The Origin of Shennongjia

The clouds at sunrise are radiant, colorful, and flourishing (Photo by Mei Tao)

The name Shennongjia is closely related to Shennong (also known as Yandi or Emperor Yan). In ancient times, in order to try and collect medical herbs as much as possible to benefit the people, Shennong led locals to climb up into the mountains. These mountains were so precipitous and forest-blanketed that Shennong believed there would be magic herbs hidden in them. He first taught them to build houses in an attempt to avoid dangers and disasters, and then instructed them to build a wood ladder with which they could ascend to the mountain tops. Shennong finally gathered 365 kinds of good herbs, which were then compiled into the great work of Chinese medicine, Shennong's Herbal Classic. To inform the Heavenly God of what he did in the secular world, Shennong constructed a wood altar from where he flew to the heaven on a crane's back. Then the mountain was named after Shennong in honor of his deeds and feats.

Being one of the Three Sovereigns, Shennong was born in a stone cave in Lieshan. Legend goes that he had a human body and an ox's head. When he grew up, he was elected the leader of his tribe because of his distinctive appearance, diligence, and braveness. The tribe was in the "very hot" south, and that’s why he was called Emperor Yan ("Heat"). The leader was inspired when he once saw a bird pick up seeds; later he invented the farming of cereals. In honor of his extraordinary contributions, people started to call him Shennong, "the Immortal Farmer." Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang were the two legendary ancestors of the Chinese, hence Chinese people still call themselves "the descendants of Yan and Huang" today.

Shennong is one of the great ancestors of the Chinese nation. At Shennongjia, the Shennong Altar was built for people to worship. By the two sides of the altar lie eight wall paintings which recorded the ancient sage's feats. They include the domestication of cattle for farming,the invention of five-stringed Jiaowei, linen, pottery and wooden tools, primitive farming, organizing the market at midday, exploitation of wells for irrigation, and practicing fengshui to choose living spaces. Throughout history, these eight contributions of Shennong have greatly permeated into Chinese people's daily life.