Introduction
Suiren Shi is the most transformative cultural hero in Chinese mythology, celebrated for ending humanity’s raw meat-eating era through “drilling wood for fire”. Symbolizing knowledge’s power to change destiny, he is often depicted as a wise man holding a fire drill and wearing animal skins. As both an ancient emperor from Han Feizi (《韩非子》) and a spiritual predecessor of modern energy revolutions, his legend bridges past and present.
Origin
Suiren Shi’s prototype first appeared in Han Feizi·Wudu (《韩非子·五蠹》), solidified in the Han Dynasty Fengsu Tongyi (《风俗通义》). Legend states he lived in the late Paleolithic period, inventing fire-drilling after observing lightning-ignited wildfires. Tang Dynasty Lu Shi (《路史》) included him in the “Three Sovereigns” (三皇) pantheon, while Ming Dynasty Tiangong Kaiwu (《天工开物》) linked him to bronze smelting. Modern archaeology traces China’s earliest controlled fire use to 1.7 million-year-old Yuanmou Man (元谋人) sites.
Plot Overview
- Natural Inspiration: Witnessed lightning strike a sui tree (燧木), discovering cooked meat’s appeal
- Technical Breakthrough: Rotated a hardwood drill on sui wood (燧木), generating sparks through friction
- Fire Preservation: Taught tribes to store embers in pottery jars
- Civilizational Leap: Fire enabled:
- Food cooking (abandoning raw food)
- Tool modification (heat-treated stone tools)
- Nighttime activities (extended daylight)
Relationships
- Fuxi (伏羲): Fellow “Three Sovereign” who built on Suiren Shi’s innovations
- Shennong (神农): Later emperor whose farming and medicine relied on fire
- Zhurong (祝融): Fire God revered as his successor
Literary Sources
- Han Feizi·Wudu (《韩非子·五蠹》, Warring States): Earliest record of “fire-drilling”
- Fengsu Tongyi (《风俗通义》, Eastern Han): Details the fire-drilling technique
- Tiangong Kaiwu (《天工开物》, Ming): Analyzes fire’s role in bronze casting
Folk Festivals & Customs
- Torch Festival (24th day of the 6th lunar month)
- Yunnan Yi people light torches to honor Suiren Shi’s gift of light
- Perform “wood-drilling” (钻木取火) rituals to crown the “Best Fire Maker”
- Cold Food Festival (Day before Qingming):
- Northern regions observe “fire-ban” to commemorate fire’s hard-won origin
Spiritual Significance
Suiren Shi embodies the civilizational principle of knowledge overcoming fate:
- Transforming natural phenomena into technological innovation
- Individual wisdom driving collective progress
- Fire as the dividing line between civilization and barbarism
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