Fubao (), a woman from the

Youjiao clan The Youjiao clan (有蟜氏) was a Chinese clan that existed during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period. It is traditionally attributed as the clan of Fubao, who is the mother of the Yellow Emperor. The clan lived in Pingfeng Mountain ...

, was, according to

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of ...

sources, the mother-in-law of the inventor of silk,

Leizu Leizu (), also known as Xi Ling-shi (, Wade–Giles Hsi Ling-shih), was a legendary Chinese empress and wife of the Yellow Emperor. According to tradition, she discovered sericulture, and invented the silk loom, in the 27th century BC. Myths ...

; mother of Huang Di the

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...

; and, wife of

Shaodian Shaodian () was the father of Huangdi (黄帝), the Yellow Emperor according to the Records of the Grand Historian. He started the Youxiong family (有熊氏), whilst Shaodian's wives were Fubao and Nüdeng of the Youjiao clan. Fubao later gave ...

. However, the mythological genealogy varies. Fubao is viewed as ancestress to the

Han people The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive var ...

who form the majority of the population of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

Daughter-in-law, Leizu

Fubao was mother-in-law to

, who was the inventor of

sericulture Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, '' Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively stud ...

, the art of

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from th ...

production, according to

. Silk and fabrics made from silk are some of the world's important textiles. Silk is believed to have been produced since neolithic times in China. The "

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and rel ...

" was named after the trade in silk across Eurasia.

Husband, Shaodian

Fubao married

, who according to the

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

, was the father of Huang Di.

Son, Huang Di

Fubao was the mother of Huang Di, also called the Yellow Emperor. According to

, the birth was miraculous. Fubao is said to have seen a bolt of lightning (or

aurora borealis An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

) circling around one of the stars of the Great Bear (

Big Dipper The Big Dipper ( US, Canada) or the Plough ( UK, Ireland) is a large asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major; six of them are of second magnitude and one, Megrez (δ), of third magnitude. Four define a "bowl" ...

). The light was very bright, and she got pregnant. Twenty-four months later Fubao was said to have given birth to Huang Di.

Daughter-in-law, Leizu

Husband, Shaodian

Son, Huang Di

See also

Reference notes

Further reading