Kù (, variant graph ), usually
referred to as Dì Kù (), also known as Gaoxin or Gāoxīn Shì () or Qūn (), was a descendant of the
Yellow Emperor.
He went by the name Gaoxin until receiving imperial authority, when he took the name Ku and the title Di, thus being known as Di Ku. He is considered the ancestor of the ruling families of certain subsequent dynasties. Some sources treat Ku as a semi-historical figure, while others make fantastic
mythological or religious claims about him. Besides varying in their degree of historicizing Ku, the various sources also differ in what specific stories about him they focus on, so that putting together the various elements of what is known regarding Ku results in a multifaceted story. Di Ku was (according to many versions of the list) one of the Five Emperors of the
Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions.
Much of t ...
. Ku, or Gaoxin, is also known as the "White Emperor".
Birth
Ku's lineage is derived from descent from the legendary
Yellow Emperor, then through the line of
Shaohao (as opposed to the line through
Changyi, which led to
Zhuanxu). He was the son of
Jiaoji
Jiaoji (? – ?) was an ancient Chinese figure and the son of Shaohao.
History
According to the ''Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of the Five Emperors'' by Sima Qian, Jiaoji was the grandson of the Yellow Emperor and a son of Shaohao. Neit ...
(), and thus grandson to Shaohao, and great-grandson to Yellow Emperor. According to speculative dates calculated after 100 BC by
Liu Xin, he is supposed to have ruled from c. 2436 BC to c. 2366 BC, though other dates are also mentioned.
As emperor
When he became emperor, Ku added the title ''Di'', meaning "Thearch" (commonly translated as "Emperor"), in front of his name. After achieving the imperial title, Ku was said to travel seasonally by riding a
dragon in spring and
summer, and a horse in
autumn
Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( South ...
and winter.
Among other things, Ku was said to be an inventor of musical instruments and composer of songs. According to the ''
Lüshi Chunqiu
The ''Lüshi Chunqiu'', also known in English as ''Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals'', is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BC under the patronage of the Qin Dynasty Chancellor Lü Buwei. In the evaluation of Michae ...
'', drums, bells, chimes, pipes, ocarinas, and flutes were all invented, on the orders of Ku, by his subordinate Youchui(有倕); Ku's lyrics had musical scores(titles were 九招,六列,六英) composed by his assistant Xianhei(咸黑); and by a further imperial command, a dance accompaniment was provided by a phoenix.
Although Ku held the title ''Di'', it is unclear what territory, if any, his empire might have consisted of. The same title ''Di'' was later assumed by the
King of Qin, upon conquering his neighboring kingdoms and forging them into the first historically-known empire of
China.
Wives and Descendants
Ku had
several wives. The best-known of his consorts are four ladies:
Jiang Yuan Jiang Yuan () is an important figure in Chinese mythology and history. She is recorded as having lived during ancient Chinese history. Jiang Yuan was the mother of Houji, who is a culture hero and revered as the god of millet.
Clan name and title
...
,
Jiandi
Jiandi (), also with variants 簡易/简易 and 簡逷/简逷, is an important figure in Chinese history and Chinese mythology. She was the second wife of Emperor Ku, who was a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. Jiandi was the mother of Xie (偰), ...
,
Changyi(常宜), and
Qingdu(庆都).
Once each of these ladies had given birth to a son (
Houji
Hou Ji (or Houji; ) was a legendary Chinese culture hero credited with introducing millet to humanity during the time of the Xia dynasty.. Millet was the original staple grain of northern China, prior to the introduction of wheat. His name translat ...
,
Xie,
Zhi, and
Yao, respectively) Ku had a diviner foretell for him which of the sons was destined to rule the empire, and he received the answer that all four would.
Another source mentions a lady with whom he had eight sons, each one born after she had dreamed of swallowing the
sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
; although her name is uncertain, she was said to be from Zoutu.
Shiji also recorded the lineage names of Zhi's mother as Juzi () and Yao's mother as Chenfeng ().
According to some traditions, each of these four sons inherited Ku's empire or was ancestral founder of a
Chinese dynasty
Dynasties in Chinese history, or Chinese dynasties, were hereditary monarchical regimes that ruled over China during much of its history. From the legendary inauguration of dynastic rule by Yu the Great circa 2070 BC to the abdication of the ...
. The first of Ku's sons to rule the kingdom was
Emperor Zhi
The Emperor Zhi (, ''Dì Zhì''; ) was a legendary emperor of ancient China.
Legend
Zhi is recorded as one of the quasihistorical prehistoric rulers of ancient China between the mythological era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors a ...
, who was the son of Changyi. Another of his sons later became the
Emperor Yao. Ku's son Xie, born miraculously to
Jiandi
Jiandi (), also with variants 簡易/简易 and 簡逷/简逷, is an important figure in Chinese history and Chinese mythology. She was the second wife of Emperor Ku, who was a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. Jiandi was the mother of Xie (偰), ...
after she swallowed the
egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...
of a black bird, became the predynastic founder of the ruling family of the
Shang dynasty. Ku's son
Houji
Hou Ji (or Houji; ) was a legendary Chinese culture hero credited with introducing millet to humanity during the time of the Xia dynasty.. Millet was the original staple grain of northern China, prior to the introduction of wheat. His name translat ...
, born miraculously to Jiang Yuan after she stepped in the footprint of a
god
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
, became a predynastic founder of the lineage of the
Zhou dynasty.
According to ''
Samguk Sagi'', the
kings of Goguryeo regarded themselves as a descendant of Chinese heroes because he called his surname "Go" (
Hanja: ) as they were the descendant of
Gao Yang (
Hanja: ) who was a grandchild of the
Yellow Emperor and Gaoxin (
Hanja: ) who was a great-grandchild of
Yellow Emperor.
Bamboo Annals
In the ''
Bamboo Annals
The ''Bamboo Annals'' (), also known as the ''Ji Tomb Annals'' (), is a chronicle of ancient China.
It begins in the earliest legendary time (the age of the Yellow Emperor) and extends to 299 BC, with the later centuries focusing on the history o ...
'', one of the earliest sources, it is mentioned that when Emperor
Zhuanxu died, a descendant of
Shennong
Shennong (), variously translated as "Divine Farmer" or "Divine Husbandman", born Jiang Shinian (), was a mythological Chinese ruler known as the first Yan Emperor who has become a deity in Chinese and Vietnamese folk religion. He is venera ...
named Shuqi(術器) organized a rebellion, but was destroyed by a descendant of Huangdi, Ku (of the Gaoxin lineage) the Prince of Xin; Ku then ascended to the throne. It also states that Ku "was born with double rows of teeth, and had the wisdom of a sage", and that he "made blind men beat drums, and strike bells and sounding stones, at which phoenixes flapped their wings and gambolled". The ''Annals'' further record that in the 16th year of his reign, he sent his general Chong(重) to defeat the state of Yukwai(有鄶). In the 45th year, Ku designated the prince of Tang (his son Yao) as his successor, however upon his death in the 63rd year, his elder son Zhi then took the throne instead, ruling 9 years before being deposed and replaced by Yao.
Bamboo Annals in English using 今本竹書紀年
/ref>
See also
*Di Jun Di Jun () also known as Emperor Jun is one of the ancient supreme deities of China, now known primarily through five chapters of the ''Shanhaijing'' (Yang 2005, 97). Di Jun had two wives, or consorts: Xihe and Changxi, and Di Jun figures in several ...
* Dog (Chinese mythology)
Notes
References
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Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors