Page 150 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book
P. 150
A-Z 143
Fu-xi
Fu-xi is the first of China’s three cultural heroes, the three demiurges who are supposed
to have laid the foundations of Chinese culture. Scholars have calculated that he must
have lived long before 3000 BC. For example, he is credited with having ‘invented’ the
eight trigrams of the Yi-jing, although the ‘Book of Changes’ itself has been ascribed
to the much later Zhou-gong, the Duke of Zhou. Fu-xi is also supposed to have instituted
marriage, as well as inventing fishing nets and the fish-cage. Flying in the face of
Chinese morality as it was later to develop, he married his sister Nü-gua; and reliefs
dating from Han times show the two in close embrace like intertwined snakes, with Fu-xi
himself holding in one hand the protractor which is the symbol of building and
architecture. The protractor also serves as the symbol of the magic and curative forces
in nature.
Fu-xi
Fu-xi is often shown with a calf’s head and the scaly body of a dragon.
