xuanxiao; Encampment and Wall to Zizhi; Legs and Bond to Jianglou; Hairy Head and Net to Daliang; and Turtle Beak and Three Stars to Shishen.

The Zuo Commentary, under Duke Zhao’s first year, records Zichan as saying: “In ancient times, Gaoxin had two sons. The elder was called Yanbo and the younger Shishen. They lived in Guanglin, but were at odds with one another and often fought. Later, the ruler moved Yanbo to Shangqiu and put him in charge of the star Chen, which is why the people of Shang called it the Shang Star. He also moved Shishen to Daxia and put him in charge of the Three Stars, which is why the people of Tang used those stars as their marker.” According to this passage, the name “Shishen” first appeared in the time of Gaoxin. Some therefore question whether the name was already in use during the Yellow Emperor’s era.

On the claim about “Shichen”: did later generations not replace the divisions of the twelve palaces with the names of the celestial regions, to explain events from antiquity? The Jing and Gui mansions belong to the celestial region of Chunshou; the Xing and Zhang mansions to Chunhuo; and the Yi and Zhen mansions to Chuwei. The Yellow Emperor used the constellations across the inner and outer heavens for divination, and compiled books for observing the sun and moon. Thus began the methods of observing celestial signs and inferring good or ill fortune, all derived from the Hetu. The Yellow Emperor also ordered Xihe to divine by the sun, Changyi by the moon, and Guiyuqu by the stars, and established methods for observing omens. The book on divining by the sun was used to distinguish good fortune from misfortune and calamity.

The Yellow Emperor’s De was profound, and it drew a perfected being to wander at the Jade Pool: this was the result of lofty virtue. A portentous animal appeared in the imperial park, the auspicious beast associated with Xuxiao, the name of a celestial region. The Shangshu Zhonghou records that it had the body of a deer, the tail of an ox, and the hooves of a wolf. It had one horn, with flesh at its tip, signifying that it would not harm living beings. Its cry accorded with the pitch of Huangzhong, and the markings on its body were elegant and orderly. The male was called qi, the female lin. It was born from Fire and moved about on Earth. Its cries in spring foretold the harvest being brought into the granaries; in summer, they signified the nurturing of the young; in autumn and winter, they signified fidelity to the way of nurturing.

The Yellow Emperor also saw tiny creatures called guluo, some as large as sheep and others as large as oxen. Another creature, called yin, was as large as a rainbow. These strange signs were thought to correspond to the rule of Earth’s De. There was also a beast called “meng,” shaped like a lion and able to eat tigers. It usually went about as it pleased and often came close to people, sometimes even entering their homes. People feared it and regarded it as a source of calamity, so the Yellow Emperor submitted a report to Heaven and had it moved to a distant wilderness in the north.

Because auspicious clouds, including jingyun and qingyun, appeared as portents, the Yellow Emperor named his offices after clouds, establishing an office called Jinyun. (Another account says that auspicious jinyun appeared when the Yellow Emperor refined the Golden Elixir, and that he consequently styled himself the “Jinyun clan.” A cloud with more red than white was called jin.) He then established offices, assigned duties, and named officials according to cloud colors: in spring, the Azure Cloud officials; in summer, the Jinyun officials; in autumn, the White Cloud officials; and in winter, the Black Cloud officials. The Yellow Emperor took the clouds as his teachers.

The Yellow Emperor established four posts for court historians, appointing Juchong, Cangjie, Lishou, and Kongjia to oversee maps and registers. (The Zhouli says that the official in charge of maps and household registers was the “official in charge of maps and registers.”) The Yellow Emperor also ordered Cangjie to oversee ritual institutions and Kongjia to create plates and basins, replacing wine vessels with sunken bottoms and plain drinking cups. Kongjia wrote the “Pianyu Chapters,” recording admonitory sayings on the plates and basins. The Yellow Emperor also set rules for the use of headcloths and stools, and recorded them in the classics. The Yellow Emperor’s books discussed matters that enabled people to understand principle; books written by the Yellow Emperor’s historians were called “fen,” because the word “fen” carries the sense of vastness.

After the burning of books in the Qin dynasty, many ancient accounts could no longer be heard. The minister Shi Yu began making illustrations, and Gong Yu, a man from Jinan, came to visit the Yellow Emperor bearing the Illustrated Plan of the Bright Hall of the Yellow Emperor. It showed an elevated walkway built above the ground, with pavilions and towers above it, entered from the southwest. This was the beginning of tower architecture. The Yellow Emperor built according to the plan and called it the “Converging Palace,” saying it would allow him to observe the movements of the heavens. He also proposed establishing a Bright Hall, a place where ancient rulers deliberated, observed celestial phenomena, and assessed worthy people, in order to evaluate talented and virtuous men.

At that time, an immortal named Qibo appeared in the region of Mount Qi. Skilled at explaining the properties and flavors of medicinal plants, he became a renowned physician. The Yellow Emperor asked him to oversee prescriptions and medicines, and to organize the knowledge of Shennong, who had tasted hundreds of herbs and distinguished their properties and flavors in order to treat illness. Qibo wrote works such as the Inner Classic. Lei Gong then recorded methods for processing medicines and determined which were superior in medicinal properties. The ministers Bian Que and Yu Fu established methods of pulse diagnosis to treat the people’s illnesses. The Yellow Emperor discussed pulse methods with Bian Que and compiled the Upper and Lower Classics of the Plain Book. (In the Han dynasty, Yang Gong Chunyu Yi could diagnose illness and predict life or death by taking the pulse; he too relied on knowledge of the kind found in pulse classics.)

The Yellow Emperor asked Qibo about pulse methods and then compiled works such as Questions on the Plain and the Inner Classic. The Questions on the Plain that survives today consists of two fascicles, each with nine scrolls, and was revised at a later date. According to the preface to Questions on the Plain, the work was written by Qibo; the surviving scrolls appear to be incomplete, and additions were made later. The preface also says that the Plain Maiden descended from Heaven to treat people’s illnesses. The Yellow Emperor questioned her, and the result was Questions on the Plain.

The Yellow Emperor also questioned Shaoyu about acupuncture and needle techniques, then compiled the Needle Classic, the Illustrated Plan of the Bright Hall, and methods of moxibustion. Acupuncture, moxibustion, and medicinal treatments are said to have begun in this way.

When the Yellow Emperor governed the realm, he used the color associated with the Center as the emblem of his title. He first lived in the state of Youxiong, so he was called the “Youxiong Emperor.” This resembles Zhuanxu’s title, “Emperor Gaoyang,” Di Ku’s, “Emperor Gaoxin,” and Tang Yao’s, “Emperor Taotang.” The Yellow Emperor disliked warfare. By the time the Shennong line had reached its eighth generation, Yugang, its authority had begun to weaken, and the feudal lords were encroaching on one another. The Yellow Emperor identified himself with the color representing the Center, while the lords of the four directions also arrogated titles to themselves and each adopted the color associated with a direction: the Blue Emperor Taihao, the Red Emperor Shennong, the White Emperor Shaohao, and the Black Emperor Zhuanxu. Although historical records preserve these titles, they do not give the bearers’ personal names. They were descendants of rulers of the four directions who had presumptuously claimed the title of emperor.

The feudal lords conspired together against the Yellow Emperor, and border towns were repeatedly thrown into alarm. The Yellow Emperor therefore halted construction of terraces and pavilions, cut spending on luxury and waste, and reorganized his troops and built fortifications. He made inquiries at Mount Shouyang, in Hedong Commandery, and ordered people to go to Mount Shou to mine gold, beginning to cast…

The Yellow Emperor invented the crossbow. Later, at Mount Liubo in the Eastern Sea, he discovered a strange creature that looked like an ox. Its body was blue-gray, it had no horns, and it had only one foot. It could move in and out of the water, and whenever it spat water, a wind arose. Its eyes shone like the sun and moon, and its cry was like thunder. It was called the Kui Ox. The Yellow Emperor ordered it killed and its hide stretched over a drum. When struck, the drum’s sound could be heard five hundred li away. (The Shiben says that Wu Xian of the Shang dynasty first made drums, but this is incorrect.)

The Yellow Emperor also ordered his soldiers to blow horns, imitating the cry of a dragon. This was the origin of drums and horns. Later, he had people invent cuju, a game of kicking a ball, to train warriors. (That is, he had people kick a ball. The Xijing Ji says that a cuju field is a ball court.)

The Yellow Emperor said, “When the sun reaches its height at noon, hurry to dry things in the sun; when you have a knife in your hand, cut with it while the moment is right.” Kuang Qu and Shu heard these words and said they were spoken by the Yellow Emperor.

In the twenty-second year of the Yellow Emperor’s rule, a man named Chiyou suddenly refused to obey his commands. Chiyou was a tyrannical and violent leader among the feudal lords. It is said that he had eighty brothers, all with the bodies of beasts and the speech of humans. They had copper heads and iron foreheads, ate no grain, and lived only on sand and stones. (One explanation is that Chiyou began making armor. Since people at the time did not recognize armor, they called him “copper-headed and iron-browed.” Li Bai says that when southerners saw northerners eating wheat porridge and dried provisions, they did not recognize the food and said the northerners “ate sand and swallowed stones.”)

Chiyou defied the Yellow Emperor and created five kinds of cruel punishment, harming the people. He mined and smelted metal at Mount Gelu, making armor and swords. He also manufactured knives, halberds, large crossbows, and other weapons, and his might shook the realm.

The Yellow Emperor wanted to subdue him. He gathered the feudal lords for fifteen xun, about one hundred and fifty days, but still could not defeat his enemy. He considered calling on worthy and capable men to assist him in putting down this unjust man. At that time, he dreamed that a fierce wind swept across the land, carrying away dust and grime. He then dreamed of a man holding a crossbow weighing a thousand jun and driving tens of thousands of sheep. On waking, the Yellow Emperor reflected: “Wind signifies commands and those who govern; the dust and grime are blown away and the land is revealed, signifying that corruption will disperse and the realm become clear. There must be someone in the realm surnamed Feng and named Hou. A crossbow weighing a thousand jun means that he is strong and can shoot a great distance; driving tens of thousands of sheep means that he is skilled at managing and guiding people. Could this man be surnamed Li and named Mu?”

The Yellow Emperor compiled these dreams, along with the earlier omen of a dragon spirit he had dreamed of, into the Book of Dream Interpretation. Following the clues in his dreams, he searched for men of talent and at last found Feng Hou by the sea and Li Mu in a great marsh. He then promoted Feng…

Afterward, the Yellow Emperor first governed the people. He initially appointed Li Mu as an attendant at court, then made him chancellor, and also recommended him as a military commander. This was the beginning of the offices of commander and chancellor. The Yellow Emperor also had Da Hong assist him in governing affairs. Da Hong explained the principles of life and death in accordance with the order of Heaven and Earth and the laws of the hidden and the manifest; for this reason, he was known as the Yellow Emperor’s counselor.

The Yellow Emperor once asked Zhang Ruo how to plan against an enemy. Zhang Ruo replied that he was not as skilled as Li Mu in the arts of calculating the seasons of Heaven and the terrain of Earth. Li Mu wrote a thirteen-chapter Art of War that could guide military campaigns. The Yellow Emperor therefore learned to use weapons and led expeditions against tribes that failed to pay tribute. He also began establishing the offices of the Three Dukes, corresponding to the three stars of the Celestial Terrace. Feng Hou was assigned to the Upper Terrace, Tian Lao to the Middle Terrace, and the Five Sages to the Lower Terrace. (The Six Secret Teachings of Taigong says that Feng Hou, Li Mu, and the Five Sages together were known as the Seven Dukes; the Five Sages must therefore have been five people.)

The Yellow Emperor selected four people who shared his intentions and called them the “Four Faces,” assigning each of them responsibility for a different area of government. At that time, he obtained a precious cauldron and observed the sun to calculate the calendar. Later, he also obtained Feng Hu and appointed him commander. Feng Hu created five-toothed banners, signal fires, and equipment for attack and combat. He also wrote five chapters on military strategy.

The Yellow Emperor then appointed Shen Huang as a commander. He made the son of his consort Fei Xiu the crown prince, placing him in charge of bows, arrows, and the army. The prince was called the Grand Marshal of the Army and served as the vanguard when the ruler went on campaign. Zhang Ruo and Li Mu served respectively as the left and right deputy commanders on the march. Rong Guang became Grand Minister of War, commanding the six armies and overseeing the state’s nine laws. (According to another account, Rong Guang was called Chang Guang.) His minister Long Yu was courageous and honorable; he too served as a commander and accompanied the Yellow Emperor on campaign. The Yellow Emperor used his army as a camp and guard, then joined with Yu Gang to plan an attack on Chiyou.

The Yellow Emperor adorned his weapons with jade, wore a yellow ceremonial crown and robes, and rode in a chariot drawn by six dragons. Tai Bing and Tai Yi drove the chariot, which carried a banner decorated with interlaced dragons. Five-toothed banners led the way, marking the direction of the march. Whenever the Yellow Emperor went on campaign, five-colored clouds appeared above him, shaped like branches of gold and leaves of jade, or like flowers in bloom. The Yellow Emperor therefore created a canopy, the kind of parasol canopy still used today.

The Yellow Emperor then fought Chiyou in the wilderness of Zhuolu. (Zhuolu was in Shanggu Commandery, south of the city of Zhuolu.) The Yellow Emperor could not gain the upper hand at first. Chiyou used magic to create a dense fog that stretched for a hundred li and lasted three days, causing the Yellow Emperor’s soldiers to lose their bearings. The Yellow Emperor then ordered Feng Hou to make a south-pointing chariot based on the handle and positions of the stars of the Big Dipper, so that it could show the four directions…

When the Yellow Emperor went to war against Chiyou, he could not win the battle. He returned to the foot of Mount Tai and fell asleep in sorrow. In a dream, he saw the Queen Mother of the West send a Daoist adept dressed in black fox fur. The adept gave him a talisman and said, “Taiyi is in front, Tianyi behind. Whoever obtains this talisman will win in battle.”

When the Yellow Emperor awoke, he pondered these words but could not understand them, so he summoned Feng Hou to ask him. Feng Hou said, “This is a sign from Heaven. You will surely win the battle.” Following Feng Hou’s advice, the Yellow Emperor set up an altar and prayed, bowing his head twice. As expected, he received a talisman. It was three inches wide and one foot long, green, with writing traced in blood. The Yellow Emperor wore it on his person and, gazing up at the sky, sighed deeply as he thought of how he had yet to defeat Chiyou. He concentrated his thoughts and, in response, Heaven and Earth were suddenly filled with a dense fog, dark and indistinct, for three days and three nights.

At that moment, a woman descended from Heaven. She had a human head and a bird’s body. The Yellow Emperor bowed his head twice and bent forward in salute. The woman said, “I am the Dark Maiden.” The Yellow Emperor replied, “Chiyou harms the people and lays waste to all things. I wish to meet him in decisive battle and hope to win.” The Dark Maiden then taught the Yellow Emperor the secret strategies of the Three Palaces, the tactical applications of the Five Tones, and the arts of Yin-Yang. These were all methods of warfare and battle. According to the commentator, the tactics taught by the Dark Maiden included divine talismans, Yin-Yang techniques, and methods of divination such as Liuren, Taiyi, and Dunjia.

The Dark Maiden also gave the Yellow Emperor the three-hundred-character Yinfu Jing. He studied it for ten days, then led his troops against Chiyou and subdued him. The Dark Maiden further taught him the True Writings of the Five Lingbao Talismans and the “military credentials for travel.” The Yellow Emperor donned and wore these talismanic methods, and ultimately destroyed Chiyou.

Later, the Yellow Emperor ordered Feng Hou to interpret the Hetu and make a divination board. Using it, Feng Hou devised 108 configurations, called “Dunjia,” to calculate which side would win in battle. The original annotations also say that there were about 72 configurations in the time of the Duke of Zhou, and that Zhang Liang, the Four White-Haired Elders, and others transmitted a further 18 configurations in the Han dynasty. They also mention a diagram called the “Dunyi Configuration.”

The Yellow Emperor also authored the Calendar of the Sixteen Spirits, for calculating methods such as Taiyi and Liuren. He expounded the Yin-Yang principles of the Six Jia, drew the Diagram of Grasping the Pivot of Victory and Defeat, and composed essential principles of military strategy. The Yellow Emperor’s Art of War consists of three scrolls. The biography of Emperor Wu of Song says that this work was transmitted by a divine being. The Military Campaign Instructions of the Hetu states that the Yellow Emperor obtained military talismans from the Queen Mother of the West. Later there were also accounts concerning the launching of military campaigns… [The original ends here unfinished.]

A one-scroll work titled The Established Formulas for Determining the Commander’s Fate, a one-scroll Military Calendar of the Great One, a twelve-scroll Yellow Emperor’s Newly Adopted Formulas for Marching to War, a six-scroll Yellow Emperor’s Divination of Military Qi by the Xia Clan (this book was revised again in the time of the Xia Hou clan), a two-scroll Yellow Emperor’s Diagrams of the Eighteen Battle Formations (revised by Zhuge Liang and called The Diagrams of the Eight Formations), a three-scroll Yellow Emperor’s Formulas from the Mysterious Maiden, a twenty-scroll Wind Lord’s Formulas for Isolated and Empty Positions, a fourteen-scroll Wuchengzi’s Divinations of Military Calamities and Portents, and a three-scroll Military Methods of Guiyuqu, with one scroll of diagrams (some versions give the title as Guiyuqu’s Methods for Deploying Troops). It is said that all these military methods originated with the Yellow Emperor and were later expanded and revised.

The Yellow Emperor then adopted a method of drawing inferences from the five tones—gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu—to judge matters of attack and battle. Once again, he led the feudal lords in an expedition against Chiyou, on the battlefield in Jizhou. Chiyou led the demons known as chimei wangliang into battle and summoned the Wind Master and Rain Master, using a fierce wind from the heavens to attack. He also ordered Yinglong to gather water and use it to flood the Yellow Emperor.

The Yellow Emperor called upon the Wind Master, the Rain Master, and the women’s spirits throughout the land to stop the rain. The battle took place among the mountains north of the eastern wilderness. The armies of Litu and Qiang drove Yinglong away, forcing it far to the south, and killed Chiyou and his father. It is said that they could no longer ascend to heaven, and the place where they lived became dry and rainless.

Chiyou was defeated at Guquan and later killed at Zhongji. The area was therefore called the “Wilderness of Severed Reins,” in Guichuan. After capturing and killing Chiyou, the Yellow Emperor resettled his people: the good were moved to Zoutu village, while the wicked were made to wear wooden shackles. The Yellow Emperor also ordered Chiyou’s image painted on banners to suppress evil spirits. These banners were called “Chiyou Banners.”

Chiyou was killed on a hill at Lishan, north of the eastern wilderness. His shackles were cast onto Song Mountain in the Great Wilderness, where they later turned into a forest of maple trees. The Classic of Mountains and Seas records: “Mount Rongtian has a forest of maple trees, transformed from Chiyou’s fetters.”

According to legend, after Chiyou was killed, his body and head were separated. The Yellow Emperor took pity on him and ordered his head buried at Shouzhang, a county in Yunzhou. There is a mound of earth there about one chi high, where local people make offerings every tenth month. At that time, they see a red vapor like deep crimson silk, which is called the “Chiyou Banner.” His shoulders, back, and internal organs were buried at Shanyang, a county in Chuzhou. Collected…

The Yellow Emperor established his capital at Zhuolu. Zhuolu was a place name in Shanggu Commandery, also written as “Dulu” or “Zhuolu” with a different character. The variant spellings in the biographies arose as the pronunciation was passed down.

The Yellow Emperor also fought Yugang for rule over the realm. Yugang, relying on his descent from the Shennong clan, challenged the Yellow Emperor. At first, the Yellow Emperor used fierce birds of prey—such as the vulture, osprey, eagle, and falcon—as his banners, and placed images of fierce beasts—such as bears, wild bears, tapirs, and tigers—at the vanguard. The armies fought on the Plain of Banquan, a place in Shanggu Commandery, roughly in the area of present-day Guizhou. The Yellow Emperor won only after the two sides had fought three times. Afterward, he drove the Xunyu Rong northward—a term used in antiquity for northern peoples, which commentators identify as the Xiongnu.

Whenever a lord among the feudal rulers refused to submit to the Yellow Emperor, he led troops to subdue him. Only after fighting fifty-two battles in all did the realm become peaceful. In recognition of his achievement in suppressing rebellions, the Yellow Emperor commissioned Qibo to compose military music called “Xiaonao Songs,” to warn and protect the army. The pieces included “Gang Drum Tune,” “Spirit Kui’s Roar,” “Vultures and Ospreys in Contest,” “Stone Falling from the Cliff,” “Warrior’s Fury,” and “Black and Red Egrets.” These songs displayed military might and were called “victory songs.” The Six Statutes says that Zhang Qian brought this kind of military music back from the Western Regions during the Han dynasty. It consisted of eight pieces and was a surviving form of military music. The xiao and jia were musical instruments. The metal nao resembled a bell but had no clapper; it had a handle and was held in the hand and sounded to signal that the drumming should stop.

The feudal lords then honored Xuanyuan as Son of Heaven. The Yellow Emperor ascended the throne in the year of the Earth Rooster, succeeding the Shennong clan. According to the Five Phases theory of generation, Fire generates Earth. The Yellow Emperor therefore ruled by the virtue of Earth, took the title “Yellow Emperor,” and, dwelling at the center, governed the four quarters.

The Yellow Emperor cut through mountains and built roads, never settling in one place. He ordered Feng Hou to carry the counting rods and documents, and Bo Chang to accompany him with a sword. Setting out at dawn and returning to Yinpu at dusk, he covered ten thousand li as if with a single breath, eventually coming back to the vicinity of Zhuolu Mountain. The Yellow Emperor also summoned the many spirits and asked Feng Hou where the Yellow River rose and where it flowed. Feng Hou replied that there were five great rivers, all originating in the region of Kunlun Mountain. The Yellow River was one of them, flowing out from the mountain’s southeastern foothills; the other four are described in Dongfang Shuo’s Record of the Ten Isles.

The Yellow Emperor ordered Shuhai to measure the distances. From the eastern extremity to the western extremity was, in all, 501,908,000 paces; another account gives the figure as 100,033,000 paces. From south to north was 231,300,000 paces; another account gives it as 220,000,000 paces.

From the east to Mount Tai and from the west to the state of Bin, the distance from east to west was twenty-eight thousand li, and from north to south, twenty-six thousand li. (Ten thousand li was called a “xuan.” In the age of Shennong, the distance from east to west was ninety million li, and from north to south, eighty million li—far beyond the Four Seas. When Wei Zhao commented on the Book of Han, he did not believe the realm could be so vast. Yang Chen says in the Daoist Book that Shennong once traveled far while riding a dragon. The Yellow Emperor governed the territory on horseback, and the lands under his rule lay only within the Four Seas. The Huainanzi says that the distance from the North Pole to the South Pole was 233,570,000 li. These accounts describe immense distances and probably belong to the same tradition as works such as the Daoist Book.)

The Yellow Emperor began to mark out boundaries and establish provinces and commanderies, and appointed ministers to educate the people. When he bestowed offices for teaching De (Virtue), he first placed ritual objects such as jade tablets on mats woven from fragrant orchids and rushes. He then ground various treasures into powder, mixed it into a paste with resin from the sunken elm, and used it to mark out land and distinguish ranks, as well as the boundaries between the Chinese and foreign peoples. (See the Records of the Rites of the Trigrams.)

The Yellow Emperor toured the realm and found ten thousand fiefdoms, each a hundred li across. (These were probably comparable to today’s county towns.) The saying “He was the first to arise among all things, and the ten thousand states were all at peace” means that the Yellow Emperor became leader of the people, bringing peace to the ten thousand states throughout the realm.

There was a gifted man named Qing Wuzi, skilled at observing the land. The Yellow Emperor consulted him and established rules for geography. He also asked the Elder of the Land about the advantages and drawbacks of the various regions. At that time, a propitious plant called Quyi grew in the Yellow Emperor’s courtyard. Whenever a wicked person entered, the plant pointed toward him, so wrongdoers dared not approach.

At that time, a foreign land presented a divine beast called the Xiezhi, a one-horned creature said to discern right from wrong. It looked like a deer and had a single horn on its head. It was kept at court, and whenever a minister acted unjustly, it would jab him with its horn.

Rong Chengzi attained the Dao and understood musical pitch. After Nüwa’s time, Rong Chengzi was the first to devise pitch standards and a calendar for the Yellow Emperor. Beginning from the year Dinghai, he also made a sheng mouth organ to imitate the cry of the phoenix. Su Nü came from Guangdu and taught the Yellow Emperor to play a fifty-stringed se zither. (The Examination by the Right Historian says the instrument was not like this.) The Yellow Emperor reduced the se to twenty-five strings, making it seven chi and two cun long. Fuxi established the qin zither, and Nüwa brought the qin and se into harmony. The Yellow Emperor’s qin was called “Haozhong,” and he composed the piece Pure Jiao.

The Yellow Emperor first established the seven emotions and put the ten duties into practice. These ten duties were: the ruler should be benevolent and the minister loyal; the father loving and the son filial; the elder brother friendly and the younger brother respectful; the husband righteous and the wife obedient; the older person generous and the younger person deferential. This was the beginning of the Yellow Emperor’s establishment of ritual and composition of music. In the East Sea…

There is a mountain called Dusuo (some believe “Duoshuo” is the correct name; it is said that a bamboo cable spanned the mountain, allowing people to cross). The spirits Shentu and Yulei lived there and could subdue fierce ghosts. The Yellow Emperor established the nuo exorcism rite to show how they drove the ghosts away.

The Yellow Emperor appointed Rong Chengzi as court musician, and he composed such pieces as The Great Scroll of the Cloud Gate and The Xianchi. He played music at the northern gate of the Dongting plain, saying that it could harmonize Yin-Yang, bring light to the sun and moon, and make customs harmonious.

In the second year of the Zhide era of the Tang dynasty, someone digging a pond beside Dongting Lake found a stone bell inscribed with ancient seal script. It was said to be a musical instrument from the time of the Yellow Emperor. In the second year of the Yongfeng era, Kang Tongzhong, magistrate of Baling County, heard that a herb gatherer named Shi Jide had found an ancient bell inscribed with seal script while gathering herbs in the Dongting region. He presented it to Li E, the governor of Yuezhou. This incident suggests that the account in the Zhuangzi of the Yellow Emperor playing music at Dongting was no fabrication.

When the Yellow Emperor was about to meet the spirits at Western Mountain, he rode in an elephant chariot drawn by six dragons. Bifang accompanied the chariot, while Chi You’s banner led the way. The Wind Earl cleared the road ahead, the Rain Master sprinkled water to settle the dust, and a phoenix sheltered the chariot from above. When they reached Western Mountain, the Yellow Emperor summoned the ghosts and spirits in a great assembly, took up a zither called “Haozhong,” and played the notes of Qingjiao. It is said that Shi Kuang was skilled at playing the zither. Duke Ping of Jin forced him to perform Qingjiao, and he finally played a piece. Clouds gathered from the northwest; when he played another, fierce winds rose and torrential rain poured down. Duke Ping was so frightened that he fell ill.

The Yellow Emperor ascended the sacred peak of Mount Kunlun and held a grand sacrifice, then announced the event to later generations. This was the beginning of fengshan, the imperial rite of offering sacrifice to Heaven and Earth.

At that time, a spirit named Queen Mother of the West was said to be the essence of Great Yin and a daughter of the Celestial Emperor. Her body was humanlike, but she had a tiger’s head (the Classic of Mountains and Seas describes her as having a tiger’s face; another account says only that her hair was tiger-colored). She had a leopard’s tail, disheveled hair, and wore a sheng, an ancient headdress. Her hair was white, and she was skilled at letting out long cries. She lived among stone cities and golden terraces, making her home in a cave on Shaoguang Mountain. Three blue birds often brought her food. Admiring the Yellow Emperor’s De (Virtue), the Queen Mother of the West came on a white deer and presented him with a white jade ring.

Another spirit came from the south, riding a white deer and presenting jichang, an aromatic black millet wine used in ritual offerings. The Yellow Emperor’s De moved Heaven and Earth, and jichang appeared as a result. The Yellow Emperor studied music and summoned the spirits with music and dance. He also drew pairs of black cranes to come and dance gracefully beside him.

The Yellow Emperor once tasted a kind of tree fruit on Western Mountain. It tasted like a plum and looked like a crabapple blossom. The fruit was red and had no pit, so he named it “Shatang.” After eating Shatang…

The Yellow Emperor was able to control floods without being submerged. Near the Queen Mother of the West’s mountain in the Land of the Wo People, he built a high terrace called Xuanyuan Terrace.

The Yellow Emperor once rested at the Hill of Dark Bo and among the ruins of Kunlun, and also visited the Land of Huaxu. Legend says Fuxi was born there, and that his mother was from the Land of Huaxu as well. Later, the Yellow Emperor went to live in the Land of Tian Du, which was therefore also called the Land of Xuanyuan. In later times, the Land of Tian Du was called Tianzhu, twelve thousand li from Chang’an. The Examination of Divination History holds that Tianzhu lies overseas, but this is mistaken. The Yellow Emperor then traveled west to Qiong Mountain, north of the Land of Women, and afterward toured the Palace of Kunlun. He set out from north of the Red River, looked south, and turned back, but lost his Dark Pearl—the pearl symbolizing the subtle principle of the Great Dao. First he sent Li Lou, the sharp-eyed, to look for it, but he could not find it. Then he sent Wang Xiang, who did find it.

Later, the daughter of the Meng clan, Qi Xiang, stole the Dark Pearl, threw herself into the river, and became a spirit. Here, the Dark Pearl is used as a metaphor for the Great Dao. The Shu region’s Chronicle of Wu records that there was a shrine to Qi Xiang in Chengdu Prefecture. After studying ancient history, Tang Ying concluded that the daughter of the Meng clan stole the Yellow Emperor’s Dark Pearl, threw herself into the river, and became this spirit; she corresponds above to the Zhen lunar mansion and extends alongside the Niu lunar mansion. Guo Pu’s Rhapsody on the River says, “Qi Xiang obtained the pearl and made her home at Zhong.” The temple on the riverbank today, known as the Qi Temple, is where she is worshipped.

The Yellow Emperor toured the eastern regions, reached the seashore, climbed Mount Huan, and there encountered a divine beast called Bai Ze. Bai Ze could speak and knew the forms and nature of all things. The Yellow Emperor asked it about the ghosts and spirits of the world. Since ancient times, there had been 11,520 kinds of ghosts and spirits formed from gathered vital energies or transformed from wandering souls. Bai Ze described them one by one, and the Yellow Emperor ordered them painted and displayed throughout the realm. He also devised written charms to ward off evil and avert misfortune.

As the Yellow Emperor traveled through the regions, his primary consort, Leizu, died along the way. He made offerings to her, honored her as an ancestral spirit, and ordered his secondary consort, Momu, to watch over the route and make offerings at the appointed times. He therefore appointed Momu as the Fangxiang, an official responsible for driving away evil and protecting funeral processions. “Fangxiang” means that she faced the four directions and guarded funerary rites; some also called the office “Protector of Funerals.” Today, people prepare wine and food to offer to the road deity before setting out on a journey, a rite called “farewell offerings,” meaning that the deity of the road is worshipped as the traveler departs. In his commentary on the Book of Han, Yan Shigu says that the Yellow Emperor’s son was the road deity, and Cui Shi’s Monthly Instructions for the Four Classes of People also says that the Yellow Emperor’s son was the road deity. Both accounts are mistaken, for they fail to clarify the relationship between “zu,” the road deity, and Leizu.

The Yellow Emperor believed that the realm had been brought to peace and that auspicious signs had appeared one after another, so he ascended Mount Tai and performed the Feng and Shan sacrifices.

After Tingshan, a small mountain below Mount Tai, the Yellow Emperor held a fengshan sacrifice at Jijishan and had his achievements carved into stone on a lofty mountain. At the foot of the mountain, he established an altar to sacrifice to the Flame Emperor, where he observed celestial signs and surveyed the land. He built palaces, established rules for clothing, arranged affairs according to the seasonal cycles and musical tones, and created various crafts. The Yellow Emperor amassed achievements and De (virtue and power), and Heaven bestowed on him ceremonial regalia, including a carriage, garments, axes and battle-axes, a canopy, and feathered standards, as well as weapons used by the celestial spirits. He also had inscriptions carved on his carriage. After attending to these matters, he worked out the musical tones and established a system of surnames. Confucius and Jing Fang did similar things.

The Yellow Emperor’s four consorts were Leizu, Mumu, Feixiu, and Nüjie. They bore him twenty-five sons, twelve of whom received surnames—some accounts say thirteen. These surnames were Ji, You, Qi, Ji, Teng, Zhen, Ren, Gou, Xi, Jie, Xuan, and Yi.

The text then cites differing accounts from historical works and assesses them. Some records say that the Yellow Emperor’s descendants had a total of sixty-one surnames, of which only the surname Li differs from those listed here. Other accounts say that the Yellow Emperor’s surname was Gongsun, and that his line continued for eighteen generations, a total of fifteen hundred years; another version says that the twelve surnames continued for thirteen generations, a total of one thousand and seventy-two years. The author argues that some descendants of the Yellow Emperor were left out of the historical records despite their outstanding De. Those bearing the surnames Ji, Qi, Teng, Ren, Xi, and Jie, among others, were virtuous and renowned. The author also points out that calling the Yellow Emperor Gongsun conflicts with the ancient system of surnames: the Yellow Emperor was born in Xiong and grew up by the Ji River, so in principle his surname should have been Ji. King Wu of Zhou claimed to be the Yellow Emperor’s nineteenth-generation descendant, but the author argues that this does not prove the Yellow Emperor’s surname was Gongsun. The author explains that the Zhou dynasty had five ranks of nobility—duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron—and the descendants of feudal lords were often called “Gongsun,” meaning “descendants of a duke.” Later there were also eighty-five clan names, but none belonged to people of the Yellow Emperor’s era.

The Yellow Emperor had nine sons, each enfeoffed in a different state. Pan Yue’s poem also mentions this, though the author says the origins of the account are unclear.

The Yellow Emperor’s principal consort, Leizu, bore two sons, Xuanyao and Changyi, neither of whom inherited the imperial throne. After attaining the Dao, Xuanyao became the water deity of the north; Changyi lived in the region of the Ruoshui River. The Yellow Emperor’s youngest son, Shaohao, was born to his consort Nüjie. He was known as the Jintian clan and later succeeded to the imperial throne.

The Yellow Emperor’s daughter drowned in the Eastern Sea and became a bird called Jingwei. Jingwei repeatedly carried branches from the Western Mountain and stones in her beak, hoping to fill in the Eastern Sea. Changyi married a woman of the Shushan clan, and they had a son, Zhuanxu. Zhuanxu later inherited the imperial throne and was known as the Gaoyang clan. He was the Yellow Emperor’s legitimate grandson.

Huang Gong, a legendary immortal, was Chang Yi’s youngest son and was enfeoffed in the north. Because the Yellow Emperor used the virtue of Earth to transform the world, people came to write “earth” as “tuo” and “lord” as “ba,” giving rise to the surname Tuoba. Yuqiang was a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. Though he never became an emperor, he attained the Dao and became an immortal. He lived in the north and became a water deity.

Shaohào had seven sons. During Zhuanxu’s reign, one of them was granted the surname Man in recognition of his virtue and achievements. The other six are not mentioned in the records.

After the Yellow Emperor had brought order to the world, everything had its proper use and people’s needs were met. He then began seeking out recluses who had attained the Dao, asking them about its arts and seeking the path to immortality in the hope of living long and seeing far into the future. This is the principle of first bringing order to the human world, and only afterward ascending to the immortal path.

At that time, a man named Ningzi served as the Potterer, an official in charge of making pottery. A divine being passed by and taught him how to use fire. Ningzi refined five-colored smoke, which could carry him up and down with it. After cultivating the Dao and becoming an immortal, he went to the land of shifting sands. There he ate flying fish. He once died briefly, then came back to life two hundred years later. He composed an Ode to the Head of the Sands: “Green lotuses bloom in radiant splendor, flowering for a thousand years. Even a life of ten thousand years amounts to no more than a brief death. Eat flying fish, and you can be so.”

There was a man called Wuguangzi, who stood eight feet and seven inches tall and was an immortal. In the Xia dynasty, lacking herbs to nourish his life, he cultivated the Dao only by playing the zither, yet still lived a long life. There was also Chijiang Ziyu, who ate no grains, living only on wild plants, and thus attained longevity. In the time of Emperor Yao, he worked as a carpenter and could fly up and down with the wind. By now, two thousand years have passed.

Rongcheng Gong excelled in the arts of nourishing and guiding: methods for cultivating Jing and Qi and promoting health through physical guidance. He safeguarded life and cultivated the breath, keeping the Valley Spirit from dying—that is, ensuring that inner vitality never ceased. He could turn white hair black again and regrow lost teeth. The Yellow Emperor admired his arts and therefore built five cities and twelve towers to await the arrival of divine beings.

The Yellow Emperor then sought out the arts of the Dao, traveling to Mount Hua and Mount Shou, and then eastward to Mount Tai. Along the way he repeatedly encountered wondrous beings and associated with immortals. He went to Penglai in search of divine beings; after returning, he received the myriad spirits at Mingting. He also visited Mount Zhong, Ganquan, Hanmen, and Gukou in Jingzhao, all north of Chang’an; Ganquan lies in Yunyang.

The Yellow Emperor then offered sacrifices to Heaven at the Circular Mound, preparing to seek the Great Dao. He took Jiuyuanzi as his teacher and, on the first day of the Tiger in the first month of the first year of the Earth Emperor, observed purification at Mount Shou, east of Pufan County in Hedong. Afterward, he again traveled in search of the True Way. He ordered Fangming to drive the carriage, with Changyu riding beside him. Zhang Ruo and Miaoyi led the way, while Kunhun and Huaji followed the carriage. They came to the outskirts of Xiangcheng. All seven lost their way and saw a boy tending horses. The Yellow Emperor asked him: …

Someone asked the Yellow Emperor, “How should one govern the world?” He replied, “How is governing the world different from tending horses? Just remove whatever harms the horses.”

After paying his respects to the Celestial Master, the Yellow Emperor abdicated and went to the Round Altar, a high, circular platform for worshipping Heaven. In his realm grew a deathless tree. Whoever ate its fruit and leaves would never die. There was also a spring called Cuanluan; drinking its water brought long life. A giant serpent there harmed people, so the Yellow Emperor drove it away with realgar. After staying away for a time, the serpent returned. (The Record of Foreign Lands says it stayed away for nine years.) The Yellow Emperor had three of his sons learn to ingest realgar, and they all lived for three hundred years.

At Mount Juci, on the Hong Embankment near Yangzhai, the Yellow Emperor met Lord Da Kui, the spirit of Da Kui in Mixian, and the Yellow-Covered Youth. He obtained seventy-two scrolls of the Diagram of Divine Mushrooms. Later, at Zhongdai, he met Huang Zizhong and learned the method for consuming the nine eggplants. Another account says he went to Mount Kongtong and met the Perfected One of Central Yellow; some say that mountain was in Yuanzhou. Ying Shao held that Mount Kongtong was not in Longyou.

The Yellow Emperor climbed Mount Kongtong, paid a visit to Guangchengzi, and asked about the highest Dao. The Zhuangzi calls it “Mount Kongtong” with a different character. Sima Biao’s commentary says that Mount Kongtong lies beneath the Northern Dipper; another account places it thirty li east of Yucheng County in Liang. Some say there are three Mounts Kongtong in the world, and that the mountain where the Yellow Emperor asked about the Dao was the one in the territory of Ru at that time. Others identify the Mount Kongtong in Longyou as the place where he sought the Dao; a Palace for Asking the Dao still stands on the mountain, and the Xuanyuan Shrine lies below it. It seems that the Yellow Emperor met Guangchengzi and asked about the Dao in more than one place. These places were later all called Mount Kongtong, so they are recorded together here.

Guangchengzi did not answer. The Yellow Emperor withdrew, gave up the realm, spread white thatch in a quiet chamber, and lived there alone for three months. Then he went back to ask about the way of cultivating the self. Only then did Guangchengzi transmit to him one scroll of the Scripture of Naturalness.

The Yellow Emperor relinquished his imperial dignity, claiming instead to be a swineherd. He climbed Mount Ji and then Mount Wangwu. Opening a stone chest and taking out a jade case, he obtained the Secret Instructions for Refining the Divine Elixir of the Nine Tripods, which explain how to make it. He went south to the river and climbed Mount Xiong and Mount Xiang. Then he traveled to Mount Tiantai, where he received the Divine Elixir of Golden Liquor. Going east to Mount Qingqiu, he paid a visit to Master Zifu and obtained the Great Characters of the Inner Text of the Three Sovereigns, talismanic writings for inner cultivation concerning the Three Sovereigns. According to the Baopuzi, the text comprises twenty scrolls and was used to command and summon the myriad spirits. After that, he traveled south to the Mysterious Ravine of the Five Mushrooms, climbed the Round Altar…

The Yellow Emperor built the Jianmu Temple at Longyin, a place where the hundred spirits and deities came and went, ascending and descending. He gathered several zhi (immortal herbs; another account says “several flowers”), drank water from Danluan, and traveled south to Mount Qingcheng, where he paid a visit to the Immortal Zhonghuang Zhangren. Later, he climbed Mount Yuntai, met Master Ning, received the Longqiao Jing (a scripture on Daoist cultivation and the circulation of Qi), and asked Zhonghuang Zhangren about the “Way of True Oneness,” a method of cultivation that returns one to True Oneness.

Zhonghuang Zhangren said, “You have already become the ruler of all under Heaven, and now you seek to live forever. Is that not greed?” The Yellow Emperor sought instruction from him repeatedly, and in the end received the transmission. After paying his respects, he traveled east past Mount Lu and offered sacrifice to its emissary. The Qingcheng Elder and the emissary of Mount Lu held ranks equivalent to those of imperial censors. They oversaw the celestial officials and served as the inspecting deities of the Five Sacred Mountains. The Yellow Emperor also appointed the Lord of Mount Qian as the Nine Heavens Director of Destiny, responsible for the registers of life and death.

The Yellow Emperor observed that each of the Four Sacred Mountains had a supporting mountain, while the Southern Sacred Mountain stood alone without support. He therefore submitted a memorial to the Three Heavens Supreme Dao Lord. The Dao Lord appointed Mount Huo as the Southern Sacred Mountain’s heir and Mount Qian as its auxiliary peak, providing the Southern Sacred Mountain with support. At the time, the two mountains took part in governing affairs and helped administer them.

The Yellow Emperor personally made images of the mountains and peaks, producing the Wuyue Zhenxing Tu (Chart of the True Forms of the Five Sacred Mountains). He once refined stones and made elixirs in Jinyun Hall. A cloud appeared there that was neither red nor purple, and so it was called “Jinyun”; the mountain was named after it. The Yellow Emperor stored military treatises, diagrams of victory and defeat, and books on the Yin-Yang of the Six Jia at Mount Miao. At Mount Fu, he verified auspicious signs and obtained the Way to long life.

The Yellow Emperor served the Primordial Lord of Great Unity and received the essentials for Daoist cultivation and nourishing life. He also learned the art of “returning essence to nourish the brain” from the Dark Maiden and the Plain Maiden, a Daoist term for practices of sexual cultivation. The Dark Maiden transmitted to him a divine prescription for fulfilling one’s wishes, which he stored at Mount Kongtong. The Yellow Emperor learned methods for calculating calendrical cycles from Shan Ji and ordered Li Mu to compile essential teachings on function and substance. He also discussed divination by celestial signs with Qi Bo and Lei Gong, and sought instruction from Master Feng Hou.

After receiving the meaning of the Yinfu Jing from the Dark Maiden, the Yellow Emperor could align himself inwardly with the workings of Heaven and respond outwardly to human affairs. He governed the realm from Jiaozhi in the south to Youling in the north, from the shifting sands in the west to Panmu in the east.

The Yellow Emperor wished to lay down the rule of the realm. He said, “I have heard of dwelling in the realm through the Way of tolerance, but never of controlling it through governance. I have kept the people of the realm laboring for a long time. I am ready to halt my carriage at Xuanpu and return to my original nature.”

After completing the construction of his carriage and the rites of sacrifice to Heaven and Earth, the Yellow Emperor gathered copper from Shou Mountain and cast nine tripods beneath Mount Jingshan, using them to symbolize Great Unity. These tripods were numinous and solidly made, with finely crafted designs.

Sun Shou lived to the age of three hundred and sixty. After entering Mount Jiuyi, he became an immortal and departed. Another three thousand six hundred years passed. During the reign of Yao, the floods became severe, drowning people and leaving many stranded in the waters. Yu took the people’s plight to heart and was therefore born on Mount Shiniu. One evening, as his mother, Nü Di, was drawing water, she found a pearl-like stone. She cherished it and swallowed it. After fourteen months of pregnancy, she gave birth to Yu. When Yu grew up, he could distinguish the sources of rivers and streams, so he was granted the title “Yu.” Later generations called him “Divine Yu.” This is the legend told about him. (Today, Mount Shiniu is in Shiquan Prefecture.)

The “Golden Slips and Jade Characters” were admonitions left by the Yellow Emperor. He also inscribed the true writings of the Five Talismans of the Numinous Treasure that he wore on a golden slip and concealed it on Mount Wanhui. The Yellow Emperor once cast objects from gold, engraving them with ancient characters to record dates and years. Some of these objects were also worshipped.

At that time, a fragrant breeze was blowing and divine beings had gathered. The Yellow Emperor was moved by the thought of leaving the human world. He left his crown, sword, ornaments, and shoes at the highest place in the vicinity of Dinghu, and built a lodge on Mount Kunlun, beneath Xuanyuan Terrace.

At that time, there was a man named Ma Shihuang who was skilled in treating horses and possessed miraculous medical arts. One day, a dragon came to his courtyard, lay down, and opened its mouth. Ma Shihuang examined it and said, “This dragon is ill and has come to ask me for treatment.” He inserted needles into the dragon’s mouth and treated it from above and below. He also boiled cow’s milk with licorice and poured it into the dragon’s mouth. Once the dragon had recovered, Ma Shihuang rode it away and became an immortal.

When the Yellow Emperor heard of this, he chose a day by divination for his return to his celestial home and ascent to immortality. The day was indeed a Wuwu day, and a dragon lowered its whiskers to welcome him. The Yellow Emperor climbed onto the dragon, followed by his friend Wuweizi and seventy-two officials. A minor official who had no chance to climb aboard seized the dragon’s whiskers and the Yellow Emperor’s bow, weeping as he ran after them. For this reason, the Yellow Emperor’s bow came to be called “Crow’s Cry.” The place where the cauldron was cast later came to be called Dinghu.

Later, the minister Zuo Che carved a wooden image of the Yellow Emperor and led the feudal lords there to pay homage and make offerings. The officials missed the Yellow Emperor without end: some brought a table and walking stick to set up in a temple for worship, while others brought his clothes and crown and placed them in a tomb to guard and honor them. Thus came to be the tomb on Mount Qiao. Shrines were also built at all the places the Yellow Emperor had visited. Five hundred years later, the tomb on Mount Qiao collapsed, leaving only a sword and a pair of red shoes. Before long, these too disappeared.

According to legend, the Yellow Emperor ruled the human world for a total of one hundred and twenty years, of which he reigned for one hundred and five. After ascending to immortality, he rose to heaven and became the Lord Taiyi, while his divine spirit corresponded to the Xuanyuan constellation in the Southern Palace. The original text is incomplete at this point.

The dragon’s form and ritual image were later revered by emperors and included among the Five Directional Emperors. The Yellow Emperor was the ruler of the center. In accord with Heaven through the virtue of Earth, he occupied the central position and governed the four directions. His corresponding star was Saturn, the Star of Restraint, known as the deity of the pivot. It assisted the Yellow Emperor and shared in the offerings made in sacrifice.

The Yellow Emperor’s son Shaohao, whose personal name was Zhi and courtesy name Qingyang, was known as the Lord of Golden Heaven. He reigned as emperor for eighty-one years (the Chronicles of Emperors gives eighty-four; Liu Shu’s Outer Records does not mention Shaohao) and established his capital at Qufu (in present-day Yanzhou). His descendants succeeded one another through the generations, and their rule lasted four hundred years in all.

The Yellow Emperor’s grandson Zhuanxu, known as the Lord of Gaoyang, was the son of a woman of the Shushan clan. Endowed with sage virtue, he reigned for seventy-eight years (the Chronicles of Emperors gives eighty-four, as does the Outer Records) and lived to the age of ninety-eight. His capital was in the area of Shangqiu and Puyang (present-day Puzhou). From Zhuanxu onward, emperors often took as their title the name of the place where their rise to power began.

Emperor Ku, known as the Lord of Gaoxin, was the Yellow Emperor’s great-grandson (the Yellow Emperor’s son Xuanyao fathered Jiaoji, who fathered Gaoxin). At birth, Emperor Ku appeared extraordinary and intelligent, and was able to say his own name. He reigned for seventy years (the Outer Records gives seventy-five), established his capital at Yanshi (in the area of present-day Bozhou, in Henan), and lived to the age of one hundred and five (the Outer Records gives one hundred).

Emperor Yao, known as the Lord of Taotang, was the Yellow Emperor’s great-great-grandson and Emperor Ku’s son. His surname was Yiqi and his courtesy name Fangxun. He rose to power at Dingtao and became emperor after serving as the Lord of Tang (Dingtao was in Qi; another account places it in Tao County, Dingzhou). He established his capital at Pingyang (present-day Jizhou), reigned for seventy years, and lived to the age of one hundred and eighteen. Historical accounts differ on these details. The Book of Documents seems to indicate that he reigned for seventy-three years. Another account says that Yao became emperor at the age of ten, reigned for seventy years, then had Shun administer affairs on a trial basis for three years before handing the throne to him; Yao died twenty-eight years later, which would make his lifespan one hundred and seventeen years. The Outer Records states that he reigned for ninety-eight years and lived to the age of one hundred and ninety-eight.

Emperor Shun, known as the Lord of Youyu, was the Yellow Emperor’s ninth-generation descendant. His surname was Shentu (another account gives his surname as Yao). He first acted as regent for thirty years, then formally took the throne and ruled for fifty years. He lived to the age of one hundred…

Shun ruled for thirty-nine years and lived to the age of one hundred. Another account says that he was summoned to serve at the age of thirty and began his official duties then; he later ruled and observed a three-year mourning period, with one of those years counted toward his thirtieth year. Yet another record says that Shun ruled for fifty years and lived to the age of one hundred and ten. His capital was Pufan, in the area of present-day Hezhong Prefecture.

Xia Yu was also a great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor. His surname was Si, and his capital was Anyi, in the area of present-day Puzhou. He ruled for nine years. His descendants succeeded one another through the generations, continuing the dynasty for a total of 432 years, in agreement with the account in the Waiji.

According to the Dunjia Kaishan Tu, Yu was an immortal who had attained the Dao. In ancient times there was a wondrous object said to have been passed down for nineteen generations from Yu and Nüwa. It could foretell good and ill fortune, prosperity and decline; change its weight; come to rest or move; boil without being heated over a fire; and fill itself without water being drawn into it. It also produced the five flavors within itself. The Yellow Emperor refined the Nine Cauldrons Elixir. After taking it, and once the elixir was ready, he transmitted the methods of alchemical practice to Xuanzi according to the prescribed rules, solemnly admonishing him with an oath. The Yellow Emperor concealed the contents recorded in the Central Scripture east of Mount Jiuyi, calling them “Weiyu.” He covered them with patterned jade and placed a great stone on top.

At the foot of the mountain, beside the river, stands the Temple of Great Yu. The Shiji says that Gun married a woman of the Youxin clan, and Yu was born from a cleft in her chest at Shiniu on the sixth day of the sixth month. People in the prefecture often burn incense, practice self-cultivation, and hold rites on this day.

Tang of Yin was a twentieth-generation descendant of the Yellow Emperor. His surname was Zi, his capital was Bo, in the area of present-day Bozhou, and he ruled for thirteen years. His descendants succeeded one another through the generations, continuing the dynasty for a total of 623 years; the Waiji gives 628 years. The Yellow Emperor’s son Xuanyao fathered Qiao Xuan, Qiao Xuan fathered Gaoxin, and Gaoxin fathered Xie. Thirteen generations later came Tang, whose personal name was Tianyi and who founded the Yin dynasty.

King Wu of Zhou, Ji Fa, was a twenty-second-generation descendant of the Yellow Emperor. His surname was Ji, his capital was Haojing, in the area of present-day Yongxing, and he ruled for six years. Later, King Ping of Zhou moved the capital to Luoyi. His descendants…

The descendants of the Yellow Emperor passed down through the generations for a total of 873 years. The Waiji Nianpu records a slightly different figure: 927 years. The Yellow Emperor’s descendants each received a surname through their service to him. The Yellow Emperor established twelve surnames according to laws and principles; their details are recorded elsewhere. His first nine sons were each enfeoffed as rulers of a state, and in all, thirty-three clans descended from the Yellow Emperor.

The Xiantian Ji says that the Yellow Emperor’s descendants passed down through the generations for a total of 1,520 years, while the Shiji gives the figure as 1,250 years.

On the way of the minister, it is said: Xuanyuan, the Yellow Emperor, set aside his exalted status and paid respect to seventy-two teachers. He then put Wuwei (non-action) governance into practice, bringing peace to the realm. In that age, rulers were wise, ministers were good, the people were simple, and society was unadorned. Though he ruled the realm, the Yellow Emperor was not ashamed to seek advice from others and never refused to ask questions. Thus, spiritual beings willingly came to join him, and the people still praise him today. What later generations say of the Yellow Emperor—that he possessed the qualities of both a true king and a hegemon—can be seen in this.

The Dao De Jing says: “Therefore, the sage handles affairs through non-action and teaches without words. The myriad things grow and develop, yet he does not interfere with them. He enables them to grow, yet does not claim them as his own. He acts, yet does not rely on his achievements. When the work is done, he takes no credit. Because he takes no credit, his achievements do not depart.” Is this not speaking of Xuanyuan, the Yellow Emperor?