Notes:
Lingzhi mushrooms have been used in Chinese medicine for millennia and are also considered by Dasoist mystics to be the sacred fungi of immortality which grow in the heavenly dwelling of the Immortals (ba xian). In the 3rd century guide to medicines and agriculture ‘Shennong’s Herbal Classics’ (Shennong Bencaojing) the author refers to six different mushrooms and details the different ways in which each colour benefits the taker. Lingzhi, or red mushrooms, were best for the heart, and ‘treats binding in the chest, boosts the heart qi, supplements the centre, sharpens the wits, and [causes people] not to forget. Protracted taking may make the body light, prevent senility, and prolong life so as to make one an immortal’ [Trans. Yang, Shouzhong, Blue Poppy Press (1998) pp. 17–18.]. Lingzhi were thus a highly popular and auspicious motif in art and ceramic design, even on wares that were destined for export to Europe, where their meaning and cultural significance would not have been generally understood.
