The Chinese were masters of metalworking and silk production. They were the first of all nations to learn these skills before reaching other parts of the world. According to legend, Chi You, a powerful warrior, was the first to discover ways to process the metal, and Tsang Nu revealed the secrets of silk fabrics.

Chi You

Chi You had incredible strength, but his appearance was bizarre – with a bull’s head and horns. Some said his head was made of bronze and his horns of iron. He had seventy-two brothers who did not yield in strength and awe. Their strength increased by feeding on stones and inflicting heavy damage on their opponents when they simply pushed them with their heads.

A strong earthquake shook one of China’s highest mountains, Li. Rock debris and streams of water scattered everywhere through the cracks freed from the earth’s solid. Then a liquid unknown to anyone gushed from the bowels of the earth. Warrior Chi You went to the mountain and realized that it was molten metal. He remembered that metal could be used to make various things of great value to mankind, and he soon taught people how to make swords, spears, spades, and body armor.

People quickly acquired armor and weapons, but also realized that they could help themselves in everyday life – they began to make knives, hoes and plowshares. Thus, thanks to Chi You, Chinese civilization developed very rapidly and was the most advanced in the world.

However, Chi You had one thing in mind for power – because he lived in the time of the Yellow Emperor Huangdi, and envied him. He wanted to be emperor of all China and led his terrible seventy-two brothers against the Yellow Emperor. It was a terrible battle, and it was as if Chi You and his brothers prevailed, and Chi You himself had the ability to cause a fog to fall – to have a strategic advantage over the emperor.

They both fought for a long time, but in the end Huangdi won, although both armies were armed with Chi You’s discovery – metal weapons and armor. But the people forgave Chi You after his defeat because he taught them to process metal.

Tsang/Can Nu – The Silk God

Silk appeared in China by the most unusual consequence.
There was once a man who left home for a long time traveling to trade. However, his daughter was very sad for him and wanted him back. One day, while combing her horse’s mane, she vowed that whoever returned her father would marry him. The horse suddenly rushed outside and disappeared.

He raced until he reached the city where his father was. He, in turn, when he saw the horse, worried if something was going on at home and quickly set off home. The father returned with the horse, but all was well, and the daughter rejoiced at her father’s return. As a reward, they gave more hay to the horse that brought the father.

But the horse was sad and did not want to eat. No one guessed that the horse understood the daughter’s oath and wanted her for a wife. One day the father decided to stop the horse melancholy and slaughtered the animal. The daughter leaned over and mourned for the dead horse, but miraculously the horse’s skin came to life, wrapped itself around the daughter, and led her high into the sky.

The next day, a strange creature that looked like a butterfly with a horse’s head landed on a nearby tree. This was the daughter turned into the silkworm Tsang Nu. She showed her parents the fine thread she was producing, and they collected it and began to produce silk. So they lost their daughter, but got the silk.