Page 248 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

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Mu-lan

Mu-lan, who is also known as Hua Mu-lan, is the best-known warrior maiden in Chinese
mythology. Her father had been called up for military service, and, as he was past the age
for this, he should have been able to send his son instead. As he had no son, his daughter
put on man’s clothing, mounted her horse and went off to represent him. She served
twelve years in the army, with such distinction that she rose to high rank, without ever
being recognised as a woman. When, after the wars, some of her comrades came to visit
her, they were greatly astonished to find her unmistakably a woman and sitting on her
weaving-stool.
She still ranks today as the paragon of a filial daughter ( xiao).

Mushroom

gu

The true i.e. the edible mushroom (jun or gu) is often mentioned in Chinese literature.
The question of drug-taking in the great cultures of the past has been investigated by,
inter alia, R. Gordon Wasson (see his Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality), who
claims that the Chinese knew and made use of hallucinogens such as the fly agaric.
Crucial evidence here seems to be afforded by the zhi, also known as the ‘miracle-
working zhi’, which can be rendered in English as ‘mushroom of the spirits’, ‘miraculous

mushroom’, ‘auspicious mushroom’ – all of these being with reference to the longevity
the zhi is supposed to confer.
Cammann has objected that the zhi when depicted never looks like a fly agaric, but
rather like a kind of morel. It is often shown together with other plants and objects, the
group as a whole always symbolising longevity. In a more general sense, zhi is described
as a herb of immortality.
‘Mushroom Palace’ (zhi-cheng gu) is the palace made of gold and silver which is
supposed to be located in the Peng-lai Islands.