MICHAEL WOOD:'China, the land of dragons,
MICHAEL WOOD:'the land of magic and mystery.
MICHAEL WOOD:'All countries have tales about how they began,
MICHAEL WOOD:'and this story tells us how the Chinese people first got fire 'by tricking the gods, 'who wanted to keep fire for themselves.'
MICHAEL WOOD:'And the story takes us to the place where the Shang kings came from.
MICHAEL WOOD:'The first ancestor of the Shang was a very clever and crafty inventor.
MICHAEL WOOD:'His name was Ebo.
MICHAEL WOOD:'Once upon a time, there was a king. 'The king had two sons. 'They just couldn't get on and were always at blows, 'and in the end the king banished them 'to different ends of his kingdom.'
MICHAEL WOOD:And one of the sons, Ebo, that's him there, the golden man, came to a place called the Hill of Shang.
MICHAEL WOOD:And when he got here, he discovered that the people didn't have fire to have lighting or cooking. So he stole fire from the gods.
MICHAEL WOOD:From the god of fire. That's him there.
MICHAEL WOOD:And when the king of heaven discovered that this had happened, he was furious.
MICHAEL WOOD:And he ordered the god of the waters, that's him there with his dragon, to send a great flood across the land, swallowing all the villages.
MICHAEL WOOD:But Ebo stayed here on the mound, waters didn't reach the top. He was still here with the embers of the fire, which he was able to give to the whole of humanity.
MICHAEL WOOD:'So that's how the Chinese say human beings survived the great flood, 'and got fire.
MICHAEL WOOD:'And once they had fire, 'they could begin to make the things that were useful for life, 'in the Yellow Plain of the Yellow River.'
Historian Michael Wood climbs the Hill of Shang and visits a temple to the Gods of Fire and Water.
He tells how one of the king's sons, Ebo, stole fire by tricking the gods.
The gods were angry when they discovered they had been tricked, and sent a great flood to wipe out the Chinese.
But Ebo survived. Fire was essential to the development of the Shang into a powerful kingdom, so Ebo is said to be the reason the Shang became China's first dynasty.
This Shang myth or legend is very similar to the Bible story of Noah and the Great Flood.
This short film is from the BBC series, The Story of China. A series exploring the stories, people and landscapes that have helped create China's distinctive character and genius over four thousand years.
Teacher Notes
You could ask your pupils to make a sequenced timeline of the events of the story.
What are the good and bad things that happen after Ebo steals fire from the Gods?
You could also ask your class to research the story of Noah and the Flood.
Why does the story say God flooded the world? What was he trying to do?
To pull it together you might discuss how similar, and how different the two stories are.
Curriculum Notes
This short film is relevant for teaching history at Key Stage 2 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and at Second Level in Scotland.
More from The Story of China
How People Were Created. video
Michael Wood visits a farmer's festival in the plain of the Yellow River to honour the gods FuXi and NuWa. He explains the story or myth of how the first Chinese people were created.
How the Shang Invented Writing. video
Michael Wood describes the discovery of Shang tombs in Anyang, where archaeologists discovered cow and turtle bones with writing on, the first writing known in China.
How King Yu Controlled the Flood. video
Michael Wood describes the importance of the Yellow River, and how every year it flooded and brought death and destruction to this part of China.
How the Early Chinese Made Bronzes. video
Michael Wood visits a state of the art science laboratory in Nanjing. He investigates a beautiful bronze bowl, over 2,500 years old.
How We Know About the Shang. video
Michael Wood explains how we know about the Shang dynasty and gives a survey of the evidence that tells us the Shang really existed.
The Rise and Fall of the Shang. video
Michael Wood explores the reasons behind the rise and fall of the Shang dynasty.
