What is Tai Sui? Get to know this mysterious organism
Tai Sui, also known as meat lingzhi, is said to be the elixir of immortality that Qin Shi Huang searched so hard to find. Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" records Tai Sui and includes it in the "vegetable" section, "zhi" category, as edible and medicinal, honored as a "top-grade classic remedy," with the effect of "eaten long-term, it lightens the body, prevents aging, and extends life toward immortality." According to "Shennong's Materia Medica": "Meat lingzhi is non-toxic, tonifies the center, benefits essence and qi, increases wisdom, treats accumulations in the chest, and taken long-term lightens the body and prevents aging." The "Classic of Mountains and Seas" calls it shi rou, ju rou, Tai Sui, and feng, and it was a health delicacy for ancient emperors. Tai Sui is very rare and is the top grade among all medicines. Some classical texts record that Tai Sui is neutral in nature, bitter, non-toxic, and has value in tonifying the spleen, moistening the lungs, tonifying the kidneys, and benefiting the liver.
Modern science has found that Tai Sui is a large slime mold complex between protozoa and fungi; its structure is not made up of a single type of cell, but is an aggregate composed of three types: bacteria, slime molds, and fungi. Research has shown that Tai Sui feeds on microscopic organisms such as bacteria, yeasts, and mold spores, and uses cellulose, chitin, and chitosan as nutrients; its body is rich in proteins, nucleic acids, as well as Candida and Geotrichum candidum, and its cells contain photosynthetic pigments.
According to the "Chart of the Origin of Life and Evolutionary Lineage," the position of Tai Sui should be between bacteria (algae) plants and protozoa and animals; it has both a trophic body and a fruiting body. Unfortunately, after this organism evolved to this degree, it stopped evolving due to limitations from external light, so biology experts call it a "blind branch," sitting at a fork in the road of life's evolution. To the left it would develop into the plant kingdom, to the right it would develop toward the animal kingdom, and if it stays where it is, it becomes a fungus-like organism like mushrooms and lingzhi. It is the fourth life form in nature that is neither plant, nor animal, nor fungus, the oldest living fossil specimen of ancient life discovered so far, and the ancestor of humans and all animals and plants.
Scientific research has found that Tai Sui has major development value in three respects. Because its body contains highly anti-decay substances, it has major development value in the fields of pollution-free food development, food additives, and food preservatives. Meat lingzhi has extremely strong vitality and adaptability, and its body is rich in substances that improve immunity, so it has development value in health products. Meat lingzhi can replicate itself by absorbing organic matter and humus; its body contains the strongest biologically active component substance discovered on Earth so far, and it has the most complete range of functional nutrients. In traditional Chinese medicine terms, it is the top grade among tonics, so it has major development value in medicine.
Tai Sui was already recorded in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" more than 4,000 years ago, which shows that Tai Sui is a rare ancient organism on Earth. Although many ancient books record that Tai Sui can be eaten piece by piece and grows piece by piece, the number of wild Tai Sui found so far is still extremely small. A biologist once called it an ancient biological fossil, which shows how rare and precious Tai Sui is.
The fact that wild Tai Sui has survived since ancient times is enough to show the strength of its vitality, just as ancient books describe: "Eat it all, and it will grow back again as before." Although Tai Sui grows very slowly, it is still always growing. Under suitable conditions, meat lingzhi Tai Sui can reproduce indefinitely no matter how large its volume is. If 1 jin of Tai Sui is divided evenly into 100 portions or 10,000 portions, each portion cut off is a living body, and each portion grows on its own. This is a characteristic unmatched by any other life form in nature. It also has some characteristics that other species do not have: stored at minus 18 degrees for 50 hours, it is still alive after being taken out. Tai Sui has strong anti-decay properties, and it will not die from sun, thirst, or hunger.