The Origin of Shennongjia

T he 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,1.The Three Sovereigns are Suiren,Fuxi,and Shennong.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,2.Jiaoweiisa legendary musical instrument of China.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.

云蒸霞蔚（梅 濤攝）The clouds at sunrise are radiant,colorful,and flourishing(Photo by MeiTao)

神農(nóng)架之名

神農(nóng)架，其名與炎帝神農(nóng)氏有莫大關(guān)聯(lián)。

上古時(shí)，神農(nóng)氏為造福黎民，遍嘗百草，率眾尋至一座高山，見山勢(shì)陡峭，森林遍野，認(rèn)定此處必有奇藥。他先教民“架木為屋，以避兇險(xiǎn)”；繼教民“架木為梯，以助攀緣”；采得良藥365種，收錄于中國(guó)醫(yī)藥名著《神農(nóng)本草經(jīng)》，為向天帝復(fù)命，才“架木為壇，跨鶴飛天”而去。后人緬懷神農(nóng)恩德，將這座高山稱為神農(nóng)架。

神農(nóng)氏，三皇（燧人-燧皇、伏羲-羲皇、神農(nóng)-農(nóng)皇）之一，生于烈山一處石洞中。傳說(shuō)，他牛頭人身，由于其特殊外貌和勤勞勇敢，長(zhǎng)大后被人們推舉為部落首領(lǐng)，又因其所率部落居住于炎熱的南方，稱炎族，故他被稱為炎帝。一次，炎帝見鳥兒銜種，他由此發(fā)明了五谷農(nóng)業(yè)。因其貢獻(xiàn)卓越，后人又稱炎帝為神農(nóng)。炎帝與黃帝并尊為中華民族人文始祖，中國(guó)人民自稱炎黃子孫。

神農(nóng)氏是中華民族偉大的始祖之一，神農(nóng)架林區(qū)建有神農(nóng)壇，供人們祭拜。兩側(cè)用八組壁畫記錄了他的豐功偉績(jī)，即降牛以耕、焦尾五弦、積麻衣葛、陶石木具、原始農(nóng)耕、日中為市、穿井灌溉、相土擇居。從古至今，人們的日常生活中，都離不開神農(nóng)氏這八大發(fā)明的智慧痕跡，他為中華民族的發(fā)展寫下了輝煌的篇章。