History of Ginseng
For thousands of years ginseng root has been a valued medicinal herb in traditional oriental healing. Ginseng was discovered over 5000 years ago in the mountains of Manchuria, China. References to ginseng can be found in writings dating back over two millennia. There are mentions of ginseng use during the Qin and Han dynasties, 221 BC - 220 AD.
Ginseng is probably the single most famous herb out of the thousands involved in Chinese medicine. It is revered by the Chinese as a key herb to treat a wide range of illness. In ancient times it was used exclusively by the Emperor. Even its Latin name means ‘to cure all illnesses’.
Because Chinese emperors revered ginseng and were more than willing to pay for ginseng with its weight in gold, a flourishing industry emerged, attracting diggers, traders and robbers. China’s demand for wild root afforded Korea the opportunity to maintain a thriving export industry that dates back to the 3rd century AD.
By the third century AD China's demand for ginseng created international ginseng trade allowing Korea to obtain Chinese silk and medicine in exchange for wild ginseng. By the 1900s, the demand for ginseng outstripped the available wild supply and Korea began the commercial cultivation of ginseng that continues to this day.
In America, ginseng was used by several North American Indian nations. The Iroquois, Menomonee, Cherokee and the Creeks all valued ginseng for its curative powers and life enhancing capabilities. It is estimated that American settlers discovered ginseng in the mid 1700’s in New England. By the late 1700's shipments of ginseng were being sent to China and considerable fortunes were being made. By the mid 1850’s, half a million pounds of ginseng was being harvested annually from America's wild ranges and exported to Asia. By the turn of the twentieth century, wild ginseng was almost extinct in America due to over harvesting.
Ginseng is known to be a potent source of vitality, longevity; and equally important, sharpened the mind and memory, while restoring the body's natural balance of chi, or elemental energy.
Eastern medicines, and particularly Chinese traditions, are deeply involved in the concept of Yin and Yang, which represents the balance of the universe. In order to prevent or cure disease this same balance was necessary in human physiology. In this respect ginseng is a vital tool in restoring and maintaining that balance. Modern western science now accepts ginseng as a recognised adaptogen; a modern term that essentially means: restoring the bodies’ natural balance.