Shennong

Shennong, the Divine Farmer, also revered as Yandi (the Emperor of Flames), is the second of the mythological Three Sovereigns of China and the founding father of irrigated agriculture, market fairs and herbal traditional medicine. Endowed with a bull's head and a translucent crystal body that allowed him to observe the action of substances in his internal organs, he invented the first wooden plow, domesticated the sacred Five Grains and personally tasted hundreds of unknown herbs and poisons to catalogue their therapeutic virtues, discovering tea and sacrificing his own life for the cure of humanity. He is the loving patron of all farmers and physicians, whose tireless dedication and heroic sacrifice saved humanity from hunger and biological disease. He teaches humankind that honest work on the land and fraternal care for the sick are the true pillars of civilization and of perpetual well-being.

14 min read · Reviewed on September 28, 2026 · How we research

The plow, the medicinal herbs, the horns and the tea leaf

Primary sources

• Anônimo, Shennong Bencao Jing. translation: Shou-zhong Yang, 1998.
• Sima Qian, Shiji. translation: William H. Nienhauser Jr., 1994.
• Liu An, Huainanzi. translation: John S. Major, 2010.
• Huangfu Mi, Diwang Shiji. translation: Anne Birrell, 1993.

Studies

• Paul U. Unschuld, Medicine in China: A History of Pharmaceutics. University of California Press, 1986.
• K. C. Chang, Art, Myth, and Ritual in Ancient China. Harvard University Press, 1983.
• Anne Birrell, Chinese Mythology: An Introduction. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.
• Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 6: Biology and Biological Technology. Cambridge University Press, 1986.