Myths of China 22 – Ku, the White Emperor 白帝帝喾

 chainsmokingwriter  Chinese Age Of Mythology  March 23, 2020 6 Minutes

Di Ku was the great-grandson of Huang Di, grandson of Shao Hao, son of Qiao Ji.

It was said that Ku was born with an unusual look, with a bird-like face and goat horns growing out of his head, a skinny body like that of a new-born monkey and covered with thick hair all over. He was able to speak and write his own name from birth and had a natural compassion for people.

By the time he was in his early teens, reputation of his intelligence had already spread far and wide. It was at this time that nine fringe kingdoms formed an alliance to attack the lands of his uncle, Zhuan Xu, the Black Emperor.

Zhuan Xu invited Ku to court and asked him for a way to repel the enemies. Ku told his uncle that it would be foolish to take on the armies of nine kingdoms head on, instead it would be wiser to sow discord within the alliance and wait for the infighting to start before picking up the pieces after. Zhuan Xu was extremely pleased with the idea and immediately sent agents to spread rumours and misinformation among his enemies.

It wasn’t long before the nine fringe kingdoms let their mistrust get the better of them and a fight broke out between them just as Ku had predicted. Zhuan Xu then led his own crack troops to sweep up the remnants of his broken enemies. The war ended before it had barely even started.

In recognition of Ku’s contribution to the war efforts, Zhuan Xu granted him the land of ‘Xin’ to rule over as his own. ‘Xin’ was a flood prone lowland where people had to live a semi-nomadic life migrating around the flood seasons. It was a greatly unstable life for the people, and they suffered constantly.

Ku tried to raise the ground level of the land, but the floods would always come and wash away the progress they had made before they could stabilise the ground. In a fit of anger, Ku went to the heavenly realms and raised a ruckus before the Jade Emperor.

He argued that, since the gods and deities claimed to watch over the realm of man, they had the responsibility to make sure that such sufferings should not be happening to innocent people who were just trying to live a proper life.

In a bid to preserve the peace in the heavenly court, the embarrassed Jade Emperor sent deities to the land of ‘Xin’ and raised the ground level considerably, ensuring that the flood waters would never wash over the region again.

Rid of the floods, the people could now rebuild their homes and lead a stable life of productivity. They renamed the land ‘Gao Xin’ (High Xin), and Ku was also known by the land he saved.

In Zhuan Xu’s later years, he saw that Ku was intelligent, virtuous, and beloved by the people. So Zhuan Xu made Ku his heir and passed the throne to him after his passing. When Ku became emperor, he added the title ‘Di’ as a prefix to his name and was known from then on as Di Ku.

Di Ku was a wise and benevolent ruler, always putting the needs of the people above all other priorities. He was farsighted enough to prepare for unforeseen circumstances, and meticulous enough to ensure the details of his policies did not have adverse effects on the people. He was empathetic to the sufferings of his people but was strict in the enforcement of laws. His reign was marked by a golden age of peace, prosperity, and a gentle rule, as opposed to his uncle’s reign of harsh laws and wars.

Throughout Di Ku’s reign, the peace was marred only by a single small skirmish that was stopped before it even erupted. Di Ku would travel seasonally throughout his realm on inspection trips by riding a dragon in spring and summer, and a horse in autumn and winter. On one of these trips with his consort to the south, a rebellion led by General Wu broke out around the ‘Yun Meng’ Lakes. Before any harm could be done, Di Ku’s magical hound Pan Hu snuck into the enemy camp and killed General Wu with a bite, thus ending the rebellion before it had really started.

Possibly due to the influence of his grandfather Shao Hao, Di Ku also had an unusual affinity to birds and music. Birds all over the land were friendly to him, and would break into song in his presence. Phoenixes were also extremely close to him and one could almost always see phoenixes dancing around him.

Di Ku ordered the craftsman Yue Chui to make drums, bells, chimes, pipes, ocarinas, and flutes, he ordered the musician Xian Hei to compose the pieces ‘Jiu Zhao’, ‘Liu Lie’, ‘Liu Ying’, and many other compositions. He then choreographed dances to accompany the music, performed by sixty-four lithe dancers in colourful costumes.

When the formal performance was put on in court, phoenixes, long-tailed golden pheasants, and other magical and mythical birds joined in the performance and sang and danced along to the music. The people commented that phoenixes would only appear in times of great peace and prosperity, and it was an endorsement of Di Ku’s rule that phoenixes were such a common sight.

Not only did Di Ku reign over a vast land, his descendants from four royal consorts were also founders of various future Chinese dynasties.

His first consort was Jiang Yuan, a princess of the kingdom of ‘You Tai’ (Today’s Shaanxi). It was said that she got pregnant after stepping in the footsteps of a giant and gave birth to Qi (The abandoned). Qi was abandoned in alleys, then the deep woods, and finally the icy wastelands. But, wherever he was abandoned, all manners of birds and beasts protected him and nurtured him. When Qi grew up, he had a deep passion of agriculture and led the people in advancing farming techniques, the people named him ‘Hou Ji’ and was the ancestor of the later Zhou people.

Di Ku’s second consort was Jian Di, a princess of the kingdom of ‘You Song’ (Today’s Gan Su). It was said that when she took a bath in the hot springs of the black pool with her sister Jian Ci, a swallow flew overhead and dropped an egg. Jian Di ate the egg and got pregnant and gave birth to Qi who was the ancestor of the later ‘Shang’ people.

The third consort was Qing Du, a daughter of the Jade Emperor born in the wastelands of ‘Dou Wei’ (Today’s Hebei). She was first adopted by the ‘Chen Feng’ tribe, and later adopted by Yin Chang Ru. Qing Du always had a golden cloud floating her head and was considered by the people to be blessed. When Di Ku’s mother heard about her, she encouraged Di Ku to marry her. Qing Du later gave birth to Yao.

The fourth consort was Chang Yi, a lady of exceptional beauty with silky black hair that cascaded like a waterfall down to her heels. She gave birth to a daughter, and later a son named Zhi. Zhi would ascend to Di Ku’s throne when he grew up but abdicate to his brother Yao after nine years of rule.

Apart from them, Di Ku had two other sons named Yu Bo and Shi Chen. These two borhters never saw eye to eye with each other no matter what they did. It was as if they were the arch nemesis of each other. No matter how Di Ku tried to mediate and sooth things over between them, they would be at each other’s throats once their father was out of sight.

At his wits end, Di Ku sent these two sons away to opposite ends of the land, Yu Bo to serve and take care of the star Antares, and Shi Chen to serve and take care of the star Betelgeuse. When one star rose in the sky, the other would have set, thus the brothers never saw each other again.

Di Ku’s reign of peace lasted for seventy years until he passed away peacefully at the age of hundred and five, leaving a legacy few could surpass, and planting the seeds of future great dynasties of Chinese civilisation.