Ginseng, the Divine Root
The Curious History of the Plant That Captivated the World
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
"This intelligent, wide-ranging account" of ginseng explores the eventful history and peculiar subculture of this elusive, curative root (Publishers Weekly).
Prized for its legendary medicinal powers, ginseng launched the rise of China's last great dynasty; inspired battles between France and England; and sparked a boom in Minnesota comparable to the California Gold Rush. Today ginseng is said to improve stamina, relieve stress, stimulate the immune system, enhance mental clarity, and restore well-being. It is even being studied as a treatment for cancer, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease.
In Ginseng, the Divine Root, documentarian and author David Taylor tracks the path of this fascinating plant?from the forests east of the Mississippi to the bustling streets of Hong Kong and the remote corners of China. He becomes immersed in a world full of wheelers, dealers, diggers, and stealers, all with a common goal: to hunt down the elusive "Root of Life."
Weaving together his intriguing adventures with ginseng's rich history, Taylor uncovers a story of international crime, ancient tradition, botany, herbal medicine, and the vagaries of human nature.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Take an ordinary root. Endow it with restorative capacities and a pungent flavor a bit like sarsaparilla or anise. Make it elusive to capture, and you've got a commodity worthy of myth and, in the case of ginseng, one which will inexplicably boom and bust with the dictates of fashion (unless you live in China, in which case it will be omnipresent). The U.S. is experiencing a ginseng boom at the moment in the more "rational" mid-century period it fell out of favor evidenced not only by its frequent appearance on package labels but also by this intelligent, wide-ranging account by documentarian Taylor. Skeptical (though ultimately persuasive) about ginseng's subtle but genuine curative powers, Taylor uses the intriguing substance, prevalent in both China and the eastern U.S., as an occasion to ponder the different approaches to medicine in East and West and to present some amusing characters, including traders, experts and the "ginsengers" who hunt the "sang." There's little doubt that ginseng is as beguiling as Taylor's subtitle suggests even its biggest American booster is wont to claim, paradoxically, that ginseng is good for "everything, and not really anything." Readers may also want to see Ginseng Dreams: The Secret World of America's Most Valuable Plant by Kristin Johannsen (Reviews, Jan. 2).
