Chinese Plant of Longevity

Qin Shi Huang Handan, first Emperor of China and Founder of Qin Dynasty is best known today for his fantastic 6,000 terra cotta guards of honour in the afterlife at his Xi'an mausoleum. Some years before this, seeking an elixir to achieve immortality, he dispatched searchers for such a long-believed Plant of Longevity. Encouraged by the magicians, necromancers and soothsaying sycophants that infested the Imperial Court, the emperor commanded the navigator and explorer Hsu Fu from Zhifu Island on the coast to search the lands of the Eastern Sea. Thus, Hsu set out in 219 BC to fulfill his master's commands.

Belief in the existence of an Elixir of Life is common to all ages and most cultures. In the West, Greek historian Herodotus wrote of such tales in the 5^th century BC. Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) paused on his conquests to investigate springs of invigorating waters. Later still, the early Crusades rang to rumours of the kingdom of Prester John and access to his rejuvenating remedies. Surprisingly, one of best known of these tales may have such a plant below layers of myth. In popular culture, the 16^th century conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon was supposed to have searched for the Fountain of Youth. In fact, there is no contemporary evidence of such. The Spanish explorer, the First Governor of Puerto Rico, led first European expedition to La Florida in 1521. Seriously injured in skirmish with native Calusa peoples, he succumbed to his wounds in Havana in July of that year, but was buried in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It has been suggested his search for a 'Fountain of Youth' was a shrewd business move to divert attention away from the commercial possibilities of the parasitic Bahamian Love Vine, Cassytha filiformis, which locals brew today as an alleged aphrodisiac. A millennium and more previously, Hsu had more success, or so he reported back to his emperor. Well, no he didn't quite have the precious plant. But he was assured by its possessor that, suitably reimbursed, he would relinquish the Plant of Longevity. If course such would not come cheap. In fact, the invoice called for artisans who were expert in every skill, the seeds of five grains, and three thousand young men and girls. The fleet suitably supplied, Hsu sailed away in 210 BC. All this and more was carefully recorded by the eunuch Sima Qian, Grand Historian of the Han Dynasty in his Shiji, completed in 91 BC. Stories of the prolonging of life had long pervaded Chinese mythology. The peach tree, Prunus persicae, native to China, was associated with long life, even immortality. In Chinese mythology the fruit can make people perpetually young. According to Taoist mythology, the peach tree of immortality grew in the celestial garden of the Queen Mother of the West. The fruit ripened every 3,000 years and was given to the gods as well as some deserving mortals. Then there was the chrysanthemum, 'gentleman of flowers', symbol of both autumn and longevity, known to have been cultivated in China from at least the 15^th century BC. Not all its association were as attractive. "Chrysanthemum Gate", was a vulgarity for the anus with sexual implications. Ironically, in many European countries--France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Croatia--the blooms are a symbol of death.

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Many more were believed through the ages to if not impart immortality at least to prolong life. Neither would Hsu Fu had needed to search far from his Emperor's domains for such. Yin yang huo, Epimedium grandiflorum, is endemic to China. As an herbaceous ornamental perennial with several cultivars, it is known to Western gardeners as Barrenwort, Bishop's Hat, Fairy Wings or, more suggestively, as Horny Goat Weed. Then there is He Shou Wu, or Chinese Knotweed Reynoutria multiflora [syn. Fallopia multiflora or Polygonum multiflorum] also known as 'Longevity Sage' from central and southern China. Yet another 'Longevity Sage' is Eurycoma longifolia or the Longjack, a small tree from Southeast Asia, in modern times claimed to be an aphrodisiac. There is no end to alternatives. Jiaogulan, the Stranded Blue Plant, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, a vine from China, northern Vietnam, southern Korea and Japan is purported to increase longevity. Another climber, this one from temperate East Asia, is Schisandra chinensis, Magnolia Vine, planted for decorative red berries that have been used medicinally for over 2,000 years. Hu√°ng qi, the Mongolian Milk Vetch Astragalus propinquus [syn. A. membranceus] is yet another plant said to increase longevity. Popeye might approve of Jiang feng wei or Pointed Phoenix Tail, also known as the Longevity Spinach. Gynura procumbens is an edible perennial vine from China and Southeast Asia. There is also an anti-aging fungus. Yarchagumba, Cordyceps sinensis [syn. Ophiocordyseps sinensis] is a ghoulish endoparasitoid infecting ghost moth caterpillars above 4500m in Sikkim and on the Tibetan Plateau. Famous and fabulously priced, the infected mummified caterpillars usually contain high amounts of arsenic or other heavy metals. This though might have made it attractive to past Chinese notabilities. The fabled 'Elixir of Immortality' eluded emperors. Not content with assorted plants, many resorted to swallowing such toxic concoctions as salts of mercury and arsenic. Prominent sinologist Joseph Needham compiled list of Chinese emperors who likely died from elixir poisoning. Perhaps a less hazardous solution would be that described in the mythology of the Pacific's Marques islanders, recorded by Tim Severin. Noticing strands of grey in her hair, Hina of Vanoi in New Zealand surfs three waves, emerging young 'and as fresh as a newly peeled shrimp.' Unfortunately for Emperor Qin Shi Huang Handan, the navigator and explorer Hsu Fu never returned from his second voyage. Some say he brought civilization to Japan. Others suggest he drowned. Whichever way, he never brought the long-sought plant of immortality back to his exalted sponsor. The Emperor of All China died on 10 September 218 BC aged but a modest 49 years.