Mycological Mania: Foraging the Mushroom Catalogues of Imperial China for Recipes, Remedies, and Rituals

Abstract This article reconsiders three of the most iconic mushroom catalogues of classical China, which underscored the culinary value of local fungi, in light of indebtedness to medical and self-cultivation literature. Through this re-examination of mycological sources and the imbrication of discourses that they exhibit, mushrooms emerge as richer, more complex, objects of gastronomic interest.