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可以肯定的是，李鸿章在其一生中从未公开声称《嫘祖颂》的作者其实是他，而是尽心尽力下令印制传播，在一个李鸿章发布的命令中，他宣称《嫘祖颂》是“最伟大的太后老佛爷献给蚕神嫘祖的不朽真言”。
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在对李总督的日记，以及大量的公开文件、书信和其他文稿的仔细整理和翻译中，我们发现除了之前提到的那篇祭文外，并没有其他与“祭文”或“颂歌”相关的文稿。毋庸置疑的是，李鸿章就是《嫘祖颂》的作者，把这篇祭文放在这里也是非常合适的。加上研究者和译者在李鸿章的手稿中并未找到任何《嫘祖颂》的复制品。将这首“颂歌”译成英文后可能要占十到十二页的篇幅。在东方学者宣布《嫘祖颂》具有很高的文学价值之后，欧美国家中许多对李鸿章感兴趣的学者对李鸿章有了另一个更重要的评价：晚年的李鸿章不仅仅是一个伟大的政治家、外交官和清帝国最富有的人，他还是一个学富五车、孜孜不倦的学者。
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李鸿章全传 5. 在饥荒时期
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“1877年11月30日。——没有人希望今年的饥荒再次发生，即使是他仇恨这片土地上除自己外的所有人。即使是我能再活上几十年，那些我在北方多地所见的充满饥饿与绝望的可怕画面，恐怕都无法从我的脑子里消除。朝廷还未得到受灾详情和具体受灾人数的报告，但据我估计大概有七百万老百姓已经被活活饿死。”
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“在这种时候人们都希望自己是掌握国家财富的大臣，或是拥有巨额财富的富商，这样他们就可以为那些饥饿的人们提供食物。”
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“在这些艰难岁月里，只要我能够承受得了，我的钱库都会尽可能打开。但所买到的食物根本不够，就像拿一小把谷子去喂一大群乌鸦。尽管这样，听说在这可怕的几个月里，有成千上万灾民因为我提供的食物而能勉强吃饱，这让我十分欣慰。听我手下的人报告说仅在天津城里就有一到两千灾民靠我提供的玉米和蔬菜维生，同时我还努力救助着几个临近村庄的五千灾民。我母亲的生活虽然不会受这些灾情的影响，但她却每天都在乞求上天保佑让这些灾民早日渡过难关。母亲说佛祖和人民不会忘记，我对这些穷苦灾民的贡献。”
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李鸿章在这个时期写下了这样的诗篇：
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THE SAD SIGHT OF THE HUNGRY T would please me, gods, if you would spare Mine eyes from all this hungry stare That fills the face and eyes of men Who search for food o’er hill and glen. Their eyes are orbs of dullest fire, As if the flame would mount up higher; But in the darkness of their glow We know the fuel ‘s burning low. Such looks, O gods, are not from thee! No, they ‘re the stares of misery! They speak of hunger’s frightful hold On lips a-dry and stomachs cold. Bread, bread! they cry, these weary men, With wives and children from the glen! O, they would toil the live-long day But for a meal, their lives to stay. But where is it in all the land? Unless the gods with gen’rous hand Send sweet some rice and strengthening corn To these vast crowds to hunger born! For months the awful famine beast Has roamed the lands both North and East, And smiled as he on landscape read The gruesome figures of the dead. IN THE TIME OF FAMINE 87 His black claws clutched the stalwart man, The very headmen of each clan, The elder sons and younger ones, Nor e’en the baby’s cradle shuns. In all the fields along the road, In each and every mean abode, He stops to grin in hellish way At famished forms turned quick to clay. The greater are the awful pains, And if the tears do fall as rains, This monster demon smiles the more While passing by each hungry door. He crosses now the bone-dry streams, And listens to the frantic screams Of those who on the mountain high Are doomed this awful death to die. In valley and on sandy plain The beast appears, again, again! In city and in village street, Where’er you go, the beast you meet! A million now have bowed to him, This famine monster, black and grim! O, gods, we ask, remove the brand Of this vile demon’s bony hand!
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李鸿章全传 6. 献身农业
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在翻译过来的李鸿章日记中，这位总督四十几处提到了农业。他认为农业本身应该作为一种独特科学得到重视。虽然李鸿章一直强调，自己最大的爱好是文学。但他奉献到赞颂农业中的精力比投入到文学中的要多。这一点从下面这些段落可以得到令人满意的印证，这些文字是1879年李鸿章在天津所留：
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“一位颐和园的官员在读过我赞扬神农的辞赋后说，我在骨子里更像是一位山野农夫，而不是一个文人雅士。因为他告诉我，在读到我的作品之前，他对伟大的神农从未有如此高的评价（我相信，这不是阿谀奉承）。但他继续说，如果我更加专注于文学，我肯定就写不出如此优美的颂文。他还问我为什么把孔孟之道放在一边，而去关注其他。”
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“他的一番话让我十分开心。我解释说真正的文学并不需要关注其本身。因为文学的最高目的是以大脑和笔墨纸砚为武器，来歌颂那些自己无法开口说话的其他人类艺术和科学，如果文学仅仅只是关注其本身就会显得自私狭隘。”
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“随着我们对这个问题讨论的深入，我试图解释，伟大的哲学家和文学家都竭尽心力创作出了他们的不朽著作，我任何提升他们声望的尝试，不仅是浪费时间，还可能遭受这些人的嫌弃，因为他们可能会认为我只是个无名小辈。但说到伟大的神农，我怎么可能忽视他的美德和他为八方百姓带来的福祉呢？”
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“于是他满意地走了，我却有几分遗憾。因为，他十分愉快地看完了这篇辞赋，却没有注意它的装裱。它是用卷轴装裱着的，还在上面画上了精美的装饰画，我要把它一副一副挂在墙上。”
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“但我还有其他的抄写本，今天晚上，我要把这篇我十分引以为傲的作品读给家人听，我会从中得到很大的乐趣。”
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这篇被李鸿章称为《神农赋》的辞赋，我们没有找到其原稿，却在天津和广州找到了几份不同的抄写本，每份上标注的日期都不同。其中有一份在广州找到的精美抄写本，标注的日期是1869年10月12日。下面就是这份精美抄写本的内容：
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MY SHEN NUNG TRIBUTE (Written by me from my Proud Heart) When I sit down and reflect, And let my mind and my soul tell me of things so true, I know that thou, Most glorious and sublime Shen Nung, Art the great helper of our people; The wonderful provider of the world; The hope of them that have not mines, Nor great stores, nor forests of hardwood. But all our wealth comes from thee: All the funds of our banks, All the strength of the Government, All the force of our national progress, All the muscle of our people, The beauty of our women, The hard sinews of the workers, The strong brain of the banker, The level head of the statesman, The shrewdness of the diplomat, The right arm of the Throne. (There must always be good blood there.) We work in the fields: In the rice, In the millet, In the corn, In the poppy. (The poppy is wrong.) We work in the vegetables, In the grain, And all that is good for man. But ‘t is not for their sake alone, ‘T is that by bringing them to fruition we raise A Nation, A People, The Middle Kingdom! And when we do this We are pleasing the Ancestors. Shen Nung, You did not teach us mean arts, You did not show us the way to cheat our friends, Our brothers, Our townsmen, Our officials, Even our enemies. You did not tell us that we should live by sloth, Nor smart games, Nor subterfuge. Therefore, This day, when I am called to go to the North, When vast affairs of state speak to me, When some might think I should be preparing for my journey, I am here saying these things To Shen Nung. Even when I was a little boy, When my father laboured, When my mother scolded, When there were mean times in the village, And I was almost tired of living; I thought of thee, Shen Nung— And the green grain thou gavest, The yellow corn so rich in bread, The nodding wheat that gives colour to the blood, The vegetables that give strength to the bone. You taught us all these things, You made them ours, You made them beautiful, and gave them to us. You bade our land be fertile, the soil in which they grow. Because you smiled, the winds blew fair, The sweet rains came like drops of glory, The sunshine did not hurt, The moon told the crops to keep growing, The stars blessed each head of grain, The dews dropped their blessings On the corn and the vegetables, And made them glad, For the people’s sake. You taught the golden sun to shine, The night to be cool and refreshing, The air to be sweet and to soothe, The trees to hold back the storm, The grain to bow its heads to meet the blast. I see in your art, Shen Nung, The message of ages, And ages of sweet thinking. I see your blessings conceived, Increased, and multiplied. I feel the countless hours of thought you have given To make something So grand and glorious for the world. You did not sleep, You did not rest, You did not tire, You did not stop, Until all this Was ready to be placed upon the head of man For his everlasting blessing. As though you had spun The finest silk And hung it there— A rainbow!
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就在李鸿章进京之前，他似乎再次去到了神农坛祭拜，因为我们在他的日记中发现了以下文字：
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“这几天里我就要再次北上，完成国际商谈的任务。但是今天我忍不住因为我所获得的荣誉感谢永远伟大、仁慈的神农。”
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“昨天我召集了所有与我一起前去祭拜的人，今天我们在神农庙的土地上耕种。朝廷上下可能以为我在接到圣旨后立即启程，但对我来说，神农并不像是那些地方性的短暂的事务，因为他赐予了我们为各个时代的人民和国家谋求福祉的能力。”
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“去年的这个季节，我向皇上献上了一篇文章，这篇文章充满了诗情画意。与此同时，我还写了一篇辞赋，我希望它能像孟子的著作一样流芳百世。这两篇文章都是献给神农的，我期待着全世界的学子都研习这篇辞赋。（这里可能指的是《神农赋》。）”
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