Chinese ginseng (Panax ginseng) was first discovered around 7,000 years ago in the Manchurian Mountains of northeast China.
Legend has it that Emperor Yan, also known as Shennong (Divine Peasant), identified ginseng’s medicinal properties about 3,000 years later. In ancient texts like the Shen Nong Pharmacopoeia and Li Shizhen’s Compendium of Materia Medica, ginseng was described as a “superior tonic.” It wasn’t a cure-all but rather a specific remedy for chronic illnesses and convalescence.
Today, ginseng remains a revered herb in traditional medicine, although modern clinical research on its effectiveness is inconclusive.
