Posted 6 years ago
ho2cultcha
(5063 items)
I think that this is an 18th c portrait of Shennong [chinese] or Shinno [japanese] - who is sort of the god of herbs and natural medicine and agriculture. i love it because of his clothes and his face! It's Japanese.









i think this is really amazing! i love it!
I've been doing some research on this painting and have come to some new conclusions. It doesn't fit Shennong for several reasons. He is holding a small, forked daikon in one hand and a sharpened mattock in the other. I think that the leaves are oak leaves - symbolizing high mountains and he has an undercoat which resembles the skin of a cat or tiger. He has a bald head with with kind of a bumpy skull and a white fringe of hair.
After inputting all of these things into chat gpt, i get: "Mountain sage or immortal (possibly associated with Shugend?), carrying a mattock and a daikon, wearing an oak-leaf cloak and animal-skin garment, illustrating a longevity theme."