Zhū Yīng 诸英 = a beautiful maiden
Nǚwā 女娲 = her daughter
Fúxī 伏羲 = her son
Gōumáng 句芒 = his assistant
Long, long ago in the far-off land of dreams called Huáxū 华胥, there lived a beautiful maiden named Zhū Yīng 诸英, who set off to the magnificent eastern woodland to enjoy the sights.
To reach the woodland, she crossed a great marsh, and in the marsh she saw the footprints of a mighty giant. For fun, she stepped into the footprints, to see how it would feel to be a giant. It felt quite odd, and after she returned home the feeling did not leave her, for she had stepped into the footprints of the god of thunder, who had the head of a man but the body of a dragon.
But it was odd for another reason: Zhū Yīng soon gave birth to a son. She named him Fúxī 伏羲. Three months later she gave birth to a daughter, named Nǚwā 女娲, whose story is listed separately. (Others say Fúxi and Nǚwā were the children of Zhūyīng by a water spirit [shuǐjīngzǐ 水精子] named Shuǐ Jīngzǐ 水精子. Still others say that Fúxī and Nǚwā were husband and wife, and very early representations sometimes portray them with human heads and upper bodies, but with two provocatively intertwined snake tails. Finally, there are some who associate the footprint adventure with the birth of Hòujì 后稷, the god-inventor of plow agriculture, which is a different story.)
Fúxī grew to be a strong and handsome youth, although he had the body of a dragon, for he was the son of the god of thunder, and he could fly to heaven and back again if he wished.
When he grew up, Fúxī was appointed the God of the East. He had an assistant, named Gōumáng 句芒, who, like Fúxī, had a human face, but who had the body of a bird. He drove a pair of dragons and carried a compass.
As God of the East, Fúxī governed the people of his realm with care and skill as a great emperor (reign 01a-1). One day he was watching a spider in his garden, and it occurred to him to invent a net to capture fish rather than chasing them down and just grabbing at them. He made a net and showed it to Gōumáng, who noted that it could also be used for birds and animals.
When they had tried it and made it work, Fúxī summoned nineteen people and taught them to hunt with nets, and then charged them to teach others. And thus people came to have nets to fish and hunt with.
Nets are of course made of knotted rope, and, being good with knotted rope, Fúxī hit upon another use for it, and made the first calendar
On another occasion, Fúxī invented the eight trigrams ( ☰ ☱ ☲ ☳ ☴ ☵ ☶ ☷) used in divination, and he taught people how to divine with them. (That is why he is worshipped today as the god of fortune tellers.)
Fúxī invented lots of other things too: herding and smelting and cooking, among them. And when he heard them sing, he taught people to make musical instruments, which have a much sweeter sound. He also invented marriage, but that is a different story.
Because of his contributions to human life, Fúxī is considered to be the first emperor of China (reign 01a-1), although many prefer to reserve that title for the Yellow Emperor (Huángdì 黄帝, reign 01a-3).