the divine farmer and fire emperor:
As an auspicious way to start out this new blog about tea and Daoism, I thought it might be a good idea to introduce a little about one of the most important legendary figures in Daoism, Tea, culture, Chinese medicine, and Chinese cultural history. The Shen Nong emperor, also known as "Yan Di," or "Fire Emperor," was an early emperor in the South of China who was believed to have ruled at the time just before the yellow emperor consolidated China as one country. Shen Nong was famed for his experimentation with medicinal herbs of all kinds and has his own herbal medicine classic dedicated to his name (although he is not believed to have written it). Shen Nong is also famously attributed as having discovered tea.
One legendary account places Shen Nong and his entourage in a military camp and a single tea leaf falling into Shen Nong's water bowl, leaving behind a nice taste and mild medicinal effect. The story goes that Shen Nong always drank his water hot in order to avoid dysentery and that the leaf brewed in the hot water without his noticing. Because tea can give energy to people, he felt that it should be used to strengthen the energy and resolve of his soldiers, and they went on to enjoy military victory as a result.
In the Shen Nong Classic of Plant Medicine, it says "Shen Nong sampled hundreds of herbs and used tea to treat his stomach when he accidentally ate poison." Of course, the stories of Shen Nong and the discovery of tea are most likely just legend, but it is important to recognize the value and power of legend in cultural history.
Shen Nong is also treated as a deity in Daoism and is referred to as "Yan Di," or fire emperor. He represents the southern point on the compass and by proxy is also associated with colour red, the fire element, the spirit of the heart, the physical heart, and consciousness and emotion.
Shen Nong is often depicted as more rustic than the other historical emperors of China and is respected as being one of the key ancestors of the Chinese people. Today, he has shrines in many parts of Southern China and Taiwan. Last year I was lucky enough to visit the shrine of Shen Nong outside of Taipei city. Given not only my love of Daoist culture, but also of tea, I made sure to pay special reverence to Shen Nong, the God of Agriculture and the Fire Emperor.
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