I first saw a Buddha’s hand citron in a museum. The graceful, curly tipped fingers of the fruit had been carved during the Qing Dynasty in milk-colored jade. The carving’s complexity was astonishing and I was equally amazed to learn this was not a fantasy object but the representation of a real fruit.

Since seeing that jade art work, I’ve held, smelled, eaten and “drank” Buddha’s hand citron.

In Japan, China and Korea, the fruit’s “fingers” are thought to resemble the boneless, elegant hands of the Buddha…

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