Hometown of Emperor Yan Shennong

Hometown of Emperor Yan Shennong

The hometown of Yan Emperor Shennong, the birthplace of Yan Emperor Shennong, is located at the south foot of Jiulong Mountain, Lishan Town, Sui County, Suizhou City, Hubei Province. The ancient Shennong cave is located on the hillside of Jiunong mountain.

Introduction to scenic spots

According to historical records, "Shennong's mother ascended, and Yandi was born by feeling agriculture.". From the spring and autumn and Warring States period until now, historians and historical documents of all dynasties have made positive records. Emperor Yan Shennong was born in Lishan, Suizhou, Hubei Province, which is the hometown of Emperor Yan Shennong. For example, in the book of rites, Jifa 23 of the spring and Autumn period, it is said that the Lishan family has the world, and its son is called Nong, who can cultivate hundreds of grains. Zheng Xuan, a master of Confucian classics in the Eastern Han Dynasty, noted: "the Lishan family, the Yan Emperor also, originated from Lishan, or the Lieshan family.". In the spring and Autumn Annals of Lu, it is said that "in the past, the Lieshan family had the world, and its master, Zhu, could cultivate hundreds of grains and vegetables.". Wei Zhao's note during the Three Kingdoms period: the name of Lieshan, the name of Emperor Yan, originated from Lieshan. The fourth volume of Chunqiu Zuozhuan notes: "the son of Lieshan's family said Zhu Weiji (Shen Han's supplementary note)," (sacrificial ceremony) said: "there is a world in Lishan's family, and his son said agriculture, which can cultivate hundreds of grains.". Note: "the surname of Lishan, Emperor Yan, originated from Lishan, or the surname of Lieshan.". Agriculture is the pillar, and Lishan is now 40 Li north of suixian County in Hubei Province. In the 29th year of Zhaogong in Zuozhuan, it is said that the son of Lieshan's family, Zhu Weiji, has been worshipped since Xia Dynasty; Zhou Qi, also Ji, has been worshipped since Shang Dynasty.

In 2007, the construction of the new scenic spot, the hometown of Yandi Shennong, Lishan, Suizhou, started with a total investment of 400 million yuan. The newly built scenic spot was completed before the birthday of Emperor Yan in 2009, and the first "world Yandi Shennong root seeking Festival" was successfully held on April 26 of the lunar calendar, with increasing influence. In November 2009, Suizhou Yandi Shennong hometown scenic spot won the title of AAAA scenic spot of State Tourism Administration.

In the Yandi Shennong Lieshan scenic area, there are some memorial buildings, such as Yandi Shennong cave, Yandi Shennong monument, Yandi Shennong Memorial square, Yandi Shennong memorial hall, Yandi Shennong memorial archway, etc. The planning and construction of Yandi Shennong Lieshan scenic area is characterized by "architecture returning to ancient times and environment returning to wild". It is planned to build six areas, namely "world Lieshan clan hall", "sacrifice pilgrimage", "holy relic Tour", "Datong market", "economic and technological development of Yandi's hometown" and "service reception management". It is planned to build and repair Yandi Shennong hall, Lieshan grand ancestral hall, sage hall, Gongde hall Shennong temple, andengquan, BaiCaoYuan, Temple of heaven, shennongjiujing and other scenic spots. The landscapes include Jianghe new trend, Jiuling Qinglan, Yansi evening bell, mountain village sunset, ancient cave green snow, broken rock shrinkage fog, dragon and Phoenix flagpole, etc. For thousands of years, tens of thousands of people from all over the world have come to Lieshan to worship Yandi Shennong and cherish the memory of the ancestors of China on the birthday of Yandi (every April 26 of the lunar calendar). Lieshan has become a holy land for Chinese people at home and abroad to seek their roots and ancestors.

Emperor Yan Shennong and Suizhou

There seems to be a premise that needs to be made clear in advance when discussing the problems of Yan Emperor Shennong: since the pre Qin period, all kinds of records about Yan Emperor Shennong in various ancient books and records are indirectly derived from ancient myths and legends, not from the direct written history. Feng Tianyu: three topics on the research methodology of Yandi culture, Yandi and Yandi culture, Hubei people's publishing house, 1991. And no matter the myth or the legend, at first it was handed down by word of mouth. The wider the spread, the longer the spread, the greater the variation. Later, the myths and legends found in the literature are only a part of the actual myths and legends, and there must be many differences and even contradictions. There are differences between myths and legends of different origins. Some of them can be clearly distinguished from each other, but some of them can not be distinguished for a moment or even forever, so we can coexist. For this kind of true and false problems, it is better to have more fuzziness and less clarity. The sages have said: "the things of Taigu are gone, but who will be there? The things of the three emperors, if they exist, if they die; the things of the five emperors, if they feel like dreams; the things of the three kings, if they are hidden or obvious, if they don't know one." Liezi Yangzhu. It is true that myth is myth after all, and legend is legend after all. They reflect and even conjure up some ancient historical traces. Moderate vagueness is a realistic attitude, and excessive clarity will lead to distortion. Zhang Zhengming: Essays on Yandi, Yandi and Yandi culture, Hubei people's publishing house, 1991. This is what we should do about the relationship among Emperor Yan, Shennong and Lieshan and their birthplace.

1、 The cause of division and combination of Yan Emperor, Shennong and Lieshan

（1） Emperor Yan and Shennong?

In ancient books, there are three kinds of records about the Shennong family of Yandi: first, only mentioning Yandi or Shennong in a paragraph, but not talking about the relationship between Yandi and Shennong, such as xiazhuangzi, Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi, Shangjunshu, Huace, Guoyu, Jinyu, Xinshu, Zhibuding, Huainanzi, bingluexun, Liji, Jifa, etc Sima Zhenbu of Tang Dynasty in historical records of the three emperors. Secondly, Shennong and Yan Emperor are mentioned in a paragraph, although the relationship between them is not clear, but the meaning of the words is not the same, such as "Shiji Fengchan book"; thirdly, Shennong and Lieshan or Lishan are regarded as one person, such as "Shiben · Dixi", "Liji · Jifa" and "Zuozhuan · Zhaogong 29th year" Du's annotation, Wei's annotation in Guoyu · Jinyu and Emperor Century, etc. So, is Emperor Yan, Shennong and Lieshan the same person? We think it is difficult to give a general affirmative or negative answer to this question. The main reason is probably a "diachronic" question.

Any primitive nation has its own myths and legends. These myths and legends record the achievements of their ancestors, summarize their understanding of nature and society, and place their expectations and ideals. Although the plot is strange, it has scientific value and irresistible artistic charm that can not be ignored. There are some similar or even the same myths and legends in some primitive nations with similar blood lineage and living nearby. The fusion of alien primitive nations must be accompanied by the fusion of alien myths and legends. Any myth and legend is not immutable, there are migration and divergence in space and evolution and variation in time. Therefore, the ancient myths and legends should not be confined to the words of one place or the opinions of one moment, but should be investigated and studied in a multi-directional and dynamic way, that is to say, diachronic.

Although there is only one document that mentions Shennong and Yandi in the same time in a paragraph, this material provides the main evidence for us to explore the relationship between Shennong and Yandi. In addition, as mentioned in the previous literature, the other two cases of Shennong and Yandi also provide evidence. Because if Shennong and Yandi are always the same person, why are there no records in the pre Qin classics, and the records are all the commentaries of scholars since the Han and Wei dynasties?

However, our research on the early Shennong and Yan Emperor is not the same person, in order to rectify the source, does not mean that they have a close relationship or even a history of unity. On the contrary, we think that since the Han and Wei dynasties, many scholars regarded Shennong and Yandi as one person. Since the Han and Wei dynasties, many scholars have regarded Shennong and Yandi as one person for both subjective and objective reasons.

Subjectively, both Shennong and Yandi are related to farming. They are not only the names of clans or tribes, but also the names of their leaders. Shennong's main contribution lies in "the benefit of Leifu, to teach the world", which is the invention of farming. However, farming in ancient times depended heavily on astronomical calendar images. As an official named by fire, Emperor Yan's historical records of the three emperors was obviously superior in astronomical calendar images. In addition, Yandi tribe widely scattered in the middle reaches of the Yellow River and the Hanshui River Basin. Although it got up later than Shennong tribe, it came from behind and once became a tribal alliance including Shennong tribe. Therefore, Yandi became the "body name" of this tribal alliance, Shiben Dixi. After all, Shennong tribe rose earlier and made great contribution to agriculture, so it became the "code" or "world name" of the tribal alliance, the wudezhi of Qianfu theory. "Shennong - Yandi" or "Yandi Shennong" is not only integrated in the eyes of the world, but also becomes a hereditary title. From the perspective of ethnology, the hereditary nature of the titles of clan and tribal leaders is natural or universal. For example, in the Iroquois tribal alliance, a branch of Indians who migrated from the North China Plain of Asia to America, "the name of each leader's post becomes the personal name of the person who holds the post during his term of office, and any successor will use the name of his predecessor.". That is, after the new leader took office, "his original name was" cancelled "and replaced with the name used by the leader. From then on, he became known by this name.". Morgan: ancient society, commercial press, 1977.

From an objective point of view, the process of Yan Emperor and Shennong merging into one roughly experienced three stages: coexistence, mutual respect and amalgamation. Zhang Zhengming: Essays on Yandi, Yandi and Yandi culture, Hubei people's publishing house, 1991.

In the Warring States period, the theory of five elements flourished. The five elements matched with the five directions and colors, and the ancient emperors concerned had to take their positions according to the five elements theory. "Huainanzi astronomy training" said: "the central soil also, its Emperor Huangdi"; "Southern fire also, its emperor Yandi". The central part is yellow, and the Yellow Emperor is the right name; the southern part is red, so the Yan Emperor is also called the Red Emperor

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