The History of Shen-Nong

Hello, my name is Lin, and today I will be present about Amber Shennong. Amber Shennong is an extremely important person in Chinese history. He is one of the three greatest heroes of Chinese culture, the other two being the Yellow Amber and Fuxi, the revealer of the Eight Trigrams. He is also known as the inventor of Chinese medicine. He ruled and took over China during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Everyone also considers him as the Emperor of Five Greens. His name is very special, meaning the divine former, which are brought to the ancient Chinese farmers and agricultural workers. According to the legend, Shennong was born with a cow-shaped head, but the body of a man. His strength comes from the cow and is a symbol of fertility and agriculture, a role he is highly respected. Many people also knew him with sharp horns, bronze foreheads, or iron skull. The role of Amber Shennong is important in teaching people how to cultivate, grow greens, grow roots, and plow fields. This is to avoid capturing and killing animals. Unlike other physicians, Amber Shennong did not actually come up with any therapy to combat a specific disease. However, he wrote a book called The Divine Former. This book consists of three different volumes, and it contains hundreds of drugs and their descriptions. Like many other physicians that we have studied in class, in this book, he also talks about the five basic flavors of medicines, which are sour, salty, sweet, bitter, and acrid, and also the four natures of cold, hot, warm, and cool. He states that heart disease should be treated with cold medicine, and cold disease should be treated with hot medicine. He also discusses the treatment of disease. If the disease is located above the diaphragm in the chest, one should take the medicine after the meals. If the disease is located below the heart or in the abdomen, one should take the medicine before the meals. If the disease is located in the forelimbs or in the blood vessels, it is proper to take the medicine on an empty stomach in the morning. And if the disease is located in the bones or nerves, it is proper to take the medicine on a full stomach in the evening. When treating the disease with toxic medicines, one should first use a small grain size amount. Once the disease is gone, the person should stop using it. And if the disease is yet to leave, double the amount. And if it's still there, increase the amount by 10 times, because the medicine that we use is the removable of the disease. He believes that in order to treat a disease, one should first make a study of its originals and observe its mechanism. If the disease has already taken shape, then heart recovery can be achieved. If the disease condition has gone too far, it will be hard to restore the life. The book also contains a famous description of the discovery of the tea. The ember states that the tea leaves were swept away by the wind and fell into the pot of boiling water of the ember, leading to an important concoction. In ancient times, people ate grass and drank water from the river. They picked fruit and ate beetles and insects. At that time, there was much suffering because of illness and poisoning. Therefore, the divine farmer taught people for the first time how to plant different types of grains and check the appropriate of the earth to distinguish dry or watery for tall and high. Ember Shennong tasted hundreds of trees and the sweet or bitter taste of the river and spring. He taught people what to avoid and what to follow. Up to today, many people in China still use it and follow his book.