炎帝神農氏
Emperor Yan, Shennong
姜姓。繼伏犧氏。王火德。都魯。今東平路禹貢兗州之域。時人茹草飲水。食木實肉禽獸。多疾病。炎帝求可食之物。教以火食。時天雨粟。乃教民播種五穀。作陶治斤斧耒耜鋤鎒。以墾草莽。而五穀興故曰神農氏。又甞百草。一日遇七十毒。以一人不足為養。日中為市乃通有無。以火紀官。在位一百二十年。桓譚新論曰。神農氏削桐為琴。繩絲為弦。以通神明之德。廣雅曰。神農氏琴長三尺六寸。上有五弦。曰宮商角徵羽。周文王增二弦。曰少宮少商也。
The clan name was Jiang. He succeeded Fuxi. He reigned under the element of Fire. His capital was Lu, in what is now the Dongping region, the domain of Yu the Great's "Tribute of Yu" in ancient times. At that time, people ate raw herbs, drank water, ate fruits from trees and the flesh of birds and animals, and many fell ill. The Flame Emperor sought out edible things and taught people to cook food over fire. At that time, heaven rained down grain. Then he taught people to sow and plant the five grains. He made pottery, forged axes, hoes, plows, and weeding tools, and cleared the wildlands. Because the five grains flourished, he was called Shennong, the Divine Farmer. He also tasted a hundred herbs, encountering seventy poisons in a single day. Seeing that one person could not provide enough to sustain himself, he established midday markets, trading goods to exchange what was abundant for what was scarce. He used the element of fire to name his officials. He reigned for one hundred twenty years. Huan Tan's *New Discourses* says: Shennong cut a *tong* tree to make a zither, and twisted silk to make its strings, thereby communicating with the virtue of the divine and luminous. The *Guangya* commentary says: Shennong's zither was three feet six inches long and had five strings, called *gong*, *shang*, *jue*, *zhi*, *yu*. King Wen of Zhou added two strings, called *minor gong* and *minor shang*.
帝承 帝臨 帝明 帝宣 帝釐 帝哀帝榆 帝岡 已上八帝皆神農氏。合五百一十年。末年諸侯相伐。歸之黃帝。
Di Cheng, Di Lin, Di Ming, Di Xuan, Di Li, Di Ai, Di Yu, Di Gang — these eight emperors were all of the Shennong clan. Their combined rule lasted five hundred and ten years. In their final era, the regional lords began attacking one another, and all authority ultimately passed to the Yellow Emperor.