Huangdi is reputed to have been born about 2704 BC and to have begun his rule as emperor in 2697. His legendary reign is credited with the introduction of wooden houses, carts, boats, the bow and arrow, and writing. Huangdi himself is credited with defeating “barbarians” in a great battle somewhere in what is now Shanxi—the victory winning him the leadership of tribes throughout the Huang He (Yellow River) plain. Some traditions also credit him with the introduction of governmental institutions and the use of coined money. Huangdi's wife was reputed to have discovered sericulture (silk production) and to have taught women how to breed silkworms and weave fabrics of silk.

Huangdi is held up in some ancient sources as a paragon of wisdom whose reign was a golden age. He is said to have dreamed of an ideal kingdom whose tranquil inhabitants lived in harmonious accord with the natural law and possessed virtues remarkably like those espoused by early Daoism. On waking from his dream, Huangdi sought to inculcate these virtues in his own kingdom, to ensure order and prosperity among the inhabitants. Upon his death he was said to have become an immortal.