Feng Leishi () was a legendary Chinese empress, the second wife of the
Yellow Emperor. According to tradition, she invented the
comb
A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...
in the 27th century BC.
Legend
In the ancient times of
Huaxia, Fang Leishi was the eldest daughter of Yu Gong,
Shennong's eighth grandson. After
Huangdi Huangdi () may refer to:
*Yellow Emperor (黃帝), a legendary Chinese monarch who supposedly ruled before the Xia dynasty
*Emperor of China (皇帝), the imperial title of Chinese monarchs; and the superlative monarchical title in the Sinosphere
...
defeated Yandi Yu Gong and seized the rule of the
Yanhuang tribal alliance in the
Central Plains, he married Fang Leishi. The marriage of the two clan groups,
Yan and
Huang Huang or Hwang may refer to:
Location
* Huang County, former county in Shandong, China, current Longkou City
* Yellow River, or Huang River, in China
* Huangshan, mountain range in Anhui, China
* Huang (state), state in ancient China.
* Hwang Riv ...
, constituted the core of the
Huaxia clan and created a shared history of more than three thousand years.
Fang Leishi became the second consort of the Yellow Emperor. She was the mother of Xuan Xiao, the eldest son who created the Phoenix Totem of the Huaxia clan. She was a noble, elegant, kind and wise princess. At that time, when mankind had just passed through the primitive and savage century and entered the era of ancient civilization.
There were more than 20 women in Fang Leishi's palace who often had unkempt hair. In order to participate in the grand ceremonies of the time, these women used their fingers to smooth their shaggy hair, often hurting their fingers.
One year, the
Yellow River flooded; Dihuo, who invented boats for the Yellow Emperor, caught 19 big fish in the flooded river and took them to the palace. Fang Leishi and the others cooked the big fish on hot stone slabs over firewood. Dihuo ate three of the fish in one breath, and the bones piled up on the ground. Fang Leishi picked one up, bent it, and could not help looking at it. She unconsciously combed her hair with the fish bones and unintentionally neatly combed her long hair. She herself did not know why her unkempt long hair was combed smoothly with fish bones. Fang Leishi thought about it, and secretly stored these big fish bones.
The next day, she broke the fish bones into short sections and called the women of the palace to her and gave a section to each, teaching them how to comb their hair. They all began to comb their hair with fish bones.
References
{{Authority control
Legendary Chinese people
Chinese royal consorts