Fuxi (; Chinese: ) or Fu Xi, also romanized as Fu-hsi, is a culture hero in Chinese legend and mythology, credited (along with his sister Nü Wa) with creating humanity and the invention of hunting, fishing and cooking as well as the Cangjie system of writing Chinese characters ca. 12,000 BCE. He was also known as Paoxi , also romanized as Pao-hsi. Fu Xi was counted as the first of the Three Sovereigns at the beginning of the Chinese dynastic period.