Fuxi (伏羲) | 24 Histories

Overview

Fuxi was a Legendary culture hero and ruler.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal name	Fu Xi	羲	Xi
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 24, passage 23; Book of Han 20, passage 27; Book of Han 98, passage 178; Book of Han 99, passage 138; History of Jin 35, passage 62; History of Jin 46, passage 3; Old Book of Tang 27, passage 69; 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
AD 1203 泰和三年
Dated from the passage context · History of Jin 35, passages 62-63

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

Works and attributed material

Changes 易
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Han 99, passage 138
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
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 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 Book of Tang 27, passage 69; Book of Zhou 46, passage 256

References in the histories

Search passages

History

16 passages

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

Open chapter

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

Open chapter

太昊帝宓羲氏 Emperor Taihao Fuxi

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

Open chapter

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

Open chapter

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

Open chapter

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 131Volume 120: Treatise on Carriages and Dress, Part Two · 1 passage

Open chapter

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

Open chapter

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

Open chapter

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

Open chapter

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 Book of Tang, Chapter 27Volume 23 Treatises 3: Rites 3 · 1 passage

Open chapter

羲、農、堯、舜，莫之易也； Xi, Nong, Yao, and Shun never altered it;

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

Open chapter

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.