Triple Legacy of Huang Di : Medicine, Silk and Daoism

 

Huang Di who is also known as The Yellow Emperor is considered as one of the legendary five emperors and is said to be the ancestor of the Chinese Han people. He is said to be the first emperor the very first dynasty of china which is the Xia dynasty. And his personal name was Gongsun Xuanyuan. His existence has no proof, so stories and legends related to Huang Di are basically considered as mythology. He lived around 27^th century BCE as mentioned in Shiji by historian Shima Qian that dates back to 145 BCE to 90 BCE. He is credited for many inventions in Chinese culture from developing the principles of traditional Chinese medicine to inventing silk and the first ever emperor to be loyal to Daoism. He is often a religious figure in Daoism so much so that during the Han dynasty, he emerged as the chief deity.

 

Among all his achievements, the invention of the principles of traditional Chinese medicine is considered most significant and iconic. Huang Di composed his Neijing (literally means the Inner canon of Huang Di or the Esoteric Scripture of the Yellow Emperor) in collaboration with Qibo who was also his physician. It is an ancient Chinese medical text (or texts) that formulate the fundamental doctrines of Chinese medicine for over two millennia. The text is organized in a question answer format between six ministers who are equally qualified as the Huang Di and Huang Di himself. The text is divided in two parts each one having 81 chapters. The first part basically contains fundamental questions that formulate the medicine theory. And the second part is about the medical methods. Chinese acupuncture therapy is explained with great details in the second part. According to historians, Huang Di’s great interest in natural health and prevention and treatment of diseases allowed him to live over a hundred years.

 

According to some legends, the wife of the Yellow emperor was the first person to discover sericulture and invent silk. She is commonly known as Lei ZU and also known as Xi Ling Shi. According to one legend, a silk cocoon fell into her evening tea and that got her curious which eventually led to the invention of silk. Another elaborated version of that story is quite popular in the legends that a silk worm cocoon fell in her tea and the silk was unwrapped by the heat. Soon the silk stretched across the whole garden and as the silk ran out, she discovered the small cocoon. Then she could realize that the cocoon was indeed the source of the silk.

 

 Another version goes that she saw silk worm eating mulberry leaves and making cocoons. She collected some few of the cocoons and accidentally or intentionally dropped them to boiling water. She witnessed fine thread separating from the cocoons and discovered that she could warp her fingers with these soft threads. Later on Lei Zu persuaded the emperor to gift her a mulberry trees grove where she would domestically produce silk from silkworm cocoons. Additionally, to the invention of silk, she is also attributed for the invention of the first silk reel and the first silk loom. Even in modern china, she is worshipped as the “Silk Mother.”

 

Huang Di's legends very much incorporate Daoist principles in his approach to governing and understanding the world. He is an important figure in Chinese religious views both in confuciasm and Daoism. Many Taoists claim that he formulated many of their percepts. He also introduced the first form of martial arts in china. He knew that the art is beneficial for good health. He is associated with the ear legends among the people of north Asia and the Dangun legend by Ye Shuxian. However, his role as a deity diminished in the second century AD because of a deified Laozi. Nonetheless, the Yellow Emperor was still being considered as an immortal who had legendary abilities achieved through cultivation.

 

Huang Di was said to be lived for over a hundred year and died meeting a phoenix and a qling. Chinese people in modern days sometimes refer themselves as “the descendants of the yin and yellow emperor”. He embodies a complex blend of historical and mythical symbolism. Whether a historical or a mythical figure Huang di serves as a symbol of wisdom leadership and discipline. His legacy reflects and influences Chinese culture, philosophy and governance emphasizing his natural alignment and wisdom.