Shennong, variously translated as "Divine Farmer" or "Divine Husbandman", born Jiang Shinian, was a mythological Chinese ruler known as the first Yan Emperor who has become a deity in Chinese and Vietnamese folk religion.
17 Facts About Shennong
2.
Shennong is venerated as a culture hero in China and Vietnam.
3.
Shennong has at times been counted amongst the Three Sovereigns, a group of ancient deities or deified kings of prehistoric China.
4.
Shennong has been thought to have taught the ancient Chinese not only their practices of agriculture, but the use of herbal drugs.
5.
In Chinese mythology, Shennong taught humans the use of the plow, aspects of basic agriculture, and the use of medicinal plants.
6.
Possibly influenced by the Yan Emperor mythos or the use of slash-and-burn agriculture, Shennong was a god of burning wind.
7.
Shennong was sometimes said to be a progenitor to, or to have had as one of his ministers, Chiyou.
8.
Shennong is thought to be the father of the Huang Emperor who carried on the secrets of medicine, immortality, and making gold.
9.
The Shennong Ben Cao Jing is a book on agriculture and medicinal plants, attributed to Shennong.
10.
Under his various names, Shennong is the patron deity of farmers, rice traders, and practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine.
11.
Shennong is credited with identifying hundreds of medical herbs by personally testing their properties, which was crucial to the development of traditional Chinese medicine.
12.
Legend holds that Shennong had a transparent body, and thus could see the effects of different plants and herbs on himself.
13.
Shennong is said to have discovered tea, which he found it to be acting as an antidote against the poisonous effects of some seventy herbs he tested on his body.
14.
Shennong is believed to have introduced the technique of acupuncture.
15.
Shennong is said to have played a part in the creation of the guqin, together with Fuxi and the Yellow Emperor.
16.
Shennong holding tea leaves, by Hasegawa Nobukata, early 17th century, Japan.
17.
Shennong as depicted by Tang dynasty figure Gan Bozong, woodcut print in the Lidai mingyi hua xingshi' a preface of an edition of the ming dynasty book bencaomengquan by Chen jiamo.