1. The fading legend of the age of “the Three Majesties and the Five Emperors”

(According to tradition it lasted from 2800 BC to 2070 BC).

– Meanwhile:

Middle East: the period of the Egyptian Old Kingdom, when the pyramids were built

Mediterranean region: the foundation of Troy

Carpathian Basin: the emergence of bronze, the beginning of the Early Bronze Age

During the Han dynasty, the oldest myths, legends and descriptions of religious events that survived only partially were collected and put in chronological order, making them officially part of Chinese history. Thus was born the age of the Three Majesties and the Five Emperors, the earliest period in Chinese history, still shrouded in legend, well before the time of the actual dynasties.

This was the age of mythical rulers, the so-called culture heroes. [A culture hero is a mythological hero or demigod who creates or acquires cultural assets for mankind, even from the gods themselves. Such was Prometheus in Greek mythology, who stole fire for the people.]

The early Chinese sources mention different names when writing about the legendary „three majesties” and the „five emperors”, but they certainly include Fuxi, who is credited with the discovery of writing, fishing and hunting, and Shen-nung, who is associated with the „invention” of agriculture.

The most famous figure of this mythical era, however, was the Yellow Emperor, or Huangdi, who is associated with the discovery of clothing, means of transport (chariots, boats) or the calendar. He was later regarded as the archetype of all Chinese emperors. (The founder of unified China and its first emperor, Qin Shi Huang also named himself after the Yellow Emperor).