A cartoon picture of Fuxi. (PHOTO:VCG)

By BI Weizi

Fuxi is one of the original ancestors of humankind, as well as China’s first hero and one of the most powerful gods, according to Chu Silk Manuscript, which is the earliest and most complete myth before the Pre-Qin Period.

Fuxi is credited with creating a number of innovations that benefited humankind, such as Eight Trigrams or Bagua (cosmology symbols), the writing system, fishing and domestication of animals, and played an immeasurable role in the progress and development of Chinese civilization.

According to Ban Gu, a famous historian in the Han Dynasty, it was Fuxi who laid down the law of humankind from no moral or social order.

The Invention of Fishing

Fuxi is considered to genuinely have cared about the people, and ready to help whenever they encountered hardships.

In ancient times, the earth was a place with lush vegetation and a wide variety of animals everywhere. At that time, humans had no other way to feed themselves than by hunting. Fuxi noticed that when the hunting went well, people could eat for several days. However, when they caught nothing, they had to starve indefinitely. After seeing people suffer from hunger, he went to a nearby stream, put his hand in and caught a few fish. He then showed humans how to catch fish by hand.

The Domestication of Livestock

In addition to being the first fisherman, Fuxi also taught people to domesticate livestock. He reasoned that having animals available for milk, meat and labor was much more practical than wasting time and energy hunting. Fuxi is also said to be responsible for the invention of writing, smelting metals and preserving meat.

Creating Eight Trigrams

Perhaps Fuxi’s greatest religious contribution to Chinese society was the creation of the Bagua or Eight Trigrams. The symbols in the Eight Trigrams contain the great mysteries of the universe, which consists of three broken or unbroken lines and are intended to represent the eight fundamental principles of reality. Eight Trigrams are the foundation of Tai ji and Feng Shui practices. Fuxi was said to draw Bagua after seeing a turtle coming out of a river.