Yan Emperor炎帝

History vs. fiction

The Battle of Banquan is recorded in history, but the name Yuwang was added by later generations.

• attestedFought with the Yellow Emperor at Banquan

  The Records of the Grand Historian, 'Annals of the Five Emperors', records in detail the war between the Yellow Emperor and the Flame Emperor: 'The Flame Emperor wanted to encroach upon the feudal lords, and the lords all turned to Xuanyuan. Xuanyuan then cultivated virtue and strengthened his troops, regulated the five vapours, planted the five grains, comforted the myriad people, surveyed the four quarters, and trained bears, brown bears, pixiu, chu and tigers, and with them fought the Flame Emperor in the wilds of Banquan. After three battles, he then achieved his aim.' This Battle of Banquan, which determined the formation of the Chinese nation, is described with a high degree of consistency in historical documents.

• novel inventionThe last Flame Emperor was named Yuwang

  In many later compilations of ancient myths or popular historical romances, the last Yan Emperor defeated by the Yellow Emperor is often referred to as 'Yuwang'. However, a search through all early classical texts such as Records of the Grand Historian, Classic of Mountains and Seas, and Huainanzi yields no such designation as 'Yuwang'. For instance, Records of the Grand Historian, Annals of the Five Emperors only records: 「炎帝欲侵陵诸侯，诸侯咸归轩辕。轩辕乃修德振兵，治五气，艺五种，抚万民，度四方，教熊罴貔貅䝙虎，以与炎帝战于阪泉之野。」 This name is actually an addition from later texts, and no such person exists in early historical sources.