Chinese Æsop:

The Sun King The worship of the sun was part of the State religion, and the officials make their offerings to the sun-tablet. The moon also is worshipped. At the harvest moon, the full moon of the eighth month, the Chinese bow before the heavenly luminary, and each family burns incense as an offering. Thus “100,000 classes all receive the blessings of the icy-wheel in the Milky Way along the heavenly street, a mirror always bright.” In Chinese illustrations we see the moon-palace of Ch’ang O, who stole the pill of immortality and flew to the moon, the fragrant tree which one of the genii tried to cut down, and a hare pestling medicine in a mortar. This refers to the following legend. The sun and the moon are both included by the Chinese among the stars, the spirit of the former being called ‘the Sun-king,’ that of the latter ‘the Moon-queen,’ or ‘Ch’ang O of the Lunar Palace.’ Shên I lived in the reign of Yellow Emperor, who appointed him Director of Construction and Furnishing....

Long ago, Emperor Yâo had two beautiful daughters, called Ê Hwang and Nü Ying. After the emperor had been on the throne seventy years, he abdicted the throne to Emperor Shun, and gave his two daughters in marriage to Shun. Emperor Shun died on a tour of inspection to the south, and buried in the plain of Ts'ang-wû. When Ê Hwang and Nü Ying heard the news of Shun's death,  they stood on the shores of the Hsiao-hsiang, to the south of Lake Tung-t'ing. Their sorrow was deep as the waters of the Lake that go straight down a thousand miles. Dark clouds blackened the sun. The demon-monkey howled in the mist and ghosts whistled in the rain. The queens said, " Though we speak of it we cannot mend it. High Heaven is secretly afraid to shine on our loyalty. But the thunder crashes and bellows its anger, that while Yao and Shun are here they should also be crowning Yü. When a prince loses his servants, the dragon turns into a minnow. When power goes to slaves, mice change ...

Fu Xi was the first of the Three Sovereigns of ancient China, who reigned B.C. 2953 — 2838. Fu Xi was born on the lower-middle reaches of the Yellow River in a place called Chengji. The land was swept by a great flood and only Fu Xi and his sister Nüwa survived. They retired to Kunlun Mountain where they prayed for a sign from the Emperor of Heaven. The divine being approved their union. Then Fu Xi and Nüwa found a way by using clay to create human figures, and made the clay figures to come alive. Fu Xi taught his opffsprings to cook, to fish with nets, and to hunt with weapons made of iron. He instituted marriage and offered the first open air sacrifices to heaven. Fu Xi developed the Eight Diagrams from the marks on the back of a tortoise.

Shun of Yu was named Chonghua (double splendour); Chonghua's father was Gusou; Gusou's father was Qiaoniu (bridge cow); Qiaoniu's father was Juwang; Juwang's father was Jingkang; Jingkang's father was Qiongchan; Qiongchan's father was Emperor Zhuanxu; Zhuanxu's father was Changyi. From him to Shun we have seven generations. From Qiongchan to Emperor Shun they were all insignificant common people. Shun's father, Gusou, was blind, and his mother having died, Gusou married again and had a son, Xiang, who was arrogant. Gusou loved his second wife, and frequently tried to kill Shun, who avoided him; when he made slight mistakes he was punished, yet he obediently served his father, stepmother, and brother, and was day by day generous, careful, and never negligent. Shun was a native of Jizhou, ploughed on Li mountain, fished in Thunder lake, made pots on the bank of the river, fashioned various articles at Shouqiu, and went now and then to Fuxia. Shun...

Emperor Ku married a daughter of Chen Feng, who bore a son named 'the Highly Meritorious'. He also married a daughter of Zhouzi, who bore a son Zhi. Emperor Ku died, and Zhi reigned in his stead. Zhi reigned badly and died, and his brother 'the Highly Meritorious one' reigned under the title of Emperor Yao. Emperor Yao was highly meritorious. His benevolence was like that of heaven, and his wisdom that of a god; when approached he was genial as the sun, and was looked out for as clouds in dry weather. He was rich without being proud, and esteemed yet not lax. He wore a yellow hat and plain silk dress, and drove a red car drawn by white horses. He was able to display his super-eminent virtue, by bringing into close alliance the nine degrees of kindred, and they being rendered harmonious, he forthwith regulated the people, and his people having become enlightened, the various states were at peace. He then commanded Xi and He in reverent accordance with their observat...

Huangdi (Yellow Emperor) was the son of Shaodian. His surname was Gongsun, and his prename Xuanyuan. Born a genius he could speak when a baby, as a boy he was quick and smart, as a youth simple and earnest, and when grown up intelligent. In the time of Xuanyuan, Shennong became enfeebled. The princes made raids on each other and harassed the people, but Shennong could not chastise them, so Xuanyuan exercised himself in the use of weapons of war, so as to be able to punish irregularities. The princes all came and did homage, but Chiyou (stupid criminal), the fiercest of all, could not be subdued. 'Blazing God'(i.e. Shennong) would oppress the princes, so they turned to Xuanyuan, who practised virtue, marshalled his men, controlled the five elements, cultivated the five kinds of grain, pacified the nations, and went over all parts of his country. Training black bears, grizzly bears, foxes, panthers, lynxes, and tigers,he with their aid, fought with 'Blazing god' in the de...

Taihao (Great Brilliant), or Paoxi, of the surname Feng(wind), superseding Suiren(fire producer), succeeded heaven as King. His mother, named Huaxu, trod in the footprint of giant at Thunder lake, and bore Paoxi at Chengji. He had a serpent's body, a man's head, and the virtue of sage. 'Looking up he contemplated the forms exhibited in the heavens, and looking down he observed the patterns shown on the earth: he observed also around him the ornamental markings of the birds and beasts, and the different suitabilities of the soil. As to what was near he found things for consideration in his own person, and as to the remote in things in general. He first delineated the Eight Trigrams in order to show fully the virtues of the gods, and to classify the qualities of the myriads of things. He worked out a system of recording by tablets in lieu of 'knotted cords', and marriage rites were then first instituted, a pair of skins being given as wedding presents. 'He made ne...

The blazing god, Shen Nong, named Nu Deng, was of the Qiang family. His mother was influenced by a sacred dragon, she brought forth the blazing god with a man's body and an ox's head. He grew up on the banks of the Qiang River, whence he derived his surname. As he ruled by the influence of the element fire, he was called 'blazing god', and named his officers by the help of fire. "he cut down trees to make agricultural implements, bending timber into the shape of plough handles and spades, and taught the people the art of husbandry. As he was the first to give lessons in agriculture he was style 'divine husbandman'. Then sacrifices were offered at the close of the year, and red thongs used for garlanding plants and trees. He was the first to taste the different herbs, and first to make use of them for medical purposes. He also made the five-stringed lute." He taught people how to hold mid-day markets, when they bartered their wares and retired, everyone...