Huangdi

The Yellow Emperor ruled China from 2697 to 2597 BCE. He controls the center direction and the element of earth. He is a culture hero, the father of Chinese civilization, master of bears, commander of animal armies, author of classics on medicine and politics, inventor of dozens of necessities such as the calendar and clothing, and husband of Leizu the Goddess of Sericulture. Lightning among the stars presaged his birth. He has four faces, all of which could speak when he was a mere infant. Early in his reign, he warred against Chiyou and Yandi Shennongshi. He slew Chiyou in battle after a long and bitter war, but found after Chiyou’s death that he still needed Chiyou’s services as a God, and so allowed Chiyou to be deified. Later, when he fought Chiyou’s father Yandi Shennongshi, the Yellow Emperor set an example for the Shén who would one day bow to him when, instead of executing or imprisoning Yandi Shennongshi, he installed the Flame Emperor as a client king. Since then, the Shén have preferred to adopt defeated demons, Gods, and monsters into their pantheon instead of obliterating them.

Huangdi has founded so many Scions that one struggles to describe them with any common qualities other than greatness. They include the heroes Gun, Yu, Zhong, and Li; Gods such as Shujun and Yuqiang; and even entire ethnicities like the Huantou and Miaomin. Any Scion of Huangdi’s, though, should rest assured that theirs is the road more traveled. Dozens, at least, of Huangdi’s Scions are still active, ready to provide advice and trade favors with any more recent developments.

Huangdi watches current developments in Chinese government with reservation and concern, but in typical Daoist fashion prefers not to make noise or get involved. The Great Cultural Revolution hit the Shén hard; many of them still haven’t forgiven mainland China’s Communist government for the event. Nevertheless, the Communist Party has sent representatives to participate in sacrifices and rites to the Yellow Emperor, whom they acknowledge as the founder of the civilization they recently inherited.