Throughout recorded history in China, there are repeated references to the use of mushrooms as food and for medicinal purposes. Many common and popular mushrooms species of today originated in China, with the exception of button mushrooms. It is recorded that the first mushroom, Wood Ear mushroom or 木耳, was cultivated around 600 A.D. in China. Li Shi Chen’s Ben Cao Kang Mu in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) recorded that in the Tang Dynasty (618-908), Tang Ying Chuan stated “Put the steamed bran on logs, then covered with straw, Wood Ear will grow.” [5] Enoki was cultivated between 800 and 900 A.D [2] while Shiitake mushroom has been cultivated in China during the Sung Dynasty (960-1127). The earliest written record of shiitake cultivation is seen in the Records of Longquan County (龍泉縣志) compiled by He Zhan (何澹) in 1209 during the Southern Song dynasty and legend and historical records credit Wu San Kwung as the pioneer of shiitake cultivation. [2]
The mushroom species brought to class is straw mushroom, also known as Chinese mushroom, which is believed to be cultivated since 1822. This is relatively late as compared to other mushrooms species which are recorded to be one of the earliest cultivated food in China. It is speculated that straw mushrooms were mostly likely to be first cultivated by Buddhist monks from Nanhua Temple in Northern Guangdong Province. [1][3] It later spread to lay people, and was offered as a tribute to the royal family in 1875.
Due to the high nutritious value of mushrooms, it is a common ingredient found in food eaten by Buddhist monks and is regarded as “the chicken of the earth” for its high protein. [4] One popular vegetarian dish, with assorted mushrooms as one of the main ingredients, is Buddha’s Delight, or Luohan Zhai. Luohan, or sometimes known as ‘lohan’ in older sources, is the Chinese word for Arhat in Buddhism. An Arhat is a person who has achieved Nirvana or Buddhahood with the guidance from a Buddha and will not be reborn again. As the name suggests, it is traditionally eaten by Chinese Buddhist monks who maintain a vegetarian diet and its origins can be traced back to the Song Dynasty. [7] This dish is made up of assorted mushrooms, as well as other ingredients such as bean curd skin and vegetables. It aligns with the Buddhist diet of consuming food light in flavour and the avoidance of pungent ingredients such as garlic, leeks and onions which would trigger the senses. It has then become a very popular dish outside monasteries and made its way into more secular avenues such as restaurants. Furthermore, it has been incorporated into the major Chinese festival, Chinese or Lunar New Year, in which many Chinese would consume this dish on the first day as a form of self-purification after the indulgence of rich and sweet foods on New Year’s Eve. It is also believed that the abstinence of meat at the start of the new year will allow one to gain good karma.
Mushrooms remain a feature in Buddhist diet and Chinese cuisines as a whole today. Over time, this ingredient has become more commercialised and has been widely processed into dried and canned forms, depending on the mushroom species.
[1] Chang, S.T. “The Origin and Early Development of Straw Mushroom Cultivation.” Economic Botany 31 (1997): 374-376. Accessed September 16, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02866890.
[2] Chang, S.T. and P. Wasser, Solomon. “The Cultivation and Environmental Impact of Mushrooms.” Oxford Research Encyclopedias Mar 2017. DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.231.
[3] Simoons, Frederick. Food in China: A Cultural and Historical Inquiry. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1990.
[4] Laudan, Rachel. “Monks and Monasteries: Buddhism Transforms the Cuisine of China, 200 CE—850 CE,” Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013), Ch. 3: 145-82.
[5] Li, Shizhen. Compendium of materia medica : bencao gangmu. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 2003.
[6] Halpern, Georges. Healing Mushrooms: Effective Treatments for Today’s Illnesses. New York: Square One, 2007.
[7] 罗汉斋 [Buddha’s Delight] (in Chinese). Baidu. Accessed September 16, 2019. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%BD%97%E6%B1%89%E6%96%8B#reference-[1]-97691-wrap.
[8] 香菇简介 [Mushroom Introduction] (in Chinese). Yuwang jituan. Accessed September 16, 2019. http://hnywzy.com/news_show.asp?id=1829.