Shennong, also known as the
Emperor of the Five Grains (
Wuguxiandì), was an
emperor of China and
cultural hero. Shennong has at times been counted amongst the
Three Sovereigns (also known as "Three Emperors"), a group of pseudo-mythological and sage-like emperors said to have lived some 4,500 years ago. Shennong has been thought to have taught the ancient Chinese not only their practices of
agriculture, but also the use of herbal drugs. Shennong is among the group of variously named heroic persons and
deities who have been traditionally given credit for various inventions: these include the
hoe,
plow (both
leisi style and the
plowshare),
axe, digging
wells, agricultural irrigation, preserving stored seeds by using boiled horse urine, the weekly
farmers market, the
Chinese calendar (especially the division into the 24
jieqi or solar terms), and to have refined the therapeutic understanding of taking pulse measurements,
acupuncture, and
moxibustion, and to have instituted the
harvest thanksgiving ceremony (Zhaji Sacrificial Rite, later known as the Laji Rite).