Magic power of the Chinese wolfberry

Rachelle
13 minutes ago
2 min read

華陽邑村民段九者，常入山野中，采枸杞根莖貨之有年矣。因於紫山腳下見枸杞一株甚大，遂斸之。根本怪異，不類常者。長尺餘，四莖如四足，兩莖如頭尾，若一獸形，持歸村舍，家狗吠之不已。至夜，四隅村落群狗聚而吠之，終夕不輟，不堪其喧也。遲明，妻怒，將充朝爨，群狗乃不復吠矣。

A villager in Huayang Town [1] called Duan Jiu often went into the mountains to gather wolfberry roots and stems, a trade he pursued for years. At the foot of Purple Mountain,[2] he found an extremely large plant and then dug it up. Its root looked odd, nothing like the usual ones. Over one chi long,[3] it resembled a beast, with four stems like its four legs and another two like its head and tail. When he brought [the root] back to his cottage, his dog barked at it relentlessly. By nightfall, dogs from all the neighbouring villages had gathered around, barking at it. They did not rest all night long, creating unbearable noise. At daybreak, [Duan Jiu’s] wife was so irritated that she took [the root] to make a fire for breakfast. Only then did the dogs stop barking.

休復見道書云：枸杞、茯苓、人參、薯藥朮等，形有異者，餌之皆獲上壽。或除嗜慾，嗇神抱和，則必有真靈降顧，接引為地仙爾。

I read in Daoist texts that plants such as the wolfberry, hoelen (Wolfiporia extensa), ginseng (Panax ginseng), yam (Dioscorea polystachya) and zhu (Atractylodes macrocephala) may take on unusual shapes. Anyone who consumes such an unusually shaped part will attain extraordinary longevity. Alternatively, [if one] casts aside all desires, subdues the mind, and embraces harmony, a true deity will surely descend to guide him into becoming an earthly immortal.[4]