The Beginning of Chinese Culture

Ni Wo was the only creature on Earth and became very lonely. So, from the mud, she created people. These people kept Ni Wo company and she was no longer lonely. But, unknown to Ni Wo, there were other gods inhabiting the universe. The gods of fire and water were battling each other, and leaving a path of destruction in their wake. To the Earth, this battle was devestating. The sky was being destroyed along with the Earth and the people Ni Wo had created. So the goddess took colored stones and patched up the damaged sky. The goddess had saved the Earth along with her people. Ni Wo is regarded as the mythological mother of the Chinese people.

Many years later, the people that Ni Wo had created had reproduced and populated the Earth, but they had no knowledge and lived in caves. Ni Wo was no longer with them. However, the first of five saviours of the Chinese people came. He was known as the "Housing Emperor." The housing emperor taught the people how to build houses and shelter instead of living in caves. This gave the Chinese people the knowledge to create housing where ever they went.

The next saviour was the "Fire Emperor." He taught the Chinese people how to create fire from sticks. Ni Wo's people no longer had to live like animals and eat raw food that they caught. With their new found skills of cooking food, Chinese cuisine started.

Having fire to cook was excellent for creating exquisite dishes, but the main problem was getting the materials to cook with. Along came the "Domestication Emperor" who taught the Chinese people how to fish and tame animals so that humans didn't have to be nomadic. They no longer needed to follow the animals so that their supply of food could be steady.

Even though meat was an important source of food, it could not sustain the population the way it was growing. The "Gardening Emperor" came and taught the Chinese people how to plant and raise crops. Finally, the Chinese people could settle down and civilization truly started. After they settled down, the "Gardenong Emperor" became knownas Yen Di, one of the founding fathers of the Chinese people.

After Yen Di's death, his son was deemed as an unfit emperor, and people tried to replace him. Fighting broke out for many years. Finally, Hwang Di, or Yellow Emperor, stopped all the fighting and once again reunited China. Under Hwang Di's rule, Hwang Di taught the Chinese people music, mathematics, and the use of tools. He also taught them how to extract silk from the worm, and how to make a compass. This time period was similar to the European Rennassance and the rule under Hwang Di was known as the the first true Chinese history.

After Hwang Di's death, his great-grandson, Yao Di, one of Chinese history's noble kings, gave the throne to a competent successor instead of his son. This person was named, Shun Di. Shun Di did the same thing with the throne and passed it on to a more competent ruler, Yu Di. However, Yu Di was the last emperor to pass the throne to non-family. Yu Di founded the Xia dynasty and from then on, emperial thrones became a family "business."