Potential identification of an entheogenic plant species on the Chu Silk Manuscript
Time and Mind January 2, 2021 B. Pothier 1 citation
The Chu Silk Manuscript, the earliest known Chinese illustrated manuscript from around 300 BCE, depicts plants on its four corners, long considered mythical trees. This analysis suggests that some of these plants closely resemble Caesalpinia decapetala (Yun-Shih), a hallucinogenic plant with recorded shamanic power in the first known Chinese herbal, the Pen-ts’ao Ching, compiled from oral sources near the beginning of the common era. The plant's geographic distribution, shape, and documented shamanic use support its possible depiction on the manuscript, potentially identifying substances used as trance-facilitating drugs in shamanic rituals of the Chu state era and earlier.