CHAPTER XV
Mythical and Legendary Kings
Pʼan Ku as the Divine Ancestor—The Mythical Age—Gods as Kings—The Prometheus of China—Fu Hi as Adam—Doctrine of World’s Ages in China—Links with Babylonia and India—Legendary Kings—The Chinese Osiris—Reign of the “Yellow God”—Empress and Silk-worm Culture—Royal Sons of Star-gods—Yaou, Son of the Red Dragon—Shun, Son of the Rainbow—The Hea Dynasty—The Emperor Yu—Star Myths—Yu and the River God—Yu as Pʼan Ku—The Flood Myth in Legends of Yu—The Dynasty of Shang—Moon and Egg Myths—The Wicked Wu—A Hated Queen—The Dynasty of Chou—A Chinese Gilgamesh—The Pious King Wen—Divination by Tortoise and Grass—The Chous as Invaders—Historical Dynasties—Ancient Iranian Traders—Trade and Civilization promoted by the Dread of Death.
Pʼan Ku, the first “man” or “god”, was the ancestor of three families—the rulers of Heaven, Earth, and Mankind. In Tibet, as we have seen, the first man had three sons, who divided his body between them, and they were the ancestors of the three human races. Like the Babylonians, the Chinese had dynastic lists of antediluvian kings. Pʼan Ku’s descendants ruled the nine divisions of the prehistoric empire or world. There were ten dynastic periods, the first being that of the “Nine Heads” (kings), the second that of the “Five Dragons”, and so on. The five dragon kings were connected with the five planets: Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn, and therefore with the five elements, for Venus was the Star of Metal, Jupiter that of Wood, Mercury that of Water, Mars the Star of Fire, and Saturn the Star of Earth. [[275]]Thus every part of the terrestrial surface, when identified with one or more elements on account of its shape, is under the influence of the corresponding metals, and also under that of the constellations through which these planets move.[1] As we have seen, the spirits of dragon swords appeared in the sky as stars. The star-gods, like the dragons, were fathers of some of the famous kings of China.
Towards the end came the period “Having Nests”, which indicates that houses were built. Then came the period of Sui-zan, “the Fire-producer”, who has been referred to as the “Prometheus of China”.
A new age was ushered in by Fu Hsia or Fu Hi, the so-called “Adam of China”. He is the first monarch of China’s legendary history, and was supposed to reign from 2953 till 2838 B.C. Some regard him as the leader of a colony which settled in Shensi. But he is more like a mythical culture hero. He was the offspring of a miraculous conception, and had dealings with dragons. Like the Babylonian Ea he instructed the people how to live civilized lives. Before Fu-hi came, they lived like animals; they knew their mothers but not their fathers, and they ate raw flesh. They kept records by means of knotted cords, and he instructed them in the mysteries of lineal figures, which had a mystic significance. These were eight in number—the eight kwâ or trigrams, which represented: (1) the sky; (2) water of lakes and marshes; (3) fire, lightning, and the sun; (4) thunder; (5) wind and wood; (6) water as in rain, springs, streams, clouds, and the moon; (7) a hill; (8) the earth.
Fu-hi also instructed the people to worship spirits, and he instituted sacrifices. He kept in a park six kinds of animals, and sacrificed twice a year at the two solstices, [[276]]causing the days to be regarded as sacred, so that the people might show gratitude to heaven.
According to the Taoists, Fu-hi disturbed the primal unity, and caused the people to begin to deteriorate.
Here we touch on the doctrine of the World’s Ages. Like the Indians of the Brahmanic period, the Chinese Taoists believed that the first age was a perfect one, and that mankind gradually deteriorated. In the Indian Krita Age “all men were saintly, and therefore they were not required to perform religious ceremonies.… There were no gods in the Krita Age, and there were no demons.”[2]