The earliest record on sea cucumber consumption dated in Confucius time , or about 25 centuries ago. There was forgotten cook in philosopher's kitchen who invented the dish in regard of heroic action of eight brave men who crossed rough sea at night carrying monk Arhat. The dish was a soup with eight ingredients including sea cucumber, shark fins, bird nest, fish bones, fish bladder, asparagus, lard and table wine cooked in chicken broth.
After Confucius time I found a big void in information till medieval time when European sailors started long voyages to China for such profitable commodities as tea, china porcelain, silk, fine rice paper etc.. Those voyages were so lucrative if one would survive it he would be provided for the rest of his life. The only problem besides all the risk the voyagers were exposed to there was always lack of currency to have the deal happened since at that time the Canton empire was tightly closed to any foreigners to visit and the government demanded customs fee to be paid 10% in silver .
Due to inventiveness of the traders there were few currency substitutes discovered and they were in high demand for the rest of the time of such trade for the the whole three centuries through. These were dry sea cucumbers aka trepang, also sandal wood, gingsen and opium.
The most famous trepang traders of the time were maccassares as the Indonesian city Macassar was open port and one of the pivotal point of East India company. The maccassars and others were actively seeking sea cucumber rich grounds, organising harvesting, cooking , drying, packing and delivering dried cukes to wholesale traders in Singapore or Canton port, which is Guangzhou now.
The delivered trepang was sold here at the ratio $100 for picul to $1 spent on the same amount near harvested islands . No wonder there were head hunting, slavery, piracy, bribery, poaching, smuggling and killings involved.
At the same time the Japanese shogunate kept the sea cucumber business in their waters under total control. They were crediting fishermen and fishermen families to provide them with all necessities to catch cukes and to process them properly. After all the well dried sea cucumbers were sold to China and this was the major japanese export income for the same 300 years in the row. Since then the namako, which is the Japanese name for the sea slug, is the word mentioned in japanese poetry haiku more often then Cherry Blossom sakura, or Full Moon or fresh snow...
These is a very very short list of historical facts and information yet i think is good enough for us who involved in modern hunt for slimy creatures to know we are not in ordinary business. The hunger for hishen, which is the name for sea cucumber in China is growing corresponding the chinese modern financial growth.
After Confucius time I found a big void in information till medieval time when European sailors started long voyages to China for such profitable commodities as tea, china porcelain, silk, fine rice paper etc.. Those voyages were so lucrative if one would survive it he would be provided for the rest of his life. The only problem besides all the risk the voyagers were exposed to there was always lack of currency to have the deal happened since at that time the Canton empire was tightly closed to any foreigners to visit and the government demanded customs fee to be paid 10% in silver .
Due to inventiveness of the traders there were few currency substitutes discovered and they were in high demand for the rest of the time of such trade for the the whole three centuries through. These were dry sea cucumbers aka trepang, also sandal wood, gingsen and opium.
The most famous trepang traders of the time were maccassares as the Indonesian city Macassar was open port and one of the pivotal point of East India company. The maccassars and others were actively seeking sea cucumber rich grounds, organising harvesting, cooking , drying, packing and delivering dried cukes to wholesale traders in Singapore or Canton port, which is Guangzhou now.
The delivered trepang was sold here at the ratio $100 for picul to $1 spent on the same amount near harvested islands . No wonder there were head hunting, slavery, piracy, bribery, poaching, smuggling and killings involved.
At the same time the Japanese shogunate kept the sea cucumber business in their waters under total control. They were crediting fishermen and fishermen families to provide them with all necessities to catch cukes and to process them properly. After all the well dried sea cucumbers were sold to China and this was the major japanese export income for the same 300 years in the row. Since then the namako, which is the Japanese name for the sea slug, is the word mentioned in japanese poetry haiku more often then Cherry Blossom sakura, or Full Moon or fresh snow...
These is a very very short list of historical facts and information yet i think is good enough for us who involved in modern hunt for slimy creatures to know we are not in ordinary business. The hunger for hishen, which is the name for sea cucumber in China is growing corresponding the chinese modern financial growth.
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