Chinese Myth Figures 中国神话人物 11 The Great Huangdi 黄帝

Huangdi was the Lord of Central Heaven; the four directions of heaven were in the charge of other lordi respectively. The Lord of Eastern Heaven Fuxi , with Goumang the god of wood as his assistant, was in charge of the spring; the Southern, Yandi, with Zhurong the god of fire, the summer; the Western, Shao Hao, with Rushou the god of gold, the autumn; the Northern, Zhuanxu, with Xuanming the god of water, the winter. Taking up residence in the central heaven, Huangdi, with his assistant Hou Tu the god of earth, was in charge of all four seasons and all the directions. Legend goes that Huangdi had four faces so that he could see the four directions at the same time. No matter what happened, no matter where it did, nothing escaped his eyes. As the supreme ruler of the kingdom of gods, he had everyone under his rule. Huangdi reigned in an impartial and rigorous way.

For instance, once Gu, son of Candle Dragon the god of mountain, conspired with another god and killed a god named Bao Jiang. Upon hearing that Huangdi flew into a rage. Gu's father Candle Dragon was a god whose seniority could be compared with Pan Gu. His eyes opened, day emerged; his eyes shut, night came. Given a puff of him, winter arrived; given another, summer took the place of winter. Taking no food, drink, or rest, Candle Dragon was always holding the candle in his month to light up dark Nine Springs the nether world, for which reason people showed great respect for him. However, even it was Candle Dragon's son that broke the law, Huangdi still handled the matter impartially. He had Gu and his accomplice arrested and sentenced them to death, avenging Bao Jiang.

Another time, an evil official named Wei subordinate to the human-faced, snake-bodied god Erfu, instigated his lord into killing another human-faced, snake-bodied god. Huangdi got the criminal arrested immediately he learned the fact. Being tied to a big tree on the mountain, the official was left there for thousands of years. As for the innocent god who had been murdered, Huangdi sent some powerful sorceress with magic medicine that brought him beck to life.

Huangdi wee not only the ruler of the deities but also of the ghosts. His assistant, the god of earth Hou Tu, was the king of the ghosts' world. Huangdi also owned a divine beast named Baize, which was so smart that it knew everything ab0ut everybody, be it human, ghost or deity. Since it knew well ab0ut all the ghosts and monsters in the ghosts' world, It was convenient for Huangdi to handle matters concerning them with Baize's help.

Some of Huangdi's descendants were gods,while some belonged to human minorities on the earth.For instance,the gods of sea in charge of the East Sea and North Sea,were son and grandson of Huangdi respectively;Gun,who stole Xirang from heaven to regulate flood for the masses,was grandson of Huangdi's brother;Zhuanxu,the Lord of Northern Heaven,was greatgrandson of Huangdi…As for Quanrong,Beidi,Miao tribe and Mao tribe,they were also descendants of Huangdi.Since Huangdi is the ancestor of both mortals and immortals,he is taken as the greatest god in the legend.