The Three Sage Kings and the Five Legendary Emperors

Suiren, Fuxi and Shennong are known as the Three Sage Kings. They are the leaders of their time and they made many contributions and sacrifices to improve the lives of the people.
Suiren was the first and he supposedly lived about 18,000 years ago. His greatest contribution was the art of making fire by drilling wood. With this skill mankind could create fire on demand enabling mankind to eat cooked food. It also enabled mankind to keep warm and ward of wild animals.
Fuxi taught people how to domesticate animals. He also taught them to make nets to catch fishes, 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 strings 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 greatest contribution was teaching people to farm and for inventing many farming aids. He taught the people to grow rice, wheat, beans etc and invented barter trading. He also invented a 5 strings musical instrument.
Most people remember Shennong for his relentless effort to find remedies for illness by tasting hundreds of wild berries. Eventually one of these berries took his life.
Huangdi, Zhuanxu, Diku, Yao and Shun succeeded The Sage Kings. They were collectively known as the Five Legendary Emperors.
Huangdi was a good leader. He knows how to maximize the ability of those around him to rule the country and come out with innovations that benefit his people.
Huangdi was instrumental to the development of a written language for the Chinese people. He was also very interested in the art of healing and commissioned the compilation of “The Yellow Emperor’s Medicine Classic�. He also developed the 60 year cycle Farmer’s Calendar.
Huangdi was a man of peace and did not like war. During his rule, there was peace, stability and prosperity in his kingdom.
Zhuanxu who succeeded Huangdi was not his son. He was chosen over Huangdi’s many sons because of his outstanding ability. Zhuanxu greatest contribution was to bring law and order to the people plus consolidating the power of the central authority.
Like his great grandfather, Diku who succeeded Zhuanxu, was a benevolent king who took care of the interest of his people. To better manage the growing population, he created additional ministry with properly demarcated duties such as the Ministry of Land, Water, Metal Ores, Fire and Forestry. He conducted personal visits to ensure that that the country was well run.
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 divided the country into 12 states and appointed administrators for each of them. He continued to make further changes including setting up departments for land, music, farming, rites and works. Shun many contributions include drafting the five rules of etiquette for the dukes and princes to follow.
With the end of the reign of the Five Legendary Kings comes the Xia Dynasty founded by Yu. Yu most important contribution was for controlling the floods that caused a lot of problem for his people.

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