Huangdi, Wade-GilesHuang-ti (Chinese: “Yellow Emperor”),formallyXuanyuan Huangdi, third of ancientChina’s mythological emperors, aculturehero andpatron saint ofDaoism.

Huangdi is reputed to have been born about 2704bc and to have begun his rule asemperor in 2697. His legendary reign is credited with the introduction of wooden houses, carts, boats, thebow and arrow, and writing. Huangdi himself is credited with defeating “barbarians” in a great battle somewhere in what is now Shanxi—the victory winning him the leadership of tribes throughout the Huang He (Yellow River) plain. Some traditions also credit him with the introduction of governmental institutions and the use of coined money. Huangdi’s wife was reputed to have discoveredsericulture (silk production) and to have taught women how to breed silkworms and weave fabrics of silk.

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traditional Chinese medicine: Huangdi and the Huangdi neijing

The third of the three ancient Chinese emperors began his rule in 2697 bce. Called the Yellow Emperor, because his patron...

Huangdi is held up in some ancient sources as a paragon of wisdom whose reign was a golden age. He is said to have dreamed of an ideal kingdom whose tranquil inhabitants lived in harmonious accord with thenatural law and possessed virtues remarkably like those espoused by early Daoism. On waking from his dream, Huangdi sought to inculcate these virtues in his own kingdom, to ensure order and prosperity among the inhabitants. Upon his death he was said to have become an immortal.