"Garlic is a lucky plant; it is an antidote to poisons of all sorts. It plays considerable part in the festival of the 5th day of the 5th (Chinese) month. Garlic may also symbolise a rich progeny. ... Ginger is an important ingredient in many Chinese dishes. Confucius, we are told in the Analects, was 'never without ginger when he ate'. The elaborate system of correspondences which underlies so much Chinese thought required that sauces be prepared according to season with ginger, vinegar, wine or salt. Only honey was invariably included: 'since what is sweet corresponds to the earth which lies in the centre' (Marcel Granet).Since the ginger root often resembles a finger, women were told to keep off ginger during pregnancy, as the child might be born with more than five fingers. ... Nowadays, ginseng is in great demand as a tonic to which all sorts of curative and restorative properties are attributed. In ancient times, the plant was mainly produced in the mountainous regions of what is today the province of Shanxi, in North China...The roots of the ginseng plant are fairly long and often look like a small child. It is said that ginseng not only looks like a child but can also cry like one.At the present time, it is mainly in Manchuria and Korea that ginseng is produced. According to an old legend, it was beetle that brought a red child (i.e. ginseng) to Manchuria. There is a well known folk-tale about a man who is offered ginseng to eat; he refuses to eat it, believing it to be a boiled child. ... Doctors in ancient China who prescribed medicines made from herbal matter or from parts of animals, were divided into three categories: at the top were the state doctors, upper-class men who, in addition to their training in traditional medicine, had studied the medical texts available and had passed a state examination. They were called ‘Great Doctors’, held state posts and were summoned to court if the Emperor or one of his high officials were ill. The second group also belonged to the upper class: they were state officials who had studied medicine as a sideline in their free time. Should a friend or relation fall ill they would do what they could to help. They never asked for payment but expected gifts on suitable occasions such as major feast days or holidays.The third category was drawn from the lower classes of society. Its members were often the sons or grandsons of doctors. Practitioners belonging to this category often had their own private books of remedies and treatments, which were carefully guarded from rival eyes. They worked in small shops or on the streets, and they took payment for their services."