Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Police have begun to eradicate marijuana




The first recorded recommended uses of cannabis as a medicine appear in a Chinese medical compendium with the splendidly evocative title ‘The Divine Farmer’s Herb-Root Classic’ written in approximately 200 – 300 BCE. Some claim that the book, and therefore the established medicinal uses of cannabis oil, dating back to 2800 BC; however, this is based upon when The Divine Farmer himself, Emperor Shen Nong, was reportedly ruling China. If that’s where you stop your research, you can make a more impressive claim for the first written record of the ancient use of cannabis as medicine – but you miss out on the fabulous myths including the divine origin of marijuana strain that surround Shen Nong, also known as God of the Five Grains.

For instance, he had the body of a man, but it was transparent, and sometimes the head of an ox, but his forehead was made of bronze, and his skull was made of iron. Shen Nong was initially a god of the stars but was sent to Earth by the Emperor of Heaven to tell mortals that, as long as they worked hard, they would always have enough to eat. However, Shen Nong made some mistake in delivering the message (frustratingly, I have not been able to find out what this error was. If anybody knows, please leave a comment!). As a punishment, he was banned from the heavenly realms and obliged to stay on Earth and help the farmers.

Shen Nong altar, Jiaozuo, China, showing the god with gigantic ox horns (photo: Meimeili, chinatravel.com)
At this time, so the legend goes, there were a great many people in China and only not enough food.
They ate what they found in plants, fruits, shellfish, and pests - but it was a tragic situation, and life was very harsh Shen Nong taught the people to plow fields, identify different fruit and seed-bearing crops, and sow and harvest them. One day, during his teaching, sand-colored clouds appeared in the sky and released a sudden downpour of seeds.
When the cloud was over, Shane No collected the seeds and sowed them carefully. A few months later, various and valuable crops covered the land One of these was marijuana; The others are soy, wheat, broth, and raw bowls.

The seeds which he planted are still known as the Five Sacred crops. However, as five has a unique, magical significance in Chinese culture (rather like seven in the West), it is possible that there were always more than just five crops, and there is some debate about exactly which ones are on the list. The seeds mentioned above are listed in ‘Record of Rites,’ a work by the writer and philosopher Confucius dating from around 500 – 600 BCE. Other candidates include rice, peas and beans, and weed seeds.

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