Abstract
As a hybrid of the mycological and larval, caterpillar fungus is highly valued as a commodity on the eastern seaboard of China because, according to traditional Chinese medicine, it is thought to maintain overall health and treat illnesses of the liver and immune system. For Han Chinese, the potency of caterpillar fungus is augmented by representations of the Tibetan grasslands as natural (Ch. tian ran) and the only place where a particular hybrid, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, is found. This chapter explores the gathering and trading of caterpillar fungus by Tibetan nomadic pastoralists and how this connects them to a wider world of Hui traders and wealthy Chinese consumers. Taking up the argument by Tsing (HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 3(1), 21–43, 2013) that commodities do not merely define the value system of capitalism, but rather have to be created, and often through non-capitalist interventions such as gifts and relationships, this chapter suggests that Tibetan nomadic pastoralists and middlemen themselves play an important role in creating and recreating the commodity value of caterpillar fungus. Because it is taken up by nomadic pastoralists themselves, caterpillar fungus is able to transform and supersede their relationships with each other and with others in a more profound way compared with many other “products of change.” The growing adoption of a different kind of thinking is viewed not as simple imposition of a global capitalist system but rather as a complicated ecology of relationships that has the potential to transform subjectivities.
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Notes
- 1.
Based on 2012 wholesale figures in Xining and Chengdu. Variations were found at shop prices. Prices were displayed in jin, the Chinese measure of weight, which is 500 g. In Xining, the top wholesale price was RMB98,000 per jin, or close to USD16,000 per 500 g. In Chengdu’s upmarket Tongzilin district, the top shop price was displayed at RMB668 per gram.
- 2.
Due to this, almost all caterpillar fungus on the Tibetan plateau is found in areas where nomadic pastoralists live.
- 3.
‘Bu is also used to refer to insects.
- 4.
Boesi and Cardi (2009) note that yartsa gunbu is not listed in the main Tibetan materia medica although references to it are found as tsa da jid.
- 5.
This name also captures the liminality of caterpillar fungus; tsa means grass so that tsa da jid translates to grass-animal medicine.
- 6.
The Tibetan months and their corresponding seasons differ slightly from the Western definition: Tibetan months 1, 2, 3 are spring months; 4, 5, 6 are summer months; 7, 8, 9 are autumn months; and 10, 11, 12 are winter months.
- 7.
Zangpo (unpublished) and through pers. comm.
- 8.
Jones (2013) points out that yartsa gunbu is believed to bring benefits to the lung/kidney meridian.
- 9.
‘This mountain [in the valley called Lit’ang Golo] is famous as producing that curious worm-plant known as the Shar-tsa-gong-bu, called by botanists Cordyceps sinensis’ (Rockhill 1894: 361).
- 10.
- 11.
In 2012, the advertised wholesale prices in Xining were the same as those in hehuachi market in Chengdu. Top-quality caterpillar fungus sold for RMB98,000 per jin, with the following prices for decreasing grades: RMB76,000 per jin, RMB69,000 per jin, RMB55,000 per jin, and RMB26,500 per jin. To get a sense of price inflation, in Xining in 1997, one jin was worth around RMB5000.
- 12.
For this, the hub was traditionally Hong Kong but has since shifted to follow the latest financial centers of the eastern seaboard: Guangzhou in the late 1990s to early 2000s, and Chaoshan and Anhui because of the financial prominence of Zhejiang Province at present.
- 13.
1 jin is equivalent to approximately 500 g (ke) and each gram (ke) has about two or three individual caterpillar fungus (gen). Therefore, in 1 jin (500 g), there are about 1000 individual caterpillar fungi (gen). 1000 jin would be equivalent to one million individual caterpillar fungi to give an extra sense of scale.
- 14.
This is also found in the recent Chinese trend to sell and purchase expensive bottles of water from “pure” Tibetan snow mountains.
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Tan, G.G. (2018). Caterpillar Fungus and Transforming Subjectivities. In: Pastures of Change. Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation, vol 10. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76553-2_7
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