CHAPTER ONE
11
The Ancient Chinese
and Their Gods
China maintains a cultural tradition rich in ancient folklore and
myths that are populated by gods and other supernatural beings.
That is not surprising, considering how long Chinese civilization
has existed. The country was the site of one of the four so-called
cradles of human civilization. (The other three were in Egypt; In-
dia; and Mesopotamia, now Iraq.)
The initial Chinese culture arose in the mid- to late 2000s BCE
along the banks of the Yellow River, in northeastern China. At
first there were no large cities or kingdoms. Rather, most people
dwelled in small farming villages erected on or beside the fertile
soils the river had laid down over time in its wide valley. The gods
these people worshipped and the myths surrounding them, if any,
remain largely unclear.
The first advanced civilization in China—featuring kingdoms
ruled by emperors and their governments—appeared circa 1600
BCE and over time spread to China’s other river valleys. Experts
divide Chinese history thereafter into eras called dynasties. Each
dynasty consisted of the reigns of a series of rulers from the same
family line.
The first dynasty—the Shang (ca. 1600–1050 BCE)—was cen-
tered in the Yellow River’s valley. The Shang era witnessed the in-
troduction of a number of social customs and religious rituals that
