- Huang Di was popular in written texts during the Warring States period and as he became more popular more and more diverse stories arose about him.
- Information about him comes from two main texts, the Shizi and Dadai Liji.
Differing Accounts of Birth
- The Shizi text describes his birth as miraculous, his mother Fubao saw a bolt of lightening circling one of the stars in the Great Bear constellation.
- Astronomical phenomenon were considered signs of special events that will occur and certain occurrences signaled the birth or death of a great man or the prosperity or decline of a dynasty.
- According to the Dadai Liji text, Huang Di was simply born and simply grew up naturally intelligent and lacked the miraculousness that the Shizi gave Huang Di's birth.
Significance Today
- Huang Di is a cultural symbol of a unified Chinese people, originally considered to be the ancestor of the Han group of Chinese people he was later considered during the Late Imperial Era the ancestor of all Chinese ethnic groups.
- Huang Di is honored today at the Xuanyuan Temple involving many groups of Chinese people coming together to worship what they consider a common ancestor.
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