The Origin of the Name Fo-ti:
Many
websites repeat the legend that "The name Fo Ti was given to the plant
by a marketer in the early 1970s for the American herb business." If
this was true then why the name Fo-ti? The Chinese name for Polygonum
Multiflorum is "He shou wu". Fo-ti doesn't sound anything like that name
and has no meaning in Chinese. Our East Earth Trade Winds herbalist
says that one of his Chinese herb class teachers at the San Francisco
College of Acupuncture (around 1982) told the following story about the
origins of the name Fo-ti.
There
was a discussion about a powerful herb, Fu zi (aconite), between a
Chinese herbalist and an American. On learning that this herb could
strengthen the heart, kidneys, and adrenal function the American wanted
to buy it. The Chinese herbalist fearing that the American would injure
himself or others because he wouldn't understand or appreciate how to
use it properly sold him Polygonum Multiflorum instead. This "Fu zi" or
"Fo ti" as it became known was still a powerful tonic herb but Polygonum
multiflorum is very safe to use. The herb was marketed as Fo-ti and
became popular and to this day it is known in the USA as "Fo-ti".
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