Fuxi (伏羲) | 24 Histories

Overview

Fuxi was a Legendary culture hero and ruler.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal name	Fu Xi	戲
Alternate name	Paoxi	庖犧	Páoxī

Life and dates

Attested activity

庖犧氏之王天下也
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 131, passage 7
庖犧氏降
Directly stated · History of Liao 63, passage 7
legendary antiquity
Directly stated · Book of Chen 2, passage 37; Book of Chen 24, passage 23; Book of Han 20, passage 27; Book of Han 98, passage 178; Book of Han 99, passage 138; Book of Han 117, passage 249; Book of Later Han 89, passage 69; History of Jin 35, passage 62; History of Jin 46, passage 3; Old History of the Five Dynasties 14, passage 181; History of Ming 284, passage 31; Records of the Grand Historian 127, passage 63; History of Yuan 171, passage 114; Book of Zhou 4, passage 178; Book of Zhou 46, passage 256
AD 1195 明昌六年
Dated from the passage context · History of Jin 29, passages 247-248

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Highest grade: sages 上上聖人
Nine grade table rank · Listed
Directly stated · Book of Han 20, passage 27

Places and affiliations

At Chenzhou 陳州 · Relation Capital of
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 14, passage 181

Works and attributed material

Changes 易
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Han 99, passage 138
Allusion · Subject of allusion · Speaker Ming Taizu (明太祖)
Directly stated · History of Ming 284, passage 31
Historian appraisal · Exemplar invoked · Paraphrased
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 256

Events and relationships

Came down to rule
Legendary rule · Participant
Directly stated · History of Liao 63, passage 7
Created eight trigrams
Cultural · Creator
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 131, passage 7; Records of the Grand Historian 127, passage 63
Met the turn of the Five Agents
Political · Exemplar
Directly stated · Book of Chen 2, passage 37
Gaomei sacrifice 高禖之祀
AD 1195 歲以春分日 · Ritual · Cult recipient · Received gaomei sacrifice
Dated from the passage context · History of Jin 29, passages 247-248
Taught food and drink methods
Cultural · Teacher
Directly stated · History of Jin 46, passage 3

Assessments and attributes

Assessment ideal of a world like Jing Ke and Qin Zu would not be far from Fu Xi and Shen Nong · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Zhou 46, passage 256

Source notes

Historicity legendary
Directly stated · Book of Chen 2, passage 37; Book of Chen 24, passage 23; Book of Later Han 131, passage 7; History of Jin 29, passage 248; History of Jin 35, passage 62; History of Jin 46, passage 3; Old History of the Five Dynasties 14, passage 181; History of Ming 284, passage 31; Book of Zhou 46, passage 256
Historicity legendary
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 117, passage 249

References in the histories

Search passages

History

19 passages

Book of Chen, Chapter 2Volume 2: Emperor Wu 2 · 1 passage

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己卯，分遣大使宣勞四方，下璽書敕州郡曰：「夫四王革代，商、周所以應天，五勝相推，軒、羲所以當運。 On jimao day he sent great envoys to proclaim comfort to the four quarters, issuing sealed letters of instruction to the provinces and commanderies: "The four kings changed the age—Shang and Zhou thus answered Heaven; the Five Agents succeeded one another—Xuanyuan and Fuxi thus met their destined turn.

Book of Chen, Chapter 24Volume 24: Zhou Hongzheng; Yuan Xian · 1 passage

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竊聞撝謙之象，起於羲、軒爻畫，揖讓之源，生於堯、舜禪受，其來尚矣，可得而詳焉。 I have heard that the image of yielding and modesty arose with the trigrams of Xi and Xuan, and that bowing and yielding began with the abdications of Yao and Shun. The tradition is ancient and can be traced in detail.

Book of Han, Chapter 20Table of Ancient and Modern Persons · 1 passage

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太昊帝宓羲氏 Emperor Taihao Fuxi

Book of Han, Chapter 98Volume 87a: Yang Xiong 1 · 1 passage

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或稱戲、農，豈或帝王之彌文哉？ Some exalt Fu Xi and Shen Nong—are they the final model for emperors?

Book of Han, Chapter 99Volume 87b: Yang Xiong 2 · 1 passage

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是以宓犧氏之作《易》也，綿絡天地，經以八卦，文王附六爻，孔子錯其象而彖其辭，然後發天地之臧，定萬物之基。 So Fuxi’s 《Changes》 laced heaven and earth, the eight trigrams forming its warp; King Wen added the six lines; Confucius aligned the images and wrote the judgments—only then could the hidden stores of nature be opened and the basis of the ten thousand things fixed.

Book of Han, Chapter 117Volume 100a: Afterword and Family History 1 · 1 passage

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方今大漢洒埽群穢，夷險芟荒，廓帝紘，恢皇綱，基隆於羲、農，規廣於黃、唐； Great Han has cleansed the mire, cut the brambles, stretched the emperor's net wider than Fu Xi or Shen Nong, vaster than Huangdi or Yao;

Book of Later Han, Chapter 89Volume 80a: Biographies of Writers 1 · 1 passage

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宫室寝庙，山陵相望，高显弘丽，可思可荣，羲、农已来，无兹著明。 Palaces and tombs crowd the horizon, vast and splendid, stirring pride—nothing since Fu Xi and Shen Nong has gleamed so visibly.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 131Volume 120: Treatise on Carriages and Dress, Part Two · 1 passage

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故《易》曰：「庖犧氏之王天下也，仰觀象於天，俯觀法於地，觀鳥獸之文，與地之宜，近取諸身，遠取諸物，於是始作八卦，以通神明之德，以類萬物之情。」 The Book of Changes thus says of the sage-king Baoxi: "he read the sky and the earth, studied the markings of animals and the lay of the land, took lessons from his own body and from things around him, and from this devised the eight trigrams to link human ritual with spiritual power and to give order to the myriad phenomena."

History of Jin, Chapter 29Volume 29 Treatises 10: Rites 2: Fang Qiu Ceremonies; Dawn, Sunset, and Lunar Ceremonies; Gaomei · 1 passage

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歲以春分日祀青帝、伏羲氏、女媧氏，凡三位，壇上南向，西上。 Each spring equinox they sacrificed to the Green Emperor, Fuxi, and Nüwa—three south-facing seats on the altar, ranked from the west.

History of Jin, Chapter 35Volume 35 Treatises 16: Rites 8: Consecration of Shrines to a Sages; Temple to the Warrior King Cheng of Zhou; Monarchs of Past Ages; Halls to Various Spirits in Changbai Shan, Dafang Shan, Amur River, Jia Yin Hou; Spirits of the Lu River; Spirits of Zhao Yin Shun; Spirits of Zhen an Gong, Rui Shen Gongl; Worshipping, Sacrifices, Vists, and State Ceremonies at Zhen Xian Jun Wang Temple · 2 passages

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三年一祭，于仲春之月祭伏犧于陳州，神農於亳州，軒轅於坊州，少昊於兗州，顓頊於開州，高辛於歸德府，陶唐於平陽府，虞舜、夏禹、成湯於河中府，周文王、武王於京兆府。 Sacrifices were held once every three years: in mid-spring Fuxi was honored at Chen Prefecture, Shennong at Bozhou, the Yellow Emperor at Fang Prefecture, Shaohao at Yan Prefecture, Zhuanxu at Kai Prefecture, Gaoxin at Guide Prefecture, Emperor Yao at Pingyang Prefecture, Shun, Yu, and Tang at Hezhong Prefecture, and Kings Wen and Wu of Zhou at Jingzhao Prefecture.

《開寶禮》犧、軒、顓頊、帝嚳、陶唐、女媧、成湯、文、武請禦署，自漢高祖以下二十七帝不署。 The Kaibao Rites require imperial endorsement for Fu Xi, the Yellow Emperor, Zhuanxu, Di Ku, Emperor Yao, Nüwa, Tang, and Kings Wen and Wu; from Han Gaozu downward twenty-seven emperors are not endorsed.

History of Jin, Chapter 46Volume 46 Treatises 27: Finance and Economics 1: Thorough Examination and Organization of Registered Residences · 1 passage

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然燧人、庖犧能為飲食之道以教人，而不能使人無飲食之疾。 Even Suiren and Fuxi could teach mankind how to prepare food and drink, yet they could not spare people every ill that diet brings.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 14Volume 14 Book of Later Liang 14: Biographies 4: Luo Shaowei, Zhao Chou, Wang Ke · 1 passage

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珝博通前古，以陳州本伏羲所都，南頓乃光武舊地，遂稽考古制，崇飾廟貌，為四民祈福之所。 He restored Fuxi and Guangwu shrines at Chen for public worship.

History of Liao, Chapter 63Volume 63 Tables 1: Lineage · 1 passage

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庖犧氏降，炎帝氏、黃帝氏子孫眾多，王畿之封建有限，王政之布濩無窮，故君四方者，多二帝子孫，而自服土中者本同出也。 After Fuxi came down to rule, the lines of the Flame and Yellow Emperors multiplied. Royal fiefs within the heartland were finite, yet royal authority spread without limit; so most who held sway over the four directions were kin of those two emperors, and those who acknowledged rule within the central realm shared the same ancestry.

History of Ming, Chapter 284Volume 284 Biographies 172: Confucian Scholars 3 · 1 passage

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賜之誥曰：「古之聖人，自羲、農至於文、武，法天治民，明並日月，德化之盛莫有加焉。 He was given an investiture patent that read: "The sages of old—from Fu Xi and Shen Nong to King Wen and King Wu—governed the people on Heaven's pattern; their brilliance rivaled the sun and moon, and none surpassed the reach of their virtue and transforming power.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 127Biographies of Soothsayers · 1 passage

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自伏羲作八卦，周文王演三百八十四爻而天下治。 Ever since Fuxi created the Eight Trigrams and King Wen of Zhou elaborated the three hundred and eighty-four lines, the realm has been governed in good order.

History of Yuan, Chapter 171Volume 171 Biographies 58: Liu Yin, Wu Cheng · 1 passage

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分而言之，上古則羲、黃其元，堯、舜其亨，禹、湯其利，文、武、周公其貞乎！ Speaking in detail: in high antiquity Fuxi and the Yellow Emperor are the Origin, Yao and Shun the Flourishing, Yu and Tang the Advantage, and King Wen, King Wu, and the Duke of Zhou the Steadfastness!

Book of Zhou, Chapter 4Volume 4 Annals 4: Emperor Ming · 1 passage

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又捃采衆書，自羲、農以來，訖於魏末，敘為世譜，凡五百卷雲。 He also collected books from the age of Fuxi and Shennong down to the end of Wei and compiled them into a genealogical record of five hundred scrolls.

Book of Zhou, Chapter 46Volume 46 Biographies 38: Filial Piety · 1 passage

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如使舉世若茲，則羲、農何遠之有。 If all the world were thus, how distant would Fu Xi and Shen Nong seem?