Chapter 34: Shennong

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Xia Ping’an opened his eyes. He noticed that he was lying deep in a patch of grass.

The blue sky above his head was somewhat blinding. The clouds were so white, as though they were bleached. Around him were wild foxtail millet that was half the height of a fully grown man. He was nibbling on a stalk in his mouth.

Xia Ping’an suddenly sat up and checked his own body. He was wearing a beast skin, and he had bone bracelets and a necklace around his wrists and neck. He even had a very sharp stone falx hanging from his waist.

This was a small hillslope near a river. Nearby, there was a large expanse of tribal houses. The houses were already built on the ground using mud, wood, and reeds.

Smoke rose from the chimneys of the tribe’s houses. In the tribe, there was a mud pit. Countless burly youths were treading in the mud, causing the mud to slosh and slur. It was then mixed with dried grass that was completely devoid of water.

Some people were moving back and forth between the tribe and the lakeside. They used bamboo containers to carry water to and from the lake, pouring the water into the mud pit.

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Some people were also retrieving the mud that had been churned and placed it on an empty field to the side. They used wooden boards to arrange the lumps of mud into rough rectangular blocks to dry.

There were already many mud blocks drying out in the sun on the field. The dried blocks of mud were taken away by people to a nearby spot. They used the mud blocks and reeds to build a new, simple house.

Was this the era of Shennong? The building techniques of ancient civilization had already improved greatly!

Xia Ping’an sized up the tribe in the distance. From the number of houses, this was a fairly large tribe. There were more than 10,000 people.

The houses of the tribe had already shifted from up in the trees to down on the ground. Mud had become the primary building material for the houses. The leaves and stems in the mud were used in place of steel beams in concrete. They made sure that the mud bricks would not fall apart once they dried up.

Among the people in the tribe, some of them were dressed in beast skins while others were wearing clothes woven from leaves and grass. Judging from the chimneys, fire starters were already widespread. Their productivity had already advanced to another level.

The houses built from mud bricks and reeds came in all shapes and sizes. Different items were also being dried outside of those houses. This meant that there was already a distinction between the poor and the rich families in the tribe.

Some very basic division of labor in primitive societies might have already appeared. For instance, some people might be better at using stone axes and knives to chop wood while others might be more proficient in hunting. Some might be better at tanning leather while others made better stone tools. Others might be better at gathering fruit or weaving clothes.

In some open spaces in the tribe, there were wild fruits left drying in the sun. There were also many beast skins and beast bones. The slight breeze that blew from the direction of the tribe brought over the stench of the beast skins and beast bones. Their stench drying in the sun was not pleasant. However, in this era, such a scent was that of a powerful, thriving tribe.

The men and women were all busy with their tasks at hand. A group of young children was chasing some elk in a pen in the tribe.

There were no farmlands around the tribe. Along the river and the surrounding hills were large grassfields and forests. There was a lot of vegetation among them.

Compared to his previous experiences with Suiren and Youchao, the productivity of the tribe before him was clearly much more developed and the population of the tribe was larger.

When Xia Ping’an saw the scenario presented before his eyes, he was reminded of the description about the era Shennong was in, as recorded in ‘Zhuangzi: The Memoirs of Dao Zhi’. According to the description, the people of Shennong’s era lived leisurely in cottages. They knew their mothers but not their fathers. They lived harmoniously with elks.

Xia Ping’an examined the stone falx that hung from his waist. It was more than 20 centimeters long and was already razor sharp. In this era, to have a stone falx hanging from his waist, its value must be extraordinary. Its coolness factor was not any lower than the cell phones that youths had when cell phones just became a thing.

As Xia Ping’an was peering into the distance, a maiden was coming up the hillslope aggressively and heading towards Xia Ping’an. She wore a tiger skin dress and looked pretty with her slightly dark skin tone.

“Younger Brother, you are hiding here again,” the maiden said as she walked up to Xia Ping’an. Before Xia Ping’an could identify who she was, she placed a hand on her hip and pulled Xia Ping’an’s ear with her free hand. She began scolding him, saying, “I had to search for you for so long just to call you for lunch. Elder Brother and Uncle have already led the others out for a hunt. Only you spend your time wandering around all day, playing with grass one moment and looking at the fishes the next. You haven’t done any decent work. A few days ago, you even said that this foxtail millet was edible. I will harvest this foxtail millet for you every day and feed you with it. Let’s see whether you can stay full then.”

The foxtail millet that the maiden referred to was the wild foxtail millet around Xia Ping’an.

There was more to this wild foxtail millet than met the eye. These wild foxtail millet were the ancestor of modern-day millet. Millet was called a different name in ancient times. The earliest millet was gradually cultivated from these wild foxtail millet.

At the archaeological sites of the Peiligang culture and Donghulin, large amounts of millet were found. The millet discovered by the people who came after pushed back the date of the Huaxia civilization planting millet by around 10,000 years.

When he heard this maiden say these words, Xia Ping’an knew that Shennong was indeed a genius. The earliest millet should have been cultivated by Shennong from foxtail millet.

“Elder Sister, please be gentler. You will know in the future that this foxtail millet truly is edible,” Xia Ping’an said as he cried out in pain and hurriedly stood up.

After merging with two boundary beads consecutively, Xia Ping’an was getting more familiar with the role-playing game in the boundary bead.

“If these foxtail millet can feed people and keep them full, I will listen to everything you say in the future,” the maiden replied fiercely. She did not believe Xia Ping’an’s words at all. “If it can’t, you will listen to me and find a decent job. Although Mother is the chief, you can’t just wander around all day doing nothing.”

It was as he expected!

Xia Ping’an had speculated before as to how Shennong had so much time to invent stuff and research so many herbs and plants. It was highly likely that he was free from heavy physical labor and did not have urgent survival needs to worry about. Hence, he had the time and energy to research things that others did not have the time to do so.

From the looks of it now, it was as he had expected. Shennong’s mother was the female chief of the tribe. As for Shennong, he should be one of the earliest ‘nobles’ of ancient times.

In matriarchal societies, the women of the tribe had higher status. The chiefs of the tribe were all women. His fierce Elder Sister would most likely inherit the position of tribe chief in the future.

From historical records, due to Shennong’s exceptional contributions, he might be a key figure in ancient Huaxia shifting from a matriarchal society to a patriarchal society. Some history books claimed that the title of Shennong was passed on for 17 generations. The last Shennong was Yan Emperor. Meanwhile, some claimed that Yan Emperor, also known as Zhuxiang, was the most important minister of Fuxi. Fuxi renounced his title to Yan Emperor; hence, Yan Emperor brought prosperity to the world.

These historical legends and information flashed past in Xia Ping’an’s mind. Right now, it was not time to conduct archeological research. He had a mission to complete. Seeing that the maiden still did not let go of his ear, Xia Ping’an hurriedly said, “I’ve already figured out what I want to do. I was just about to go tell Mother!”

“Really?” The hand that was pulling on Xia Ping’an’s ear relaxed as the maiden curiously asked, “What do you plan to do?”

“It’s a secret. You will know soon enough. The thing that I want to do will surely be praised by everyone in the tribe.”

The maiden shot Xia Ping’an with a suspicious look. Xia Ping’an did not explain himself, merely smiling back at her.

“Alright. Let’s see how you explain it to Mother when we get back,” the maiden said. She did not believe him at all. However, her hand that was pulling on Xia Ping’an’s ear did relax.

…

After that, Xia Ping’an massaged his ear as he followed the maiden back to the tribe.

Before this, when he was looking at the tribe, he already figured out what he needed to do first.

Shennong performed many deeds throughout his life. Xia Ping’an had just arrived here, and he needed to take up the mantle of Shennong’s historical calling. He first needed to build up his reputation in the tribe.

Introducing the plantation of five grains, teaching people to differentiate all sorts of herbs, and rearing silkworms to make silk cloth was not something that could be achieved overnight. However, there was one thing that was very easy for him to do. If he did it well, it would rapidly gain him a good reputation in the entire tribe. This matter was also especially simple to execute.

As he passed by the houses in the tribe along the way, Xia Ping’an paid close attention to the things that were set out to dry in the sun outside of the homes. He observed the type and quantity of items of different households. He grew more confident the more he observed.

…

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