Chinese Folklore – Part 4 – Shennong comes to Baishan

Shennong came to Baishan

Source: Internet
Shennong is the legendary inventor of agriculture, who tasted hundreds of herbs. When Shennong came to Changbai Mountain, not many people knew about it.

It sounds like this happened thousands of years ago. Human beings know that they can survive by eating grains, but eating grains can also bring diseases. Seeing someone getting sick, Shen Nong thought, one thing will bring another thing down. Since one can get sick, there must be medicine that can cure the disease. So he tasted all kinds of herbs and knew what kind of herbs could cure what kinds of diseases. However, some diseases still have not been cured by effective herbal medicines, and they have traveled all over the Yangtze River and Hebei Province. So Shennong walked eastward for an unknown number of days before arriving at Changbai Mountain. When he came here, he saw that there were many strange flowers, weeds, and rare birds and animals. It was very different from the south. Shennong was happy and excited, and after days of hard work, he fainted on the ground.

Shennong vaguely heard someone coming to him. He quickly opened his eyes and saw that it was an elderly man. At this time, the old man asked: "Who are you?" Shennong was still lying on the ground and replied: "My name is Shennong." The old man said: "Are you Shennong? But what are you doing in Changbai Mountain? There are no people here." Shennong said: " I'm looking for herbal medicine that can cure serious illnesses." The old man said, "You are very ill now. How can you find herbal medicine? I have a piece of bark here that can also cure diseases. I'll give it to you." Shennong took the bark. Looking carefully, there was no such tree in the south. He chewed a few mouthfuls and swallowed, and immediately felt much better. He sat up and wanted to thank the old man, but he was nowhere to be seen! Shennong regretted it so much that he didn't even have time to ask his name! He looked at the bark in his hand, which was bright yellow, and said to himself: "Let's call this bark 'Uncle Huang'. When you see it, you can think of that old man."

Shennong stood up and went to look for herbs that were not available in the south. Within a few days, I found medicine that could cure leg pain, diarrhea, and internal heat. On this day, he suddenly had a headache. The pain was so painful that he could no longer stand, so he had to lie down on the grass. At this time, he suddenly smelled a refreshing fragrance, which smelled very good. He searched carefully to see what kind of grass it was. But when I brought some 10 or 20 kinds of grass to my nose and smelled them, there was no such smell. He was very puzzled, so he pulled out the grass roots again and smelled them one by one. As a result, there was a single-leaf clover root that had this smell. Shen Nong was so happy that he ate the grass into his stomach. Within half an hour, he felt no pain. Shen Nong named it "Xi Xin", which means you can find it only if you are careful. It is now "Xixin".

At this time, a sika deer came. He stared at Shennong without blinking. Shennong asked: "Who are you? What do you want to do?" The sika deer said: "I am the sacred deer. Are you Shennong?" Shennong was even more surprised. When he came to Changbai Mountain, he encountered two strange things: one was the old man "Huang Bo", One is this "sacred deer". The sika deer seemed to have guessed Shennong's thoughts and said, "The old man's surname is not Huang, but turtle, and his name is Uncle turtle. He is an old turtle from the sky, and he came down to deliver medicine to save you." Shennong was dubious and didn't know how to answer. He then said, "I'm here to give you the antler horns. You can eat them to replenish your health!" Shennong took the antler horns and took only a small bite. He felt light and strong all over his body and quickly thanked the deer. Before leaving, the sacred deer said: "There is also a kind of king of herbs, with a red crown on the head and roots like a human. After finding her, you can leave Changbai Mountain. Because there is no herb more precious than this kind of herb."

After hearing what the sika deer said, Shennong suddenly became energetic. He found hundreds of grasses with red seeds on them and dug them out. Only one kind of grass had roots that looked like a human being, with a head, a neck, arms and legs. Like a fat doll. He took a bite and found it bitter and sweet. After eating it, his body was as good as when he was young. Shennong named it "Ren Shen", which has been passed down to this day and written as "Ginseng".

Shennong brought all the herbs he discovered in Changbai Mountain back to the south. Some grow well in areas along the Yellow River and Yangtze River. But only ginseng can't survive in the south. I don't know why.
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