CHINESE LEGEND Shennong

Some 5000 years ago, China was ruled by Shennong , a wise emperor (the father of agriculture and herbal medicine whose name can be translated as “Divine Farmer”).

Shennong knew his people would not be able to survive by consuming only meat and fruit and vegetables that used to grow on their own, that is why he invented farming tools and taught his people how to farm, to grow not only vegetables and fruits, but also introduced the 5 grains to them. That is why his people knew him also as the Wugushen ( 五谷 神 “Five Grains’ God”) or Wuguxiandi ( 五谷 先帝 “First Deity of the Five Grains”).

Shennong believed that nature had many curing herbs in store for the people waiting for a brave and committed person to identify them. He knew he was the best person for the task as he had a transparent belly and could immediately see what the herb was doing to his body. So he sat off for the journey of a lifetime, tasting as many as 100 herbs a day. Some were poisonous, some healing.

One day, when he was sitting in a garden relaxing, a tea leaf fell into his cup of hot water coloring it and releasing amazing aroma. Shennong was intrigued and decided to try the brew. The taste was soft and pleasant, he became energetic and refreshed and suddenly he noticed that the tea brew was circling in his body. Tea leaves passed through his stomach and intestines, checking for poisons in the stomach and cleaning the intestines. Shennong referred to these leaves as Cha, which has the same pronunciation as checking the poisons and became the plant’s current name (tea).