2023 | 002.The Origin of Chinese: The Epic Battle between the Huang Emperor & the Demon God Chi You

Hello everyone, I am LAZY ANT. In the ending of my previous video, it was mentioned that Chi You and Huang Di engaged in a decisive battle. After Chi You's defeat, his image in Chinese culture was shaped as the most evil demon or villain. How did this story come about? First of all, we need to start by introducing the first of the Five Emperors, Huang Di. Huang Di was born and died approximately between 2717 BC and 2599 BC. He resided on Xuan Yua hill (today's Xinzheng City in Henan Province), and was therefore also known as Xuan Yuan Shi. Later, he was referred to as Ji surname by later generations because he grew up near Ji River. He was a descendant of the You Xiong people, also known as the You Xiong Shi, Di Hong Shi, or Gui Cang Shi. Due to the distant age, there are too many names that can easily confuse people. Therefore we will refer to him as Huang Di in this context. A long time ago, a famous war occurred in the history of China, and it was called the Battle of Zhuolu. After the Battle of Banquan, Huang Di's tribe integrated and unified several surrounding tribes, entering a period of recuperation. However, as the major tribes gradually grew stronger, the originally allocated territory gradually became inadequate to meet their needs. In particular, the expansion of the Chi You tribe eventually attacked the Yan Di tribe. The Chi You tribe had strong military power and sharp weapons, and quickly defeated the Yan Di tribe. Therefore, Yan Di had to seek help from Huang Di's tribe. In order to assist the Yan Di tribe, Huang Di's tribe sent troops to conquer Chi You. At the beginning, the tribe of Huang Di was also in a passive situation because Chi You's tribe had sophisticated weapons. It was at this time that the huang Di received the help of Ying Long, a winged dragon god, to summon and store rainwater to resist Chi You's attack. Chi You was not worried at all. He invited the Wing God and the Rain God, creating a strong storm with dark skies and strong winds, breaking through Ying Long's water storage formation. Seeing the situation was very dangerous, the Huang Di had to summon the goddess Nü Ba, who displayed powerful divine power to turn the weather sunny. Chi You and the Huang Di displayed their respective spells on the battlefield, making it difficult to distinguish who was winning. Chi You even used thick fog to disorient the Huang Di's troops, making it impossible for them to identify the correct direction or see the surrounding environment clearly. However, the Huang Di's subordinates, Feng Hou, later invented a compass to identify the correct direction and successfully escaped from the blockade of the thick fog. To change the course of the war, Feng hou arranged his troops using a unique method of eight directions. During the battle, if the enemy's army was considered as wind, they could only attack from eight directions, which were east, south, west, north, northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest. Based on these eight directions, the army was arranged, with each unit occupying one direction and the commander occupying the center, for a total of nine positions. During defensive operations, the arrangement of troops was changed over time to confuse the enemy and trap a portion of their forces while cutting off communication between different units. This was the earliest formation of military tactics, although rudimentary, it already had the prototype for the use of large-scale warfare. Feng Hou used this formation to diffuse the attack of the Chi You army. Enraged, Chi You charged in and killed Feng Hou, despite suffering serious injuries himself. The war lasted several times, and finally in the outskirts of Zhongji which is now located in Zhuozhou City, Hebei Province, Huang Di emerged victorious. He captured and killed Chi You, becoming the joint ruler of the entire Central Plains. The war was actually a conflict between two tribes fighting for fertile land. Another version of the story is that the tribe of Chi You owned salt lake and salt marshes, and because of their abundant salt intake, Chi You's army was healthier and stronger. The tribe of Huang Di mobilized many neighbouring tribes to join the war and fight for the salt marshes. In various legends of later generations, this war was mythologized, leaving behind many wonderful stories. For example, the people of the Chi You tribe were said to have the bodies of wild beasts but could speak human language, or had copper heads and iron foreheads. There were even claims that the Chi You tribe were extraterrestrial invaders, while the Huang Di tribe were the indigenous inhabitants of the Earth who rebelled against them. The war ended with the victory of the Yan and Huang tribes, and the Chi You tribe was driven out of the central plains. Therefore Yan Di and Huang Di became the common ancestors of the Chinese people from then on. “The Records of the Grand Historian” provides a detailed account of the large scale-battle between the Yan Di and the Huang Di tribes known as the Battle of Banquan, which was the first major tribal war recorded in Chinese history. However, during the same period, another important battle that influenced the direction of Chinese civilization, the Battle of Zhuolu, has very few records in historical texts, often leaving later researchers puzzled about which battle came first. The Battle of Zhuolu, which is said to have taken place 5,000 years ago, is a fierce battle between the allied forces of the Huang Di and the Yan Di tribes against the Chi You tribe. Even now, there are still traces of the battle in Zhuolu, County, Zhangjiakou city, Hebei Province. Therefore, it is inferred that the Battle of Zhuolu occurred earlier than the Battle of Banquan. Some scholars have also pointed out that the Battle of Banquan and the Battle of Zhuolu were originally the same War, but this theory currently lacks evidence and is only a guess. Upon closer examination of the objectives of the Battle of Zhuolu, it was actually a result of changes in the primitive labor conditions of the agrarian society, which led to a decrease in available resources. The two sides fought fiercely to compete for the limited resources and land suitable for grazing and farming. From the significance of the battle of Zhuolu, it had a very significant impact on the transformation of the ancient Chinese civilization from a primitive barbaric era to a higher level of civilization in the Neolithic period. The Battle of Zhuolu is a famous battle that has had a significant impact on Chinese and world history. Many people have revered and respected figures such as the Huang Di and Chi You, especially Chi You, who has been called the “God of War” by many dynasties and thus has been worshipped by many people. The impact of the Battle of Zhuolu was enormous. After the battle, the Huang Di continued to conquer the surrounding tribes with the momentum of his great victory. He incorporated many of these tribes, leading to the increasing strength of the Huaxia ethnic group and the gradual evolution into the Xia Dynasty in the future. After the Battle of Zhuolu, the strength demonstrated by the hunag Di greatly shocked the surrounding tribes, who then surrendered and submitted to him one by one. Therefore many places were in a state of peace during this time, and the living environment of various tribes was basically stable. They no longer roamed around and the shift from hunting to agriculture as the main means of subsistence allowed for a huge leap in productivity and the advancement of civilization. The greatest impact of the battle of Zhuolu was still in the military realm. The joint Forces of the Yan Di and the Huang Di faced the powerful Chi You tribe and fought a classic battle of the weak against the strong. In this battle, the military talent of the Huang Di received widespread attention, playing a very important role in the subsequent development of Chinese military literacy. This war can be said to be the foundational war for the Chinese nation. Before the Battles of Banquan and Zhuolu, each tribe lived separately, with a simple and barbaric lifestyle. It was not until the Huang Di unified the Chinese nation and continuously created and invented various things - palaces, silk clothing, ships and vehicles, bows and arrows, documents, paintings, calendars, mathematics, and so on - that Chinese culture and civilization took a big step forward. This is also the main reason why the Huang Di is considered the first of the Five Emperors and the origin of Chinese culture. In the next time, let's talk about the second emperor among the Five Emperors, Zhuan Xu. There is a Chinese proverb that goes: “Blue comes from indigo, but is bluer than indigo.” It means that the descendants are more capable than their ancestors, or that students can surpass their teachers. After Huang Di defeated Chi You, his military ability was praised by future generations. As Huang Di's grandson, Zhuan Xu 's military ability was no less than his. He once had a great battle with the legendary water god – Gong Gong, and left behind many wonderful stories. Follow my channel to learn more about the history and stories of Chinese culture. You'll never have to worry about running out of topics and stories during your next gathering with friends. If you like this video, please give me a like and subscribe this YouTube channel. Every subscription is the biggest Support! Thank you.