Huángdì(黄帝) and Yándì (炎帝) — Ancestors of the Chinese Nation

Nearly 5,000 years ago, in the central plain of China（catchment areas of Huánghé 黄河，the Yellow River ）, two tribes became stronger and stronger. These tribes were led by Huángdì 黄帝( Yellow Emperor ) living mainly in Shǎnběi 陕北 Altiplano，north of Shǎnxī Province（陕西省 ), and Yándì 炎帝( Fire Emperor) mainly in Guānzhōng（关中）area south of Shānxī Province（山西省 ). The tribes had such a good relation that the two leaders were regarded as half-brothers.

At that time，there was another tribal group ( called Jiǔlí 九黎) headed by Chīyóu （蚩尤）, which contested with Yándì for control of the populated and fertilized areas of Zhōngyuán 中原 ( the lower reached area of Yellow River ) . Then Yándì asked for recourse to Huángdì. The two sides fought fiercely against each other at the battle field of Zhuōlù (涿鹿) in Héběi Province . During the campaign ， Huángdì designed many ingenious tactics for the battle. He arrayed his soldiers into phalanxes with totem flags of bears , tigers and leopards , which made the soldiers fight more bravely . With the help of his counselors Fēnghòu（风后） and Lìmǔ（力母）, Huángdì won the war and killed Chīyóu. The tribal groups of Jiǔlí reorganized with one part merging into the Huángdì’s and Yándì’s tribes and the other part fleeing to the south . Not only leading his troops to occupy Jiǔlí’s area but extending to the east , Huángdì began to unite all tribes into a nation.

For the right of domination , the two brothers , Huángdì and Yándì clashed . The two sides had a life and death war in Bǎnquán (阪泉)，southeast Zhuōlù. Huángdì defeated Yándì and made him submit and pledge allegiance . After this battle , Huángdì and Yándì reunited and the absolute power of Huángdì was established . Huángdì continued to exploit his victories and conquer the whole area of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River where the cradle of the Chinese nation was shaped.

Though Huángdì built his capital in Zhuōlù , he made journeys everywhere, improving people’s lives by educating them in their farming and weaving . He taught people how to use fire to cook their food and eat cooked food which was surely helpful to people’s health. He supervised and urged people to plant according to the natural agriculture cycle. His wife Léizǔ ( 嫘祖) was regarded as the goddess of silkworm weaving. She taught people to feed silkworms and use the silk fibers to weave clothes.

Yándì ( also called Shénnóngshì 神农氏 ) was the prime expert of agriculture. He educated people in farming to plant the 5 grains ( rice , two kinds of millets , wheat and beans) and use plowing tools to furrow the fields . He tasted hundreds of herbs in order to discover the curative ways for diseases. He taught people to weave their clothes by using hemp fibers, make pottery and porcelain wears and cut woods to build shelters .

Although their stories have been transmitted generations after generations , Huángdì and Yándì were both imaginary figures in ancient Chinese legends. Actually they were the representatives of the ancestors of the Chinese nation who started the nation . All Chinese people have been regarding themselves as “the Descendants of Yándì and Huángdì ”( Yán Huáng zǐsūn炎黄子孙) .