🌿 Folk Prescriptions

The myth of the Divine Farmer as the founder of herbal medicine has been passed down for thousands of years. In recent years, with deeper archaeological discoveries, it has become evident that some early ancient texts were not merely intended to venerate sages or glorify antiquity, but were based on historical authenticity. The relationship between the Divine Farmer and medicine first appears in Huainanzi: Xiuwu Xun: "The Divine Farmer began teaching the people, tasting the flavors of a hundred herbs; at one time he encountered seventy poisons within a single day, thus medical prescriptions emerged." This indicates that after tasting herbs, medicine arose. Later, it is mentioned in Shiji Bu: Sanhuang Benji: "The Divine Farmer used a red whip to beat plants and trees, tasted a hundred herbs, and thus medicine was born," establishing him as one of the Three Sovereigns and the originator of medicine. The Shi Ben also states: "The Divine Farmer combined medicines to heal people." Thus, the Divine Farmer did not merely taste herbs to identify them, but also had the ability to prescribe them. In the Song Dynasty, Liu Shu synthesized these views, stating in Tongwai Ji: "When people suffered from illness and knew nothing of medicinal stones, the Flame Emperor began to taste the essences of herbs, encountering seventy poisons in one day. Through divine transformation, he created medical treatises to treat people's diseases, thus establishing the medical tradition." Although no medical manuscripts have yet been discovered archaeologically, the historical period and geographical area of the Divine Farmer’s herb-tasting activities have been confirmed, proving that the ancients’ intention to trace the origins of medicine back to the Divine Farmer was correct and not mistaken.
Modern archaeology confirms that 5,000 to 10,000 years ago marked the early to middle Neolithic period in China—the legendary era of the Divine Farmer. Around 5,000 to 6,000 years ago was the late Neolithic period transitioning into the Bronze Age—the legendary era of the Yellow Emperor. The Divine Farmer and the Yellow Emperor were both tribal leaders and tribal names representing two distinct eras. The Divine Farmer tribe belonged to the Jiang lineage, also known as the Flame Emperor. The Dajia Liji: Wudi De Pian refers to him as the Red Emperor. Originally a branch of the Western Rong tribes, they revered the ox as their totem. They first settled in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and provinces such as Gansu, Qinghai, and Shaanxi. The Flame Emperor tribe entered Central China and the Middle Kingdom earlier than the Yellow Emperor tribe, later gradually moving southward into Hunan and Xiang regions. When entering Central China, they clashed with the nine Li tribes, a confederation of southern "Barbarians." Chiyu, the leader of the Nine Li tribes, had eighty-one brothers—each a chieftain of eighty-one clans. Forced to retreat to Zhuolu, the Flame Emperor tribe eventually allied with the Yellow Emperor tribe, whose leader was Ji Xing and known as Xuanyuan or Youxiong. At Zhuolu, they fought fiercely and defeated Chiyu. Subsequently, the Flame and Yellow Emperor tribes clashed three times at Banquan. Under the leadership of the Yellow Emperor tribe—comprising bear, panther, pīxiū, and tiger clans—they defeated the Flame Emperor tribe. Afterward, the Flame Emperor tribe gradually settled in the Central region, continuing the Flame Emperor culture.
The era of the Divine Farmer tribe was primarily agricultural, with animal husbandry playing an important role, alongside pottery-making and textile industries. They already used bows and arrows and engaged in commodity exchange. Stone axes and bone hoes were unearthed at the Banpo site in Shaanxi, along with a ceramic jar containing millet found inside a dwelling and another ceramic bowl with millet placed as a burial offering. In southern Hunan, at the Li County Baishitou site dating back about 8,000 years, over twenty thousand grains of rice and millet were discovered—the largest prehistoric grain find worldwide. Tools such as wooden rakes, wooden shovels, bone shovels, and wooden mortars were also found, fully matching the description in Zhouyi: Xici: "The Divine Farmer made wooden plows and shaped wooden rakes; the benefits of plows and rakes were used to teach the world." The book Shizi, compiled during the mid-Warring States period, says: "The Divine Farmer ruled for seventy generations." The Xushanhuang Benji records that the Flame Emperor reigned for five hundred and thirty years. Recent historians, based on excavated foundation structures at the Baishitou site in Li County, believe this location was the center of the Divine Farmer tribe around 6,500 years ago. The first Divine Farmer likely began his southern tour to treat the people, dying from accidentally consuming the poison of the intestinal-breaking herb in Chaxiang, Changsha, which aligns with the legend of the Divine Farmer encountering toxins while tasting herbs. The Divine Farmer tribe, having established agrarian civilization, was acclaimed as the central tribe, and their descendants spread throughout the land. The last generation of the Flame Emperor tribe, led by Yiwang, lost the Battle of Banquan and returned to rest near their ancestors' tombs.
Based on the above archaeological evidence, it is clear that Chinese medicine originated in the early agrarian civilization of our ancestors. The story of tasting herbs and encountering poisons is indeed historically factual. Thus, Mozi’s Guoyi states: "Medicine is like the root of herbs," leading later generations to refer to works on traditional Chinese medicine as "Bencao" (Herbal Classics). The Han Dynasty named its pharmacological masterpiece "Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing," both reflecting the great truth ("Yandao," as stated in Shangshu: Kong An Guo Xu) and honoring the ancestors who discovered medicinal substances.