Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors

The Three Sovereigns, sometimes known as the Three August Ones, were said to be god-kings or demigods[3] who used their divine abilities to improve the lives of the Chinese peoples and gift them essential skills and valuable knowledge. The Five Emperors are portrayed as exemplary ancestral sages who possessed a great moral character and lived to an extremely old age and ruled over a period of great chinese peace. The Three Sovereigns on the other hand are ascribed various identities in different Chinese historical texts.

These high kings are said to have helped introduce the first use of fire, taught people how to build good houses and farm. Leizu, wife of Huangdi, is credited with the invention of silk culture. The discovery of medicine, the invention of the calendar and Chinese script are also credited to the 5 Emperors. After their era, Yu the Great founded the Xia Dynasty.[2]

According to a modern theory with roots in the late 19th century, the Yellow Emperor is supposedly the ancestor of the Huaxia people.[4] The Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor was established in Shaanxi Province to commemorate the ancestry legend.[4]

The Chinese word for emperor, huángdì (皇帝), derives from this, as the first user of this title Qin Shi Huang considered his reunion of all of the lands of the former Kingdom of Zhou to be greater than even the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

A related concept appears in the legend of the Four shi (四氏) who took part in creating the world. The four members are Youchao-shi (有巢氏), Suiren-shi (燧人氏), Fuxi-shi (伏羲氏), and Shennong-shi (神農氏). The list sometimes extends to one more member being Nüwa-shi (女媧氏), making Five shi (五氏).[5] Four of these five names appear in different lists of the Three Sovereigns. Shi (氏) means clan or family, so none of them are a single person in prehistoric times.

There is a saying that the Three Sovereigns are Suiren-shi (燧人氏), Youchao-shi (有巢氏), Shennong-shi (神農氏). The Suiren taught people to drill wood for fire so people could easily migrate. The Youchao taught people to build houses out of wood, so that people could leave caves to expand into the plains. After the number of people grew, Shennong tried a variety of grasses to find suitable herbs to solve people's food problems. The tribes also used the sovereigns' respective contributions as the name of the tribes.

Depending on the source, there are many variations of who classifies as the Three Sovereigns or the Five Emperors. There are at least six to seven known variations.[6] Many of the sources listed below were written in much later periods, centuries and even millennia after the supposed existence of these figures, and instead of historical fact, they may reflect a desire in later time periods to create a fictitious ancestry traceable to ancient culture heroes. The Emperors were asserted as ancestors of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties.[7] The following appear in different groupings of the Three Sovereigns: Fuxi (伏羲), Nüwa (女媧), Shennong (神農), Suiren (燧人), Zhurong (祝融), Gong Gong (共工), Heavenly Sovereign (天皇), Earthly Sovereign (地皇), Tai Sovereign (泰皇), Human Sovereign (人皇), and even the Yellow Emperor (黃帝).

The following appear in different groupings of the Five Emperors: Fuxi (Taihao/ 太昊), Yan Emperor (炎帝), Yellow Emperor (黃帝), Shaohao (少昊), Zhuanxu (顓頊), Emperor Ku (嚳), Emperor Yao (堯), Emperor Shun (舜).

• 
  Fuxi and Nüwa
• 
  Another depiction of Fuxi and Nüwa
• 
  Shennong
• 
  Yellow Emperor
• 
  Zhuanxu
• 
  Emperor Ku
• 
  Emperor Yao
• 
  Emperor Shun
• 
  Chi You

• Wufang Shangdi, the Five Emperors
• List of Neolithic cultures of China
  • Dawenkou culture
  • Liangzhu culture
  • Majiayao culture
  • Qujialing culture
  • Longshan culture
  • Baodun culture
  • Shijiahe culture
• Emperor of China

• . Translated by Allen, Herbert J. "Ssŭma Ch'ien's Historical Records, Introductory Chapter". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 26 (2): 269–295. 1894. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00143916. S2CID 161670530.
• "The Annals of the Bamboo Books: The reigns of Huang-te, Che, Chuen-heuh and Hëen-Yuen; The reigns of Yaou and Shun". The Chinese Classics, volume 3, part 1. Translated by Legge, James. 1865. pp. 108–116.