The Three Sage Kings and the Five Legendary Emperors

Chinese history remembers Suiren, Fuxi and Shennong as the Three Sage Kings. While not exactly kings, they are the leaders of their generation and are remembered today for their personal sacrifices and the many unique contributions to mankind.

The first sage King was Suiren (approx. 16,000 BC) who reputedly discovered how to make fire by drilling wood. With fire mankind could eat cooked food, keep warm and protect themselves from wild animals.

Fuxi taught people to domesticate animals and make nets to catch fish, birds and wild animals, ensuring a continuous supply of food. He also laid down marriage laws and invented a 35 string musical instrument. However most important of all, he create the Eight Trigram or Bagua which became the basis of the I Ching or Books of Changes.

The last of the Sage King was Shennong ?also known as Yandi. He invented many instruments for farming and taught people to grow rice, wheat, beans and two types of millet. He also devised barter trading. Lesser known is his involvement in invention of a 5 strings musical instrument.

However he was best remembered for tasting hundreds of wild herbs to find remedies to treat illnesses. In the process he suffered continually from poisoning and eventually die from eating one too many.

The Five Legendary Rulers, Huangdi, Zhuanxu, Diku, Yao and Shun then succeeded the Three Sage Kings.

Huangdi was a good leader. He knows how to maximize the ability of those around him to rule the country and come out with innovations that benefit his people.

With the help of his many talented subjects, Huangdi developed a written language for the Chinese people. He also commissioned the compilation of the Yellow Emperor' Medicine Classic?which became the foundation of Chinese Medicine today. Finally we also developed a Farmer's Calendar.

Emperor Huangdi preferred peace over war. During his time, the people experience stability and prosperity. It ushered an age of civilization in ancient China.

Zhuanxu who succeeded Huangdi was not his son. He was chosen over Huangdi's many sons because of his outstanding ability. Zhuanxu greatest contribution was to bring law and order to the people plus consolidating the power of the central authority.

After Zhuanxu comes Diku who was a great grandson of Huangdi. Diku was a benevolent king who placed the people's welfare above self. He created new official posts and ministries with clearly demarcated duties such as the Ministry of Land, Forestry, Water, Metal Ores and Fire. And he personally conducted inspections frequently to ensure that the country was well run. He also further improved the calendar which contributed to farming.

Diku was succeeded by his son Yao. Yao was very much like his father - benevolent and industrious. He improved the calendar system and modified planting to produce bigger harvests.

Shun succeeded Yao. Shun's mother died when he was a young boy. His step mother and father treated him badly. Despite that he remained filial to them and this virtue gained him famed. He was summoned to Yao's service at 30 and eventually married Yao's daughter.

Shun divided the country into 12 states and appointed administrators for each of them. He continued to make further changes including setting up departments for land, music, farming, rites and works. Shun many contributions include drafting the five rules of etiquette for the dukes and princes to follow.

Shun was succeeded by Yu who founded the Xia Dynasty. Yu was famed for his ability to control flooding but that is another story for another time.

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