Chinese Wolfberry can be used to nourish a weak body, improve vision, and promote longevity. There are many legends associated with Chinese Wolfberry. A famous Chinese physician, Li Shizhen (1518 - 1593) who lived during the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644 A.D.), compiled the Great Compendium of Herbs (or Compendium of Materia Medica), which stated, "The Bao Shou herb store recorded an elixir that promotes longevity. A bizarre barefooted man named Zhang passed the formula of this elixir to an elderly person in Yi Shi county, who followed the recipe and lived over a hundred years. The elderly man could walk extremely fast as if he was floating. His gray hair turned black again. His aged teeth were replaced with new ones. He was very virile in the bedroom. The herb is mellow and can be taken often to eliminate excessive heat in the body, and will also improve vision."
The Chinese Wolfberry is sweet and soothing. It is good for the liver and kidney. It nourishes the kidneys and liver, benefits the lungs, and improves vision. Traditional Chinese medicine uses Chinese Wolfberry to treat problems related to liver, kidneys and impotency, muscle ache in the waist and knees, headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, excess tears, fatigue, coughs, thirst, and seminal emissions.
An ancient tale states that in the prime of the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 A.D.), a caravan on the Silk Road stopped for a rest at an inn and noticed a young lady reprimanding and whipping an old man. A merchant approached them and asked the young lady, "For what reason are you assaulting and abusing this elderly person?" The lady replied, "I am disciplining my great-grandson. It is none of your business." Everyone at the scene was shocked by her reply. Further inquiries revealed that the lady was more than three hundred years old! The old person was being punished because he refused to take a type of herb and started to age. Amazed at the magic of the herb, the merchant bowed to the lady with respect and asked, "May I be so bold as to ask the lady what type of magical herb do you take?" The lady replied, "This herb has five names. You want to take a different part of the herb each season. In spring you take its leaves, which is known as the essence of heaven herb. In summer you take its flowers, which is known as the longevity herb. In autumn you take its fruits, which is known as Chinese Wolfberry. In winter you take the bark of its roots, which is known as the skin and bone of the earth, or the staff of the deities. Taking these four parts in the four seasons respectively, will give you a life as lofty as heaven and earth."
Later the Chinese Wolfberry was introduced to the Middle East and Western countries and was eulogized as the divine herb from the East.
There are modern endorsements for Chinese Wolfberry. In the fifties, the Domestic and Foreign magazine in China reported the story of Li Qingyun in Sichuan province, who died at the age of 250 in 1930.
As part of his own account Li says, "When I was 139 years old, and before I met my master, I could still walk and do the power walk, as if I practiced Chinese martial arts. As a result some people thought I might be a deity or an accomplished swordsman. At the time I thought it was really amusing. I think the reason that I have lived this long and am still perpetually healthy is because nothing has irritated me since I was 40 years old. Because of that, my heart is very calm, peaceful and divinely tranquil. That is why I am free from any illness, and always healthy and happy. At the age of fifty when I went on a mountain to collect herbs, I met an elderly man living on a secluded mountain, who appeared to be somewhat supernormal. He took big strides when he walked, as if he was floating on air. No matter how hard I tried, I could not keep up with him. Later, I met up with him again. I knelt before him and begged for his secret. He gave me some wild fruits and said, "My only secret is that I only eat these fruits." I took the fruits, and found that they were Chinese Wolfberries. Since then I consumed three qian of Chinese Wolfberries daily (a qian is the weight used to measure Chinese medicine and is equal to five grams). From then on I became healthy and agile. I can walk a hundred li (a li equals half a kilometer) and not feel tired. I became better in strength and stamina than any average person."
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