The custom of picking ginseng in Changbai Mountain

The name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: the custom of picking ginseng in Changbai Mountain

Applicant: Fusong County, Jilin Province

Project No.: 1000

Project No.: Ⅹ - 93

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Jilin Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Fusong County, Jilin Province

Protection unit: Fusong ginseng Museum

Introduction to the custom of picking ginseng in Changbai Mountain

Applicant: Fusong County, Jilin Province

People in Changbai Mountain area call it "releasing mountain" when they go into the old forest to find wild ginseng. The custom of releasing mountain is popular in Changbai Mountain Area of Fusong County, Jilin Province. According to the records of Taiping Yulan, as early as the middle of the third century, people in Changbai Mountain area had been digging ginseng. In the long-term process of searching for ginseng, the workers in Changbai Mountain area have formed a set of unique customs including special language, behavior rules, ethics, ginseng digging technology, operation taboo, field survival skills, special tools and utensils, etc., which have been taught by oral and personal way among the participants.

The folk beliefs, moral norms, environmental awareness, value recognition and traditional skills in the custom of picking ginseng in Changbai Mountain greatly affect the mental state and life philosophy of the local people, and then sublimate into a unique ginseng culture, enrich and improve the traditional culture of the Chinese nation, showing distinctive local characteristics.

At present, most of the experienced mountain releasing guards are old and seldom take apprentices into the mountain. Some of them have died one after another, and few people have mastered the mountain releasing skills systematically. The custom of picking ginseng in Changbai Mountain, which has been going on for thousands of years, is in crisis and is on the verge of extinction.