Is there any historical basis for the legend of the Yellow Emperor? Why?

The answer to these two questions is the same: legend and truth.

The Yellow Emperor is a legend, because the era of the Yellow Emperor was about 5,000 years ago, and there is no direct written and historical record. So far, the oldest written language in China is Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and the oldest written record is Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. These evidences are only more than 3,000 years ago, which mainly reflect the social culture of the Yin and Shang Dynasties.

The official history of the Yellow Emperor comes from Sima Qian's Records of the Five Emperors, which records the deeds of Emperor Xuanyuan, Emperor Levin of Zhuan Xu, Emperor Xun and Emperor Zhonghua. At the end of the article, Sima Qian also said that he personally visited many places about the legends of the Five Emperors and compared them with the records in the Spring and Autumn Annals and Guoyu. Although the cultural origins are different from south to north and the local weathering is different from east to west, the stories and legends of ancient sages and kings are basically the same. It can be seen that in the Han Dynasty, about 2000 years away from the era of the Yellow Emperor, the deeds about the Yellow Emperor have been widely circulated among the people and become an immortal spiritual and cultural heritage in people's minds, which has been preserved from mouth to mouth to this day.

It is worth noting that in the early 1920s, under the influence of western culture, there appeared an ideological trend of doubting ancient history in China's historiography circle, holding that ancient historical facts such as Pangu's creation of heaven and earth and the rule of virtue by three emperors and five emperors were just illusory myths and legends, and were "pseudo-ancient history", which was completely based on the homology of Chinese culture and ancestors. Although this view caused fierce controversy and opposition at that time, its anti-feudal concept of "breaking the past and investing in gold" had a far-reaching negative impact, and as a school of historical view, it was widely circulated in academia and education, causing misleading thoughts and confusion of understanding, which should not be underestimated.

With the emergence of new archaeological discoveries in recent decades, the academic fog has finally been cleared away. 1973, the Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor, buried underground for 2 142 years, was unearthed from the No.3 Han Tomb in Mawangdui, and it suddenly broke ground, providing the most convincing basis for confirming that the legend of the Yellow Emperor is not a myth. Later, after years of research and textual research by scholars on both sides of the strait, it was agreed that the Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor was not a fake book, and the Yellow Emperor was a real historical figure. This book was compiled by Wang Hansheng, a historian of Taiwan Province Province, with four years' annotations, and was officially published in 1974.

From then on, the academic circles had a correct understanding of the prehistory of China. Many scholars believe that the ancient legends from Fuxi, Shennong to Huangdi reflect the initial occurrence and early development of Chinese civilization.

Xu, a famous modern historian in China, pointed out in his book The Legendary Times of China's Ancient History (published in 1985): "In the early development of all ethnic groups, their initial history was always passed down by word of mouth." "The main difference in nature between the historical materials of the legendary era and the historical era is that the reliability of the former is worse than that of the latter." At the same time, it also points out: "Legends in very ancient times always have their historical characteristics and core, and they are not fiction."

Professor Li Xueqin, a famous historian and archaeologist, pointed out in the article Out of the Age of Doubting the Ancient: On Ancient Civilization (revised by Liaoning University Edition 1997): "Historical Records follows the view of the five emperors' virtues collected in Da Dai, with the Yellow Emperor as the first in the chronicle of the five emperors, which can be said to be a symbol of the formation of Chinese civilization. "Therefore, taking the legend of Yanhuang as the origin of Chinese civilization is not a creation of modern people, but an ancient saying."

He Guangyue, a famous expert on the origin and history of the Chinese nation, believes that Yan Di and Huangdi did exist in the history of China, and they are both descendants of the Fuxi family of Taihao. Taihao Fuxi family was born in Tianshui, the middle reaches of Weihe River, about 6000 years ago. Later, its tribe moved eastward, with its capital in Guchencang (now Baoji, Shaanxi). The earliest Yan Di Shennong and Huangdi Xuanyuan were brothers. Emperor Yan was born in Jiang Shui, and Emperor Huang was born in Jishui (also called Qishui). Today, many people still regard the Yellow Emperor, the ancestor of our nation, as a virtual figure, which is wrong.

Mr. Xiong Chunjin, Ambassador of Sinology Public Welfare Image in China, has devoted his efforts for decades. Based on his in-depth study of Chinese and Western cultures, the revision of China's traditional Taoism and Taoist medical culture, and his profound academic skills in educational practice, he made detailed textual research and annotation on the Four Classics of Huangdi and the Silk Book Lao Zi Tao Jing. According to the concept of moral development in the "Moral Classics" of Laozi, social development is divided into Tao and Tao. Based on the unique historical view and development view of China traditional culture, this paper scientifically divides the social history of China with the most basic factor "morality" as the analysis symbol, which convincingly proves that China's moral root culture has a long history and is true. He said: "China in the east of the world is one of the ancient civilizations with the longest cultural history and the richest cultural deposits in the world. It has a long history of more than 8,000 years since Fuxi, and the Chinese nation has a history of more than 5,000 years if it is counted from the Yanhuang era with rich written records. For more than 5,000 years, China people in the East have proudly called this hot land where they live "Shenzhou". There are many interpretations of the meaning of China, but all of them can not be separated from the following meanings: it is a land with smooth roads and respected roads, a fertile ground for harmony between man and god, a pure land that is most conducive to human habitation, reproduction and development, and a blessed land that can train many moral talents to become immortals. According to Laozi's revelation of the stage of spiritual civilization and social development, it is not difficult to see that the Shenzhou period was an era of governing the country by virtue, morality and benevolence. "

In this era of China, Fuxi founded Yi Dao culture, which opened the source of Chinese civilization by interpreting Taoism with Yi and interpreting Yi with hexagrams. The Book of Changes is still a great source of scientific discovery and creation in the world. About 8000 years ago.

Huangdi founded the culture of law and Taoism, discussed Taoism by law, and took the lead in self-cultivation and governing the country. He was the ancestor of Chinese humanities. The Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor left an invaluable treasure house of wisdom for mankind to re-understand the nature of the universe and the mysteries of the human body and the country. About 5000 years ago.

In the last years of benevolent government, the sage Lao Zi had an insight that human society would continue to decline along the track of "morality first, morality first, benevolence first, and benevolence first" (Chapter 1 of "On Morality"). On the basis of developing and perfecting the culture of Yi Morality and Taoism, he founded the culture of Morality and Taoism, and proved morality by virtue, and personally wrote the 5,000-word Tao Te Ching, which has been honored as the king of world philosophical classics so far. About 2500 years ago. (See Xiong Chunjin's On Moral Revival, Self-cultivation, Taking History as a Mirror, On Moral Cultural Revival, Unity Press, 2008).

At this point, Fuxi Yi Dao-Huangdi's moral outlook, Taoist-Laozi's moral outlook and Taoist culture constitute a complete ideological and cultural system of Chinese moral root-seeking. The Taoist culture of the Yellow Emperor is a link between the preceding and the following. If we don't face it squarely and cherish it, China's 8,000-year civilization and 5,000-year history will become a rootless tree and passive water. Always be ashamed of your ancestors; The shame of future generations.

So, how to treat the "myth" of the legend of the Yellow Emperor? As long as we get out of the habitual thinking misunderstanding of "myth = superstition", it is easy to get a reasonable explanation. Looking around the world to China, almost all prehistoric civilizations are related to "myth". In other words, not only did China have the "Shenzhou" period of "three emperors and five emperors", but other ancient civilizations in the world, such as ancient Greek culture, Mayan culture and ancient Indian culture, also had their own unique "mythical" history and figures. During this period, human beings lived in harmony with nature and possessed supernatural abilities and great wisdom that modern people could not understand. For example, Fuxi uses gossip to convey the natural phenomena of the universe and the information connection between heaven and earth; Huangdi expressed the mystery and method of self-cultivation and harmony between man and nature in governing the country with the thought of "law and Tao" Laozi explained the origin of the universe and the development and return of all human life with the philosophical views of "Tao" and "virtue"; Buddhist culture in ancient India has never declined; The magical prophecy left by the Mayans thousands of years ago has been constantly confirmed. All these show us that human beings' exploration and understanding of the nature of the universe, their own life truth and spiritual home is far from enough and very shallow. Of course, human beings have no right to deny and nothingness those ancient cultures and history that they are still ignorant or can't really understand. Perhaps in the new millennium of 2 1 century, human beings will find the key to a thorough understanding of the truth of nature, the universe, the world and their own lives from the treasure house of Chinese moral root culture, and firmly move towards the road of returning to their spiritual home.