Chinese civilization has been passed down for 5,000 years, and in this long river of history, there have been countless literati rioters, who have splashed ink and pointed out the rivers and mountains, leaving behind a legendary Chinese chapter; there have also been one after another heroic and dry clouds, and chivalrous righteous soldiers who have pulled up mountains and mountains, leaving countless chivalrous tender feelings and legends of righteousness and thin clouds, which are praised by posterity.
However, in addition to these, the most discussed chinese civilization is the embryonic period of Chinese civilization, that is, the legendary ancient period. Since, during this period, the text has not yet appeared, many things in this historical period have not left an accurate record.
This period of historical vacuum has led to endless fantasies for future generations, and the myths and stories about this period are equally fascinating. Among them, there are more historical stories about the Shennong Emperor, and people always have such a question about the Shennong clan, that is: Is the Shennong clan the Yan Emperor? What is the relationship between the Shennong clan and the Yan Emperor?
First of all, we will first introduce Yandi.
The legend of The YanDi is one of the ancestors of Huaxia, and he and the Yellow Emperor are called the ancestors of China. Emperor Yan was a tribal leader in ancient times, also known as the Lieshan clan or the Red Emperor, according to legend, Emperor Yan taught people the method of farming, promoted the emergence of the concept of "market", and invented the practice of linen clothing, so that people can hide their bodies, and also invented the five-stringed violin and so on.
It was these achievements of Emperor Yan that made him enjoy the reputation of "the first ancestor of humanity", and later, Emperor Yan and the Yellow Emperor formed an alliance to develop and form a Chinese family. Therefore, as a latecomer, we call ourselves the descendants of Yanhuang. It can be said that the Yandi and Yellow Emperors are the first ancestors of many Chinese cultures and technologies. Many of the major inventions of that period came from him and his men.
People read through the many classics left by their predecessors and found that these historical stories of Emperor Yan and the historical stories about the Shennong clan were so similar or even identical, and there was a legend that Emperor Yan had tasted hundreds of herbs in order to prevent the people in the tribe from being plagued by diseases, which eventually led to poisoning and death. This seems to confirm the statement that the Yan Emperor is the Shennong clan, and is this really the case in historical history?
In myths and legends, the Yandi Minotaur person, of course, these are after all mythological stories, let's take a look. Emperor Yan, surnamed Jiang, lived in the place of Jiang Shui, and later, for various reasons, there was a violent conflict with the Jiuli clan, and the leader of the Jiuli clan was the equally famous Xuan You.
Legend has it that the beast has a human face and a long horn on its head, of course, this is also a myth and legend, and everyone can also take a look. Xuan You was brave and warlike, and in the later battle for deer, Xuan You was once powerful, and the Yan Emperor, who was in the inferior position, asked the Yellow Emperor for help, and the Yellow Emperor made an operation to help the Yan Emperor defeat Xuan You.
Some historians have put forward the theory that the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor mentioned here are actually an imperial throne, that is, this is a title, not a specific person, and the Shennong clan may be a certain Yan Emperor.
However, there is also another saying circulating in the academic circles, which is completely contrary to the above view, they believe that the Yandi and Shennong clans have no connection at all, they are two completely people, because there is such a record in the history books, the reign of the Shennong clan lasted for seventy centuries, until the rise of the Yellow Emperor tribe, the Shennong tribe gradually declined.
Next, to explain, in the seventy centuries that the Shennong clan ruled, the Shennong clan mentioned here refers to several generations of leaders of this tribe, not just a certain person, he is just a title, the title of a tribal leader. This is also the reason why the history books record that Nüwa, Shennong and others ruled their tribes for thousands of years, and both Nüwa and Shennong were a title for a tribal leader.
Historians have concluded that shennong and yandi were not alone based on the allusion that the Yellow Emperor once went to fight the Yandi in place of the Shennong clan. Because, on the basis of determining that both the Yandi and Shennong clans were tribal leaders, it can be clearly seen according to this allusion that the tribes of the Yandi and the Shennong clan existed at the same time at that time, so they could not refer to the same person.
There are also relevant records in the "History of the Five Emperors", which introduces: During the Yellow Emperor's period, the Shennong clan has gradually declined, and the tribes have crusaded against each other, however, at this time, the Shennong clan cannot go to the crusade, so the Yellow Emperor led the army to remove the two major troubles of YanDi and Xuanyou, and then the prestige of the Yellow Emperor increased sharply and finally became the son of heaven.
According to the records, it can be clearly seen that Emperor Yan and Shennong are two people.
Unfortunately, however, what has been said above is also based on some records of later generations, because there is no exact record of the ancient period, so there is no definite conclusion as to whether Emperor Yan and Shennong are the same person.
Resources:
【History of the Five Emperors, Three Emperors, Century of Emperors】