廣弘明集 9.61

9.61

The Huahu jing says: The Three Sovereigns cultivated the Dao, and people never died. In high antiquity, heaven produced sweet dew and earth brought forth wine springs; eating and drinking them yielded longevity. From middle antiquity onward, heaven produced the five qi and earth brought forth the five flavors; eating them extended one's years. In low antiquity, the world deteriorated; heaven produced wind and rain, and earth nourished the hundred beasts, which humans hunted and ate. Pained by this condition, I tasted the hundred grains to feed the teeming masses. Thereupon, the Three Sovereigns each presented five pecks of grain as a pledge of faith, seeking that their sons and grandsons throughout generations would never lack the five grains born in the Divine Continent.