The world often praises the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor among the ancestors of China, but they know very little about Chi You . At most, they only know a hazy impression that this is a figure in ancient legends.
The pursuit of the origin of Chinese civilization should be developed by the period in which they lived. They are also called the three ancestors of China.
But compared to the first two, the records of Chi You in history are not friendly. Chi You and Emperor Yan were both defeated by Huang Di, but their fates were very different. That's it. Not only was Chi You unable to regain his glory, His body was even dismembered.
Yanhuang Alliance
Strictly speaking, what they each rule is not the country, but the tribe they occupy. The Yellow Emperor is not the only emperor. It is said that he was parallel to Fuxi, Shennong, etc. at first. Some people think that the Yellow Emperor was the last Shennong.
The Yellow Emperor attached great importance to agriculture. He not only vigorously developed hundreds of grains and vegetation, but also made clothes and built boats and carts. Another theory is that the Yellow Emperor was a nomadic tribe. He often lived on the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau or in the Weihe River basin.
Emperor Yan is the legendary Jiang surnamed tribe who became the leader because he learned how to use fire. He made a difference in farming . Emperor Yan's tribal footprints are mostly in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River .
The commonality and adaptability of the tribes led by Emperor Huang and Emperor Yan could not be revealed before they merged, but these two tribes merged together before Chi You.
"The winner is the king, the loser is the bandit." As a primitive tribe, has always distinguished status by military strength. After all, both tribes are enough to dominate one side, and there is not much disparity in military force.
Compared with Emperor Yan, Huangdi's tribe had an uncertain permanent location and often occupied new base areas during their travels. Emperor Yan's tribe took root in one place, and gradually developed the Shao culture with the rise of civilization and the emergence of agricultural culture.
Finally, the two met once, and different civilizations collided fiercely. "Fighted with Emperor Yan in the wilderness of Banquan " . The tribes of Huangdi and Yandi met in Banquan. This war was also a major step for Huangdi to achieve the unification of China. process.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, agriculture turned from prosperity to backwardness, and the Shennong clan also gradually declined. Wars occurred frequently everywhere, and the people could not settle down and work in peace and contentment. Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang could not restrain their inner desires and continued to expand to the surrounding areas.
They absorbed small tribes, occupied large alliances, and fought with each other. When their military strength was almost at its strongest, they collided in Banquan. In the end, the Yellow Emperor won the final victory. This war was also called Battle of Banquan .
After that, Emperor Yan ranked second and surrendered willingly. The scale of this event did not arouse Huang Emperor's fear of Emperor Yan. Instead, the two tribes merged into one and became a more powerful united tribe.
Investigating the reason, we can only say that Emperor Yan was very discerning. He could establish himself as a king when he advanced, and he would not break the ties when he retreated. After the defeat, he volunteered to find ways for the Yellow Emperor to prosper the tribe, and taught him the tricks of farming. became the Yellow Emperor. His right-hand man no longer covets the first place.
The ending of Chi You's disastrous defeat
On the other hand, Chi You is said to have led the Jiuli tribe in the East and was the first person to make metal weapons . This was very shocking to people who had been using primitive weapons before. After that, they competed in the Central Plains. This achievement was at that time No one can surpass it.
"Chiyou is the most violent and cannot be defeated. " He is cruel by nature, and his tribe is expanding too quickly . This tribe is not only powerful in military strength, but also well-equipped. is almost invincible before encountering the Yellow Emperor's tribe. Invincible and invincible.
Chi You's excessive power aroused the fear of other tribes. There are historical records that some people asked the heavenly master to kill Chi You because of fear. After the merger of Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang, they thought they had the strength to fight, so they started a long-lasting confrontation.
At first, the Yanhuang tribe did not have the upper hand, and suffered heavy losses from the Chiyou tribe.. The few victories allowed the Yanhuang tribe to regain their support. Fortunately, their alliance was still unshakable, and the Yanhuang tribe finally won the crown.
What is very surprising is that after Chi You's defeat, the Yellow Emperor did not take it into his pocket like he did with Emperor Yan. "The head is in a different place, and the blood turns into brine, and the solution is in the salt pond." , Huang Emperor beheaded Chi You and killed him. He dismembered and drained him of his blood.
"Because of the dismemberment of his corpse, the place was named Jiezhou." Later, the place where Chi You was dismembered was also called Jiezhou. One can imagine how shocking the Yellow Emperor's cruelty to Chi You was.
Another explanation is that the Yellow Emperor had Chi You skinned to make a target, his stomach was made into Cuju , his hair was cut off to make a flag, his meat was made into minced meat, and those who joked with him were generously rewarded. .
In the end, Chi You not only failed to be kindly treated by Emperor Yan, but also ended up with no intact body. Part of the impression that future generations have on Chi You is due to his misfortune, which makes people wonder whether Chi You had done something to Huang Di?
Revealing the truth about Chi You’s dismemberment
The reason has been discussed a lot, and there has been no stopping speculation about it since ancient times. But since Huangdi could tolerate Yandi's submission, he should not be a narrow-minded person.
Some people say that it was because Chi You was too cruel and disobedient to orders. The Yellow Emperor was afraid that Chi You would reoccupy, "Chi You would cause chaos without using the emperor's orders." This was also the reason why the Yanhuang tribe went to war in the first place.
If Chi You, as a subordinate, did not obey orders and was still violent and unruly, not only would the leader Huang Di be frightened every day, but his people would also live in fear, so simply killing Chi You and telling the world would also serve as a deterrent. Effect.
And is more rigorous to reveal the truth from archeology , which should be related to the competition for geographical location and resources.
The earliest records in the " Bamboo Chronicles" speculated that the Yan and Huang emperors should have existed around 3000 BC. This was also the Longshan culture characterized by black pottery and the Yangshao culture, which was characterized by painted pottery. Cultural transition period. There is no definite record of whether the two cultures of
were inherited or replaced, but archeology found that the Longshan culture was more likely to replace the Yangshao culture.
These two cultures are closely related to the geographical environment. Chi You is likely to be a person who experienced both cultures and was inspired by them . Not only that, the territory of the Chi You tribe is in the mountains, and the land is fertile enough to cope with the extremely cold weather. .
A good territory not only has advantages in cold resistance, but also creates an innate favorable situation for extracting ore to smelt iron and make weapons. The geographical location occupied by Chi You is too coveted.
If Chi You had not been too powerful and untouchable before, Huang Di would have taken action against him long ago. This fear waited until Huang Di had enough strength to unite other tribes, including annexing the Yan Emperor tribe. His premature coveting made him hate Chi You. mind.
Or for a cruel and domineering person like Chi You, it was not easy for Chi You to surrender, and it would be even more unthinkable to directly occupy his territory while Chi You was still there.
What's more, his tribe is also very arrogant and domineering under his leadership. If does not achieve the ultimate deterrent effect, it will be even more difficult to win their respect.
simply dismembered Chi You and cut him into eight pieces. informed those ambitious tribes that if they had second thoughts, this would be the end. By then, Chi You's tribe would be leaderless and would have to accept the leadership of the Yellow Emperor.
