ABSTRACT
The dawn of history shows the Chinese as a group of clans living under a patriarchal system. They began to evolve from an earlier stage of hunting and fishing communities, ignorant even of the use of metals, when in the fourth or third millenium B.C. several mythical benefactors appeared, descendants of the first "Rulers of Heaven, Earth, and Men," each of whom is supposed to have reigned thousands of years. These benefactors include the First Perfect Emperors who taught the "black-haired people" how to "build nests," marry, kindle fire, till the soil,--all the rudiments of culture: Fu Hsi,
Origins of Ancestor Worship
Shen Nung, Huang Ti, Shao Hao, Chuan HsO/ later Yao and Shun, and the Great YO, founder of the Hsia Dynasty (2205 B.C.). .
