Antique Shen Nong, Founder of Natural Medicine, China (16530)

Description

This masterful and very rare large kneeling image represents Shen Nong, one of the best known and revered cultural heroes in China. The second of the Three Emperors of the Celestial Ministry, is both a Taoist and a poplar religion earth god. He is believed by some to be an immortal who assumed human form and came down to Earth out of pity for and to benefit the plight of humanity with his many talents and gifts.

Emperor Shen Nong reputedly lived in earliest times and was already deified by the Han Dynasty as the Father of Agriculture, having been credited with inventing many farming implements such as the plow and the axe; introducing methods of planting, cultivation and crop rotation; and methods of raising domestic animals.

He is considered the Founder of Natural Medicine and the author of the earliest known Chinese medical classic covering medical physiology, anatomy and acupuncture – the Canon of Internal Medicine. He is believed to have discovered tea in 2737 almost 5000 years ago while sitting under a tree while his servant boiled drinking water, when some leaves from the tree blew into the water.

Shen Nong is generally portrayed as here, sitting on a rock or seat, dressed only in leaves and grass either wound around his neck, waist and calves, or as a skirt of leaves (Stevens, p.37) since he was viewed as a primitive god who lived on earth before clothes were invented. (Roberts, p. 107)  He is generally depicted with wide eyes, a red beard and black skin due to the poisonous herbs he tested which led to his death. In this masterfully carved image, he sits with his knee up, his shoulders covered with leaves that drape down his back and a ribbon draped underneath his bared navel. His face is set in a benevolent smile, emphasized by stylized curls in his eyebrows and beard. He sits on what appear to be clouds that surround the face of a mythical beast which is carved in the back of the image.

This significant carving honors Shen Nong as one of the three sovereigns whose vital work contributed to the well-being  of humanity. It would be most fitting carving for someone in the health care, pharmaceutical or agricultural professions or even associated with tea.

Carved from fine hardwood it is in excellent conditin with the original pigmentation removed.

Sources:

Stevens, Keith: Chinese Gods, The Unseen World of Spirits and Demons, Collins and Brown Limited, London, 1997

National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, History of Medicine Division online Exhibit of the Classics of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Bethesda, MD, Oct 1999-May 2000.