The earliest system of ancient history in China. In the ancient historical legends of China, several theories of "Five Emperors" were formed during the Warring States Period. The word "Huang San" appeared at the end of the Warring States Period, and it was not until the Han Dynasty and before the Five Emperors that several theories of "Huang San" were formed.
The original meaning of "yellow" is "big" and "beautiful", and it is not used as a noun. At the end of the Warring States period, because the word "emperor" of God was used as the title of master, the word "emperor" was used to address God, such as the western emperor, the eastern emperor and God in Chu Ci. At that time, it was also called "Huang San" under the names of emperors, Huangdi and Tai Huang. In Zhou Li, Lv Chunqiu and Zhuangzi, "Three Emperors and Five Emperors" and "Guan Zi" also explain the different meanings of emperor, emperor, king and tyrant respectively, but their names have not been confirmed.
There are five theories about "Huang San" in human history defined by Han Dynasty: ① Shangshu was known as Sui people, Fuxi and Shennong. "Han Liwen's Family" and "Preface to the Annals of the Spring and Autumn Annals" also said the same thing, focusing on Xiangren. (2) The pivot of Chunqiu Dou Yun is Fuxi, Nuwa and Shennong. (3) The Book of Rites was written by Fuxi, Zhu Rong and Shennong. "The Book of Filial Piety" is the same as "The Book of Rites", but Zhu Rong comes last. (4) Biography of White Tiger is said to be the work of Fuxi, Shennong and * * *. ⑤ In the ancient history system listed in the Book of Songs at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Shao Hao Jintian was added between Huangdi and Zhuan Xu, and an emperor was added in addition to the "Five Emperors" mentioned in the Warring States Period. Therefore, some people promoted the Yellow Emperor, the first of the Five Emperors, to Huang San, alongside Fuxi and Shennong. First of all, Zheng holds this view, and Zhang Heng's Book of Emperor Shun of Han Dynasty and Huangfu Mi's Hundred Years of Emperor also follow this view. Then the pseudo "Preface to Shangshu" preached this theory. Since then, Fuxi, Shennong and Huangdi have become the three oldest emperors in the history of China. In fact, all the above theories are myths fabricated by Shu Wei after the end of the Western Han Dynasty.
There is also a legend of Huang San among the gods in the Han Dynasty. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Huang San was elected emperor, and Huangdi and Ren Huang were called Shu Wei's Preface to the Life Calendar in the Spring and Autumn Period and the "Beginning of Learning". Huang San in Taoist classics is divided into three groups: the former, the middle and the latter: "san huang" also has human figures (one said that they are twelve heads, eleven heads and nine heads respectively); There are thirteen heads, eleven heads and nine heads in the face, snake body or dragon body of Zhong (according to legend, Emperor Zhong is the Youchao family and Zhong is the Suiren family); After Huang San, the head of the queen snake was Fuxi, the head of the queen rehmannia was Nuwa, and the head of the queen cow was Shennong. Stone reliefs and silk paintings in the Han Dynasty are full of this image.
The word "emperor" originally refers to the heavenly emperor, but the word "five emperors" did not appear in the Mencius era. His book only mentions "three kings and five tyrants". Only in Xunzi did the word "five emperors" come before "three kings", but no one named them. Only Yao, Shun, Yu and Tang are called "Four Emperors" in On Soldiers. There is a saying in Sun Tzu's Art of War that "the Yellow Emperor is superior to the Four Emperors", which seems to be called the Four Emperors and Five Emperors (but Mei said that the word "emperor" was a mistake of "army"). Both Guanzi and Zhuangzi mentioned "Three Emperors and Five Emperors" many times, neither of which refers to their real names. In fact, from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were many names of ancient emperors or gods. Generally speaking, Huangdi, Boyi, * * Gong, Gun, Yu, April, Ji (waste), Gao, Xuan Tao, Gao Ji and Chang lived in the west. Unknown areas include Di Hong's family, Jinyun's family, Jintian's family, Shanshi Lie's family, and Tang Tao's family (the first two may be in the west, and the last three may be in the east). From east to west, including Boan, concubine, etc. , while those from the east and one from the south have Zhu Rong, that is, Chongli, and their descendants' eight surnames (such as Ji Lian's surname Chu Zu) and so on. Twelve ancient emperors and other ancient emperors mentioned repeatedly in the book are listed in Zhuangzi, 15 in Tamia Liu and 26 in Yizhoushu. Due to the gradual establishment of the five elements theory in the late Warring States period, everything must be combined into a number, so it is necessary to list the "five emperors" among the many ancient emperors mentioned above, so the following five theories of the five emperors appeared.
(1) "Five Emperors" said Huangdi, Zhuan Xu, Di Ku, Yao and Shun. According to their praise in Mandarin Lu Yu. The imperial clan fabricated a lineage with the Yellow Emperor as its ancestor. Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals and Records of Five Emperors inherited this theory.
② The connection between the Warring States policy put forward by Shennong, Huangdi, Yao and Shun and Yi. Zhuangzi, Huai Nan Zi Shu Zhen Xun and San also have this statement. Tongjian is opposed to the theory of three emperors and five emperors, but the earliest emperors listed in it are these five.
(3) Tai Hao, Yan Di, Huangdi, Shao Hao and Zhuan Xu were recorded in the Twelve Dynasties of Lu, Chun and Qiu. That's what The Book of Rites Moon Order says. Wang Fu's On the Hidden Husband brought the ancient emperors into the blood-yin system of the Five Emperors.
(4) The ancient history system arranged in The Book of Songs is based on the twelve periods and the monthly orders. There is Shao Hao between the Yellow Emperor and Zhuan Xu, and Zheng Xuan added Shao Hao to the former five emperors, saying that there are six of them, all of which are consistent with them. However, since the Eastern Han Dynasty, "Zheng Jiming" and other theories promoted the Yellow Emperor to one of the Huang San, followed by Huangfu Mi's "The Emperor's Century", and the following five people in Shao Hao were five emperors. Therefore, The False Preface of Shangshu is named Huang San after Fuxi, Shennong and Huangdi in front of the world classics, and Shao Hao, Zhuan Xu, Di Ku and Yaoshun are the five emperors behind. This theory will be adopted by history books in the future because of its respect for the status of Confucian classics. So this theory of "Three Emperors and Five Emperors" was regarded as the history of ancient beliefs.
⑤ The Portrait of Xiao Yan quoted in Zi Zhi Tong Jian seems to be the latest one, with Huangdi, Zhuan Xu, Kun and Yao as five emperors. However, Wu Liang only has more than 600 volumes of general history. According to Chen Li's White Tiger Certificate, the portrait tablet of Wuliangzong Temple may be a mistake, but this statement still comes from the mouth of Han people.
As for the mythical gods, they were all called emperors in Shan Hai Jing, and later they were also called "Five Emperors". For example, there is a phrase in the Songs of the South, which refers to God together with "pointing to heaven" and "abstaining from six gods". There is a saying in the Spring and Autumn Annals of Yan Zi that "Chu witches seek the virtues of five emperors", which obviously refers to the Heaven Emperor. Therefore, Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang said in Historical Records: "I heard that there are five emperors in the sky." That is to say, it became popular at the end of the Warring States period. At the same time, there is the theory of five-color emperors, offering sacrifices to the four gods of Bai, Qing, Huang and Yi, and Gao Han offering sacrifices to Hei Di Temple. To the spring and autumn latitude and Wen Yao hook, the five-color emperor famously said: "Cangdi said Lingwei, and the emperor also said red anger, Huangdi said hub, Baidi said white but refused, and Hei Di said juice light." Zheng Xuan's annotation on the sentence "Wang Tugu Na Xin" in the Book of Rites, that is, he quoted these names as "Five Emperors of Taiwei" and said that "the ancestors of Wang all thought that the essence of the Five Emperors was too small to make a living". The five emperors on the earth are said to be born of the five emperors in the sky, and put forward the fallacy of "feeling the emperor", which Wang Su has rejected.
Generally speaking, the people referred to in "Huang San Theory" are the symbols of China ancestors in different prehistoric cultural stages. There are three stages in the period of ignorance: low stage, intermediate stage and advanced stage. Shennong represents the lower stage of barbarism; On the other hand, Nu Wa is an earlier creator. In mythology, she and Fuxi combined to create human beings. The "Five Emperors Theory" refers to some tribal chiefs or military leaders in the heyday of patriarchal clan alliance and the disintegration of military democracy.