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Before liberation, there usually was hung a picture of two men with smiles in the middle of a hall during a wedding ceremony, one of whom was holding a lotus flower, representing ¡°harmony¡±, the other holding a round box, representing ¡°union¡±. They were the legendary couple of harmonious union in the Chinese tradition, taking similarities in Chinese pronunciation between the words ¡°lotus¡± and ¡°harmony¡± and the words ¡°box¡± and ¡°union¡±. This legend may have been derived from and traced back to the book named the Rituals of Zhou Dynasty, in which a remark says ¡°let them marry and unite the two surnames¡±.

The two harmonious fairies are also a symbol for familial peace and lucky union. According to the Second Travel Notes of West Lake (Vol. 23), in Song Dynasty, each family which had a member travelling afar will worship and hang a picture of the two harmonious fairies and that picture was believed to be effective, as it would make a family reunited, and that was why in Song Dynasty the two harmonious fairies were also called the ¡°Brothers of Returning Home¡±.

In fact, the Brothers of Returning Home means ¡°never parting with my lover until our hair is white¡±, as is sung in one of the Han Lyric Songs named ¡°Song of White Hair¡±, because only when the couple gets on harmonious terms will the Brother stay forever with his wife, and vice versa, only when the Brother stays with his wife is it possible for them to live as a harmonious couple. Liu Xiu was a nobody before he became an emperor. Many of his followers advised him to marry another wife, but he said he preferred ¡°my old sword (meaning ¡®my previous wife¡¯)¡±, and insisted on having his first wife to be the empress, leaving three thousand beautiful imperial concubines behind. Song Hong of the same Dynasty turned down a marriage with a princess, and replied to the emperor saying that ¡°one should not forget the one who has helped him in need and the wife who stayed with him when he was poor¡±. These are moving love stories and would touch the hearts of generations over thousands of years, and in these stories is reflected the best of the Chinese traditions. There is still erected a stele on which Luo Pin and Zheng Wendao, two painters of Qing Dynasty, painted the two harmonious fairies, and on the back of the stele is the calligraphy of the famous Tang poem ¡°Stopping at Night by the Maple Bridge¡± by Zhang Ji. These two pieces have been there for hundreds of years.

A family is the cell of a society and husband and wife is the core of a family. The essential part of a family is affection. Mr. Tong Dizhou, the American-Chinese biologist, said that ¡°a harmonious marriage will benefit one¡¯s health and work and will be helpful to social stability and development,¡± and ¡°affection is critically important for human lives. It helps prevent and cure diseases and illnesses, in particular, hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, prostatitis and kidney stone, etc.¡± He believes that all those who pay attention to this will ¡°mostly live a healthy and long life¡±, which corresponds to what is said in the book of I Ching -¡°When all families are heading for a correct place, the world will be stable; and the way for a husband and a wife is for them to love each other¡±.

When Winter Favourite comes, the frost will go, and all the family members will be happy.
It is recorded in the Notes Along the West River that ¡°There was a beautiful girl in the West River Street of the Ming State, who was as cold as ice over her body, so cold that even her parents dared not to touch her. This being known to all the people around, nobody would marry her, though quite some people had come to ask about her name because of her beauty, but soon they left when they got to know about her abnormalities. Later a young man coming from outside the State married her without being told of her abnormalities, and all his family members were sad because he could not even touch her cold body. An old man by the Zigzag Pond heard about it and gave her a medical bag for her to place on the abdomen and told her to drink everyday a wine made from winter insects and summer grass. Half a year later, her body gradually warmed up and the couple was able to do what a husband and a wife would do. Before long they had two sons and two daughters. People therefore sang the following song, ¡®When Winter Favourite comes, the frost will go, and all the family members will be happy. Only when there is true affection in this world can good foods and good medicine be effective. As winter insects and summer grass can serve to prevent from getting cold and cure the cold of old people in their back and knees and also increase the happiness between husband and wife, and being best loved in winter, they are called ¡°Winter Favourite¡±.

The records in the Correct Understanding of the Compendium of Materia Medica may help to prove what is said in the Notes Along the West River as quoted above. ¡°Mr Zhao introduces a new idea from Pan Youxin that this may be used as a medicine to increase the happiness between husband and wife, and Zhou Jianshi also says it is warm in nature and may serve to cure oedema and abdominal distension, and may also be used with Zhongzidan, a medicine for pregnancy, etc.¡± It may be said hence that winter insects and summer grass may not only serve to relieve rheumatic pains but also make one strong and cure one¡¯s sterility. It is further indicated in the Correct Understanding of the Compendium of Materia Medica that ¡°Mr Zhao then introduces the words from the Four Investigations into Treasures of Study by saying that -- Kong Yutang¡¯s brother was weak and would sweat all night. He was afraid of wind stirring in his house even in summer. He took this medicine along with foods and soon was recovered.¡± The words ¡°along with foods¡± should be noted in the above passage, because winter insects and summer grass is a plant of the ergot fungus family, a combination of hepialus armoricanus oberthiir, and is a kind of edible fungus, and that¡¯s why this medicine is often taken along foods.

It is a delicious food but better than any medicine, because it makes one live long and become strong.
As a nutritional food, Chinese cater pillar fungus is of great value as an edible fungus. First of all, it frees the user from annoying medication. Delicately influenced, the user promotes his health by enjoying delicious foods. Second, Chinese cater pillar fungus¡¯s promotion of kidney, yang and pregnancy is different from chemical stimulations in that it enhances the regulation of the human body and improves the status of health. It does not give superficial treatment, and it is free from endocrine disturbance and mental change common to average hormone products.

Thus, it is superior in efficacy and safety. The TCM Research Institute under Changzhou Asia-Pacific Economic & Cultural Development Center treated 100 impotence patients with Chinese cater pillar fungus. 96 patients returned to normal sexual life and the other 4 patients who had diseased organs were also relieved to some degree. The TCM Research Institute also treated 64 premature ejaculation patients with the medicinal herb. 5 to 11 patients returned to normal sexual life and 8 more patients were also relieved significantly. Chinese cater pillar fungus is reputed as ¡°treasure of harmonious life¡±

It is noteworthy that among the 160 patients, 36 patients were accompanied by asthma, 27 patients by hyperplasia of lumbar vertebra. The diseases were also relieved by using Chinese cater pillar fungus.

Winter fortune with fungus, used as dish and foods
In Qu Chi Cookbook, there is a famous dish named ¡°Winder Fortune¡±, which promotes chi, nourishes kidney, reinforces marrow and improve spiritedness. Anyone who suffer from low spirits, dizziness, tinnitus, pains in waist and back, breathlessness and palpitation, reduced memory, impotence, premature ejaculation, (women¡¯s) fear of coldness and leucorrhea disorders may greatly benefit from the dish.

The dish is made of 5-to-10-gram Chinese cater pillar fungus, half-jin (250 g) mutton , 1-liang (50 g) ginger powder and a little shallot.The dish is stewed to eat for ten successive days, after which the effect appears.

Greens cooked with Chinese cater pillar fungus make a delicious specialty, which is especially tasty, refreshing and unforgettable. The dish, which also comes from Qu Chi Cookbook, is described as ¡°purify heart and lungs, remove sputum, smooth blood flow and calm down the mind¡±. The TCM Research Institute under Changzhou Asia-Pacific Economic & Cultural Development Center and a Shanghai restaurant used Chinese cater pillar fungus in diet for twenty hyperlipemia patients of an Indonesian rehabilitation tour group. After taking the special diet for one month, physical examinations revealed reduced triglyceride, cholesterol and b - lipoprotein¡ªas much as 20%. Surprisingly, among the patients, there were six angina patients; they did not have any attack of angina during the period.

Duck cooked with Chinese cater pillar fungus is a popular diet-therapy. To make it, put 15-to-30-g Chinese cater pillar fungus into the cleaned duck belly, put in some seasonings, cook with steam until it is well done. The dish nourishes lungs and prevents TB, promotes chi and improves vitality, choice therapy for TB, senile chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Jing E San Fang Yao Lu adds pipe fish, seahorse and º£Çù (10 grams respectively) into the dish, which is cooked with yellow wine. It helps relieve calcified TB. The TCM Research Institute applied it to ten bone tuberculosis patients and 6 kidney tuberculosis patients, finding that the treatment group was better relieved than the control group that used drugs only. Animal researches reveal that Chinese cater pillar fungus relieves damages of atmosphere upon the respiratory system. Chinese cater pillar fungus helps to free people from environmental pollution.

Chinese cater pillar fungus accompanies you within the world
The mythic Chinese cater pillar fungus has been made into convenience products. Scientific extraction stabilizes compositions, which will be lost in cooking. The cheap and effective product guarantees daily use and daily benefit for fast-paced modern people, as it is convenient to carry and use.