CIVILIZATION DOSSIER
Kuafu夸父
Protagonist of the legend of Kuafu chasing the sun.
- DIRECT FIGURES
- 1
- RELATION RECORDS
- 1
- SOURCE WORKS
- 3
RELATIONSHIP COMPASS
Kuafu, and the people around them.
Open one chapter at a time. Each chapter gives the relationship first, then the source text behind it.
01CONFLICTConflict
Battles, captures and defeat
1 figure · 1 record＋
Conflict
Battles, captures and defeat
Yinglong→Kuafuslay
1 key relationship is shown here. The complete record remains below.
In fiction · Liezi · Classic of Mountains and Seas · Huainanzi
His shape is like that of a yu (a kind of monkey) with patterned arms, leopard-like and tiger-like, and skilled at throwing. He raced with the sun and died of thirst on the way, his discarded staff transformed into Deng Forest. He was killed by Yinglong.
Across source works
How this figure changes across texts
Works are shown side by side, not as a chronology. No influence between texts is inferred.
- Literature / legend1 profile notes
Huainanzi
0 relations0 verified quotations - Literature / legend1 profile notes
Liezi
0 relations0 verified quotations - Literature / legend4 profile notes
Classic of Mountains and Seas
1 relations2 verified quotations- Yinglong→ slay →Kuafu
Verified original text · 2
又杀夸父
slay · Classic of Mountains and Seas, 大荒北經
杀蚩尤与夸父
slay · Classic of Mountains and Seas, 大荒東經
History vs. fiction
The ending of Kuafu chasing the sun differs, but the transformation into Denglin is consistent.
- based on factThe ending of the chase and the cause of death
The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Chapter 'Overseas North' records that Kuafu raced with the sun, thirsting for drink, and before reaching the Great Marsh, 'died of thirst on the way.' However, in the same book, Chapter 'Great Wilderness North' states, 'Yinglong had already killed Chiyou, and also killed Kuafu,' indicating that Kuafu died at the hands of Yinglong. Liezi, Chapter 'Tang Wen' basically follows the account of dying of thirst on the road. There is a clear discrepancy in the cause of death in early sources.
Regarding the remains after Kuafu's death, the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Chapter 'Overseas North' clearly records that he 'cast away his staff, which transformed into Denglin.' Liezi, Chapter 'Tang Wen' also records that after Kuafu died, his staff fell and transformed into a forest of a hundred li, providing shade for later generations. On this romantic mythological ending, the records of the two early classics are remarkably consistent.
Relationship network
Original text (2)