Shennong

Shennong tasting herbs to discover their qualities.‎

Shennong‎ ploughing the fields. Mural painting from Han dynasty.

Shennong (Traditional Chinese: 神農; Simplified Chinese: 神农; pinyin: Shénnóng; Korean: 신농; literally: "Divine Farmer"; Vietnamese: Thần Nông), also known as the Emperor of the Five Grains (simplified Chinese: 五谷先帝; traditional Chinese: 五穀先帝; pinyin: Wǔgǔ xiāndì), was a ruler of China and cultural hero who lived some 5,000 years ago and who taught the ancient Chinese the practices of agriculture. Appropriately, his name means "the Divine Farmer". Considered to be the father of Chinese agriculture, Shennong taught his people how to cultivate grain as food, so as to avoid killing animals.

Shennong can also refer to what is referred to as his people, above. The Chinese for this social group is (Traditional Chinese: 神農氏; Simplified Chinese: 神农氏; pinyin: Shén nóng shì). The term shì (氏) refers to what may be translated as clan, tribe, family, or house. It can also mean maiden name (perhaps hinting at a pre-patriarchal tradition). In any case, Shennong as as a protohistorical ethnic group should not be confused with Shennong the eponymous, traditional "ancestor" of this social group. However, since shì (氏) can also mean an honorific term for a male, such as mister, the ambiguity is perpetuated: 神農氏/神农氏/Shén nóng shì, or plain Shennong, is also used to refer to the individual, and/or referred to the title of an individual.

Mythology

In Chinese mythology Shennong, besides having taught humans the plow and basic agriculture, and been a god of the burning wind, was sometimes said to be an progenitor or minister of Chi You; and. like him, ox-headed, sharp-horned, bronze-foreheaded, and iron-skulled.^[1] One difference between mythology and science is exemplified in Chinese mythology: Shennong and Huangdi were supposedly friends and fellow scholars, despite the 500 year or seventeen or eight generations between the first Shennong and Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor), and that together they shared the alchemical secrets of medicine, immortality, and making gold.^[2]

According to Sima Zhen's commentary to the Shiji, he is a kinsman of the Yellow Emperor and is said to be a patriarch of the Chinese. The Han Chinese regarded them both as their joint ancestors.

Historicity

Shennong cannot be said to be a completely historical figure. However, Shennong, individual and clan, are very important, in the history of culture -- especially in regards to mythology and popular culture. Indeed, Shennong figures extensively in historical literature.

Shennong in Literature

Even Sima Qian mentions that the rulers directly preceding the Yellow Emperor were of the house, or societal group, of Shennong.^[3] Sima Zhen, who added a prologue for the Shiji, says his surname was Jiang (姜) and proceeded to list his successors. In an older, and today evidently more globally popular reference is in the Huainanzi: this is the famous one that says how prior to Shennong people were sickly and wanting, starved and diseased; but, that he taught them agriculture, which he researched himself, eating hundreds of plants, indeed, in one day even consuming seventy poisons.^[4] Shennong also features in the book popularly known in English as I Ching. Here he is referenced as coming to power at the end of house Paoxi/Fuxi, inventing a bent-wood plow, a cut-wood rake, teaching these skills to others, and establishing a noonday market.^[5] Another reference is in the Lüshi Chunqiu, mentioning some violence in regard to the rise of Shennong, and that their power lasted seventeen generations.^[6]

There are various subsequent notices of Shennong. For example, Anthony Christie's Chinese Mythology references Shennong (as Shen-nung) six times, three times with pictures. according to the 1968 index.^[7]

In popular culture

He is said to have tasted hundreds of herbs to test their medical value. The most well-known work attributed to Shennong is The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic (simplified Chinese: 神农本草经; traditional Chinese: 神農本草經; pinyin: Shénnóng běncǎo jīng) – first compiled some time during the end of the Western Han Dynasty, several thousand years after Shennong existed – which lists the various medical herbs such as lingzhi which were discovered by Shennong and given grade and rarity ratings. This work is considered to be the earliest Chinese pharmacopoeia. It includes 365 medicines derived from minerals, plants, and animals. Shennong is credited with identifying hundreds of medical (and poisonous) herbs by personally testing their properties, which was crucial to the development of Traditional Chinese medicine. Legend has it that Shennong had a transparent body and thus could see the effects of different plants and herbs on himself. Tea, which acts as an antidote against the poisonous effects of some seventy herbs, is also said to be his discovery. This discovery is in 2737 B.C., according to which Shennong first tasted tea from tea leaves on burning tea twigs, which were carried up from the fire by the hot air, and landed in his cauldron of boiling water.^[8] Shennong is venerated as the Father of Chinese medicine. He is also believed to have introduced the technique of acupuncture.

Shennong is said to have played a part in the creation of the Guqin, together with Fuxi and the Yellow Emperor. Scholarly works mention that the paternal family of famous Song Dynasty General Yue Fei traced their origins back to Shennong.^[9]

See also

• Descendants of Yan & Yellow Emperors
• List of Chinese physicians
• Medicinal mushrooms
• Shen Nong Stream
• Song Yingxing
• Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
• Yandi
• Yellow Emperor

Notes & references

• Christie, Anthony (1968). Chinese Mythology. Feltham: Hamlyn Publishing. ISBN 0600006379.
• Wu, K. C. (1982). The Chinese Heritage. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-54475X.

Notes

External links

• [1] variants on the nóng character.
• [2] Shen Nong and Tea - Article for The Tea Site (official page).