And again, to some extent, Yellow River is also the symbol of the spirit of the Chinese people: grittiness, industriousness and assiduity. It is a bridge connecting the whole land of China, linking the Chinese history and joining all the Chinese people all over the world with their motherland: China.

The Three Cultural Heroes

In the Chinese version of history, however, history begins with three semi-mystical and legendary individuals who taught the Chinese the arts of civilization around 2800-2600 BC: Fu Xi, the inventor of writing, hunting, trapping, and fishing; Shen Nong, the inventor of agriculture and mercantilism, and the Yellow Emperor (around 2700 BC), who invented government and Taoist philosophy. These Three Cultural Heroes were regarded as historical fact for most of Chinese history.

The Sage Kings

The Chinese believed that the Three Cultural Heroes were followed by the Three Sage Kings, Yao (around 2350 BC), Shun (around 2250 BC), and Yu (rule began in 2205 BC). These Sage Kings ruled with perfect wisdom, clarity, and virtue. In the Chinese model of history, human events follow discernible cycles in which times of great virtue and wisdom are followed by times of decadence and decline. Still, Chinese historians believed the Sage Kings' rule to be the most virtuous period in Chinese history.

The Xia Dynasty, 2205-1766 BC

According to the Chinese historians, the last of the sage kings, Yu, founded a dynasty of kings, the Xia. The Xia began with virtue and wisdom, and ended with the rule of Chieh, who was decadent and cruel. In 1766 BC, after four hundred years of rule, the Xia Dynasty was overthrown and who a new dynasty began, the Shang.