Fuxi

Fuxi (伏羲, also rendered in classical texts as Baoxi 包犧 or Fuxi 伏犧) is the foremost of the Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang) and the quintessential foundational culture hero of Chinese mythic and historical tradition. Associated with the eastern cardinal quadrant, the season of spring, and the elemental force of Wood, he is classically envisioned in early literature and funerary art with a human torso terminating in an undulating serpentine tail entwined with that of his divine consort and sister, Nuwa. As recorded in the foundational 'Xici Zhuan' commentary of the 'Yi Jing' ('Classic of Changes'), Fuxi contemplated the celestial images above, examined the topographical patterns of the earth below, studied the markings of birds and wild beasts, and drew analogies from both the human anatomy and external nature to invent the Eight Trigrams (Bagua), providing the earliest symbolic vocabulary to discern the workings of spiritual forces and categorize all cosmic phenomena. In addition to the trigram system, Fuxi invented knotted cord nets for hunting and fishing, introduced cooked cuisine over raw meat, instituted ceremonial marriage rites involving formal exchanges of deerskins, and designed early stringed instruments like the se zither, transmuting primeval disorder into institutionalized civil society.

8 min read · Reviewed on September 29, 2026 · How we research

The eight Bagua trigrams, the serpent tail, the carpenter's square and the fishing net

Primary sources

• Anonymous (Zhou-Han Confucian tradition), Yi Jing (易經 / Classic of Changes), Xici Zhuan (繫辭傳 / Great Commentary), Part II, chapter 2. translation: Richard Wilhelm & Cary F. Baynes, The I Ching or Book of Changes, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967. read
• Sima Qian (司馬遷) & Sima Zhen (司馬貞), Shiji (史記 / Records of the Grand Historian), Sanhuang Benji (三皇本紀 / Annals of the Three Sovereigns). translation: Zhonghua Shuju edition, Beijing, 1959 (Chinese Text Project). read
• Anonymous (State of Chu, c. 300 BCE), Chu Silk Manuscript (楚帛書 / Silk Manuscript of Chu from Zidanku, Changsha). translation: Li Ling & Constance A. Cook, Translation and Study of the Chu Silk Manuscript, 2020. read
• Liu An (劉安) et al., Huainanzi (淮南子), Chapters 3 (Tianwenxun) and 6 (Lanmingxun). translation: John S. Major et al., The Huainanzi: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Government in Early Han China, New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. read
• Ban Gu (班固) et al., Baihu Tong (白虎通義 / Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall), Volume 1. translation: Tjan Tjoe Som, Po Hu T'ung: The Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1949. read

Studies

• Mark Edward Lewis, . State University of New York Press, 2006. open
• Anne Birrell, . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. open
• Michael J. Puett, . Stanford University Press, 2001. open
• Roel Sterckx, . State University of New York Press, 2002. open
• Richard J. Smith, . University of Virginia Press, 2008.