The Yellow Emperor, Yan Di and Chi You are characters in ancient Chinese myths and legends, but the era in which they lived, the relationship between them, and the wars between them reflected the status of China's patriarchal communes. From a scientific point of view, Huangdi, Yan Di, and Chiyou should all be the leaders of tribal alliances in the patriarchal commune era.
According to some ancient Chinese myths and legends, the Yellow Emperor was the tribal leader in the Yellow River Basin. His initial activity center was in Xinzheng, Henan, and later expanded to Hebei and Shaanxi. The Yandi tribe first lived in the Jiangshui area in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. The activity area of ??the Chiyou tribe is in the lower reaches of the Yellow River in Shandong Province, to the south, generally in the southeast.
The Yellow Emperor lived at the end of China's primitive society, an era when wars between clans and clans and tribes were very frequent. Several wars between Huangdi, Yandi and Chiyou reflected the historical facts of that period.
It is said that there were three major wars between Huangdi, Chiyou and Yandi. The first was the war between the Chiyou tribe and the Yandi tribe. According to this myth, it was the Yen Gong tribe of the Yandi tribe that started the war with Chi You. Because Chi You developed westward and seized the land of the Japanese workers, the two sides had conflicts of interest and a fierce war broke out. Describing this war, it is said that "Chi You was the emperor and fought at Zhuolu with nine horns." Zhuolu is in the southeast of today's Zhuolu, Hebei Province. "A" means foothills, which is the east side of today's Taihang Mountains. "Jiujiao" refers to Jiuzhou and Jiutu. This means that all the lands of the nine Gong tribes were occupied by the Chiyou tribe. The Yandi tribe felt that their tribe was being bullied, so they asked the Huangdi tribe for help. Huang and his tribe united to fight against Chi You. So there was a second, more intense war.
In the second war, the Yellow Emperor tribe and the Chiyou tribe were the two main parties, and the location was still in Zhuolu. Historically, this war was known as the Battle of Zhuolu, and it was probably the largest war in ancient Chinese history.
According to ancient myths and legends, this fierce battle was extremely fierce. Chi You was a famous brave and capable leader in the southeast. "Yizhou Shu" quotes "Taiping Yulan" as saying that he "speaks like a wild beast, with a head of copper and a forehead of iron." He likely wore animal skins or had images of wild beasts painted on his body, and used copper as a weapon or protective armor. Anyway, he has extraordinary fighting ability. "Dragon Fish River Picture" also talks about pools. It is also said that Chi You "made swords, halberds, and staffs," which means bows and arrows, indicating that they had many and sophisticated weapons. These are beyond the reach of the Huangdi tribe. As a result, the alliance between Huangdi and Yandi began to lose several battles.
Once, when the two sides were fighting fiercely on Yuan Ye, a heavy fog suddenly arose in the sky, and Huangdi and his tribe were trapped in the center of the fog. However, the Chiyou tribe armed with bronze weapons showed off their skills, killing left and right, and Huangdi's tribe suffered heavy losses. Later, thanks to the style of the ministers of the Huangdi tribe, they built a south pointing car and determined the direction, allowing the Huangdi tribe to escape from the siege.
The final decisive battle between the Yellow Emperor and the Chiyou tribe was the most intense. Both sides mobilized all their forces, and Chi You also invited the tribe of Kuafu, a famous giant in the north, to help. At the beginning of the battle, Huangdi was defeated by the alliance of Kuafu and Chiyou who were good at fighting and running, so he lost five miles. Later, Huangdi used ingenious military tactics and set up surprise attack formations to turn defeat into victory. Kuafu was killed, Chi You fled, Huang Di chased him, and finally caught Chi You in Shaanxi. Huang Di cut off Chi You's head and cut his body into pieces. So now, there is a county town in Shanxi, which is said to be the place where Chi You was dismembered, and the salt pond near the county town is said to be made of Chi You's blood. Of course, the above are all nonsense myths, but they reflect the cruelty of this war.
The third war was between Emperor Huang and Emperor Yan. According to historical records, shortly after Chi You's defeat, the alliance between Huang and Yan also broke down. This is because "Emperor Yan wants to invade the princes" and compete for the leader of the alliance. As a result, many tribes sided with Huangdi and united to attack Yandi. It is recorded: "In the wilderness of Hanquan, he fought with Emperor Yan. After three battles, he achieved his ambition." Hanquan is now located in Huailai County, Hebei Province.
After the three wars, Huangdi's tribe developed greatly. He went south to fight many times and conquered many tribes. The so-called "Fifty-second World War brought the world to a new level." In the process, the Yandi tribe eventually formed a permanent alliance with the Huangdi tribe. The Yan and Huang alliance continued to expand their ruling area, reaching the sea in the east, the Yangtze River Basin in the south, Gansu in the west, and Shanxi and northern Hebei in the north. They basically controlled the entire Central Plains and initially determined the scale of China. Later, the merged Huangdi tribe and Yandi tribe were collectively called the Huaxia tribe. The Xia tribe later developed into the Chinese nation, so the Chinese nation regarded itself as the descendants of Yan and Huang.
In our country’s ancient books, there are many beautiful legends about our nation’s ancestors, Yan Di and the Yellow Emperor. For example, Emperor Yan taught people to be industrious, "the sun and the middle are the market", and "use the people of the world to gather the wealth of the world, trade and withdraw, and everyone gets his own place." Huangdi's legacy is even greater. It is said that he invented cars and boats, he invented cooking pots and steamers, and he taught people to build houses to protect themselves from wind and rain. He also asked his subordinates Cangjie to compose lyrics and Ling Lun to compose lyrics. These records undoubtedly deified Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang, but they also illustrate the love and respect that the descendants of Yan and Huang had for their ancestors.