Der Milchbaum und die Physiologie der weiblichen Ejakulation : Bemerkungen über Papiermaulbeer- und Feigenbäume im Süden Altchinas

What is in a word? The use of the Chu language word for ‘to suckle, milk’ is investigated in the light of recently discovered manuscripts, which further our knowledge of cultural aspects of ‘milk-trees’, and bring back to life now obsolete word usages and connotations. Early Han medical recipes which use the latex or the red fruit of the paper mulberry are discussed. The paper mulberry (Brousso­netia papyrifera (Linnaeus) L’Héritier ex Ventenat) is the milk tree of the southern regions of ancient China. Most prominently, its red fruit, called the ‘milk fruit’, denoted a part of the human vagina, located at the anterior upper vaginal wall, forming an erectile body, and even displaying some structural similarity with the fruit of the paper mulberry.