Hou Ji （后稷）, a descendant of the Huang Di and the founder of the Zhou Dynasty, with the surname Ji and the name Abraham, was honoured as the King of Jik, the God of Agriculture, the God of Tilling and the God of Grain, the originator of farming and the God of the five grains. Hou Ji was the first to establish grain reserves and the field drains method, released grain to save the people from hunger, and gave the people seeds, and was considered one of the three princes Yu relied on the most.
The mother of Hou Ji was named Jiang Yuan, the daughter of You Tai, a descendant of Yan Di, and also the wife of Di Ku.
One day, Jiang Yuan was walking in the countryside and saw a huge footprint.
This footprint was much larger than ordinary people’s.
Jiang Yuan felt curious and suddenly sensed a warm current in her body.
She had a strong desire to step on the giant footprint.
So, she placed her foot on the big toe of the footprint.
Soon, she felt something moving in her belly.
Ten months later, she gave birth to a child.
Jiang Yuan thought the child was a monster and threw him into a narrow alley.
But the passing cattle and horses all walked around the child.
She then sent someone to throw the child into the mountains, but there were too many people and it failed.
Finally, she put the child on the river ice, and a big bird flew over and covered the child with its wings.
Jiang Yuan felt this was a divine will, so she took the child back and named him “Qi”.
Qi was an ambitious child who loved agriculture from a young age.
He learned agricultural knowledge from his mother and felt that the life of hunting was too monotonous.
He decided to find more food to ensure human survival.
He tasted all kinds of plants and found many edible foods.
People called him “Hou Ji, the Ancestor of Agriculture”.
Hou Ji discovered that people had to travel far to find delicious plants.
After thinking, he found that seeds could sprout when they fell to the ground.
He also found that plant growth was related to weather and soil.
He decided to teach people how to select good seeds and farm in a planned way.
The Heavenly Emperor was moved by Hou Ji and sent immortals to bring him seeds of various grains.
Hou Ji began to teach people how to grow crops, and everyone came to listen to his lessons.
He demonstrated personally and taught everyone new farming methods.
He also taught people to improve farming tools, dig canals, and build irrigation systems.
The crops grown by the people were large, full, and high-yielding.
Emperor Shun honored Hou Ji and granted him the land of You Tai.
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