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Who was Fu Hsi Fu Hsi was a mythical Chinese emperor
who was credited with the invention of I-ching. He would have reigned between 2852-2737 or 2952-2836 BCE. He would came to life as a divine being with a serpent body. Sometimes he is represented as a leaf-wreathed head growing out of a mountain with the table of
trigrams in front of him.
He is the acknowledged inventor of the eight trigrams (pa-kua) which form the core of the I-ching
hexagrams (kua).
One story relates that Fu Hsi observed a certain pattern on the back of a turtle coming out of the river. His elaboration upon his observations formed the Trigrams. Another version of the
origins of the Trigrams is that Fu Hsi noticed three burning logs in a campfire and the pattern they were forming. Upon observation of another angle of the campfire, a different pattern
combination emerged. Fu Hsi, inspired by the possibilities, thus formed the Trigrams. Fu Hsi also domesticated animals, taught his people to cook, to fish with nets, and to hunt with
weapons made of iron. He likewise instituted marriage and offered the first open-air sacrifice to heaven.
He was husband of Nu-kua. Read also:
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