Houji

Houji (后稷) is the name of a mythological ruler in ancient China. The name is composed of the terms hou for " ruler / god " and ji for " millet / grain ," he is often referred to as the god of agriculture and revered.

The Legend of Houji can already be found in the earliest known Chinese poetry collection Shi Jing. Houji considered as the son of Ku, one of the five Chinese Urkaiser and his wife Jiang Yuan. The story according to Jiang Yuan was pregnant after she fell on the field in a huge footprint of the Emperor, which is considered as evidence of Houjis divine origin and supernatural abilities of Urkaiser.

Houji is the mythological progenitor of the Zhou people, who made his subjects different varieties of cereals available and instructed them in their cultivation and harvest.