Once upon a time there was the XUANYUAN  hill, where more than two thousand years before our era, the Yellow Emperor dwelt on earth.

Despite his highest antiquity, the yellow Emperor was very unhappy because no one from the whole dynasty knew how to write. One day he called his ministers and said:

“We have to find a way to invent writing.”

Cang Jie then put his hands together, lowered his head and replied :

"Emperor of the warring kingdoms, by my highest antiquity, I will find the scripture."

Cang Jie had four eyes, two pupils and a leaf collar on his shoulders.

He went to sit at the edge of the Wei River to grasp the writing. But he saw nothing. After a long time, the sweetest and wisest of all birds came to him. He was composed of the beak of a rooster, the face of a swallow and the tail of a fish. He murmured :

“I am the Fenghuang, the one who reigns over all the other birds. So that you may write, these are the four treasures of the scholar.”

At that moment, the Chinese phoenix came out of his head, a bamboo stick from his wing, a stone of rocks from his back, a silk fabric made of spider threads, and his abdomen began to flow a black lacquer on the stone.

Cang Jie thanked the mythical bird and took the bamboo stick, stone, silk fabric and black lacquer. Then the Fenghuang said:

"When you write, use the four treasures of the scholar I have given you. Dip the stick in black lacquer and black lacquer on the silk fabric.”

Sitting at the edge of the Wei River, Cang Jie heard the river flow and watched nature with his four eyes and two pupils. In front of him, the Fenghuang unfolded its multicolored feathers and dropped a clump of hardened stone bearing the imprint of a hoof of Pixiu, a fantastic animal.

Looking at the shoe print, Cang jie dipped the bamboo stick in the black lacquer and began to draw on the silk fabric a character that represented the Pixiu.

For a long time the Fenghuang did not leave Cang jie.  With its legs, the bird never ceased to send him many signs and Cang Jie, thanks to his four eyes, observed everything and designed to designate it an immediately recognizable mark.

When the silk fabric was filled with characters drawn by Cang Jie, he went back to the yellow Emperor and said:

"Emperor of the warring kingdoms, by your highest antiquity, I give you the writing."

The yellow Emperor looked at the fabric and was eminently satisfied. He said to Cang Jie :

 "I spread your writing all over the country and I name you the inventor of all characters."

Since then, in the country of China, it is said that thanks to Cang Jie, "Calligraphy" was born.

This story is pure legend, yet in the heart of the Wei River, where the Fenghuang delivered the four treasures of the literate, and where the mythical bird inspired the whole world to Cang Jie, in the same river, still flow the thoughts of the Chinese master.

Lara Helou earned her PhD Doctor of philosophy in Literature from the Sorbonne. Her thesis was published by Septentrion and referenced in all the world by Worldcat in: New York University, Princeton University library, Center for Research Library CRL, Indiana University, UC Berkeley Libraries, Stanford University Libraries, University of California San Diego and Saatsbibliothek Zu Berlin. In 2003 Lara earned a Licence by the Ministry of Culture as producer and author. Lara has written and realized for the screen 53 stories and audio-visual books and MP4s sold on international airlines, Kidspads and the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and has 150,000 readers.