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{{Short description|Legendary Chinese ancestral deity}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox royalty
|name= Shennong <br>{{nobold|神農}}
| title = [[Yan Emperor]]
|image= Guo Xu album dated 1503 (2).jpg
|caption= Shennong as depicted in a 1503 painting<br/>by Guo Xu
|reign = 
| birth_name         = [[Jiāng (surname 姜)|Jiang]] Shinian (姜石年)
|birth_date=
| birth_place        = 
|death_date=
| death_place        = 
|issue = Linkui
|father = [[Shaodian]]
|mother = Nüdeng
|predecessor= 
|successor= Linkui
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
|title='''Shennong'''
|pic=
|piccap=
|picsize=
|t={{linktext|神農}}
|s={{linktext|神农}}
|l="Divine Farmer/Husbandman"
|p=Shénnóng
|w=Shen<sup>2</sup>-nung<sup>2</sup>
|mi={{IPAc-cmn|sh|en|2|.|n|ong|2}}
|j=San4-nung4
|y=Sàhn-nùhng
|ci={{IPAc-yue|s|an|4|.|n|ung|4}}
|h=Sṳ̀n-nùng
|poj=Sîn-lông
|qn=Thần Nông
|chuhan=神農
|kanji=神農
|romaji=Shin'nō
|hangul=신농
|hanja=神農
|rr=Sinnong
}}
[[File:Shennong2.jpg|thumb|upright|Shennong [[Yan Emperor]] ({{lang|zh|炎帝}}) is well known as the first Emperor of Ancient China, who not only invented the farming tools for his people, but also herbs for treating his people's illnesses. Depicted in a mural painting from the Han dynasty.]]

'''Shennong''' ({{lang-zh|c=神農|p=Shénnóng}}), variously translated as "Divine Farmer"<ref name=":122">{{Cite book |last1=Ivanhoe |first1=Philip J. |title=Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy |last2=Van Norden |first2=Bryan W. |publisher=[[Hackett Publishing Company]] |year=2005 |isbn=0-87220-781-1 |edition=2nd |location=Indianapolis |pages=381 |oclc=60826646 |author-link=Philip J. Ivanhoe |author-link2=Bryan W. Van Norden}}</ref> or "Divine Husbandman", born {{zhp|p='''Jiang Shinian'''|c=姜石年}}, was a mythological [[Chinese sovereign|Chinese ruler]] known as the first [[Yan Emperor]] who has become a deity in [[Chinese folk religion]]. He is venerated as a [[culture hero]] in [[China]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-02 |title=Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) {{!}} Description, History, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/traditional-Chinese-medicine |access-date=2025-08-21 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> 

Shennong has at times been counted amongst the [[Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors|Three Sovereigns]] (also known as "Three Kings" or "Three Patrons"), a group of ancient deities or deified kings of prehistoric China. Shennong has been thought to have taught the ancient Chinese not only their practices of [[agriculture]],<ref name=":122" /> but also the use of [[herbal medicine]].{{sfn|Christie|1975|p=87}} Shennong was credited with various inventions: these include the [[Hoe (tool)|hoe]],<ref name=":122" /> [[plow]]<ref name=":122" /> (both {{zhp|p=leisi|c=耒耜}} style and the [[plowshare]]), [[axe]], digging [[Water well|wells]], agricultural irrigation, preserving stored seeds by using boiled horse urine (to ward off the borers), [[trade]],<ref name=":122" /> commerce,<ref name=":122" /> [[money]], the weekly [[farmers market]], the [[Chinese calendar]] (especially the division into the 24 ''[[Solar term|jieqi]]'' or solar terms). He is also attributed to have refined the therapeutic understanding of taking pulse measurements, [[acupuncture]], and [[moxibustion]], as well as having instituted the [[harvest festival|harvest thanksgiving]] ceremony ({{zhp|p=zhaji|c=蜡祭}} sacrificial rite, later known as the {{zhp|p=laji|c=腊祭}} rite).{{sfn|Yang|An|Turner|2005|pp=190-199}}

"Shennong" can also be taken to refer to his people, the ''Shennong-shi'' ({{zhi|t={{linktext|神農|氏}}|p=Shénnóngshì|l=Shennong Clan}}).

==Mythology==
According to legend, Shennong's mother swallowed the vapor of a dragon and nine days later, her son was born on the banks of the river Jiang. He had a bull (or ox's) head with a man's body. He developed rapidly and began speaking after three days, eventually growing to over eight feet tall.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wong |first=Eva |title=Tales of the dancing dragon: stories of the Tao |date=2007 |publisher=Shambhala |isbn=978-1-59030-523-2 |edition=1st Shambhala |location=Boston London |pages=17}}</ref>

In [[Chinese mythology]], he obtained a mystical book of herbs from a Taoist master and later journeyed across China to record 365 medicinal herbs and fungi that became essential in traditional Chinese medicine.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wong |first=Eva |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/123284916 |title=Tales of the dancing dragon: stories of the Tao |date=2007 |publisher=Shambhala ; Distributed in the United States by Random House |isbn=978-1-59030-523-2 |edition=1st |location=Boston : [New York] |oclc=123284916}}</ref> Shennong also taught humans the use of the plow, aspects of basic agriculture, and the use of [[cannabis]]. Possibly influenced by the [[Yan Emperor]] mythos or the use of [[slash-and-burn]] agriculture,{{sfn|Christie|1975|p=90}} Shennong was a god of burning wind. He was also sometimes said to be a progenitor to, or to have had as one of his ministers, [[Chiyou]] (and like him, was [[ox]]-headed, sharp-horned, bronze-foreheaded, and iron-skulled).{{sfn|Christie|1975|p=90}}

Shennong is also thought to be the father of the [[Yellow Emperor]] ({{lang|zh|黃帝}}) who carried on the secrets of medicine, immortality, and making gold.{{sfn|Christie|1975|pp=116-117}} According to the eighth century AD historian [[Sima Zhen]]'s commentary to the second century BC ''[[Shiji]]'' (or, ''Records of the Grand Historian''), Shennong is a kinsman of the [[Yellow Emperor]] and is said to be an [[ancestor]], or a [[patriarch]], of the ancient forebears of the Chinese.

After the [[Zhou dynasty]], Shennong was thought to have existed within it by some "ancient Chinese historians" and religious practitioners as the "deified" form<ref name=":0" /> of "mythical wise king" [[Hou Ji]]<ref name=":42">{{Cite book |last=Scarpari |first=Maurizio |title=Ancient China: Chinese Civilization from the Origins to the Tang Dynasty |publisher=[[Barnes & Noble]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7607-8379-5 |location=New York |pages=28 |translator-last=Milan |translator-first=A.B.A.}}</ref> whose descendants later founded the Zhou.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Asim |first=Ina |year=2007 |title=Keynotes 2 |url=https://pages.uoregon.edu/inaasim/Hist%20410/Hist%20410%20Keynotes2.htm |access-date=2023-07-18 |publisher=[[University of Oregon]]}}</ref>

As an alternative to this view, Shennong was also thought of in the era of the [[Hundred Schools of Thought]] as a culture hero rather than a god, but one with a supernatural digestive system who ate a specimen of every single plant that existed in the time of the Hundred Schools to find which ones were edible by humans.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Armstrong |first=Karen |title=A Short History of Myth |publisher=[[Canongate Books]] |year=2005 |isbn=9781841957166 |edition=First American |location=Broadway, New York |pages=90–91 |author-link=Karen Armstrong}}</ref> In the third century BCE, during times of political crisis and expansionism and wars among Chinese kingdoms, Shennong received new myths about his status as an ideal prehistoric ruler who valued laborers and farmers and "ruled without ministers, laws or punishments."<ref name=":1" />

==In literature==
[[Sima Qian]] ({{lang|zh|司馬遷}}) mentioned that the rulers directly preceding the [[Yellow Emperor]] were of the house (or societal group) of Shennong.<ref>{{harvtxt|Wu|1981|p=53}}, referring to ''[[Shiji]]'', Chapter One.</ref> [[Sima Zhen]], who added a prologue for the ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'' ({{lang|zh|史記}}), said his surname was [[Jiang (surname)|Jiang]] ({{lang|zh|姜}}), and proceeded to list his successors.  An older and more famous reference is in the ''[[Huainanzi]]''; it tells how, prior to Shennong, people were sickly, wanting, starved and diseased; but he then taught them agriculture, which he himself had researched, eating hundreds of plants &mdash; and even consuming seventy poisons in one day.<ref>{{harvtxt|Wu|1981|p=45}}, referencing ''[[Huainanzi]]'', ''xiuwu xun''</ref> Shennong also features in the book popularly known in English as ''[[I Ching]]''. Here, he is referenced as coming to power after the end of the house (or reign) of [[Paoxi]] ([[Fu Xi]]), also inventing a bent-wood plow, a cut-wood rake, teaching these skills to others, and establishing a noonday market.<ref>{{harvtxt|Wu|1981|p=54}}, referencing ''[[I Ching]]'', ''xici'', II, chapter 2</ref> Another reference is in the ''[[Lüshi Chunqiu]]'', mentioning some violence with regard to the rise of the Shennong house, and that their power lasted seventeen generations.<ref>{{harvtxt|Wu|1981|p=54}}, ''lisulan'', 4, yongmin.</ref>{{sfn|Christie|1975|p=141}}

The ''[[Shénnóng Běn Cǎo Jīng]]'' is a book on agriculture and medicinal plants, attributed to Shennong. Research suggests that it is a compilation of oral traditions, written between about 200 and 250 AD.{{sfn|Unschuld|1986|p=17}}

==Historicity==
[[File:Huang Di.png|thumb|260px|Map of tribes and tribal unions in Ancient China. The tribe of Shennong is in the west.]]
Reliable information on the history of China before the 13th century BC can come only from archaeological evidence because China's first established written system on a durable medium, the [[oracle bone script]], did not exist until then.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Bagley |first=Robert |title=Shang Archaeology |encyclopedia=The Cambridge History of Ancient China |editor-first1=Michael |editor-last1=Loewe |editor-first2=Edward |editor-last2=Shaughnessy |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1999}}</ref> Thus, the concrete existence of even the [[Xia dynasty]], said to be the successor to Shennong, is yet to be proven, despite efforts by Chinese archaeologists to link that dynasty with Bronze Age [[Erlitou]] archaeological sites.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=L. |last2=Xiu |first2=H. |title=Rethinking Erlitou: legend, history and Chinese archaeology |journal=Antiquity |volume=81 |issue=314 |date=2007 |pages=886–901|doi=10.1017/S0003598X00095983 |s2cid=162644060 |url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/22200901 }}</ref>

However, Shennong, both the individual and the clan, are very important in Chinese [[cultural history]], especially in regards to [[mythology]] and [[popular culture]]. Indeed, Shennong figures extensively in [[history of literature|historical literature]].

==Popular religion==
{{Chinese folk religion}}
According to some versions of the myths about Shennong, he eventually died as a result of his researches into the properties of plants by experimenting upon his own body, after, in one of his tests, he ate the yellow flower of a weed that caused his intestines to rupture before he had time to swallow his antidotal tea. The poisonous weed is thought to have been heartbreak grass (''[[gelsemium elegans]]''), as reported in chapter 6 of David Gibson's ''Planting Clues''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gibson |first=David J. |title=Planting clues: how plants solve crimes |date=2022 |publisher=Oxford university press |isbn=978-0-19-886860-6 |location=Oxford, United Kingdom}}</ref> Having thus given his life for humanity, he has since received special honor through his worship as the Medicine King ({{zhi|c=藥王|p=Yàowáng}}).{{sfn|Yang|An|Turner|2005|p=195}} The sacrifice of cows or oxen to Shennong in his various manifestations is never at all appropriate; instead pigs and sheep are acceptable. Fireworks and incense may also be used, especially at the appearance of his statue on his birthday, the 26th day of the fourth lunar month, according to popular tradition. Under his various names, Shennong is the patron deity of farmers, rice traders, and practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. Many temples and other places dedicated to his commemoration exist.{{sfn|Yang|An|Turner|2005|pp=198-199}}

==Popular culture==
[[File:Worship at the Great Temple of Shennong-Yandi in Suizhou, Hubei.jpg|thumb|Communal worship of Shennong at the Great Temple of Yandi Shennong ({{lang|zh|炎帝神农大殿}}) in [[Suizhou]], [[Hubei]].]]
As noted above, Shennong is said in the ''Huainanzi'' to have tasted hundreds of [[herb]]s to test their medical value. The most well-known work attributed to Shennong is ''[[Shennong Ben Cao Jing|The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic]]'' ({{zhi|t=神農本草經|s=神农本草经|p=Shénnóng Běncǎo Jīng|w=Shen<sup>2</sup>-nung<sup>2</sup> Pen<sup>3</sup>-ts'ao<sup>3</sup> Ching<sup>1</sup>}}), first compiled some time during the end of the [[Western Han Dynasty]] &mdash; several thousand years after Shennong might have existed. This work lists the various medicinal herbs, such as ''[[Lingzhi (mushroom)|lingzhi]]'', and [[Cannabis (drug)|marijuana]] that were discovered by Shennong and given grade and rarity ratings. It is considered to be the earliest Chinese [[pharmacopoeia]], and includes 365 medicines derived from minerals, plants, and animals. Shennong is credited with identifying hundreds of medical (and poisonous) [[herb]]s by personally testing their properties, which was crucial to the development of [[traditional Chinese medicine]]. Legend holds that Shennong had a transparent body, and thus could see the effects of different plants and herbs on himself. He is also 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. Shennong first tasted it, traditionally in ca. 2437 BC, from tea leaves on burning tea twigs, after they were carried up from the fire by the hot air, landing in his cauldron of boiling water.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Jane Reynolds |author2=Phil Gates |author3=Gaden Robinson | year=1994 | title=365 Days of Nature and Discovery | page=44 | publisher=Harry N. Adams |place=New York | isbn= 0-8109-3876-6}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Kaplan |first=Edward Harold |title=Yueh Fei and the founding of the Southern Sung |type=PhD Thesis |publisher=University of Iowa |year=1970 |oclc=63868015}}</ref>

==Places==
Shennong is associated with certain geographic localities including [[Shennongjia]], in Hubei, where the [[Calamoideae]] ladder which he used to climb the local mountain range is supposed to have transformed into a vast forest. The [[Shennong Stream]] flows from here into the [[Yangtze River]].

==Gallery==
<gallery widths=180>
File:Chinese god Shen Nun, Painting by Nobukata.jpg|''Shennong'' holding tea leaves, by [[:fr:Hasegawa Nobukata|Hasegawa Nobukata]], early 17th century, Japan.
File:Shennongding.jpg|Shennongding ({{lang|zh|神農頂}}): "Shennong's peak", associated with the story that Shennong had a ladder which he used to climb up and down the mountain, and which later turned into the local forest.
File:Shennong3.jpg|Shennong tasting plants to test their qualities on himself.
File:20100316-18 Yangtze River Cruise-Shennongxi Bridge.JPG|The Shennongxi ({{lang|zh|神農溪}}) Bridge near its confluence with the Yangtze River.
File:臺南藥王廟正面.JPG|Shennong Temple in [[Tainan]], [[Taiwan]] — where he is worshiped under the names King Yan ({{lang|zh|炎帝}}), God of [[Five Grains]] ({{lang|zh|五穀神}}), Shennong the Great Emperor, the Ancestor of Farming, Great Emperor of Medicine, God of Earth, and God of Fields.{{sfn|Yang|An|Turner|2005|p=199}}
File:Shinno (Shennong) derivative.jpg|Shennong (''Shinnō'' in [[Japanese language|Japanese]]) tasting herbs to discover their qualities; a distinctive, iconic pose often used in depictions of Shennong; in this case from a 19th-century [[Japan]]ese painting.
File:Chinese woodcut, Famous medical figures; Shen Nong Wellcome L0039313.jpg|Shennong as depicted by Tang dynasty (618–907) figure Gan Bozong ({{lang|zh|甘伯宗}}), woodcut print in the {{zhp|p=Lìdài míngyì huà xìngshì|c=历代名医畵姓氏}} a preface of an edition of the Ming dynasty book {{zhp|p=Běncǎoméngquán|c=本草蒙筌}} by Chen Jiamo ({{lang|zh|陈嘉谟}}).
File:C19 Chinese paintings of famous physicians; Shen Nong Wellcome L0039823.jpg|Chinese paintings of famous physicians: Shen Nong
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{portal|China}}
* [[Yan Huang Zisun]]
* [[Shennong Stream]]
* [[Shilin Shennong Temple]], Taiwan
* [[Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors]]
* [[Yan Emperor]]
* [[Yellow Emperor]]

Similar deities in other culture
* [[Phou Ningthou]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Christie |first = Anthony |title = Chinese Mythology |year=1975 |publisher=Hamlyn |location = London, England |isbn=0600006379 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Forbes |first1=Andrew |last2=Henley |first2=David |title=China's Ancient Tea Horse Road |year = 2011 |publisher=Congoscenti |language = en }}
* {{cite book |last = Wu |first = K. C. |title = The Chinese Heritage |year =1981 |publisher=Crown |location = New York, NY |isbn=051754475X |url-access=registration |url = https://archive.org/details/chineseheritage00wuku }}
* {{cite book |last=Unschuld |first = Paul U. |title = Medicine in China: A history of Pharmaceutics |year=1986 |publisher = University of California Press |location = Berkeley, CA |isbn=9780520050259 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Yang |first1=Lihui |last2=An |first2=Deming |last3=Turner |first3=Jessica Anderson |title=Handbook of Chinese mythology |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, England |isbn=9780195332636 }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Shennong}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glSlm80ZYxo Statue of Shennong in ZhuZhou]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081219144345/http://140.111.1.40/yitia/fra/fra04111.htm Variants on the ''nóng'' character.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110716215655/http://the-tea-site.com/shen-nong.php "Shen Nong and Tea" article from The Tea Site.]

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{{s-bef|before=[[Fuxi]] or [[Nüwa]]}}
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{{Chinese mythology}}
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{{Religious Confucianism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors]]
[[Category:Agriculturalism]]
[[Category:Chinese gods]]
[[Category:Guqin players]]
[[Category:Ancient China]]
[[Category:Health gods]]
[[Category:Fire gods]]
[[Category:Deities in Chinese folk religion]]
[[Category:Deified Chinese men]]
[[Category:Yan Emperor]]