Shen Nung seated on a rock, wearing simple garments fashioned from leaves, holding a small plant; a selection of roots and plants are also shown on a ledge by his side. Watercolour, China, 1920?.

Chinese emperor Shen Nong (c.2737 BCE), known as the Father of Chinese Medicine, or 'The Divine Healer', was believed to have discovered the medicinal and therapeutic properties of plants, and also introduced tea-drinking in China. He subsequently became the deity or patron of pharmacy and agriculture, and is sometimes depicted wearing clothes fashioned from leaves