Original Link Beishan | Goji
Ascend that northern mountain and speak of picking its goji
Ascend that northern mountain: climb that northern mountain. 陟 (zhì) means to ascend.
言 (yán): an auxiliary word.
Strong strong are the scholars, morning and evening engaged in service
Strong strong (偕偕, xié xié): vigorous appearance. 士子 (shì zǐ): junior officials, poets’ self-reference.
从事 (cóng shì): work.
Endless royal duties cause worry for my parents
靡盬 (gǔ): unceasing, refers to endless assigned duties.
忧我父母: worries about the parents at home.
Throughout the vast under heaven, none but the king’s land
溥 (pǔ): vast.
Along the shores of all lands, none but the king’s subjects
率土之滨: that is, within the four seas. 率 means to follow or along, 滨 means shore, edge, or water’s edge.
The nobles’ duties are unfairly distributed; I alone bear the harsh tasks
大夫不均，我从事独贤: the nobility’s task allocation is unfair; they focus on me, an honest man, to bear them. 贤 (xián) means arduous or laborious.
Four stallions strong and restless; royal duties endless
四牡 (sì mǔ): four stallions. 彭彭 (péng péng): strong and unable to rest.
傍傍 (bēng bēng): endless.
Praising myself for not being old, cherishing my prime strength
鲜我方将: praise for being in the prime of life and strength. 鲜 means to cherish or value. 将 means strong or vigorous.
嘉 (jiā): to praise.
Endowed with robust strength, managing the four directions
旅力 (lǚ lì): physical strength, muscle power, stamina.
(A definite thumbs up for ox and horse)
Some rest peacefully, some exhaust themselves serving the country
燕燕 (yān yān): peaceful rest.
尽瘁 (jìn cuì): exhausting oneself completely, fatigued.
Some recline on the bed; some never stop traveling
偃 (yǎn): lying on the back.
或不已于行: some people keep traveling without stopping. 已 means to stop.
Some do not hear the cries; some suffer bitter toil
或不知叫号 (hào): some cannot hear the pains of the people. 号 means to cry.
劬 (qú)劳: the toil parents endure for their children.
Some live slowly and leisurely; some are busy with royal duties
或栖迟偃仰: some live a “Buddhist” carefree retirement lifestyle. 栖 means to stop or settle. 迟 means slow or unhurried. 偃仰 means to stretch lazily.
鞅掌: refers to busy official work.
Some indulge excessively in drinking; some are fearfully anxious
湛 (dān)乐: indulgent pleasure without limit. 湛 is a variant of 耽 (dān).
惨惨畏咎: extremely worried and afraid of mistakes or faults.
Some engage in idle talk; none refuse any duty
风议 (fēng yì): bragging or speaking boastfully.
靡事不为: no task is refused or avoided.
Goji: Currently named 枸杞 (gǒu qǐ), a deciduous sprawling shrub with multiple varieties. Drought and cold-resistant, it grows on hillsides and wastelands. Already a common plant in the Yellow River basin during the Zhou Dynasty. The plant can be used for food in all seasons: tender shoots (goji buds) in spring and summer, fruit (goji berries) in autumn, roots (地骨皮 dì gǔ pí) in winter.
From the Herbology Illustrations: “Currently, it’s said that goji (枸杞) and goji spiny (枸棘) are similar species, but actually the truly long-shaped, thornless branch plant is the real goji; the round and thorny one is goji spiny. Goji spiny is unfit for medicinal use.” According to “Wild Plant Herbology Corrections and Studies,” the round-fruited thorny goji spiny likely refers to the thorny shrub black goji L. ruthenicum Murr. (Haha, recently my phone is full of ads for black goji puree, you know what I mean).
Goji berry: The medicinal material is the dried mature fruit of the Solanaceae plant Ningxia goji, Lycium barbarum L. It is spindle-shaped, slightly flattened, 0.6~1.8 cm long, 0.3~0.8 cm in diameter. The surface is bright or dark red with obvious wrinkles. The top has a small protruding style base; the base shows a white fruit stalk scar (yellow indicates sulfur fumigation). The texture is soft and flexible, seeds are flat and round. Slight aroma, taste sweet and mildly sour.
Dìgǔpí (地骨皮): This is the dried root bark of the goji plant. The “Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica” mentions goji as bitter and cold, referring to the root (dìgǔpí).
Compatibility:
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Goji berries and goji buds used together (goji berries:goji buds = 2:1) can prevent the excessive “qi” of goji from turning into fire. What is “excess qi turning into fire”? (The following is personal opinion) The earliest goji trees had bitter, cool-tasting berries; red in color and capable of nourishing blood, thus able to supplement yin and control fire. But bitterness is generally undesirable to normal people, so after long artificial domestication, sweet goji berries appeared (the bitterness of goji berries is dominant over the sweet trait and controlled by both nuclear and cytoplasmic genes: with wild bitter goji as mother and cultivated sweet goji as father, the F1 generation are all bitter goji but have low fertility, with germination rate 5.0%~9.4%, fruiting rate 54.8%~62.0%; with wild bitter goji as father and cultivated sweet goji as mother, F1 bitter:sweet ratio is near 1:1; with semi-bitter goji as father and cultivated sweet goji as mother, F1 bitter:sweet ratio is near 1:4) (if I put this into a college entrance biology final question, it would blow your mind, hahaha). Because it loses the bitter restraint, the nourishing effect of goji berries is more prominent, so excess qi can turn into fire. (It is worth noting that the official pharmacopeia records authentic goji berries as the dried mature fruits of the Solanaceae plant Ningxia goji Lycium barbarum L., which are sweet, while bitter goji is not pharmacopeia-approved.)
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15 Nüzhēnzi (女贞子) with 10~15 goji berries, one cool and one warm, to tonify liver and kidneys and protect hematopoietic function.
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15 goji berries with 15 raspberries, one to tonify and one to consolidate, useful for treating frequent nighttime urination.