I think I might have mentioned that I have been listening to Lazlo Montgomery's excellent China History Podcast and talked about the Silk Road. I had heard of the famous Silk Road and the Silk trade but never of the Rhubarb Road and the rhubarb trade. And I guess that many of you, my clever and esteemed readers, don't know about the historical importance of rhubarb either, but can't wait to find out.
"No, we can't!"
Very well then.
The world authority is Clifford M Foust and his book Rhubarb the Wondrous Drug is the one to snap up if ever you see a cheap copy.
Apart from C M Foust's works there is surprising little information available online, but here are a few interesting things I came across.
First the origins of rhubarb.
"No, we can't!"
Very well then.
The world authority is Clifford M Foust and his book Rhubarb the Wondrous Drug is the one to snap up if ever you see a cheap copy.
Apart from C M Foust's works there is surprising little information available online, but here are a few interesting things I came across.
First the origins of rhubarb.
Next, the 'Rhubarb Misunderstanding' here is the abstract of a paper by C M Foust that explains the Chinese and Western views on rhubarb.
'This paper casts light on the myth, current in China before the Opium War, that the Europeans could not survive without rhubarb. The myth has its roots in differences between pharmaceutical theories and material culture in the Chinese and Western traditions. In China, rhubarb was considered a drastic purgative, indicated only in case of grave illness. In the West, in consequence of a specific method of processing, it was regarded as a mild and gentle drug, albeit wonderfully effective in ridding the body of superfluous humoral substances. Thus the same herb acquired completely different images in China and in the West. An important factor that fostered the myth was the Russian government's termination of the rhubarb monopoly in the prelude to the Sino-Russian border conflict in the late eighteenth century. This gave rise to increased smuggling, which was misinterpreted in China as evidence that Russia stood in desperate need of rhubarb. When the border conflict came to an end in 1792, Russia's unusually submissive attitude tended to confirm this misapprehension. This article not only explains why the Qing government adopted an embargo on rhubarb; it also shows how differing pharmaceutical views influenced international affairs.'
Add some exciting links.
The local history site for Morley, the Rhubarb Capital of Northern England, has some further information.
http://www.morleyarchives.org.uk/p_rhubarb.html
The Rhubarb Info site has info on rhubarb, including some fun historical facts such as:
During the end of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) a Ming-general tries (in vain) to commit suicide by eating rhubarb medicine.
http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/history
More about the rise and fall of the Yorkshire rhubarb mines can be found here. But this is getting beyond my sphere of interest.
http://www.squidbeak.co.uk/blog/2012/03/yorkshire-rhubarb/
Finally And a map. There was not just one Silk Road but rather a network of routes running East and West. Similarly there was probably not just one Rhubarb Road, it will probably have followed several of these routes and branches.
-Roots and branches! -
I hope that was enough to give you a taste. I could spend all day on this and just scratch the surface of the crumble but have to stop writing now and make one of my own.