In Chinese mythology, the first to invent artificial fire-making was Suirenshi, who, through his wisdom, brought light and warmth to people and enabled them to cook their food.
Legend has it that in a distant land, there was a kingdom called Suiming. A sage, guided by a celestial being, traveled there in search of fire. He crossed mountains and endured great hardships, only to find that the place was pitch black, with no distinction between day and night—where could there be any fire? Disappointed, the sage sat down to rest under a large tree. On the tree, several large birds were pecking at insects with their hard beaks, and each peck produced bright sparks. These sparks caught the sage's attention, and he thought, "If birds can create sparks by pecking, then by imitating them, I might also produce sparks." So he broke off a branch from the tree and began drilling into it. After several attempts, smoke rose from the tree, and as he continued drilling, embers gradually appeared. Overjoyed, the sage spread this method of making fire far and wide. From then on, people could create fire themselves, no longer enduring cold and darkness. Grateful for his contributions, they made him their tribal leader and called him "Suiren," meaning "the fire maker."
This myth reflects how primitive Chinese evolved from using natural fire to making fire manually.
Nowadays, fire is a common sight for people, and everyone knows it can provide light, warmth, and cook food, with people having long mastered its use. In fact, fire existed in nature long before humans emerged—not to mention volcanic eruptions, even thunder and lightning could easily spark forest fires.
In ancient times, people did not know about fire, let alone how to use it, so they basically ate everything raw. They consumed raw plant fruits they gathered, and even the prey they caught was devoured alive, fur and blood included. Raw meat greatly affected their health, so primitive people often fell ill and had very short lifespans.
Primitive humans first became aware of fire through thunder and lightning. When a storm came, with flashes of lightning and roars of thunder, lightning would strike trees, setting them ablaze. The fire grew larger and brighter, lighting up the sky. People, terrified and not understanding what was happening, fled and hid everywhere. Only after the storm subsided did they dare to slowly come out. They saw the burning trees and also the carcasses of wild animals roasted by the great fire. Feeling warm and smelling the fragrant aroma from the burned animals, they tore off a piece of meat from a roasted carcass and put it in their mouths, discovering it was surprisingly delicious. That was how they learned the use of fire. After realizing its benefits, they preserved the still-burning branches as a source of fire to cook food. However, once the branches burned out, the fire would eventually die, and people had to face darkness and cold again, waiting for the next thunderstorm to obtain fire once more.
At the Banpo primitive settlement site in Xi'an, Shaanxi, the dwellings were semi-subterranean pit houses without doors, and a fire pit was placed at the entrance. The location of the fire pit shows it was not only for warmth and light but also to prevent wild beasts from attacking at night. This indicates that primitive people had already realized that animals fear fire, so they could use it to drive them away. Mastering this principle, they made good use of fire for self-defense and to scare off beasts during hunts. With fire, people no longer had to migrate constantly to avoid predators and harsh living conditions; they could settle in one place. The use of fire greatly enhanced the survival abilities of early humans. Fire solved the fundamental needs of eating and shelter, so relying solely on natural sources was insufficient; eventually, artificial fire-making became a necessary human development.
Based on primitive people's cognitive and intellectual levels, the process of inventing the method of drilling wood to make fire must have been very arduous.
After recognizing the importance of fire, a considerable period passed before people might have accidentally discovered that friction could generate heat. Later, someone accidentally drilled a hard, strong piece of wood into another piece of wood, which also produced heat. Although drilling wood could generate heat, the ignition point of wood was relatively high, making it not easy to ignite a fire through the heat generated by drilling. This required a tinder material. However, finding a suitable tinder material was not easy. Over generations, through continuous accumulation and exploration, perhaps a person obsessed with this, by a stroke of luck, ignited a branch, and thus the first artificial flame was born. However, that era might not have had names for people, and with the passage of time, no one knew who that first person to ignite an artificial flame was. Later, people in history suddenly took notice of fire and thought of the person who invented artificial fire-making, thus calling him "Suirenshi" (the Fire Driller).
Although Suirenshi appears to represent a single individual, it actually symbolizes all the working people who contributed to the artificial production of fire; he may be a composite of several people, and more likely, he represents a clan.
After the invention of artificial fire-making, people could cook food at any time, finally leaving behind the life of eating raw meat and drinking blood, and it provided conditions for primitive people to gather together. This remarkable invention propelled human civilization forward by a significant step.