A 38-year-old fifth-generation herb collector digs for wild Polygonatum odoratum in the Qinling Mountains. His work involves scaling dangerous cliffs using ropes, a practice learned from his grandfather. During one harvest, his partner cuts the main rope, leaving him suspended by a backup line.
The collector finds a rare 30-year-old Polygonatum with golden leaf veins. He reflects on the declining availability of wild herbs and the physical toll of the trade. Despite the risks and low income, he continues to gather herbs to support his family, facing an uncertain future.
Table of Contents
wild medicinal herbs Solomon’s seal
My name is Zhang Li, 38 years old this year, is at the foot of the Qinling Mountains to collect herbs for a living of a medicine farmer.
The morning star had not yet set, the dew was thick, and the mountain mist was like a milky ribbon wrapped around the black peaks. On my back lay the ancestral bamboo basket of herbs, in which lay three treasures: a short-handled herb hoe with a polished edge, a curved sickle wrapped in hemp rope, and half a hard corn cake
– Here’s a day’s supply of herbs.wild medicinal herbs Solomons seal
I remember my grandfather’s pipe knocked a few times on the threshold when I was young, and the ashes scattered into the wind. He looked me in the eye and said,”The grass in the mountains saves lives; the dangers in the mountains save lives.” I was eleven years old that year, and for the first time I ground a bloody cocoon on my palm. From then on, my basket and hoe became my lifeline. My name is Zhang Li, 38 years old this year is a native of the children of medicine farmers, the fifth generation of the Zhang family medicine，
The experience of digging up wild Polygonatum odoratum
There are many wild herbs growing on the cliff of Hongxia Mountain in the north of Guishan Mountain. In the morning fog, the red texture is exposed, like the viscera of a beast that has been cut open. The rope was pulled into the shoulder blades, and once my partner and I were suspended from a 90-degree rock face with 200 meters of void beneath us. The wind brushed past his
ears, bringing the bitter smell of the stone crevice–it was the “immortal food” Polygonatum sibiricum purchased by the drug dealer at a high price. His fingertips dug into the crevices of the stones, and the rubble fell and disappeared into the rolling morning fog below. There was no sound at all. Sweat ran into the corners of my eyes and stung, but I blinked carefully, afraid that a slight shake would upset this fragile balance.wild medicinal herbs ———->Purchase Solomons seal
“Is it fastened?” A hoarse voice came from above, accompanied by an imperceptible gasp. It’s Old Geng. He stuck himself in a narrow crevice higher up, like a gecko, and carefully pried a few knotted, dew-stained polygonatum roots with a short-handled hoe. The rope on his side was stretched straight and connected to the main rope buckle at my waist. It was my only anchor point in this vertical death realm.Wild Polygonatum sibiricum
“Very well!” I responded hoarsely, my voice blown away by the wind. In fact, every time he pushed hard, I could feel the rope around my waist tighten so hard that my ribs hurt. Trust? On the cliff of Hongxia Mountain, trust is the rope pulled into the skin, the air two hundred meters deep under your feet, and every breath of the person hanging above your head. Old Geng Gan had been in this business for twenty years. He was experienced and ruthless. He said,”Life is your own, and money is your own.” It’s worth it to fall into minced meat. It’s better than starving to death.”
Holding my breath, I braced myself on my knees against a raised rock, and with one free hand I touched a cluster of fog-wet green leaves below me. The leaves are thick and there are treasures hidden under them. The fingernails carefully scraped away the moss and debris attached to them, revealing the dark brown, tuberous things below. It was Polygonatum sibiricum. It was not as flamboyant as ginseng, but more like a hidden hermit. Its appearance was not impressive, but its roots contained a value that made drug dealers flock to it. A stronger, bitter smell mixed with earth and a unique medicinal ingredient entered his nostrils.Solomons seal
Medicine hoe gently into the crevice, feeling the roots and rocks entangled. Every hoe must be extremely precise, not only to cut off the roots, but also not to hurt the taproot to affect the appearance, not to use too much force to lose their center of gravity. Sweat flowed down his forehead and dripped onto the cold rocks, disappearing instantly. Below, the morning fog flowed slowly like a milky white river. Occasionally, a crack would open, revealing the bottomless dark green forest below. One glance would make one dizzy.
“See the big one?” Old Geng’s voice fell again, with a bit of greed and urgency.”I think there’s a big guy under the stone ridge in the east!”
I turned my head with difficulty in the direction he indicated. As expected, deep within the crevices between the several interlocking rocks, behind a fat leaf, an unusually thick rhizome was faintly exposed. The color was dark, as if it had absorbed the essence of the rocks.
“Yes!” I responded, my heart racing with excitement and the greater risk ahead. That position was even more dangerous. He had to move horizontally for nearly two meters. There was almost no decent foothold under his feet. He relied solely on his arm strength and the rope hanging from his waist to hang over.
“Get it down! Be careful, don’t drop your baby!” Old Geng’s voice carried an unquestionable command. From his side came the muffled sound of the hoe hitting the rocks. Obviously, he was busy harvesting.wild medicinal herbs Wild Polygonatum sibiricum
The growth environment of wild Polygonum flavum
I took a deep breath, the bitter air poured into my lungs, but I could not suppress the throbbing of my heart. Untie the auxiliary rope at your waist, buckle it on a rock nail closer to the target
point, make sure there is a backup, and then start moving carefully. Tiptoe on the slippery rock, looking for any tiny bump. His body clung to the cold stone wall like a fully drawn bow. With each movement, the rope groaned, and the pressure on his shoulder blades increased sharply, as if it would be snapped in the next second. The wind seemed to be stronger, whistling in his ears and rolling up fine grains of sand to hit his face.Solomons seal
Finally moved to that cluster of fat leaves. Opening the leaves, a tuber called “King Polygonatum” suddenly appeared. It was as thick as an adult’s arm. Its roots were deeply embedded in the cracks of the rock like dragon claws. Its skin was covered with scales of age, exuding a heavy and weathered vitality. The bitter smell was extremely strong, almost overshadowing the smell of the mountain breeze.
“Good fellow!” I couldn’t help but cry out, my voice trembling. This one is enough for us to climb the cliff ten times.
The hoe was carefully inserted between the roots and the rock. It was harder to pry than expected, as if it had grown into one with the rock. I adjusted my posture, my feet were solid, my waist and abdomen exerted force, and my whole body weight was pressed on the handle of the medicine hoe. Little by little, I patiently pried the deep-rooted roots.
At this moment-
Crack!wild medicinal herbs
A slight but clear sound that could cause one’s scalp to explode came from above my head! It wasn’t the sound of stones falling, but more like…some kind of fiber being forcibly torn apart?
I suddenly looked up and my heart stopped beating!
I saw that the main rope that connected me and Old Geng suddenly split at a sharp rock corner near him! The coarse hemp fibers seemed to have been cut by sharp blades, and a few thick strands of rope core were exposed. They swayed pitifully in the wind, and the remaining connected parts were so thin that they were making a tooth-aching squeaking sound, as if they would be completely broken in the next second!
“Old Geng!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, my voice distorted by extreme fear.”Rope! The rope is breaking!”
Above the cliff, Old Geng seemed to pause for a moment. The wind was so strong and the mist was churning that I couldn’t make out his face, only a vague outline against the rock. Time seemed to freeze, and only the dying rope moaned desperately in the wind.Wild Polygonatum sibiricum
Then, I heard Old Geng’s voice penetrating the wind. It was still rough, but it seemed to be a little further away than before. It carried a strange, cold calm:
“Hold on to your auxiliary rope! Don’t move!”
Before he could finish his sentence, there was an even louder, palpitating friction and dragging sound above his head! Not to save me, more like… He’s moving fast?
The force that was strangling my shoulder blades and waist suddenly disappeared! It wasn’t the instant the rope broke, but the feeling of emptiness when the knot tied to the top was untied or cut!
The desperate path of survival
The main rope that sustained my life and connected to “trust” was like a dead snake that lost its life in an instant. It fell limply and weightlessly against the red rock wall, floating down toward the void two hundred meters below. It flashed before my eyes, fell into a rolling milky fog, and disappeared.
A great, pure, suffocating sense of weightlessness seized me!
The 200-meter void was no longer the scenery under his feet, but the monster’s huge mouth that instantly devoured me. The weight of my whole body, my life, is only maintained at the waist as a “backup” secondary rope! It stretched like an arrow about to leave the bow, connecting to the lone rock spike that had been driven into the rock formation on the side above.
Cold sweat soaked his entire body instantly, piercing him even more than the cold morning fog. I clawed at the crevices, my knuckles whitened from overwork, my fingernails almost falling off. The priceless King Polygonatum was right beside his hand. Its bitter scent had never been so dense before. When it entered his nose, it carried a sweet smell of death.
Above him, Old Geng’s figure completely disappeared into the surging fog and craggy rocks, and there was no sound at all. Only the wind was still howling in his ears, like the laughter of countless vengeful souls.wild medicinal herbs Picking and excavating wild Polygonatum sibiricum
The abyss beneath his feet opened its mouth and waited silently. I was hanging in the ochre-red “beast’s internal organs”, like an abandoned stone that would fall off at any time. The only secondary rope, in the wind issued an unbearable, subtle “bang…bang…” sound.
Immortal food? I stared at that plant within reach of polygonatum, its plump leaves in the wind slightly trembling, green was scary.
The arduous path of life
The road snaked beneath us like a faded old belt. Since Old Geng’s accident, I have never ventured to the cliff to collect herbs. I only look for safe areas to collect herbs. I also fully understand that my own safety is also a major guarantee for my family.”Herbal gatherers, feet are rulers, eyes are scales.” Remembering Grandpa’s words. When he was seven years old, he followed his
great-grandfather into the mountains. Before he died at the age of ninety, he still held half a piece of polygonatum that had not been dug up. When I was ten years old, he put the bamboo basket on my tender shoulder for the first time: “Liwa, the grass in this mountain can talk.” And they can feed their families.”Basket pressure shoulder pain, but I dare not shout tired. Grandpa bent
over, fingers brush a serrated green leaves: “Look, this is Epimedium, a man’s treasure.” He pushed aside the vines to reveal purple-brown tubers. The roots must remain three inches long, and new buds will sprout next year.” His thin hands seemed to have eyes, and he could always pick treasures out of the rotten leaves.In the late autumn of that year, he took me to the shady slope under the cliff. In the putrid soil, a polygonatum lies still like a dragon, wild medicinal herbs its stem thick as a child’s arm. “Look at the patterns! The one with the dense ring pattern is old
medicine, at least thirty years old.” He crouched down and slowly picked the roots with his medicine hoe. The soil fell down as if he was giving a baby a new coat. Two hours later, a foot long polygonatum complete unearthed, cross-section jade white, exuding sweet pulp.”Digging for medicine is like giving birth,” Grandfather said, panting heavily, his wrinkles full of mud.”A broken root can lose three points of medicine.”
Now I am alone in the fog, grandpa’s voice is still in my ears.
Polygonatum like Yin wet, more than hiding cliff shade or stream side. On the humus wet with morning dew, badger and wild boar’s paw prints were as new as knife cuts. These small animals loved to dig up the tender roots of Polygonatum sibiricum, and the traces often contained medicine.Picking and excavating wild Polygonatum sibiricum
A clump of Euonymus thorns was pushed aside, and half of the pale yellow rhizome suddenly appeared under the rotten leaves. Heart suddenly jump up, squat body carefully: no! This section is gray. It’s Phytolacca acinosa, a poisonous substance. Last year, Lao Ma, a medicine gatherer from a neighboring village, mistook it for ginseng stew soup. When he carried it down the mountain, his whole body was purple and swollen until he was never saved.Chinese medicinal herb Huangjing
“To recognize herbs, first recognize companion herbs.” Grandpa’s teachings saved me countless times. There must be honeysuckle vines around Polygonatum sibiricum, and silver ferns often parasitize the bottom of the leaves. If you see lacquer trees, you should retreat thirty feet. I still have a bowl-sized scar on the side of my right arm, which was accidentally touched by lacquer tree juice at the age of 21. It took three months for it to form a scar. Natural threats are everywhere in the mountains. If you are not careful, you will be injured or killed. Compared with working, it is much safer to work.
The daily journey of a herbal collector
After several searches, the sun climbed over the steep mountain ridge with difficulty, piercing the thick green curtain of the virgin forest with thin but hot spots, and sifting down obliquely. The decaying leaves were soft and dangerous under his feet, exuding the damp smell of age. Every step felt like stepping on the back of a sleeping beast. The vines were knotted like pythons, wrapping around the ancient trees that required several people to hug. The dense green that could not melt was almost suffocating.Wild Polygonatum sibiricum
In this almost frozen time, my eyes were caught by a glimmer.Chinese medicinal herb Huangjing
At the root of a few mossy, oily black stones, a cluster of strange plants grew quietly. A few plump, moist oval leaves, not ordinary scattered, but elegantly gathered, shaped like an open, miniature jasper umbrella. This gesture itself revealed an extraordinary ancient meaning. What shocked people even more was that through the oblique light, they could clearly see faint golden lines floating under the dark green leaf flesh! The golden pattern wasn’t tainted by nature, but a spiritual essence that came from the depths of the veins. It was like a secret language that had been deposited over time, whispering in the dark forest.Wild Polygonatum sibiricum
That’s it! It was exactly the same as what was recorded in the pharmacopoeia, and it was completely consistent with the description passed down from generation to generation by the old herbalists. An old polygonatum that was more than 30 years old had faint golden veins on its leaves. It was a real ” gnome “!Wild Polygonatum sibiricum
His heart beat like a drum in his chest, and he subconsciously held his breath. In the humid air around them, the gloomy and clear bitter fragrance unique to top-grade Polygonatum was instantly ignited by this discovery. It became extremely clear and rich, and it entered the nostrils in wisps, dispelling all the rotten smell in the forest. This fragrance was not ostentatious, but it had the power to penetrate the soul. It was the breathing of the soul essence deep in the earth.Solomon’s seal
I approached almost on my stomach, as softly as if I were approaching a fragile dream. His fingertips brushed away the wet and cold dead leaves and moss on the ground and carefully searched. The soil was soft and cold. Very soon, he touched the deep-buried roots-hard, thick, and intertwined. They tightly hugged the roots of the black stone and ancient tree, like a dragon hibernating.Wild Polygonatum sibiricum
Its skin presents a deep, almost dark iron brown, full of years carved, like scales and wrinkles. Just by touching it under his fingers, he could feel the thick texture and boundless life energy contained in it, which far exceeded ordinary Polygonatum. It is deeply rooted in this, quietly absorbed more than 30 years of heaven and earth rain dew, the essence of the sun and the moon, only to refine the leaf that symbolizes the years and spirituality of light gold.wild medicinal herbs Solomon’s seal
This old polygonatum was the secret gem on the crown of silence in this primeval forest. It does not need words, the umbrella-shaped leaves, floating gold patterns, depressed bitter incense, as well as the root that is entrenched like a dragon under the finger, is a solemn declaration of the great power of time and nature. In the depths of this deep and quiet green sea, time seemed to stand still. Only this gnome was silently telling its long life epic. I hold my breath and gaze at the natural creature and bow before it.Solomon’s seal
Grown for more than 30 years, the wild polygonum flavum
” The roots are fat and full, and the nodes are heavy. Only those that have been around for decades are strong enough.” Grandpa’s teachings clanged in the wind. I pressed my toes against the wet moss, and my hoe knife dug into the corrosive soil of the rock formation to carefully pry open the dead leaves. The roots of Polygonatum were like dragon claws, biting firmly at the stone wall. The rule of the herb gatherer: keep three out of seven, keep the root vein. When the blade cut down, the rock top rubble rustled off, a prism grazed his forehead, warm blood lines flooded into his eyes Solomon’s seal
The jungle is another purgatory. Last summer, I dug a hundred-year-old polygonatum on the shady slope. The rotting leaf layer suddenly exploded with cold scales-the triangular head of the Black Mamba snake was like an arrow leaving the bow, and its poisonous fangs were stabbing straight at the ankle! The snake’s head and body separated as the electric fire and medicine hoe
struck, and the twisted remains of the snake still caught my rubber boots, and my sweat-soaked back clung to the rock. I chewed up the seven leaves and a flower I brought with me and applied it to the wound. The bitter smell rushed to my throat and tightened. He remembered his grandfather’s motto: ” Five-step snake wants life, seven-leaf flower wants life, heaven has borrowed and repaid.” Limping three miles to find a stream cleaning wounds, the whole leg has swollen into purple eggplant.wild medicinal herbs
Wild Polygonum flavus grown at 3000 m altitude
In this many years of medicine picking career, nylon rope in the palm of the palm grinding purple brand. The Yi brothers ‘words often echoed in their ears: “Hemp rope soaked in tung oil can not withstand wind and rain, nylon rope for ships can save lives.” But no matter how tough the rope was, it couldn’t tie up the lost inheritance. Last year, he took a young man from a neighboring village into the mountain. When he saw the cliff, his legs went soft.”Brother Zhang, drones can pick herbs with a net. Why bother?” I stroked the rope marks carved by my ancestors Wild Polygonatum sibiricum
on the rock wall. The grooves gnawed away by the wind and rain were deeper than any genealogy. The report of the old association said that among the 37,000 herb pickers in the country, the 60-year-old accounted for 60%, while the young people had long looked for other industries to support their families. However, the dangerous industry and unstable income of herb picking were worthless in their eyes. The reality was indeed like this. Nine out of ten herb pickers were empty, and one was on the road. After all, the industry that took the gamble earned low income. Even supporting their families was a problem. They were unwilling to do such a loss-making business.Solomons’s seal
Tears suddenly fell into the fire,”Zi” a light smoke. That slight sound seemed to hit his heart, shaking his internal organs. The warmth of the bonfire licked his wet and cold trousers, but it could not disperse the chill oozing from his bones.Solomon’s seal
The bamboo basket leaned heavily against his feet. The warm tubers of Polygonatum odoratum, the black sclerotia of Polyporus umbellatus, the black juice oozing out of the fracture of the eclipta, as if it had condensed into the night………………….. They sank, not only bending the spine, but also like the soul of the entire Hongxia Mountain. This basket was exchanged for his life hanging on the cliff. It was dug out from the cold and wet chest of the primitive forest.wild medicinal herbs huangjing
The old laceration of the rope in the shoulder blade began to ache again under the weight of the basket rope, a burning reminder of the dangers of the day. In the business of picking herbs,” The life of the herb picker is given by the mountain…” Grandpa’s hoarse voice rang out in his ears again, with a thick phlegm voice at the end of his life. His turbid eyes stared at the old bamboo basket on the beam that had been polished to oil. The basket hung in the air like a small coffin. “Li Wa, in the future…Shan will become thinner and thinner.”
” Thin “…This word was like a poisoned needle, piercing his heart. Grandpa was right. The steeper the path, the less old medicine he could find. In the past, it was easy to pick up “immortal food”, but now he had to take his life to the extremely dangerous land of Hongxia Mountain. Primitive forest like greedy comb over and over again, those who show gold patterns of the old polygonatum, has been a rare legend. The mountain was really thin, and only cold bones remained.
The uncertain path of the future
The bonfire danced, reflecting the silent outline of the medicine package. What could this packet of medicine exchange for? Your daughter’s tuition for next semester? The leaky roof of the old house? Or the thick cotton shoes that her elderly mother had seen countless times but could not bear to buy, which could make her walk less painful? The burden of life was thousands of times heavier than the bamboo basket full of mountain souls behind him, so heavy that people could not breathe. Every climb, every deep danger, but from the mountain fingers, and then dig out a little bit of survival debris.Solomon’s seal
The flames flickered, illuminating her aged face once again. The decree lines were as deep as knife cuts, and the dazzling silver hair on his temples shone coldly under the moonlight. Thirty-eight years old…this face, but has been overdrawn too much frost. It overlapped strangely with Grandpa’s 60-year-old face, which was full of wrinkles and fatigue, in the shadow of fire and water, as if fate had imprinted itself, and generations of herbalists could not escape it.Solomon’s seal Solomon’s seal
” Zi…” Another drop of boiling tear fell uncontrollably into the fire, instantly turning into a lighter and lighter wisp of smoke, dissipating silently in the cold wind. Just like the old medicine in this mountain, just like the life of the medicine picker, silently exhausted, finally returned to dust.Solomon’s seal
I silently gathered the fire to bring the faint warmth closer. Tomorrow, I have to get up before dawn. The basket was stained with medicine from the mountain spirit and had to be delivered to the town’s network before dark. Then use the few thin tickets exchanged to fill the holes in life that will never be filled. The mountains are getting thinner and thinner, and people can only continue to bend their backs in the steeper cliffs and deeper and deeper forests, looking for that little glimmer of survival. The crackling of the bonfire was the only sound in the silent forest, reflecting his silent and weary profile, like the rock itself.Solomon’s seal
