Comprehensive Records of Chinese Folk Customs (Folk Literature Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Lin Jifu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: The Supplement to the Annals of the Three Emperors in Records of the Grand Historian records: "The Flame Emperor Shennong, of the Jiang clan. His mother was Nudeng, the daughter of the Goddess of the Earth, and the wife of Shaodian. She conceived Shennong and gave birth to the Flame Emperor, who had the body of a human and the head of an ox. He grew up by the Jiang River and thus took its name as his surname. Ruling with the virtue of fire, he was called the Flame Emperor, and officials were named after the fire. He carved wood into plows and twisted wood into hoes. Using plows and hoes, he taught the people. As he taught agriculture, he was known as Shennong. He then established the sacrifice of wax, whipped plants with red whips, first tasted a hundred herbs, and thus began the use of medicine. He also made a five-string zither, taught people to hold markets at noon, trade, and return, each finding what they needed." From this legend, Shennong is not only one of the earliest inventors of Chinese agriculture but possibly also of Chinese medicine and markets.
Another legendary agricultural inventor is Houji. The Classic of Mountains and Seas·Western Extremes records: "There was a Western Zhou state, of the Ji clan, who ate grains. A man named Shu Jun was farming. The Emperor Jun bore Houji, who descended with the hundred grains." The Classic of Mountains and Seas·Coastlands records: "Between the Southwest Black Water, there is the Duguang Plain, where Houji is buried. There are rich soybeans, rich rice, rich millet, and rich millet, and the hundred grains grow spontaneously." Since Houji descended with the hundred grains and his burial ground was a place where the hundred grains grew spontaneously, he was clearly an agricultural cultural hero.
In addition to hunting and agriculture, ancient texts contain many records of cultural inventions. For example, the Shiben·Creation section of the World Genealogy states: "Fuxi made the zither, Shennong made the se, Nüwa made the xiao and huang. Zhuanxu ordered the Flying Dragon Clan to cast the great bells, whose sound resonated far. Zhu Rong established the market. Goumang made the nets. Huangdi sent Xihe to observe the sun and Changxi to observe the moon. Linglun created the lü and lv. Zisong praised Cangjie for writing. Shi Huang made pictures. Bo Yu made clothing. Yin Shou made mirrors. Chiyou made weapons of gold. Wu Xian made divination. Wu Peng made medicine. Wu Xian made bronze drums. Feng Meng made archery. He made the ox-drawn plow. Xiangtu made the horse-drawn chariot. Xi Shao first made carts. Su Sha made salt. Hua Yi made wells. Yao invented weiqi, and Danzhu mastered it. Jing made city walls. Gao Yao made the five punishments. Shun made the xiao, and Ku made music. Guoshou made painting. Kunwu made pottery." These can all be seen as fragments of ancient myths.