According to some old Chinese stories, there once was ancient emperor named Shennong. At that time, people could not tell the difference between medicinal(药用的) and poisonous(有毒的) plants. When they got sick, there was no medicine to treat their illnesses. Many sick people could only wait for .
To save his people, Shennong to find and test out different plants. He and his followers out on a journey in search of medicinally effective plants.
Once, they saw a large forest on a high cliff(悬崖) from a distance. there must be many different kinds of plants, they couldn't find a way to the cliff. , they saw some monkeys climbing along the vines and trees hanging down from the cliff. Shennong was inspired by the scene. He asked his followers to cut down the tree trunks and vines. Together they built a scaffold(脚手架). With its help, they climbed to the cliff and collected many plants.
Each time the team found a new type of plant , Shennong would taste it . Some plants made him sleepy. Some caused him to suffer pains in his stomach. Some made him tremble(颤抖)all over. searching and testing over a long period of time, he and his followers managed to discover hundreds of medicinal plants.
One day, Shennong tested a poisonous plant by mistake, and passed away later. People covered him with thousands of flowers. From then on, Shennong was " the Emperor of Medicine".
