The Yellow Emperor is the leader of the nomads in the legendary era, and the leader of the Chinese ancestors who led them from nomadic production and life to settled farming. Therefore, the Yellow Emperor was also the founder of the integration of nomadic culture and farming culture in the legendary era. Whether it is ancient China or today's Han people and Chinese people all over the world, they always think that they are descendants of the Yellow Emperor and the descendants of the Yellow Emperor and Yan Emperor, another ancestor who founded the farming civilization, thus calling themselves "descendants of the Yellow Emperor" and "descendants of the Yellow Emperor". Descendants of Yan and Huang”. At the same time, they also traced the occurrence, origin and many cultural aspects of ancient Chinese civilization back to the Huangdi or Huangdi era, which created the integration of nomadic culture and farming culture.
In historical China, the Chinese civilization based on farming culture dominated the historical development process of multi-ethnic unity in China. However, the unique Chinese civilization that began in the Huangdi and Huangdi eras in Chinese history is actually the nomadic culture, nomadic farming culture, fishing and hunting culture created by the Chinese farming culture in the Central Plains and its surrounding peoples, as well as the oceans on the southeast coast and islands. It is formed by the fusion of cultures. It is the only ancient civilization of mankind that continues to this day, and has made irreplaceable contributions to the development of human civilization.
In ancient China, when exchanges, conflicts, and contradictions occurred between the Central Plains and surrounding ethnic cultures, or when regimes established by ethnic minorities appeared in the Central Plains, and political powers with non-Chinese as the main rulers emerged, the Central Plains The Yellow Emperor, the illustrious ancestor of our ancestors, became a symbol of maintaining and consolidating the unity of China and inheriting and promoting Chinese culture amidst the fierce conflicts, collisions and blends of national cultures. In historical China, the Yellow Emperor often played a role in consolidating national unity, promoting national spirit, maintaining Chinese tradition, and integrating the excellent cultures of various ethnic groups.
The Yellow Emperor was the leader of the nomads among the Chinese ancestors in the legendary era
According to the "Historical Records of the Five Emperors": "The Yellow Emperor was the son of Shaodian, with the surname Gongsun and the given name Xuanyuan. He was born. The gods are weak but can speak, young and loyal, long and agile, and mature and intelligent. "It is also said: "At the time of Xuanyuan, the Shennong family declined." These records indicate that the Xuanyuan family of Huangdi was a descendant of Shaodian. It also shows that the Huangdi Xuanyuan clan prospered on the basis of the decline of the Shennong clan and replaced the Shennong clan. However, from the perspective of historical materialism on inter-ethnic communication and cross-ethnic transmission of culture, what is described in "Historical Records: The Chronicles of the Five Emperors" is exactly the nomadic tribal culture that took place among the Chinese ancestors in the legendary era and was full of vitality. On the basis of mutual learning and integration with the farming tribal culture that consolidated its soil and relocated, it became a vivid portrayal of the new farming culture. In the annals of Chinese history, there are many records about the Chinese ancestors led by the Yellow Emperor engaged in nomadic production and life. For example, "Historical Records: The Chronicles of the Five Emperors" records: Huang Di led "bears, pigs, ferns, xiu, 虙, and tigers to fight Emperor Yan in the wilderness of Banquan." However, the earlier "Guoyu·Jinyu" said : "In the past, Shaodian married the Youxi family and gave birth to the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor. The Yellow Emperor was born from Ji water, and the Yan Emperor was born from Jiang water. They were born with different virtues. Therefore, the Yellow Emperor was Ji and the Yan Emperor was Jiang." According to the record of "Shui Jing Zhu·Weishui" It is said: "The hill of Xuanyuan is in Shangxi." Shangxi refers to the area upstream of the Weishui River in today's Tianshui, Gansu Province. Scholars believe that Ji and Qi have the same pronunciation, so the Yellow Emperor’s activity area should be in the Qishui Basin at the foot of Qishan Mountain. Therefore, it is said that the Huangdi Xuanyuan clan was the first leader of the Chinese ancestors who was active in the northwest region and engaged in nomadic production and life. The historian Mr. Xu Xusheng once pointed out that the Xuanyuan clan of the Yellow Emperor continuously migrated from west to east and developed its own nomadic culture in the process of migration. Their eastward migration route was mainly along the Luoshui River in the north and south, arriving in the present-day Dali and Chaoyi areas, and crossing the Yellow River eastward. Then along the sides of Zhongtiao Mountain and Taihang Mountain, it gradually moves eastward and reaches the mountain bay of Zhuolu in the Central Plains. [1] This confirms what the Yellow Emperor said in "Historical Records: The Chronicles of the Five Emperors": "The city is located in Zhuolu, and migration is unpredictable." Here, we can see that when the Huangdi Xuanyuan family first arrived in Zhuolu, they were still in the state of Zhuolu. In the nomadic stage of living "chasing water and grass", they live a life of "immigration" and "impermanence".
However, "Historical Records: The Chronicles of the Five Emperors" also records that the Yellow Emperor, when he first arrived in Zhuolu, also led his people to "sow hundreds of grains of grass and trees, and convert birds, beasts, insects, and moths." This reflects that when the Chinese ancestors headed by the Xuanyuan clan of the Yellow Emperor arrived in Zhuolu, the Central Plains, they were undergoing a historic transition from nomadic production to settled agricultural production. Therefore, this also confirms that the Yellow Emperor was the leader of the Chinese ancestors who switched from nomadic production to settled farming in the legendary era.
The Battle of Banquan reflects the integration of nomadic culture and farming culture in the legendary era
According to the legend recorded in ancient Chinese books, the Yellow Emperor led the Chinese ancestors who converted from nomadic production to settled farming. , creating the integration of nomadic culture and farming culture in the legendary era. In the process of this huge historical change, there were two large-scale fierce battles with the farmers headed by Emperor Yan and the hunters headed by Chi You who had already been active in the Central Plains area. This is the legendary Battle of Banquan and Zhuolu that took place among the ancestors of China.
These two wars actually took place in the legendary era, and caused two large-scale tribal cultural conflicts, collisions and integrations.
After the blending of tribal cultures in these two legendary eras, a great fusion of the three Chinese ancestors headed by the Yellow Emperor, Yan Emperor and Chi You appeared in the Central Plains region, forming a social system that worshiped the Yellow Emperor as the leader and relied on the agricultural economy as the social foundation. Ancient Chinese farming culture that pays attention to etiquette traditions.
Let’s first talk about the battle between the Xuanyuan clan of the Yellow Emperor and the Shennong clan of the Yan Emperor, the Battle of Banquan. At that time, the Xuanyuan clan of the Yellow Emperor, who had just moved to the Central Plains, was in the process of transforming from nomadic herding to farming. Due to conflicts with the farmers headed by the Yan Emperor Shennong clan who had settled here earlier and had better production and living conditions and conflict, which triggered the Sakazumi War.
The result of the Banquan War was that Huangdi's Xuanyuan clan succeeded "the rise of Shennong's clan". This resulted in the first large-scale integration of nomadic culture and farming culture in the legendary era in Chinese history.
As for the conflict and fusion between the Xuanyuan clan of the Yellow Emperor and the Shennong clan of the Yan Emperor, "Historical Records of the Five Emperors" records this: "The Yan Emperor wanted to invade the princes, and the princes returned to Xuanyuan. Soldiers, govern the five qi and the five arts, pacify all the people, conquer the four directions, teach Xiong, Pi, Pi, Xiu, and Hu to fight Emperor Yan in the wilderness of Banquan three times, and then achieve his ambition. The emphasis on the "three wars" reflects the twists and turns of this conflict and integration, as well as the long-lasting process of cultural integration of the two tribes. As for the place where this conflict occurred, "Banquan", some say it is southeast of Zhuolu, Hebei, and some say it is near today's Yuncheng, Shanxi. No matter where they are, they all reflect the vastness of the area where the farming culture headed by Emperor Yan Emperor Shennong in the Central Plains and the nomadic culture blended.
"Liezi·Huangdi" also has this description of this battle: "The Yellow Emperor and the Yandi fought in the wilderness of Banquan, with handsome bears, scorpions, wolves, leopards, cockroaches, and tigers as the vanguard, followed by eagles and eagles. , eagle, and kite as the flags." It can be seen that in the battle between the Yellow Emperor's Xuanyuan clan and the Yan Emperor's Shennong clan, it was precisely because of the strength of the livestock herders who were good at controlling wild beasts and the strength and courage inherent in the nomadic culture. The one who was able to defeat the Yan Emperor Shennong clan.
In this way, the nomadic culture of the legendary era not only achieved integration with the farming culture, but also injected fresh vitality into the farming culture headed by the Yan Emperor Shennong who entered the Central Plains earlier, creating It formed a great fusion between nomadic culture and farming culture in Chinese history, absorbing and injecting each other into each other, thus giving ancient Chinese farming civilization a source of vitality that continues to develop and grow.