Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Ma

The Chinese character for hemp is below. The image is a bit like hemp stalks drying. The character is called 'ma' which means plant with two forms (the male and female form). The Chinese people were cultivating hemp over 10,000 years ago.


There is an excellent history of the character here: antique cannabis book

The word 'Cannabis' comes from the  Babylonian word 'canna' meaning stalk or cane and the Babylonian word 'bis' meaning twice, another allusion to the two forms of the plant, male and female.

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