Gathering Rock Ear Fungus
Gathering Rock Ear Fungus. "Rock ear fungus stewed with chicken" is a famous Tujia dish. But who knows how full of danger and legend this dish is? Rock ear, also called stone ear, resembles wood ear—dark brown on top, grayish white beneath—and is a high-mountain fungus. The Compendium of Materia Medica says it is "sweet in flavor, mild and non-toxic," with the function of "improving eyesight and vitality." Along with midu ginseng and...
This article has been compiled from historical materials on 'Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network' (33519.com · Specialty Foods / Cuisine / Customs section). Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated. Before traveling, please refer to the latest announcements from merchants, scenic areas, and local competent authorities; the parts involving folk legends and folk customs are local historical and cultural anecdotes, provided for cultural reference.
Gathering Rock Ear
"Rock Ear Stewed Chicken" is a famous Tujia dish. But who knows that this dish is full of adventure and legendary color?
Rock ear, also called stone ear, resembles wood ear in shape, with a dark brown surface and grayish-white underside. It is a high-mountain fungal plant. The Compendium of Materia Medica says it is "sweet in flavor, clear and mild, non-toxic," and has "the function of brightening the eyes and benefiting the essence." Combined with mituo ginseng and white alum, it has special efficacy in treating bloody dysentery and other conditions. Regular consumption has certain therapeutic and nourishing effects for lowering blood pressure, reducing inflammation, clearing internal heat, and for patients with stomach ailments and liver cancer. The Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica states: "Made into soup to entertain guests, it is most precious," and it enjoys the reputation of "meat among vegetables" and "plant meat." In olden times, along with White Hairtip Tea and Chrysanthemum-Core Pomelo, it was known as one of the three great tribute items presented to the emperor by the Maogang Tusi. It was a supreme delicacy for imperial palace banquets and state banquets. Therefore, in old Dayong, rock ear was ranked first as "the finest local product transported to other regions" (Yongding County Local Gazetteer).
Rock ear grows attached to the sheer cliffs of Zhangjiajie's sandstone peak forest, ten thousand zhang high. Gatherers must suspend themselves by ropes and brave the void and peril to obtain it. There is a complete set of secret techniques for gathering rock ear that outsiders cannot fathom. In Zhonghu, Xinglong, Sinan Valley, Suoxi, Chaxiyu and other places adjacent to the Zhangjiajie scenic area, there are people who make gathering rock ear their lifelong profession. The local people call them "rock ear guests." They must first apprentice themselves to a master, and after mastering the basic essentials, go for trial practice—first low mountains, then high mountains, proceeding step by step. Once their courage is trained, they can be lowered on ropes down sheer cliffs to gather rock ear.
On the night before entering the mountains to gather rock ear, when all is quiet, the rock ear guest must perform the "sealing the mountain" ritual. This "sealing the mountain" means burning incense and paper, paying respects to the mountain god, and warding off mountain ghosts. A talisman reading "Ten Thousand Methods Return to the Well" is drawn on paper—this is called a "code marker"—and secretly pressed under a stone at a hidden spot at the crossroads leading into the mountains. The next day before entering the mountains, they must also burn paper money at the crossroads to read the "omen." If the paper burns out and the ashes remain in place, it indicates a good omen. If the paper ash swirls or flies up into the air, that is absolutely a bad omen, and one must not enter the mountains under any circumstances. Upon reaching the crossroads, they must also check whether the "code marker" has been moved. If it is intact, it means the mountain has been properly sealed, and you will be safe and sound that day. After finishing the gathering and coming down the mountain, they must again verify the "code marker." If someone has moved it (or it has moved naturally), then they cannot enter the mountains the next day.
"Sealing the mountain" is mainly to seal off "mountain ghosts" and to seal off birds and beasts. What rock ear guests fear most is the flying tiger cutting their ropes. The flying tiger has a head and face like a tiger's, but grows two wings under its forelegs. It is both bird-like and beast-like, incomparably fierce, daring to fight tigers and leopards for food. Its teeth are extremely sharp. Sometimes in a single dive, it bites through the rope with one snap, and the rock ear guest is smashed to pieces. Sometimes monkeys also come to join the fun. Though there is no worry of them untying the rope, they shake it back and forth wildly and even pick mountain fruits to throw at people's heads, creating one perilous situation after another. It is said that after "sealing the mountain," all becomes calm and peaceful.
Not every stone mountain grows rock ear. Before entering the mountains, one must first examine the water and the sand. If the stream valley has white seepage water or belongs to red sand or white sand, one can determine that there is rock ear on the mountains in that area.
The ropes used for gathering rock ear are generally 30 to 40 zhang long, with the longest reaching over 60 zhang, weighing seventeen or eighteen jin. The rock ear guest first climbs from behind the mountain to the summit, selects a sturdy tree stump (or rock) to secure the rope, then puts a seat ring woven from wax gourd vine around his buttocks, and slowly lowers himself down on the rope. When he reaches a suitable spot, he ties the rope securely and can then swing left and right to gather. Thus he moves down step by step. When the rope is fully extended, he selects another tree stump to re-secure the rope, until he reaches the cliff base and calls it done. When gathering, he uses a specially made small iron shovel to gently scrape the stone surface, so as not to damage the rock ear, because rock ear grows very slowly: "three years to grow a scar, five years to the size of a copper coin, thirty years to grow to the size of a palm." Experienced rock ear guests generally choose after spring rain or autumn rain, when the rock ear is soaked with water, making it both conspicuous and easy to scrape. With good luck, one can gather seven or eight jin in a day. In the Ten-Mile Gallery there is a place called "Eighty-Jin Bay." It is said that a rock ear guest once gathered eighty jin of rock ear in a single day, and so the place got this colloquial name. Because rock ear is so hard to come by, its price is not cheap. In olden times, three dou of grain were exchanged for one liang of rock ear. The Tusi even used rock ear to offset grain taxes, so many people risked their lives and fortunes to take up the profession of rock ear guest. An old poem goes: "Stone ear grows on the summit of Mount Lu, The monk gathers it himself into the clouds so blue; The green dragon's sharp scales layer by layer thin, The Jade Maiden cuts it into pieces dark of hue."
Despite the rock ear guest's caution, accidents of falling to death in ten-thousand-zhang gorges still frequently occurred. Once an accident happened, most could not be recovered whole, and some bodies were never found, forever keeping company with the green mountains. Thus a saying was passed down among rock ear guests: "Coal miners are buried without dying; rock ear guests die without being buried."
Rock ear guests generally enter the mountains in groups, looking out for one another, so that if an accident happens there is someone to send word. But when communicating with each other, they never call one another by name, fearing that the mountain gods and earth ghosts might learn the rock ear guest's name and seize his soul (similar to how the death spirits capture people). They can only use "whistles" (imitating animal calls): "Woo—woo—" They are also not allowed to converse with strangers who occasionally enter the mountains. At the same time, vulgar speech is forbidden, and unlucky words are not allowed—in their jargon, they must not "let slip." Legend has it that a rock ear guest gathered over thirty jin of rock ear on "Big Sister Mountain" of the "Three Sisters" peaks. Upon returning home, he boasted to everyone: "Today I gathered Big Sister, tomorrow I'll gather Second Sister, and the day after I'll gather Third Sister—I'll gather all three sisters!" The next day, while gathering rock ear on Second Sister Mountain, the tree to which his rope was secured suddenly uprooted, and he fell and was smashed to pieces like mud. He truly "became an immortal" and went to the underworld for a tryst with "Second Sister." From then on, rock ear guests never dared to speak profanely, saying that Zhangjiajie is a sacred mountain and holy ground that must not be desecrated.
[Appendix] Eating rock ear requires the proper method. First soak the rock ear in warm water for twenty minutes, then place it in rice-washing water and rub it clean, washing away the sand. Rinse with clean water and drain. Because rock ear is hard to come by, it is generally used only as an ingredient, not stir-fried alone. Rock ear stewed with chicken, duck, pork ribs, or pig trotters is delicious and is a supreme tonic delicacy.