Specification :

Meng Qi records a romantic story about Cui Hu of the Tang Dynasty in one of his works named Stories in Poetry. Cui Hu went for an outing during the Pure Brightness Festival and suddenly felt thirsty, so he knocked at a farmer¡¯s house for some water. The beautiful daughter of the farmer was more than happy to help him and the two fell in love eventually. Before long, Cui Hu had to leave on business, and when he came back to the same place the next Pure Brightness Festival, he found the door of the farmer¡¯s house was locked. Feeling lost, he wrote a poem on the wall, ¡°I met her the same day last year by this door, where both her face and the peach blossoms were in full bloom. Where her face has gone by now, do you know, among the peach blossoms smiling in breeze?¡± He then revisited the same place a few days later, and got to know that the farmer¡¯s daughter was sick of love for him. Deeply moved by her affections, he married her at last. In the past, people beautify their faces with peach blossoms, as is recorded in the Summary of Events during Four Seasons, -- ¡°On the third day of this lunar month, you can collect and preserve some petals of peach blossoms and take them out on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, blend them with the blood of a Dark Chicken, and apply the liquid on your body and face, then you will look bright and beautiful.¡± A book named the Life in Heaven also says that ¡°on the third day of the third lunar month, you can pick some peach blossoms and soak them in wine, and then drink the wine. This will prevent you from being ill or getting old.¡± The daughter of Cui Linyi of the North Qi Dynasty was famous for her beauty. She once disclosed her top secret of keeping herself young, which is ¡°to apply peach blossoms on the face during springtime¡±. There was a song about picking the peach blossoms which went -- ¡°Take the red and take the white, Wash her face and make her bright; Take the white and take the red, Wash her face and well she¡¯s bred; The white we¡¯ll take, the red we¡¯ll take, Wash her face and a belle we¡¯ll make.¡±

Apart from peach blossoms, ancient people also used seedlings of chrysanthemum and tuber of polygonum multiflorum or pollen to beautify their faces. The Eight Articles on Longevity suggests that one should ¡°take the seedlings of chrysanthemum during this month¡­ one qian each time and three times a day. Keep it for a hundred days and you will feel refreshed and your white hair will turn black in a year.¡± A book named the Monthly Records by Qi People says ¡°¡­take some polygonum multiflorum¡­ make it into balls by blending it with honey, and pour in it one or two qian of wine¡±, which will make you stronger and more beautiful if you take it. It again says that ¡°during the third and the fourth lunar month, collect the tender leaves from pine trees or the flower buds in the valley¡­dry them and grind them into powder and make powder into balls.¡± If you take them for long, you will live long and become beautiful. These secrets of the ancient people are now taken into this medicine called ¡°Blooming You¡±.

According to the Record of History, Zhang Liang of the early Han Dynasty, who helped Liu Bang in establishing the Han Empire, fled from the emperor on success of fame and power, on the plea of illness by saying that ¡°I will forsake all the earthly affairs and seclude myself in deep forests and live as if with Chisongtsu¡±, and eventually died in peace and health. His ending was in sharp contrast with those of Han Xin or Peng Yue. That is why even today people are talking about Zhang Liang as a wise man. In fact, there¡¯s no use of a large fortune for someone who cannot eat, nor hear or see anything, for someone who is not healthy or suffers from illness day by day. Chisongtsu was the son-in-law of the Holy Farmer (or the King of Medicines) and was good at medicine and pharmaceutics. Among all the treasures in the world, he loved pollen the best and then became a fairy. He was much admired by the people after him. Qu Yuan, the poet of the Warring States, once wrote that ¡°I¡¯ve heard of the fairy tales of Chisongtsu and would follow his living principles in my life¡± (from ¡°Travelling Afar¡±, the Song of the South). Wen Tong, the poet and painter of the North Song Dynasty, once said that ¡°In face of the most beautiful scenes of my olden country, I think some day I¡¯ll live as if with Chisongtsu in deep forests¡±. Pollen may be compared to something of ¡°no false name¡±, because it has special functions indeed. People from all over the world, whether in the past or today, will find pollen to be their friend. Old Greeks called it ¡°panacea¡±, and the Bible called it ¡°the fountain of youth and health¡±, whereas scientists praise it by calling it ¡°special nutrition¡±, ¡°natural immunity enforcer¡± or ¡°anti-ageing and beautifying agent¡±. It is not unreasonable that pollen becomes world-famous.

Special nutritional food

Pollen is rich in vitamins A, B1, B6, B12, C, D, E and K as well as folic acid and pantothenic acid (100 times more than honey), 20 amino acids (including eight types vital to the human body such as tryptophan, phenylalanine, lysine, threonine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, and valine, 5 to 7 times than that of beef, cheese and egg of the same weight), over 50 natural enzymes and coenzymes such as amylase, glucosaminidase, lipase and protease. Proteins account for 20% to 30% of pollen. Pollen also contains calcium, phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, microelements, carbohydrates, antibiotics, bioflavonoids and other active components. Daily use of 35-g pollen meets the nutritional requirement for the whole day and significantly improves learning and sports endurance. Steve Liter, a dash champion in Montreal Olympics, thought highly of pollen¡ª¡°it is wonderful!¡±

Natural immunity promoter

Historically, great physicians excelled at application of pollen, the wonderful material. Longtime use of pollen makes the disease unlikely to recur, or easier to cure. Zhong Lianggong, a great physician of late Qing Dynasty who was good at application pollen that was known as ¡°smelly pollen applies, warm medication achieves¡±. The patients who were treated by Dr. Zhong turned out to become stronger. Thus, the rest of the poem was ¡°wonder drug comes, human disease goes¡±.

Modern researches have revealed the secret of pollen in prevention and treatment of diseases, that is, pollen promotes immunity. Oral application of pollen increases hemolysin antibodies for sheep red blood cells (SRBC), promotes phagocytosis of liver macrophages, increases spleen weight and inhibits reduction of thymus weight induced by immunosuppressive agents such as cyclophosphamide. Pollen is effective in treatment of various immune deficiency diseases such as liver disorders, kidney disorders, cardiovascular diseases and tumors.

Clinical researches also indicate mythic effects of pollen. Bulgarian E ¡¤ Cheorghiea and V ¡¤ Vassilev treated 25 fatty liver patients and 25 chronic hepatitis patients with pollen; electrophoresis found that bilirubin, serum transaminase and serum protein were relieved. Dr. Mikhail Enescu, a Romanian endocrinologist, treated 150 cases of chronic prostatitis with pollen, effectiveness rate was as high as 70%. Cerniton R, a Japanese prostatitis drug, is also made of pollen. Prof. Inada of the Department of Urology of Nagasaki University reported that the drug was effective in 10 cases in a clinical trial of 12 cases of prostatitis. In Sweden, pollen was used to prevent and treat the flu, effective in 98% cases. European Medical Society reported that British hawthorn pollen relieves fever and pain, improves heart functions and blood circulation; rape pollen treats varicose ulcer; salvia pollen treats the flu and regulates the stomach and intestines; willow pollen improves strength, relieves pain and checks sexual desire; thyme and papaver rhoeas pollens inhibit germs and relieves coughing; wide rose and dandelion pollens promotes urination and treats kidney stone; millet pollen nourishes blood and reduces hyperemia of liver, prostate and veins of lower extremity; orange and tiliaceae pollens tranquilize effectively (the former also improves strength and nourishes stomach); apple pollen, a wonderful nutritional food, prevents myocardial infarction; rosemary pollen nourishes the nervous and digestive systems and prevents fatigue, liver-ache and stomachache ; buckwheat pollen protects walls of capillaries and prevent cardiovascular diseases; centaury pollen promotes urination and prevents rheumatism; borage pollen nourishes, tranquilizes, promotes urination and relieves spitting and coughing.

In addition, all the pollens inhibit bacteria, reduce activity of viruses, treat intestinal disorders, and relieve constipation, menopause syndrome and menstrual disorder. Dr. Chopin of France reported that longtime constipation patients¡ªeven for as long as 25 years¡ªwere relieved with continuous use of pollens. He applied pollen products to tumor patients who were receiving cyclophosphamide treatment; in the 50-subject pollen group, there were only 8 WBC reduction cases and in the 50-subject non-pollen group, there were 38 cases. Digestive reactions appeared in 4 cases of the pollen group and in 36 cases of the non-pollen group. The difference is significant.

The wonderful efficacy has been embodied in the story of ¡°the Eight Gods¡±. Among the Eight Gods, Lan Tsai Ho and He Tsian Ku excel at treatment with pollen¡ªessence of flowers; the flower basket and lotus serve as the best symbols. The fact reflects confidence and pursuit of pollen treatment. Poems of Chamber Gui Xiang writes ¡°high office is of no help, flower dish improves life; god is hard to find, treasure sought from druggist¡±. I would like to add, ¡°healthy pollen is available now, there is no need to look for God¡±.