A Global History of Ginseng: Imperialism, Modernity and Orientalism

Sul’s history of the international ginseng trade reveals the cultural  aspects of international capitalism and the impact of this single  commodity on relations between the East and the West.

Ginseng  emerged as a major international commodity in the seventeenth century,  when the East India Company began trading it westward. Europeans were  drawn to the plant’s efficacy as a medicine, but their attempts to  transplant it for mass production were unsuccessful. Also, due to a  failure of extracting its active ingredients, Western pharmacology  disparaged ginseng in the process of modernization. In the meantime,  ginseng was discovered on the American continent and became one of the  United States’ key exports to Asia and particularly China, but never  cultivated a significant domestic market. As such, historicizing the  ginseng trade provides a unique perspective on the impact of both  culture and economics on international trade.

A compelling  interdisciplinary history of over five centuries of East–West trade and  cultural exchange, this book will be invaluable to students and scholars  of transnational history and a fascinating read for anyone interested  in the history of international trade.