Why is it rare to talk about the Yellow Emperor? Confucius and Mencius like to recount the ancestors of Yao and Shun
Confucius and Mencius liked to recount the ancestors of Yao and Shun, but rarely talked about the Yellow Emperor. It was not until the mid to late Warring States period that myths and legends about the Yellow Emperor gradually became popular: Taoist, Yin Yang, immortal, medical, and numerologists all talked about the great achievements of the Yellow Emperor, and this trend continued until the Western Han Dynasty.
The Yellow Emperor became the leader of the Five Emperors, which holds a pioneering significance in the narrative of Chinese history. From then on, the Yellow Emperor not only became a national and political symbol, but was also considered the creator of numerous artifacts.
It is said that in order to quell the chaos, the Yellow Emperor invented the Compass Car, which could determine the direction and command the army to advance and retreat. Qian Mu also proposed that the victory of the Yellow Emperor over Chiyou led to drastic changes and frequent exchanges among various tribes, and transportation tools such as boats and carriages emerged. In addition, the invention of clothing and shoes was also attributed to the Yellow Emperor and his courtiers.
The relationship between Huangdi and music is very close. It is said that Ling Lun was ordered by the Yellow Emperor to first travel from Daxia to the north of Ruanyu Mountain and search for bamboo pipes in a place called Sanxi Valley. He found that using bamboo pipes of different lengths can produce different sounds. So, choose a bamboo with a suitable length, thickness, and thickness, cut a section between the two bamboo joints, about three inches and nine centimeters long, and call the sound produced from it the "Palace of Yellow Bell", which is the fundamental sound. With this fundamental sound, twelve bamboo tubes with a certain proportion can be produced.
Next, Ling Lun went to the foot of Ruanyu Mountain and corrected the sound of the bamboo tube based on the chirping of the phoenix. Coincidentally, there are six different sounds for male and female phoenixes, so these twelve sounds are compared and corresponded with the sounds of twelve bamboo tubes: the six sounds of male phoenixes are equivalent to six rhythms, while the six sounds of female phoenixes are six lulu.
In addition to music, the Yellow Emperor also led his courtiers to create astronomical calendars: Xihe, as a sun occupying official, speculated on the movement of the sun; Changyi divides a year into twelve months based on the roundness of the moon; By observing the changes in stars, the colors of clouds, and the flow of wind, Ju District determines auspiciousness and disasters; Historians use the stems and branches to record the days; With a fixed proportion of pitch, the calculation technique of the clerical head is also natural; Rongcheng is a combination of six techniques: solar, lunar, astrological, divination, divination, divination, and arithmetic, ultimately resulting in the creation of a calendar. Astronomy and calendar can be said to be the foundation of personnel operation, and thus the Yellow Emperor became the builder of the order of Chinese civilization.
Since the rise of Huang Laoxue in the mid Warring States period, people can further see the phenomenon of "Hundred Schools of Thought on the Yellow Emperor".
In the eyes of military strategists, the Yellow Emperor is the invincible ruler and god of war; The Yin Yang family explained the succession of the Five Emperors with the theory of "Five Elements", and the Yellow Emperor was the central emperor who controlled the four directions.
In the Zhuangzi, the Yellow Emperor was not only a representative of the practice of active governance, but also a questioner who practiced "fasting in mind and attire, and not engaging in political affairs in the third month", and a practitioner of the Tao who could understand that "those who practice the Tao suffer daily losses, and those who suffer damage also suffer, to the extent that they do nothing, and those who do nothing but do nothing".
In Guanzi, the Yellow Emperor was an emperor with a deep concept of Taoism and was skilled in using the different talents of his courtiers to grasp the different levels of the Tao of heaven and earth, which can be regarded as a model of "governing according to heaven".
Through the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, one can also see a Yellow Emperor who deeply understands the mysteries of the human body. He applies the study of yin and yang, the five elements, Tibetan signs, and meridians to help people treat diseases and maintain longevity.
It can be seen that the image of the Yellow Emperor was gradually constructed during historical changes. Strictly speaking, its image lineage does not restore the true history of ancient times, but mainly presents the ideological and cultural aspects of the Warring States period and the Qin and Han dynasties.
