The Three Sage Kings of ancient China were Suiren, Fuxi and Shennong. They made personal sacrifices to improve the lives of the people. Today they are remembered for the many unique contributions to the Chinese people and mankind in general.
Suiren who reputedly lived 18,000 years ago discovered how to make fire by drilling wood. This discovering enabled mankind to eat cooked food and use fire to keep warm and ward off wild animals.
Fuxi taught people how to domesticate animals. He also taught them to make nets to catch fish, birds and wild animals and in the process ensure the supply of food all year round. He was also responsible for creating the institution of marriage and the for a 35 string musical instrument. His most important contribution however was the Bagua or Eight Trigram that formed the basis for the all important I Ching or Book of changes.
Shennong was the third Sage King. He taught people farming and to grow five types of cereals namely rice, wheat, beans and two types of millets. He invented barter trading and was responsible for inventing a 5 strings musical instrument.
However he was best remembered for tasting hundreds of wild herbs to find remedies to treat illnesses. In the process he suffered continually from poisoning and eventually die from eating one too many.
The emperors after Shennong were Huangdi, Zhuanxu, Diku, Yao and Shun and they are collectively known as the Five Legendary Rulers.
Huangdi was a great leader. He understands how to select able men and motivate them to help him rule the country and come out with innovations.
With the help of his many talented subjects, Huangdi developed a written language for the Chinese people. He also commissioned the compilation of the Yellow Emperor' Medicine Classic?which became the foundation of Chinese Medicine today. Finally we also developed a Farmer's Calendar.
During Huangdi's reign, the people experienced stability and prosperity. It ushered in an age of civilization for the Chinese people. This was mainly due to Huangdi's preference for peace and his dislike for war.
Huangdi was succeeded by Zhuanxu. Zhuanxu was not his son but he was chosen over many of Huangdi's son due to his ability. Among Zhuanxu's contribution was bring law and order to his people and consolidating the power of the central authority.
Diku who succeeded Zhuanxu was a benevolent king. He was also the great grandson of Huangdi. Diku reorganized the government and created new ministries with clearly specified duties. They include the ministry of Land, Forestry, Water, Minerals and Fire. His other contribution included improving the Farmer's calendar system.
Yao was Diku's son. He was industrious and benevolent like his father. He further developed the calendar and modified the timing of planting that resulting in bumper harvests.
Yao was followed by Shun, his son in law. Shun was a filial son and this is despite the fact that he was ill-treated by his step mother and father. This virtue earned him a lot of fame and soon Yao came to know about it. He summoned Shun to his court and became his trusted assistant. He later married Yao's daughter.
Shun made many changes to the administration including dividing the country into 12 states. He implement further changes and set up the department of water, land, works, farming, music and rites. In addition he also drafted the five rules of etiquette and other regulations for the dukes and princes to observe.
Shun was succeeded by Yu who founded the Xia Dynasty. Yu was famed for his ability to control flooding but that is another story for another time.
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