伏羲

伏羲

伏羲是中华神话中人类的始祖，华夏民族传说中的三皇五帝之首，华夏文明史纪年符号。伏羲之名最早见于《管子》《荀子》《战国策》等先秦文献。相传其母华胥在雷泽踩了巨大的脚印而有孕，生伏羲于成纪（今甘肃省天水市），定都在陈（今河南省周口市淮阳区）。

相传，伏羲根据天地万物的变化，发明创造了占卜八卦，创造文字，结束了人们“结绳记事”的历史。他又结绳为网，用来捕鸟打猎，教会了人们渔猎的方法，发明了瑟，创作了曲调。伏羲以龙为图腾，将氏族各部落统一起来，进行民族大融合，使龙成为中华民族的图腾和独特精神标识，成为中华文明和中华民族多元一体的象征。伏羲将其统治地域分而治之，而且任命官员进行社会管理，为后代治理社会提供借鉴。伏羲还制定了人类的嫁娶制度，实行男女配偶制，以动物、植物、居所、官职等为姓，防止乱婚和近亲结婚，使中华姓氏自此起源，绵延至今。

河南省至今仍完好保存着的伏羲陵墓——太昊陵，被誉为“天下第一陵”，占地875亩，规模宏大，始建于春秋，历经3000年，祭祀活动绵延不衰。每年的农历二月初二到三月初三，世界各地数百万人前来朝圣，太昊陵庙会成为中国规模最大最古老的民间庙会。 

伏羲以其卓著的功绩、肇启文明的伟大贡献，被中华民族推崇为人文始祖、华夏祖先，自古以来就受到历代帝王的尊敬与祭祀，对中华民族的文明进步发挥了重要作用。

Fuxi

In Chinese mythology, Fuxi is the earliest ancestor of humanity and the first of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. He is also a symbol marking the beginning of the Huaxia civilization. The name Fuxi was first seen in the literature of the times before the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), such as Guan Zi (The Book of Guan Zi), Xun Zi (The Book of Xun Zi) and Zhan Guo Ce (Records on the Warring States). Legend has it that Fuxi's mother Huaxu conceived him after stepping into a footprint of the God of Thunder and gave birth to him in Chengji (present-day Tianshui, Gansu Province). Fuxi built his capital in Chen (present-day Huaiyang District of Zhoukou, Henan Province).

According to legend, Fuxi created divination and bagua (eight trigrams) according to the changes in nature and devised a writing system that ended people's practice of keeping records by tying knots in ropes. He wove nets for catching birds and hunting animals, taught people how to fish and hunt, invented a musical instrument called se, and composed tunes for people to play. He united various tribes under the totem of long (Chinese dragon), different tribes thus became integrated, and dragon became the symbol of the Chinese nation and civilization. Fuxi divided the territory under his rule and appointed officials to manage them. This provided valuable references for later generations in social governance. He also instituted a marriage system, whereby a man would marry a woman as his spouse, and people were surnamed after animals, plants, residences or official titles. This prevented group and consanguineous marriages and started the system of Chinese surnames that has evolved to this day.

The Taihao Mausoleum in Zhoukou, the resting place of Fuxi, is reputed as the "No. 1 tomb in China." First built in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), the Mausoleum has survived 3,000 years and still hosts worshipping activities today. Every year, from the second day of the second month to the third day of the third month in the lunar calendar, millions of people from around the world will come here on a pilgrimage, making the Temple Fair of the Taihao Mausoleum the largest and oldest of its kind in China.

Fuxi has been revered by the Chinese nation not only as its own ancestor, but also as the earliest ancestor of humankind for his great contributions to the initiation and development of human society and the Chinese civilization. He was the object of high esteem and devout worship from all Chinese emperors.