Fuxi

He is also known as Bao Xi () and Mi Xi (). ==Origin==

Pangu was said to be the creation god in Chinese mythology. He was a giant sleeping within an egg of chaos. As he awoke, he stood up and divided the sky and the earth. Pangu then died after standing up, and his body turned into rivers, mountains, plants, animals, and everything else in the world, among which is a powerful being known as Huaxu (). Huaxu gave birth to a twin brother and sister, Fuxi and Nüwa. Fuxi and Nüwa are said to be creatures that have human faces and the bodies of snakes. However, in some myths, Fuxi was held to be the creator, not Pangu, who worked alone and not with Nüwa. Fuxi was known as the "original god", and he was said to have been born in the lower-middle reaches of the Yellow River in a place called Chengji () (possibly modern Lantian, Shaanxi province, or Tianshui, Gansu province). A possible historical interpretation of the myth is that Huaxu (Fuxi's mother) was a leader during the matriarchal society (BC) as early Chinese developed language skill while Fuxi and Nüwa were leaders in the early patriarchal society (BC) when the Chinese began performing marriage rituals. A divinity Taihao (, "The Great Bright One") appears, vaguely, in sources before the Han dynasty, independent from Fuxi. Later, Fuxi is identified with Taihao, the latter being his courtesy or formal According to legend, the goddess of the Luo River, Fufei, was the daughter of Fuxi. Additionally, some versions of the legend state that she is Fuxi's consort. She drowned in the Luo River while crossing it and became the spirit of the Luo River. ==Creation legend==

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 offspring, and with the divine power they made the clay figures come alive. These clay figures were the earliest human beings. Fuxi and Nüwa are commonly recognized by the Chinese as two of the Three Sovereigns (along with Shennong) in the early patriarchal society in China (BC), 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. ==Social importance==

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." Alexander Catcott, a Hutchinsonian, identified Fuxi with the Biblical Noah (A Treatise on the Deluge). Fuxi and Nüwa were also thought to be gods of silk. ==Death==

, Hebei 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. ==Gallery==

File:Anonymous-Fuxi and Nüwa.jpg|Tang dynasty painting of Fuxi (right) and Nüwa (left) unearthed in the Astana Cemetery, Xinjiang. File:Ma-Lin-Fuxi-and-turtle.jpg|Seated portrait depicting Fuxi, painted by Ma Lin of the Song dynasty File:Guo Xu album dated 1503 (1).jpg|Painting of Fuxi looking at a trigram sketch, painted by Guo Xu () of the Ming dynasty File:Chinese woodcut, Famous medical figures; Emperor Fuxi Wellcome L0039312.jpg|Emperor Fuxi, woodcut print by Gan Bozong of the Tang dynasty File:Fuxi, Qiu Ying (painting).jpeg|Fuxi, painted by Qiu Ying of the Ming dynasty, as depicted in Orthodoxy of Rule Through the Ages File:Chinese Emperor Fu Hsi, wearing traditional costume, Wellcome V0018487.jpg|Chinese emperor Fuxi, wearing a traditional costume, holding the yin yang symbol, 19th century File:Fu Xi at Peterborough.jpg|Picture along with various scientists at Peterborough, UK File:Imperial Encyclopaedia - Education and Conduct - pic134 - 伏羲太極圖.svg|alt=|Fuxi's Taijitu diagram (from the Gujin Tushu Jicheng by Chen Menglei) ==See also==