Fu Xi

 伏羲
Fu-hszi (más néven: Pao-hszi 庖犧 / 庖牺) kultúrhérosz az ókori kínai mitológiában, a hagyományos
kínai történetírás szerint egyike a legelső kínai uralkodóknak. Egyes források neki tulajdonítják az írás,
a halászat és a vadászat felfedezését. A későbbi hagyomány Nü-va férje vagy fivéreként említi, ők
ketten Hua Hsu gyermekei. A történetírói hagyomány a legendás „három fenség” egyikének tartja.
(=3 Logosz?)

Az ember teremtését is neki tulajdonítják. Ember fejű és kígyó testű emberként ábrázolják (Naga).
Chengji-ben született, a Sárga folyó, alsó-középső szakaszánál.

Nü-Va és Fu Xi Kunlun hegységen élt. According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Fuxi and Nüwa
were the original humans who lived on the mythological Kunlun Mountain (today's Huashan). One
day they set up two separated piles of fire, and the fire eventually became one. Under the fire, they
decided to become husband and wife. Fuxi and Nüwa used clay to create offsprings, and with the
divine power they made the clay figures come alive. [1] These clay figures were the earliest human
beings. Fuxi and Nüwa were usually recognized by Chinese as two of the Three Emperors in the early
patriarchal society in China (ca. 2,600 BCE), based on the myth about Fuxi establishing marriage ritual
in his tribe. The creation of human beings was a symbolic story of having a larger family structure
that included the figure of a father.

On one of the columns of the Fuxi Temple in Gansu Province, the following couplet describes
Fuxi's importance: "Among the three primogenitors of Huaxia civilization, Fu Xi in Huaiyang
Country ranks first."[1] During the time of his predecessor Nüwa, society was matriarchal.

In the beginning there was as yet no moral or social order. Men knew their mothers only, not
their fathers. When hungry, they searched for food; when satisfied, they threw away the
remnants. They devoured their food hide and hair, drank the blood, and clad themselves in
skins and rushes. Then came Fu Xi and looked upward and contemplated the images in the
heavens, and looked downward and contemplated the occurrences on earth. He united man
and wife, regulated the five stages of change, and laid down the laws of humanity. He devised
the eight trigrams, in order to gain mastery over the world.

— Ban Gu, Baihu tongyi[2]

Fuxi taught his subjects to cook, to fish with nets, and to hunt with weapons made of bone,
wood, or bamboo. He instituted marriage and offered the first open-air sacrifices to heaven. A
stone tablet, dated AD 160, shows Fuxi with Nüwa.
Traditionally, Fuxi is considered the originator of the I Ching (also known as the Yi Jing),
which work is attributed to his reading of the He Map (or the Yellow River Map). According
to this tradition, Fuxi had the arrangement of the trigrams (八卦 bāgùa) of the I Ching
revealed to him in the markings on the back of a mythical dragon horse (sometimes said to be
a tortoise) that emerged from the Luo River. This arrangement precedes the compilation of the
I Ching during the Zhou dynasty. This discovery is said to have been the origin of calligraphy.
Fuxi is also credited with the invention of the Guqin musical instrument, though credit for this
is also given to Shennong and Yellow Emperor.

The Figurists viewed Fuxi as Enoch, the Biblical patriarch.

Fuxi is said to have lived for 197 years altogether and died at a place called Chen (modern Huaiyang,
Henan), where a monument to him can still be found and visited as a tourist attraction.

Some representations show him as a leaf-wreathed head growing out of a mountain or as a man
clothed with animal skins.

Fuxi and Nuwa were often depicted as having human bodies and dragon tails that were intertwined,
and holding measuring instruments (derékszög, iránytű), that represent the yang (male) and yin
(female) principles that permeate everything in the universe.

According to legend the land was swept by a great flood and only Fuxi and his sister Nüwa survived.
They retired to Kunlun Mountain where they prayed for a sign from the Emperor of Heaven. The
divine being approved their union and the siblings set about procreating the human race. [

Fu Xi did not directly create human beings, as Nuwa did, but he taught them all the skills necessary to
ensure their survival. He brought the Great Waters of the Universe into order by digging dikes, canals
and irrigation ditches to tame the Yellow River (Huanghe), whose flood cycles were a constant threat
to Chinese farmers.

Fu Xi 伏羲, also written 伏犧 or 伏戲, also called Mi Xi 宓羲 (also written 宓犧), or Pao Xi 包犧, (also
written 包羲, 炮犧 or 庖犧), is one of the Three Augusts 三皇 or Five Emperors 五帝 of Chinese
mythology. He is therefore known as Xi Huang 犧皇 or Huang Xi 皇羲 "August Shepherd". His
cognomen is Tai Hao 太皞 (also written 太昊) "Great Brightness", his tribal name Huang Xiong 黄熊
氏.

Fu Xi is also the deity representing the east and reigning the process wood (mu 木).
According to the books Huainanzi 淮南子 and Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋, he is assisted by the
spirit Gou Mang 句芒 who pulls out the sprouts of all plants in spring.

A story in the Shanhaijing 山海經 says that the mother of Fu Xi was Lady Huaxu 華胥氏
who conceived when she tread on the footpint of the God of Thunder (Leishen 雷神).

Fu Xi is credited by several inventions, like the Eight Trigrams (bagua 八卦) used for
prognostication. Each one of the trigrams represented a formation of the cosm, like Heaven
and Earth, mountains and rivers, wind and thunder, and so on. According to the book Baopuzi
抱朴子 Fu Xi is also credited with the invention of the fishing net. In the song collection
Chuci 楚辭 he is called the inventor of music. The book Yishi 繹史 says he invented
matrimonial rites that are otherwise attributed to his sister Nü Wa. The Hetu ting fuzuo 河圖
挺輔佐 praises him as the one who told men how to use the fire.

Emperor Tai Hao is not always identified with Fu Xi. According to other legends, Tai Hao
had the surname Feng 風. His officials had the designations of dragons. His residence was
Chen 陳 (modern Huaiyang 淮陽, Henan), and he reigned over the lower course of the
Yellow River. The families of this region with the surnames Ren 任, Su 宿, Xugou 須句 and
Zhuansou 頊臾 (rather the ruling houses of these minor fiefs of the Spring and Autumn period
春秋, 770-5th cent. BCE) are said to be his descendants. Tai Hao or Fu Xi are also called
Green Emperor (Qing Di 青帝 or Cang Di 蒼帝) and ruled over the East.

Rubbing of a relief stone from the Han period, showing Fu Xi and Nü Wa. The bodies of both end in
dragon tails, but still have legs with claws. They hold compasses and rulers in one their hands each,
while the other hand of each person reaches up to hold sun and moon. Nü Wa holds the moon, in
the disk of which a toad and a tree are seen, and Fu Xi supports the sun, on which a bird is visible. 56
× 67 cm.