![]() The Chinese character 芝 for zhi is classified as a typical radical-phonetic compound character combining the "plant" radical 艹 and a zhī ( 之 "to go grammatical particle") phonetic element. The 121 CE Shuowen jiezi (Plant Radical section 艸部) defines zhi (芝) as "divine plants" (神艸也) (tr. 1822 Erya subcommentary of Hao Yixing (郝懿行) says xiúzhī (苬芝) is a copyist's error for junzhi (菌芝, "mushrooms", see Baopuzi below), which is another synonym of lingzhi. 310 commentary says he was unfamiliar with the zhíguàn, and glosses, "The zhi flowers three times in one year, it is a felicitous plant" (芝一歲三華苬瑞草). 4th or 3rd century BCE Erya ( Shidi 釋草, Explaining Plants) defines zhíguàn (淔灌) as xiúzhī (苬芝), " Zhiguan is a numinous mushroom" (tr. (Steavu 2018: 358)Įarly Chinese dictionaries provide insight into the semantics of zhi. Other translations that preserve the inflection of hidden or asexual reproduction include "excrescence" or "exudation", but "cryptogam" is perhaps the most fitting as it applies not only to mushrooms but also to algae, lichens, mosses, liverworts, and ferns.The term zhi, which has no equivalent in Western languages, refers to a variety of supermundane substances often described as plants, fungi, or "excrescences." (Pregadio 2008: 1271).It certainly had a reference wider than anything we should call a fungus today, for it could include mineral excrescences recalling the shape of mushrooms, all kinds of cryptogams, and doubtless some fictitious plants.Several scholars have described the semantic range of zhi. Zhi has synonyms of lingzhi (靈芝, numinous zhi), yinzhi (陰草, concealed zhi), and zhicao (芝草, zhi plants), and is often associated with jade (Pregadio 2008: 1273). ~麻 zhīma, sesame ( Sesamum indicum) or sesame seeds.fragrant plan often equated with 白芷 báizhǐ, Chinese angelica in combination with 蘭 lán represents a person of high morality and integrity.japonicum), a type of polypore mushroom that grows on wood, especially rotting logs particularly striking examples sometimes regarded as auspicious celestial omens for having qualities conducing to long life > an entheogenic plant, wondergrowth. and in 靈~ língzhī, " numinous mushroom" and 紫~ zǐzhī, "purple mushroom" ( Ganoderma lucidum, G. ![]() ![]() mushroom, in general … an object shaped like a mushroom, e.g., a chariot canopy.For instance, a recent Chinese-English dictionary says: Translating Chinese zhi (芝) is problematic. In the absence of a semantically better English word, scholars have translated the wide-ranging meaning of zhi as " excrescences", " exudations", and " cryptogams". The Chinese term zhī (芝) commonly means "fungi mushroom", best exemplified by the medicinal Lingzhi mushroom, but in Daoism it referred to a class of supernatural plant, animal, and mineral substances that were said to confer instantaneous xian immortality when ingested.
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