2 Fu Xi Shi (shi meant mister)

An Ancestor Created Chinese Earliest Civilization

Fu Xi Shi was a leader of a primitive tribe, a legendary hero full of mythical and obscure stories. Chinese believed the most important ancestors of Chinese nationality in the earliest era were “Three Kings & Five Emperors”. There were deferent views over the name list, but scholars shared a common view that Fu Xi and other two leaders Huang Di and Yan Di (see piece 4) were at the top. Fu Xi’s contributions to the nation were that he invented net and tools and taught people fishing and hunting. He also initiated raising livestock and poultry.

There were two other popular names in the same era: Sui Ren Shi and You Chao Shi. The former invented to make fire, helping people take cooked food. Chinese believed Sui Ren Shi acquired a fire helping by drilling woods. The latter built nest on trees, helping people move out of caves, and freeing them from the danger of animals’ attacks.

The legendary hero Fu Xi had a human’s face and snake’s body. And so was his younger sister Nv Wa (see following piece). They had later become husband and wife, propagating siblings and giving birth to later mankind.

But the utmost important story about Fu Xi was that he invented Ba Gua, known as the Eight Trigrams System. The appearance of Eight Trigrams indicated the appearance of the Book of Changes, a profound and unpredictable philosophical theory. The book had consumed both ancient and modern scholars’ wisdom, but none of them could as yet give a clear account of it.