Huang-ti
Huang-ti East AsiaLiterally, ‘yellow emperor’. Patron saint of all Taoists. Though the most ancient of the legendary emperors, Huang-ti was in fact among the last to be invented, not appearing in Chinese mythology till the fourth century BC. He is invariably associated with Lao-tzu.
In the Book of Lieh-tzu, the composition of which may be later than 100 BC, there is a large section devoted to Huang-ti, whose reign was troubled after fifteen years. While his subjects rejoiced in his benevolence, the Yellow Emperor ‘amused his eyes and ears, pampered his nostrils and mouth, till his complexion became sallow and his dulled senses were stupefied’. Another fifteen years on the throne, amid growing disorder, and ‘his face was haggard and pale, and his dulled senses more stupefied’. Whereupon, he decided to leave decisions of state to his ministers, dismissed his attendants, simplified his daily routine, and took up residence ‘in a hut...
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