Lord Millet (Houji), the grain-god and predynastic ancestor of the Zhou; son of Diku by the consort Jiang Yuan, who conceived him after treading in the god Di's footprint, and personally named Qi ('the Abandoned') from the thrice-exposed-infant myth of the Shijing 'Shengmin' ode. Appointed Agriculture Minister by Yao and Shun, he taught the people the grains and was enfeoffed at Tai with the surname Ji. Under the Zhou he became the grain-deity of the She-Ji (soil-and-grain) state altars — the 'Ji' that is metonym for the dynasty itself. Half-brother of Yao, Xie, and Zhi. Named in chinese_diku's notes and lifecycle ('Houji "Lord Millet," the legendary ancestor of the Zhou dynasty') until materialized here as a paternal-line son of Diku.