Ginseng, the Divine Root: The Curious History of the Plant That Captivated the World

The story behind ginseng is as remarkable as the root itself. Prized for its legendary curative powers, ginseng launched the rise to power of China's last great dynasty; inspired battles between France and England; and sparked a boom in Minnesota comparable to the California Gold Rush. It has made and broken the fortunes of many and has inspired a subculture in rural America unrivaled by any herb in the plant kingdom.

Today ginseng is at the very center of alternative medicine, believed to improve stamina, relieve stress, stimulate the immune system, enhance mental clarity, and restore well-being. It is now being studied by medical researchers for the treatment of cancer, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease.

In Ginseng, the Divine Root, David Taylor tracks the path of this fascinating plantand#8212;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 andquot;Root of Life.andquot; 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.

"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). (June) " Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"A list of the ailments ginseng can treat reads like an advertisement for a 19th-century cure-all. It stimulates the libido (at least in lab rats), aids recovery from hangovers, helps control blood-sugar levels in diabetics, regulates hormone levels in the body generally, and, most dramatically, appears to prevent breast cancer cells from reproducing. Indeed, American ginseng's Latin name, Panax... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) quinquefolius, derives from the Greek pan for all and akos, for cure. In China it is used as an all-purpose tonic. American medical researchers are examining its properties, but it has not yet entered the medical mainstream as a prescription drug. However, the herb's medical uses are not the primary focus of these books, which dwell on the surprising fact that ginseng grows in the United States and has been exported to China since the 18th century. This American angle surely enabled the publication of two books on such an obscure industry.

American ginseng was discovered by a French Jesuit who lived among the Iroquois in the early 18th century and was familiar with the Chinese plant. Although it is an overstatement on David Taylor's part to equate the ensuing 'ginseng frenzy' to the California Gold Rush, such was the enthusiasm of fortune-seeking, Canadian diggers that they quickly eradicated ginseng from Canada's forests.

In 1784, the first American ship to sail to China arrived at Canton with a load of 30 tons of Pennsylvania and Virginia ginseng, and the trade between the United States and China was established. The Chinese incorporated American ginseng into their pharmacology, where its relaxing qualities complemented those of the energizing Asian root. Ginseng digging became a sideline for fur trappers and a source of supplementary income for Minnesota's first settler communities, who held ginseng balls and festivals. Rural Appalachian families still go out 'sanging in the woods in the fall to make a little extra money for Christmas.

By 1912 Americans were making a concerted effort to cultivate ginseng. As Kristin Johannsen tells it, one particularly endearing advocate of this new crop was Penn Kirk, who published the Ginseng Journal, a one-man enterprise funded by advertising for an appealingly eclectic range of things from sneezing powder and cures for corns to 'a home-study taxidermy course.' The rather testy Kirk supplied all the articles on ginseng growing and the answers to readers' inquiries. Both Johannsen and Taylor met present-day versions of Kirk: agricultural outreach workers running seminars on how to grow ginseng in the woods as part of an attempt to save the Appalachian forest from mining and logging. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, large-scale farms employ Hmong refugees from Laos to undertake the back-breaking work of growing ginseng in troughs, covered over by a system of wooden laths that simulate forest shade. Wild, simulated-wild or cultivated, virtually all American ginseng eventually finds its way to Ko Shing Street in Hong Kong or the vast herb market of Puning, a town on China's southern coast.

Even though Johannsen constantly reminds us of the extraordinary value of ginseng, the only people making a substantial profit out of the root seem to be the big exporters. But it is no wonder that ginseng is expensive. It is a slow-growing, temperamental plant, and the Chinese prefer the oldest roots. To make matters worse, ginseng is vulnerable to poachers who sneak into national parks and other people's woodlands to dig it up.

Both books cover essentially the same ground, though Johannsen's book reads like a series of local newspaper articles while Taylor gives us more history, especially on ginseng in China. The root seems to have a mystical hold over the people these authors meet. I was not captured, but their descriptions of the woodland habitat of the plant itself and the pleasures of hunting ginseng in the leaf mold of a damp autumnal forest did make me want to go for a tramp in the woods.

Lizzie Collingham is the author of 'Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors.'" Reviewed by Lizzie Collingham, Washington Post Book World (Copyright 2006 Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group)
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Taylor takes readers from forests east of the Mississippi to the bustling streets of Hong Kong and deep into remote corners of China as he weaves together the history, culture, and intrigue surrounding the "Root of Life."

Taylor takes readers from forests east of the Mississippi to the bustling streets of Hong Kong and deep into remote corners of China as he weaves together the history, culture, and intrigue surrounding the "Root of Life."

DAVID A. TAYLOR has written for Smithsonian, Wired, the Washington Post, the Village Voice, and the Christian Science Monitor. His documentary work has appeared on the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, the Learning Channel, PBS, and National Geographic. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.