The Spiritual Attainment of Minghe

Noticing them, Honored Lord of the Origin was clear about what they were expecting, so he said, "After Gao Yang, the second Mentor of Human Sovereign belongs to our tribe. Considering their previous assistance, I want to give the position to... Tai Yi."

Immortal Tai Yi was overjoyed to hear the news, while others were envious and jealous of him. Among the Twelve Golden Immortals in the Tribe of Enlightenment, Guang Chengzi was the most favored by Honoured Lord of the Origin. He was also the eldest disciple, so it was reasonable that he was appointed as the Mentor of Human Sovereign. Immortal Tai Yi, however, was not the second disciple. He was granted this position purely out of the affection that Honoured Lord of the Origin had for him. This naturally made other disciples dissatisfied.

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Xuanyuan conceded the position as sovereign to his grandson, Gao Yang. In the future, Gao Yang would be known as Emperor Zhuanxu, one of the Five Emperors. Xuanyuan was worshiped as the Yellow Emperor by the Human Tribe. Since then, the Heavenly, Earthly, and Human Sovereign had all fulfilled their Merits and injected more luck to the Human Tribe.

After Zhuanxu took the position as the Sovereign of Human Tribe, he conducted a significant religious reformation. The nine Li tribes conquered by Xuanyuan the Yellow Emperor still believed in Ancestors of Sorcery of the Wu Tribe. They worshiped ghosts and gods because they were mostly Wu people. Therefore, Zhuanxu issued a compulsory order that they should receive education from the Yellow Emperor. By doing this, the cultural integration among tribes was improved, thus promoting the development of all tribes.

Naturally, under the publicity of Zhuanxu, the Tribe of Humanity enjoyed an increasing popularity among the Human Tribe. Conversely, the Tribe of Enlightenment, which flourished in Xuanyuan’s time, had to give way to the Tribe of Humanity. This was not a direct order from Xuandu, but Zhuanxu needed the Tribe of Humanity to consolidate his position as the Sovereign of Human Tribe.

At the same time, Zhuanxu also paid much attention to his governing and strived to develop the agriculture. Due to the change in production mode, males had gradually become the dominant role in the Human Tribe while the females’ status was declining. Moreover, Zhuanxu created nine provinces according to each tribe’s domains and established government organizations to research social order and make public policies. He also reformed the calendar and divided a year into four seasons and 24 solar terms. Because of this, his descendants honored him as the "Ancestor of Calendar".

At that time, there was a Yellow Water Monster at the southwest of Neihuang County. It often spat yellow water which flooded croplands and destroyed houses. Zhuanxu was determined to defeat the Yellow Water Monster, but the monster possessed great Magic Skills. Although Zhuanxu was the grandson of Xuanyuan the Yellow Emperor and had learned some skills, his Taoist cultivation was shallow. Thus, he failed to defeat the monster even after months of fighting.

To seek help, he invited his mentor, Taoist Xuandu, for some advice. Knowing his intention, Xuandu presented him with the Heaven Emperor Sword and taught him how to use it. Zhuanxu then defeated the Yellow Water Monster with the Heaven Emperor Sword. To bring more benefits to the Human Tribe, he used the Heaven Emperor Sword to turn a sand dune into a mountain, called Mount Fuyu, and created a river beside it, called Xiao River.

Zhuanxu ruled the Human Tribe for 78 years before he fulfilled his Merits. The Merits descended from the Heaven and created some Human Sovereign Fruits. Xuandu got some Merits accordingly, but he stored them instead of absorbing them immediately. People had no idea what he would do with those Merits. After the actualization of Zhuanxu, the position as Sovereign of Human Tribe was conceded to Emperor Ku.

It was said that Emperor Ku, namely Gao Xin, had been endowed with Spiritual Air ever since he was born. He was also able to say out his own name right after his birth. Moreover, he was taken as a disciple of Immortal Tai Yi, who was under Honoured Lord of the Origin. Ever since Immortal Tai Yi failed to solve the trading problem of the Human Tribe, he did some research on the issues that they had. Therefore, he did not just teach cultivation methods to Emperor Ku, but also gave some advice on the governing of the Human Tribe.

After Emperor Ku took office, he brought benefits to everyone except for himself. He was very perceptive. He could learn about situations at faraway places and see every detail clearly. He followed the Heaven’s will and understood the people’s needs. He was noble and benevolent, gentle and trustworthy, always improving himself. As a result, all tribes were willing to take him as the leader.

He was thrifty about harvesting crops on the land. He cared for his people and taught them all kinds of useful skills. He established the solar terms after calculating the movement of the Sun and Moon and respected the law of nature. He knew all ghosts and gods and worshiped them with care. He was noble and dignified, with high mortality. He acted properly and lived like an ordinary person.

His governance was like the rain watering croplands, covering every space without exception. All tribes were content with his governance. As the saying goes in historical records, "Emperor Ku, the grandson of Xuanyuan and son of Xuanxiao, could say his own name right after his birth. He ruled the Human Tribe with virtue, caring for every person in his Tribe; he was noble and prestigious, paying much attention to the education of his Tribe, thus enjoying a good reputation as bright as the Sun and moon."

Apart from Emperor Ku himself, his sons were quite renowned in Chinese history as well. According to legends, Emperor Ku had four concubines. The first concubine was Jiangyuan, the daughter of Tai Guojun. It was said that she got pregnant because of stepping on footprints of a Giant while she was at home. Since she was not married then, she abandoned her child three times, in a dark lane, a forest and on ice respectively. Surprisingly, her child was protected by various animals every time, so her child was named "Qi". When the child grew up, he liked agriculture and taught people how to plant the Five Grains. Later he became the ancestor of the Zhou Tribe and was honored as the Lord of Millet.

The second concubine was Jiandi, the daughter of Song Guojun. It was said that when she was bathing at a hot spring with her sister, Jianci, a swallow flew by and left an egg. Jiandi ate the egg, got pregnant, and gave birth to Qi (different from the last one in Chinese character), who became the ancestor of the Shang Tribe.

The third concubine Qingdu, the daughter of the Great Emperor, was born in the wilderness. She was adopted by Chen Feng and then by Yin Changru after Chen Feng died. Later, she came to Pu Yang with her adoptive father. She was viewed as a legendary girl because there was always a yellow cloud hanging over her head. After hearing about this girl, the mother of Emperor Ku asked him to take her as his concubine. They then gave birth to Yao.

The last concubine, Chang Yi, was a beauty and had a nice figure. She first gave birth to a girl called Emperor of Heaven’s daughter, and then a son called Zhi. Both Zhi and Yao succeeded the emperor, and Xuanyuan’s family flourished. The Five Emperors after Xuanyuan and the later Shang/Zhou Tribes were all ruled by his descendants, so Xuanyuan was also called the ancestor of all Chinese.

During Emperor Ku’s governance, he was greatly influenced by Immortal Tai Yi’s gentle disposition. Therefore, he ruled the Human Tribe with virtue, which was the opposite of Xuanyuan and Zhuanxu, who were keen on wars and expansion. The biggest contribution of Xuanyuan and Zhuanxu was unifying the Human Tribe and laying the foundations of a country. Emperor Ku’s contribution was recovering the Tribe’s happy, peaceful and carefree lives, just like in the God Farmer’s times.

Emperor Ku emphasized production internally and sought peace externally. As a result, a wealth of remote and barbaric clans accepted his peace offer. The Human Tribe thus entered a peaceful and prosperous period. Emperor Ku was grateful for the help of Immortal Tai Yi, so he publicised the Tribe of Enlightenment with great efforts. As time went on, the Tribe of Enlightenment regained its reputation and surpassed the Tribe of Humanity.

Dozens of years passed and Emperor Ku had been ruling the Human Tribe for 70 years. The tribe was flourishing then and people were living and working in peace and contentment. Emperor Ku was about to fulfill his merits, so he left for the Holy Land of Human Tribe. Before he left, the Merits appeared. Immortal Tai Yi received some and his cultivation was lifted to the Secondary Stage of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal. The Five Emperors gained some Merits through actualization, but far less than the Three Sovereigns. As Immortal Tai Yi only received a small part of that Merit, his cultivations couldn’t increase too much.

Emperor Ku also had his own motives. He favored Zhi, Chang Yi’s son, so he passed on his position to Zhi. Zhi had ambitions but lacked talents. Due to his 9-year brutal governance, people were dissatisfied with his management. Furthermore, he had no one to assist him, he did not have the reverence to lead other tribes.

Under the pressure from others, Zhi abdicated his position and passed it to Yao, the disciple of Medicine Buddha from Western Sect. Yao was Zhi’s brother, whose family name was Yiqi and given name was Fangxun. He was conferred as the Marquis of Tang when he was 15. In the Tang tribe, he shared the weal and woe with his people, practiced agriculture and handled the administrative affairs properly. He ruled the Tang tribe in perfect order, so he was supported by his people and commended by the other tribe leaders as well.

Fangxun became the emperor, titled Yao. As he was conferred in Tang tribe, the dynasty was named Tang, which was the first dynasty name in Chinese history. Descendants called this period Tang Yao. It was said that Emperor Yao was virtuous as the heavens and smart as gods. People who approached him would feel the warmth like it was from the sun, and those who looked up to him would feel like they were being sheltered by clouds.

He was rich but not proud, noble but not indulgent. He wore a yellow hat, black clothes, and rode on a scarlet carriage with white horses. He respected people with virtue, and all the people in his Clan were living in harmony. He investigated his officers and found that they were working diligently. All the bordering countries were getting along well.

Tang Yao conferred on his brother Zhi as the Marquis of the Tang tribe. After taking lessons from Zhi’s mistakes and learning from his mentor Medicine Buddha, he quickly stabilized the Human Tribe. He often went to remote and backward villages to investigate the local government and search for talents. He was afraid to miss out any. According to historical records, there were 9 (or 11) officers assisting him and were a group of talented man.