Oriental Arborvitae Seed (Bai Zi Ren)

A notorious Chinese emperor Qin Shihuang Di in the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.) called himself "the first emperor of China," meaning that, after his death, his son would be the second emperor and his grandson the third and on and on without interruption.

Not only had the emperor built the Great Wall to head off possible foreign invasion from the North, but he had also kept over 3,000 concubines in his palace to satisfy his fantasies. But no sooner had the emperor died than his palace was burned down and the empire he had built came to a total collapse. All the concubines either escaped or were sent away from the palace by the new conqueror and one was later in the woods.

After this concubine escaped from the palace, she hid in the woods, where there was little to eat. After a while, she met an old man, who advised her to eat Oriental arborvitae seeds. Since they were not pleasing to the taste, she hesitated at first, but finally came to realize that she had no choice. And so, she began to eat them, gradually becoming used to their taste. As it turned out, she developed great strength in resisting the severe winter cold as well as the extreme summer heat.

It wasn’t until a century and a half later that a group of hunters found her in the woods; she was naked and had long black hair and was seen escaping as fast as a monkey. The hunters were very curious and ran after her in pursuit. Once they finally captured her, they questioned her and were shocked to find that the black-haired woman used to be a concubine of the first emperor of China and that she was now 200 years old. From the point of view of modern medicine, Oriental arborvitae see contains 14 percent fat, volatile oil and saponin. It can reduce cholesterol level and prevent cardiovascular diseases.

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