Field notes and materia medica
Fungi and ferments
Field notes on the fungi and fermented materials of Chinese medicine: what is cultivated on what, how long it takes, and how quality is judged.
3 field notes
Chinese herbs
Poria (茯苓): a medicinal fungus formed beneath the soil
How Fu Ling develops around pine wood underground, is dug out, cut, dried, and prepared for storage.
Read the article
Chinese herbs
Red yeast rice (红曲): fermentation, colour, and medicine
How steamed rice is inoculated, fermented, watched by hand, and sun-dried into Hong Qu.
Read the article
Chinese herbs
Reishi mushroom (灵芝): from wild logs to managed cultivation
How Ling Zhi fruits on wood, releases spores, and can be cultivated instead of repeatedly hunted in the wild.
Read the article
Tell us what you would like help with
It takes a couple of minutes. Nothing is booked and nothing is charged — a person reads it and writes back within 24 hours.