Historical Records
No written records are known to exist from the era of Yan's reign. However, he and Shennong are mentioned in many of the classic works of ancient China. Yan literally means "flame", and K. C. Wu speculates that this appellation may be connected with the fire used to clear the fields in slash and burn agriculture. In any case, it appears that agricultural innovations by Shennong and his descendants contributed to some sort of social success that lead them to style themselves as di (Chinese: 帝; literally "emperors"), rather than hou (Chinese: 侯; literally "lord"), as in the case of lesser leaders. At this time it appears that there were only the bare beginnings of written language, and that for record keeping a system of knotting strings (perhaps similar to quipu) was in use. The Zuo Zhuan states that in 525 BC, the descendants of Yan were recognized as long having been masters of fire and having used fire in their names. Yandi was known as "Emperor of the South"
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