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ANTHROPOLOGICAL SERIES
Volume XV, Nos. i and 2

CHICAGO
1915-17

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CONTENTS

PAGE

1. Laufer, Berthold, The Diamond, A Study in Chinese

and Hellenistic Folk-lore i

2. Laufer, Berthold, The Beginnings of Porcelain in China 77

Field Museum of Natural History

Publication 184

Anthropological Series Vol. XV, No. i

THE DIAMOND

A STUDY IN CHINESE AND HELLENISTIC FOLK-LORE

BY

Berthold Laufer

Curator of Anthropology

Chicago
1915

vS

CONTENTS

PAGE

Introductory 5

Legend of the Diamond Valley 6

Indestructibility of the Diamond 21

Diamond and Lead 26

The Diamond-Point 28

Diamond and Gold 35

The Term "Kun-wu" 38

Toxicology of the Diamond 40

Imitation Diamonds 41

Acquaintance of the Ancients with the Diamond ... 42

Cut Diamonds 46

Acquaintance of the Chinese with the Diamond ... 50

Stones of Nocturnal Luminosity 55

Phosphorescence of Precious Stones 63

Index 72

THE DIAMOND

A Study in Chinese and Hellenistic Folk-Lore

Introductory. — Of all the wonders and treasures of the Hellenistic-
Roman Orient, it was the large variety of beautiful precious stones that
created the most profound and lasting impression on the minds of the
Chinese. During the time of their early antiquity the ntimber of gems
known to them was exceedingly limited, and mainly restricted to certain
untransparent, colored stones fit for carving; while the transparent
jewel with its qualities of lustre, cut, polished, and set ready for wearing,
was a matter wholly unknown to them. Only contact with Hellenistic
civilization and with India opened their eyes to this new world, and
together with the new commodities a stream of Occidental folk-lore
poured into the valleys of China. That a chapter from a series of
discussions devoted to Chinese-Hellenistic relations^ is taken up by a
detailed study of the history of the diamond, is chiefly because this
very subject affords a most instructive example of the diffusion of
classical ideas to the Farthest East. The mind of the Chinese offered
a complete blank in this respect, being imacquainted with the diamond,
and was therefore easily susceptible to the reception of foreign notions
along this line.^ India was the distributing-centre of diamonds to
western Asia, Hellas and Rome, on the one hand, and to south-eastern

^ Two other contributions along this line have thus far been published : The
Story of the Pinna and the Syrian Lamb {Journal of American Folk-Lore, Vol. XXVIII,
1915, pp. 103-128) and Asbestos and Salamander {T'oung Pao, 1915, pp. 297-371).

2 Geerts (Les produits de la nature japonaise et chinoise, p. 201) stated in 1878
that the diamond had not yet been found in China or Japan. Diamonds have been
discovered in Shan-tung Province only during recent years (compare A. A. Fauvel,
Les diamants chinois, Comptes-rendus Soc. de Vindustrie minihre, 1899, pp. 271-281;
Chinese Diamonds, Mines and Minerals, Vol. XXIII, 1902-03, p. 552). The late
F. H. Chalfant (in the work Shantung, the Sacred Province of China, ed. by
Forsyth, p. 346) gives this accoimt: "Fifty-five li south-east of I-chou-fu lie the
diamond fields. The stones are found on the low watershed between two streams,
distributed through a very shallow soil over a reddish sandstone conglomerate. A
determined effort was made by the same German company that operated the gold
mine near I-chou, to develop the diamond field, but the enterprise was not a com-
mercial success. It is the opinion of the German experts that the stones were
deposited in their present position by the action of water at the time when, according
to the theory, there was a connection between the two rivers. It is supposed that
the source of the supply is somewhere in the mountains of M6ng-yin. Meanwhile,
diamonds, some of them of very good quality, are constantly picked up at the locality
described and occasionally at other points." The mines were abandoned by the

5

6 The Diamond

Asia and China on the other hand. Nevertheless the ideas conceived
by the Chinese regarding the diamond do not coincide with those enter-
tained in India, but harmonize with those which we find expounded in
classical literature. This fact is due to the direct importation of dia-
monds from the Hellenistic Orient to China; but it has been entirely
unknown heretofore, and this is another reason which will justify this
investigation now made for the first time. Its significance lies not only
in the field of Chinese research, but in that of classical archeology as
well. The copious and reliable accounts of Chinese authors advance our
knowledge of the subject to a considerable degree beyond the point
where the classical writers leave us, and elucidate several problems as
yet unsettled. It will be seen on the pages to follow that the use of
the diamond-point in the ancient world, doubted or disowned by many
scholars, now becomes a securely-established fact, and also that the
acquaintance of the ancients with the true diamond rises from the
sphere of sceptical speculation into a certain and permanent fact.
Likewise the much-ventilated question as to whether the ancients
employed diamond-dust, and cut and polished the diamond, will be
presented in a new light.

Legend or the Diamond Valley. — The Liang se kung hi^ one of
the most curious books of Chinese literature, contains the following
account: "In the period T'ien-lden (502-520) of the Liang dynasty,

Germans in 1907, as the diamonds proved to be of little value for gems, while answer-
ing well for industrial purposes {Engineering and Mining Journal, Vol. LXXXIV,
1907, p. 1 159). An anonjrmous writer in Mines and Minerals (Vol. XXIII, 1903,
p. 552) reports as follows on Chinese diamond-digging: "The Chinese procure the
diamonds by the following method: After the summer rains which, according to
them, produce diamonds on the surface of the soil, whence the uselessness of digging
to find them, they walk back and forth over the sand of the torrents. The fragments
of diamonds, on account of their sharp points and edges, penetrate the rye straw of
their sabots to the exclusion of other gravel. When they think there is a sufficient
quantity they make a pile of the sabots and bum them. The ashes are afterwards
passed through a sieve to separate the diamonds. Those which we saw were small,
varying from the size of a grain of millet to that of a hemp seed. They are generally
of a light-yellow color like those of the Cape, though there are some perfectly white.
When they find them of sufficient size they break them, as they told us, in order to
make drill points, for, not knowing how to cut them, the Chinese in general do not
consider them as precious stones. They prefer the jade, the amethyst, the camehan,
and the agate. Only the rich Chinese of the ports and of Peking have bought cut
diamonds, imported from India or Europe, to ornament their hats or their rings,
since the Dutch first brought them into China in the sixteenth century. The
Shan-tung collectors sell them throughout China, and their trade is of considerable
importance." The exact date of this modern diamond-digging is not known to me,
but it seems not to be earlier than the latter part of the nineteenth century. I can
find no reference to it in Chinese literature.

1 Or Liang se kung tse ki (see Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. i, No. 451), that is,
Memoirs of the Four Worthies or Lords of the Liang Dynasty (502-556), who were

Legend of the Diamond Valley 7

Prince Kie of Shu (Sze-ch'uan) paid a visit to the Emperor Wu/ and,
in the course of conversations which he held with the Emperor's scholars
on distant lands, told this story: *In the west, arriving at the Mediter-
ranean,* there is in the sea an island of two hundred square miles (li).
On this island is a large forest abundant in trees with precious stones,
and inhabited by over ten thousand families. These men show great
ability in cleverly working gems,' which are named for the country
Fu-lin 4^ i^' In a northwesterly direction from the island is a ra-
vine hollowed out like a bowl, more than a thousand feet deep. They
throw flesh into this valley. Birds take it up in their beaks, whereupon
they drop the precious stones. The biggest of these have a weight of
five catties.' There is a saying that this is the treasiuy of the Devaraja
of the Rapadhatu ^^f^^.''*

From several points of view this text is of fundamental importance.
First of all, it contains the earliest mention in Chinese records of the
country Fu-lin, antedating our previous knowledge of it by a century.

Huei-ch'uang, Wan-kie, Wei-t'uan, and Chang-ki; the work was written by Chang
Yue (667-730), a statesman, poet, and painter of the T'ang period. The text trans-
lated above is given in T*u shu tsi ch'ing, section on National Economy 321, chapter
on Precious Commodities (pao huo); it is reprinted in the writer's Optical Lenses
{T'oung Pao, 1915, p. 204).

1 He was the first emperor of the Liang dynasty and bore the name Siao Yen; he
lived from 464 to 549.

2 Literally, ' ' the Western Sea ' ' (Si hat) . Compare Hirth, The Mystery of Fu-lin
II {Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXXIII, 1913, p. 195).

'Literally, "implements or vessels of precious stones" {pao kH), among which
also antique intaglios are presimiably included.

*A Sanskrit-Buddhist term meaning "the Celestial King of the Region of
Forms." Region of Forms is the second of the three Brahmanic worlds {trailokya).
The detailed discussion of this subject on the part of O. Franke (Chinesische Tem-
pelinschrift, Abhandl. preuss. Akad., 1907, pp. 47-50) is especially worth reading.
There are four Celestial or Great Kings guarding the four quarters of the world,
each posted on a side of the world-mountain Sumeru. The one here in question is
Kubera or Vaigravaija, the regent of the north and God of Wealth, the ruler of the
aerial demons, called Yaksha. In earlier Buddhist art he is represented as standing
on a Yaksha (see the writer's Chinese Clay Figures, pp. 297 et seq.); in later art he
is figured holding in his right hand a standard and in his left an ichneumon (nakula)
spitting jewels (compare A. Foucher, Bull, de VEcole frangaise, Vol. Ill, p. 655).
This animal is known as the inveterate enemy of snakes; and snakes, in Indian beUef,
are the guardians of precious stones and other treasures. By devouring the snakes,
the ichneumon (or, to use its Anglo-Indian name, mangoose) appropriates their
jewels, and has hence developed into the attribute of Kubera. The reference to the
Indian God of Wealth in the above text is, of course, not an element inherent in the
story, as it was transmitted from Fu-lin, but an interpolation of the Chinese author
prompted by a reflection regarding a tradition hailing from India. This Indian story
has been recorded by him in another passage of the same work, and will be discussed
farther on (p. 18).

8 The Diamond

Professor Hirth, a lifetime student of the complex Fu-lin problem/
encountered the first notices of Fu-lin in the Annals of the T'ang
Dynasty, and an incidental reference to it in the Annals of the Sui
Dynasty, written between 629 and 636, thus tracing the first appearance
of the name to the first half of the seventh century. Chavannes*
called attention to a text written in 607, in which Fu-lin is mentioned,
with reference to a passage translated by him from the Ts^e fu yuan
kuei, where the name is written in the same manner as in our text
above.' The latter distinctly relates to the period T'ien-kien (502-5 20) ,
and, further, is chronologically determined through the mention of
the Liang Emperor Wu. Accordingly we are here confronted with the
earliest allusion to the country Fu-lin in the beginning of the sixth
century. The fact that the well-known Fu-lin discussed by Hirth and
Chavannes, and no other, is involved in this passage, is evidenced by
the very contents of the text, which, as will be demonstrated presently,
harbors a tradition emanating from the Hellenistic Orient. It is notable
that our text writes the second element of the name ^^ instead of
^, as the later documents do; it is obvious that a popular inter-
pretation is intended here, the "forest" (lin) of the jewels being read
into Fu-lin: as if it were "forest of Fu." This is not the place to
revive the much-ventilated question of the etjrmology of this name,
or to take sides with the interpretations proposed by Hirth and Cha-
vannes;* but brief reference should be made to the recent theory of
Pelliot,^ according to whom the word Fu-lin is the product of the
name Rontj prompted by a supposed intermediary form Frdm^ which
issued from Armenian Hrom or Horom and Pahlavi Hrdm, Pelliot
thinks also that the name Fu-lin appears in China with certainty
around 550, and that it is possibly still older, which perfectly har-
monizes with the result obtained from the above text.

The story about the capture of the precious stones is almost enig-
matical in its terse brevity, but it at once becomes intelligible if we
recognize it as an abridged form of a well-known Western legend. The
oldest hitherto accessible version of it is contained in the writings of

1 In his book China and the Roman Orient, and in his studies The Mystery of
Fu-lin (Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXX, 1909, pp. 1-31; Vol. XXXIII, 1913,
pp. 195-208).

* Toung Pao, 1904, p. 38.

' The same mode of writing occurs in Yu yang tsa tsu and in a poem of the T'ang
Emperor T'ai-tsung (see P*ei wen yUnfu, Ch. 27, p. 25).

* The latter has developed the conflicting views of both sides in T*oung Pao,
1913. P- 798.

' Journal asiatique (Mars-Avril, 19 14), p. 498. ,_

Legend of the Diamond Valley 9

Epiphanius, Bishop of Constantia in Cyprus (circa 315-403).^ In his
discotirse on the twelve jewels forming the breastplate of the High
Priest of Jerusalem, the following tale is narrated of the hyacinth.
The theatre of action is a deep valley in a desert of great Scythia, entirely
surrounded by rocky mountains rising straight like walls; so that from
their summits the bottom of the valley is not visible, but only a sullen
mist like chaos. The men despatched there in search of those stones
by the kings, who reside in the neighborhood, slay sheep, strip them
of their skins, and fling them from the rocks into the immense chaos
of the valley. The stones then adhere to the flesh of the sheep. The
eagles that loiter on the cliffs above scent the flesh, pounce down upon
it in the valley, carry the carcasses off to devoiu: them, and thus the
stones remain on the top of the mountains. The convicts condemned
to gather the stones go to the spots where the flesh of the sheep has
been carried away by the eagles, find and take the stones. All these
stones, whatever the diversity of their color, are of value as precious
stones, but have this effect: that, when placed over a violent charcoal
fire, they themselves are but slightly hurt, while the coal is instantly
extinguished. This stone is reputed to be useful to women in aiding
parturition; it is said also to dispel phantoms in a similar manner .^

1 Epiphanii opera, ed. Dindorf, Vol. IV, p. 190 (Leipzig, 1862). The text in
question is reproduced also by J. Ruska (Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 15).

2 The notion that the stones gathered by eagles aid in parturition rests on the
belief of the ancients that the so-called aetites or "eagle-stone," found in the nests
of eagles, possesses remarkable properties having this effect. According to Pliny (x,
3, § 12; and XXXVI, 21, § 151), who distinguishes four varieties, this stone, so to speak,
has the quality of being pregnant; for when shaken, another stone is heard to rattle
within, as though it were enclosed in its womb. A male and a female stone are always
found together; and without them, the eagles would be unable to propagate. Hence
the young of the eagle are never more than two in number. Philostratus, in his
Life of ApoUonius from Tyana, notes that the eagles never build their nests without
first placing there an eagle-stone (F. de M£ly, Lapidaires grecs, p. 27). This stone
is regarded as ferruginous geodes, a globular mass of clay iron-stone, which some-
times is hollow, sometimes encloses another stone or a little water. According to
the Physiologus (xix), the parturition-stone is found in India, whither the female
vulture repairs to obtain it. From the Physiologus the story passed into the Arabic
writers (J. Ruska, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 165; Steinbuch des Qazwini,
pp. 18, 38; L. Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. I, pp. 121-123). O. Keller (Tiere
des classischen Altertums, p. 269) regards the legend of the eagle-stone as Egyptian,
because it is mentioned by Horapollo (11, 49); but his work Hieroglyphica belongs
to the fourth century a.d., while even Theophrastus (De lapidibus, 5) speaks of
parturient stones. It seems more plausible that, as intimated by the Physiologus,
the story hails from India. The physician Razi, who died in 923 or 932, observes
(Leclerc, /. c.) that he encountered in some books of India the statement that a
woman is easily delivered when the stone is placed on her abdomen. Regarding
similar notions in China compare F. de M£ly, L'alchimie chez les Chinois {Journal
asiatique, 1895, Sept.-Oct., p. 336) and Lapidaires chinois, p. lxiii.

lo The Diamond

The coincidence of this tale with our Chinese text is striking, the
chief points — the deep valley, the flesh thrown down as bait, the
birds bringing up the stones with it — being identical. The coincidence
is the more remarkable, as the subsequent additional features with
which the legend has been embellished in the West are lacking in the
Chinese version. For this reason the conclusion is justified that the
latter, directly traceable to a version of the type of Epiphanius, was
transmitted straightway to China, as revealed by the very words of
the Chinese account, from Fu-lin, a part of the Roman Empire.

In the second oldest Western version we encounter two new ele-
ments,— Alexander the Great and snakes guarding the stones. The
oldest Arabic work on mineralogy, wrongly connected with the name of
Aristotle and composed before the middle of the ninth century, has
the following under the "diamond:"^ "Nobody but my disciple
Alexander reached the valley in which diamonds are found. It lies
in the east along the extreme frontier of Khorasan, and its bottom
cannot be penetrated by human eyes.* Alexander, after having
advanced thus far, was prevented from proceeding by a host of snakes.
In this valley are found snakes which by gazing at a man cause his
death. He therefore caused mirrors to be made for them; and when
they thus beheld themselves, they perished, while Alexander's men
could look at them.' Thereupon Alexander contrived another ruse:
he had sheep slaughtered, skinned, and flung on the bottom of the
valley. The diamonds adhered to the flesh. The birds of prey seized
them and brought part of them up. The soldiers pursued the birds
and took whatever of their spoils they dropped." This account might
lead us to suspect that the legend may have formed part of the Romance
of Alexander, the archetype of which is preserved in the book known as
that of Pseudo-Callisthenes, and produced at Alexandria in Egypt in
the second century a.d.* In fact, however, it does not appear there,
nor in any of the other early Western or Oriental cycles of the Alexander
legends. The first Alexander legend in which it was incorporated is

1 J. RusKA, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 150.

2 Almost identical with the phraseology of Epiphanius: " Ita ut signis desuper, a
summitatibus montium tanquam de muris aspiciat solum convallis, pervidere non
possit."

3 A reminiscence of the basilisk, that hideous serpent-like monster described by
Pliny (viii, 33). The mediaeval poets have the basilisk die when it beholds itseH
in a mirror (F. Lauchert, Geschichte des Physiologus, p. 186).

* According to current opinion. A. Ausfeld (Der griechische Alexanderroman,
p. 242, Leipzig, 1907), however, in his fundamental investigation of the Greek
work, dates the oldest recension of Pseudo-Callisthenes with great probability in the
second century B.C.

Legend of the Diamond Valley ii

the Iskander-ndmeh of the Persian poet Nizami (1141-1203);^ here we
likewise meet the snakes, and it is now clear that Aristotle's lapidarium
was the source of Nizami's episode.^ It is well known that in the Arabic
stories of Sindbad the Sailor, Sindbad, deposited by the Rokh in the
Diamond Valley, observes how merchants throw down flesh, which is
carried upward by vultures (also Nizami speaks of vultures) together
with the diamonds sticking to it; enveloped by this flesh, he is lifted
in the same manner.^ The gradual growth of the legend from the
simple form in which Epiphanius had clothed it is interesting to follow.
In the celebrated Arabic "Book of the Wonders of India,"* written
about A.D. 960, our legend is told by a traveller who had penetrated into
the countries of India, and who localized it in Kashmir. He introduces
a new element, — a fire constantly burning in the valley day and night,

* J. RusKA, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 14.

2 Qazwini (1203-83) has the same story somewhat more amplified (J. Ruska,
Steinbuch aus der Kosmographie des al-Qazwini, p. 35) ; but it is interesting that he
communicates two versions of it, — one being a close adaptation of Aristotle's
account, the other staged on Serendib (Ceylon) [where diamonds are not found] and
not connected with the name of Alexander. It is obvious that the Arabic polyhistor,
in his notice of the diamond, is reproducing two different sources, — the first being
introduced by the words "Aristotle says;" the second, by the words "Another
says." It is clear also that in this anonymous version the snakes are a purely inci-
dental accessory which was lacking in the original text. "The mines are located in
the mountains of Serendib, in a valley of great depth, in which there are deadly
snakes." The snakes, however, are put out of commission in the capture of the
diamonds, which is due to the action of the vultures; and in order to justify the in-
troduction of the reptiles, it is added at the end that large stones have to remain in
the valley, as it cannot be reached for fear of the snakes. This observation is not
without value for tracing the origin and growth of the legend. It shows that the
feature of the snakes, however tempting this suggestion of its Indian origin may be
to a superficial judgment, was not conceived in India, but in the Arabic-Persian
sphere of the Alexander legends, with the evident object of aggrandizing the exploits
of the conqueror. Qazwini's duplicity of versions is mirrored by Marco Polo
(ed. of Yule and Cordier, Vol. II, pp. 360-361), who likewise offers two variants, —
one with serpents, and another without them. The dependence of Qazwini's story
on that in Aristotle's lapidarium has already been recognized by E. Rohde (Der
griechische Roman, p. 193, note, 3d ed., Leipzig, 1914). Ruska is right in his con-
clusion that the traditions concerning stones are relatively independent, and par-
ticularly so from the Alexander cycle; many a story in its origin had no connection with
Alexander, but was subsequently associated with him in the same manner as King
Solomon became the centre of numerous legendary fabrics. This follows in particu-
lar from the thorough investigation of A. Ausfeld (Der griechische Alexanderroman) ,
who devoted a lifetime of study to the Greek romance of Alexander, and in whose
purified text, representing the oldest accessible version, these mineralogical fables
do not appear.

3 Compare also Benjamin of Tudela, p. 82 (ed. of GRtJNHUT and Adler,
Jerusalem, 1903).

* P. A. VAN der Lith and L. M. Devic, Livre des merveilles de I'lnde, p. 128
(Leiden, 1883-86); or L. M. Devic, Les merveilles de I'lnde, p. 109 (Paris, 1878).

12 The Diamond

summer and winter. The serpents are distributed around the fire;
sheep's flesh, eagles, and capture of the stones, are the same features as
previously mentioned, but the dangers of the work are magnified:
the flesh may be devoured by the flames; the eagle, drawing too near
the fire, may likewise be biuiit; and the captors may perish from the
peril of the fire and the serpents.^

In the Sung period (960-1278) the story was vaguely known to
Chou Mi.2 In his work Ts'i tung ye yilj as quoted by Li Shi-ch^n, he
says that, according to oral accounts, diamonds come from the Western
Countries {Si yii) and the Uigurs; that the stones stick to the food taken
by eagles on the summits of high mountains, thus enter their bowels,
and appear in their droppings, which are searched by men for the
stones in the desert of Gobi, north of the Yellow River. The honest
author adds, "I do not know whether it is so or not." Fang I-chi,
the author of the Wu li siao shi,^ who wrote in the first half of the
seventeenth century, criticises Chou Mi's story as erroneous and not

1 An echo of a certain motive of the legend of the Diamond Valley seems to
reverberate in the Shamir legend of the Semitic peoples. The most interesting form
of this legend is found in Qazwini (Ruska, Steinbuch aus der Kosmographie, p. 16),
who calls the stone sdmur and characterizes it as the stone cutting all other stones.
Solomon endeavors to obtain it that the stones required for the temple might be
cut noiselessly. Only the eagle knows the place to find it, but the secret must
be elicited from the bird through a ruse. The eggs are removed from its nest,
enclosed in a glass bottle, and restored to their place. The returning eagle cannot
break the glass with its pinions, and seeks for a piece of the stone in question, which
he throws toward the vessel, breaking it into halves without noise. The eagle replies
to Solomon's query that the stone is brought from a mountain in the west, termed
Mount Samar, whither Solomon sends the Djinns, who get a goodly supply for him.
In this legend the stone sdmilr doubtless is intended for the diamond, and the motive
of the eagle knowing its whereabouts is the same as in the legend of the Diamond
Valley. The Talmud has strangely disfigured this story which is very sensibly told
by QazwInI, and has transformed the stone shamir into a worm of the size of a barley-
grain, capable of splitting and engraving the hardest objects, so that the shamir
figures among the fabulous animals of the Talmud (L. Lewysohn, Zoologie des
Talmud, p. 351). The worm (and simultaneously) diamond shamir has been en-
trusted to the wood-cock who took it to the summit of an uninhabited mountain;
this is analogous to the birds or eagles bringing the diamonds up from the snake
valley, and it is very tempting to assume that the snakes may have given rise to the
curious Talmudic conception of the diamond as a worm. Lewysohn is of the opinion
that the word shamir conveys the notion of hardness, and, for example, denotes iron,
which is harder than stone, and also the diamond. — The Hebrew word shamir
appears in Jeremiah (xvii, i), Ezekiel (111, 9), and Zechariah (vii, 12), and is supposed
to refer to the diamond ("adamant stone" in the English Bible); more probably it
is the emery. In the opinion of some scholars, Greek anipis ("emery") is derived
from the Hebrew word. For further bibliographical data on the Shamir legend see
T. Zachariae, Zeitschr. Vereins fiir Volkskunde, Vol. XXIV, 19 14, p. 423.

2 A celebrated and fertile author, who was bom about 1230, and died before 1320
(see Pelliot, Toung Pao, 1913, pp. 367, 368).

' Ch. 8, p. 22 (edition of Ning tsing Vang, 1884).

Legend of the Diamond Valley 13

clear. Both authors were evidently not acquainted with the older
version of the Liang se kung ki.

A new impetus to the legend was given during the Mongol period in
the thirteenth century, when it was revived among the Arabs, in China,
and in Europe. Reference has already been made to Qazwini (i 203-83) ,
who attributes it to the Valley of the Moon among the mountains of
Serendib (Ceylon) ; and the geographer Edrisi localizes it in the land of
the Kirkhir (probably Kirghiz) in Upper Asia. The Arabic mineralogist
Ahmed Tifashi, who died in 1253, even gives two versions, — one refer-
ring to the hyacinth (in agreement with Epiphanius) of Ceylon, the other
to the diamonds of India.^ The former is vividly told, and the serpents
"able to swallow an entire man" have duly been introduced; the latter
is briefly jotted down, with a reference to the former chapter.

Ch'ang T6, the Chinese envoy who was sent in 1 259 to Hulagu, King of
Persia, mentions in his diary, among the wonders of the Western countries,
the diamond, of which he correctly says that it comes from India. " The
people take flesh," his story goes, "and throw it into the great valley.
Then birds come and eat this flesh, after which diamonds are found in
their excrement." * It is obvious that Ch'ang T6 recorded the legend as

1 A. Raineri Biscia, Fior di pensieri suUe pietre preziose di Ahmed Teifascite,
pp. 21, 54 (2d ed., Bologna, 1906). As this work may not be in the hands of every
reader, the text of the longer version may here be given: ** Narra Ahmed Teifascite,
a cui il sommo Iddio usi misericordia, che in alcuni anni non piovendo punto in quel
montuoso territorio de Rahim, ed i suoi torrenti non trasportando per conseguenza
verun lapillo di giacinto, coloro i quaH bramano nuUadimeno di fame acquisto,
ricorrono al seguente compenso. Siccome suUa cima del prefato monte trovansi,
ed annidano molte aquile, stante la total mancanza di abitatori, cosi prendono quelli
un grosso animale, lo scannano, lo scorticano, e dopo averlo tagliato e diviso in larghi
pezzi li lasciano alle falde dello stesso monte, e se n'allontanano. Osservando quelle
aquile siffatti pezzi di carne corrono tosto per rapirli, e li trasportano verso dei loro
nidi; ma giacch^ cammin facendo sono costrette di posarli qualche volta in terra,
n'accade perci6 che attacansi a cotesti pezzi di carne diverse pietruzze o lapilli di
giacinto. In seguito ripigliando le aquile stesse il volo coi rispettivi pezzi di came,
e venendo tra loro a contesa per rapporto ai medesimi, si 6k la combinazione che
nella mischia ne cadono alcuni fuori dal predetto monte; lo che veduto dalle persone
ivi a bella posta concorse vanno subito a raccogliere da tali pezzi tutta quella copia
di giacinto, che vi h rimasta attaccata. La parte inferiore dell'indicato monte h in-
gombrata da folti boschi, da larghi e profondi fossi, e burroni, non che da alberi d'alto
fusto, ove trovansi vari seipenti che inghiottiscono un uomo intero. Per tal cagione
niuno pu6 salir su quel monte e vedere le maraviglie che in esso contengonsi."

* Bretschneider, Mediaeval Researches, Vol. I, p. 152. Bretschneider states
that the legend is very ancient, but refers only to Sindbad the Sailor from a second-
hand source, and to Marco Polo. The text of the passage will be found in G.
ScHLEGEL (Nederlandsch-chineesch Woordenboek, Vol. I, p. 860). Compare Marco
Polo (ed. of Yule and Cordier, Vol. II, p. 361): "The people go to the nests of
those white eagles, of which there are many, and in their droppings they find plenty
of diamonds which the birds have swallowed in devouring the meat that was cast
into the valleys."

14 The Diamond

heard by him in the West, and that his version does not depend upon the
older one of the Liang se kung kt, which evidently was not known to him.
This case is interesting, for it shows that the same Western story was
handed on to the Chinese at different times and from different sources.

About the same time, Marco Polo chronicled the diamond story ^
which he learned in India, and its close agreement in the main points
with the Arabic authors is amazing. The Venetian was not the first
European, however, to record it; as pointed out by Yiile, it is one of the
many stories in the scrap-book of the Byzantine historian Tzetzes.^

Nicolo Conti of the fifteenth century relates it of a mountain called
Albenigaras, fifteen days' journey in a northerly direction from Vija-
yanagar; and it is told again, apparently after Conti, by Julius Caesar
Scaliger. As a popular tale it is found not only in Armenia,^ as stated
by Yule, but also in Russia.^

1 Yule and Cordier, The Book of Ser Marco Polo, Vol. II, p. 360. The bewitching
of the serpents by means of mirrors is wanting. The feature of the eagles feeding upon
the serpents appears to be a thoroughly Indian notion, absent in the Arabic accounts.

2 One of the earliest mediaeval sources that contains the story is th# fantastic
description of India and the country of Prester John, written by Elysaeus in the
latter part of the twelfth century, and edited by F. Zarncke (Der Priester Johannes
II, pp. 120-127). This text is as follows: "Quomodo autem carbunculi reperiantur
audiamus. Ibi est vallis quaedam, in qua carbunculi reperiuntur. NuUus autem
hominum accedere potest prae pavore griffonum et profunditate vallis. Et cum
habere volunt lapides, occidunt pecora et accipiunt cadavera, et in nocte accedunt
ad simmiitatem vallis et deiciunt ea in vallem, et sic inprimuntur lapides in cadavera,
et acuti sunt. Veniunt autem grifones et assumunt cadavera et educunt ea. Eductis
ergo cadaveribus perduntur carbimculi, et sic inveniimtur in campis."

3 Probably due to the fact that it was adopted by the Armenian lapidarium of
the seventeenth century, translated into Russian by K. P. Patkanov (p. 3). Of
especial interest is the fact that the snakes are dissociated from the two Armenian
versions known to us. This is the more curious, as the lapidarium fastens the story
upon Alexander: consequently some Oriental form of the Romance of Alexander
must have pre-existed, in which the snakes did not yet figure. For the benefit of
those who may not have access to Von Haxthausen's Transcaucasia (London,
1854), the source of the Armenian popular story (p. 360), its text may here follow:
"In Hindostan there is a deep and rocky valley, in which all kinds of precious stones,
of incalculable value, lie scattered upon the ground; when the stm shines upon them,
they glisten like a sea of glowing, many-colored fire. The people see this from the
summits of the surrounding hills, but no one can enter the valley, partly because there
is no path to it and they could only be let down the steep rocks, and partly because
the heat is so great that no one could endure it for a minute. Merchants come
hither from foreign countries; they take an ox and hew it in pieces, which they fix
upon long poles, and cast into the valley of gems. Then huge birds of prey hover
around, descend into the valley, and carry off the pieces of flesh. But the merchants
observe closely the direction in which the birds fly, and the places where they alight
to feed, and there they frequently find the most valuable gems."

<AzBUKOVNiK, Tales of the Russian People (in Russian), Vol. II, p. 161. As
the story is here told in regard to the hyacinth, it appears to go back directly to the
account of Epiphanius.

Legend of the Diamond Valley 15

Under the Ming (i 368-1 643) the story was repeated by Ts'ao Chao
in his work Ko ku yao lun, which he published in 1387. His version is as
follows: "Diamond-sand comes from Tibet {Si-Jan). On the high
summits of mountains with deep valleys, unapproachable to men, they
make perches for the eagles, on which they set out food. The birds eat
the flesh on the mountains and drop their ordure into desert places.
This is gathered, and the stones are found in it."^

As regards the origin of our legend, two distinct opinions have been
voiced. Yule 2 and Rohde^ point to its great resemblance to what
Herodotus (III, 1 1 1) tells of the manner in which cinnamon was obtained
by the Arabs; and a certain amount of affinity between the two cannot
be denied. Great birds, says Herodotus, make use of cinnamon-sticks
to build their nests, fastened with mud to high rocks, up which no foot
of man is able to climb. So the Arabians resort to the artifice of cutting
up the carcasses of beasts of burden and placing the pieces near the
nests, whereupon they withdraw to a distance; and the old birds, swoop-
ing down, seize the flesh and bring it up into their nests. As the pieces
are large, they break through the nest and fall to the ground, when the
Arabians return and collect the cinnamon. The interval between
Herodotus and Epiphanius is too great to be spanned or to allow us to
link their stories in close historical bonds. There must be many inter-
mediary links imknown to us. They evidently belong, as two individual
variations, to the same type of legend, and seem to point to the fact
that the latter existed in the near Orient for a long time."* The Chinese
text recorded in the beginning of the sixth century, from which we
started, furnishes additional testimony to this effect.

V. Ball^ is inclined to think that the story "appears to be founded
on the very common practice in India, on the opening of a mine, of
offering up cattle to propitiate the evil spirits who are supposed to guard
treasures — these being represented by the serpents in the myth. At
such sacrifices in India, birds of prey invariably assemble to pick up

^ Ko chi king yiian, Ch. 33, p. 3 b.

2 L. c, p. 363.

' Der griechische Roman, p. 193.

* Certain elements of the story may be found also in Pliny's (xxxvii, 33) curious
legend of the stone callaina, which has wrongly been identified with the turquois:
Some say that these stones are found in Arabia in the nests of the birds called " black-
heads" (Suntjqui in Arabia inveniri eas dicant in nidis avium, quas melancoryphos
vocant). Pliny then reports the occurrence of the stones on inaccessible rocks which
people cannot climb, and mentions the danger connected with the venture of seeking
them. Capturing them with slings certainly is a different feature, characteristic of
another cycle of legends.

^ Translation of Tavemier's Travels in India, Vol. II, p. 461.

1 6 The Diamond

what they can, and in that fact we probably have the remainder of the
foundation of the story. It is probable also that the story by Pliny
and other early writers, of the diamond being softened by the blood of
a he-goat, had its origin in such sacrifices."^ This subjective explana-

1 This tradition, which, as will be seen below, has a curious parallel in China, is
entirely independent of the Diamond- Valley story, and bears no relation to it. It is
regrettable that Ball does not betray who the "other early writers" are. Pliny, in
fact, is the earliest and only ancient writer to have it on record; Augustinus (fifth
century), Isidorus (who died in 636) and Marbod (1035-1123) have merely reiterated
it after Pliny, and Pliny's story certainly is not borrowed from India. W. Crooke
(Things Indian, p. 135) is inclined to think that if Ball's explanation be correct, the
early diamond-diggers must have been non-Aryans, who did not regard the cow as
sacred. The ' ' early diamond-diggers ' ' are a bit of exaggeration : in no Indian record
of very early date does any mention of the diamond occur. Crooke's information
on this point lacks somewhat the necessary precision. According to him, "diamonds
were from very early times valued in India. The Puraijas speak of them as divided
into castes, and Marco Polo describes them as found in the kingdom of MutfiU."
The Puraija were at the best composed in the first centuries a.d., and more probably
much later. The knowledge of the diamond, certainly, does not go back in India
into that unfathomable antiquity, as pretended by some mineralogical and other
authors (for instance, G. Watt, Dictionary of Economic Products of India, Vol. Ill,
p. 93). It was wholly unknown in the Vedic period, from which no specific names of
precious stones are handed down at all. The word ma'fii, which has sometimes been
taken to mean the diamond (Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index of Names and Sub-
jects, Vol. II, p. 119), simply denotes a bead used for personal ornamentation and as
an amulet, and the arbitrary notion that it might refer to the diamond is disproved
by the fact that it could be strtmg on a thread. The word vajra, which at a subse-
quent period became an attribute of the diamond, originally served for the designation
of a club-shaped weapon and of Indra's thunderbolt in particular (Macdonell,
Vedic Mythology, p. 55). Philological considerations show us that the diamond
had no place in times of Indian antiquity, for no plain and specific word has been
appropriated for it in any ancient Indian language. Either, as in the case of vajra,
a word long familiar with another meaning was transferred to it, or epithets briefly
indicating some characteristic feature of the stone were created. S. K. Aiyangar
(Note upon Diamonds in South India, Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society,
Vol. Ill, p. 129, Madras, 1914) calls attention to the fact that the first systematic
reference to diamonds is made in the Arthagastra of Kautilya (see V. A. Smith,
Early History of India, 3d ed., pp. 1 51-153). He mentions six kinds of diamonds
classified according to their mines, and described as differing in lustre and degree of
hardness. He points out those of regular crystalline form and those of irregular
shape. The best diamond should be large, heavy, capable of bearing blows, regular
in shape, able to scratch the surface of metal vessels, refractive and brilliant. Aiyan-
gar dates the work in question "probably at the commencement of the third century
B.C." This date, however, is a mooted point (compare L. Finot, Bull, de VEcole fran-
gaise, Vol. XII, 1912, pp. 1-4), which it would be out of place to discuss here. More
probably, it is in the early Pali scriptures of Buddhism that we can trace the first
unmistakable references to the diamond. In the Questions of King Milinda (Milin-
dapanha, translation of Rhys Davids, p. 128) we read that the diamond ought to
have three qualities: it should be pure throughout; it cannot be alloyed with another
substance; and it is mounted together with the most costly gems. The first alludes
metaphorically to the monk's purity in his means of livelihood; the second, to his
keeping aloof from the company of the wicked; the third, to his association with men
of highest excellence, with men who have entered the first or second or third stage of

Legend of the Diamond Valley 17

tion is hardly convincing. It presupposes that the legend originated
in India, but this postulate is not proved. That the later Arabic authors
and Marco Polo place the locality in India, means nothing. Epiphanius
lays the plot in Scythia; the Chinese version is laid in Fu-lin, and that

the Noble Path, with the jewel treasures of the Arhats. The Milindapafiha may
be dated with a fair degree of certainty: Milinda, who holds conversations with a
Buddhist sage, is the Greek King Menandros, who ruled approximately between
125 and 95 B.C. in the north-west of India; and the dialogues attributed to him may
have been composed in the beginning of our era (M. Winternitz, Geschichte der
indischen Litteratur, Vol. II, p. 140; V. A. Smith, Early History of India, p. 225).
It is therefore quite sufficient to believe that the diamond became known in India
during the Buddhist epoch in the first centuries B.C., say, roughly, from the sixth to
the fourth century. The precious stones mentioned in Milindapafiha are enumerated
by L. FiNOT (Lapidaires indiens, p. xix). The earliest descriptions of the diamond
on the part of the Indians are by Varahamihira (a.d. 505-587; see H. Kern, Ver-
spreide Geschriften, Vol. II, p. 97) and by Buddhabha^ta, who wrote prior to the
sixth century a.d. Since the word vajra designates both Indra's thunderbolt
and the diamond, it is in many cases difficult to decide which of the two is meant
(A. FoucHER, Etudes sur I'iconographie bouddhique de I'lnde, Vol. II, p. 15, left
the point undecided, rendering vajrdsana by "silge de diamant ou du foudre");
and the same obstacle turns up again in Chinese-Buddhist literature, where the
term kin-kang as the translation of Sanskrit vajra covers the two notions; so that,
for instance, Pelliot {Bull, de VEcole frangaise, Vol. II, p. 146) raises the question,
"Quel est le sens pr6cis de kin-kang}" Whether the title of the Stitra Vajracchedika,
for instance, is correctly translated by "diamond-cutter," as has been done, is much
open to doubt. If it should mean "sharply cutting, like a diamond" (Winternitz,
l. c, p. 249), why could it not mean as well "sharply cutting, like a thunderbolt"?
The thunderbolt, generally described as metallic, is also sharp; and Indra whets it
like a knife, or as a bull its horns. Though a Chinese commentator of that work
observes that, as the diamond excels all other precious gems in brilliance and in-
destructibility, so also the wisdom of this work transcends and shall outlive all other
knowledge known to philosophy (W. Gemmell, The Diamond Sutra, p. 47), it is but
a late afterthought, and proves nothing as to the original Indian concept. The most
curious misconceptions have arisen about the so-called " Diamond-Seat " ( Vajrdsana),
This is the name of the throne or seat on which Qakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism,
reached perfect enlightenment under the sacred fig-tree at Gaya. The Chinese
pilgrim Huan Tsang, who visited the place during his memorable journey in India,
remarks that it was made from diamond {Ta T'ang si yii ki, Ch. 8, p. 14, ed. of Shou
shan ko ts'ung shu; Julien, M^moires sur les contr^es occidentals. Vol. I, p. 460;
Watters, On Yuan Chwang's Travels, Vol. II, p. 114); but this is incredible, if for
no other reason, because he proceeds to say that this throne measured over a hundred
paces in circuit. While this may be solely the outcome of a popular tradition growing
out of an interpretation of the name, Huan Tsang himself explains well how this
name arose. It is derived, according to him, from the circumstance that here the
thousand Buddhas of this eon (kalpa) enter the vajrasamddhi ("diamond ecstasy"),
the designation for a certain degree of contemplative ecstasy. Moreover, in the
Biography of Huan Tsang (Julien, Histoire de la vie de Hiouen-Thsang, p. 139)
it is more explicitly stated that the employment of the word "diamond" in the
term "Diamond-Seat" signifies that this throne is firm, solid, indestructible, and
capable of resisting all shocks of the world. In other words, it is used metaphorically ;
Buddha's own firmness and determination in the long struggle for obtaining enlight-
enment and salvation, his fortitude in overcoming the hostile forces of Mara,
the Evil One, being transferred to the seat which he occupied immovably during

1 8 The Diamond

of Pseudo-Aristotle in IQiorasan, etc. No ancient Sanskrit or Pali
version of the story has as yet become known; and the weight of evidence
is in favor of the Arabs having propagated it farther eastward in the
ninth and tenth centuries, while it was known in China long before
that time. The snakes and eagles, of course, could be translated into
Indian thought as Naga and Garuda;^ but, again, the Indians do not
tell us of such a tradition in connection with these two mythical crea-
tures. Even granted that the addition of the snakes in Pseudo-Aristotle
might be due to a secondary influence or to some latent undercurrent
of Indian conception which possibly penetrated into Syria, the Indian
origin of the legend would not be proved, either: for Epiphanius has
no snakes; and the old Chinese version lacks them too, and has "birds"
instead of eagles. We remember, however, that the Chinese text
winds up with an allusion to a Buddhist notion, the Devaraja of the
Rapadhatu; but neither is this evidence of an Indian provenience of the
legend, which, as unambiguously stated in the text of Chang Yue,
hailed from Fu-lin. This additional annotation, certainly not devised
in Fu-lin, was derived by the author from another tradition, which we
now propose to examine, and which will shed unexpected light on the
position held by India in the diffusion of this tale.

A contribution to the question whether the legend of the Diamond

that interval. The counterpart of this sacred site may be viewed in China on the
Island of P*u-t'o, in the so-called "P'an-t'o Rock," which is styled "Diamond Pre-
cious Stone," on which, according to local legend, the Bodhisatva AvalokiteQvara
(Kuan-yin) sat enthroned; this Diamond-Seat, however, is nothing but a rocky
bowlder, the top of which is reached by means of a ladder, where contemplative
monks may often be seen absorbed by the religious practice of meditation {dhydna;
compare R. F. Johnston, Buddhist China, p. 313, London, 1913). The Vajrasana
of Buddha, accordingly, has as much to do with the diamond in its quality of stone
as, for instance, Dante's diamond throne on which the angel of God is seated (L'angel
di Dio, sedendo in su la soglia, Che mi sembiava pietra di diamante. — Purgatorio,
IX, 104-105). Here also it is a metaphor, referring, according to the one, to the
firmness and constancy of the confessor, or, according to others, to the sjmibol of
the solid fundament of the Church (Divina Commedia, ed. Scartazzini, p. 371).
In a text of the Japanese Shin sect, the question is of a "heart strong as the diamond "
in the sense of a diamond-hard faith (H. Haas, Amida Buddha, p. 122). Also the
heart of the hardened sinner is compared with the diamond in Buddhist literature
(H. Wenzel, Nagarjima's Friendly Epistle, p. 24, stanza 83; S. Beal, The Suhril-
lekha or Friendly Letter, p. 31, stanza 85, London, 1892). The Manicheans used
the word in a similar manner by way of illustration, when it is said in one of their
writings that the Messenger of Light is the precious diamond pillar supporting the
multitude of beings (Chavannes and Pelliot, Trait6 manich6en, p. 90).

* Marco Polo (/. c.) explains the presence of the serpents in a natural manner:
"Moreover in those moimtains great serpents are rife to a marvellous degree, besides
other vermin, and this owing to the great heat. The serpents are also the most
venomous in existence, insomuch that any one going to that region runs fearful
peril; for many have been destroyed by these evil reptiles."

Legend of the Diamond Valley 19

Valley was known in ancient India is furnished by the same work, Liang
se kung tse kiy as supplied to us with the Fu-lin version of the legend.
Here we read this story: "A large junk of Fu-nan (Cambodja) which
had come from western India arrived (in China) and offered for sale a
mirror of a peculiar variety of rock-crystal/ one foot and four inches
across its surface, and forty catties in weight. On the siu-face and in
the interior it was pure white and transparent, and displayed many-
colored objects on its obverse. When held against the light and ex-
amined, its substance was not discernible. On inquiry for the price, it
was given at a million strings of copper coins. The Emperor ordered
the ofiScials to raise this siun, but the treasury did not hold enough.
Those traders said, *This mirror is due to the action of the Devaraja
of the RQpadhatu.^ On felicitous and joyful occasions he causes the
trees of the gods^ to pour down a shower of precious stones, and the
mountains receive them. The mountains conceal and seize the stones,
so that they are difficult to obtain. The flesh of big animals is cast
into the mountains; and when the flesh in these hiding-places becomes
so putrefied that it phosphoresces, it resembles a precious stone. Birds
carry it off in their beaks, and this is the jewel from which this mirror
is made.* Nobody in the empire understood this and dared pay that
price."* This account gives us a clew as to how it happened that the
Devaraja of the Rapadhatu was linked with the aforesaid legend hail-
ing from Fu-lin. Both legends are on record in the same book, and
the author combined the one report with the other. There is no reason
to wonder that the story of the Fu-nan traders was not comprehended
in China. We ourselves should be completely at sea, did not the West-
em legends enlighten the mystery. The story-teller from Fu-nan either
did not express himself very clearly or was not perfectly understood by
his interpreter, or the text of the Liang se kung tse ki has come down
to us in corrupt shape. It is indubitable, however, that the story here
on record is an echo of the legend of the Diamond Valley. All its essen-
tial features clearly stand out, — the inaccessible mountains hoarding
the stones, the casting of flesh on them, and birds securing the stones.
The narrative is only obscure in omitting to state that the jewels ad-

* Compare the writer's note on this subject in T'oung Pao, 1915, p. 200.
' See above, p. 7.

* This term corresponds to Sanskrit devataru ("tree of the gods"), a designation
for the five miraculous trees to be foimd in Indra's Heaven, — kalpavr,iksha, pdrijdta,
mandara, sathtdna, and haricandana (compare Hopkins, Journal Am. Or. Soc,
Vol. XXX, 1910, pp. 352, 353).

* T*ai p'ing yii Ian, Ch. 808, p. 6 (the Chinese text will be found in T'oung Pao,
1915. p. 202).

20 The Diamond

here to the flesh which is devoured by the birds, while the puerile inti-
mation that the putrefaction of the flesh transforms it into stone is
interpolated. The Fu-nan merchants had come to China from the
shores of western India, and brought from there the expensive crystal
mirror. With it came the story, and thus some form of the legend of
the Diamond Valley must have existed in the western part of India at
least in the beginning of the sixth century a.d. Certainly it was a
much fuller and more intelligent version than that presented to us
through the medium of the Fu-nan seafarers. Be this as it may, also
India took its place in this tmiversal concert of Asiatic nations; and
our Chinese text has fortimately preserved the only Indian version
thus far known, and now first revealed and explained. It is most in-
teresting that the Indian tradition belongs to the type of the plain
dramatic version, in which the by-play of the serpents is wanting; so
is the Garuda; and the only specific Indian traits are the tree of the
gods and the Devaraja Kubera. Aside from these incidents, which
are inconclusive in stamping the legend as Indian in its origin, it
thoroughly tallies with that of Epiphanius. For this and also chrono-
logical reasons it follows that Fu-lin was the centre from which the
legend spread simultaneously to India and China. G. Huet^ has re-
cently given another interesting example of a story originating in
western Asia, a weak echo of which was carried into India.

It is therefore my opinion that the legend of the Valley of Diamonds
or Precious Stones in its two early variations, as represented by Epi-
phanius and Pseudo-Aristotle, whatever its antecedents and its possible
associations with earlier stories of the Herodotian type may have been,
originated in the Hellenistic Orient, and was propagated from this centre
to China, to India, to the Arabs, and to Persia. The Chinese tradition
of the Liang se kung tse ki, being an exact parallel to that of Epiphanius
and approaching it more closely in time than any of the Arabic and
other versions, being earlier and purer than that of Pseudo-Aristotle,
presents an important contribution to the question, and shows that
traditions of Fu-lin flowed into China long before its name was recorded
in her ofiicial annals. The Chinese and Indian versions bear out still
another significant point that may enable us to reconstruct the original
form in which the subject was propagated in the Hellenistic world. It
is manifest that Epiphanius, while by a lucky chance our earliest source
on the matter, does not preserve the story in its primeval or pure form;
he pursues a theological tendency by lining it up in his discourse on the

* Le conte du "mort reconnaissant " et le livre de Tobie (Revue de Vhistoire des
religions, Vol. LXXI, 1915, pp. 1-29).

Indestructibility of the Diamond 21

stones in the breastplate of the Jewish High Priest, and focuses it on
the hyacinth, which makes for too narrow a specialization to be credit-
able to the original. Certainly Epiphanius is not the author of the
story, but merely its propagandist; it was folk-lore of his time which he
imbibed and employed for his specific purpose. This point of view is
upheld by our Chinese text, which records the story as a tradition com-
ing from the Hellenistic Orient, and which clearly indicates also its
object. The precious stones of anterior Asia had always wrought an
unbounded fascination on the minds of the Chinese, and the scope of
this tradition is to account for the enormous wealth in jewels possessed
by the country Fu-lin. Here we have a bit of humorous wit, as offered
by the inhabitants of Fu-lin in explanation of niunerous queries ad-
dressed to them by foreign traders: it was a story freely circulating in
Fu-lin, not centring around the hyacinth, but relating to precious stones
in the widest sense. Such appears to have been the original story, and
thus it is preserved to us by the Chinese. That Pseudo-Aristotle and
his successors (except Tif ashi with his relapse into the hyacinth) chose
the diamond, is easily intelligible, the diamond being always deemed
the foremost and most valuable of all precious stones.^

Indestructibility of the Diamond. — The Taoist adept Ko
Hung (fotuth centtiry a.d.) has the following notice on the diamond:
"The kingdom of Fu-nan (Cambodja) produces diamonds {kin kang
^^^\) which are capable of cutting jade. In their appearance they
resemble fluor-spar.^ They grow on stones like stalactites,' on the bot-
tom of the sea to the depth of a thousand feet. Men dive in search for
the stones, and ascend at the close of a day. The diamond when struck
by an iron hammer is not damaged; the latter, on the contrary, will be

1 J. H. Krause, Pyrgoteles, p. 29. The diamond is forestalled in the text of
Epiphanius by the reference to the incombustible property of the stones.

» Ts'e shi ying ^^%, thus identified by D. Hanbury, Notes on Chinese Materia
Medica {Pharmaceutical Journal, 1861, p. no), or Science Papers, p. 218. E. Biot
identified it with rock-crystal and smoky quartz (Pauthier and Bazin, Chine mod-
erne, Vol. II, p. 556).

^ Chung ju shi H^JS, identified by D. Hanbury (/. c), with carbonate
of lime in stalactitic masses, obtained from caves. The Chinese name, however,
does not signify, as stated by Hanbury, "hanging- (like a bell) milk-stone," but the
term chungju refers to the mammiUary protuberances or knobs on the ancient Chinese
bells (see Hirth, Boas Anniversary Volume, pp. 251, 257). Giles (No. 5691) has
the name in the form shi chungju, "stone-bell teats, — stalactites." Reduced to a
powder the stone is used as a tonic. Compare F. Porter Smith, Contributions
toward the Materia Medica of China, p. 204; Geerts, Produits de la nature japonaise
et chinoise, p. 342; F. de M]&ly, Lapidaires chinois, pp. 92, 254. Important Chinese
notes on this mineral are contained in the Yun lin shi p'u of Tu Wan (Ch. c, p. 8),
Ling-wai taita of 1178 by Chou K'u-fei (Ch. 7, p. 13), and Phi ts'ao kang mu (Ch. 9,
p. 17 b).

22 The Diamond

spoiled. If, however, a blow is dealt at the diamond by means of a
ram's hom,^ it will at once be dissolved, and break like ice."^

The motive, diamonds being fished from the ocean, is an old Indian
fable. We meet it in the Suppdraka-jdtaka, No. 463 in the famous
Pali collection of Buddha's birth-stories. According to this legend,
the diamonds are to be foimd in the Khuramala Sea. The Bodhisatva
was on board ship, acting as skipper for a party of merchants. He
reflected that if he told them this was a diamond sea, they would sink
the ship in their greed by collecting the diamonds. So he told them
nothing; but having brought the ship to, he got a rope, and lowered a
net as if to catch fish. With this he brought in a haul of diamonds, and
stored them in the ship; then he caused the wares of little value to be
cast overboard.' Of course, the Indian mineralogists knew better than
that, and even entimerate eight sites where the diamond was found.*

* According to another reading, "antelope, or chamois horn" {ling yang kio).
The latter is said to be solid and to occur only in the High-Rock Mountains {Kao shi
shan) of Annam {Wu li siao shi, Ch. 8, p. 21b; and T*u shu tsi ch'ing, Pien i tien,
Annam, hui k*ao 6, p. 8 b).

* Pin ts*ao kang mu, Ch. 10, p. 12. Compare P. Pelliot, Le Fou-nan (Bull,
de VEcolefrangaise, Vol. Ill, 1903, p. 281). The same notice has been embodied in
the accoimt of the country of Fu-nan contained in the New Annals of the T'ang
Dynasty {Tang shu, Ch. 222 b, p. 2; and Pelliot, /. c, p. 274). Fu-nan, of course,
did not produce diamonds, as said by the T'ang Annals in this passage, but imported
them from India, as attested by a statement in the same Annals {T'ang shu, Ch.
221 A, p. lob) to the effect that India trades diamonds with Ta Ts'in (the Roman
Orient), Fu-nan, and Kiao-chi. As both Indian diamonds and legends concerning
them were encoimtered by the Chinese in Fu-nan, it was pardonable for them to
believe that diamonds were a product of that country. Chao Ju-kua (translation of
HiRTH and Rockhill, p. iii) says that the diamond of India will not melt, though
exposed to the fire a hundred times.

' E. B. CowELL, The Jataka, Vol. IV, p. 88. Compare also the Tibetan Dsang-
lun, Ch. 30 (I. J. Schmidt, Der Weise und der Thor, pp. 227 et seq.) ; and Schiefner,
Taranatha, p. 43. The Hindu mineralogists entertain also the notion that the
diamond floats on the water (L. Finot, Lapidaires indiens, p. XLViii) ; and there is
a fabulous account of a diamond of marine origin in the Tsa pao tsang king (Bunyiu
Nanjio, Catalogue, No. 1329; Chavannes, Cinq cents contes et apologues, Vol. Ill,
p. i), translated from Sanskrit into Chinese in a.d. 472. A merchant from southern
India who had an expert knowledge of pearls traversed several kingdoms, showing
everywhere a pearl, the specific qualities of which nobody could recognize till he met
Buddha, who said, "This wishing- jewel {cintdmap,i) originates from the huge fish
makara, whose body is two hundred and eighty thousand li (Chinese leagues) long.
The name of this gem is 'hard like the diamond' {kin-kang kien, Chinese rendering
of Sanskrit vajrasdra, an attribute of the diamond) . It has the property of producing
at once precious objects, clothing, and food, and securing everything according to
one's wish. He who obtains this gem cannot be hurt by poison, or be burnt by
fire." My translation is based on the text, as quoted in Yiian kien lei han (Ch. 364,
p. 15b), the wording of which to some extent dissents from that translated by
M. Chavannes (/. c, p. 77).

* L. Finot, Lapidaires indiens, p. xxv.

Indestructibility of the Diamond 23

In the Jataka, the notion of the pearl being bom from the ocean ^ has
been transferred to the diamond. Q. Curtius Rufus echoes this native
tradition when, in his description of India, he says that the sea casts upon
the shores precious stones and pearls, these offscourings of the boiling
sea being valued at the price which fashion sets on coveted luxuries.*

The Chinese tradition transmitted from Fu-nan — that iron does
not break the diamond, but that the latter breaks iron — is reflected in
the same manner by Pliny, who says that the stones are tested upon
the anvil, and resist the blows with the result that the iron rebounds, and
the anvil splits asimder.' This certainly is pure fiction and merely a
popular illustration of the hardness of the stone.* This notion has
accordingly migrated, and the Physiologus presents the missing link
between East and West by asserting that the diamond cannot be
damaged by iron, fire, or smoke.^ In India we meet the same test,
inasmuch as a diamond is regarded as genuine if it is struck with other
stones or iron hammers without bursting.^ The fact that the Arabic
treatises on mineralogy reiterate the same story need not be discussed
here; for the account of Ko Hung is far older than these, and proves
that long before the advent of the Arabs it passed from India to Fu-nan
and from Fu-nan to China.

Discussing the phenomena of sympathy and apathy ruling in nature,
Pliny sets forth that this indomitable power which contemns the two
most violent agents of natxire, iron and fire,^ is broken by the blood of

1 Ibid., p. xxxii. A Sanskrit epithet of the pearl is samudraja ("sea-bom").

* J. W. McCrindle, Invasion of India by Alexander, p. 187.

» Incudibus hi deprehendtintur ita respuentes ictus ut ferrum utrimque dissultet,
incudes ipsae etiam exiliant (xxxvii, 15, § 57). Compare BLthiNER, Technologie,
Vol. Ill, p. 230.

* The diamond is hard, but not tough, and can easily be broken with the blow of
a hammer. It is as brittle as at least the average of crystallized minerals (Far-
RiNGTON, Gems and Gem Minerals, p. 70). The fabulous notion of the ancients was
first refuted by Garcia da Orta (or, ab Horto), in his work on the Drugs of India,
which appeared in Portuguese at Goa in 1563. " It is out of the question," he says,
"that the diamond resists the hammer; on the contrary, it can be pulverized by means
of a small hammer, and may easily be poimded in a mortar with an iron pestle,
the powder being used for the grinding of other diamonds" (compare J. Rusbza,
Der Diamant in der Medizin, Festschrift Baas, p. 129). In the Italian translation
of Garcia (p. 182, Venice, 1582) the passage runs thus: "Non h il vero, che il diamante
resista alia botta del martello, percioche con ogni picciolo martello si riduce in polvere,
e con grandissima facility si pesta col pistello di ferro; e in questo modo lo pestano
colore, che con la sua polvere poliscono gli altri diamanti."

* P. Lauchert, Geschichte des Physiologus, p. 34.

* R. Garbe, Die indischen Mineralien, p. 82.

' Pliny, accordingly, was of the opinion that the diamond is able to resist fire,
and DioscoRiDEs (L. Leclerc, Traits des simples. Vol. Ill, p. 272) acquiesced in

24 The Diamond

a ram, which, however, must be fresh and warm. The stone must be
well steeped in it, and receive repeated blows, and even then will break
anvils and iron hammers imless they be of excellent temper.^ This
fantasy has passed into the writings of St. Augustin,^ and, further,
into our mediaeval poets, who interpreted the ram's blood as the blood
of Christ, likewise into our lapidaires}

this belief. Theophrastus (De lapidibus, 19; opera ed. F. Wimmer, p. 343), in a
passing manner, alludes to the incombustibility of the diamond by ascribing the
same property to the carbuncle {anthrax) ; the lack of humidity in these stones renders
them impervious to fire (compare Krause, Pyrgoteles, p. 15 and note 4). Apol-
LONius Dyscolus, in the first half of the second century a.d. (Rerum naturalium
scriptores Graeci minores, ed. Keller, Vol. I, p. 50), says that the diamond, when
exposed to a fire, is not heated.

^ Siquidem ilia invicta vis, duarum violentissimartun naturae rerum ferri igniujn-
que contemptrix, hircino rumpitur sanguine, neque aliter quam recenti calidoque
macerata et sic quoque multis ictibus, tunc etiam praeterquam eximias incudes
malleosque ferreos frangens {ibid., § 59); also in the same work, xx, procemium:
sanguine hircino rumpente.

2 Qui lapis nee ferro nee igni nee alia vi ulla perhibetur praeter hircinum sangui-
nem vinci (De civitate Dei, xxi, 4). Also Isidorus, Origines, xii, i, 14; and Mar-
BODUS, De lapidibus pretiosis, i.

» F. Lauchert, Geschichte des Physiologus, p. 179. L. Pannier (Les Lapidaires
frangais du moyen &ge, p. 36):

"Par fer ne par foti n'iert ovr66
S'el sang del buc chiald n'est tempr66."
F. Pfeiffer, Buch der Natur von Konrad von Megenberg, p. 433; Albertus
Magnus, De virtutibus lapidum, p. 135 (Amstelodami, 1669). The origin of the
Plinian story is hard to explain, as there is no other ancient or Oriental source that
contains it. C. W. King (Antique Gems, p. 107) thinks it is a jeweller's story, prob-
ably invented to keep up the mystery of the business. Blumner (Technologic,
Vol. Ill, p. 231) supposes either that the ancient lapidaries really used ram's blood
in good faith, without examining whether the diamond could also be broken without
it, or that they merely pretended such a procedure to the laymen as an alleged artifice
of their trade. These rationalistic speculations, unsupported by evidence, are
unsatisfactory. More plausible is the view of E. O. von Lippmann (Abhandlungen
und Vortrage, Vol. I, p. 83), that the blood of the ram, owing to the sensual lust of
this animal, was regarded as particularly hot. As is well known, a ram was the
animal sacred to Bacchus (O. Keller, Antike Tierwelt, Vol. I, p. 305) ; and ram's
blood was a remedy administered in cases of dysentery (F. de M£ly, Lapidaires
grecs, p. 92). What merits special attention, however, is that Capricorn as asterisk
of the zodiac, according to Manilius, belonged to Vesta; and that everything in need
of fire, like mines, working of metals, even' bakery, was under its influence. More-
over, in ancient astrology, the twelve signs of the zodiac are associated with twelve
precious stones, and in this series adamas belongs to Capricorn (see the Hst in F. Boll,
Stoicheia, No. i, p. 40). The idea of ram's blood acting upon the diamond, therefore,
seems to be finally traceable to an astrological origin. A curious custom relating to
ram's horn is reported by Strabo (xvi, 4, § 17). When the Troglodytae of Ethiopia
bury their dead, some of them bind the corpse from the neck to the legs with twigs
of the buckthorn [Paliurus; an infusion of this plant, according to Strabo, forms the
drink of these people in general]. They at once throw stones over the body, at the
same time laughing and rejoicing, until they have covered its face. Thereupon

Indestructibility of the Diamond 25

That our Chinese text above speaks of a rani's horn may be due to
the fact that this modification was caused by the error of a scribe or
by some misimderstanding of the Western tradition regarding ram's
blood. More probably the people of Fu-nan (Cambodja), or even of
India, are responsible for the alteration, which in this form was then
picked up by the Chinese. The adequateness of the latter interpreta-
tion follows from an interesting passage in the book Hiian chung ki of
the fifth century, quoted by Li Shi-ch^n, which concludes a notice of
the diamond with the statement that in the coimtries of the West the
nature of Buddha is metaphorically likened to the diamond, and ram's
horn to the "impurity of passion" {fan nao ji^ t£). This compound is a
technical Buddhist term, being a translation of Sanskrit klega-kashdya,
the third of a series of five kashdya, five impurities or spheres of corrup-
tion.i Taken individually, these two emblematic figures of speech are
unobjectionable; but what would it mean, that a ram's horn, symbolic
of the imptirity of passion, can break the Buddha, who has the nature
of the diamond? This, from a Buddhistic angle, is unintelligible; the
opposite would be true. The foundation of this symbolism, plainly,
cannot be of Buddhistic origin; but the impetus was apparently received
from a Christian source, and was re-interpreted in India. The matter

they place over it a ram's horn and go away. In this case the ram's horn doubtless
figures also as an instrument of extraordinary strength: it overpowers the body and
soul of the deceased, keeping his spirit down and preventing it from a return to
the former home, where it might do harm to the survivors. Therefore the mourners
rejoice in accomplishing their purpose. Ram's heads were extensively employed in
Greek art (H. Winnefeld, Altgriech. Bronzebecken aus Leontini, Progr. Winckel-
mannsfest, No. 59, 1899). Ball's opinion that ram's blood is the outcome of Indian
sacrifices held on the opening of a mine, discussed above on p. 15, is untenable,
as there is no Indian tradition connecting the diamond with ram's blood. The
baselessness of this theory is further demonstrated by the fact that the Chinese have
altered the classical "ram's blood" into a "ram's horn;" and the Chinese account
hailed from Fu-nan (Cambodja), a country with a strong impact of Indian civiliza-
tion. The transformation, therefore, seems to have been effected in an Indian
region. For this reason it is impossible to seek the origin of this idea in India, where
apparently it was not understood and was changed into a "horn," which appears to
have been regarded there as stronger than blood. As to the classical idea of heat
suggested by ram's blood, it is noteworthy, however, that in late Indian art, Agni,
the God of Fire, is represented as riding on a gray goat, flames of fire streaming round
about him, his crown also being surrounded by fire (B. Ziegenbalg, Genealogy of
the South-Indian Gods, p. 191, Madras, 1869). Thus the conception of the ram or
goat as an animal of fire is brought out, — a fire of such vehemence as to subdue
the hardest body of nature.

^ See EiTEL, Handbook of Chinese Buddhism, p. 67; Chavannes, Cinq cents
contes et apologues. Vol. I, p. 17; and O. Franke, Chin. TempeHnschrift, p. 51.
F. de Mi;LY (Lapidaires chinois, p. 124) incorrectly understands that "in India the
nature of Buddha is compared with the diamond ; and his sadness, with the horn of
the antelope ling."

26 The Diamond

will only become intelligible if we substitute "ram's blood
horn" and interpret "ram's blood" as the blood of the Lamb, the
Christian Saviour. This symbolic explanation has indeed been attached
in the West to Pliny's ram's blood subduing the diamond. The idea is
not found in the Physiologus, which compares the diamond itself with
Christ (analogous to Buddha as the diamond), but it turns up in the
mediaeval poets. Frauenlob explains the destruction of the diamond
through buck's blood as the salvation, saying that the adamas (diamond)
of the hard curse was broken by the blood of Christ.^

Diamond and Lead. — Dioscorides of the first century a.d. observes
on the diamond, "It is one of the properties of the diamond to break
the stones against which it is brought into contact and pressed. It
acts alike on all bodies of the nature of stone, with the exception of lead.
Lead attacks and subdues it. While it resists fire and iron, it allows
itself to be broken by lead, and this is the expedient employed to pul-
verize it."^

The oldest Arabic book on stones, sailing under the flag of Aristotle,
reports in the chapter on the diamond, probably drawing from Dios-
corides, that it cannot be overpowered by any other stone save lead,
which is capable of pulverizing it.'

In a Syriac and Arabic treatise on alchemy of the ninth or tenth
century, edited and translated by R. Duval, it is said that lead makes
the diamond suffer; the translator understands this in the sense that
lead serves for the working of the diamond, adding in a note that one
worked the diamond and other precious stones, enclosed in sheets of
lead, by means of ruby or diamond dust.* The action of lead on the
diamond certainly is imaginary. This idea conveys the impression of
having received its impetus from the circle of the alchemists. Muham-
med Ibn Mansur, who wrote a treatise on mineralogy in Persian during
the thirteenth century, says regarding this point, "On the anvil, the
diamond is not broken under the hammer, but rather penetrates into
the anvil. In order to break the diamond, it is placed between lead,
the latter being struck with a mallet, whereupon the stone is broken.
Others, instead of using lead, envelop the diamond in resin or

1 Compare F. Lauchert, Geschichte des Physiologus, p. 179. In the Cathedral
of Troyes there is a sculpture from the end of the thirteenth century, representing the
Lamb of God under the unusual form of a ram with large horns and bearing the Cross
of the Resurrection. A. N. Didron (Christian Iconography, Vol. I, pp. 325, 326)
styles this work a " most unaccountable anomaly," but the symbolism set forth above
surely accounts for it.

' L. Leclerc, Trait6 des simples. Vol. Ill, p. 272.

• J. RusKA, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 149 (compare p. 76).

* M. Berthelot, La chimie au moyen Age, Vol. II, pp. 124, 136.

Diamond and Lead 27

wax." ^ The Armenian lapidarium of the seventeenth century ^ is most
explicit on the matter: **The diamond is bruised by means of lead in
the following manner: lead is hammered out into a foil, on which the
diamond is put ; and when completely wrapped up with it, it is placed on
an iron anvil, the lead being struck with an iron hammer. The diamond
cnmibles into pieces from these blows, but remains in the leaden foil,
and is not dispersed into various directions, as it is prevented from so
doing by the ductility of the lead. Released from the latter, the broken
diamond is fit for work. In want of lead, the diamond is covered with
wax and wrapped up in twelve layers of paper, whereupon it is smashed
by hammer-blows. In order to secure it in pure condition and without
loss, the whole mass is flung into boiling water, causing the wax to melt,
the paper to float on the surface of the water, and the diamond-splinters
to sink to the bottom of the vessel. Then it is pounded in a steel mortar
and is at once ready for industrial purposes. With this pounded
diamond (diamond-dust) the jewellers polish good and coarse dia-
monds.' ' The practical object in the use of lead is here clearly indicated ;
but what appears in this work of recent date as a merely technical
process was in its origin a superstitious act, as is explained by Tifashi,
who wrote toward the middle of the thirteenth century. According to
this author, the diamond, as stated by Pliny, is a golden stone; and in
the same manner as gold is affected by lead, lead is able to pulverize
the diamond.'

This Western idea has likewise migrated into China, and turns up in
the Tan fang kien yiian^ an alchemical work by Tu Ku-t'ao of the Simg
period, according to whom lead can reduce the diamond to fragments.*
This author terms the stone ** metal-hard awl or drill" {kin kang tsuan
t^^^\Pii); that is, "diamond-point" (kin kang being the usual name
for the diamond). According to Li Shi-ch^n, the author of the Pin

1 J. VON Hammer, Fundgruben des Orients, Vol. VI, p. 132 (Wien, 1818); M.
Clement- MuLLOT, Essai sur la min6ralogie arabe, p. 131 (Journal asiatique, 6th
series, Vol. XI, 1868). Al-Akfam expresses himself in a similar manner (Wiede-
mann, Zur Mineralogie im Islam, p. 218).

'Russian translation of K. P. Patkanov, p. i.

' A. Raineri Biscia, Fior di pensieri, p. 53 (2d ed., Bologna, 1906).

* Pin ts^ao kang mu, Ch. 10, p. 12. The author speaks of a certain kind of lead
styled "lead with purple back" {tse pet yiian ^^|o), in regard to which the Pin
ts'ao kang mu only says that it is a variety of lead very pure and hard, able to cut
the diamond (compare Geerts, Les produits de la nature japonaise et chinoise,
p. 605). Geerts annotates, " Ceci est une de ces absurdit^s que Ton trouve si souvent
chez les auteurs chinois hlc6t6 de renseignements exacts et utiles." Certainly, the
Chinese are not responsible for this "absurdity," which comes straight from our
classical antiquity.

28 The Diamond

ts'ao kang mu, this name first occurs in the dictionary Shi mingy while
the usual mineralogical designation is kin kang ski (''metal-hard stone").
Also Pseudo-Aristotle has the diamond ''boring" all kinds of stones and
pearls, and Qazwinl styles it a "borer." Li Shi-ch^n says that "by
means of diamond-sand jade can be perforated and porcelain repaired,
hence the name awl (tsuan).^'^ An interesting analogy to this con-
ception occurs in the Arabic stories of Sindbad the Sailor, dating in
the ninth century. Sindbad tells, "Walking along the valley I found
that its soil was of diamond, the stone wherewith they pierce jewels
and precious stones and porcelain and onyx, for that it is a hard dense
stone, whereon neither iron nor steel has effect, neither can we cut off
aught therefrom nor break it, save by means of the load-stone." We
shall now discuss one of the most interesting problems bearing on the
diamond, — the ancient employment of the diamond-point.

The Diamond-Point. — In the book going under the name of the
alleged philosopher Lie-tse, which in the text now before us is hardly
earlier than the Han period, we read the following story i^ "When King
Mu of the Chou Dynasty (1001-945 B.C.) was on an expedition against
the Western Jung, the latter presented him with a sword of kun-wu
"^vlA^X^^ and with fire-proof cloth (asbestos). The sword was one
foot and eight inches in length, was forged from steel, and had a red
blade; when handled, it would cut hard stone (jade) as though it were
merely clayish earth." The object of these notes is to discuss the nature
of the substance kun-wu. Asbestine stuffs were received by the Chinese
from the Roman Orient, and likewise the curious tales connected with
them. If asbestos came from that direction, our first impression in
the matter is that also the substance kun-wu appears to have been de-
rived from the same quarter; and this supposition will be proved correct
by a study of Chinese traditions.

1 It is interesting that the Chinese, while they worked jade and porcelain, and,
as will be seen farther below, also pearls, by means of diamond-points, did not know
the fact that the latter can cut glass, — perhaps merely for the reason that they
never understood how to make plate-glass. The ancients did not cut glass, either,
with the diamond, and this practice does not seem to have originated before the
sixteenth century (compare Beckmann, Beitrage zur Geschichte der Erfindimgen,
Vol. Ill, p. 543). In recent times, however, the Chinese applied the diamond also
to glass. Archdeacon Gray, in his interesting book Walks in the City of Canton
(p. 238, Hongkong, 1875), tells how the glaziers of Canton cut with a diamond the
designs traced with ink upon the surface of glass globes and readily effect this labor
by running the diamond along these ink-lines.

2 Ch. 5, T'ang win, at the end (compare E. Faber, Naturalismus bei den alten
Chinesen, p. 132; L. Wieger, P^res du syst^me taoiste, p. 149; A. Wylie, Chinese
Researches, pt. m, p. 142). The work of Lie-tse is first mentioned as a book in eight
chapters in TsHen Han shu (Ch. 30, p. 12b).

The Diamond-Point 29

The kun-wu sword of Lie-tse has repeatedly tried the ingenuity of
sinologues. Hirth/ who accepted the text at its surface value, re-
garded this sword as the oldest example in Chinese records of a weapon
made from iron or steel; and while the passage could not be regarded as
testimony for the antiquity of the sword-industry in China, it seems to
him to reflect the legendary views of that epoch and to hint at the fact
that the forging of swords in the iron-producing regions of the north-west
of China was originally invested in the hands of the Huns. Thus
Hirth finally arrived at the conclusion that the kun-wu sword may
actually mean "sword of the Huns." Faber, the first translator of
Lie-tse, regarded it as a Damascus blade; and Forke^ accepted this
view. F. Porter Smith ^ was the first to speak of a kun-wu stone,
intimating that "extraordinary stories are told of a stone called kun-wu ^
large enough to be made into a knife, very brilliant, and able to cut
gems with ease." He also grouped this stone correctly with the dia-
mond, but did not cope with the problem involved.

The Shi chou ki ("Records of Ten Insular Realms"), a fantastic
description of foreign lands, attributed to the Taoist adept Tung-fang
So, who was bom in 168 b.c.,^ has the following story: " On the Floating
Island (Liu chou) which is situated in the Western Ocean is gathered a
quantity of stones called kun-wu tL *§*J5 • When fused, this stone
turns into iron, from which are made cutting-instruments brilliant and
reflecting light like crystal, capable of cutting through objects of hard
stone (jade) as though they were merely clayish earth." ^

Li Shi-ch^n, in his P^n ts'ao kang mu^^ quotes the same story in his
notice of the diamond, and winds up with the explanation that the
kun-wu stone is the largest of diamonds. The text of the Shi chou ki,
as quoted by him, ojffers an important variant. According to his
reading, kun-wu stones occur in the Floating Sand (Liu-sha) of the
Western Ocean.'' The latter term, as already shown, in the Chinese

1 Chinesische Ansichten uber Bronzetrommeln, pp. 20, 21.

2 Mitteilungen des Seminars, Vol. VII, i, p. 162. This opinion was justly criti-
cised by the late E. Huber {Bull, de VEcolefrangaise, Vol. IV, p. 1 129).

' Contributions toward the Materia Medica of China, p. 75.

* The work is adopted in the Taoist Canon (L. Wieger, Taoisme, Vol. I, No. 593).
The authorship of Tung-fang So is purely legendary, and the book is doubtless
centuries later. Exactly the same text is given also in the Lung yii ho t'u (quoted in
Yiian kien lei han, Ch. 323, p. i; and in the commentary to Shi ki, Ch. 117, p. 2 b),
a work which appears to have existed in the fourth or fifth century (see Bretschnei-
DER, Bot. Sin., pt. I, No. 500).

5 P'ei win yiinfu, Ch. 100 a, p. 16; or Yiian kien lei han, Ch. 26, p. 32 b.

'Ch. 10, p. 12.

^ Also the Wu U siao shi (Ch. 8, p. 22) has this reading.

30 The Diamond

records relative to the Hellenistic Orient, refers to the Mediterranean;
and Liu-sha is well known as a geographical term of somewhat vague
definition, first used in the Annals of the Later Han Dynasty, and said
to be in the west of Ta Ts'in, the Chinese designation of the Roman
Orient.^ Liu-sha, in my opinion, is the model of Liu chou, the Floating
Island being distilled from Floating Sand in favor of the Ten Islands
mechanically constructed in that fabtdous book. Accordingly, we have
here a distinct tradition relegating the kun-wu stone to the Anterior
Orient; and Li Shi-ch^n's identification with the diamond appears
plausible to a high degree. His opinion is strongly corroborated by
another text cited by him. This is the Milan chung ki by Kuo* of the
fifth century, who reports as follows: "The country of Ta Ts'in pro-
duces diamonds (kin-kang), termed also * jade-cutting swords or knives.'
The largest reach a length of over a foot, the smallest are of the size of
a rice or millet grain.' Hard stone can be cut by means of it
all round, and on examination it turns out that it is the largest of
diamonds. This is what the Buddhist priests substitute for the tooth
of Buddha."* Chou Mi, quoted above regarding the legend of the Dia-

1 HiRTH, China and the Roman Orient, pp. 42, 292. F. de M£ly (Lapidaires
chinois, p. 124) translates "River Liu sha," and omits the "Western Ocean." The
term Liu-sha existed in early antiquity and occurs for the first time in the Shu king,
chap. Yii kung (Legge, Chinese Classics, Vol. Ill, pp. 132, 133, 150), denoting the
then known farthest west of the country, the desert extending west of the district
of Tun-huang in Kan-su. It is cited also in the elegy Li sao by Ku Yuan (xiii, 89;
Legge, Journal R. As. Soc, 1895, pp. 595, 863), in the records of the Buddhist pil-
grims (Chavannes, Religieux 6minents, p. 12), and in the memoirs of the mediaeval
travellers (Bretschneider, Mediaeval Researches, Vol. I, p. 27; Vol. II, p. 144).
See also Pelliot, Journal asiatique, 1914 (Mai-Juin), p. 505.

* His personal name is unknown.

3 Pliny (xxxvii, 15, § 57) speaks of a kind of diamond as large as a grain of
millet (milii magnitudine) and c^ed cenchros; that is, the Greek word for "millet."

* F. DE MtLY (Lapidaires^chinois, p. 124) incorrectly understands by this passage
that the bonzes of India adorn with diamonds the tooth of Buddha. In fact, a dia-
mond itself was passed ofiE as Buddha's-tooth relic. A specific case to this efiEect is
on record: "In the period Ch6ng-kuan (627-650) there was a Brahmanic priest
who asserted that he had obtained a tooth of Buddha which when struck resisted any
blow with unheard-of strength. Fu Yi heard of it, and said to his son, ' It is not
a tooth of Buddha; I have heard that the diamond {kin-kang shi) is the strongest of
all objects, that nothing can resist it, and that only an antelope-horn can break it;
you may proceed to make the experiment by knocking it, and it will crash and
break ' " (P'ei win yiinfu, Ch. 100 A, p. 40 b). Fu Yi, who was a resolute opponent
of Buddhism and was raised to the office of grand historiographer by the foimder of
the T'ang dynasty (he died in 639; see Memoires concernant les Chinois, Vol. V,
pp. 122, 159; Legge, Journal Roy. As. Soc, 1893, p. 800), was certainly right.
Compare H. Dor6, Recherches sur les superstitions en Chine, Vol. VIII, p. 310.
Also Palladius (Chinese-Russian Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 203 a) is inexact in saying
that the Buddhists passed off the diamond as Buddha's tooth in China, where the
diamond was imknown. Regarding Buddha's-tooth relic, besides the various

The Diamond-Point 31

mond Valley, states, ^' The workers in jade polish jade by the persevering
application of river-gravel, and carve it by means of a diamond-point.
Its shape is like that of the ordure of rodents ;i it is of very black color,
and is at once like stone and like iron." Chou Mi apparently speaks
of the impure, black form of the diamond, which is still used by us for
industrial purposes, the tipping of drills and similar boring-instruments.^
These texts render it sufficiently clear that the kun-wu stone of the Shi
chou ki, which is found in the Hellenistic Orient, is the diamond,^ and
that the cutting-instnmient made from it is a diamond-point. The
alleged transmutation of the stone into iron is further elucidated by the
much-discussed passage of Pliny, "When by a lucky chance the diamond
happens to be broken, it is triturated into such minute splinters that
they can hardly be sighted. These are much demanded by gem-
engravers and are enclosed in iron. There is no hard substance that
they could not easily cut by means of this instrument." *

accounts of Huan Tsang, see Fa Hien, Ch. 38 (Legge, Record of Buddhistic King-
doms, pp. 105-107); Chavannes, M^moire sur les religieux ^minents, p. 55; de
Groot, Album Kern, p. 134; Yule and Cordier, Book of Ser Marco Polo, Vol. II,
PP- 319. 329-330, etc. The Pali Chronicle of Ceylon describes a statue of Buddha,
in which the body and members were made of jewels of diflferent colors; the com-
mentary adds that the teeth were made of diamonds (W. Geiger, Mahavamsa,
p. 204). It accordingly was an Indian idea (not an artifice conceived in China)
that the diamond could be substituted for Buddha's tooth. It is curious that
Pseudo- Aristotle warns against taking the diamond in the mouth, because it destroys
the teeth (Ruska, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 150). The poet Su Shi (1036-1101),
in his work Wulei siang kan chi (Wylie, Notes, p. 165), remarks that antelope-
horn is able to break Buddha's tooth to pieces; in this case, Buddha's tooth is a
synonjnne for the diamond, and we have an echo of Ko Hung's legend above referred
to (p. 21).

^ Shu shi '^K . incorrectly rendered by F. de M6ly (Lapidaires chinois, p. 124)
by "arrow-point." The word shi is here not "arrow," but "ordure, dung" (shi in
the third tone) ; the text of the Wu li siao shi indeed writes shi M. , which is the prop-
er character; and Ko chi king yiian (Ch. 33, p. 3 b), in quoting the same text of Chou
Mi, offers the variant shuftn ^^, which has the same meaning.

' KJiown in the trade as "bort," — defective diamonds or fragments of diamonds
which are useless as gems.

3 The reflective and refractive power of the diamond is well illustrated in the
definition of that book, "brilliant and reflecting light like crystal." The coincidence
with Pliny's (xxxvii, 15, § 56) description of the Indian adamas is remarkable,
"which occurs not in gold, but in a substance somewhat cognate to crystal, not
differing from the latter in its transparent coloration" (Indici non in auro nascentis
et quadam crystalli cognatione, siquidem et colore tralucido non differt). The
opinion that diamond, according to its composition, was a glass-like stone of the
nature of rock-crystal, prevailed in Europe till the end of the eighteenth century,
when it was refuted by Bergmann in 1777, and experiments demonstrated that the
diamond is a combustible body (F. von Kobell, Geschichte der Mineralogie, p. 388).

*Ctun feliciter contigit rumpere, in tam parvas friatur crustas, ut cerni vix
possint. Expetuntur hae scalptoribus ferroque includuntur, nuUam non duritiam

32 The Diamond

Dioscorides of the first century a.d. distinguishes four kinds of
diamonds, the third of which is called *' ferruginous" because it re-
sembles iron, but iron is heavier; it is found in Yemen. According to
him, the adamantine fragments are stuck into iron handles, being thus
ready to perforate stones, rubies, and pearls.^ The concept of a mysteri-
ous association of the diamond with iron survived till our middle ages.
KoNRAD VON Megenberg, in his Book of Nature, written in 1349-50,*
observes that, according to the treatises on stones, the virtue of the
diamond is much greater if its foundation be made of iron, in case it is
to be set in a ring; but the ring should be of gold to be in keeping with the
dignity of the stone.

If we now glance back at the text of Lie-tse, from which we started,
we shall easily recognize that the kun-wu sword mentioned in it is in
fact only a mask for the diamond-point; for Lie-tse, with reference to
this sword, avails himself of exactly the same definition as the Shi chou
kiy expressed in the identical words, — "cutting hard stone (jade) as
though it were merely clayish earth," — and the jade-cutting knife (tao)
is uneqtiivocally identified with the diamond in the Huan chung ki.
The passage in Lie-tse, therefore, rests on a misunderstanding or a too
liberal interpretation of the word tao 7J , which means a cutting-instru-
ment in the widest sense, used for carving, chopping, trimming, paring,
scraping, etc. It may certainly mean a dagger or sword with a single
edge; and Lie-tse, or whoever fabricated the book inscribed with his
name, exaggerated it into the double-edged sword kien.^ Then he was
certainly obliged to permit himself the further change of making this
sword of tempered steel;* and by prefixing the classifier kin ('metal') to
the words kun and wu, the masquerade was complete for eluding the
most perspicacious sinologues.^ Lie-tse's kun-wu sword is a romantic

ex facili cavantes (xxxvii, 15, § 60). It is not necessary, as proposed by F. de M6ly
(Lapidaires chinois, p. 257), to make a distinction between kin kang shi ("diamond")
and kin kang ts'uan ("emery"). It plainly follows from the Chinese texts that the
latter is the diamond-point (see below, p. 34).

1 Compare L. Leclerc, Trait6 des simples. Vol. Ill, p. 272.

2 Ed. of F. Pfeiffer, p. 433.

' The conception of the diamond as a sword had perhaps been conveyed to
China from an outside quarter. In the language of the Kirgiz, the word almas,
designating the "diamond" (from Arabic almas), has also the significance "steel"
(in the same manner as the Greek adamas, from which the Arabic word is derived),
and ak almas ("white diamond") is a poetical term for a "sword" (W. Radloff,
Wdrterbuch der Turk-Dialecte, Vol. I, col. 438).

* This metamorphosis was possibly somehow connected with the original
meaning "steel" inherent in the Greek word adamas.

' The missing link is foimd in another passage of the Shi chou ki, where the same
event is described as in Lie-tse. It runs as follows : "At the time of King Mu of the

The Diamond-Point 33

fiction evolved from the kun-wu diamond-points heard of and imported
from the Hellenistic Orient. It has nothing to do with the sword
industry of the Huns or Chinese, as speculated by Hirth; nor is it a
Damascus blade, as suggested by Faber and Forke. Such books as
Lie-tse and many others of like calibre cannot be utilized as historical
sources for archaeological argumentation; their stories must first be
analyzed, critically dissected, scrutinized, and correlated with other
texts, Chinese as well as Western, to receive that stamp of valuation
which is properly due them. It is now clear also why Lie-tse links the
kun-wu sword with asbestos, inasmuch as the two are products of the
Hellenistic Orient. The circumstance that both are credited to King
Mu is a meaningless fable. King Mu was the chosen favorite and
hero of Taoist legend-makers, to whose name all marvellous objects
of distant trade were attached (in the same manner as King Solomon
and Alexander in the West). The introduction of the Western Jung
on this occasion possibly is emblematic of the intermediary r61e which
was played by Turkish tribes in the transmission of goods from the
Anterior Orient and Persia to China.^

As regards the history of the diamond, we learn that the Chinese,
before they became acquainted with the stone as a gem, received the
first intimation of it in the shape of diamond-points for mechanical
work, sent from the Hellenistic Orient, — known first (at the time
of the Han) under the name kun-wu; in the third century (under the
Tsin), as will be shown below, under the name kin-kang; and later
on, as kin-kang tsuan. It seems that the Chinese made little or no

Chou dynasty the Western Hu presented a jade- cutting knife of kun-wu, one foot
long, capable of cutting jade as though it were merely clayish earth." In this text
(quoted in P'ei wH yiinfu, Ch. 19, p. 13) the word tao is used, and kun-wu is plainly
written without the classifiers kin. Here we have the model after which Lie-tse
worked. The term kun-wu tao, written in the same style as in Shi chou ki, appears
once more in the biography of the painter Li Kung-lin (Sung shi, Ch. 444, p. 7), who
died in 1106. The Emperor had obtained a seal of nephrite, which his scholars,
despite long deliberations, could not decipher till Li Kung-lin diagnosed it as the
famous seal of Ts'in Shi Huang-ti made by Li Se in the third century B.C. (com-
pare Chavannes, T*oung Pao, 1904, p. 496). On this occasion the painter said
that the substance nephrite is hard, but not quite so hard as a diamond-point
{kun-wu tao).

1 It is interesting that the diamond appears also in the cycle of Si-wang-mu, the
legendary motives of which, in my opinion, to a large extent go back to the Hel-
lenistic Orient. In the Han Wu-ti net chuan (p. 2 b; ed. of Shou shan ko ts*ung shu),
the goddess appears wearing in her girdle a magic seal of diamond (kin-kang ling si).
The work in question, carried by an unfounded tradition into the Han period, is a
production of much later times, but seems to have existed in the second half of the
sixth century (Pelliot, Bulletin de I'Ecole frangaise, Vol. IX, p. 243; and Journal
asiatique, 1912, Juillet-Ao{it, p. 149).

34 The Diamond

use of the diamond for ornamental purposes, and did not understand
how to work it.^

Not only have the Chinese stories about the diamond-point, but
there is also proof for the fact that this implement was among them a
living reality turned to practical use. Li Siin, the author of the Hat
yao pen ts'ao, — an account of the drugs of southern countries, written
in the second half of the eighth century ,2 — discusses the genuine pearl
fotmd in the southern ocean, and observes that it can be perforated
only by the diamond-point {kin-kang tsuan).^ The poet Yuan Ch^n
(779-831), his contemporary, says in a stanza, **The diamond-point
bores jade, the sword of finely tempered steel* severs the floating
down."

The preceding accounts have conveyed the impression that the
diamond-points employed by the Chinese were plain implements of the
shape of an awl tipped with a diamond. A different instnmient is
described in the Hiian chung ki, a work of the fifth century, which has
already been quoted from the Pin ts'ao kang mu. In the great cyclo-
paedia T'ai pHng yii lan^ the passage of this book concerning the dia-
mond is handed down as follows: "The diamond comes from India and
the country of Ta Ts'in (the Roman Orient). It is styled also 'jade-
cutting knife,' as it cuts jade like an iron knife. The largest reach a

1 The Nan chou i wu chi (Account of Remarkable Objects in the Southern
Provinces, by Wan Chen of the third century) states that the diamond is a stone, in
appearance resembling a pearl, hard, sharp, and matchless; and that foreigners are
fond of setting it in rings, which they wear in order to ward off evil influences and
poison (T^ai pHng yii Ian, Ch. 813, p. 10). — The Polyglot Dictionary of K'ien-lung
(Ch. 22, p. 65) discriminates between kin-kang tsuan ("diamond-point") and kin-
kang shi ("diamond stone"). The former corresponds to Manchu paltari, Tibetan
p'a-lam, and Mongol ocir alama; the latter, to Manchu palta wehe (wehe, "stone"),
Tibetan rdo p'a-lam {rdo, "stone"), and Mongol alama cilagu (the latter hkewise
means "stone"). The Manchu words are artificial formations based on the Tibetan
word. Mongol alama apparently goes back to Arabic almas (Russian almaz), Uigur
and other Turkish dialects almas (Osmanli elmas), ultimately traceable to Greek-
Latin adamas. Al-Akfani writes the word al-mds, the initials of the stem being
mistaken by him for the native article al (Wiedemann, Zur Mineralogie im Islam,
p. 218).

2 Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 45.

' Ptn ts'ao kang mu, Ch. 46, p. 3b; CMng lei pin ts^ao, Ch. 20, fol. 12 b (edition
of 1523). Al-Akfani says in the same manner that the pearl is perforated only by
means of the diamond (E. Wiedemann, Zur Mineralogie im Islam, p. 221).

* Pin tHe. Julien's opinion that the diamond is understood by this term is erro-
neous, and was justly antagonized by Mayers {China Review, Vol. IV, 1875, P- i75)«
Regarding this steel imported into China by Persians and Arabs, see Bretschneider,
Mediaeval Researches, Vol. I, p. 146; Watters, Essays on the Chinese Language,
p. 434; HiRTH and Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua, p. 19.

' Ch. 813, p. 10 (edition of Juan Yuan, 18 12).

Diamond and Gold 35

length of over a foot, the smallest are of the size of a rice-grain. In
order to cut jade, it is necessary to make a large gold ring, which is held
between the fingers; this ring is inserted into the jade-cutting knife,
which thus becomes fit for work." This description is not very clear,
but I am under the impression that an instrument on the order of our
roller-cutter is understood.

This investigation may be regarded also as a definite solution of a
problem of classical archaeology, which for a long time was the subject
of an extended and heated controversy.^ The Chinese, though receiving
the diamond-point from the Occident, have preserved to us more copious
notes and clearer and fuller texts regarding this subject than the classical
authors; and if hitherto it was possible to cast doubts on Pliny's descrip-
tion of diamond-splinters (above, p. 31), which have been taken by
some authors for diamond-dust, this scepticism is no longer justified in
the light of Chinese information. What Pliny describes is indeed the
diamond-point, and the accurate descriptions of the Chinese fully bear
out this fact.

Diamond and Gold. — The earliest passage of fundamental his-
torical value in which the diamond is clearly indicated occurs in the
Tsin kH ku chu -^^^ >£,^ and is handed down to us in two dif-
ferent versions. One of these runs as follows:^ "In the third year of
the period Hien-ning (a.d. 277), Tun-huang* presented to the Emperor
diamonds (kin-kang). Diamonds are the rulers in the midst of gold
(or preside in the proximity of gold ^'^Y)- They are neither
washed,^ nor can they be melted. They can cut jade, and come from
(or are produced in) India." The other version of this text, ascribed to

* The chief arguments are discussed below on pp. 42-46.

* The term kH kii chu Mj^i^ designates a peculiar class of historical records deal-
ing with the acts of prominent persons and sovereigns. The first in existence re-
lated to the Han Emperor Wu. The well-known Mu Vien-tse chuan (Life of the
Emperor Mu) agreed in style and make-up with the k'i kii chu which were extant
tuider the Sui dynasty (see Sui shu,Ch.. 33, p. 7). Under the Tsin quite a number of
books of this class were written, which are enumerated in the chapter on Sui litera
ture quoted. Judging from the titles there given, each must have embraced a
fixed year-period; hence the passage quoted above must have been contained in the
Tsin Hien-ning k'i kU chu, that is, Annotations on the Conditions of the Period Hien-
ning (275-280) of the Tsin Dynasty, a work in ten chapters, written by Li Kuei
$1^. Nineteen other titles of works of this type referring to the Tsin period,
and apparently all contemporary records, are preserved in the Sui shu and were
utilized at that time; thus the Tsin k*i kii chu is quoted in the biography of Yu-w6n
K'ai f jctl. in the Sui Annals.

» Pat pHng yii Ian, Ch. 813, p. 10.

* In the north-western comer of Kan-su, near the border of Turkistan.
^ As is the case with gold-sand.

36 The Diamond

the same work, is recorded thusr^ "In the thirteenth year of the reign
of the Emperor Wu (a.d. 277) there was a man in Tun-huang, who pre-
sented the Court with diamond jewels {kin-kang pao). These are
produced in the midst of gold ( -i^^). Their color is like that of
fluor-spar ,2 and in their appearance they resemble a grain of buck-
wheat. Though many times fused, they do not melt. They can cut
jade as though it were merely cla3dsh earth." It is manifest that these
two texts, from their coincidence chronologically, are but variants
referring to one and the same event, under the Tsin dynasty (265-419) ;
and it is likewise apparent that the text as preserved in the T'ai pHng yii
Ian, the great cyclopaedia published by Li Fang in 983, bears the stamp
of true originality, while that in the PHen tse lei pien is made up of scraps
borrowed from the Pao p'u tse of Ko Hung (p. 21) and Lie-tse's notice
of kun-wu (p. 28).^ From this memorable passage we may gather
several interesting facts: diamonds were traded in the second part of
the third century from India by way of Turkistan to Tun-huang for
further transmission inland into China proper; and the chief charac-
teristics of the stone were then perfectly grasped by the Chinese, par-
ticularly its property of cutting other hard stones. The most important
gain, however, for our specific purpose, is the observation that a bit of
Plinian folk-lore is mingled with the Chinese account. We are at once
reminded of Pliny's statement that adamas was the name given to a
nodosity of gold, sometimes, though but rarely, foimd in the mines in
company with gold, and that it seemed to occur only in gold."* Pseudo-

1 PHen tse lei pien, Ch. 71, p. lib.

* See above, p. 21.

» A third variant occurs in Yiian Men lei han (Ch. 361, p. i8b), where the term
"diamond" is, strangely enough, suppressed. This text runs thus: "The Books of
the Tsin by Wang Yin say that in the third year of the period Hien-ning (a.d. 277),
according to the KH ku chu, from the district of Tun-huang were brought to the
Court objects found in gold caves, which originate in gold, are infusible, and can cut
jade."

* Ita appellabatur auri nodus in metallis repertus perquam raro [comes auri]
nee nisi in auro nasci videbatur (xxxvii, 15, § 55). Also Plato is credited with
having entertained a similar notion (Krause, Pyrgoteles, p. 10; H. O. Lenz, Mine-
ralogie der alten Griechen und Romer, p. 16; Blumner, Technologic, Vol. Ill,
p. 230; and in Pauly's Realenzyklopadie, Vol. IX, col. 322); although others, like
E. O. VON LiPPMANN (Abhandlungen und VortrSge, Vol. II, p. 39), are not convinced
that Plato's adamas means the diamond. The note in Bostock and Riley's trans-
lation of Pliny (Vol. VI, p. 406) — that "this statement cannot apply to the diamond
as known to us, though occasionally grains of gold have been found in the vicinity of
the diamond" — is not to the point. On the contrary, it is a well-established fact
that the diamond does occur in connection with gold; and this experience even led
to the discovery of diamond-mines in the Ural. Owing to the similarity between the
Brazilian and Uralic gold and platina sites, Alexander von Humboldt, in 1823,

Diamond and Gold 37

Aristotle, in the introduction to his work, philosophizes on the forces of
nature attracting or avoiding one another. To these belongs gold that
comes as gold-dust from the mine. When the diamond encounters a
grain of it, it pounces on the gold, wherever it may be in its mine, till
the union is accomplished.^ Qazwini speaks of an amicable relationship
between gold and the diamond, for if the diamond comes near gold,
it clings to the latter; also it is said that the diamond is found only
in gold-mines. 2 A commentary to the Shan hai king^ has the following:
"The diamond which is produced abroad belongs to the class of stones,
but resembles gold (or metal) and has a brilliant splendor. It can cut
jade. The foreigners wear it in the belief that it wards off evil influ-
ences." It is therefore highly probable that the first element (kin)
in the Chinese compound kin-kang was really intended to convey the
meaning " gold " (not "metal " in general) , and that the term was framed
in consequence of that tradition reaching Tun-huang, and ultimately
traceable to classical antiquity. A further intimation as to the signifi-
cance of the newly-coined term we receive in the same period, that of the
Tsin dynasty, when the stone and its nature were perfectly known in
China. Indeed, it is several times alluded to in the official Annals of
the Tsin Dynasty (265-419). At that time "a saying was current
among the people of Liang,* that the principle of the diamond of the
Western countries is strength, and that for this reason the name kin-
kang was conferred upon it in Liang." ^ In combining this information
with the previous text of the Tsin kH kU chu, we arrive at the conclusion
that the term kin-kang reflects two traditions, — the word kin referring
to the origin of the diamond in gold, the word kang alluding to its

expressed the idea that the diamond accompanying these two metals in Brazil should
be discovered also in the Ural; under the guidance of this prognostic, the first dia-
monds were really found there in 1829 (Bauer, Edelsteinkunde, 2d ed., p. 292).
The diamonds of California have been found in association with gold-bearing gravels,
while washing for gold (Farrington, Gems and Gem Minerals, p. 87). The state-
ment of Pliny proves that he indeed speaks of the diamond.

1 J. RusKA, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 129.

2 RusKA, Steinbuch aus der Kosmographie des al-Qazwini, p. 6.

3 Quoted in Yiian kien lei han, Ch. 26, p. 46.

* Liang is the name of one of the nine provinces (chou) into which China was
anciently divided by the culture-hero and semi-historical Emperor Yii, comprising
what is at present Sze-ch'uan and parts of Shen-si, Kan-su, and Hu-pei (regarding
the boundaries of Liang-chou, see particularly Legge, Chinese Classics, Vol. Ill,
PP- 1 19-120). Liang-chou was one of the nineteen provinces into which China was
divided under the Tsin dynasty, with Wu-wei (in Kan-su) as capital (compare Piton,
China Review, Vol. XI, p. 299).

^ Tsin shu, Ch. 14, p. 16. The Annals of the Tsin Dynasty were compiled by
Fang Huan-ling (578-648).

38 The Diamond

extreme hardness, likewise emphasized by Pliny; kin-kang, accordingly,
means "the hard stone originating in gold."^

In our middle ages we meet the notion of adamantine gold which is
credited with the same properties as the diamond. In the famous letter,
purported to have been addressed by Prester John to the Byzantine
Emperor Manuel, and written about 1165, a floor in the bakery of the
alleged palace of the Royal Presbyter in India is described as being of
adamantine gold, the strength of which can be destroyed neither by
iron, nor fire, nor any other remedy, save buck's blood.^

The Term "Kun-wu." — It is difficult to decide the origin of the
word kun-wu. It would be tempting to regard it as a transcription of
the Greek or West-Asiatic word denoting the diamond-point; unfor-
tunately, however, the Greek designation for this implement is not
known. More probably the Chinese term may be derived from an idiom
spoken in Central Asia; at any rate, the word itself was employed
in China before the introduction of diamond-points from the West. In
a poem of Se-ma Siang-ju, who died in 117 B.C., we meet a precious
stone named kun-wu jS-3^ » as occurring in Sze-ch'uan, on the nature
of which the opinions of the commentators dissent.^ The Han shu yin i
explains it as the name of a mountain which produces excellent gold.
Shi-tse or Shi Kiao (about 280 B.C.) explains it as "gold" or "metal of
Kun-wu" tx^%^U^ , which may mean that he takes the latter as

1 In the study of Chinese texts some precaution is necessary in the handling of the
term kin kang, which does not always refer to the diamond, but sometimes presents
a complete sentence with the meaning "gold is hard." Three examples of this kind
are known to me. One occurs in Nan shi (biography of Chang T'ung; see Pien tse
lei pien, Ch. 71, p. lib): "Gold is hard, water is soft: this is the difference in their
natural properties." In Tsin shu (Ch. 95, p. 13 b; biography of Wang Kia) we meet
the sentence ^|»1^§S.. This, of course, could mean "the diamond is conquered
by fire," — a sentence which, from the standpoint of our scientific experience, would
be perfectly correct; from a Chinese viewpoint, however, it would be sheer non-
sense, the Chinese as well as the ancients entertaining the belief that fire does not
aJBEect the diamond (p. 23). The passage really signifies, "Gold is hard, yet is
overcome (melted) by fire." The correctness of this translation is confirmed by a
passage in a work Yi shi ftng kio (quoted in Pien tse lei pien, I. c.) , where the same say-
ing occurs in parallelism with two preceding sentences: "Branches of trees fall and
return to their roots; water flows from the roots and returns to the branches; gold
is hard, yet is overcome by fire; every one returns to his native place."

2 Pavimentimi vero est de auro adamantino, fortitudo cuius neque ferro neque
igne neque aUo medicamine potest confringi sine yrcino [hircino] sanguine (F.
Zarncke, Der Priester Johannes I, p. 93). Compare the analogous passage in the
same document, "Infra domum sunt duae magnae molae, optime ad molendum
dispositae, factae de adamante lapide, quem namque lapidem neque lapis neque
ignis neque ferrum potest confringere." Both these passages are not contained in
the original draught of the letter, but are interpolations from manuscripts of the
thirteenth century.

^ Shi ki, Ch. 117, p. 2 b.

The Term "Kun-wu" 39

the name of the locality whence the ore came. Se-ma Piao (240-305)
interprets it as a stone ranking next to jade. Then follows in his text
the story of kun-wu in Liu-sha, quoted from the Lung yii ho Vu, which
has been discussed above. I do not know whether this is a separate
editorial comment, or was included in the commentary of Se-ma Piao.
At all events, the fact is borne out that the word kun-wu in the Shi ki,
and that referring to the West, are considered by the Chinese as identical,
and that the mode of writing (with or without the classifier *jade') is
immaterial.^ We know that in times of old numerous characters were
written without the classifiers, which were but subsequently added.
The writing kun-wu in Lie-tse with the classifier * metal' plainly mani-
fests itself as a secondary move,^ and the simple kun-wu without any
determinative classifier doubtless represents the primary stage. This
is shown also by the existence of a character ^^, where the element
kun is combined with the classifier 'stone.'' If in the Shi ki the word
kun-wu is linked with the classifier *jade;' and if, further, this term ap-
pears coupled with nine other designations of stones, the whole series
of ten being introduced by the words ** following are the stones," — the
interpretation "gold" is absurd, and that of Se-ma Piao has only a
chance. It would therefore be possible that kun-wu originally served
for naming some hard stone indigenous to Sze-ch'uan, and was subse-
quently transferred to the imported diamond-point. The name for
the stone may have been inspired by that of the mountain Kun-wu,
stones being frequently named in China for the mountains or localities
from which they are derived. On the other hand, there is a text in
which the name Kun-wu in this connection is conceived as that of a clan
or family by the addition of the word shi i\ . This is the Chou shu*"
which relates the tradition that the Western Countries offered fire-proof
cloth (asbestos), and the Kun-wu Clan presented jade-cutting knives.
It seems certain that this version has no basis in reality, but presents a
makeshift to account for the troublesome word kun-wu. How it sprang
into existence may be explained from the fact that there was in ancient
times, imder the Hia dynasty, a rebel by the name Kun-wu, mentioned
in the Shi king and Shi ki; ^ but it is obvious that this family name bears

1 In Ts'ien Han shu, where the same text is reproduced, kun-wu is written without
the classifiers.

* In all likelihood this is merely a device of later editors of Lie-tse's text. There
are editions in which the plain kun-wu without the classifier is written (see P'ei win
yiinfu, Ch. 91, p. i6b).

' P*ei wH yiinfu, Ch. 100 A, p. 25.

* Regarding this work see Chavannes, M6moires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien,
Vol. V, p. 457. The passage is quoted in Po wu chi, Ch. 2, p. 4 b (Wu-ch'ang edition) .

^ Legge, Chinese Classics, Vol. Ill, p. 642; Chavannes, /. c, Vol. I, p. 180.

40 The Diamond

no relation to the name of the mountain in Sze-ch'uan, the stone hailing
from it, and the diamond-point coming from the West.^

Ko Hung informs us that "the Emperor W^n of the Wei dynasty
(220-226), who professed to be well informed with regard to every
object in nature, declared that there were no such things in the world
as a knife that would cut jade, and fire-proof cloth; which opinion he
recorded in an essay on the subject. Afterwards it happened that both
these articles were brought to court within a year; the Emperor was
surprised, and caused the essay to be destroyed; this course being un-
avoidable when he found the statements to be without foundation." ^
General Liang-ki, who lived at the time of the Emperor Huan (147-167),
is said to have possessed asbestos and "jade-cutting knives."^ The
book handed down under the name of K'ung-ts'ting-tse* contains the
tradition that the Prince of Ts'in obtained from the Western Jung a
sharp knife capable of cutting jade as though it were wood. The poet
Kiang Yen (443-504) wrote a poem on a bronze sword, in the preface
of which he observes that there are also red knives of cast copper capable
of cutting jade like clayish earth, — apparently a reminiscence of the
passage of Lie-tse, only the latter 's "iron" is replaced by "copper."
In the preceding texts the term kun-wu is avoided, and only the phrase
"jade-cutter" {ko yii tad) has survived.

Toxicology or the Diamond. — Contrary to his common practice,
Li Shi-ch6n does not state whether the diamond is poisonous or not.
As to the curative powers of the stone, he asserts that when set into
hair-spangles, finger-rings, or girdle-ornaments, it wards off uncanny
influences, evil, and poisonous vapors.^ On this point the Chinese
agree with Pliny, according to whom adamas overcomes and neutralizes

1 Also HiRTH (Chinesische Ansichten uber Bronzetrommeln, p. 20) persuaded
himself that this proper name is not connected with what he believed to be the
^* kun-wu sword." It is difficult, however, to credit the theory that the name kun-wu,
as tentatively proposed by Hirth, could be a transcription on an equal footing with
Hiung-nu (Huns). Aside from phonetic obstacles, the fact remains that the Chinese
notices of kun-wu do not point in the direction of the Hims, but refer to Liu-sha in
Ta Ts'in (the Roman Orient).

2 A. Wylie, Chinese Researches, pt. in, p. 151.

' Yiian kien lei han, Ch. 225, p. 2; and Wylie, /. c, p. 143.

* The son of K'ung Fu, a descendant of Confucius in the ninth degree, who died
in 210 B.C. (Giles, Biographical Dictionary, p. 401). It is doubtful whether the book
which we nowadays possess under the title K'ung-ts'ung-tse (incorporated in the
Han Wei ts'ung shu) is the one which he wrote (compare Chavannes, M^moires
historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien, Vol. V, p. 432). The passage referred to is quoted
in P'ei wtn yiinfu, Ch. 91, p. 21.

^ The source for this statement doubtless is the Nan chou i wu chi, quoted on
p. 34, which ascribes this notion to foreigners.

Imitation Diamonds 41

poisons, dispels insanity, and drives away groundless apprehensions
from the mind.^ The coincidence would not be so remarkable were it
not for the fact that in mediaeval Mohammedanism the theory of dia-
monds being poisonous had been developed. This idea first looms up
in Pseudo-Aristotle, who is also the first to stage the snakes in the
Diamond Valley, and cautions his readers against taking the diamond
in their mouths, because the saliva of the snakes adheres to it so that it
deals out death.^ According to al-Beruni, the people of Khorasan and
Iraq employ the diamond only for purposes of boring and poisoning.^
This superstition was carried by the Mohammedans into India, where
the belief had prevailed that the diamond wards off from its wearer
the danger of poison.* The people of India now adhere to the super-
stition that diamond-dust is at once the least painful, the most active,
and most infallible of all poisons. In our own time, when Mulhar Rao of
Baroda attempted to poison Col. Phayre, diamond-dust mixed with
arsenic was used.^ A. Boetius de Boot (1550-1632)^ was the first
modem mineralogical writer who refuted the old misconception, de-
monstrating that the diamond has no poisonous properties whatever.

Imitation Diamonds. — While all the principal motives of the
lore garnered by the Chinese around the diamond come from classical
regions, I can discover but a single notion traceable to India. Pliny
has written a short chapter on the method of testing precious stones,^
but he does not tell us how to discriminate between real and counterfeit
diamonds. According to the Hindu mineralogists, iron, topaz, hya-
cinth, rock-crystal, cat's-eye, and glass served for the imitation of the
diamond; and the forgery was disclosed by means of acids, scratching,

^ Adamas et venena vincit atque inrita facit et lymphationes abigit metusque
vanos expellit a mente (xxxvii, 15, § 61).

2 J. RusKA, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 150; and Diamant in der Medizin
{Festschrift Baas, pp. 121-125); likewise al-Akfani (E. Wiedemann, Zur Mineralogie
im Islam, p. 219). Qazwini (J. Ruska, Steinbuch aus der Kosmographie des al-
Kazwinl, p. 35) quotes Ibn Sina as saying that the venomous property imputed by
Aristotle to the diamond is a hollow pretence, and that Aristotle is ignorant of the
fact that snake-poison, after flowing out, loses its baleful effect, especially when some
time has elapsed. This sensible remark does not prevent Qazwini, in copying his
second anonymous source relating to the diamond, from alleging that "it is an
extremely mortal poison."

» E. Wiedemann, Der Islam, Vol. II, p. 352.

* L. Finot, Lapidaires indiens, p. 10. Varahamihira (a.d. 505-587) states that
a good diamond dispels foes, danger from thunder-strokes or poison, and promises
many enjoyments (H. Kern, Verspreide Geschriften, Vol. II, p. 98).

^ W. Crooke, Things Indian, p. 379.

^ Gemmarum et lapidum historia, p. 124 (ed. of A. Toll, Lugduni Batavorum,
1636); compare also J. Ruska, Festschrift Baas, pp. 125-127.

' XXXVII, 76.

42 The Diamond

and the touchstone. The Agastimata is specific on this point by-
anathematizing forgers and recommending the following recipe: "The
vile man who fabricates false diamonds will sink into an awful hell,
charged with a sin equal to murder. When a connoisseur believes that
he recognizes an artificial diamond, he should test it by means of acids
or vinegar, or through application of heat: if false, it will lose color; if
true, it will double its lustre. It may also be washed and brought in
contact with rice: thus it will at once be reduced to a powder." ^ The
TsH tung ye yii of Chou Mi, previously quoted, imparts this advice:
"In order to distinguish genuine from counterfeit diamonds, expose the
stone to red-heat and steep it in vinegar: if it retains its former appear-
ance and does not split, it is real. When the diamond-point happens
to become blimt, it should be heated till it reddens; and on cooling off,
it will again have a sharp point." ^ The first experiment is identical
with that proposed in the Sanskrit text. As to the second, we again
encounter a striking parallel in Pliny: "There is such great difference
in stones, that some cannot be engraved by means of iron, others may
be cut only with a blunt graver, all, however, by means of the diamond;
heating of the graver considerably intensifies the effect."^

Acquaintance of the Ancients with the Diamond. — The
previous notes have been based on the supposition that the stone
termed adamas by the ancients, and that called kun-wu (or subsequently
kin-kang) by the Chinese, are identical with what we understand by
"diamond." This identification, however, has been called into doubt
by students of classical antiquity as well as by sinologues. It is there-
fore necessary to scrutinize their arguments. Our investigation has
clearly brought out two points, — first, that the Chinese notices of the
diamond-point (kun-wu) agree with Pliny^s account of the same imple-
ment; and, second, that Chinese traditions regarding the stone kin-kang
perfectly coincide with those of the ancients and the Arabs concerning
adamas and almas j the latter word being derived from the former. If,

1 L. FiNOT, Lapidaires indiens, p. xxx.

* F. DE Mf LY (Lapidaires chinois, p. 124) has misunderstood this passage by
referring it to the stone in Heu of the diamond-point. " S'il a des facettes 6mouss6es,
on le chaufife au rouge, on le laisse refroidir, et ses facettes redeviennent aigues."
This point of view is untenable. First, the facets of a diamond are neither blunt nor
sharp; second, a faceted diamond, as will be shown in detail farther on, was always
unknown to the Chinese, who for the first time noticed cut diamonds in the possession
of the Macao Portuguese; and, third, the parallelism with Pliny proves my conception
of the Chinese text to be correct.

• lam tanta differentia est, ut aliae ferro scalpi non possint, aliae non nisi retuso,
omnes autem adamante. Plurimum vero in iis terebrarum proficit fervor (xxxvii,
76, § 200). Compare Krause, Pyrgoteles, p. 231.

Acquaintance of the Ancients with the Diamond 43

accordingly, the adamas of the Greeks and Romans be the diamond,
the contintdty of Western and Eastern traditions renders it plain that
the Chinese stone kin-kang must be exactly the same; if, however,
adamas should denote another stone, the claim for kin-kang as the
diamond must lose its force. Eminent archaeologists like Lessing,
Krause, Bliimner, and Babelon, have championed the view that Pliny's
adamas is our diamond.^ The opposition chiefly came from the camp
of mineralogists. E. S. Dana^ remarked upon the word adamas^
"This name was applied by the ancients to several minerals differing
much in their physical properties. A few of these are quartz, speciilar
iron ore, emery, and other substances of rather high degrees of hardness,
which cannot now be identified. It is doubtful whether Pliny had any
acquaintance with the real diamond." This rather sweeping statement
does not testify to a sound interpretation of Pliny's text. A recent
author asserts,^ "It is more than doubtful if the true diamond was
known to the ancients. The consensus of the best opinions is that the
adamas was a variety of conmdum, probably our white sapphire."
Let us now examine what the foundation of these "best opinions" is.

The very first sentence with which Pliny opens his discussion of
adamas is apt to refute these peremptory assertions : " The greatest value
among the objects of htmian property, not merely among precious
stones, is due to the adamas, for a long time known only to kings, and
even to very few of these."* The most highly prized and valued of all
antique gems, the "joy of opulence,"^ should be quartz, spectilar iron
ore, emery, and other substances which cannot now be identified!
The ancients were not so narrow-minded that almost any stone picked
up anjrwhere in nature could have been regarded as their precious
stone foremost in the scale of valuation. If the peoples of India like-
wise regarded the diamond as the first of the jewels, if their treatises on
mineralogy assign to it the first place,' and if Pliny is familiar with the

1 Also so eminent an historian of natural sciences as E. O. von Lippmann
(Abhandlungen und Vortrage, Vol. I, p. 9) grants to Pliny a knowledge of the
diamond.

' System of Mineralogy, p. 3, 1850. In the new edition of 1893 this passage has
been omitted; the first distinct mention of the diamond is ascribed to Manilius (!),
and Pliny's adamas is allowed to be the diamond in part.

' D. Osborne, Engraved Gems, p. 271 (New York, 1912).

* Maximum in rebus humanis, non solum inter gemmas, pretium habet adamas,
diu non nisi regibus et iis admodum paucis cognitus (xxxvii, 15, § 55; again 78,
§ 204).

^ Opum gaudium (Pliny, prooemium of Lib. xx).

• L. Finot, Lapidaires indiens, p. xxiv. Buddhabha^ta {ibid., p. 6) says, "Owing
to the great virtue attributed by the sages to the diamond, it must be studied in the

44 The Diamond

adantas of India, it is fairly certain that also the adamas is the dia-
mond; it is, at any rate, infinitely more certain than that the jewel
first known only to kings should have been quartz, specular iron ore,
emery, or some other unidentified substance. That emery is not meant
by Pliny becomes evident from the fact that emery was well known
to the ancients under the name naxium} The Indian diamond is per-
fectly well described by Pliny as an hexangular crystal resembling
two pyramids placed base to base; that is, the octahedral form in
which the diamond commonly crystallizes.^ Whether the five other
varieties spoken of by Pliny are real diamonds or not is of no conse-
quence in this connection; two of these he himself brands as degen-
erate stones. The name very probably served in this case as a bare
trademark. Diamonds at that time were scarce, and the demand was
satisfied by inferior stones. That such were sold under the name of
"diamond" does not prove that the ancients were not acquainted with
the true diamond. The diamond of India was known to them,^ and

first place." P. S. Iyengar (The Diamonds of South India, Quarterly Journal of
the Mythic Society, Vol. Ill, 1914, p. 118) observes, "Among the Hindu, both ancient
and modern, the diamond is always regarded as the first of the nine precious gems
{navaratna)."

1 BlUmner, Technologie, Vol. Ill, pp. 198, 286. In Greek it is styled afiipu.
"Emery is the stone employed by the engravers for the cutting of gems" (Dios-

CORIDES, CLXVl).

' This passage has embarrassed some interpreters of Pliny (H. O. Lenz, Mine-
ralogie der alten Griechen und Romer, p. 163; A. Nies, Zur Mineralogie des Plinius,
p. 5), because they did not grasp the fact that it is the octahedron which has six
points or corners (sexangulus) ; and thus such inadequate translations were matured
as "its highly polished hexangular and hexahedral form" (Bostock and Riley,
Natural History of Pliny, Vol. VI, p. 406). No body, of course, can simtdtaneously
be hexangular and hexahedral, the hexahedron being a cube with six sides and four
points. Pliny's wording is plain and concise, and his description tallies with the
Sanskrit definition of the diamond as "six-cornered" {shafkona, shafkofi, or sha4dra;
see R. Garbe [Die indischen Mineralien, p. 80], who had wit enough to see that this
term hints at the octahedron and correctly answers to the diamond; likewise L.
FiNOT, Lapidaires indiens, p. xxvii). It is not impossible that the Plinian definition
is an echo of a tradition hailing, with the diamond, directly from India.

' The Indian diamond is mentioned also by Ptolemy, according to whom the
greatest bulk of diamonds was found with the Savara tribe (Pauly, Realenzyklo-
padie, Vol. I, col. 344), by the Periplus Maris Erythraei (56, ed. Fabricius, p. 98),
and by Dionysius Periegetes (second century a.d.) in his poem describing the
habitable earth (Orbis descriptio. Verse 11 19). The diamond is doubtless included
also among the precious stones cast by the sea upon the shores of India, mentioned
by CuRTius RuFUS, and among Strabo's precious stones, some of which the Indians
collect from among the pebbles of the river, and others of which they dig out of the
earth (McCrindle, Invasion of India by Alexander, pp. 187-188). Alexander's
expedition made the Greeks familiar with the diamond, hence it is mentioned by
Theophrastus (De lapidibus, 19), who compares the carbuncle with the adamas. I
do not agree with the objections raised by some authors against Theophrastus'

Acquaintance or the Ancients with the Diamond 45

the Periplus* expressly relates of the exportation from India of diamonds
and hyacinths. Further, the Annals of the T'ang Dynasty ^ come to
our aid with the statement that India has diamonds, sandal-wood, and
saffron, and barters these articles with Ta Ts'in (the Roman Orient),
Fu-nan, and Kiao-chi. The fact therefore remains, as attested by the
Chinese, that India shipped diamonds to the West.^

There is, moreover, in the chapter of Pliny, positive evidence voicing
the cause of the diamond. He is familiar with the hardness of the
stone, which is beyond expression (quippe duritia est inenarrabilis) ;
and, owing to its indomitable powers, the Greeks bestowed on it the
name adamas (*' unconquerable")-* He is acquainted, as set forth on
p. 31, with the technical use of diamond splinters, which cut the very
hardest substances known. If one of the apocryphal varieties of the
diamond, styled siderites (from Greek sideros, ''iron"), a stone which
shines like iron, is reported to differ in its main properties from the true
diamond, inasmuch as it will break when struck by the hammer, and
admit of being perforated by other kinds of adamas, this observation

acquaintance with the diamond. H. Bretzl (Botanische Forschungen des Ale-
xanderzuges) has well established the fact that he commanded an admirable knowl-
edge of the vegetation of India; thus he may well have heard also of the Indian
diamond from his same informants. It is not necessary to assume, however, that he
knew the diamond from autopsy, as he does not describe it, but mentions it only
passingly in the single passage referred to; also H. O. Lenz (Mineralogie der alten
Griechen und Romer, p. 19) holds the same opinion. It is difficult to see that
Theophrastus could have compared with the carbuncle any other stone than the
diamond.

1 Ch. 56 (ed. of Fabricius, p. 98). G. F. Kunz (Curious Lore of Precious Stones,
p. 72) observes, "The writer is disinclined to believe that the ancients knew the dia-
mond." The same author, however, believes in the existence of diamonds in ancient
India; but Rome then coveted all the precious stones of India, and he who accepts
the Indian diamond as a fact must be consistent in granting it to the ancients, too.

* T*ang shu, Ch. 221 a, p. 10 b.

' Indian diamonds were apparently traded also to Ethiopia, for Pliny records
the opinion of the ancients that the adamas was only to be discovered in the mines
of Ethiopia between the temple of Mercury and the island of Meroe (veteres eum
in Aethiopum metallis tantum inveniri existimavere inter delubrum Mercuri et
insulam Meroe n). Ajasson's comment that the Ethiopia here mentioned is in reality
India, and that the "Temple of Mercury" means the Brahmaloka, or "Temple of
Brahma" (it does not mean "temple," but "world" of Brahma) is of course wrong.
The reference to Meroe, the capital of Ethiopia, at once renders this opinion im-
possible; besides, Pliny's geographical terminology is always distinct as to the use
of India and Ethiopia. The tradition of Ethiopic diamonds is confirmed by the
Greek Romance of Alexander (in, 23), in which Queen Candace in the palace of
Merog presents Alexander with a crown of diamonds {adamas; see A. Ausfeld, Der
griechische Alexanderroman, pp. loi, 192).

* Invictum is given by Pliny himself (prooemium of lib. xx) as if it were a transla-
tion of the Greek word. The Physiologus says that the stone is called adamas
because it overpowers everything, but itself cannot be overpowered.

46 The Diamond

plainly bears out the fact that Pliny and his contemporaries knew very
well the properties of the real diamond, and, moreover, that diamond
affects diamond. In short, due allowance being made for inaccuracies
of the tradition of the Plinian text and the imperfect state of mineral-
ogical knowledge of that period, no fair criticism can escape from
the conclusion that Pliny's adamas is nothing but the diamond. The
fact that also other stones superficially resembling diamonds were at
that time taken for or passed off as diamonds, cannot change a jot of
this conclusion. Such substitutes have been in vogue everywhere and
at all times, and they are not even spared oiir own age.^ Pliny's con-
demnation of these as not belonging to the genus (degeneres) and only
enjoying the authority of the name (nominis tantum auctoritatem
habent) reveals his discriminative critical faculty and his ability to
distinguish the real thing from the frame-up. The perpetuity of the
Plinian observations in regard to the adamas among the Arabs, Persians,
Armenians, Hindu, and Chinese, who all have focussed on the diamond
this classical lore inherited by him, throws additional evidence of most
weighty and substantial character into the balance of the ancients*
thorough acquaintance with the real diamond. The Arabs, assuredly,
were not feeble-minded idiots when they coined their word almas from
the classical adamas for the designation of the diamond, and this test of
the language persists to the present day. The Arab traders and
jewellers certainly were sufficiently wide awake to know what a dia-
mond is, and their Hindu and Chinese colleagues were just as keen in
recognizing diamonds, long before any science of mineralogy was estab-
lished in Europe. The world-wide propagation of the same notions,
the same lore, the same valuation connected with the stone, is iron-hard
proof for the fact that in the West and East aHke this stone was the
diamond. This uniformity, coherence, perpetuity, and universality
of tradition form a still mightier stronghold than the interpretation of
the Plinian text. For this double reason there can be no doubt also that
the kin-kang of Chinese tradition is the diamond.

Cut Diamonds. — Another question is whether the ancients were
cognizant of the diamond in its rough natural state only, or whether
they imderstood how to cut and polish it. This problem has caused

^ There were rock-crystals found in northern Europe in the seventeenth century
and passed under the name of diamond. Johannes Scheffer (Lappland, p. 416,
Frankfurt, 1675) tells that the lapidaries sometimes used to polish these crystals
or diamonds of Lapland and to sell them as good diamonds, even frequently deceive
experts with them, because they are not inferior in lustre to the Oriental stones. In
the eighteenth century crystal was still called "false diamond" (J. Kunckell,
Ars Vitraria, p. 451, Numberg, 1743).

Cut Diamonds 47

an endless controversy. Lessing, in his '' Brief e antiquarischen
Inhalts" (No. 32), which it is still as enjoyable as profitable seriously to
study, has shown with a great amount of acumen that the ancients
possessed no knowledge whatever of diamond-dust, and therefore did
not know how to polish the diamond. This opinion, however, did not
remain uncontradicted. The opposite view is heralded by Blumner,^
who argues, "Despite the lack of positive testimony, we cannot forbear
assuming that the ancients understood, though possibly imperfectly,
how to polish the diamond. Since only in this state is the stone capable
of displaying its marvellous lustre, play of colors, and translucency, its
extraordinary valuation among the ancients would not be very intel-
ligible had they known it merely as an uncut gem." This argument is
rather sentimental and intuitive than well founded. As far as the plain
facts are concerned, Lessing is right; and, what is even more remarkable,
has remained right from 1768, the date at which he wrote, up to the
present. No cut diamond of classical antiquity has as yet come to
light; and in order to pass audaciously over the body of Pliny, and have
us believe what he does not say, such a palpable piece of evidence would
be indispensable. As a matter of fact, neither Pliny nor any other
ancient writer loses a word about diamond-dust; nor does he mention
that the diamond can be cut and polished, or that it was so treated; nor
does he express himself on the adamantine lustre.^ This silence is
sufficiently ominous to guard ourselves, I should think, against the rash
asstimption that the ancients might have cut the diamond. Its high
appreciation is quite conceivable without the application of this process,
for even the uncut diamond possesses brilliancy and lustre enough to
allure a human soul. The possibility would remain that the ancients
may have received worked diamonds, ready made, straight from India.'

1 Technologic, Vol. Ill, p. 233.

2BECKMANN (Beitrage zur Geschichte der Erfindungen, Vol. Ill, p. 541) held
that the ancients employed diamond-dust for the cutting of stones other than the
diamond, but he denied that they polished the diamond with its own dust. This is
certainly a contradiction in itself: if the ancients knew the utility of diamond-dust,
there is no reason why they should not have applied it to the diamond; and if they
did not facet diamonds, it is very plain that they lacked the knowledge of diamond-
dust. Bauer (Edelsteinkunde, p. 302, 2d ed.) observes, "In how far the ancients
imderstood how to polish diamonds, or at least to improve existing crystal surfaces
by pohshing, is not known with certainty. From the traditions handed down,
however, it becomes evident that this art was not wholly unknown to the ancients.''
The latter statement is without basis.

' This hypothesis was formulated by H. O. Lenz (Mineralogie der alten Griechen
und R6mer, pp. 39, 164, Gotha, 1861), who concluded from what the ancients said
regarding the brilliancy of the stone that diamonds cut and polished in the country of
their origin were traded to Europe.

48 The Diamond

Here, again, it is unfortunate that our knowledge fails us: the ancient
Indian sources exhibit the same lack of information on the identical
points as does Pliny. S. K. Aiyangar^ justly points out that in the
description of the diamond, as given in the Arthagastra (quoted above,
p. 1 6), "there is nothing to warrant the inference that diamonds were
artificially cut; but, perhaps, the fact that diamonds were used to bore
holes in other substances makes it clear that lapidary work was not
unknown." A very late work on gems, the Agastimata, in an appendix
of still later date, contains a curious passage in which the cutting of
diamonds is prohibited: "The stone which is cut with a blade, or
which is worn out by repeated friction, becomes useless, and its benevo-
lent virtue disappears; the stone, on the contrary, which is absolutely
nattiral has all its virtue." L. Finot,^ to whom we owe the edition and
translation of this work, rightly points out that cutting and polishing are
clearly understood here; but another passage in the same treatise speaks
of it as a normal process, without forbidding what precedes the setting
of diamonds for ornaments, and we regret with Finot that these passages
cannot be dated. Garcia ab Horto, who wrote in 1563, informs us
that by the people of India natural diamonds were preferred to the cut
ones, in opposition to the Portuguese.^ Ta vernier (1605-89) describes
the diamond-polishing in the Indian mines by means of diamond-dust.'*
In the face of the Agastimata and Garcia's statements, suspicion is ripe
that diamond-cutting was introduced into India only by the Portuguese,^
and that the employment of uncut stones was the really national fashion
of India. The passage in the additional chapter of the Agastimata,
as stated, cannot be dated with certainty, but it seems more probable
that it falls within the time of the Portuguese era of India than that it

^ Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society, Vol. Ill, p. 130.

' Lapidaires indiens, p. xxx.

' Si come una vergine si preferisce ad una donna corrotta, cosi il diamante dalla
natura polito, e acconcio s'ha da preferire k quello, che dall'arte h stato lavorato.
Al contrario f anno i Portughesi, stimando piti quelli, che sono dall'artificio dell' huomo
acconci, e lavorati (Italian edition, p. 180).

* "There are at this mine numerous diamond-cutters, and each has only a steel
wheel of about the size of our plates. They place but one stone on each wheel,
and pour water incessantly on the wheel until they have found the 'grain' of the
stone. The 'grain' being found, they pour on oil and do not spare diamond-dust,
although it is expensive, in order to make the stone run faster, and they weight it
much more heavily than we do. . , . The Indians are unable to give the stones so
lively a polish as we give them in Europe; and this, I believe, is due to the fact that
their wheel does not run so smoothly as ours" (ed. of V. Ball, Vol. II, pp. 57, 58).

* Also Bauer (Edelsteinkunde, p. 302, 2d ed.) is of the opinion that the diamond-
cutting of Europe, which was developed from the end of the middle ages, has not
remained without influence upon India, and that perhaps the process was introduced
from Europe into India, or was at least resuscitated there.

Cut Diamonds 49

should be much earlier. It is safer to adopt this point of view, as the
Ratnaparlkshd of Buddhabhatta, who presumably wrote somewhat
earlier than the sixth century, does not mention the cutting of dia-
monds,^ nor does the mineralogical treatise of Narahari from the fifteenth
century.^ At all events, we have as yet no ancient source of Indian
literature in which the cutting of diamonds is distinctly set forth. The
discovery of such a passage, or, what is still more preferable, archaeological
evidence in the shape of ancient cut diamonds, may possibly correct
our knowledge in the future. For the present it seems best to adhere
to the view that the polishing of diamonds was foreign to ancient India,
and a process but recently taught by European instructors. Certainly,
we should not base our present conclusions on hoped-for future dis-
coveries, which may even never be made, nor should we shift evidence
appropriate to the last centuries into times of antiqtiity, nor is there
reason to persuade ourselves that the knowledge of the diamond on the
part of the Indians goes back to the period of a boundless antiquity
(see p. 16). The Chinese contribute nothing to the elucidation of this
problem; and certain it is that they merely kept the diamonds in the
condition in which they received them from the Roman Orient, Fu-nan,
India, and the Arabs, without attempting to improve the appearance
of the stones. The European tradition that Ludwig van Berquen of
Brugge in 1476 was the *' inventor" of the process of polishing diamonds
by means of diamond-dust, is, of course, nothing more than a con-
ventional story (une fable convenue). As shown by Bauer,' diamonds
were roughly or superficially polished as early as the middle ages; and
Berquen improved the process and arranged the facets with stricter
regiilarity, whereby the color effect was essentially enhanced.* The
early history of the technique in Europe is not yet exactly ascertained.*

^ L. FiNOT (/. c, p. xxx), it is true, alludes to a passage of this work where, in his
opinion, it is apparently the question of diamond-polishing. The text, however, runs
thus: "The sages must not employ for ornament a diamond with a visible flaw; it
can serve only for the polishing of gems, and its value is slight." This only means
that deficient diamonds were used for the working of stones other than the diamond.

2 R. Garbe, Die indischen Mineralien, pp. 80-83.

3 L. c, p. 303.

* The Berquen legend was firmly established in the seventeenth century, under
the influence of one of his descendants. Robert de Berquen (in his book Les
merveilles des Indes orientales et occidentales, p. 13, Paris, 1669), after disdainfully
talking about the rough diamonds obtained from India, soars into this panegyric of
his ancestor : " Le Ciel doua ce Louis de Berquen qui estoit natif de Bruges, comme un
autre Bezell^e, de cet esprit singulier ou genie, pour en trouver de luy mesme I'inven-
tion et en venir heureusement a bout." Then follows the story of the "invention."

^ H. Sokeland {Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, Vol. XXIII, 1891, Verhandlungen,
p. 621) took up this question again, and thought that definite proof had not been

$0 The Diamond

On the other hand, we have two testimonies in witness of the fact
that, even though a certain crude method of treating diamonds may-
have lingered in the Orient, the superior European achievements along
this line were received by Oriental nations as a surprising novelty. The
Armenian lapidarium of the seventeenth century states,^ "No one
besides the Franks (Europeans) understands how to polish and to bore
the diamond. The polished stone of four carats is sold at ten thousand
otmani. The Franks at Aleppo say that the diamond, though it is the
king of all precious stones, is of no utility without polishing, because
in its raw state admixtures will remain, which may often not be notice-
able in the cut stone." The Chinese made their first acquaintance with
polished diamonds among the Portuguese of Macao, who, they say, base
their valuation on this quality.^

Acquaintance of the Chinese with the Diamond. — Let us now
examine the objections which have been raised by sinologues to the
identification of the term kin-kang with the diamond. F. Porter
Smith,^ who made rather inexact statements on the subject, in 1871
contested that kin-kang denotes the real diamond, and treated it under
the title "corundimi," which arbitrarily he takes for "a kind of adaman-
tine spar." Conmdum, he states, crystallizes in six-sided prisms, but
the Chinese siliceous stone is said to be octahedral in form. If this be
really said by the Chinese, it is evidence that the stone in question is the
diamond, not conmdum; and the latter, in its main varieties of ruby and
sapphire, is well known to the Chinese under a munber of terms. Black-
ish emery, containing iron, it is thought by Smith, is also described

brought forward for the assertion that the ancients did not employ diamond-dust;
but he recruited no new facts for the discussion, and merely referred to the old fable
that the Bishop Marbodus (1035-1123) should have been familiar with diamond-
dust. Marbodus, however, in his famous treatise De lapidibus pretiosis, most
obviously speaks only of diamond-splinters (huius fragmentis gemmae sculptuntur
acutis; in the earliest French translation, d6s piecc^ttes |Ki en esclatent agu^ttes]
Les altres gemmes sunt talli^es] E gentement aparelli66s. — L. Pannier, Lapidaires
frangais du moyen ^ge, p. 36), as translated correctly also by King (Antique Gems,
P- 392); and he does so, not because he was possibly acquainted with them, but be-
cause he copied this matter, as most of his data, from Pliny. Likewise Konrad von
Megenberg, in his Book of Nature written 1349-50 (ed. of F. Pfeiffer, p. 433),
states only that other hard precious stones are graved with pointed diamond-pieces.
It means little, as insisted upon by S6keland, that A. Hirth and Mariette second the
cause of the ancients in the use of diamond-dust, as their opinion is not based on any
text to this efifect (such does not exist), but merely on the impression received from
certain engraved gems. The conclusion, however, that these could not have been
worked otherwise than by means of diamond-dust, is unwarranted, and plainly
contradicted by Pliny's data regarding the treatment of precious stones.

* Russian translation of Patkanov, p. 4.

* Wu li siao shi, Ch. 8, p. 22.

* Contributions toward the Materia Medica of China, pp. 74, 85.

Acquaintance of the Chinese with the Diamond 51

under this heading in the Pen ts'ao. We have seen that what is de-
scribed in this work, owing to the strict conformity with classical tradi-
tions, refers to nothing but the diamond; and it was the black diamonds
which were chosen as graving-implements. According to Smith,
Cambodja, India, Asia Minor, the country of the Hui-k'i (Uigur), and
other countries of Asia, are said to possess this stone. Cambodja is
intended for Fu-nan; and the country of the Uigur, as has been shown,
is merely the theatre of action for the legend of the Diamond Valley in
the version of Chou Mi (this statement is devoid of any geographical
value). If the prefecture of Shun-ning in Yiin-nan, as stated by Smith,
5rields the present supply of corundum used in cutting gems, this is an
entirely different question. If the name kin-kang is bestowed on
corundum-points, it is a commercial term, which does not disprove that
the kin-kang of ancient tradition was the diamond, or prove that it
was a kind of corundum. The diamond-points formerly imported were
naturally scarce; and the Chinese, recognizing the high usefulness of
this implement, were certainly eager to discover a similar material in
their country, fit to take the place of the imported article.^ This is a
process which repeated itself in China numerous times: the impetus
received from abroad acted as a stimulus to domestic research. If such
a stone was ultimately fotmd, it was termed kin-kang^ not because this
stone was confounded with the diamond, but for the natural reason that
it was turned to the same use as the diamond-point; in other words, the
name in this case does not relate to the stone as a mineralogical species,
but to the stone in its function as an implement. Consequently it is
inadmissible to draw any scientific inferences from the modem applica-
tion of the word kin-kang as to the character of the stone mentioned in
the earlier records of the Chinese.

A. J. C. Geerts,2 in his very useful, though occasionally uncritical
work, charges the Chinese books with the defect of having constantly
confounded the diamond with corundimi, adamantine spar, pyrope,

1 This is proved by the Arabs. The Arabic lapidarium of the ninth century,
attributed by tradition to Aristotle, demonstrates that Chinese emery was known to
the Arabs: the localities where it is found are the islands of the Chinese Sea, and it
occurs there as a coarse sand in which are also larger and smaller hard stones (Ruska,
Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 151). The Arabs certainly did not confound this
Chinese emery with the diamond, nor did the Chinese. This is demonstrated also
by Ibn Khordadbeh, who wrote his Book of the Routes and Kingdoms between 844
and 848, and according to whom diamond and emery, the latter for polishing metal,
were exported from Ceylon (G. Ferrand, Relations de voyages arabes, persans et
turks rel. h. I'Extrgme-Orient, Vol. I, p. 31). Diamond and emery, accordingly,
were distinct matters in the eyes of the Arabs, Ceylonese, and Chinese.

2 Les produits de la nature japonaise et chinoise, pp. 201-202, 356-358 (Yoko-
hama, 1878, 1883).

52 The Diamond

almandine, zircon, etc. This list is somewhat extended; and whoever
deems its length insufficient may stretch it ad libitum under screen of
the "etc." A charge of confusion is an easy means of overcoming a
difficult subject and setting a valve on serious investigation. It is to
be apprehended lest in this case the confusion is rather in the mind of
Geerts than in that of the Chinese, and results from his failure to read
the Chinese texts with critical eyes. The first conspicuous confusion of
Geerts is, that on p. 202 he grants Li Shi-ch^n the privilege of indicating
the true diamond,^ while this license is abrogated on p. 357 : " The place
of the kin-kang between iron pyrite and aluminous schist is contrary to
the idea that this author intended to designate under this name the
diamond." What neither Geerts, nor his predecessor Smith, nor his
successor de Mely, understood, is the plain fact that Li Shi-ch^n does not
speak at all of the diamond as a stone, but of the diamond-point as an
implement. For this reason it is embodied in the chapter on stones, and
is logically followed by a discussion of stone needles used in acupimcture.
The term *' kin-kang stone" means to Li Shi-ch^n nothing but the
diamond-point. The fact that, besides, the diamond was known to
the Chinese as a precious stone, is evidenced by the text of the Tsin kH
kU chu (p. 35), where the diamond is spoken of as a precious stone (pao),
and by the Ko chi king yilan,^ where the stone is designated as a "dia-
mond jewel" {kin-kang pao) and classed with jade and gems in the
chapter on precious objects (cMn pao lei).^ It is not necessary to push
any further this criticism of Geerts, who hazards other eccentric con-
clusions in this section. The evidence brought together is overwhelm-
ing in demonstrating that the kin-kang in the texts offered by Li Shi-
ch^n, and in ancient Chinese tradition generally, is the diamond. This
uniform interpretation, inspired by an analysis of all traditions in the
known ancient world, instead of an appeal to confusion with a choice
of fanciful possibilities, seems to be the best guarantor for the exactness
of the result.

1 The text referred to is that of Pao-p'u-tse regarding Fu-nan; but it is Li Shi-ch6n
who is made responsible for it by Geerts. This uncritical method of Smith, Geerts,
and de M^ly, who load everything on to the P^n ts^ao or its author Li Shi-ch6n, with-
out taking the trouble to unravel the various sources quoted by him and to study the
traditions with historical criticism, is the principal reason for their failure in reaching
positive results.

2Ch. 33, p. 3b.

8 In the great cyclopaedia T"ai pHng yu Ian (Oh. 813) the notes on the diamond
are arranged in the section on metals, being preceded by those on copper and iron.
The cyclopaedia T'u shu tsi ch'ing has adopted the scheme of Li Shi-ch6n, placing the
diamond in the division "stones." It is content to reiterate simply Li Shi-ch^n's
notes, so that this is one of the poorest chapters of this thesaurus.

Acquaintance of the Chinese with the Diamond 53

The solidity and exactness of Chinese tradition is vividly illustrated
also by another fact. The term kin-kang for the diamond was coined
by the Chinese as a free adaptation of the Sanskrit word vajra, and,
like the latter, signifies with them both the mythical weapon of Indra
and the Indian diamond. We noticed that in the oldest historical
account of the diamond relative to the year a.d. 277 this precious stone
is stated as coming from India, but that at the same time traditions of
classical antiquity are blended with this early narrative. Again, the
Chinese fully recognized the stone in the diamond-points furnished to
them in the channel of trade with the Hellenistic Orient, and were
perfectly aware of the fact that diamonds were utilized in the Roman
Empire.^ In the most diverse parts of the world, wherever commercial,
diplomatic, or political enterprise carried them, the Chinese observed
the diamond, and in every case applied to it correctly the term kin-kang.
Thus, according to their Annals, the diamond was found among the
precious stones peculiar to the ctilture of Persia imder the Sassanians.*

Among the early mentions of diamonds is that of diamond finger-
rings sent in a.d. 430 as tribute from the kingdom Ho-lo-tan on the
Island of Java.' In all periods of their history, the Chinese, indeed,

* The Hiian chung ki of the fifth century expressly states that diamonds come
from (or are produced in) India and Ta Ts'in {T^ai p'ing yii Ian, Ch. 813, p. 10).

^Pei shi, Ch. 97, p. 7b; Wei shu, Ch. 102, p. 5b; and Sui shu, Ch. 83, p. 7b.
DiONYSius Periegetes, who lived at the time of the Emperor Hadrian (i 17-138),
in his poem Orbis descriptio (Verse 318), says that the diamond is found in the
proximity of the country of the Agathyrsi residing north of the Istros (Danube);
and Ammianus Marcellinus (xxii, 8; ed. Nisard, p. 175) states that the diamond
abounds among this people (Agathyrsi, apud quos adamantis est copia lapidis).
BLtJMNER (Technologic, Vol. Ill, p. 232; and in Pauly's Realenzyklopadie, Vol. IX,
col. 323) infers from these data that the diamond-mines recently rediscovered in the
Ural seem to have been known to the ancients; but this conclusion is not forcible.
The mines in the Ural began to be opened only from 1829 (the question is not of a
rediscovery), and there is no evidence that diamonds were found there at any earlier
time. Aside from this fact, a respectable distance separated the Ural from the
habitat of the Agathyrsi, who occupied the territory of what is now Siebenburgen.
Already Herodotus (iv, 104) knew them as men given to luxury and very fond of
wearing gold ornaments. The interesting point is that the Agathyrsi, as shown by
JusTi (Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, Vol. II, p. 442), judging from the remains
of their language, belonged to the Sc5rthian stock of peoples, speaking an Iranian
language. The notes of Dionysius and Ammianus, therefore, confirm for a Western
tribe of this extended family what the Chinese report about Iran proper, and it may
be that the diamond was known to all members of the Iranian group in the first
centuries of our era.

' Pelliot (Bull, de VEcole frangaise, Vol. IV, p. 271), who has indicated this
passage, sees some difficulties in the term kin kang chi huan. While admitting
that kin-kang is the diamond, he thinks that this translation does not fit the case,
and proposes to understand the term in the sense of "rings of rock-crystal." I see
no difficulty in assuming that finger-rings of metal set with a diamond are here in
question. This passage, indeed, is not the only one to mention diamond rings. In

54 The Diamond

were familiar with the diamond. To Chao Ju-kua of the Sung period,
India was known as a diamond-producing country, though what he re-
lates about the stone is copied from the text of Pao-p'u-tse, quoted
above (p. 21).^

Judging from Marco Polo's report,^ the best diamonds of India found
their way to the Court of the Great Khan.

The Annals of the Ming record embassies from Lu-mi (Rum) in 1548
and 1554, presenting diamonds among other objects.^ In the Ming
period eight kinds of precious stones were known from Hormuz, the
emporium at the entrance of the Persian Gulf; the fifth of these was the
diamond.* At the same time diamonds were known on Java.^

the year a.d. 428 of the Liu Sung dynasty, the King of Kia-p'i-li (Kapila) in India
sent diamond rings to the Chinese Court (Sung shu, Ch. 97, p. 4). The Nan fang
i wu chi (Account of Remarkable Products of Southern China, by Fang Ts*ien-li
of the fifth century or earlier: Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. i, No. 544) relates
that foreigners are fond of adorning rings with diamonds and wearing these (T'ai
pHng yii Ian, Ch. 813, p. 10); and Li Shi-ch6n (above, p. 40) is familiar with diamond
finger-rings. The Records of Champa {Lin yi ki) relate that the King of Lin-yi
(Champa), Fan-ming-ta, presented to the Court diamond finger-rings {Tu shu tsi
ch'Bng, Pien i Hen 96, hui k'ao i, p. lib; jor T'ai pHng yii Ian, I. c). Daggers and
krisses are set with diamonds in Java, and they are used for inlaying on lance-
heads (Int. Archivftir Ethnographic, Vol. Ill, 1890, pp. 94-97, loi). The ancients
already employed the diamond as a ring-stone (BLtJMNER, Technologic, Vol. Ill,
p. 232).

1 HiRTH and Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua, p. iii.

2 Edition of Yule and Cordier, Vol. II, p. 361.

8 Bretschneider, China Review, Vol. V, p. 177.

* Si yang ch'ao kung tien lu, Ch. c, p. 7 (ed. of Pie hia chai ts'ung shu), written in
1520 by Huang Sing-ts6ng (regarding this work see Chinese Clay Figures, p. 165,
note 3; Mayers, China Review, Vol. Ill, p. 220; and Rockhill, T'oung Pao, 1915,
p. 76).

^ Ibid., Ch. A, p. 9. — It is somewhat surprising that the Chinese were not
acquainted with the diamonds of Borneo; at least in none of their documents touching
their relations with the island is any mention made of the diamonds found there.
A good description of the Borneo mines, their sites, working-methods, output, etc.,
is given by M. E. Boutan (Le Diamant, pp. 223-228, with map, Paris, 1886),
M. Bauer (Edelsteinkunde, 2d ed., pp. 274-281), and in an article of the Encyclo-
paedic van Nederlandsch-Indie (Vol. I, pp. 445-446). None of these sources, how-
ever, bears on the question as to when these mines were opened, or when the first
diamonds were discovered, and whether this was done by natives or Europeans. As
nearly as I can make out, Borneo diamonds were known in the European market in the
latter part of the seventeenth century. In a small anonymous book entitled The
History of Jewels, and of the Principal Riches of the East and West, taken from the
Relation of Divers of the most Famous Travellers of Our Age (London, 1671, printed
by T. N. for Hobart Kemp, at the Sign of the Ship in the Upper Walk of the New
Exchange) I find the following: "Let me therefore tell you, that none has been yet
able in all the world to discover more than five places, from whence the diamond is
brought, viz., two rivers and three mines. The first of the two rivers is in the Isle
Borneo, under the equator, on the east of the Chersonesus of Gold, and is called
Succadan. The stones fetched from thence are usually clear and of a good water,

Stones of Nocturnal Luminosity 55

Stones of Nocturnal Luminosity. — We noticed that the diamond
and the traditions connected with it reached the Chinese chiefly from
the Hellenistic Orient. We should therefore be justified in expecting
also that the historical texts relative to Ta Ts'in and inserted in the
Chinese annals might contain references to this stone; but in Hirth's
classical work "China and the Roman Orient," where all these docu-
ments are carefully assembled and minutely studied, the diamond is
not even mentioned.^ This, at first sight, is very striking; but it would
be permissible to think that the diamond is hidden there under a name
not yet recognized as such. In the first principal account of Ta Ts'in
embodied in the Annals of the Posterior Han Dynasty,^ we read that

and almost all bright and brisk, whereof no other reason can be given, but that they
are found at the bottom of a river amongst sand which is pure, and has no mixture,
or tincture of other earth, as in other places. These stones are not discovered till
after the waters which fall like huge torrents from the mountains, are all passed, and
men have much to do to attain them, since few persons go to traffic in this isle; and
forasmuch as the inhabitants do fall upon strangers who come ashore, unless it be by
a particular favor. Besides that, the Queen does rarely permit any to transport
them; and so soon as ever any one hath found one of them they are obliged to bring
it to her. Yet for all that they pass up and down, and now and then the Hollanders
buy them in Batavia. Some few are found there, but the largest do not exceed
five carats, although in the year 1648, there was one to be sold in Batavia of 22 carats.
I have made mention of the Queen of Borneo, and not of the King, because that the
isle is always commanded by a woman, for that people, who will have no prince but
what is legitimate, would not be otherwise assured of the birth of males, but can not
doubt of those of the females, who are necessarily of the blood royal on their mother's
side, she never marrying, yet having always the command."

1 India's trade in diamonds with Ta Ts'in, already pointed out, is mentioned in
the chapter on India, inserted in the T'ang Annals (Ch. 221 a, p. 10 b).

2 Hou Han shu, Ch. 1 18, p. 4 b. Both the night-shining jewel and the moonlight
pearl are mentioned together also in the Nestorian inscription of Si-ngan fu and in
the Chinese Manichean treatise (Chavannes and Pelliot, Traits manich^en, p. 68).
In the latter it is compassion that is likened to the "gem, bright like the moon, which
is the first among all jewels." The T'ung Hen of Tu Yu (written from 766 to 801)
ascribes genuine pearls, night-shining and moon-bright gems, to the country of the
Pigmies north-west of Sogdiana (T'ai p'ing yii Ian, Ch. 796, p. 7 b). In that fabulous
work Tung ming ki, which seems to go back to the middle of the sixth century (Cha-
vannes and Pelliot, /. c, p. 145), the Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty is said
to have obtained in 102 B.C. a white gem ("^3E|^; the word chu means not only
"pearl, bead," but also "gems generally"), which the Emperor wrapped up in a
piece of brocade. It was as if it reflected the light of the moon, whence it was styled
"moon-reflecting gem" {chao yiie chu; see P'ei win yiin fu, Ch. 7A, p. 107). The
San Ts'in ki, a book of the fifth century, has on record that in the tumulus of the
Emperor Ts'in Shi pearls shining at night (ye kuang chu) formed a palace of the sun
and moon, and that moonlight pearls {ming yiie chu) suspended in the grave emitted
light by day and night {T'u shu tsi ch'ing, chapter on pearls, ki shi, I, p. 3 b). The
word pH used in the term ye kuang p'i, at first sight, is striking, as it refers to a per-
forated circular jade disk, such as occurs in ancient China (see Jade, p. 154), but does
not occur in the Hellenistic Orient. It is therefore probable that the term already
pre-existed in China, and was merely transferred to a jewel of the Roman Orient

56 The Diamond

*'the country contains much gold, silver, and rare precious stones, par-
ticularly the jewel that shines at night {ye kuang pH ^k^j{_,%. ), or the
* jewel of noctural luminosity,' and the moonlight pearl (or 'pearl as

which was reported to the Chinese to shine at night. This holds good also of the
term ming yiie chu. In T'oung Pao (1913, p. 341) and Chinese Clay Figures (p. 151)
I pointed out that the two terms are employed as early as the Shi ki of Se-ma Ts'ien.
The passage occurs in the Biography of Li Se (Ch. 87, p. 2 b), who is ill-famed for
the extermination of Confucian literature under the Emperor Ts'in Shi, and who died
in 208 B.C. (Giles, Biographical Dictionary, p. 464). In another passage of the same
work the two terms "moonlight (or moon-bright) pearl" and "night-shining jade-
disk" are coupled together, used in a figurative sense (P^itillon, Allusions litt^raires,
p. 242; LocKHART, Manual of Chinese Quotations, p. 397). A third passage leaves
no doubt of what Se-ma Ts'ien understood by a moordight pearl. In his chapter
treating divination from the tortoise-shell (Ch. 128, p. 2 b), he defines the term thus:
"The moonlight pearl is produced in rivers and in the sea, hidden in the oyster-
shell, while the water-dragon attacks it. When the sovereign obtains it, he will hold
in submission for a long time the foreign tribes residing in the four quarters of the
empire." The moonlight pearl, accordingly, was to Se-ma Ts'ien and his contempo-
raries a river or marine pearl of fine quality, worthy of a king, a foreign origin of it
not being necessarily implied. The philosopher Mo Ti or Mo-tse, who seems to have
lived after Confucius and before M6ng-tse, mentions the night-shining pearl (ye kuang
chi chu) in an enumeration of prominent treasures; but I am not convinced of the
authenticity of the text published under his name, which was doubtless fabricated
by his disciples (compare Grube, Geschichte der chinesischen Litteratur, p. 129),
and tampered with by subsequent editors. The mention of this pearl in Mo Ti and
in other alleged early Taoist writers (compare the questionable text of the Shi i ki,
quoted by de Groot, ReUgious System of China, Vol. I, p. 278) may be a retro-
spective interpolation as well. Se-ma Ts'ien must be regarded as the only early
author whose references in this case may be relied upon as authentic and contempo-
raneous. (The uncritical notes of T. de Lacouperie, Babylonian and Oriental
Record, Vol. VI, 1893, P- 271, with their fantastic comment, are without value.) It
seems to me, that, in applying the identical terms to real objects encountered in the
Hellenistic Orient, the Chinese named these with reference to that passage of Se-ma
Ts'ien by way of a literary allusion, and that for this reason the word pH, in this
instance, is not to be accepted literally, as has been done by Chavannes (T'oung
Pao, 1907, p. 181 : "I'anneau qui brille pendant la nmt"), but that the term ye kuang
pH represents an undivided unit denoting a precious stone. Further, this is cor-
roborated by two facts, — first, that the ancients speak of precious stones, not of
rings or disks brilHant at night; and, second, that Yu Huan (220-265), in his Wei lio,
has altered the term ye kuang pH into ye kuang chu ("night-shining pearl or gem")
with regard to Ta Ts'in, evidently guided by a correct feeling that this modification
would more appropriately conform to the object. Moreover, there are neither in
Greek nor in Latin any exact equivalents which might have served as models for the
two Chinese expressions; the Chinese, indeed, possessed the latter before coming into
contact with the Hellenistic-Roman world; ye kuang ("light of the night") is an
ancient term to designate the moon, which appears in Huai-nan-tse (Schlegel,
Uranographie chinoise, p. 610). This point of terminology, however, must be dis-
tinguished from the matter-of-fact problem. Whatever the origin of the Chinese
terms may be, from the time of intercourse with Ta Ts'in, they strictly refer to a
certain group of gems occupying a conspicuous place in the antique world and deeply
impressing the minds of the Chinese. All subsequent Chinese allusions to such gems,
even though connected with domestic localities, imply distinct reminiscences of the
former indelible experience made in the Hellenistic Orient.

Stones of Nocturnal Luminosity 57

clear as the moon/ yile ming chu ^ ^h ^^) •" Hirth ^ and Chavannes ^
have united a certain number of classical texts, in order to show that
the notion of precious stones, and especially carbuncles, shining at
night, was widely propagated in Greek and Roman times; the case,
however, deserves a more critical examination. It seems to me, first
of all, that a distinction must be made between ye kuang pH and yiie
ming chu. These two different terms must needs refer to two diverse
groups of stones and correspondingly different traditions. It is not
difficult to identify the latter of the two, if we examine our Pliny.
This is Pliny's astrion, of which he says, "Of a like white radiance' is
the stone called astrion, cognate to crystal, and occurring in India and
on the littoral of Patalene. In its interior, radiating from the centre,
shines a star with the full brilliancy of the moon. Some accoimt for
the name by saying that the stone placed opposite to the stars ab-
sorbs their refulgence and emits it again.''* Pliny's "fulgore pleno
lunae" appears as the basis for the Chinese term yile ming chu (literally,
"moon shining pearl") with reference to this precious stone, as found
in the anterior Orient.'^ Hirth {I. c.) refers us to Herodotus (II, 44),
who mentions a temple of Hercvdes at Tyre in Phoenicia with two pil-
lars,— one of piure gold, the other of smaragdos, — shining with great
brilliancy at night. Hirth takes this smaragdos for "emerald stone;"
it is certain, however, that the word in this passage does not mean
"emerald," but denotes a greenish building-stone of a color similar to
the emerald,^ perhaps, as Blumner^ is inclined to think, green porphyry.
This passage, accordingly, affords no evidence that the Chinese "stone

1 China and the Roman Orient, pp. 242-244.

2 T'oung Pao, 1907, p. 181.

• With reference to the white stone asteria, dealt with in the preceding chapter.

• Similiter Candida est quae vocatur astrion, crystallo propinqua, in India nascens
et in Patalenes litoribus. Huic intus a centre Stella lucet fiilgore pleno lunae.
Quidam causam nominis reddimt quod astris opposita fulgorem rapiat et regerat
(xxxvii, 48, § 132).

5 The much-discussed question as to the stone to be understood by Pliny's
astrion does not concern us here. The opinion that it is identical with what is now
called asteria ("star stone") is the most probable one (compare Blumner, Tech-
nologic, Vol. Ill, p. 234). The most detailed study of the subject, not quoted by
Krause or Blumner, is that by J. M. GtJxHE, Uber den Astrios-Edelstein des Cajus
Plinius Secundus (Munchen, 1810). Judging from the recent report of D. B. Ster-
RETT (Gems and Precious Stones in 1913, p. 704, Washington, 1914), this stone seems
to become fashionable again in jewelry. Possibly also PHny's selenitis (67, § 181),
which has within it a figure of the moon and day by day reflects her various phases,
may be sought in the Chinese "moonlight gem," as already supposed by D'Herbelot
(Biblioth^que orientale, Vol. IV, p. 398).

• Krause, Pyrgoteles, p. 37.

"* Technologic, Vol. Ill, p. 240.

58 The Diamond

luminous at night" might be the emerald; nor can it be invoked as a
contribution to the problem, as the Chinese do not speak of pillars, but
of a precious stone. Hirth, further, quotes an account from Pliny-
contained in his notes on the smaragdus. It is difficult to see what
relation it is supposed to have with the subject under discussion, as
Pliny does not say a word about these stones shining at night. The
story runs thus: "They say that on this island above the tomb of a
petty king, Hermias, near the fisheries, there was the marble statue of
a lion, with eyes of smaragdi set in, flashing their light into the sea
with such force that the tunnies were frightened away and fled, till
the fishermen, long marvelling at this unusual phenomenon, replaced the
stones by others."^ The plot of Pliny's story is certainly laid in the
daytime, not during the night; fishes, as is well known, being attracted
at night by luminous phenomena spreading over the surface of the
water, and even being caught by the glare of torch-light. At any rate,
the passage contains nothing about jewels brightening the night.
Chavannes, more fortunately, points to Lucian (De dea syria), who
describes a statue of the Syrian goddess in Hierapolis bearing a gem on
her head called lychnis: "From this stone flashes a great light in the
night-time, so that the whole temple gleams brightly as by the light of
myriads of candles, but in the daytime the brightness grows faint; the
gem has the likeness of a bright fire."^ The name lychnis is connected
with Greek lychnos ("a portable lamp "). According to Pliny, the stone
is so called from its lustre being heightened by the light of a lamp, when
its tints are particularly pleasing.^ Pliny does not say that the lychnis
shines at night,* but his definition indicates well how this tradition
arose. Pseudo-Callisthenes (ii, 42) makes Alexander the Great spear
a fish, in whose bowels was found a white stone so brilliant that every
one believed it was a lamp. Alexander set it in gold, and used it as a
lamp at night.^ The origin of this trivial story is perspicuous enough.

^ Ferunt in ea insula tumulo reguli Hermiae iuxta cetarias marmoreo leoni fuisse
inditos oculos e smaragdis ita radiantibus etiam in gurgitem, ut territi thynni
refugerent, diu mirantibus novitatem piscatoribus, donee mutavere oculis gemmas
(xxxvii, 17, § 66). Compare Krause, Pyrgoteles, p. 38.

2 H. A. Strong, The Syrian Goddess, p. 72 (London, 19 13).

' Ex eodem genere ardentium est lychnis appellata a lucernanim adsensu, turn
praecipuae gratiae (xxxvii, 29, § 103). Dionysius Periegetes compares the lychnis
with the flame of fire (Krause, /. c, p. 22). Of the various identifications proposed
for this stone, that of tourmaline has the greatest likelihood, as Pliny refers to its
magnetic property, inasmuch as, when heated or rubbed between the fingers, it will
attract chaff and papyrus-fibres.

* He does not say so, in fact, with regard to any stone.

' It should be noted, however, that in the oldest accessible form of the Romance
of Alexander, as critically restored by A. Ausfeld (Der griechische Alexanderroman,

Stones of Nocturnal Luminosity 59

It is welded from two elements, — a reflex of the ring of Polycrates^
rediscovered in the stomach of a fish, and the tradition underiying the
Plinian explanation of the lychnis. It is accordingly the lychnis which,
through exaggeration of a tradition inspired by the name, gave rise to
a fable of stones luminous at night.^

A story of Aelian ^ merits particular attention : Herakleis, a virtuous
widow of Tarent, nursed a young stork that had broken its leg. The
grateful bird, a year after its release, dropped a stone into the woman's
lap. Awakening at night, she noticed that the stone spread light and
lustre, illuminating the room as though a torch had been brought in.
The author adds that it was a very precious stone, without further
determination.'* This story meets with a parallel in a curious anecdote
of China, told in the Shi i ki, that, when Prince Chao of Yen was once
seated on a terrace, black birds with white heads flocked there together,
holding in their beaks perfectly resplendent pearls (tung kuang chu
(>^^^^^), measuring one foot all round. These pearls were black as
lacquer, and emitted light in the interior of a house to such a degree
that even the spirits could not obscure their supernatural essence.^
Still more striking in its resemblance to Aelian's story is one in the
Sou shen ki:^ "The marquis of Sui once encountered a wotmded snake,
and had it cured by means of drugs. After the lapse of a year [as in
Aelian] the snake appeared with a luminous gem in its mouth to repay
his kindness. This gem was an inch in diameter, perfectly white, and
emitted at night a light of the brightness of the moon, so that the room
was lighted as by a torch." The gem was styled "gem of the marquis of

p. 84), this incident is not contained; it is contained in the uncritical edition of
C. MuUer of 1846. If Ausfeld (p. 242) is right in placing the primeval text of
Pseudo-Callisthenes in the second century B.C., the episode in question, which
indubitably is a later interpolation, is not older than the second or third cen-
tury A.D.

1 Herodotus, hi, 41-42. — The stone in this signet-ring, according to Herodotus,
was a smaragdos; according to Pliny (xxxvii, i), a sardonyx (compare Krause,
Pyrgoteles, p. 135).

* As a fabulous stone found in the river Hydaspes, the lychnis is mentioned in the
unauthentic treatise De fluviis, wrongly ascribed to Plutarch (F. de M^ly, Lapidaires
grecs, p. 29).

' Hist, animalium, viii, 22.

* A. Marx, in his interesting study Griechische Marchen von dankbaren Tieren
(p. 52, Stuttgart, 1889), justly comments that the stone mentioned in this tale is the
lychnites or lychnis, because, according to Philostratus (Apollonius from Tyana,
II, 14), this was the stone placed by the storks in their nests in order to guard them
from snakes, and because the lychnis spreads such marvellous light in the dark and
possesses many magical virtues (Orphica, 271).

^ P'ei win yiin fu, Ch. 7A, p. 107.

^ Tu shu tsi ch'ing, chapter on pearls, ki shi, I, p. i b.

6o The Diamond

Sui," "gem of the spiritual snake," or "moonlight pearl." ^ The same
Chinese work offers another parallel that is still closer to Aelian, inas-
much as the bird in question is a crane, which would naturally take the
place of the stork not occurring in China. "K'uai Ts'an niu"sed his
mother in a most filial manner. There nested on his house a crane,
which was shot by men practising archery, and in a wretched condition
returned to Ts'an's place. Ts'an nursed the bird and healed its wound,
and, the cure being effected, released it. Subsequently it happened
one night that cranes arrived before the door of his house. Ts'an
seized a torch, and, on examination, noted that a couple of cranes, male
and female, had come, carrying in their beaks moon-bright pearls
(ming yiie chu) to recompense his good deed."^ The coincidences in
these three Chinese versions and the story of the Greek author, even in
unimportant details, are so striking, that an historical connection be-
tween the two is obvious. The dependence of the Chinese upon the
Greek story is evidenced by the feature of the moon-bright pearls,
whose actual existence is ascribed by the Chinese to the Hellenistic
Orient.'

HiRTH has conjectured that the Chinese name "jewel that shines
at night" possibly is an allusion to the ancient name carbunculusy cor-
responding to Greek anthrax (the ruby) . Pliny, however, in the chapter
devoted to this stone, has no report about its shining at night. He
insists, quite naturally, on its "fire," from which it has received its
name, carbunculus meaning "a red-hot coal."* The only blade of
straw to which the above hypothesis might cling may be found in the
words quoted by Pliny from Archelaus, who affirmed that these stones
indoors appear purple in color; in the open air, however, flaming.^
What I translate by "indoors" means literally, "when the roof over-
shadows one." This phrase evidently implies no allusion to a dark
room, but is used in the sense of "in the shadow of a house," in opposi-
tion to the following open-air inspection of the stones. The only
ancient text known to me, that mentions a ruby shining at night (and
styled "color of marine purple"), is a small Greek alchemical work

1 Compare A. Forke, Lun-h6ng, pt. i, p. 378; and Pf tillon (Allusions litt^raires,
p. 243), who quotes this story from Huai-nan-tse.

* L. c, ki shij I, p. 6 b.

* In a wider sense this typical story belongs to the cycle of the grateful animals,
a favorite subject of the Greeks in the Alexandrian epoch (compare A. Marx,
Griechische Marchen von dankbaren Tieren; and F. Susemihl, Geschichte der
griechischen Litteratur in der Alexandrinerzeit, Vol. I, p. 856).

* Compare Theophrastus, De lapidibus, 18 (opera ed. Wimmer, p. 343).

^ Eosdem obumbrante tecto purpureos videri, sub caelo flammeos (xxxvii, 25,
§95).

Stones of Nocturnal Luminosity 6i

translated by M. Berthelot/ which cannot lay claim to great an-
tiquity. For the purpose of identification, tourmaline (lychnis) j and

1 Introduction h I'^tude de la chimie, p. 272 (Paris, 1889). Not only Hirth,
but also Mayers (Chinese Reader's Manual, p. 25), T. de Lacouperie (Babylonian
and Oriental Record, Vol. VI, 1893, P- 274), and Chavannes (T'oung Pao, 1907,
p. 181), without giving reference to any passage, are unanimous in the belief that the
carbuncle is the chief night-shining jewel of the ancients. It would be interesting to
learn what alleged passage in an ancient author these scholars had in mind. As far
as I know, the carbuncle appears as a night-shining stone only in the mineralogical
writings of the middle ages, for the first time presumably in the fundamental work
De lapidibus pretiosis of Marbodus (1035-1123), the famous French Bishop of
Rennes. In the earliest French translation of his book (L. Pannier, Lapidaires
frangais du moyen ^ge, p. 52) the passage runs thus:

"Scherbuncles gette de sei rdis.
Plus ardant piere n'i a mdis:
De sa clart6 la noit resplent,
Mais le jiir n'en fera nei6nt."

In the famous letter, purported to have been addressed by Prester John to the
Byzantine Emperor Manuel, and written about the year 1 165, we find the carbuncle
mentioned in three passages (57, 90, 93; F. Zarncke, Der Priester Johannes I,
pp. 91, 95, 96), in the fanciful and extravagant description of the palace of the Royal
Presbyter in India: "In extremitatibus vero super culmen palacii sunt duo poma
aurea, et in unoquoque sunt duo carbunculi, ut aunun splendeat in die et carbimculi
luceant in nocte. — Longitudo unius cuiusque columpnae est LX cubitorum, gros-
situdo est, quantimi duo homines suis ulnis circumcingere possimt, et imaquaeque
in suo cacimiine habet unum carbimculum adeo magnimi, ut est magna amphora,
quibus illuminatur palatium ut mundus illuminatur a sole. — Nulla fenestra nee
aliquod foramen est ibi, ne claritas carbunculorum et alionmi lapidum claritate
serenissimi caeli et solis aliquo modo possit obnubilari." Konrad von Megen-
berg (1309-78), in his Book of Nature (ed. of F. Pfeiffer, p. 437), extols the
carbuncle as the noblest of all stones, combining all their virtues. Its color is fiery,
and it is even more brilliant at night than in the daytime; during the day it is dark,
but at night it shines so brightly that night almost becomes day. This belief still
prevailed in the seventeenth century, as may be gleaned from the following interest-
ing passage of A. Boetius de Boot (Gemmarum et lapidum historia, p. 140, ed. o^
A. Toll, Lugdimi Batavorum, 1636): "Magna fama est carbunculi. Is vulgo
putatur in tenebris carbonis instar lucere; fortassis quia pyropus, seu anthrax appel-
latus a veteribus fuit. Verum hactenus nemo unquam vere asserere ausus fuit, se
gemmam noctu lucentem vidisse. Garcias ab Horto proregis Indiae medicus refert
se allocutum f uisse, qui se vidisse affirmarent. Sed iis fidem non habuit. Ludovicus
Vartomannus regem Pegae tantae magnitudinis, et splendoris habere scribit, ut qui
regem in tenebris conspicatus fuerit, eum splendere quasi a Sole illustretur existimet,
sed nee ille vidit. Si itaque gemmam noctu lucentem natura producat, ea vere
carbunculus fuerit, atque hoc modo ab aliis gemmis distinguetur, omnesque alias
dignitate superabit. Multi autumant gemmas in tenebris lucentes, a natura gigni
non posse; verum falluntur. Nam ut lignis putridis, nicedulis, halecumque squam-
mis, et animalium oculis, natura lucem dare potest; non video cur gemmis idonea
suppeditata materia (in tanta rerum creatarum abundantia) tribuere non possit.
An itaque habeatur, aut non, incertum adhuc est. Doctissimorum tamen vironmi
omnium sententia huiusmodi gemmae non inveniuntur. Hinc fit quod rubentes,
et transparentes gemmae omnes; ab iis carbunculi, anthraces, pyropi, et carbones
nuncupentur. Quia videlicet carbonis instar lucent, ac ignis instar flammeos hinc
inde radios iaciimt."

62 The Diamond

possibly to a certain extent ruby,^ remain, while emerald must be
discarded.^

In my opinion, the diamond should be added to the series. The
Chinese, at least in modem times, use the epithet ye kuang (''brilliant
at night") as a synonjone of the diamond.' This notion apparently
goes back to an ancient tradition; for the Nan Yue chi ("Description
of Southern China")* relates that the kingdom of Po-lo-ki ^1^.]^^.

1 The pilgrim Huan Tsang {Ta Tang si yil ki, Ch. ii, p. 6; ed. of Shou shan ko
ts^ung shu) narrates that beside the king's palace was the Buddha's-Tooth Shrine,
brightly decorated with jewels. From its roof rose a signal-post, on the top of
which was a large ruby (padmardga) , which shed a brilliant light, and could be seen
shining like a bright star day and night for a great distance (compare Watters,
On Yuan Chwang's Travels, Vol. II, p. 235; Beal, Buddhist Records, Vol. II,
p. 248; the translation of Julien, M6moires sur les contr^es occidentals, Vol. II,
p. 32 — "recouvert d'un enduit brillant comme le diamant" — is incorrect, and
the whole rendering of the passage is not exact). In view of what is set forth below
regarding phosphorescence, it should be remarked right here that any natural phe-
nomenon proceeding from the stone cannot come into question in this case. Moon
and star light or artificial illumination of the building must be held responsible for
the ruby being visible at night. Thus the causes leading to the conception of stones
shining in darkness evidently are different. Also in the case of Lucian's lychnis
in the temple of Hierapolis, I am not inclined to believe in a natural phenomenon, but
rather in a miracle produced by priestly artifice, which supplied the source of light from
a hidden corner, and hypnotized the mtiltitude into the belief that it emanated from
the stone. With reference to the above passage of Huan Tsang, it should be added
that CosMAs Indicopleustes (Christian Topography, translated by McCrindle, p.
365) mentions a gem in the possession of the King of Ceylon (Taprobane), "as large
as a great pine-cone, fiery red, and when seen flashing from a distance, especially if the
sun's rays are playing around it, being a matchless sight; "but he does not tell of its
shining at night. Friar Odoric of Pordenone of the fourteenth century ascribes a
similar gem to the King of the Nicobars (Yule, Cathay, new ed.. Vol. II, p. 169) : " He
carrieth also in his hand a certain precious stone called a ruby, a good span in length
and breadth, so that when he hath this stone in his hand it shows like a flame of fire.
And this, it is said, is the most noble and valuable gem that existeth at this day in
the world, and the great emperor of the Tartars of Cathay hath never been able to
get it into his possession either by force or by money or by any device whatever."

' Beckmann (Beitrage zur Geschichte der Erfindungen, Vol. Ill, p. 553) tenta-
tively included among the luminous stones of the ancients also fluor-spar; but, as
admitted by himself, the phosphorescent property of this mineral was not recognized
before the seventeenth century. Moreover, whatever may have been said to the
contrary (Blijmner, Technologie, Vol. Ill, p. 276; and Lenz, /. c, p. 23), it is ex-
tremely doubtful to me whether the ancients were acquainted with fluor-spar. This
supposition is not well founded on matter-of-fact evidence, but merely inferred from
certain properties of the mineral which became known in our own time, and which
were subsequently read into certain accounts of the ancients. — Other stones to which
the property of nocturnal luminosity is ascribed are purely fabtilous, as, for instance,
the "stone attracting other stones," described by Philostratus as sparkling at night
like fire (F. de M^ly, Lapidaires grecs, pp. 27-28).

" J. DooLiTTLE, Vocabulary and Handbook of the Chinese Language, Vol. I, p. 132.

* Written by Sh6n Huai-yuan of the fifth century (Bretschneider, Bot. Sin.,
pt. I, No. 559). The text is cited in T'ai p'ing yii Ian, Ch. 813, p. 10.

Phosphorescence of Precious Stones 63

produces diamonds, the lustre of which illuminates the dark night.
According to Chao Ju-kua,^ the King of Ceylon possessed a gem five
inches in diameter, which could not be consumed by fire, and at night
emitted a brilliancy like a torch. As incombustibility was credited to
the diamond, this jewel shining at night, in all probability, was a
diamond.^ Another reason why the diamond should be included in
this class will be discussed in the following section.

Phosphorescence of Precious Stones. — As this subject of stones
"limiinous at night'' has heretofore not been properly comprehended
by sinologues and others, it may not be amiss to add some explanatory
notes.' As a matter of fact, of course, stones cannot shine at night:
the lustre of any gem is an optical property, and depends upon the
effects of light, solar or artificial, which is reflected back to the human
eye."* The classical and Chinese reports of stones emitting rays of light
in darkness, accordingly, have nothing to do with optical phenomena,
or, in particular, with so-called "adamantine lustre." If these stories,
partially, should refer to a phenomenon of reality, there is but one that
can come into question, — that of phosphorescence. This is a property
of some gems, which, after rubbing, heating, exposure to light, or an
electrical discharge, radiate a light known as phosphorescence; since the
glow, although often of different colors, resembles that of phosphorus.
This property is particularly exhibited in the diamond, which, on being
rubbed with a cloth or across the fibres of a piece of wood, gives out a
light plainly visible in a dark room. It is, however, not a general
property of all diamonds, but only efficient in certain stones.^ Though

1 Chufan chi (ed. Rockhill), Ch. a, p. 10; translation of Hirth and Rockhill,
p. 73-

' An indirect testimony for the diamond being counted among the night-shining
stones in the West may be deduced from the passage in the Physiologus, that the
diamond is not found in the daytime, but only at night, which may imply, that, in
order to be found at night, it must then emit light (compare F. Lauchert, Geschichte
des Physiologus, p. 28; E. Peters, Der griechische Physiologus, p. 96; F. Hommel,
Aethiopische Ubersetzung des Physiologus, p. 77; K. Ahrens, Buch der Naturgegen-
stande, p. 82). — D'Herbelot (Biblioth^que orientale. Vol. IV, p. 398) already
knew that it was a natural property of the diamond to shine in darkness.

' The subject in general has been dealt with by G. F. Kunz (Curious Lore of
Precious Stones, pp. 161-175).

*The Chinese scholar Sung Lien (13 10-81) had a certain idea thereof. In a
Dissertation on Sun, Moon, and Stars (Ji yiie wu sing lun) he speaks of a "gem like
the full moon" {yiie man ju chu), whose substance, in principle, has no lustre; but
it borrows its lustre from the sun, that half of it turned away from the sun being
constantly dark, and the other half turned toward the sun being constantly bright
{P'ei win yiinfu, Ch. 7A, p. 109).

^ Compare Farrington, Gems and Gem Minerals, pp. 34, 70. Among all
minerals, phosphorescence is best exhibited by fluorite, nearly all specimens of which,

64 The Diamond

occurring also in other precious stones, the phosphorescent Hght is most
brilHant and intensified in the diamond; and for this reason it would
seem plausible that the diamond should have held the foremost rank
among the stones luminous at night.

There remains, however, a grave obstacle in the way of this explana-
tion, which must not be overlooked; and this is that the ancient authors
who have written on precious stones are entirely reticent on the subject
of their phosphorescent quality. It is indeed taught that this phe-
nomenon was observed for the first time only by the physicist Robert
Boyle in 1663.^ This, of covirse, does not mean that it was entirely
unknown before that time, and that it could not have revealed itself to
a layman by a chance accident.

M. Berthelot,^ however, has discovered in the collection of Greek
alchemists a small treatise propounding the processes "of coloring the
artificial precious stones, emeralds, carbuncles, and hyacinths, after
the book drawn from the sanctuary of the temple." He believes that
artificial coloring of stones is said in this text to impart to them the
property of phosphorescence, and that there is no doubt that the ancients
made precious stones phosporescent in darkness through the employ-
ment of superficial tinctures derived from substances such as bile of
marine animals, the analogous properties of which are known to us. I
must confess that this conclusion, though emanating from so high
and respectable an authority, for whom I have a profound admiration,
is not quite convincing to me. First, it seems open to doubt whether
the Greek recipe really took the desired effect, as long as this is not
experimentally established; second, if it did, it does not furnish proof
that the ancients were acquainted with the phenomenon of the phos-
phorescence of precious stones, as we understand it, which is a physical
property inherent in the stone, while in the Greek text the phospho-
rescence is alleged to result from animal products brought in contact
with the stone, not from the stone itself. The text published by
Berthelot, while it may tend to prove that certain ancient alchemists
knew something about the phosphorescence of certain animal organs, is
not at all apt to show that the same tendency in precious stones was
familiar to them; on the contrary, it would be much more likely to have

when gently heated, will emit a visible light. Its color varies with different varieties,
and is usually not the same as the natural color of the mineral. The tints exhibited
are usually greenish, bluish, or purplish.

1 Bauer, Precious Stones, p. 138.

2 Sur un proc6d6 antique pour rendre les pierres pr6cieuses et les vitrifications
phosphorescentes (Annates de chimie et physique, 6th series. Vol. XIV, 1888,
pp. 429-432); reprinted in his Introduction k I'^tude de la chimie, pp. 271-274
(Paris, 1889).

Phosphorescence of Precious Stones 65

been unknown to them, if that artificial process were ever really applied
to stones.

Also from India we receive an intimation as to alleged acquaintance
with the fact of phosphorescence before Boyle. The learned Hindu
Praphulla Chandra Ray,^ professor of chemistry at the Presidency
College, Calcutta, has this to say: "It is sometimes asserted that the
phosphorescence of diamond was first observed in 1663 by the cele-
brated Robert Boyle. Bhoja (eleventh century a.d.), however, men-
tions this property." Fortunately for us, the Sanskrit text of this
passage is added, which reads, "andhakare ca dlpyate" (translated
by Ray, "it phosphoresces in the dark"); but these words simply
mean, "it shines in the dark." It is accordingly not the case of Bhoja
being familiar with the phosphorescent property of the diamond, but
the subjective case of Professor Ray, who knows of Boyle's discovery,
and projects this knowledge into his author. It reflects more credit
on the well-meant patriotism of the Hindu than on his power of logic.
His interpretation being conceded, we coiild as well infer from the
numerous passages of classical and Chinese authors, where precious
stones luminous in the dark are spoken of, that also Greeks, Romans,
and Chinese possessed an intimate acquaintance with the phenomenon
in question.^ But serious science cannot afford to speed its conclusions
up to this rapid tempo; and if the fact remains that no Greek, Roman,
Sanskrit, or Chinese text has as yet come to the fore, from which such
an inference as to conscious knowledge of the phosphorescence of
precious stones can reasonably and without violence be deducted, it is
safer to hold judgment in abeyance or to regard the result as negative.'

1 A History of Hindu Chemistry, Vol. II, p. 40 (2d ed., Calcutta, 1909).

2 It is noteworthy that neither the Arabic nor the Indian mineralogists have
accounts of precious stones luminous at night. What the Arabs offer of this sort is
an entirely different affair. The lapidarium of Pseudo- Aristotle mentions a fabulous
stone under the name "strange stone," which is found in the dark ocean, has rays
in its interior, and is visible at night, its veins being brilliant as though they were
laughing faces (a corrupted reading which originally was "brilliant like a mirror;"
J. RusKA, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, pp. 20, 167). The "stone bringing sleep" is
red, and large pieces of it radiate at night a glow of fire, and in the daytime smoke
emanates from it {ihid., p. 166).

' In the passage of the Orphica, "the diamond-like crystal, when placed on an
altar, sent forth a flame without the aid of fire," KuNZ (Curious Lore of Precious
Stones, p. 163) believes he sees an indication that the phosphorescence of the dia-
mond had already been noted before the second or third century of our era; but the
plain text does not bear out this far-fetched interpretation. The Greek author has
in mind the well-known burning-lenses of crystal, described also by Pliny (see the
writer's article on'this subject in.T*oung Pao, 1915, pp. 169-228), and compares their
reflective power with that of the diamond; he says nothing further than that the
lustre of the diamond vies with that of a crystal lens. There is no allusion to the
fact that this happens in darkness, and consequently no reference to phosphorescence.

66 The Diamond

While direct evidence is lacking, an interesting observation may be
based on Pliny, which, it seems to me, is conclusive to some degree; and
this is the curious circumstance that Pliny is familiar with the magnetic
or electrical property of just those gems which have the best claim to
being identified with the stones luminous at night of the Chinese, —
tourmaline and diamond. In regard to the former (lychnis) he states
that these stones, when heated by the sun or rubbed by the fingers,
will attract chaff and scraps of pap3mis.^ As to the diamond, he
remarks that its hostility toward the magnet goes so far, that, when
placed near it, it will not allow of its attracting iron; or if the magnet
has already seized the iron, it will itself attract the metal and turn it
away from the magnet.^ The fact is correct that diamond becomes
strongly electric on friction, so that it will pick up pieces of paper and
other light substances, though it is not a conductor of electricity, differ-
ing in this respect from graphite.^ Whether the diamond, as asserted
by Pliny, can check the attractive power of the magnet, seems to be a
controversial point. Garcia ab Horto was the first to antagonize
Pliny's allegation, on the ground of many experiments made by him.*
C. W. KiNG^ has the following observation: *'This stone is highly
electric, attracting light substances when heated by friction, and, as
we have already noticed,^ has the peculiarity of becoming phospho-

1 Has sole excalf actas aut attritu digitorum paleas et chartariim fila ad se rapere
(xxxvn, 29, § 103).

2 Adamas dissidet cum magnete in tantum, ut iuxta positus ferrum non patiatur
abstrahi aut, si admotus magnes adprehenderit, rapiat atque auferat (xxxvn, 15,
§61).

' "All gems when rubbed upon cloth become, like glass, positively electrified.
Gems differ, however, in the length of time during which they will retain an electrical
charge. Thus tourmaline and topaz remain electric under favorable conditions for
several hours; but diamond loses its electricity within half an hour" (Farrington,
Gems and Gem Minerals, pp. 34, 70). The Arabs attribute to the garnet (bijddl)
the power of attracting wood and straw (J. Ruska, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 144).
I do not believe with Ruska that this statement may be caused by confusing the
garnet with amber. Though VuUers and Steingass, in their Persian Dictionaries,
assign to the word bijddt or bejdd the meanings "garnet" and "amber," the latter
interpretation is evidently suggested by the reference to the attractive power.

* N6 meno d il vero che tolga la virtii alia calamita di tirare il ferro; percioche
ne ho fatto io molte volte esperienza, e I'ho trovata favola (Italian edition of 1582,
p. 182).

^ Antique Gems, p. 71.

• In the passage referred to (p. 27) King says that "the property of phospho-
rescence is possessed by no other gem except the diamond, and this only retains it for
a few minutes after having been exposed to a hot sun and then immediately carried
into a dark room. This singular quality must often have attracted the notice of
Orientals on entering their gloomy chambers after exposure to their blazing sun, and
thus have afforded sufficient foundation to the wonderful tales built upon the simple

Phosphorescence of Precious Stones 67

rescent in the dark after long exposure to the sun. The ancients also
ascribed magnetic powers to the diamond in even a greater degree than
to the loadstone, so much so that they believed the latter was totally
deprived of this quality in the presence of the diamond; but this notion
is quite ungrounded. Their sole idea of magnetism was the property of
attraction; therefore seeing that the diamond possessed this for light
objects, the step to ascribing to it a superiority in this as in all other
respects over the loadstone was an easy one for their lively imagina-
tions." Ajasson, however, holds that if the diamond is placed in the
magnetic line or current of the loadstone, it attracts iron equally with
the loadstone, and consequently neutralizes the attractive power of
the loadstone in a considerable degree.^ Be this as it may, Pliny, at
any rate, was well informed on the electrical quality of the diamond;
and if this experiment in the case of diamond and tourmaline was
brought about by rubbing the stones, it is not impossible that in this
manner also a phosphorescence was occasionally produced and ob-
served. A few such observations may easily have given rise to fabulous
exaggerations of stones illumining the night.

Were phosphorescent phenomena known to the Chinese? First
of all, they were known in that subconscious and elementary form in
which we find such conceptions in the domain of our own folk-lore.
The philosopher Huai-nan-tse of the second century B.C. says that old
huai trees (Sophora japonica) produce fire, and that blood preserved for
a long time produces a phenomenon called lin ^ ? This word is
justly assigned the meaning "flitting light" and "will-o'-the-wisp, as
seen over battle-fields." It is defined in the ancient dictionary Shuo
wtn as proceeding from the dead bodies of soldiers and the blood of
cattle and horses, poptdarly styled "fires of the departed souls."*
The philosopher Wang Ch'ung of the first century a.d. criticised this
belief of his contemporaries as follows: "When a man has died on a
battle-field, they say that his blood becomes a will-o'-the-wisp. The
blood is the vital force of the living. The will-o'-the-wisp seen by
people while walking at night has no htmian form; it is desultory and

fact by their luxuriant imaginations." I am somewhat inclined toward the same
opinion; but we should not lose sight of the fact that the phenomenon itself, as far as
precious stones are concerned, is not described in any ancient record, while we may
trust to the future that such will turn up some day in a Greek papyrus. As the
matter stands at present, we have at the best a theory fotuided on circumstantial
evidence deduced from the ancients* knowledge of the magnetic property of precious
stones.

1 BosTOCK and Riley, Natural History of PHny, Vol. VI, p. 408.

2 Quoted under this word in K'ang-hi's Dictionary.

* The text is cited in Couvreur's Dictionnaire chinois-frangais, p. 496.

68 The Diamond

concentrated like a light. Though being the blood of a dead man, it
does not resemble a human shape in form. How, then, could a man
whose vital force is gone, still appear with a himian body?" ^ At the
present day, when the Chinese in a very creditable manner coined a
nomenclatiire to render our scientific terminology, they chose this
word lift (ignis fatuus) to express our term " phosphorescence." ^ This
shows that they have a feeling that this phenomenon underlies the
popular notions conveyed by their word.^

The Po wu chi by Chang Hua (232-300)* has the following interest-
ing text, which shows also that the Chinese had a certain experience of
electric phenomena : "On battle-fields the blood of fallen men and horses
accumulates and is transformed into will-o'-the-wisps. These adhere
to the soil and to plants like dewdrops, and generally are not visible.
Wanderers sometimes strike against them, and they cling to their bodies,
emitting light. On being wiped off, they are scattered around into
numberless particles, which yield a crepitating soimd, as though beans
were being roasted. They thrive only in quiet places for any length of
time, and may soon be extinguished. The people affected by them be-
come perturbed, as though they were mentally unbalanced, and remain
for some days in an erratic state of mind. At present when people
comb their hair, or are engaged in dressing or undressing, sparks may
be noticed along the line of the comb or the folds of the dress, also
accompanied by a crepitating sound." ^

We noticed above that the phosphorescing of certain organs of
marine animals was known to Greek alchemists. The counterpart of
this observation is found in Chinese accoimts of the eyes of whales,
especially those of female whales, making "moonlight pearls" {ming

1 A. FoRKE, Lun-h6ng, pt. i, p. 193.

* It appears from the Ku kin chu of Ts*uei Pao of the fourth century (Ch. b,
p. 6b; ed. of Han Wei ts'ung shu) that the phosphorescence of the glow-worm or
firefly was styled also lin and likewise ye kuang ("wild fire," or "fire of the wilder-
ness").

' Giles (No. 6717) assigns this significance also to the word Ian in the compound
yii Ian ("phosphorescence of fishes") .

* Compare Notes on Turquois, p. 22. The passage is in Ch. 9, p. 2, of the
Wu-ch*ang edition.

^ Also in Japan it was believed that will-o'-the-wisps represent the souls of people
(hence called hito-dama, "man's soul"), which are floating away over the eaves and
roof as a transparent globe of impalpable essence (Aston, Shinto, p. 50; M. Revon,
Le Shintoisme, pp. iii, 302). Interesting information on this subject relative to
Japan is given by Geerts (Les produits de [la nature japonaise et chinoise,
pp. 186-187). Compare also some notes of M. W. de Visser (The Dragon in China
and Japan, pp. 213-214); and the same author's detailed study Fire and Ignes Fatui
in China and Japan {Mitteilungen des Seminars fiir oriental. Sprachen, Vol. XVII,
pt. I, 1914, pp. 97-193)-

Phosphorescence of Precious Stones 69

yiie cku) ; ^ this was recorded by Ts'uei Pao in the middle of the fourth
century .2 The fact that this was not mere fancy, but that such whale-
eye pearls were a product of actual use, is illustrated by the Moho, a
Tungusian tribe of the Sungari, who sent these in the year 719 as tribute
to the Chinese Court .^ The fabulous work Shu i ki says that in the
southern sea there is a pearl which is the pupil from the eye of a whale,
and in which one may behold his reflection at night, whence it is called
"brilliancy of the night'* {ye kuang),* Varahamihira (a.d. 505-587), in
his Brihat-Sariihita (Ch. 81 , § 23) , speaks of a pearl coming from dolphins,
resembling the eye of a fish, highly purif5dng, and of great worth.*

Fish-eyes seem to have been enlisted for this purpose in old Japan.
The Annals of the Sui Dynasty* attribute to Japan a wishing-jewel
(ju i pao chuy rendering of Sanskrit cintdmani) of dark color, as big as a
fowl's Qggy and radiating at night, said to be the pupil of a fish-eye.'^

Of other substances of animal origin credited by the Chinese with
the property of nocturnal limiinosity may be mentioned rhinoceros-horn,
discussed by the writer on a former occasion.^ While at that time I
referred the earliest conception of this matter to Ko Hung of the fourth
century and to a work of the T'ang period, I am now in a position to
trace it to an author of the third century a.d.. Wan Ch^n, who wrote
the work Nan chou i wu chi ("Account of Remarkable Objects in the
Southern Provinces").^ This writer assumes the existence of a divine
or spiritual rhinoceros, whose horn emits a dazzling splendor. The
interesting point, however, is that it is just an ordinary horn when
examined in the da3rtime, whereas in the darkness of night the single
veins of the horn are effulgent like a torch. ^° In regard to exhibiting
luminous properties at night, instances of the real pearl, which is likewise

* The same term as that ascribed to the Hellenistic Orient and identified above
with the astrion of Pliny.

2 The complete text is given by the writer in Toung Pao, 19 13, p. 341.
» T'ang shu, Ch. 219, p. 6.

*P*ei win yiin ju, Ch. 7A, p. 107; or Ch. 22 A, p. 76 b. This attribute again is
identical with that conferred on the precious stone of the Hellenistic Orient.

* H. Kern, Verspreide Geschriften, p. 100 ('s-Gravenhage, 1914).
^ Sui shu, Ch. 81, p. 7.

J In all probability this jewel was a Buddhist relic brought over to Japan from
India. Reference has been made above (p. 22) to the Buddhist legend, according
to which the cintdmaxii originates from the fabiilous fish makara. The Chinese
author Lu Tien (1042-1102), in his P"i ya, expresses the view that the cintdmaxii is
the pupil of the eye of a fish {Wu U siao shi, Ch. 7, p. 13).

» Chinese Clay Figures, pp. 138, 151.

» Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. i, Nos. 452, 539; and Sui shu, Ch. 33, p. 10.

" The passage is quoted in the cyclopaedia T'ai pHng yii Ian (published by Li Fang
in 983), Ch. 890, p. 3 (edition of Juan Yuan, 1812).

70 The Diamond

an animal product, have already been cited (p. 56). A few more cases
may here be added. In a.d. 86 moonlight pearls as big as fowl's eggs,
4.8 inches in circtimference, were produced in Yu-chang and Hai-hun.^
In the work Kuang chij by Kuo I-kung of the sixth century ,2 are dis-
tinguished three kinds of pearl-like gems, — the gem mu-nan ^$%
of yellow color,' the bright gem {ming chu «]3 J^ ), and the large gem

resplendent at night (ye kuang ta chu 'J^^^^), all an inch in diame-
ter, or two inches in circumference, the best qualities coming from
Huang-chi;* these are perfectly round, and when placed on a plane
do not stop rolling for a whole day.*

^ Both localities are situated in the prefecture of Nan-ch'ang, Kiang-si Province.
This notice is given in the Ku kin chu of Ts'uei Pao (fourth century), cited in T'ai
P'ing yii Ian, Ch. 803, p. 6.

2 Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. i, No. 376; and Pelliot, Bidl. de VEcolefrangaise,
Vol. IV, p. 172.

3 In another passage of the same work (cited in P'ei win yiinfu, Ch. 7A, p. 107;
and Pot pHng yii Ian, Ch. 809, p. 4 b) it is said that this gem of yellow hue originates
in the eastern countries. In this case, the name for the gem is mo-nan ^^, which
appears to be a phonetic variant of mu-nan. The same form is found in the Ku kin
chu (Ch. c, p. 5 b; ed. of Han Wei ts'ung shu), where shut :^ nan is given as a syno-
nyme, and where it is remarked that the stone is yellow and occurs in the coun-
tries of the Eastern Barbarians. Aside from these indications placing the home of
the stone vaguely in the East, we have other accounts that attribute it to the
Hellenistic Orient. The Nan Yiie chi (by ShSn Huai-yuan of the fifth century;
quoted in P'ei win ytin fu, Ch. 7A, p. 102 b) states that mu-nan are pearls or beads
of greenish color, produced by the saliva of a bird with golden wings, and that they
are prized in the country of Ta Ts'in. The Hiian chung ki (T'ai p'ing yii Ian, I. c.)
likewise informs us that Ta Ts'in is the place of production. The Annals of the T'ang
Dynasty ascribe mu-nan to Fu-lin (Hirth, China and the Roman Orient, p. 59);
and Ma Tuan-lin explains them as evolved from the coagulated saliva of a bird {ihid.,
p. 80), — doubtless the echo of a Western tradition. The Shi i ki tells of an auspi-
cious bird living on the fabulous isle Ying-chou, and spitting manifold pearls when
singing and moving its wings. An exact description of the stone mu-nan is not on
record. The Pin ts'ao kang mu lists it among the precious stones of yellow color.
Yang Sh6n (1488-1559) identifies it with the emerald (written by him tsie-ma-lu
instead of tsie-mu-lu, see Notes on Turquois, p. 55). Fang I-chi, in his Wu li siao
shi (Ch. 7, p. 14), proposes to regard it as the yellow yakut of the Arabs. These
speculations are recent after-thoughts of doubtful value.

* Regarding the location of this country see Chinese Clay Figures, p. 80.

• T"u shu tsi ch'ing, chapter on pearls, hui k'ao, I, p. 6 b. The latter statement
reminds one of Pigafetta's account regarding the two pearls of the King of Brunei
(west coast of Borneo), as large as hen's eggs, and so perfectly round that if placed
on a smooth table they cannot be made to stand still (see Hirth and Rockhill,
Chau Ju-kua, p. 159). — Li Shi-ch6n speaks of "thunder-beads" dropping from the
jaws of a divine dragon and lighting an entire house at night (see Jade, p. 64). These
are certainly not on a par with the other "prehistoric" implements enimierated by
him in the same text, as believed by de Visser (The Dragon, p. 88), but this matter
has crept in here by way of wrong analogy. These alleged thunder-beads are simply
a transformation of the snake-pearls of Indian folk-lore.

Phosphorescence or Precious Stones 71

Also coral has been credited with the same property. The work
Si king tsa ki (''Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital," that is,
Si-ngan fu) relates: "In the pond Tsi-ts'ui there are coral-trees twelve
feet high. Each trunk produces three stems, which send forth 426
branches. These had been presented by Chao T'o, King of Nan Yue
(Annam), and were styled * beacon-fire trees.' At night they emitted
a brilliant light as though they wotdd go up in flames."^

Whether in each of the instances cited the case rests on real observa-
tion is difficult to decide. Some accounts may be purely fabulous or
imaginary, and the luminous property may have freely been transposed
from one substance to another. Taken all together, however, we cannot
deny that certain phenomena of phosphorescence might to a certain
degree have been known to the ancient Chinese in some way or other,
although the phenomenon itself was not intelligently understood. A
recent author, Simg Ying-sing, who wrote in 1628 (2d ed., 1637) the
T*ien kung k'ai wu, a treatise on technology, gives an interesting account
of the pearl-fishery, and discredits the belief in night-shining pearls.
He remarks, "The pearls styled 'moonlight and night-shining* in times
of old are those which, when viewed under the eaves in broad daylight
on a sunny day, exhibit a fine thread of flashing light; it is uncertain,
however, that the night-shining pearls are finest, for it is not true that
there are pearls emitting light at the hour of the dusk or night." There
is, however, no account on record to show that the Chinese ever tmder-
stood how to render precious stones phosphorescent; and since this
experiment is difficult, there is hardly reason to believe that they should
ever have attempted it. Altogether we have to regard the traditions
about gems luminous at night, not as the result of scientific effort, but
as folk-lore connecting the Orient with the Occident, Chinese society
with the Hellenistic world.

* T'ai pHng yu Ian, Ch. 807, p. 5; or Tu shu tsi ch'ing, chapter on coral, ki shi,
p. I (see also Pien i Hen 94, Annam, hui k'ao vi, p. 8 b, where this event is referred to
the beginning of the Han dynasty).

INDEX

Adamantine gold, 38.

Aelian, 59.

Aetites, 9.

Agastimata, 42, 48.

Agathyrsi, diamond in country of, 53.

Ajasson, 45, 67.

Akfani, 27, 34, 41.

Albertus Magnus, 24.

Alexander, Romance of, 10, 11, 14, 45,
58.

Almas, Arabic designation of the dia-
mond, 32, 34, 42, 46.

Ammianus, 53.

Apollonius, on diamond, 24.

Armenian version of legend of Diamond
Valley, 14.

Arthagastra, on diamond, 16, 48.

Asbestos, 28, 33, 39, 40.

Astrion, 57.

Augustinus, 16, 24.

Ausfeld, A., 10, II, 45, 58.

Ball, v., 15, 48.

Bauer, M., 37, 47, 48, 49, 54» 64.

Beckmann, J., 28, 47, 62.

Benjamin of Tudela, 11.

Berquen, L. van, alleged inventor of

diamond-polishing, 49.
Berthelot, M., 26, 61, 64.
al-Beram, 41.
Biot, E., 21.
Biscia, A. R., 13, 27.
Blumner, H., 24, 36, 44, 47, 53, 57, 62.
Boll, F., 24.
Boot de, 41, 61.
Borneo, diamonds of, 54.
Boutan, M. E., monograph on diamond,

54-
Boyle, R., 64, 65.
Buddha, associated with the diamond,

17, 25 ; diamond passed as his tooth, 30.

California, diamonds of, 37.

Callaina, 15.

Cambodja, see Fu-nan.

Carbuncle, in the legend of Diamond
Valley, 14, note 2; 44, 60; luminous at
night, 61; 64.

Chalfant, F. H., on diamonds of Shan-
tung, 5.

Champa, diamond-rings from, 54.

Chang Hua, 68.

Ch'ang Tg, 13.

Chao Ju-kua, on diamonds of India, 22,
54; 63.

Chavannes, E., 8, 18, 22, 25, 30, 31, 33,
39, 40, 56, 57, 58, 61.

Chou K'li-fei, 21.

Chou Mi, 12, 42, 51.

Cintamaiji, 22, 69.

Conti, N., 14.

Coral, luminous at night, 71.

Cosmas, 62.

Crooke, W., 16, 41.

Curtius, 23, 44.

Cut diamonds, unknown in classical
antiquity, India, and China, 46-50;
imported into China from India and
Europe, 6 note; introduced into
India and China by Portuguese, 48,
50.

Dana, E. S., 43.
Dante, 18.

Diamond-point, 27, 28-35.
Diamond-sand, from Tibet, 15; regarded

as poisonous in India, 41.
Diamond-Seat, of Buddha, 17, 18.
Diamond throne, in Dante, 18.
Diamonds, of Shan-tung, 5; of India, 16,

44; in Iran, 53; of Java, 54; of Borneo,

Dionysms Penegetes, 44, 53, 58.
Dioscorides, 23, 26, 32, 44.
Duval, R., 26.

Eagle-stone, 9.

Edrisi, 13.

Electric phenomena, known to Chinese,

68.
Elysaeus, legend of Diamond Valley by,

14 note 2.
Emerald, 57, 62, 64, 70.
Emery, 12, 44, 50; of China, mentioned

by Arabs, 51.
Epiphanius, 9, 10, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21.
Ethiopia, diamonds in, 45.

Faber, E., 28, 29, 33.

Fang I-chi, 12, 70.

Farrington, O. C., 23, 37, 63.

Fauvel, on Chinese diamonds, 5.

Ferrand, G., 51.

Finot, L., 16, 17, 22, 41, 42, 43, 44, 48,

49.
Fire, does not affect diamond, 23, 38.
Fish-eyes, employed as pearls, 69.
Fluor-spar, known to Chinese, 21, 36;

not known to the ancients, 62.
Forke, A., 29, 33, 60, 68.

73

74

Index

Foucher, A., 7, 17.

Franke, O., 7. 25.

Fu-lin, 7, 8, 19, 70.

Fu-nan, crystal mirror from, 19; dia-
monds of, 21; diamonds from India
imported into, 22, 45.

Fu Yi, 30.

Garbe, R., 23, 44, 49.

Garcia ab Horto, 23, 48, 66.

Garnet, 66.

Geerts, 5, 21, 27, 51, 52.

Geiger, W., 31.

Girdle-ornaments, set with diamond, 40.

Glass, not cut with diamond-points by-
ancient Chinese or by Greeks and
Romans, 28; used for diamond imi-
tations in India, 41.

Gold, associated with the diamond by
the Chinese in consequence of classi-
cal tradition, 35-38.

Greek tales in China, 59, 60.

Grube, W., 56.

Guthe, J. M., 57.

Hair-spangles, set with diamond, 40.

Hanbury, D., 21.

Heart, compared with diamond, 18.

d'Herbelot, 57, 63.

Herodotus, 15, 53, 57» 59-

Hirth, F., 7, 8, 21, 29, 30, 33, 40, 55, 57,

58, 60, 61, 70.
Horapollo, 9.

Hormuz, diamonds from, 54.
Huai-nan-tse, 56, 60, 67.
Huan Chung ki, 25, 30, 32, 34, 53, 70.
Huan Tsang, on Diamond-Seat, 17; on

ruby, 62.
Huet, G., 20.
Humboldt, A. von, 36.
Hyacinth, 9, 14 note 4, 21, 41, 64.

Ichneumon, 7 note 4.

Imitation diamonds, 41-42.

India, history of diamond in, i6-l8;
legend of Diamond Valley in, 19;
diamonds from, imported into Roman
Orient, Fu-nan, and Kiao-chi, 22, 45;
eight sites where diamond was found,
22 ; diamonds of, known to Chinese in
third century, 35, 36; imitation dia-
monds in, 41 ; dianionds of, known to
the ancients, 44; diamond-rings from,
54; astrion of, 57.

Iran, diamond known in, 53.

Iron, does not affect diamond, 21, 23;
diamond turns into, 29; diamond-
points enclosed in, 31; association of
diamond with, 32.

Isidorus, 16.

Jade, wrought with diamond-points, 28,
31.

Java, diamond finger-rings from, 53; dag-
gers and krisses set with diamonds in, 54;
diamonds from, known to Chinese, 54.

Keller, O., on eagle-stone, 9; on ram, 24.

Kern, H., 7, 41, 69.

Kiang Yen, 40.

Kin-kang, has double meaning " thimder-
bolt" and "diamond," 17; with the
meaning "diamond," 21, 30, 35; ex-
planation of the term, 37.

King, C. W., 24, 66.

Ko Hung, 21, 23, 36, 69.

Kuang chi, 70.

Kubera, 7.

Kim-wu, 28-33; 38-40.

K'ung-ts'ung-tse, 40.

Kunz, G. F., 45, 63, 65.

Kuo I-kung, 70.

Lacouperie, T. de, 56, 61.

Lauchert, F., 10, 23, 24, 26, 63.

Lead, action of, on diamond, 26.

Leclerc, L., 9, 26, 32.

Lenz, H. O., 36, 45, 47, 62.

Lessing, 47.

Li Kuei, 35.

Li Shi-ch6n, 12, 25, 27, 28, 29, 40, 52, 70.

Li Siin, 34.

Liang se kung tse ki, 6, 14, 19, 20.

Lie-tse, 28, 32, 36, 39-

Lin-yi, diamondrrings from, 54.

Lippmann, E. O. von, 24, 36, 43.

Liu-sha, 29, 30.

Load-stone, 28, 67.

Lucian, 58.

Lychnis, 58, 59, 66.

Magnetism, of precious stones, 66-67.

Makara, 22.

Manicheans, 18.

Manilius, 24, 43.

Mansar, 26.

Marbodus, 16, 50, 61.

Marco Polo, 11, 13, 18, 54.

Marx, A., 59, 60.

Megenberg, K. von, 32, 50, 61.

M^ly, F. de, 9, 24, 30, 31, 42, 59, 62.

Milindapafiha, 16, 17.

Mo Ti, 56.

Mu-nan, a gem, 70.

Nan chou i wu chi, 34, 40, 69.
Nan Yiie chi, 62, 70.
Narahari, 49.
Nizami, II.

Odoric of Pordenoae, 62.
Orphica, 59, 65.
Osborne, D., 43.

Pannier, L., 24, 50, 61.
Parturition stone, 9.

Index

75

Pearls, perforated with diamond-points,
34; luminous at night, 55-57» 59-6o,
70-71.

Pelliot, P., on Fu-lin, 8; on Chou Mi,
12; on kin-kang, 17; 18, 22, 30, 33,
56.70..

Persia, diamond known in, under Sas-
sanians, 53.

Philostratus, 9, 59, 62.

Phosphorescence, of precious stones,
63-71; of animal organs, 19, 64, 69,
70.

Physiologus, 9, 23, 26, 45, 63.

Pigmies, gems in country of, 55.

Plato, possibly alluding to the diamond,
36.

Pliny, on eagle-stone, 9; on callaina,
15; on testing of diamond, 23; on
cenchros, 30; on diamond, 31, 36, 40,
41, 42, 43-46; on astrion, 57; on
lychnis, 58; on magnetic property of
lychnis and diamond, 66.

Po-lo-ki, diamonds from, 62.

Porcelain, wrought with diamond-points,
28.

Portuguese, introduced diamond-cut-
ting into India, 48; of Macao, intro-
duced the Chinese to cut diamonds, 50.

Prester John, letter of, 38, 61.

Ptolemy, on diamonds of India, 44.

Qazwini, 11, 13, 28, 37, 41.

Ram's horn, in Chinese opinion, de-
stroys diamond, 22; corresponds to
ram's blood of the ancients, 23-26, 38.

Ratnaparlksha, 49.

Ray, 65.

Razi, 9.

Rings, set with diamonds, 6, 34, 40, 53.

Rock-crystal, properties of, ascribed
to diamond, 31; served for imitation
diamonds in India, 41; passed as dia-
mond in Europe, 46.

Rockhill, W. W., 54.

Rohde, E., 11, 15.

Ruby, 26, 32, 50, 60, 62.

Ruska, J., 9, 10, II, 12, 23, 31, 37, 41,
51. 65.

Scaliger, J. C, 14.
Se-ma Piao, 39.
Se-ma Siang-ju, 38.
Se-ma Ts'ien, 56.
Seal, of diamond, 33.
Shamir, 12 note i.

Shan-tung, diamonds found in, 5 note 2.

Shi chou ki, 29, 32.

Si-wang-mu, 33.

Sindbad, 11, 28.

Smaragdos, 57, 58.

Smith, F. P., 21, 29, 50.

Sokeland, H., 49, 50.

Solomon, 12, 33.

Stalactites, 21.

Strabo, 24, 44.

Su Shi, 31.

Sung Lien, 63.

Sung Ying-sing, 71.

Supparaka-jataka, 22.

Susemihl, P., 60.

Tavemier, 48.

Teeth of Buddha's statue, formed by

diamonds, 31.
Theophrastus, on parturient stones, 9;

alludes to diamond, 24, 44; on ruby,

60.
Tifashi, 13, 27.
Tourmaline, 58, 61.
Ts'ao Chao, 15.
Tsin k'i ku chu, 35.
Tu Ku-t'ao, 27.
Tu Wan, 21.
Tu Yu, 55.
Tun-huang, 35, 36.
Tung-fang So, 29.
Tzetzes, 14.

Ural, diamonds of, 36, 37, 53.

Vajra, 16, 53.
Vajrasana, 17.
Varahamihira, 17, 41, 69.
Visser de, 68, 70.

Wang Ch'ung, 67.

Watt, G., 16.

Whale-eyes, employed as pearls, 68,

Wiedemann, E., 27, 34, 41.

Will-o'-the-wisp, 67, 68.

Winnefeld, H., 25.

Wishing-jewel, 22, 69.

Wonders of India, Arabic book of,

Yang Sh6n, 70.
Yu Huan, 56.
Yuan Ch6n, 34.
Yule, H., 15.

Zachariae, T., 12.
Zamcke, P., 14, 38, 61.

69.

II.

-7^

Field Museum of Natural History ^

Publication 192
Anthropological Series Vol. XV, No. 2

THE BEGINNINGS OF PORCELAIN
IN CHINA

BY

' Berthold Laufer

Curator of Anthropology

With a Technical Report by H. W. Nichols
Assistant Curator of Geology

Twelve Plates and Two Text-Figures ^

The Mrs. T. B. Blackstone Expedition

Chicago
1917

-77

CONTENTS

PAGE

Introductory 79

Report on a Technical Investigation of Ancient Chinese
Pottery, by H. W. Nichols

I. PORCELANOUS HaN PoTTERY 86

II. Analysis of a Green Glaze from a Bowl of Han

Pottery 92

Historical Observations and Conclusions 95

Historical Notes on Kaolin no

The Introduction of Ceramic Glazes into China, with

Special Reference to the Murrine Vases . . .120

The Potter's Wheel 148

Index 178

i

The Beginnings of Porcelain in China

INTRODUCTORY

In February of 19 lo, while in Si-ngan fu, the capital of Shen-si
Province, the writer received from Mr. Yen, a Chinese scholar and
antiquarian of note with whom he was on very friendly terms, a curious
bit of ancient pottery, which at first sight bore all the characteristic
marks associated with what is known as Han pottery, but which, on
the other hand, exhibited a body and a glaze radically different from
that ware (Plate I). Mr. Yen accompanied the object with a written
message, explaining the circumstances under which it had been found,
and commenting to some extent on its historical value. Following
is a literal rendering of his letter: "I once heard dealers say that they
had seen *Han porcelain' (Han ts'e SIM), but I had no faith in this
statement. In the winter of the year ting wet T ^ (1907) I secured
a large vase, and suspected that it might be an object of the Han
period, but did not dare to be positive about this point. In the spring
of last year some one brought to light, from a Han grave which he had
excavated, ancient jade pieces and such-like things, together with
an enormous iron cooking-stove. On the latter are found, cast in
high relief, six characters reading, 'Great felicity! May it be service-
able to the lords! ' (ta ki ch'ang i hou wang :K'^ ^'M.^3c,). On the
top of this stove was placed a small * porcelain jar.' I lost no time in
sending out an agent to effect a purchase, but the stove had already
passed into the hands of a merchant. So I obtained only the 'porce-
lain jar' in question, the material and style of which proved identical
with those of the large vase purchased by me years ago. For this
reason I now felt positive that the question is here of 'Han porcelain.'
Subsequently I acquired also a jar of the type styled lei §, and big
and small vases; in all, four. From that time the designation 'Han
porcelain' began to be established in the world.

"Written in Ch'ang-ngan by Yen Kan-yuan ^ "H* ^ on the day
when the flowers sprout forth (W %^ 9), of the second month of
the second year of the period Siian-t'ung (February 27, 1910)."

While I had a deep respect for Mr. Yen's learning and extensive
knowledge of archaeological subjects, I remained sceptic as to the
identification of his jar with what he styled Han ts'e, and, though recog-
nizing its intrinsic merit as a piece of evidence filling a lacune in our

79

So Beginnings of Porcelain

knowledge of ancient pottery, I did not allow myself to be carried away
by the usual wave of enthusiasm over a first discovery (since then
six years and a half have elapsed), but decided to hold the matter in
abeyance till a thorough analysis, to be made at home, would permit
us to base an opinion on facts. Meanwhile opportunities were seized
at Si-ngan fu to collect as much as possible of this novel pottery. My
first concern, naturally, was to secure the large iron stove mentioned
in Mr. Yen's missive. A desire thus expressed spreads in that quaint
old town like a prairie-fire; and when the sun had risen and set again,
I was the lucky owner of that precious relic. Indeed, Yen's descrip-
tion was by no means an exaggeration. In type and style, this cast-
iron stove (Plate II), partly in decay and the iron core having entirely
rotted away, exactly corresponds to the well-known Han burial cooking-
stoves, and it is the finest specimen of ancient cast-iron that I was
able to find. Being posed on four feet in the form of elephant-heads,
it is built in the shape of a horse-shoe, and provided with a chimney
at the rounded end, five cooking-holes, and a projecting platform in
front of the fire-chamber. On the latter is cast an inscription in six
raised characters, which read exactly as indicated by Mr. Yen, — a
formula typical of the Han and earlier ages, and encountered on many
bronze vessels. The style of these characters is in thorough agreement
with that of Han writing. The object was discovered in a grave near
the village Ma-kia-chai ^ ^M, $ ^^ north of the town Hien-yang,
in Shen-si Province. As previously remarked,^ without laying down
any hard and fast rules, there is a great deal of probability in assigning
such cast-iron objects to the period of the Later Han (a.d. 25-220),
while it is equally justifiable to extend the time of their manufac-
ture over the entire third century of our era. The iron stove thus
furnishes a clew to the date of the jug which was found in the same
grave with it. Needless to say, I left no stone unturned, and kept
on inquiring and hunting for this so-called Han ts'e ware in and
around Si-ngan. I succeeded in bringing together only eight more
pieces (Plates III-X), among these the vessel lei referred to in Yen's
memorable epistle,^ and a number of larger fragments and small
shards, which are always precious and encouraging acquisitions to
the archaeologist, as they are not under suspicion, and offer welcome
study material.

* Chinese Clay Figures, p. 216.

* The pottery vase of this designation is mentioned in the Chou It as holding
the sacrificial spirits called ch'ang, which were offered to the deity Earth (BiOT,
Tcheou-li, Vol. I, p. 468). It is the reproduction in clay of an original bronze-
type, frequent among the bronze vessels of the Chou.

I

Introductory 8i

It will be noticed that these nine bits, in their forms and decorations,
decidedly agree with the mortuary Han pottery,^ and that, taken
merely as ceramic types, they represent archaic types of Han art.
On the other hand, however, apart from their technical composition,
they have in common some characteristic features which are not
found in Han pottery. To these belong the curious loop handles,
obviously imitative of a knotted rope or a basketry handle, and the
geometric wave patterns. The latter, it will be remembered, occur
also in the relief bands on many vases of Han pottery, but are of a
different style, in the manner of realistic waves. There is in our col-
lection only one unglazed, gray Han pottery vase with a geometric
wave design approaching that in the above group; but it is a much
bolder and freer composition, and not so neat and refined as in the
porcelanous vases. Even in some shapes, the traditional rules of the
Han may not be quite strictly observed; they may be less stern and
rigorous, and, while dignified and partially imposing, treated with
somewhat greater individual freedom. This, however, is rather a
point of sentiment or impression than a ponderable argument. The
deviations from the standard Han pottery are insignificant when con-
trasted with what the two groups have in common. The best tradition
and spirit of Han art are preserved in these nine productions.

The comparative scarcity of this ware is notable, and gives food
for serious reflection. As the writer was able to secure on his last
expedition for the Field Museum many hundreds of pieces of Han pot-
tery of all types and descriptions, while several thousand specimens
have passed through his hands during the last fifteen years, and as he
could himt up only nine representatives of this novel (porcelanous)
ware, these numbers may be regarded as the relative (certainly not
absolute; proportions in which the two classes of pottery are to be found,
and, we may add, were made in the past. Two inferences may be
drawn from this phenomenon, — this peculiar ware was the product
of only a single kiln or of very few kilns; and these kilns did not flourish
during the Han period, but either at its very close, or even, and more
probably, toward the middle or end of the third century. This point
will be more fully discussed hereafter.

^ In speaking of Han pottery, it should be understood that in this case the term
"Han" does not refer to the chronologically exact boundaries of a dynastic period,
but to an archaeological epoch, a certain phase of ancient Chinese art, which is
not necessarily gauged by the dates 206 B.C. and a.d. 220. There is naturally
an overlapping at both ends, and we have, at least for the present, no means of
determining exactly either the beginning or the end of Han art. This much seems
certain, that the middle and the latter part of the third century a.d. have thor-
oughly remained under the influence of Han tradition.

82 Beginnings of Porcelain

On my return to America, two objects remained to be pursued in
connection with this new material, — first, to secure the co-operation
of a competent investigator for a chemical analysis of the body and
glaze of this pottery; and, second, to search in other museums for
corresponding specimens. My colleague Mr. Nichols, assistant curator
of geology in the Field Musetun, volimteered to undertake the technical
task, and he has carried it out with rare devotion and perseverance.
His experiments were conducted, and his results were obtained, in
191 2. From the date of our publication it will be seen that we were
not in a hurry to bring it to the notice of the world. We allowed it to
rest and to mature, and discussed the new problems with each other
and with ceramic experts at frequent intervals. Their friendly interest
and advice at last encouraged us to make known the results of our
research, which we trust will be of some utility to students interested
in the history of Chinese pottery.

In regard to kindred objects in other collections, I have been able
to obtain the following information. Mr. Francis Stewart Kershaw
of the Museimi of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass., who saw the pieces of
pottery in question in the Field Musetun, mentioned to me that similar
specimens were in the Boston Museum. On sending him some frag-
ments from our material for comparison with that under his care, he
wrote as follows:^

"The bits of potsherd are quite large enough to tell me their story,
and I am very much obliged for them. Except in hardness, they are
similar to the clay of three of oiu: pieces, being of the same color, texture,
and apparent constituents. Two of our pieces were bought in China
by Mr. Okakura, and both were labelled 'Sung' by some Chinese
(probably a dealer). Okakura called one (12875) which is covered
with a blackish shaded gray-green glaze, opaque and dull, 'Sung.'
The second (12865), which is precisely similar in potting, clay, and
glaze, to your Han porcelanous jars, Okakura called 'T'ang.' Mr.
Freer, by the way, has a vase like 12865, which he calls 'T'ang.'* The
third of otu* pieces (121 18) was bought from Mr. C. F. Gammon (for-
merly a lieutenant in the United States Army), who obtained it in
Nanking from a cooly, who had unearthed it while digging in a railway
cutting in Nanking. The jar was partly full of coins, all alike, of the
denomination *pan Hang' ^ W, issued in 175 B.C. in the reign of the

1 The letter is published here with Mr. Kershaw's consent.

'This object was exhibited in the National Museum of Washington in 19 12,
when a selection from the Freer Collection was temporarily shown. I then had
occasion to see it. It is not a T'ang production, but of exactly the same type as
our early porcelanous ware.

Introductory 83

Emperor Wen. Mr. Gammon told me that he had bought the jar
on the spot where it was found. The jar itself, like the others belong-
ing to us, was welded or coiled up by hand before a summary smooth-
ing-off on the wheel. It had four loop handles, finger-modelled, at
the shoulder (two only of these remain), and was glazed in a thin
running blackish-green, of which the little that still adheres is for the
most part oxidized to dull brownish-ochre. The clay is softer than
your shards, and softer, too, than that of 12865 or 12875; but it seems
to be quite the same in all other respects. It has the same admixture
of black and occasional white particles in the mass of gray, the same
unevenly ferruginous surface, and the same occasional thickening of
that surface. The jar is much less well potted than your pieces and
ours. Perhaps it is more primitive; that is, it may be an early example
of the method used so expertly in making your jars and ours. Perhaps,
on the other hand, it is simply cruder; that is, the potter may have
used a well-known and well-developed method carelessly in making
an unimportant vessel. Who knows? I incline toward the latter
possibility.

"I dated the jar *Han' because of the evidence of the coins found
in it. Now, emboldened by your ascription of the date to the porce-
lanous jars, I shall classify No. 12865 in the Han period or shortly
after. As regards 12875, because of its different glaze and an obscure
device impressed on its shoulder, I am not yet sure."

At my request Mr. Kershaw was good enough to send me for ex-
amination the pan-liang copper coins, twenty-one all together, found in
Mr. Gammon's jar. They all proved to be authentic, as particularly
determined by close comparison with numerous corresponding issues
in the Chalfant coin collection, and to have been issued under the Han.^
The presence of this batch of coins in that vessel is, of course, no abso-
lute proof warranting us in assigning the vessel to the early Han period,
as these coins may still have been in circulation long after Han times.
In 1 90 1 I found in actual circiilation at Si-ngan fu Han copper coins
with the legend wu chu. A collection of twenty-one Han pan-liang
coins in a single jar would rather hint at a high appreciation of this
money, and such is rather more probable in post-Han than in Han
times. At any rate, the exclusive presence of a single Han issue,
together with the absence of any later coin, would seem to favor a
period approaching very closely the age of the Han.

^ Money with this legend, weighing exactly half an ounce (pan-liang), was
first issued under the Ts'in (see Chavannes, M^moires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien,
Vol. Ill, pp. 539, 542).

84 Beginnings of Porcelain

Several similar pieces have been collected by Mr. Orvar Karlbeck,
an official of the Tientsin-Piikow Railway, residing at Chu-chou,
Ngan-hui Province. This gentleman, in the course of several years'
residence in China, has formed a very interesting collection of ancient
pottery, that consists of 144 pieces. I did not have occasion to see
it, but, judging from photographs and descriptions which he has been
good enough to send\me, he seems to own several bits such as are here
under consideration. \

Mr. R. L. Hobson, the prominent expert in pottery of the British
Museum, while visiting Chicago in January, 1913, and doing me the
honor of studying the collections under my care, called my attention
to two early jars of similar glazes which were found at Black Rock Hill
in Fu-chou, and are now preserved in the British Museum. They
are sketched and described by H. F. Holt.^ They are oval-shaped
jars, with short necks and straight rims, a pair of loop handles (in
one piece double handles) being stuck on to the shoulders. They are
described as being made "of a grayish clay resembling almost stone-
ware, over which a coat of greenish-brown glaze has been coarsely laid;
a curved line at the bottom sharply defines where the glazing ended."
The further remark, however, that the glaze is quite decomposed and
can easily be detached, would rather hint at this glaze being of a char-
acter different from that on our specimens, which, owing to its chemical
composition, is not capable of decomposition. The great antiquity
of these two jars is not doubtful: in shape and style they are true
descendants of Han pottery. Holt adduces an interesting piece of
evidence as to their age, — the fact that the grave in which they were
found was situated within the city- walls; and, as no burial within the
latter is permitted, they would seem to have been deposited there at a
time prior to the erection of the wall. He refers to the "Geography
of the Manchu Dynasty" (Ta TsHng i Vung chi) as containing the
information that in a.d. 625 Fu-chou was a city of the first class.

Mr. Hobson was also good enough to read in manuscript Mr.
Nichols's report, that follows, and to anticipate some of these results
in his admirable work "Chinese Pottery and Porcelain,"^ which denotes
decided progress in our knowledge of the entire subject, and is now
the best general handbook on porcelain. Referring to Mr. Nichols's
analyses of the body and glaze of this pottery, Mr. Hobson states,
"The results show that the body is composed of a kaolin-like material

^ On Chinese Cinerary Urns {Journal British Archceological Association,
Vol. XXVII, 1871, pp. 343-349. Plate XVII).
* Vol. I, p. 15 (New York and London, 1915).

Introductory 85

(probably a kind of decomposed pegmatite), and is, in fact, an incipient
porcelain, lacking a sufficient grinding of the material. The glaze is
composed of the same material softened with powdered limestone and
colored with iron oxide. . . . The nature of the pottery, in spite
of its coarse grain and dark color, which is probably due in part to the
presence of iron in the clay, seems to show that the manufacture of
porcelain was not far distant."

The report of Mr. Nichols is of sufficient importance and interest
to warrant its publication in ftill. It is divided into two parts. Part I
is devoted to a detailed investigation of the ancient porcelanous ware;
and, in order to render possible a comparison with the earlier Han
pottery, analysis of a green glaze from a bowl of Han pottery follows
in Part II.

REPORT ON A TECHNICAL INVESTIGATION OF ANCIENT
CHINESE POTTERY

By H. W. Nichols
I. PORCELANOUS HaN PoTTERY

For the purpose of analysis, one fragment about two inches long and
two inches wide, and a number of smaller pieces, were examined. The
body of the ware, which is from three-sixteenths to one-quarter of an
inch thick, consists of a gray vitrified porous substance which contains
a few scattered black specks of minute size and glassy lustre. The body
is coated on the outside with a very thin opaque red slip, and on the
inside with a white engobe and a thick transparent greenish-yellow glaze.

Chemical Characters of the Body. — An analysis of the body from
which both the inner and outer glaze and engobe coats had been removed,
but with the black specks included, was made in the Museum laboratory.

Analysis of Body

Silica, Si02 71.61

Alumina, AlaOs 18.67

Iron oxide, FeO 3 . 57

Lime, CaO 0.59

Magnesia, MgO 0.33

Soda, NasO 4-43

Potash, KjO 1.37

100.57
When this is compared with other analyses, it must be remembered
that there are small ferruginous specks scattered through this body,
so that the iron content shown by the analysis is higher than that of
the true body substance.

Table Showing Analysis of Ancient Chinese Pottery
In comparison with that of modem Chinese and Japanese porcelains

Silica, SiOa . .
Alumina, AljO«
Iron oxide, FeO
Lime, CaO .
Magnesia, MgO
Soda, NajO
Potash, K,0

71.61

74-53 71.31

18.67

16.09 19.74

3.57

1.03 0.73

0.59

0.06 0.17

0.33

0.25 2.04

4-43

I. 19 O.IO

1.37

4-37 404

69 70 73 30 69 70.50
23.60 22.20 19.30 21.30 20.70
1 . 20 2 3 . 40 o . 80 o . 80

0.30 0.80 0.60 I. 10 0.50
0.20 trace trace trace trace
3.30 3.60 2.50 3-40^6.00
2.90 2.70 2.30 1.80

Explanation of Table

A. — Ancient porcelanous Chinese pottery in question, analysis by H. W. Nichols.

B. — Modern Japanese porcelains, analyses by H. A. Skger (see his Collected Writings, Vol. II,
p. 686).

C. — Modem Chinese porcelains, analyses by A. Salv^tat, contained in the work of S. Julikn,
Histoire et fabrication de la porcelaine chinoise, p. Lxxxvi (Paris, 1856).

86

Technical Investigation of Chinese Pottery 87

The analysis proves that this body has all the chemical characters
of a true porcelain. Its resemblance to the analyses of Japanese porce-
lains made by Seger^ is remarkable.

The silica and alumina both fall within the rather narrow limits
set by Seger for this ware. The important deviations from the com-
position of Japanese porcelain are precisely those which characterize
modem Chinese porcelains. These are: the high content of iron, in
this instance of little significance; the high alkali content; and the
excess of potash over soda. An important feature in the composition
of porcelain and pottery bodies is the silica-alumina ratio. The ware
presents, in this feature, a decidedly Japanese aspect. The Chinese
porcelains analyzed by Salvetat generally are higher in alumina, and
lower in silica, than this specimen and the Japanese bodies. The
analyses of Chinese porcelain indicate a decidedly variable composition,
as might be expected from Julien's description of the rather haphazard
way in which the mixtures are made. In respect to this silica-alumina
ratio, which sharply distinguishes Oriental from Occidental porcelains,
the ancient bit of pottery under consideration comes distinctly into the
Oriental class. ,

The quantity of alkali is essentially the same as in Salvetat 's analyses
of modem Chinese porcelains. Salvetat's average is 5.59%, while
this ware contains 5.80%. The quantity of iron in some of Salvetat's
specimens is essentially as great as that of this specimen. The varia-
tion among themselves of the analyses of modem Chinese porcelain
is fully as great as the difference between these and the pottery under
discussion. As the chemical composition of the ware is that of a good
porcelain, the reason it failed to make a fine ware must be sought in
those physical features which are consequent on the handling of the
materials during manufacture, and not in any qualities inherent in
the nature of the materials themselves.

Physical Characters of the Body. — The body is composed of a
gray vitrified material, with the slightly greasy lustre characteristic of
some varieties of vitrified ware. Under an ordinary hand magnifying-
glass, it appears as a kind of solidified froth composed of pores enclosed
by thin walls of a translucent porcelain-like substance. These pores
are elongated, so that there is a well-defined laminated structure.
There are numerous inclusions of a black and glassy iron slag. Each of
these glassy inclusions siurounds a minute spherical bubble. Through-
out the body there are angular patches of lighter and darker gray which
are vestiges of coarse particles in the mixture from which the body

1 Collected Writings, Vol. II, pp. 687 and 716.

88 Beginnings of Porcelain

was burned. In thin fragments the material is somewhat translucent.
A somewhat thick micro-section transmits light as freely as do many
rock-sections, although confusion from the overlapping of much fine
detail does not permit a very profitable study of the section.

It is not possible to tell from the examination of any well-burned
vitrified ware whether the mixture from which it is burned is of natural
or artificial origin. It would not be at all impossible, although per-
haps a task of some difficulty, to find along the outcrop of some peg-
matite dike kaolin-like material from which a body identical with this
might be burned. The Japanese, formerly at any rate, burned their
wares from a single clay, while the Chinese use a mixture. This ware
might have been prepared either way.

The raw material contained iron-bearing minerals in coarse grains
only. Each grain has left its individual splash of glassy black slag.
The absence of any marked tone of buff, green, or yellow in the color of
the mass indicates that there was no important quantity of finely-divided
ferruginous mineral present. A simple and crude washing would have
eliminated the iron-bearing minerals. Although the pottery does not
look at all like porcelain, the only real point of difference, as far as
the body is concerned, is the porosity of the ware. This porosity seems
to be due to the use of too coarsely ground material, with not enough
fine to fill the interspaces. It is a porcelain froth.

The Outside Red Glaze. — The red glaze on the outside is very
thin. Its surface is rough and interrupted by nimierous minute black
blotches, where ferruginous minerals from the body have penetrated.
The glaze is very uniformly distributed. It has not run during firing,
nor has it crazed since. It is in as good condition to-day, as on the
day it was made. It has, as well as may be determined under a power-
ful magnifying-glass, the structure, or rather lack of structure, of a
uniform, translucent, vitrified mass. It seems to be a simple slip
of some good red-burning clay. It is so thin that a sample for analysis
could .not be obtained. Between the red coating and the body is a
white engobe coat. This nowhere exceeds one-tenth of a millimetre
in thickness. It differs from the similar coating under the transparent
glaze of the inside of the vessel only in its greater thinness and in the
possession of a slight pinkish color, apparently absorbed from the
overlying glaze. In places this coat becomes very thin and even
occasionally disappears.

The Inside Glaze. — That surface of the fragment examined,
which corresponds to the inside of the vessel of which it formed a part,
is covered with a transparent glaze upon a porcelain-iike engobe.
This engobe coat is thicker than that upon the outside of the vessel.

Technical Investigation of Chinese Pottery 89

Its average thickness is one-quarter millimetre, but this thickness is
very variable. Although it is not pure white in color, it is of a dis-
tinctly lighter gray than the body; also it differs from the body, in
that it is compact and free from pores. When examined under a
hand magnifying-glass, it seems to be very sharply and distinctly sep-
arated from the body. When examined as a thin section under the
microscope, the sharp line of demarcation disappears, as well as
the difference in color. It then seems to be of the same material as the
body freed from ferruginous particles and from coarse grains, so that
it has vitrified into a dense non-porous body. The object of such a
coating as this is twofold: it provides a light-colored background for
the transparent glaze, whereby its brilliancy is enhanced; and it provides
an impervious support for the glaze, which otherwise might be absorbed
into the pores of the body during the firing. The appearance of the
material, when viewed in the form of a micro-section, suggests that
this coat is merely the result of floating the finer particles of the mix
to the surface during the process of forming the vessel. This would
ordinarily be accomplished by the friction of the hand or of some tool.
But the coating under the more fusible glaze, where its presence is
imperative, is much thicker than that under the less fusible glaze,
where the necessity for it is much less. The way the coarse particles
of the body project through the red glaze is difficult to understand on
the theory of a floated surface; and there are no signs of dragging along
the surface of those coarse particles which lie immediately under the
surface; also it would be difficult to float so much fine material when the
deficiency of this matter is such as to leave so many voids in the interior.
The preponderance of evidence indicates that this material is an engobe
coat put on possibly by dipping, but more probably by spraying. In
both its physical and chemical aspect, this coat is a true porcelain.

The glaze is a greenish-yellow glass, brown in the thicker places.
It is of variable thickness, as it ran badly during firing. Aside from
this serious deficiency, it is a remarkably good glaze. It still adheres
firmly to the body, and there has been no chipping or scaling. The
crazing takes the form of a fine and uniform network of cracks.
The brilliancy is very great, and there is no sign of devitrification. The
attainment of these qualities, especially the continued perfect adhesion,
which necessitates a very nice adjustment of the coefficients of expan-
sion of body and glaze, indicates that the potters had already attained
a high degree of skill. Running of a glaze of this type during firing is
a condition unusually difficult to contend with. The color almost
certainly identifies this glaze as a lime-alumina-iron silicate, and this
is verified by an analysis made in the Museum laboratories.

90

Beginnings of Porcelain

Analysis of the Glaze

Silica. SiOt 54-17

Alumina, AljOj 14.16

Iron oxide, FeO 4 • 36

Lime, CaO 19. 05

Magnesia, MgO 2 . 04

Soda, NajO 5.49

Potash, KjO 0.00

99.27

This is obviously an alkali-lime-iron-alumina silicate glaze. This
is so purely a Chinese type, that it is useless to compare it with any but
Chinese glazes. Even the Japanese glazes differ materially from those
of the Chinese, being intermediate in character between these and the
European. Those Chinese porcelain glazes the analyses of which have
been examined are all white, and hence free or neariy so from iron.
The influence of iron on a glaze is very great, and extends to nearly all
its properties. Hence, in modifying a yellow glaze to a white one,
there is much to do in the way of readjusting the proportions of all the
elements, besides removing the iron. Therefore the close correspond-
ence which appeared among the several body analyses will not be found
to hold between the yellow and the colorless glazes, even if one has been
derived from the other.

Comparative Table of Chinese Glazes

A

B C

Silica, SiOj '

• . 54.17

68 64.1

Alumina, AljOs

. 14.16

12 10.2

Iron oxide, FeO ....

. . . 438

traces traces

Lime, CaO

. . 19.05

14 21

Magnesia, MgO ....

. . 2.04

not determined

Alkali, NazO, K2O . . .

. . 5.49

6 5

Explanation of Table
A. — Ancient Chinese pottery glaze, analysis by H. W. Nichols.
B and C. — Modern Chinese porcelain glazes, analyses by A. SALvfexAT {I. c, p. 132).

The glaze on porcelain is thin, and Salv^tat evidently had difficulty
in securing enough material for a thorough analysis. The examples
given in the table are sufficient to show that all these glazes are of the
same character.

'/A comparison of the compositions of glaze and body suggests that
the glaze has been prepared by mixing the material of the body with
pulverized limestone. A brief calculation of the quantitative relations
between the several elements of body and glaze confirms this impression
in such a manner that there can remain no doubt as to the mode of

Technical Investigation of Chinese Pottery 91

preparation of the glaze. It must have been made by the addition of
approximately one part of limestone, or the lime bvimed from it, to
two parts of the clay from which the body was prepared. It is also
possible, but not certain, that small quantities of soda and oxide of
iron were added to rectify minor defects.

The calculation follows: It is assumed that the limestone is a pure,
more or less magnesian, limestone, such as would naturally be employed.
The limestone is taken to be somewhat magnesian, partly from inspec-
tion of the analyses, and partly because a non-magnesian limestone is
rather an unusual rock. As such a limestone is practically free from
silica, the silica of the glaze must come from the clay, and the ratio
of the silicas in body and glaze will give a measure of the quantity of
clay used in the mixture. As the body contains 71.61% silica, and the
glaze 54.17%, it is evident that, ignoring for the present losses in
burning, 75.66 parts of clay were used per 100 parts of glaze. The
following table may then be readily calculated:

Table showing Relations between the Composition of the Glazb and of
A Mixture of 75.66% of the Pottery Body with 24.34% of Lime

75-66%

OF BODY

54- 17

14.12
2.70

0.45
0.25

3-35
1.04

BODY

Silica, Si02 . . .

. 71.61

Alumina, AUOs . .

. 18.67

Iron oxide, FeO . .

. 3-57

Lime, CaO . . .

• 0.59

Magnesia, MgO .

. 0.33

Soda, NaaO . . .

. 4.43

Potash, K2O . . .

. 1.37

Carbonic Acid, CO2 .

differ-

lime-

glaze

ence

stone

excess

54.17

0.00

0.00

14.16

— 0.04

— 0.04

436

1.66

....

1.66

19 05

18.60

18.60

0.00

2.04

1.79

1.79

0.00

5.49

2.14

2.14

0.00

—1.04

....

— 1.04

....

....

16.54

100.57 76.08 99.27 .... 36.93

In the column marked "excess" are recorded the differences between
the actual and computed compositions of the glaze. These differences
are trifling. The absence of potash from the glaze is in line with the
known volatilization of potash from the surface of wares subject to
the kiln fires.

The slight excess of iron oxide and soda in the mixture is not sur-
prising, as crude, untreated earths of the kind used are by no means
uniform in composition, and greater discrepancies than this are to be
expected in analyses of consecutive batches of such material. Especially
common is such an interchange of potash and soda as appears in this
instance. The correspondences between figures and theory are, in
fact, so close, that it is probable that the material employed was care-
fully selected by such physical characters as color, texture, etc.

92 Beginnings of Porcelain

It is of course possible that the potters had learned to adjust the
qualities of the glaze by small additions of alkali and iron oxide. Slight
variations in the quantity of either of these substances greatly influence
the physical properties of the glaze.

This table cannot give more than a rough approximation of the
quantities of the two ingredients of the mixture, as the losses of volatile
matter in both limestone and clay during burning cannot be computed
with accuracy. The table suggests that not far from one part of lime-
stone to two parts of clay were employed. We may safely conclude
that this glaze was made by adding pulverized limestone, lime, or
milk of lime to the material from which the body of the pottery
was made. The modern Chinese glaze for porcelain is made by mixing
lime with one of the two ingredients of which they make the body.
This process seems to be peculiar to China.

Conclusions. — At the time this ware was made, the potters had
already acquired a high degree of dexterity. Many of the things that
they accomplished in the fabrication of this pottery required technical
skill of no mean order. The engobe coat, without which no satisfactory
glaze could be made upon so porous a ware, was used. The expansion
of the glaze has been very accurately adjusted to that of the body.
The glaze is remarkably brilUant for one free from lead. The glaze
has no large bubbles, nor are small bubbles niunerous enough to cloud
the ware. On the other hand, they made the glaze too thick, and they
could not prevent it from running during the firing.

With potters as skilful as these, the discovery of methods of over-
coming the porosity of the ware, and thus making it a true porcelain,
should be only a matter of time. As the engobe coat is porcelain, it
is quite possible that the knowledge was not lacking even at that time.
They may not have realized that a dense ware would be worth the
great expense involved in grinding the materials to the necessary
fineness by the crude methods then available, and in the control of the
drying and firing methods to prevent distortion of the ware.

II. Analysis of a Green Glaze from a Bowl of Han Pottery

This is a brilliant glassy glaze of a bottle-green color from a Han
pottery bowl (Cat. No. 1 18578). It is thickly applied over a red
porous body.

It is believed that the material selected for analysis correctly
represents the original unaltered glaze. The glaze with its red backing
was crushed to fragments of about a millimetre average size, and clear
unaltered fragments were selected after scrutiny under a powerful

Technical Investigation of Chinese Pottery 93

glass. These fragments were freed from the adhering films of red
earthy matter by use of forceps and a fine file. As finally prepared,
the glass showed no altered material, nor any but a few unweighable
traces of earthy matter.
The analysis gives:

Silica, SiOs 29.91

Lead oxide, PbO 65 . 45

Iron oxide, FeO 0,81

Copper oxide, CuO 2 . 60

Lime, CaO 0.94

Alkalies, NajO, KjO 0.00

99.51
This gives the molecular formula:

I RO : 1.4 SiOa or nearly 5 RO. 7 SiOj.
The traces of iron and lime are obviously impurities.

This is a simple lead siHcate colored by copper, and is utterly unlike
any glaze of which I have any analysis, the nearest approach to it being
the alkali-lead silicate which seems to have been an ordinary glaze in
all countries. The omission of alkali places this glaze in a very differ-
ent class. It could be easily and simply compounded, as there are but
three ingredients, — some lead salt (perhaps red lead or white lead), a
pure white sand, and a small quantity of some copper compound for
coloring.

Professor R. T. Stull, Acting Director of the Ceramic Department
of the University of Illinois, has been good enough to supply the fol-
lowing additional information on the preceding analysis:

"I am very much interested in the data you present on the early
Chinese glaze. I have calculated an approximate empirical formula
from the analysis, which gives:

.827 PbO

.093 CuO 1.408 Si02
.049 CaO
.031 FeO
"This approximates closely the theoretical formula:
.9 PbO 1
.1

A glaze can be made by mixing the following materials, which would
be very similar to the Chinese glaze when first made:

Red lead 205

Copper oxide 8
Potter's flint 90

^^^^j i.5Si02 = 2R0.3SiO,

94 Beginnings of Porcelain

It is quite probable that the Chinese glaze was originally made by
mixing together three ingredients, — a lead compound, a copper com-
potmd, and a form of silica. The iron and lime present were probably
impurities existing in the raw materials used in making the glaze.
A glaze of this type (which is in reality a glass, since glazes generally
contain alimiina) fuses at a very low temperature, is very brilliant,
has a high specific gravity, high index of refraction, and high coefficient
of expansion; and is easily dissolved by chemical agents (comparatively
so). Owing to the high coefficient of expansion, the glaze is very
susceptible to crazing. The glaze cotdd be improved by the addition
of alumina in the form of clay, which would lower the coefficient of
expansion, thus reducing crazing, and would make the glaze more
resistant to the weathering action or to chemical agents. In good
glaze practice, it is customary to introduce an alkali in some form,
although good glazes can be produced without the use of alkali. One
glaze being used for glazing roofing tile has the formula:
.QPbO

.15 AI2O3 1.6 SiOa,
.1 CuO
which is very similar to the Chinese glaze plus AI2O3. A mixture which
will produce this glaze is:

Red lead 205

Copper oxide 8

Ball clay 39

Potter's flint 78
If the Chinese glaze has been disintegrated by long exposure, the
alkalis would naturally be leached out partially, if not entirely."^

* The material for analysis was carefully-picked unaltered fragments [h.w.n.].

HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

The preceding report of Mr. Nichols leaves no doubt that the
pottery in question, as confirmed by Mr. Hobson, is a porcelanous or
porcelain-like ware, as regards the composition of both body and glaze.
It is a forerunner of true porcelain; it represents one of the initial or
primitive stages of development through which porcelain must have
passed before it could reach that state of perfection for which the
Chinese product gained fame throughout the world. The history of
porcelain has been singularly exposed to misrepresentations and mis-
imderstandings, chiefly for the reason that Chinese accounts of the
subject are obscure, enigmatic, and, moreover, disappointingly meagre
and unsatisfactory. In his eminently critical and excellent work,
Hobson has done a great deal to eradicate many of the old supersti-
tions. It was obvious that the problem of the origin of porcelain could
be solved only by archaeological, not by philological, methods; and it
is due to the investigations of Mr. Nichols that we may now for the
first time formulate certain opinions regarding the beginnings of porce-
lain, which are groimded on matter-of-fact observation, and not on
a more or less arbitrary interpretation of texts. Therefore the question
may first be discussed from an archaeological viewpoint; and then it
remains to be seen whether, with the result thus obtained, Chinese
traditions may not be better and more profitably understood.

Before attempting to determine the date of the "Han'* porcelanous
ware, it will be useful to raise the question whether there is now a
possibility of dating the first manufacture of true porcelain. I shall
not insist on the evidence deduced by Bushell and Hobson from Chinese
sources, to the effect that porcelain was made under the T'ang dynasty
(618-906) as early as the beginning of the seventh century. Refer-
ence will be made to only one source which has not yet been enlisted
for the study of the question, and then we may proceed to archaeological
evidence.

An incontrovertible proof for the existence of porcelain in the
seventh century is contained in the memorable accoimt of the Buddhist
pilgrim I-tsing (635-713), who visited India from 671 to 695. In dis-
cussing the utensils to be utilized by the monks of India, I-tsing speaks
also of Indian earthenware vessels, and remarks, "In India, there was
originally neither porcelain (ts'e ^) nor lacquer. Porcelain, if glazed,
is no doubt clean. Lacquered articles are sometimes brought to India

95

96 Beginnings of Porcelain

by traders."^ It is evident beyond cavil that I-tsing understands
the word ts'e in this passage in the sense of porcelain with which he
was familiar in his native country. He could most assuredly not mean
to say that pottery was originally unknown in India, for in more than
one case he himself refers to Indian pottery or earthenware (wa %),
which could not escape the attention of a keen observer like him.
He expressly avails himself of the word ts*e in this passage, advisedly
in contradistinction to the word wa used previously, and connects it
with another characteristic product through which China then became
widely known, — lacquer. He does not state explicitly that porcelain,
in the same manner as lacquer-ware, was then imported from China
into India; but this fact may be inferred from the statement made in
the beginning of Chapter VI, that "earthenware and porcelain (wa ts'e
~Kt ^) are used for the clean jar" (that is, the jar containing the water
for drinking-purposes) . ^ This passage is sufficient evidence for the
fact that porcelain was then found in India; and also his statement
that porcelain did not originally exist in India seems to imply that it
occurred there at the time of the author's visit. He does not speak
of porcelain as a new, but as a familiar, production; and he must
certainly have seen it in China before the year 671, the date of his
departure for India. Judging from I-tsing's memoirs, porcelain, accord-
ingly, must have existed in China during the latter half of the seventh
century. At the same time, it was exported into India; and this
harmonizes with the observation made in the T'ao shuo, that porcelain
bowls were widely distributed abroad from the time of the T'ang
dynasty (618-906).^

The testimony of the Arabic merchant Soleyman, who in 851 wrote
his "Chain of Chronicles," must be regarded as one of the most
weighty to prove the existence in China of true porcelain in the
age of the T'ang, during the ninth century. In the translation of

1 J. Takakusu, a Record of the Buddhist Religion as practised in India by
I-tsing, p. 36 (Oxford, 1896); Japanese edition of the text, Vol. I, p. 17 a.

' L.C., p. 27; text, Vol. I, p. 12 a.

• T'ao shuo, Ch. 5, p. 2 b (edition with movable types, published 1913); S. W.
BusHELL, Description of Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, p. 104. — According to
W. Crooke (Natives of Northern India, p. 136, London, 1907), common clay pots,
owing to their perishable character, are little valued in India, "and caste prejudices
prevent the use of the finer kinds of pottery. Hence no artistic industry like that
of china has flourished in India, although kaolin and other suitable kinds of clay are
in some places abundant." We have a formal judgment on Indian pottery from
the Buddhist monk Yuan Ying, who in his Yi is'ie king yin i (Ch. 18, p. 7; see p. 115),
written about a.d. 649, remarks that the state of ciilture is so low in the Western
Regions that finer pottery cannot be made there, and that only unbumt bricks
and vessels fired without glaze are turned out.

Historical Observations and Conclusions 97

M. Reinaud,^ he reports that "there is in China a very fine clay

from which are made vases having the transparency of glass bottles;

water in these vases is visible through them, and yet they are made
of clay. '^2

The presence of china in the India of the seventh century, and the
acquaintance of the Arabs with transparent porcelain in the ninth
century, based on literary sources, naturally raise the question whether
this documentary evidence is corroborated by any archaeological facts.
Such have heretofore been lacking; but an important discovery due to
the excavations of F. Sarre and E. Herzfeld in the ruins of Samarra,
the former residence of the Caliphs, is fortunately apt to settle satis-
factorily this much-disputed question. The report of these remarkable
finds has recently been published.* According to F. Sarre, who care-
fully figures and describes these objects, they belong to a period which
is well determined by the years a.d. 838 and 883. The ceramic speci-
mens exhtimed in Samarra fall into two classes, — those imported from
eastern Asia, and those potted locally for home-consumption. Among
the former we are confronted with a material which in general must be
designated as stoneware, but which, to use the words of Sarre, partially
approaches porcelain to such a high degree that it may straightway be
styled "porcelain.'* In the latter case, the body of the vessels cannot
be scratched by steel, is almost white, transparent in thin places, the
shards being dense, and hard like shell. The smooth and brilliant
glaze is evenly applied, and so closely linked with the body that both
can but have been fired simultaneously, — characteristic qualities of
genuine East-Asiatic porcelain. Besides fragments of more or less
coarse and shallow bowls, whose low rim around the bottom is ground
off, those of finer ware have also come to light; thus, for instance, a
fragmentary oval cup decorated with a fish in relief, surrounded by
wave designs and birds on the wing. Judging from the author's
description and the very excellent illustrations, there is no room for

^ Relation des voyages faits par les Arabes et les Persans dans I'lnde et h la
Chine, Vol. I, p. 34.

^The report of Soleyman is in full accord with the Chinese notices of T'ang
pottery. In the beginning of the T'ang dynasty (618), vases of a white clay, with
thin body of white and brilliant color, were made by a potter of the name T'ao,
in the village Chung-siu, belonging to King-te-chen; they were styled "imitation
jade utensils," and sent as tribute to the Court. Similar vessels were turned out
simultaneously by Ho Chung-ch'u from the village Tung-shan {King te chen t'ao
lu, Ch. 5, p. I b; JuLiEN, Histoire, pp. 81, 82). It is notable that both potters
were rural residents, and that their work possessed sufficient quality to earn imperial
approbation.

• F. Sarre, Die Kleinfunde von Samarra und ihre Ergebnisse fur das islamische
Kunstgewerbe des 9. Jahrhunderts {Der Islam, Vol. V, 1914, pp. 180-195, 4 plates).

98 Beginnings of Porcelain

doubt that the piece in question is of real, white porcelain, and that it
affords an example of the hitherto lost porcelain of the T'ang period.
T'ang porcelain is thus raised into the rank of plain fact. Soleyman's
testimony proves true.

The date of this specimen is indubitable, and meets a welcome
confirmation from two green and white glazed dishes of pottery* secured
in the same locality. Without having any clew to their provenience,
the writer, who through his researches in China is somewhat familiar
with this and similar ware, would not hesitate for a moment to diagnose
them as Chinese productions of the epoch of the T'ang. Mr. Sarre is
perfectly correct in calling attention to the fact that pieces of identical
technique are preserved in the Imperial Treasury of Nara in Japan,
and that T'ang clay statuettes are formed of the same material. An-
other discovery of no less importance, for which we are indebted to
Mr. Sarre 's energy, is a group of celadon-like stoneware, one of which,
bearing the design of a fish scratched in under the glaze, is reproduced
in his report. The facts brought out by Mr. Sarre's researches are of
such far-reaching consequence, that he is entitled to a just claim to our
lasting gratitude. Above all, he has succeeded in safely establishing
the fundamental fact that porcelain was made in China under the
T'ang; and that Chinese porcelain, as well as non-porcelanous pottery,
was exported in the ninth century into the Empire of the Caliphs.
These conclusions embolden us and justify us in regarding the word
ts^e^ whenever it appears in T'ang documents, as conve5dng the notion
of true porcelain, and in giving full credence to the account of I-tsing,
that India possessed Chinese porcelain during the seventh century .^
Consequently it is at some earlier date that the beginnings of porce-
lain ™ those initiatory and preparatory steps finally leading up to the
perfection of the ware — must be sought for. Porcelain has been
discovered in Turkistan by Sir Aurel Stein.^

Our previous knowledge of references to T'ang porcelain was chiefly
based on the two modem works, the Kingfte chen fao lu (first edition,
1 815) and the T*ao shuo (1774). It remains to be ascertained, however,
from the contemporaneous records of the T'ang, whether these extracts

* On Plate II in the article referred to.

* As shown by I-tsing, a clear distinction between common pottery and porce-
lain is made in T'ang literature. This is further evidenced by the frequent occur-
rence of the compound ts'e wa ^'^ ("porcelain and stoneware"), for instance, in
the Yu yang tsa tsu (Ch. 11, p. 7 b; ed. of Pai hat) and in the Ta T'ang sin yii •;^^
^fg (Ch. 13, p. 9; ed. of T'ang Sung ts'ung shu).

•Ancient Khotan, Vol. I, pp. 461, 464 (see also Hobson, Chinese Pottery and
Porcelain, Vol. I, p. 149). It would be desirable that analyses be made and pub-
lished of Sarre's and Stein's porcelains.

Historical Observations and Conclusions 99

are reliable and correctly reproduced. In the geographical chapters
of the T'ang Annals we find under each locality an enumeration of the
taxes in kind annually sent to the Court, and the T'ai pHng huan yii ki
of Yo Shi gives a still more extensive list of the products of the empire
during that period. The following localities are known as having
produced porcelain under the T'ang: —

1. Hing chou ffi ffl (modem Shun-te fu in Chi-li) turned out white
porcelain vessels Q ^ S {Tang shu, Ch, 39, p. 6; and T'ai pHng huan
yii ki, Ch. 59, p. 5), which were accepted as taxes.

2. Ting chou ,^ M in Chi-li (T'ai pHng huan yii ki, Ch. 62, p. 4 b);
the T'ang Annals do not mention porcelain among its products.

3. Yu chou ffi ffl (modem Yung-p'ing fu in Chi-li), according to
T'ai p'ing huan yii ki, Ch. 69, p. 6.

4. Jao chou tt ^1 in Kiang-si (T*ai pHng huan yii ki, Ch. 107,

P-3).

5. Yue chou Wt ffl (modem Shao-hing fu in Che-kiang), according
to T^ang shu (Ch. 41, p. 4 b) and T'ai pHng huan yii ki (Ch. 96, p. 5).

6. Ho-nan fu (according to T'ang leu tien, Ch. 3, p. 4 b, ed. of Kuang
ya shu kii, 1895; and T'ai pHng huan yii ki, Ch. 3, p. 8b).

As may readily be seen from Julien's translation (pp. 28 and 6),
only two of these localities (Nos. i and 5) are mentioned in the King
te chen Vao lu as having produced porcelain under the T'ang (not, how-
ever, Nos. 2-4) ; while several others are so designated, which cannot be
verified from coeval documents.^

As established by archaeological evidence, porcelain was an accom-
plished fact under the T'ang (618-906) ; and there is further good reason
to assume that it existed in the latter part of the sixth century.* It is
futile, of course, to look for an inventor of porcelain, as has been done
by E. ZiMMERMANN.^ This invention of an inventor of porcelain is a
romance, not history. Chinese records know absolutely nothing about
such an inventor, simply for the reason that he never existed. Porce-
lain is not an ** invention," that can be attributed to the efforts of an

1 In the writer's forthcoming second part of Chinese Clay Figures will be found
a chapter on T'ang pottery.

*BusHELL, Description of Chinese Pottery, p. xii; Hobson, Chinese Pottery
and Porcelain, Vol. I, p. 147. In 1844, during the negotiations preceding the
Franco-Chinese Treaty, one of the Chinese envoys, Chao Chang-li, well acquainted
with the antiquities of his country, assured N. Rondot that the manufacture of
porcelain could be traced back only as far as the middle of the sixth century (see
Journal China Branch Roy. As. Sac, Vol. XXXII, 1897-98, p. 73).

« Orientalisches Archiv, Vol. II, 191 1, pp. 30-34; and Chinesisches Porzellan,
p. 24. I strictly concur with Hobson (/. c. Vol. I, p. 145) in his criticism of Zim-
mermann's hypothesis.

loo Beginnings of Porcelain

individual; but it was a slow and gradual process of finding, groping,
and experimenting, the outcome of the tmited exertions of several cen-
turies and generations. We cleariy observe a rising development of
porcelain from the T'ang to the Sung, Yuan, and Ming periods, till the
high perfection of the ware culminates in the K'ang-hi era. It is there-
fore logical to assume that preceding the age of the Sui (590-617) there
was a primitive stage of development which ultimately resulted in the
T'ang porcelain. This primeval porcelanous product was hitherto
unknown, but, as demonstrated by the researches of Mr. Nichols, its
existence is now proved in the nine vessels figured on Plates I and III-X,
with analogous specimens in the Boston Fine Arts Museum, the Freer
collection, and the British Museum. The tentative attributions
"T'ang" and "Sung" (p. 82) were based only on isolated cases, and
ventured as personal impressions; they were not groimded on the fact
of analytic study. The Han tradition of ceramic forms had completely
died out under the T'ang and Sung, to give way to more graceful and
pleasing shapes partially conceived under Iranian and Indian influences.
As has been shown, the objects in question decidedly breathe the spirit
of Han art in forms and decorative motives. There is good circumstan-
tial evidence in the case of the jug on Plate I, discovered in the same
grave with a Han cast-iron stove, and in that of the pan-liang coins of
the Boston jar. Nevertheless I am not convinced that we are entitled
to assign these vessels to the Later Han dynasty within its strict chrono-
logical boundaries (a.d. 25-220), as the predominant bulk of the kiln-
products turned out under the Han was common glazed and unglazed
pottery (wa S).^ Moreover, the new term ts'e ^, applied to porce-
lanous ware, does not yet occur in the contemporaneous records of the
Han, at least such an occurrence has not yet been proved (see p. 102);
and this is the main reason which prompts me to the opinion that the
pottery in question was manufactured in post-Han times, say, roughly,
under the earlier Wei (220-264), or toward the middle or in the latter
part of the third century a.d.^ From a purely philological point of view,

1 This is the term employed for the burial pottery of the period in the Han
Annals {Hou Han shu, Ch. 16, p. 3). It is therefore out of the question that the
new term ts'e, as stated by Hobson (/. c, Vol. I, p. 141, note), should refer to the
glazed pottery of the Han. Credit must be given also to the Chinese for their
correct feeling for their own language and their own antiquities: the present-day
Chinese style the glazed Han pottery liu-li wa (accordingly, with the same term
as employed in the Han Annals), while the term Han ts'e is applied to the porce-
lanous ware here described. In this case, Chinese feeling signifies a hundred times
more than all the hair-splitting and pedantic subtleties of European sinologues.

' It is curious that this result agrees with the opinion of Palladius (Chinese-
Russian Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 343), who held that the output of porcelain took
its beginning from the Tsin dynasty (263-420).

Historical Observations and Conclusions ioi

the term Han ts'e, applied to this pottery by Mr. Yen, is not justified.
From the standpoint of the archaeologist, however, it is perfectly correct;
for this pottery, as recognized by Mr. Yen with just instinct or intuition,
combines in itself two characteristic features, — the style of Han art,
and the technical character of porcelanous ware. It is justifiable to
regard it as a very early production, or even as one of the earliest, of
the ware styled ts'e. We might therefore say that porcelain ran through
its experimental stages for at least three centuries; and it seems to me a
reasonable conclusion that a development of such a length of time was
required until mature and highly finished products should ultimately
result.

' It is possible also to make a plausible guess at the kiln, where the
nine vessels were produced. As has been pointed out, the jug in Plate I
was found in a grave near the village Ma-kia-chai, $ It north of the
town of Hien-yang ^ 81, the ancient capital of the Ts'in, belonging to
the prefecture of Si-ngan. The "Records of the Potteries of King-te-chen' '
inform us that "under the earlier Wei dynasty (220-264) vases were
turned out at Kuan-chtmg BB ^, corresponding to Hien-yang and
other places of the prefecture of Si-ngan, and that the output of this
kiln was intended for the use of the Court, and offered to the Emperor."^
Thus it is not impossible that our ware was actually made in the district
of Hien-yang, or, taking the wider area, in the prefecture of Si-ngan.
If the passage quoted should really be derived from an ancient text,
which I am not in a position to prove, it would have another significance,
in that it would represent the earliest allusion to pottery deemed worthy
of being sent to the palace. Neither in times of antiqtdty nor under
the Han do we hear of any tribute pottery. In the famous Tribute

* King te chen t'ao lu (edition of 1891), Ch. 7, p. i b. Julien (Histoire et fabri-
cation de la porcelaine chinoise, p. 4), in his translation of these passages, speaks in
both cases of "porcelain;" but this is not warranted by the Chinese text, which
avails itself of the general term t'ao ("pottery"); but ts'e belonged to the class of
t'ao. HoBSON (Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Vol. I, p. 143) complains of Julien
and Bushell having been indiscriminate in the use of the term "porcelain" in their
translations from the Chinese. But how about Legge, who speaks of porcelain
in the era of the Shi king? In his translation of this work, we read in two passages
(PP- 346 and 502) of a "porcelain whistle," which is entered even in the index.
Fortunately this musical instrument of porcelain has escaped the students and
collectors of Chinese ceramics; otherwise we should probably meet it in one or
another collection, since the collector usually gets what he wants or solicits. What
is meant in the passage of the Shi king is the instrument hUan J^, a pipe made of
baked clay, of the size of a fowl's egg, and perforated by six apertures. Again, we
read of "porcelain drums" in a translation of De Groot (Religious System of China,
Vol. VI, p. 977) from a text of the Tu tuan by Ts'ai Yung (133-192), relative to
conditions of the Chou period. The text has t'u ^« i ^, which means "earthen
drums."

I02 Beginnings of Porcelain

of Yu (Yii kung)y forming a section of the Shu king, pottery is conspicu-
ously absent. In pre-Han and Han times it had not yet reached such
a state of perfection that it would have been brought to the immediate
attention of the sovereign, or was eligible to take a place in the im-
perial chambers. It is conceivable that pottery of the class of our
porcelanous ware was entitled to admission to Court, and answers to
the tribute ware produced at Kuan-chung.

The origin of this mysterious and much-discussed term ts^e has been
referred to the Han period by several European authors, but nobody
has yet furnished any actual proof that the word really occurs in con-
temporaneous records of that age. Even Bushell^ merely states,
"We know that the word ts^e^ which means porcelain in the present
day, first came into use during the Han dynasty, and Mr. Hippisley
takes this coining of a new word to designate the productions of that
age to be a strong argument in favor of the early date. Others, more
sceptical, before reaching any decision, ask to be shown actual speci-
mens of translucent body that can be certainly referred to the period."
Seven years later, Bushell became more confident and positive in his
assertion of the origin of porcelain under the Han. In his work "Chi-
nese Art,"^ an assurance to this effect is given in three passages. The
word and character ts^e^ according to him, is first foimd in books of
the Han dynasty. Again he asserts that the Chinese attribute the
invention to the Han dynasty, when a new character ts'e was coined to
designate, presimiably, a new substance;* and that "still we may
reasonably accept the conclusion of the best native scholarship that
porcelain was first made in the Han dynasty, without trying, as Stanislas
Julien has tried on very insufficient grounds, to fix the precise date of
its invention."

The only piece of evidence that has ever been produced to prove
the existence of the term ts'e under the Han is the citation of this word
in the glossary Shuo wen. Sceptics will naturally raise the question

1 Oriental Ceramic Art, p. 20 (New York, 1899).
* Vol. II, pp. 4, 17, 20.

•The fact cited by Bushell on this occasion — that "the official memoir on
'Porcelain Administration' in the topography of Fou-liang says that, according
to local tradition, the ceramic works at Sin-p'ing (an old name of Fou-liang) were
founded in the time of the Han dynasty, and had been in constant operation ever
since" — is not conclusive for a plea on behalf of porcelain at the time of the Han.
That tradition, if correct, merely goes to show that kilns for the manufacture of
pottery were established in that locality under the Han, while it implies nothing
definite as to the specific character of this pottery. The fact that Fou-liang turned
out porcelain at a later period does not allow of the inference that what was pro-
duced there in the era of the Han likewise was porcelain.

Historical Observations and Conclusions 103

whether the passage was actually contained in the original edition of
the work (a.d. 100), or whether it has been interpolated in the numerous
subsequent re-editions.^ The decision of this question may be left to
a competent sinologue. It means little for my purposes, as long as no
instances of the word are pointed out in authentic books, which may
be regarded as contemporaneous documents of the Han period. This
much may be said, that the definition given in the Shuo wen has not
been adequately explained. It has been asserted the definition should
mean that ts'e is ** pottery and nothing more."^ It means, however,
^^Ts'e belongs to the category of pottery," or "is a kind of pottery."
In the definitions of the Shuo wen, the word to be explained is defined
by a more general word denoting the wider category. It cannot there-
fore be deduced from that gloss that ts'e in ancient times did not refer
to porcelain, for porcelain certainly is a variety of pottery. In regard
to the specific character of ts^e^ the definition of the Shuo wen is utterly
inconclusive. Holding in abeyance the question as to the time when
the term ts'e sprang into existence, and leaving aside all subtleties, it
remains for plain common sense to say that a new term refers to a new
matter, and that ts^e as a new ceramic term must have denoted a novel
production achieved in the ceramic field. Such was the porcelanous
ware as here described; and if, from the Sui and T'ang periods onward,
the word ts^e was applied to true porcelain, it is self-evident that prior
to that time it was attached to porcelanous ware, the forerunner of
porcelain. The word ts^e did not plainly describe any pottery, but
porcelanous pottery specifically.

It is known that the character ts'e Wi is now employed also in place
of ts'e ^. From this change of characters F. Hirth^ believed he was
justified in concluding that the new form, linked with the classifier
* stone' ^, indicates a substitute of material; while in tl;e older form,
combined with the classifier 'clay' E, the nature of earthenware should
be accentuated. This argumentation is unwarranted, and, as will be
seen, does not answer the facts. Likewise the information given on
this point in the "Catalogue of Potteries published by the Japan
Society" (p. 56, New York, 1914) is misleading. Here it is asserted
that from the fact that the city Ts'e-chou produced porcelain, and that
the word ts'e in the name of the city is phonetically identical with that
of the word meaning "stoneware" or "porcelain," a certain confusion in

1 Neither the Erh ya nor the Kuang ya contains the word; but also this proves
nothing, as none of the ancient dictionaries is complete, and they surely lack numer-
ous words which are found in literature.

2 F. HiRTH, Ancient Chinese Porcelain, p. 130.
' Ancient Chinese Porcelain, p. 130, note 3.

I04 Beginnings of Porcelain

the use of the word has arisen; *'but there is no such confusion in the
mind of the Chinese scholar; the purist never uses it; and all arguments
as to the date of the origin of porcelain which have been based on the
use of this word are valueless." All these statements are erroneous.
No one has ever based any arguments on the use of this word as to the
date of porcelain. In fact, the word has no concern whatever with the
origin of porcelain. The chief facts in the case could already be gleaned
from Julien's "Histoire" (p. 29). There is, first of all, a city by the
name Ts'e-chou Wi W, which anciently depended on the prefecture of
Chang-te in the province of Ho-nan, but which is now assigned to the
prefecture of Kuang-p'ing in the province of Chi-li. The city had
formerly various other names. The present name Ts'e 1^ was con-
ferred on it in the year 590, at the time of the Sui dynasty. Near the
boundary of the district rose the Loadstone Mountain (Ts'e shan 1ft (Ij)
producing loadstone (ts*e ski Ift ^), whence the district and town
received their name.^ At the time of the T'ang dynasty (618-906),
the district produced nothing but loadstone and magnets made from
it; it did not produce pottery of any kind.* Only from under the Sung
(960-1278) did the locality in question embark on the manufacture of
a kind of white porcelain, the choice specimens of which resembled the
Ting ware. This particular kind of porcelain, because it originated
from the locality of Ts'e, was styled "vessels of Ts'e" (Ts'e kH Wi ^).
The word ts'e in this case, accordingly, denotes nothing but the place
of provenience. "At present," the author of the "Records of the
Potteries of Kling-te-chen " adds, "owing to a very common error,
porcelain vases are generally designated by the term ts'e kH ^S;
people employing this term are doubtless ignorant of the fact that it
applies in particular only to the porcelain of the city of Ts'e." The
fact remains that imder the Manchu dynasty, and at present, porcelain
is invariably termed 35 and Ift, the latter character being more fre-
quently employed.' True it is, that K'ang-hi's Dictionary does not

^ T'ai p^ing kuan yu ki, Ch. 56, p. 10 b. The Pen ts'ao kang mu extols the
loadstone of this locality as excellent (F. de M6ly, Lapidaires chinois, p. 106),
and loadstone was supplied from there as tribute to the Court {Ta Ts'ing i t'ung
chi, Ch. 31, p. 12).

* The silence of the T*ai p'ing huan yii ki and the T'ang Annals in this respect is
conclusive, as the localities producing porcelanous ware at that time are expressly
named (see above, p. 99). Hobson (Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Vol. I, p. loi)
also arrives at the result that there is no information on the subject of Ts'e-chou
factories earlier than the Sung dynasty, when they enjoyed a high reputation.

' Even in the T'ang Annals the term ts'e k'i l^i^ appears, although we are not
in a position to state that it was thus written in the original edition: the district
Ku-lu ^ ^ in Hing-chou (now prefecture of Shun-te in Chi-li Province) sent porce-
lain vessels as tribute in the year 742 (T'ang shu, Ch. 39, p. 6); and the fact that

Historical Observations and Conclusions 105

credit it with the meaning of "porcelain," but attributes to it only the
proper significance, "loadstone." This, however, means nothing.
Chinese standard works, like the great cyclopaedia T'u shu tsi ch'eng
and others, also the Japanese, employ this character throughout in the
sense of "porcelain," so that there is no longer the question of confusion.
On the contrary, it is a perfectly legitimate usage, even sanctioned by
the English and Chinese Standard Dictionary issued by the Shanghai
Commercial Press; and for this reason our own dictionaries, like those
of Palladius, Giles, and Couvreur, are justified in assigning the meaning
"porcelain" also to the character is'e iS. This was the outcome of a
natural development of the language, which no alleged purism can sweep.
The original term "porcelain of Ts'e" was simply amplified into the
wider notion of porcelain in general, because the word ts'e employed
in the name of the city bearing that name, and the word ts'e for
"porcelain," though physically different words, phonetically are ho-
mophonous.^ This history of the subject clearly shows that Hirth's
theory is untenable and should be discarded. The new word ts'e 48,
in the sense of "porcelain," has no organic and historical connection
whatever with the older word for "porcelain" ts'e ^, but is an independ-
ent side-issue of purely incidental character. The alleged evolution
from earthenware to stony material cannot be read from the formation
of these characters, as they have nothing in common, and move along
separate lines. This conclusion settles also the general speculation*
to the effect that the word ts'e in its origin should have meant nothing
but common earthenware, and that gradual improvement of the ware
resulted in changes of meaning and writing. We now recognize that
the genuine character for ts'e ^ has not been subject to any alterations,
and that it was in the beginning exactly the same as it is at present. It
is therefore infinitely more probable that this speculation regarding
substitutes of material resulting in altered significations of the word is
imaginary in its entire range; that is to say, the newly coined word ts'ey
from the days of its childhood, denoted not simply "earthenware,"

the question is here of porcelain is confirmed by the King te chen Vao lu (Julien,
Histoire, p. 28). In other passages of the T'ang Annals we meet the regular mode
of writing ^:^; for instance, in Ch. 41, p. 4 b, where the porcelain of Hui-ki in
Yue-chou (the present province of Che-kiang) is mentioned. In the T'ai p'ing
huan yu ki only the form ^ is employed. "Porcelain" is expressed by Sft i" the
Liao shi (Ch. 104, p. 2) and Viian shi (Ch. 88, p. 10 b).

^ The mental process underlying this transformation may be compared with
the extension of our word "china" to porcelains made in any cotm tries outside
of China.

' HiRTH, Ancient Chinese Porcelain, p. 130 (repeated in his Chinesische Studien,
p. 48).

io6 Beginnings of Porcelain

but a higher grade of pottery which shared characteristic features with
true porcelain.

Another problem is whether the kind of porcelain maniifactured at
Ts'e-chou bore any relation to the mineral ts'e. The term ts'e ^,
as is well known, is the designation of the magnet or loadstone; but, as
admitted by the Chinese, it denotes also another mineral which is suit-
able for the making of pottery. This fact is brought out by several
ancient stone sculptures in the Museum's collection, in the votive
inscriptions of which it is stated that the material of the sculpture is
ts'e shi fiS ^ C'ts'e stone"), which, however, as shown by a very super-
ficial examination, is not loadstone. The "Records of the Potteries
of King-te-chen" ^ inform us that "the ts*e stone JS^ is made into a
paste serviceable for pottery vessels, but that this stone is not identical
with the magnet attracting iron and used for magnetic needles; further,
it is a peciiliar and distinct kind of stone of white color and of briglit
and smooth appearance; the vessels made from it are beautiful, but not
delicate, and differ from porcelain earth; aside from Ts'e-chou, they
are made in Hu-chou If ^H in Ho-nan Province. It is accordingly not
magnetic ore which entered into the manufacture of Ts'e porcelain, but
a mineral of a different nature, as yet undetermined, apparently not
discovered prior to the age of the Sung, and likewise styled ts'e.^ This
point is especially mentioned in this connection, because a supposition
that magnetic ore might have been mixed with porcelain glaze would
not be entirely without foimdation.^

In fact, however, we have no account of loadstone ever having been
used by the Chinese in the making of pottery; and it is therefore
impossible to assume any connection between the two words ts^e, —
the one denoting "loadstone," the other "porcelain." As the written

* King te chen t'ao lu, Ch. lo, p. 12 b (new edition, 1891).

2 Palladius (Chinese-Russian Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 343) states under this word,
"Magnet; suitable for the eyes; employed in the making of bowls and pillows;
porcelain."

'According to Pliny (Nat. hist., xxxvi, 66, § 192), magnet-stone was added to
glass during the process of making the latter, because it was credited with the
property of attracting liquefied glass as well as iron (Mox, ut est ingeniosa soUertia,
non fuit contenta nitrum miscuisse; coeptus addi et magnes lapis, quoniam in se
liquorem vitri quoque ut ferrum trahere creditur). The correctness of this report
has been called into doubt. The Arabic mineralogy ascribed to Aristotle has
replaced the magnet-stone by the stone magnesia as being added to glass (J. Ruska,
Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 171). In another passage (ibid., p. 129) it is said that
glass cannot be finished without the stone magnesia; the latter denotes manganese,
which serves for the refinement of glass fluxes. Whether Pliny is guilty of a con-
fusion in the case, or whether he really reproduces a tradition current in his time,
can hardly be decided.

Historical Observations and Conclusions 107

symbols are formed by means of different phonetic elements, the greater
likelihood is that also the two words, although now phonetically identi-
cal, are traceable to different origins. The history of the word ts'e $S
can be established without great difficulty. The earliest form in
which it was written is ts"e ski W> 5 (that is, ''attractive stone"); in
this manner we find it, for instance, in the Annals of the Former Han
Dynasty.^ The character fiS, consequently, is a secondary formation
based on a contraction of the words ts'e and shiy the latter assuming
the position of classifier, the former that of phonetic element, the
original significance of which was bound gradually to disappear. The
word for "porcelain," however, is written with the phonetic element
ts'e ^, which, as an independent word, has the meaning "second, next
in order, inferior," etc. It is clear that in composition with the classifier
'clay' (wa %) it has no word-meaning whatever, but has merely the
function of a phonetic element. Thus far we are entirely ignorant of
how this new word may have arisen in the first centuries of otir era. In
the Sung period the phonetic part seems to have been altered, for the
dictionary Tsi yUn M M, published by Ting Tu T ^ in the middle of
the eleventh century, records the two forms ^ and S£ as popula;r or
common at that time. This manner of writing may have come about
under the immediate influence of the porcelain of Ts'e-chou, which then
sprang into existence.

The preceding remarks on the term ts'e are not intended to encroach
on the domain of the sinologue. No one feels more keenly than myself
that a critical and detailed study of this term (not based on the modem
cyclopaedias, but on the actual source-works) is required, and should
be taken up some day by a competent sinologue who has a taste for
researches of this kind.

The previous discussions on the origin of porcelain were chiefly
based on haggling about terms, which at times assimied an almost
Talmudic character. Students entered into the arena with a dogmatic
definition fixed in their minds, of what porcelain is or should be, and,
according to their personal standpoint, rejected or accepted this or
that period at which porcelain should have come into existence. Thus
we face the amazing spectacle that from 1856, the date of the appear-
ance of Julien's celebrated book on Chinese porcelain, down to the pres-
ent time, almost any period of Chinese civilization has been claimed as
the one responsible for its "invention." From its exalted position in

^ Ts'ien Han shu, Ch. 30, p. 32 b. By the way, it may be remarked that in
A.D. 906 the name of the city Ts'e-chou was changed in writing into ^fli , while
in 916 the old character 1^ was restored {T'ai pHng huan yii ki, Ch. 56, p. 10 b).

io8 Beginnings of Porcelain

the Han dynasties proclaimed by Julien, it was relegated to the begin-
ning of the Sung dynasty (a.d. 960) by E. Grandidier;^ and all this
glory ended in its final degradation into as late a period as that of the
Ming. Mr. E. A. Barber, Director of the Pennsylvania Museum in
Philadelphia, one of the most serious students of pottery in this coun-
try, gives vent to this growing pessimism in the following observation:
*'The consensus of opinion among conservative students at the present
day, after divesting the subject of all sentimental considerations, is that
true porcelain first appeared during the Ming dynasty, which would
not carry it back of the fourteenth century. No examples of actual
porcelain, that can with certainty be referred to an earlier date, are
known to collectors; and it is reasonable to suppose that had such ware
been produced before that period, some few pieces at least would have
survived. Indeed, it is extremely doubtful whether any actual examples
antedating the fifteenth century can be found." ^ Mr. Barber, however,
frankly admits that the Chinese themselves have classed all wares which
possess great hardness and resonancy (which latter is an indication of
vitrification) with porcelain, and that it is true that a porcelanous glaze
was used to some extent before the general introduction of semi-trans-
parent bodies. This concession points out that the subject may be
viewed from different angles. There is, indeed, a twofold point of view
possible and permissible, a European-American and a Chinese one.
HoBSON,^ who possesses a large share of critical ability combined with
true common sense and sane judgment, has clearly noticed this diver-
sity. "The quality of translucency which in Europe is regarded as
distinctive of porcelain is never emphasized in Chinese descriptions,"
he observes, and goes on to determine the difference between the
Chinese and European definitions of the substance. Now, if this be
true, every student capable of objective thinking must admit that it
is a logically perverse procedtire to read "our" definitions of porcelain
into what is called by the Chinese ts'e, but that for the correct appre-
ciation of this term the Chinese viewpoint exclusively must be made
the basis of oiu: investigation. In other words, the point simply is,
that we must endeavor to understand what notion in the minds or in
the fancy of the Chinese is conveyed by their term ts'e. If a bit of
pottery is styled by the Chinese ts'e, yet is not true porcelain in our
conception of the matter, we are obliged to give the Chinese credit for
their appellation, and to get at their mode of reasoning. By rejecting

^ La c6ramique chinoise, p. 16 (Paris, 1894).

' Hard Paste Porcelain, Part first (Oriental), p. 7 (Philadelphia, 1910).

' Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Vol. I, p. 148.

Historical Observations and Conclusions 109

this procedure we deprive ourselves of the opportunity of studying and
grasping the development of this peculiar ware. By arguing that in
the beginning the term ts'e connoted nothing but ordinary potiery, we
close our eyes to the real issue, and act like the ostrich; in this manner
we utterly fail to comprehend the process of evolution of porcelain.
The early ts'e has now arisen, and is that ware which is the object of
this article. I further make bold to say that in any ancient text down
to the T'ang period, where the term ts^e may be encountered, it will
invariably refer to a porcelain-like pottery which has some relationship
to genuine porcelain, and that we shall not err in translating it by
"porcelanous ware," or a similar expression.

HISTORICAL NOTES ON KAOLIN

A disquisition on the beginnings of porcelain should take regard
also of the question as to when and how those elementary materials
that compose porcelain made their first appearance. Porcelain is a
variety of pottery the body of which consists essentially of two in-
gredients of earthen origin, that are fired together. These two sub-
stances widely occur in nature, and are designated by us with their
Chinese names, "kaolin" and *' petuntse." The former is a white
clay, infusible, lending plasticity to the paste, and forming the body
of the vessel. Geologically it originated through a gradual process
of decomposition of granite and analogous crystalHne rocks.^ The
latter is a. hard feldspathic stone, fusible at a high temperature, con-
stituting the glaze and responsible for its transparency.

The fact that kaoHn is used in the composition of Chinese porcelain
has been unduly emphasized, or even exaggerated, by European his-
torians of porcelain. Kaolin was heralded as a sort of important
discovery, that led to the revolutionizing of the potter's art; and an
inquiry into the time when Chinese authors begin to speak of the
substance was even taken as a test for the beginnings of porcelain
itself. This is not a correct conception of the matter. Kaolin is
nothing but a natural clay, not of very unusual occurrence, and, in
fact, has been utilized by potters outside of China without resulting in
any porcelain-like product.^ Kaolin itself cannot make porcelain,
and the presence of kaolin in the composition of a certain vessel does
not constitute proof of its being porcelain. Kaolin shoidd not be
confused with the kaolinite of which it is composed. The mineral

1 See Prestwich, Geology, Chemical, Physical, and Stratigraphical, Vol. I, p. 48.

2 Thus in India a white earthenware is made from a decaying white granite,
which is carefully washed, and kneaded into a clay that produces a porous white
ware. . . . This clay is in composition the same as the kaolin of China, and is very
abundant in India (H. H. Cole, Indian Art in the South Kensington Museum,
p. 201). The Singalese potter (in the same manner as his Chinese colleague during
the T'ang period) uses kaolin as a white paint for decorating pottery (A. K. Cooma-
RASWAMY, Mediaeval Sinhalese Art, p. 225; see also Watt, Dictionary of the Eco-
nomic Products of India, Vol. II, p. 364). It is well known that kaolinic deposits
are found in England, France, Germany, and North America, and are well known
from many other parts of the world. As to America, compare, for instance, the
interesting study of A. S. Watts, Mining and Treatment of Feldspar and Kaolin
in the Southern Appalachian Regions (Bulletin No. 53 of the Department of the
Interior, Bureau of Mines, Washington, 1913).

no

Historical Notes on Kaolin hi

kaolinite is the basis of kaolin, and theoretically pure kaolin would
contain nothing but kaolinite ; but kaolinite is also the basis of nearly
all common clays. In these it is mingled with larger or smaller quan-
tities of various minerals by which its properties are more or less ob-
scured. Hence the chemical examination of almost any burned pot-
tery, even of common bricks and the crudest and cheapest of earthen-
ware, will disclose the presence of derivatives of kaolinite which might
be, and as a matter of convenience frequently is, interpreted as due
to the presence of small quantities of kaolin, instead of larger quantities
of ordinary clay containing kaolinite. It is quite certain that the
bodies of many early Han pottery bits contain more or less kaolin or
kaolinite, 3^et they are not porcelains. The utilization of kaolin for
potter's work on a large scale is not a "discovery," but rests on experi-
ence. It was incidentally fotmd, and its emplo5rment was gradually
extended through a selective progress in the enrolment of materials.

The distinctive structural character of porcelain is based on the
combination of three elements, — a porous, opaque skeleton; a trans-
parent, dense bond permeating the skeleton; and a thin, glassy glaze on
the outside, which merges imperceptibly with the body. In typical
porcelains the opaque, porous body is kaolin or aluminous derivatives
therefrom, which, through their resistance to the effects of heat, sup-
ply a rigidity that prevents the ware from deforming in the kiln.
Also its opacity clouds the transparency of the other elements to
translucency. The kaolin skeleton is permeated and bound together
by a more fusible glass or enamel-like substance (petuntse), which
makes the ware strong, impervious, and translucent. The glaze serves
for the perfection and increased lustre of the surface. Kaolin alone
makes a ware which is porous, fragile, and opaque. Petuntse alone
softens in the kiln, and runs together into a lump.

For the lover of art the salient and distinctive points in porcelain
are the glaze and its organic combination with the body. The body,
as a rule, is invisible: it is the glaze that is intended to appeal to the
spectator and to convey an esthetic impression.

F. HiRTH^ was the first to caU attention to a statement of the
Taoist adept T'ao Hung-king (452-536), to the effect that in his time
"white clay" (pat ngo fi M), or kaolin, was much utilized in painting,^

^ Ancient Chinese Porcelain, p. 131.

2 What this means has not been explained by Hirth, who translated, "much
used for painting pictures." It cannot be understood, of course, that kaolin was a
pigment applied in pictorial art to paper or silk. Technically there are but two
possibilities: kaolin may have been utilized in architectural painting for the decora-
tion of walls, being applied to a colored background, or it may have been employed

112 Beginnings of Porcelain

and was low in price. This passage is found in the Cheng lei pen is*ao,
a learned pharmacopoeia written by the physician T'ang Shen-wei,
and first published in 1108. This text allows of the inference that
porcelain clay was known in the latter part of the fifth or beginning
of the sixth century; but I should not go so far as to conclude with
Hirth that T'ao Hung-king "would have surely mentioned the use of
porcelain earth in the manufacture of chinaware if in his time it had
been so used on an extensive scale," and that "in the sixth century,
when he wrote, the use of porcelain earth for pottery purposes was
unknown." This argument, drawn from the mere silence of a writer,
is not conclusive: it seems preferable to think, that, judging from the
trend of his mind and the direction of his studies, the author was not
at all interested in the subject of pottery. What attracted him were
not the artifacts of men, but the substances and wonders of nature,
that might reveal healing-properties for the benefit of his suffering
fellow-men. Even in speaking of the application of kaolin to pictorial
subjects or decorative designs, he does not mean to offer a contribution
to technology, but he incidentally drops this remark by way of defini-
tion, in order to render himself intelligible to his contemporaries as to
the matter under discussion; for he says Hterally, "This [that is, the
white clay here in question] is identical with that now largely utilized
in painting, and low in price. Customarily it is but seldom admin-
istered in prescriptions." ^ The subsequent works dealing with pharma-
cology, while they give some notice to porcelain clay on account of its

for the ornamentation of a surface in pottery vessels. The latter process is now well
known to us through numerous specimens of the T'ang period. The Pen ts'ao kang
mu of Li Shi-chen (section on clays, Ch. 7, p. i) has the reading hua kia yung ^^^
(instead of hua yung of the Cheng lei pen ts'ao), which means "used by painters."

^ Hirth pointed out another text in the Cheng lei pen ts'ao, which, he stated, is
quoted from the T'ang pen ts'ao, the pharmacopoeia of the T'ang period, compiled
about the year 650. In the edition of the Cheng lei pen ts'ao before me, issued in
1523 (Ch. 5, fol. 25), the passage in question, however, is cited from a work styled
T'ang pen yii (that is, "Remains of the T'ang Herbal "), and introduced by the words,
"The commentary says." I venture to doubt that this work T'ang pen yil is strictly
identical with the T'ang pen ts'ao described by Bretschneider (Bot. Sin., pt. i,
p. 44), especially for the reason that a quite different extract from the T'ang pen is
quoted in the Cheng lei pen ts'ao shortly before this passage, and that in this work
quotations from the former are constantly referred to the T'ang pen or T'ang pen chu
(apparently the annotations of the drawings mentioned by Bretschneider). Be
this as it may, there is no doubt that the text brought to light by Hirth comes down
from the T'ang period. This is also the opinion of Li Shi-chen, who, in his Pen ts'ao
kang mu (Ch. 7, p. 6 b), attributes the term "white porcelain vessels" {pai ts'e k'i)
to the Pen ts'ao of the T'ang. In the text translated by Hirth occurs a clause which
he rendered, "During recent generations it has been used to make white porcelain."
HoBSON (Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Vol. I, p. 146) has proposed a new transla-
tion of this passage, which reads, "During recent generations it has been prepared

Historical Notes on Kaolin 113

alleged medicinal properties, yet maintain strict reticence in regard
to porcelain vessels, though these were positively known at the time
of their publication, for the simple reason that this topic was beyond
their scope. Neither the Cheng lei pen ts'ao nor the Pen ts'ao kang mu
discusses porcelain, but both books are content to recommend prescrip-
tions of kaolin for certain complaints. While Su Kung upholds that
of Ting-chou, and Li Shi-chen that of Jao-chou (in Kiang-si), as par-
ticularly efficient, this is merely the outcome of a more speciaHzed
medical subtlety.

It would likewise be preposterous to assume that T'ao Hung-king
is the first author to mention kaolin. On the contrary, he is forestalled
by at least one predecessor. The work Pie lu,^ which existed prior to
his time, as quoted in the Pen ts'ao (/. c), states that "white clay {pai
ngo) originates in the mountains and valleys of the district of Han-tan
M f P,2 and that it may be gathered at any season." This restriction
to a single locality certainly does not betoken the scarcity of the mate-
rial, which is indeed common in many localities: it reflects solely the
limitations of local experience. Under the Sung we hear from the lips
of Su Sung that this variety of clay was then ubiquitous, and was
throughout used by the people for the washing of their clothes.^ This
view is confirmed by Li Shi-chen, who observes that white clay occurs
everywhere, and is employed for the baking of white pottery vessels.
However common the occurrence of kaolin in China may be, the fact

from white ware." From a grammatical point of view this translation is perfectly-
correct. It is, however, somewhat difficult to understand why the pharmacists of
the T'ang period should have extracted kaolin from finished ceramic products, even
though it was only from fragments of such, if kaolin could so easily be obtained in
nature; or it is conceivable also that kaolin inherent in pottery was vested with more
efficient magical and increased healing-power, as it had undergone a transmutation
in the furnace. We have to know more about the development of alchemy in China
before we may hope to settle many interesting questions and beliefs connected with
pottery.

^ See Chinese Clay Figures, p. 135, note 4.

2 It comprised what now forms the two prefectures of Kuang-p'ing and Cheng-te,
in the southern part of Chi-li Province, and in particular referred to Ts'e-chou. In
ancient times it was the capital of the state of Chao (Chavannes, M6moires his-
toriques de Se-ma Ts'ien, Vol. II, p. 92). It is an attractive suggestion of Hobson
(/. c, p. 147), that the kaolinic deposits of Han-tan should have supplied material
for the Ting-chou potters.

^ K'ou Tsung-shi, in his Pen ts'ao yen ioiii 16 (Ch. 6, p. ib; ed. of Lu Sin-yuan),
makes the same observation, adding that the substance was made into square blocks
sold in the capital under the name "white earth powder" ( pai t'ufen ^ i, ^ )•
According to the Ling piao lu i (Ch. a, p. 4; ed. of Wu ying tien) by Liu Siin of the
T'ang period, a white and greasy earth was gathered north of the city of Fu chou
'g j\\ (in the prefecture of Wu-ch'ang, Hu-pei) and traded over southern China,
where the women used it as a face-powder. This probably was a kind of pipe-clay.

114 Beginnings of Porcelain

remains that this observation is only the result of later periods, and
that in times of antiquity the knowledge of it was much restricted, and
attached to but few places. The wondrous book of geographical fables,
the Shan hat king, mentions it in two passages. One is embodied in
the chapter on the "Mountains of the West" (Si shan king ffi til fi),
saying that on the south side of the mountains of Ta-ts'e there is plenty
of clay.^ The other contains the notice, in the chapter on the ''Moun-
tains of the Centre" {Chung shan king 4* Uj K), that ''in the midst
of the mountains of Ts'ung-lung there are many great valleys in which
there is plenty of white clay; apart from the latter, there are also
black, dark blue, and yellow clays." ^ Kuo P'o adds that also varie-
gated clay is said to occur. Whether the two texts are of ancient
date, I do not venture to decide: they are quoted as early as the Sung
period by Su Sung (a distinguished scholar, and editor of the materia
medica T'u king pen ts'ao), in his discussion of kaolin, which he winds
up by remarking that solely the white clay is medicinally employed.
Personally I am under the impression that the Shan hai king, in the
version which is now before us, is not older than the Han period, and
doubtless contains also many post-Han interpolations. I would cer-
tainly not base on this work any chronological conclusions as to the
term pai ngo.

The Chinese explanation of the term ngo is interesting, because it
has led to the formation of a new word. The character M is com-
posed of the classifier zh ('earth') and the phonetic element 56. The
latter enters also into the formation of the character ^, which like-
wise has the sound ngo or ngu ('evir). Li Shi-chen^ is therefore led
to the following speculation: "Since the normal color of earth is yellow,
white must be considered as an evil color in earth; hence it was called
ngo [that is, 'evil earth']. Subsequent generations tabooed this word,
and changed it into pai shan fi # [that is, 'the white good one']."
The notion of "wicked earth" is elicited by punning, the two words
M and ^ being homophonous. This jocular interpretation must
have existed as a popular tradition since ancient times, since the result
of it, the opposite term pai shan, is said to have occurred in the Pie lu,
K'ou Tsung-shi, whose Pen ts'ao yen i was published in iii6, styles
kaolin "white good earth." This was under the Sung, when the
porcelain industry received a powerful stimulus. The term pai shan

^::^^^llj^^^^ (Ch. I, p. 27b; of the edition printed in 1855 at
Shun-k'ing, Sze-ch*uan). The character ^.according to the commentary of Kuo P'o
(276-324), is to be read ngu (or ngo), explained as "earth of very white color."

'mi&it\h%^^iz'^^»nmWi^'Mm (ch.2.p. 15b).

' Pen ts'ao kang mu, Ch. 7, p. i.

Historical Notes on Kaolin 115

S ^ is met with as early as the T'ang period (618-906), in the min-
eralogical glossary Shi yao erh ya ^ M M Si, compiled by Mei Piao
tS ^ in the period Yuan-ho (807-82 1).^ Here it is given as a synonyme
of kan Vu "H^zh C 'sweet earth"), on a par with other synonymes for
this term, which are pai tan S W-j tan tao fir M, and Vu tsing dt M
("essence of earth"). At an earlier date we find the term shan in the
Buddhist dictionary Yi tsHe king yin i -^ ■© ft ^ ^,2 compiled by the
monk Yuan Ying 7C M about a.d. 649, who explains it as shan fw # zb
C'good earth"), and identifies it with ''white clay" {pai Vu S db)
and ngo. The most interesting point is, that this author cites the
Wu p"u pen ts'ao ^^'^^ to the effect that the term pai ngo has a
synonyme in the form pai shan fl ^¥. According to Bretschneider,^
the Wu p'u pen ts'ao was written by Wu P'u under the Wei dynasty in
the first half of the third centtuy a.d. If the definition, as handed
down by Yuan Ying, was really contained in this work, we should
have a formal testimony for the knowledge of kaolin in the third
century. The case was presumably such, that in the T'ang era, when
the excellent qualities of kaolin were first recognized, the transforma-
tion of the word took effect, and ultimately resulted in a new charac-
ter formed with the word shan S as phonetic element, and the classifiers
'earth' dh or 'stone' S. The taboo announced by Li Shi-chen cannot
have taken serious dimensions, for the ceramic authors of the Manchu
dynasty perpetuated the word ngo^ and abstained from the word shan.
In a poem of Se-ma Siang-ju, entitled Tse sU fu -J^ & ^ * ochre
and white clay {che ngo jS M) are spoken of as natural products of
Sze-ch'uan.^ The attribute "white" is not in the text, which merely
offers the word ngo; but Chang Yi 36 tS, the author of the dictionary
Kuang ya ^ Si, who lived in the first part of the third century a.d.,

* Reprinted in the collection Pie hia chai (Ch. A, p. 4).

" Ch. 17, p. 2 (edition of Nanking). Regarding this work see Julien, Histoire
de la vie de Hiouen Tsang, p. xxiii; Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 211;
Watters, Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 52; Bunyiu Nanjio, Catalogue of the
Tripitaka, No. 1605.

* Bot. Sin., pt. I, p. 40.

* Shi ki, Ch. 117, p. 2 b. The poet died in 117 B.C.

' They are Hkewise mentioned as products of that region (Shu) in the Hua yang
kuo chi (Ch. 3, p. I b, ed. of Han Wei ts'ung shu). Under the year 991 there is
mentioned in the Sung Annals the pictorial decoration of a palace by means of the
same two substances. The same term appears in Lie-tse (Wieger, Les p^res du
syst^me taoiste, p. 104), when King Mu built a palace for a juggler, who had come
from the farthest west. This chapter of Lie-tse (and probably many others), in
my opinion, comes down from the Han period; and this conclusion is confirmed
by the term che ngo which does not occur earlier than that time. The work of
Lie-tse is first mentioned in the TsHen Han shu (Ch. 30, p. 12 b).

ii6 Beginnings of Porcelain

comments on this passage, that ngo has there the meaning of "white
clay'' {pai ngo), which, he adds, is identical with the term pai shan
used in the Herbals {pen ts'ao), so that what he means is doubtless
kaoHn. Also Yen Shi-ku (579-645), annotating the same word in the
Han Annals, states that '4t is identical with what is now called 'white
earth' {pai fu).^' It is interesting that these Confucian scholars of
the third and sixth centuries respectively were acquainted with kaolin,
thus following suit with their Taoist colleagues; but it appears rather
doubtful whether the term, as used in the Annals of Se-ma Ts'ien, can
really be credited with the significance ''kaolin." There is no other
testimony to this effect (leaving aside the dubious Shan hai king) in
the Han period; and, be this as it may, the passage in question is not
conclusive, the substance ngo being mentioned solely as a product of
nature, without any allusion to human exploitation. In the Glossary
of the T'ang Annals the term ngo is interpreted as "white earth"
{pai fu S ±)}

In the T'ang period, kaolin formed also a desirable article for tribute
or taxes to the Court, which certainly means that it was employed in
the manufacture of pottery. The Wu ii ki ^Mt^ ("Records of the
Land of Wu"), by Lu Kuang-wei 1^ ^ IS, written at the end of the
ninth century, mentions the mountains of Hang K Uj as hoarding
white earth that resembles jade and is very resplendent, and that the
people of Wu, who gathered it, sent as tribute tmder the name pai
ngo.^

Passing beyond the Han period, we find the word ngo employed in
times of antiquity, but in a peculiar sense, qmte distinct from the later
significance "potter's clay." In the early period it was strictly an
architectural term, and implied a function falling within the province
of a mason. This ancient significance is acknowledged by the dic-
tionary Erh ya, which, in its section concerned with the nomenclature
of bmldings, states that ngo is the designation for a whitewashed wall;
and the dictionary Shi ming S ^ , by Liu Hi SJ SS of the Posterior
Han, is still more explicit on this point, as evidenced by the annotation
that the wall is first raised from mud, and then invested with a coating
of lime.' The Shuo wen explains the term as "white plaster" {pai Vu
S f^). The principal office of the word was that of a verb, with the

^ T*ang shu shi yin, Ch. 5, p. 20.

' According to the Gazetteer of the Prefecture of Su-chou (Su chou fu chi,
Ch, 20, p. 15b), kaolin is still dug on the Yang-shan near Su-chou to a depth of a
hundred feet.

'^?E;^^liASKf$;^'& (-^A* ^t^f, section 5, p. 8; ed. of Kingsiin Vang
ts'ung shu or Han wet ts*ung shu).

Historical Notes on Kaolin 117

meaning "to plaster or whitewash the floor or the walls of a house.'*
This is particularly evidenced by the verb yu ^ ("to blacken"),
its opposite, to which it is closely linked in order to express the per-
formance of a religious ceremony during the period of mourning.
The mourner was obliged to dwell in an unplastered earth hut for two
years. After the sacrifice in the commencement of the third year, the
ground of his cot was blackened, and the walls were whitened, — a
rite simply expressed by the compound yu ngo S^ S.^ In the same
chapter of the "Book of Rites" in which this practice is mentioned,
the same word ngo occurs in a somewhat different usage. The dwell-
ing specially erected for the mourner is styled ngo shi M S, a term ex-
plained as "a hut made of unbumt bricks or earth pise and not plas-
tered," and used in the Li ki four times. The mourner was compelled
to divest himself of all comfort, and to relapse into the most primitive
habitation of early times. The term ngo shi, accordingly, means liter-
ally "earth house;" and during the archaic period, ngo designated
"loam, mud, or clay fit for building-purposes." Simultaneously,
however, it was applied also to chalk or limestone, denoting the process
of coating a coarse wall with a layer of white. In this sense it is utilized
also by Chuang-tse in regard to the whitening of one's nose.^ Since
the word ngo, which is still defined by the Shuo wen as "white plaster,"
originally referred to clay and chalk at the same time, the early Chinese
do not seem to have clearly discriminated between the two substances.
The term pai ngo, which adopted the meaning "kaolin" in the post-
Christian era, is still used to convey the notion of "chalk," while a
stricter terminology formulates for the latter such compounds as shi
ngo ^ M ("stone clay"), ngo hui M M ("clay Hme"), or pai Vu fen
U ±W ("white earth powder ").3

One point stands out clearly, — that in the archaic period the word
ngo signified "loam and chalk used in building," and was appropriate
to the activity of the mason, but that it neither denoted potter's clay
nor had any relation whatever to the work of the potter. The main
point to be borne in mind is, that there is no reference to "white clay"
{pai ngo) in any authentic document of the Han period, — a fact thor-
oughly corroborated by archaeological evidence. The "white clay,"

1 Li ki, ed. Couvreur, Vol. II, p. 240; translation of Legge, Vol. II, p. 192.

^Ch. 24, § 5; see the edition of L. Wieger, Taoisme, Vol. II, p. 420. It is
notable that the stage-fool still appears in China with his nose whitened; and the
figure of an actor represented by a T'ang clay statuette in the Museum collection
is thus characterized.

^ See F, DE M£ly, Lapidaires chinois, p. 99; F. Porter Smith, Contributions
towards the Materia Medica of China, p. 58.

ii8 Beginnings of Porcelain

or "kaolin," makes its first appearance in the Pie lu, an early Taoist
work of uncertain dat^, and preserved only by way of quotations in
subsequent pharmaceutical literature. This lacune in our knowledge,
however, is no matter of great concern for the history of porcelain,
for that work contains no allusion to pottery. Chang Yi and Kuo P*o
of the third century appear to have been familiar with kaolin; likewise
Wu P'u, the author of a materia medica under the Wei (p. 115). The
medical Hterature of the T'ang period is, and thus far remains, the
earliest source to convey an allusion to white porcelain produced from
kaolin. Prior to that time, this substance seems to have found applica-
tion chiefly in medicine, and as engobe on pottery. It probably played
a r61e also in alchemical experiments. There is every reason to believe
that it was the nature-loving and drug-hunting professors of Taoism
who first experimented with this clay, and this accounts for the fact
that the subject has found its way into the pages of the Shan hai king.
What the share of the Taoists was in the initial stages of porcelanous
ware, or whether a share in it is due to them at all, we have as yet no
means of ascertaining. That they had a share in it, however, is more
than probable, since the preparation of clays and glazes is a matter of
chemistry; that is, in ancient times, of alchemy (see also p. 142).

It is obvious that no forcible conclusion as to the date of porcelain
can be deduced from a consideration of the history of kaolin. It is
notable, however, that it was known at least in the third century a.d. ;
and this chimes in with my dating of the early kaolinic ware in the
same period. Once more we see that for the history of porcelain w©
have to depend on archseological evidence.

It is unfortunately impossible to outline a similar sketch of the
history of petuntse, or porcelain stone; but it is not surprising that
the Chinese have preserved no historical notes regarding this substance.
It is simply a feldspathic rock, for which no other than the general
designation "stone" {shi ^) exists. It is a general error to believe
that the mass itself is styled by the Chinese "petuntse" (properly,
pai tun-tse S ^ "?), an error chiefly propounded by A. J. C. Geerts.^
JuLiEN^ was somewhat astonished at the expression, sa3dng that the
Chinese authors who wrote on porcelain fail to explain the sense of the
word tun ^. K'ang-hi's Dictionary does not ascribe to the latter any
mineralogical significance; in fact, it has none whatever, and is never
used by Chinese writers on mineralogy. The character in question is

1 Les produits de la nature japonaise et chinoise, Vol. II, p. 376 (Yokohama,
1883).

' Histoire et fabrication de la porcelaine chinoise, p. 122.

Historical Notes on Kaolin iig

merely substituted as an easy and convenient abbreviation for tun
%, which means, as Giles rightly says, "a square block of stone. "^
The term pat tun-tse^ therefore, simply signifies "white briquette," and
certainly is one of a purely commercial, not mineralogical character:
it relates to the color and shape of these blocks, as they are traded from
the places of production to the centres of porcelain manufacture. Our
mode of applying the term "petuntse" to the material, therefore,
is wrong. The fact that this rock, which enters into the manufacture
of porcelain, was roughly known to the Chinese long before the time
of this specific employment, cannot reasonably be doubted.

1 In the second edition of his Dictionary, Giles has justly placed the term
"petuntse" under this character (No. 12205).

THE INTRODUCTION OF CERAMIC GLAZES INTO CHINA,
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE MURRINE VASES

We know at present as a fact that glazed pottery first appeared in
China during the Han period, and that the process of glazing earthen-
ware was unknown in pre-Han times. The Han potter's art was
revolutionized, as we have seen, by the adoption of this new technique,
which finally resulted, toward the middle or the close of the third cen-
tury, in the production of a peculiar porcelanous glaze, the forerunner
of true porcelain. Porcelain being universally considered as a truly
Chinese invention, the broader question may now be raised. Is the
invention of glazing, the technical foundation of porcelain, wholly
due to the genius of the Chinese, or was the impetus received from an
outside quarter? R. L. Hobson^ has made the following general
reply to this query: "Though supported by negative evidence only,
the theory that the Chinese first made use of glaze in the Han period
is exceedingly plausible. In the scanty references to earlier wares
in ancient texts no mention of glaze appears, and, indeed, the severe
simplicity of the older pottery is so emphatically urged that such an
embellishment as glaze would seem to have been almost undesirable.
The idea of glazing earthenware, if not evolved before, would now be
naturally suggested to the Chinese by the pottery of the Western
peoples with whom they first made contact about the beginning of the
Han dynasty. Glazes had been used from high antiquity in Egypt;
they are found in the Persian bricks at Susa and on the Parthian
coffins, and they must have been commonplace on the pottery of west-
ern Asia two hundred years before our era." I am of the same opinion,
that Chinese knowledge of glazing is derived from the West, and
propose to discuss this problem on the following pages. I hope to
enlist all the available facts in the case, so as to place our theory on a
solid historical foundation.

The course of my investigation is as follows. The home of glass,
glazed pottery, and faience, was Egypt and the anterior Orient; and
the reputation of this ware spread to Rome under the name "murrine
vessels." The latter subject, being still of a controversial nature, is
of especial importance in this connection, as it shows us the high appre-
ciation and expansion of glazed ware over the Mediterranean area at

1 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Vol. I, p. 8.

I20

Introduction of Glazes into China 121

a period synchronous with the coming into existence of this pottery
in China. This synchronism is not accidental, but is due to the wide
fame and diffusion of this novel process in the Far East. It will then
be set forth from Chinese records how the Chinese became acquainted
with it in consequence of their contact with the Roman-Hellenistic
Orient; how the materials required for the technique were propagated
to India, Cambodja, and China, and in what manner they were turned
to practical use by the ancient Chinese.

If I venture to dwell here at some length on the much-disputed
murrine vases of the ancients, the main reason for this invasion of
foreign territory is that this subject seems to me to embody an essential
chapter in the history of the art of glazing, which allows us to grasp
clearly the significance of its eastward migration. My further line of
defence rests on various attempts made by older and more recent
authors to interpret the murrine vases as having been Chinese porce-
lain; and in further vindication I may point to two sinologues who in
the first part of the nineteenth century participated in the discussion
of this problem, — Joseph Hager and Abel-Remusat. The former^
endeavored to prove in a hardly convincing manner that the substance
of which the murrines were made was identical with the jade of the
Chinese; while the latter ^ combated this opinion, and conclusively
demonstrated that Chinese nephrite does not at all correspond to
the description given by Pliny of the miurine vases. The chief argu-
ment which runs counter to this theory, and which has not been stated
by Abel-R^musat, is that ancient Chinese jade objects have as yet
not been traced in any country of classical civilization, and that nothing
is on record in regard to such a trade, either in Chinese or classical
documents. Moreover, the provenience of the murrines, as indicated
by Pliny and the Periplus Maris Erythraei, must not be disregarded:
they came from Egypt, Persia, and India, and were chiefly productions
of Persia. In none of these countries have we any evidence as to the
occurrence of Chinese jade pieces in ancient times.*

In a study devoted to the beginnings of porcelain in China, in which
an attempt has been made to determine more exactly the first appear-
ance of porcelanous ware on Chinese soil, a word may be permitted

1 Description des medailles chinoises du Cabinet Imperial de France, pp. 150-168
(Paris, 1805).

2 Histoire de la ville de IQiotan, tir^e des annales de la Chine et traduite du
chinois; suivie de recherches sur la substance min^rale appelee par les Chinois
pierre de lu, et sur le jaspe des anciens, pp. 195-208 (Paris, 1820).

' More recently the nephrite hypothesis with reference to the murrines has been
reiterated by A. von Nordenskiold (Umsegelung Asiens und Europas, Vol. II, p. 230).

122 Beginnings op Porcelain

with reference to the theory that the murrines might have been porce-
lain of Chinese origin. This view predominated in Europe for three
centuries, till it yielded to still more fantastic ideas in modem times.
Jerome Cardan (Hieron^nnus Cardanus), the Italian mathematician
(1501-76), is to be regarded as the father of the porcelain theory.
In his work "De subtilitate rerum" (Niirnberg, 1550, p. 119), he
made the assertion, "Sunt autem myrrhina ea, quae hodie vocantur
Porcellanea," and supported it by the explanation that they had
come to western Asia from China, the country of the Seres, and that
whatever does not fit in with them in the description of Pliny became
subsequently altered in the manufacture of these vessels. Julius
Caesar Scaliger (1484-15 5 8) concurred with him in this opinion, and
only reproached his predecessor for having advanced his statement in
too timid a fashion. His son, the great scholar Joseph Justus Scaliger
(1540-1609), inherited and accepted his father's verdict. Whatever
we may think of the view of the two Scaliger, it remains interesting,
as it was at their time that porcelain gradually became known in
Europe; and this fact may certainly have reacted on the shaping of
their opinion.

In the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, the
old opinion that by " the murrines " should be understood porcelain, was
revived by P. J. Mariette* and by E. H. Roloff,^ the latter a physi-
cian, whose work is accompanied by notes and additions at the hands
of Ph. Buttmann. The theory of Cardanus and Scaliger was here
defended afresh and with circvunstantial detail, and seemingly with
such success that it maintained its place for some twenty-five years,
until F. Thiersch^ brought about the victory of the mineralogical
theory, and replaced the murrines of porcelain by murrines of fluor-spar.
Roloff and Buttmann based their argtunentation pre-eminently on
the famous passage of Propertius in which are mentioned "murrine
cups baked in the kilns of the Parthians" (murreaque in Parthis pocula
cocta focis), that without any doubt refer to ceramic productions.
They utterly failed, however, to furnish any exact and logical evidence
for their proposed identification of murrines with porcelain, which
was merely a preconceived idea, or nothing more than their personal
impression in the matter. They argued that this porcelain must
have come from the land of the Seres, China, where it is exceedingly

1 Traits des pierres gravies, Vol. I, p. 219 (Paris, 1750).

2 Wolf's and Buttmann's Museum der Alterthumswissenschaft, Vol. II, pp. 519-572,
1810.

'tJber die Vasa murrina der Alten (Abhandlungen der bayerischen Akademie,
i835» pp. 443-509).

Introduction of Glazes into China 123

ancient, and must accordingly have been exported as early as in
times of antiquity, and certainly to Persia, whence the murrines were
imported to Rome. For a brief period it would have seemed as
though the alleged discovery of Chinese porcelain bottles in Egyp-
tian tombs might lend support to such an opinion; but for a long
time we have known that the whole story amounts to a not very
clever fraud.^

When the murrine vases were identified with porcelain, European
knowledge of the history of porcelain in China was still in its infancy
and of the vaguest character; and if a subject is obscure or little known,
speculation is usually rife, and the almost incredible is readily accepted.
In 1857 Bostock and Riley ^ still commented on the murrines, that
modem writers differ as to the material of which these vessels were
composed; that some think that they were of variegated glass, and
others of onyx, but that the more general opinion is that they were
Chinese porcelain. The last view has never entirely lost its ground,
and still counts adherents in this country. In the ''New Standard
Dictionary," published by Funk and Wagnalls of New York in 1913,
we read, under the article "murrine vases," "porcelain vases brought
from the East to Rome."

The present investigation allows us to settle this problem definitely.
It is out of the question that the murrine vessels were Chinese porce-
lain, since at the time when the former were traded from the Orient
to Rome nothing like porcelain existed on this globe. We have seen
that ceramic products with porcelanous glaze do not come up in China
earlier than the latter part of the third century a.d., and that anything
of the character of true porcelain cannot be pointed out before the
sixth century. The vasa murrhina, however, are mentioned consider-
ably earlier than these two dates. They were first brought to Rome
in 61 B.C. by Pompey, who, after his triumph, dedicated cups of this
description to Jupiter Capitolinus. Pompey himself had obtained them
from Mithridates. Augustus appropriated a single murrine vessel
from the treasure of Queen Cleopatra, which is cited as an instance
of his moderation.^ In the time posterior to Pompey, the murrines
became more frequent in Rome, and aroused a passion for them among
the upper four hundred. Classical Roman literature does not make

1 Compare S. Julien, Histoire et fabrication de la porcelaine chinoise,
pp. xi-xxn; F. Hirth, Chinesische Studien, pp. 45-48; N. Rondot, On the Chinese
Coins and Small Porcelain Bottles found in Egypt {Journal China Branch R. As.
Soc, Vol. XXXII, 1897-98, pp. 66-78).

2 The Natural History of Pliny, Vol. VI, p. 392.

3 Suetonius, Augustus, 71.

124 Beginnings of Porcelain

any mention of them; they are foreign to the works of Cicero and Varro,
as well as to the poems of Horace, Ovid, and Vergil. Propertius (bom
about 49 B.C.) is the first to make a distinct allusion to them. They
are further mentioned by other poets, like Statius, Juvenalis, and
Martialis. Pliny is the only one to give a somewhat more detailed,
though insufficient, description. The first centuries preceding and
following our era, accordingly, were the period when the murrines
formed the fashion of the day in Rome; and porcelain was not then
made in China. The Chinese records relative to the Roman Orient
and Persia are reticent as to trade in pottery; and the fact remains
that in Persia, India, Egypt, Greece, or Rome, has never been dis-
covered a specimen of Chinese porcelain of such age that could lay
claim to being regarded as murrine.^

In the light of our present knowledge, the porcelain hypothesis
must be characterized as a failure, and as being doomed to oblivion.
The efforts of the men, however, who formulated their thoughts along
this line, have not been entirely futile; for, as it so frequently happens,
error will ultimately lead us to the knowledge of truth. The champions
of porcelain murrines were quite correct in the pursuit of one point of
view, — that the murrines were of pottery, not, as has been asserted,
of a mineral substance. Their fundamental error lay mainly in the
rash manner in which they jumped at the conclusion that Chinese
pottery was involved; while we plainly have to adhere to the fact,
transmitted to us by the ancients, that the murrine vessels were wrought
in the Empire of the Parthians, and that, as stated by Propertius, they
were baked or fired in Parthian furnaces. They were consequently
products of Iranian pottery; and the peculiar coloration described by
Pliny obviously hints at a beautiful and elaborate glazing which was
brought out on those vessels. My thesis, accordingly, is that the
famed murrines of the ancients were highly-glazed pieces of Oriental,

^ Even under the Han, the potter's craft, which in that period had without any
doubt developed into an art, possessed no more than purely local significance, and
merely catered to the home consumption of the small community for whose benefit
the produce was turned out. It seems certain that no inland trade in pottery was
then developed, still less was there an exportation of the article. It is notable
that Se-ma Ts'ien, in his famous dissertation on the "Balance of Trade" (Shi ki,
Ch. 30, translated by Chavannes, M6moires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien, Vol. Ill,
pp. 538-604), describing the remarkable efforts of the Han in the second century
B.C. toward a regulation of the factors of wealth and commerce, does not make
any allusion to potters or pottery as an article of trade. Neither do we meet, in
the historical documents of the Han bearing on foreign relations, any mention of
such export-ware. The incidental mention by Se-ma Ts'ien of "a thousand jars
(kang) filled with pickles and sauces," adverted to also in the T'ao shuo (Bushell,
Description of Chinese Pottery, p. 93), is without significance.

Introduction of Glazes into China 125

that is, Iranian or Persian and Egyptian, pottery. This conclusion
directly restilts from the documentary evidence which the ancient
authors have left us. It will be demonstrated at the same time that
the substance murray of which the murrine vases were made, cannot
have been a mineral of any sort.

The Latin word murra (less correctly murrha, myrrha), from which
the adjectives murreus (murrheus, myrrheus) and murrinus are derived,
was adopted from the Greek morrion (in Pausanias) and the adjectival
form murrinosj used in the Periplus.^ The real significance of this
word is as yet unexplained. Certain it is that it is neither Latin nor
Greek, but was handed down from the Orient with the objects which
it served to designate. Roloff was the only one to attempt an ex-
planation of the peculiar term by inviting attention to a Russian word,
muravay which denotes "glazed pottery." The defenders of the
mineralogical hypothesis have naturally rejected this point of view
without giving reasons why it should not be acceptable.^ Yet this
opinion is worthy of serious consideration. If it can be proved that
the murrines were glazed pottery vessels, there is a great deal of prob-
ability in the conviction that the word murra applies to their most
striking feature, the glaze. The Russian word pointed out by Roloff
indeed exists. It is recorded in all good Russian dictionaries. Vladi-
mir Dal,* the eminent Russian lexicographer, notes it in the forms
murdva^ muravd, and wwr, with a dialectic variant mUrom (or marom')*'
used in the Governments of Pskov and Tver, and interprets it as the
glaze applied to the surface of a pottery vessel. Besides this word, the
Russian language avails itself of the loan-word glazur (derived from
German Glasur) and the indigenous word-formation poliva for the
connotation of the same idea. The words mur and murava, not to
be foimd in any other Slavic or European language, are not derived
from any Slavic stem, but, like other Russian culture-words, are bor-
rowings from an Iranian language. The onomasticon of Ancient
Iranian is but imperfectly preserved; and the word mur a or murra^
which has doubtless existed in that language, has not been handed
down to us in an Iranian literary monument; although a survival of
it, in all probability, is preserved in Persian morly miirl, or murU,

1 The readings morrinos, myrrinus, also occur (see the edition of B. Fabricius,
pp. 42 and 90) ; but murrinos merits preference.

2 F. Thiersch, /. c, p. 457.

' Dictionary of the Living Great-Russian Language, Vol. II, col. 939 (in Russian
only).

* The accent after m is intended to express the palatalization of the labial nasaJ
m (soft or mouille m.)

126 Beginnings of Porcelain

meaning ''small shells" or "glass beads.'* ^ The conjecture is therefore
admissible, that Greek morrion (aside from its Greek ending) is an
Iranian loan-word, and that the Iranian prototype had the significance
"glass paste, glaze." ^

The earliest author to speak of murrine vessels is the poet Propertius
(born about 49 B.C.), in one of his elegies (IV, 5, 26), in which a pro-
curess tries to allure an inexperienced lass by promising her all the
wealth of the Orient, like purple robes, dresses from Cos, urns from
Thebae in upper Egypt, and mtu-rine goblets baked in Parthian fur-
naces,—

Seu quae palmiferae mittunt venalia Thebae
murreaque in Parthis pocula cocta focis.

The most biased adherents of the mineralogical hypothesis were obliged
to concede that mineral vessels coiild not be understood in this pas-
sage: no one would be likely to say regarding a mineral that it is cooked
or baked. Nor is it necessary to press the verb coquere into a forced

^The Persian word mind signifies "enamel" and "glass, glass bead, goblet."
It is very probably connected with Young-Avestan minav, "necklace, ornament"
(Bartholomae, Altiranisches Worterbuch, col. 11 86). The Persian morl ("glass
bead") is found also in the language of the Abdal or Tabarji in northern Syria
(A. VON Le Coq, Baessler-Archiv, Vol. II, 1912, p. 234).

^ Also the Russian designation for Chinese porcelain, farfor, is derived from
Iranian. In the allied Slavic languages we have Ruthenian faifurka, Bulgarian
farfor and farforiya, Polish farfura (in dialects faifura; farfurka, farforka, and faforka
with the meaning "vessel, plate of stoneware"). The same word is found in Neo-
Greek as farfuri {(i>6Lp<i>ovpi) and in the same form in Osmanli (in other Turkish
dialects, /ar/wr«; W. Radloff, Worterbuch der Tiirk-Dialecte, Vol. IV, col. 1914).
The Russian lexicographer Dal is unable to account for the Russian word, and
doubtfully refers it to a Turkish source of origin. E. Berneker (Slavisches etymo-
logisches Worterbuch, p. 279) proposes to derive the Slavic words from Osmanli
fag fur, which means "title of the Chinese sovereign; name of a region in China
which was celebrated for its porcelain; Chinese porcelain; porcelain in general,
vases made from it." It must be understood, however, that this word is not Turkish
in origin, but Persian, and was borrowed by the Osmans from the latter language.
For a long time we have known that fagfur is the Persian term designating the
Emperor of China (d'Herbelot, Biblioth^que orientale, Vol. Ill, p. 320), and it
was d'Herbelot who first pointed out that the Turkish name for porcelain, fagfuri,
was adopted from the Persian title fagfur (see also Yule's Marco Polo, Vol. II,
p. 148). The older form is pakpur or pakur (in the form Pakurios preserved by
Procopius, the Byzantine historian of the sixth century, in his De bello persico, i, 5).
Masadi (translation of A. Sprenger, Vol. I, p. 326) was familiar with the correct
significance of the term, explaining it as "Son of Heaven." It is accordingly a
literal rendering of the Chinese title T'ien-tse ("Son of Heaven"), claimed by the
sovereigns of China since times of old, the ruler receiving his mandate from the
supreme deity Heaven and governing the world in his name. Persian fag is evolved
from bagh (corresponding to Sanskrit bhaga), and signifies "God" ("Bagdad"
signifies "gift of God"); Persian /wr, bur (Sanskrit putra) means "son." Also in
Persian, fagfuri chlnt and fagfuri relate to Chinese porcelain.

Introduction of Glazes into China 127

meaning, so as to conform it with a process to which a mineral could
be subjected; for, as has been shown by H. Blumner,i it is the verb
utilized in regard to the burning or baking of bricks and all fictile ware
in general.

The fundamental passage in Pliny relative to the murrine vessels
runs as follows: —

"The Orient sends the murrine vessels. They are found there in
several localities which otherwise have no special reputation,^ for
the most part in places of the Parthian Empire; excellent ones, how-
ever, in Carmania. The opinion prevails that the humidity* con-
tained in these vessels is solidified by subterranean heat. In size
they never exceed the small sideboards (abaci); in thickness, rarely
the drinking-vessels, which are as large as previously mentioned.
Their brightness is not very powerful, and it is a lustre rather than
brilliancy. Highly esteemed, however, is the variety of colors, with
their spots changing into shades of purple and white; these two tinges,
again, result in a third hue resplendent, through a sort of color-transi-
tion, as it were, in a purple or milky red. Some laud profusely in
them the edges and a certain iridescence of the colors, such as are
visible in the rainbow. Others are pleased by oily spots: translucency
or pallor is a defect, and likewise are salt grains and warts, which are
not projecting, but which, as in the human body, are depressed. Also
their odor is commendable."'*

The account of Pliny is vague. One point is conspicuous and quite
certain, that he had no opinion of his own to offer on the subject. As
illustrated by the application of such phrases as "putant, sunt qui,
aliis placent," he simply reiterates second-hand information which he
had picked up from unnamed sources, most probably from oral accounts
circulated by traders in the article. Most likely, these stories were

1 Technologic und Tcrminologie, Vol. II, pp. 19, 44.
' Or, in little-known localities.

• There is no reason to take the word umor, as has been done, in the sense of
"moist substance."

* Oriens myrrhina mittit. Inveniuntur ibi pluribus locis nee insignibus, maxime
Parthici regni, praecipua tamen in Carmania. Umorem sub terra putant calore
densari. Amplitudine nimiquam parvos excedunt abacos, crassitudine raro quanta
sunt potoria. Splendor est iis sine viribus nitorque verius quam splendor. Sed in
pretio varietas colorimi subinde circumagentibus se maculis in purpuram can-
doremque et tertium ex utroque, ignescente veluti per transitum coloris purpura
aut rubescente lacteo. Sunt qui maxime in iis laudent extremitates et quosdam
colorum repercussus, quales in caelesti arcu spectantur. lam aliis maculae pingues
placent — tralucere quicquam aut pallere vitium est — itemque sales verrucaeque
non eminentes, sed, ut in corpore etiam, plerumque sessiles. Aliqua et in odore
commendatio est (xxxvii, 8, §§21, 22).

128 Beginnings of Porcelain

directly imported from the Orient, together with the ware. This
assumption is a necessary postulate in the case; and it is evident also
that Pliny was ignorant of the real nature of the murrines, for he neg-
lects to state what their actual character was. He fails to give a plain
and matter-of-fact definition of the material, or to classify it in any
known category of objects. True it is, he placed his article in his book
on stones; but this only justifies us in concluding that Pliny regarded
the murrine vases as possibly of stone, but not that they really were
of stone. The opponents of the pottery theory forget that pottery
is composed also of mineral substances, that we ourselves speak of
stoneware, and that many a piece of stoneware is so hard that it is
difficult enough to distinguish it from stone. Pliny must have been
in the same quandary, and therefore did not commit himself to a frank
utterance. This attitude of restraint is conclusive, and at the outset
is conducive to two inferences. The substance murra was neither a
mineral nor pure glass, for both were perfectly familiar to Pliny and
his contemporaries. Why, if the murra plainly was of a mineral nature,
should the learned and experienced naturalist not have unequivocally
avowed this fact? The murra can have been but a most striking and
novel material, which heretofore had been foreign to the Romans, and
which, owing to the very novelty of its character, greatly puzzled them.
Pliny discusses in this chapter the murrine vessels, as they were
sent to Rome from the Orient, in the shape of manufactured articles.
In the preceding chapter he dilates on their first introduction and
their excessive valuation, and tells of renowned individual cups. Natu-
rally he is now bound to say what these sensational and luxtirious
objects looked like. He certainly does not intend to describe here the
substance murra, alleged by some interpreters to have been a species
of stone. The same interpreters, however, are agreed that in Chapter 7
the word myrrhina (eadem victoria primum in urbem myrrhina invexit)
refers to murrine vessels, and not to the mineral of which they are
alleged to have been made; and it is therefore obvious, also, that in
the beginning of Chapter 8 the same word, myrrhina, must refer to
exactly the same murrine vessels. Pliny means to convey the mean-
ing that the murrine vessels came to Rome from the East. According
to Thiersch, it was not the vessels, but the mineral, which was im-
ported; but unfortunately he fails to inform us where and how the
mineral was wrought. Pliny does not say that the vessels were carved
in Rome from an imported substance, but he does plainly state that
they were first brought to the metropolis by Pompey. Thiersch^

* L. c, p. 471.

Introduction of Glazes into China 129

sets forth the opinion that Pliny opens the description of the *' mineral"
by speaking of its size and thickness, then passes on to the description
of the surface, its brightness, its colors and their play, and winds up
with remarks on the properties of the mass. It would be impossible
to unite more absurdities in a single sentence. The dimensions, accord-
ing to Thiersch, are exactly stated by the terms amplitudo and cras-
situdo; and the murra was a mineral, and, as Thiersch insists, fluor-
spar. This mineral, consequently, was quarried in regular blocks of
constantly equal dimensions, — a really astounding feat! Fluor-spar
or fluorite crystallizes in the isometric system, commonly in simple
cubes; this fact could not have escaped Pliny, had he ever had an
opportunity of examining this mineral, which is not at all mentioned
by him nor by any other ancient writer.^ There is, moreover, no
evidence that fluor-spar occurs in Persia, where the murrine vessels
were made. There is no evidence that fluor-spar vessels were ever
turned out in Persia, and, above all, no such vessels have ever come
to light among classical antiquities. They did not survive, because
they never existed, save in the imagination of nineteenth century
writers.^ But does our Pliny, indeed, speak of any mineral? There

1 See this volume, p. 62.

* Thiersch himself is not the originator of this fancy. He attributes (p. 495)
the germ of the idea to an Enghsh scholar signing himself "A. M." in the Classical
Journal of 1810 (p. 472), who, after having seen vases carved from fluor-spar of
Derbyshire in his time, persuaded himself that the murrine cups should have been
composed of the same material, — an opinion presented without an iota of evidence.
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (Vol. X, p. 578), F. CoRSi, the eminent
Italian antiquary, held that fluor-spar was the material of the famous murrine
vases; Corsi, however, followed Thiersch. H. Blumner (Technologie, Vol. Ill,
p. 276), reviewing the various opinions, observes that this theory has recently been
strongly contested; he himself believes in the mineral character of the vessels, for
which weak arguments are given. It is astounding with what high degree of tenacity
the unfounded opinion of fluor-spar vessels could hold its position in the face of the
bare fact that no such vessels ever existed in ancient Persia, Egypt, or in classical
antiquity, and have never come to light. Guhl and Koner (Leben der Griechen
und Romer, p. 699, 6th ed., 1893) adhere to this explanation, and, while admitting
that we do not possess vessels which can positively be identified with murrines,
point to a semi-transparent bowl found in Tyrol in 1837, which should probably be
one. This supposition, however, conflicts with the fact that the murrines were
not at all transparent, as shown by a distich of Martial (iv, 86): Nos bibimus vitro;
tu murra, Pontice: quare! prodat perspicuus ne duo vina calix. In the Century
Dictionary it is justly remarked under "murra," "The principal objection to this
theory is that no fragments of fluor-spar vases have been found in Rome or its
vicinity." M. Bauer (Edelsteinkunde, 2d ed., p. 653) sensibly states that there
is no positive and sufficient evidence for the allegation that the murrines were of
fluor-spar; but neither is there any more evidence for his own opinion, that they
may have been of chalcedony quarried in Ujjain in India. E. Babelon (in Darem-
berg and SagHo, Dictionnaire des antiquites grecques et romaines, Vol. II, p. 1466)
says, "Nous ne savons pas siirement ce qu'etait cette matiere precieuse qui servait

I30 Beginnings of Porcelain

is no sense in speaking of dimensions with reference to a raw mineral.
Certainly nobody would compare the size of a mineral with a piece of
furniture, and its thickness with a drinking-cup. The use of the
word potoria demonstrates that our author, alluding to the costly
vessels mentioned in the previous chapter, understands drinking-
vessels likewise in this passage.

Any one who has had any experience in reading Chinese texts
relative to pottery or porcelain will be deeply struck by a certain
kinship or affinity of terminology that prevails in the latter and in the
Plinian tradition of murrines. No statement or attribute used in
this text contradicts the opinion that ceramic stoneware is here in
question. On the contrary, some words, indeed, are as well chosen
as though they were directly derived from a ceramist's vocabulary,
and are well apt to uphold my theory. The effect of the changing
colors produced by the heavy glaze could not be better described than
by Pliny's style. Every lover of Chinese pottery who reads this pas-
sage intelligently will confess that he has many times had this delightful
experience of observing color changes and transitions, as well as the
rainbow iridescence which we so greatly admire in the ceramic pro-
ductions of the Han. Translucency as a defect is intelligible only in
pottery: it refers to a thin glaze that allows of the transparency of
the clay body. "Oily spots" {maculae pingues) is a felicitous ceramic
expression; likewise is "salt grains and warts." ^

h. fabriquer les c^lebres vases murrhins. La description quelque peu obscure que
Pline donne des vases murrhins ... est entremM6e de fables et elle ne s'adapte
parfaitement bien ni k des coupes d'agate ou de sardonyx, ni a des coupes d'ambre
ou de pAtes vitreuses, ni enfin a des coupes de jade, comme le pensent quelques
critiques." Leaving aside the vitreous pastes, this statement is perfectly fair. —
L. DE Launay (Min^ralogie des Anciens, Vol. I, p. 85) quotes a writer on onyx as
saying, that, despite the similarity of descriptions, the murrines were not of onyx
or sardonyx: "Si Tune ou I'autre de ces pierres avait €t€ le murrhinum, les Anciens
auraient certainement donn6 aux vases murrhiens, le nom de vases d'onyx ou de
sardonyx, au lieu qu'ils ont distingu6 express6ment les vases m.urrhiens d'avec
ceux f aits de Tune, ou de I'autre des pierres susdites. " " The onyx has been proposed,
but our authorities plainly imply that the onyx was a material akin to but yet dis-
tinct from that here in question" (W. Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Antiquities, Vol. II, p. 182). Other speculations in regard to the murrines were
advanced, to the effect that they were made of a gum, or formed from shells. Others
referred to obsidian. Veltheim proposed Chinese soapstone. "No mineral has been
suggested which answers exactly to Pliny's description,. and at present the problem
is unsolved" (Smith, /. c), — sufficient reason for assuming that Pliny's description
does not answer to any mineral.

1 The sales (this is the only passage in Pliny where sal is used in the plural)
were presumably identical with what the Chinese ceramists praise in the Ting porce-
lain of the Sung period, which exhibited vestiges of tears (Julien, Histoire, p. 61);
those with tear-marks were even considered as genuine (Eitel, China Review,
Vol. X, p. 311, and Vol. XI, p. 177; Hirth, Ancient Chinese Porcelain, p. 141).

Introduction of Glazes into China 131

As regards the pleasant odor which PHny accredits to the murrines,
this is intelHgible only if the question is of pottery; scented minerals
or glass are not conceivable. We are informed by Athenseus (XI,
p. 464 b) that the clay in the ceramic export- ware of Koptos in Egypt
was blended with aromatics before the process of baking; and Aristotle
follows him in this account. In the Greek papyri of the second cen-
tury A.D. are mentioned fragrant vessels {evoidrj /cepdjuta) which were
possibly turned out in this manner.^

In the two chapters following the one in question, Pliny deals with
crystal: the introductory sentence contains a reference to the mur-
rines. He adopts the popular notion that crystal is a sort of petrified ice,
and occurs only in cold regions where the winter snow freezes intensely .*
A cause opposite to the one producing the miirrines, accordingly, makes
crystal which assumes form through a process of somewhat vehement
congelation.^ This observation hints at the previous sentence, "Umor-
em sub terra putant calore densari." The murrines are a product of
heat, crystal is that of cold. This remark shows that murrines and
crystals are not allied, but adverse substances; and this contrast be-
lieved to prevail between the two may be one of the reasons why they
formed a favorite compound of speech.

Passing on to a discussion of amber, our author informs us that
this natural product takes rank next among articles of luxury, though
the demand for it is restricted to women, and is held in the same regard
as precious stones; but whereas no evident reason can be conceived for
this appreciation of amber, the reason is manifest for the two former
substances, the crystal vases lending themselves to cold beverages,
the murrine vases to hot and cold ones alike.* The former notion

* T. Reil, Beitrage zur Kenntnis des Gewerbes im hellenistischen Agypten,
p. 41 (Leipzig, 1913). A reddish, odoriferous clay (Portuguese and Spanish bucaro,
Italian bucchero) was much in use for pottery during the eighteenth century.

' This does not restrain him from stating immediately that the Orient sends
crystal, and that none is preferred to that of India. The Buddhist monk Yuan
Ying (Yi tsHe king yin i, Ch. 22, p. 2; see above, p. 115) was more discriminative on
this point. Speaking of rock-crystal, and mentioning the theory that it should
originate from ice a thousand years old, he points out that there is no ice in the
scorching heat of India, and that accordingly Indian rock-crystal is not a transforma-
tion of ice, but merely a kind of stone. See also T'oung Pao, 1915, p. 190.

* Contraria huic causa crystallum facit, gelu vehementiore concreto (xxxvii, 9,
§23).

* Proximum locimi in deliciis, feminarum tamen adhuc tantum, sucina optinent,
eandemque omnia haec quam gemmae auctoritatem; sane priora ilia aliquis de
causis, crystallina frigido potu, myrrhina utroque; in sucinis causam ne deliciae
quidem adhuc excogitare potuerunt (xxxvii, 11, § 30). Compare J. H. Krause,
Pyrgoteles, p. 90. The passage is somewhat equivocal, owing to the uncertainty
as to what omnia haec is intended to refer. It may point to the various kinds of

132 Beginnings of Porcelain

directly results from the supposed cold nature of crystal; and murra,
being the outcome of heat, must be well adapted for holding hot drinks,
or, as the case may be, for cool liquids. The distinction here made
by Pliny seems to me to add another weight of proof adverse to the
opinion that the murrines were of stone; it is not probable, at least,
that any stone cups served for hot beverages, while pottery, and heavily
glazed pottery in particular, is a material well suited to such a purpose.
Aside from the main chapter, Pliny devotes a brief sentence to the
subject (XXXIII, 2, § 5), in his notice on gold, by saying that "from
the same earth [where gold and silver are mined] we dug up murrine
and crystal vessels, the very fragility of which is deemed to enhance
their price" (murrina ex eadem tellure et crystallina effodimus, quibus
pretium f aceret ipsa f ragilitas) . The passage has materially contributed
to the notion that murra^ in the same manner as crystal, should
be a natural substance extracted from under the ground. '"Here,"
F. Thiersch (p. 460) remarks, ^^crystallina evidently does not mean
crystal bowls and cups, since the latter are not dug out of the soil,
but crystal masses from which they are made; and for this reason the
parallelism of the words murrina et crystallina, as well as the application
of effodere and invenire, compel us to asstmie that murrina is likewise
used in Pliny with regard to the substance of the vessels, the murra;
and Pliny means to say that the murra, in the same manner as crystal,
is found beneath the earth and dug up." This conclusion is artificial,
and by no means cogent. We all know that not only minerals, but
also objects manufactured by human hand, are dug up from the soil;
and there seems no valid objection why Pliny's words coiild not be
construed to mean that murrine and crystal vases have been turned
up from the soil as the result of excavations. This was not neces-
sarily Pliny's own opinion, but it may have been the outcome of a
story transplanted directly from the Orient; and in part this report
may well have had a foimdation in fact. The passage may signify
also that the mineral substances employed in the manufacture of the
murra were dug up from the soil. It must be directly connected with
the sentence, "Umorem sub terra putant calore densari," discussed
above. The pottery vessels were baked in an underground kiln,

amber, as has been translated above; or to the previously mentioned murrines
and crystals, with the inclusion of amber. The following priora ilia would seem
strongly to favor the latter point of view. In that case, Pliny would say that mur-
rines, crystal, and amber enjoy the same consideration or esteem as precious stones.
It cannot be read, of course, into this context, that the three materials were classified
among gemmae, and that for this reason murra was a precious stone; on the con-
trary, the passage means that this in fact was not the case, and only that the three
were regarded as of the same value as precious stones.

Introduction of Glazes into China 133

where the humidity of the cla3rish substance was solidified by artificial
heat, and thus they were extracted from the soil (e tellure effodimus) ;
or the vessels, after being perfectly finished, were intentionally buried
under ground to produce an oxidation of the glaze, which resulted in
that well-known iridescence and the rainbow colors accentuated by
Pliny. Much ado has been made by the adherents of the mineralogical
hypothesis about the juxtaposition of murrine and crystal vases in the
relevant passage and in another to be cited presently: this fact has
been regarded as one of the strongest btilwarks of the mineralogical
defence, which, however, is piu-ely illusory. The union of the two
products, previously alluded to, was mainly dictated by commercial
considerations, since both were received from the Orient: this is the
opinion of Pliny, and no other motive guided him in the choice of this
expression. On concluding his chapter devoted to the murrine vases,
he passes on to the topic of crystal, and notes that "the Orient likewise
sends us crystal, that of India being preferred, and it originates like-
wise in Asia."^ The clause "oriens et hanc mittit," owing to the addi-
tion of the particle "et," forcibly points to the beginning of the pre-
ceding chapter, "Oriens myrrhina mittit." For the reason that the
Orient despatched murrine as well as crystal vessels, they were entmier-
ated and discoursed in close succession and combined in speech into a
compound of pleasing rhythm. There is no valid reason why we
should conclude, that, because the names of the two products are
allied, the mvirrine vases must have been of mineral character .^ Similar
compounds are found in all languages without giving rise to such
forced conclusions. We are wont to speak of the tea and porcelain
of China as the most characteristic products reaching us from that
country; but no one means to imply that tea must be a substance
related to porcelain, or that porcelain must be a kind of tea. The
Chinese couple jade with porcelain to denote objets de vertu worthy of
the collector, and the substances with which both are concerned are
as congenial as murrines and crystal. And who will guarantee that
the crystal vases shipped from the Orient, according to Pliny, were all
of real rock-crystal? They may have been partially of glass as well.^
The price of the murrines was enhanced by their frailty, — again
an attribute that thoroughly fits pottery, and most assuredly is not

1 Oriens et hanc mittit, quoniam Indicae nulla praefertur; nascitur et in Asia
(xxxvn, 9, § 23).

' We shall meet the same alliance in the Chinese texts relative to the Hellenistic
Orient, where crystal (including also cut glass) and faience were closely joined in
architecture,

' H. BLtJMNER, Technologic, Vol. Ill, p. 250, note 6.

134 Beginnings of Porcelain

applicable to agate, fluor-spar, or any other stone with which these
vessels have thoughtlessly been identified. The murrines were fragile
and delicate: Pliny adduces several examples testifying to this fact.
A man of consular rank used to drink from a murrine cup, and, from
sheer love of it, wore out its edge, resulting in an upward tendency of
its value. This good man surely did not possess iron teeth to break
through an agate or on5rx cup. Pliny himself beheld the broken frag-
ments of a single cup, and tells the story of T. Petronius, who, on the
verge of death from his hatred of Nero, broke a murrine basin ^ of
great value. In another passage Pliny observes, ''With all our wealth,
we even at present poiu: out libations at sacrifices, not from murrine
or crystalline vessels, but from plain earthenware ladles." ^ This
sentence occiu-s in the introductory part of a chapter dealing with
works in pottery; and the contrast intended by the author between
the rustic, unglazed, indigenous Italic earthenware and the pretentious,
glazed, imported Oriental pottery is self-evident. The same discrimi-
nation is insisted on in the further discussion of the subject when Pliny,
expanding on the exorbitant prices paid for fictiles, laments that Ittxury
has arrived at such a height of excess as to make earthenware sell at
higher rates than murrine vessels.^ This comparison cannot be con-
strued, as has been done by Thiersch,* as favoring the opinion that
the murrhina were fundamentally different from fictilia, but it is intel-
ligible only when both were productions of a cognate nature.

Finally, Pliny enumerates murrines among the most valuable
products derived from the interior of the earth, on a par with adamas
(the diamond), smaragdus, and precious stones.^ H. Blumner^ re-
gards this text as furnishing strong evidence in favor of the murrines
being stones. In my opinion it is of no consequence. Also the passage
relating to white glass in imitation of murrines^ is unimportant for
our purpose; but it proves at least that the real murrines cannot have
been purely of glass, as has been supposed by some authors.

1 TniUa myrrhina, explained also as a ladle or scoop.

' In sacris quidem etiam inter has opes hodie non murrinis crystallinisve, sed
fictilibus prolibatur simpulis (xxxv, 46, § 158).

' Eo pervenit luxuria, ut etiam fictilia pluris constent quam murrina (ibid.,
§ 163).

*L. c, p. 470.

* Rerum autem ipsarum maximum est pretium in mari nascentium margaritis ;
extra tellurem crystallis, intra adamanti, smaragdis, gemmis, myrrinis (xxxvii, 78^
§ 204).

• Technologic, Vol. Ill, p. 276.
' Pliny, xxxvi, 67, § 198.

Introduction of Glazes into China 135

Hitherto the attempt has been made to extract the realities from
the ancient traditions, and to interpret them without prejudice. It
is more difficult to correctly judge the legendary ingredients by which
they are incrusted, as we are unaware of the lore of the Orient which
prompted such notions as are echoed in Pliny. An analogous field,
however, might contribute a little to aid us in understanding some of
this folk-lore. Nothing cotild better enlighten Pliny's account of
murrines than a remembrance of the first experience which Europe had
in regard to the newly-introduced Chinese porcelain. If the ancients
were deeply impressed and perplexed by the thickly glazed faience of
the anterior Orient, and may have mistaken it for stone, an interesting
parallel is offered by the fact that in the inventory of the Duke of
Anjou (1360-68) is found "une escuelle d'une pierre appel6e pour-
cellaine," and, in that of Queen Jeanne d'Evreux (1372), **un pot k
eau de pierre de pourcelaine."^ In these two cases, Chinese porcelain
(corresponding to that of the Yuan period, 1 260-1367) is styled "a
stone called porcelain."

The beliefs of the ancients in an imderground substance from
which the murrine vessels were made, receive a curious parallel from
the fantastic notions entertained by early European writers as to
the composition of Chinese porcelain. Barbosa^ wrote about 1516,
"They make in this country a great quantity of porcelains of different
sorts, very fine and good, which form for them a great article of trade
for all parts, and they make them in this way. They take the shells
of sea-snails, and egg-shells, and pound them, and with other ingre-
dients make a paste, which they put underground to refine for the
space of eighty or a hundred years, and this mass of paste they leave
as a fortune to their children." In 161 5, Bacon said, "If we had in
England beds of porcelain such as they have in China, which porcelain
is a kind^of plaster buried in the earth and by length of time con-
gealed and glazed into that substance; this were an artificial mine,
and part of that substance" ... Sir Thomas Browne, in his
"Vulgar Errors" (1650), asserted, "We are not thoroughly resolved
concerning Porcellane or China dishes, that according to common
belief they are made of earth, which lieth in preparation about an
hundred years underground; for the relations thereof are not only
divers but contrary; and Authors agree not herein" . . . These
fables were refuted at the end of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-
turies by travellers who had occasion to make observations on the

1 F. Brinkley, Japan and China, Vol. IX, Keramic Art, p. 371 (London, 1904).

2 Yule and Burnell, Hobson-Jobson, p. 726.

136 Beginnings of Porcelain

spot. Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza,i who wrote in 1585, reiterated
Barbosa's story, and (in the early English translation) called its valid-
ity into doubt; for, if it were true, the Chinese, in his opinion, could
not turn out so great a number of porcelains as is made in that kingdom
and exported to Portugal, Peru, New Spain, and other parts of the
world.* J. Neuhof,* who accompanied the embassy of the East India
Company of the Netherlands to China from 1655 to 1657, scorns the
"foolish fabulists of whom there are not a few still nowadays who
made people believe that porcelain is baked from egg-shells pounded
and kneaded into a paste with the white of an egg^ or from shells and
snail-shells, after such a paste has been prepared by nature itself in
the ground for some hundred years." The Jesuit, L. Le Compte,^
rectified this error by saying that "it is a mistake to think that there
is requisite one or two hundred years to the preparing of the matter for
the porcelain, and that its composition is so very difficult; if that were
so, it would be neither so common, nor so cheap." These two authors
were seconded by E. Ysbrants Ides.^ The analogy of the beUefs in the
origin of murrines and porcelain is striking; and this fancy has doubtless
taken its root in the Orient, whence crafty dealers propagated it in the
interest of their business.®

It woiild be presumptuous on my part to state positively what class
of Oriental pottery should be understood by the murrines. The decision
of this question must be reserved for the specialists in this field. Stu-
dents of ancient ceramics seem to have already had a premonition of
the identity of murrines with pottery.'' It may be permissible to point,

1 History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China, Vol. I, p. 34 (Hakluyt
Society, 1853).

* This refutation of Mendoza, however, is not contained in the Spanish original,
where it is said only, " Y esto fe a visto, y es mas verosimil que lo que dize cierto
Duardo Barbosa, que anda en Italiano, que se haze de caracoles de mar, los quales
se muelen, y los meten debaxo de tierra a afinarse 100 aflos, y otras cosas que agerca
desto dize. La muy fina, nunca sale del Reyno, por que se gasta en seruicio del
Rey, y Gouernadores, y es tan linda que parece de finissimo cristal. La mas fina, es
la que se haze en la Prouincia de Saxij" (I. Gonzalez de Mendoca, Historia de
las cosas mas notables, ritos y costumbres, del gran Reyno dela China, p. 25, Roma,
1585). Saxij refers to Kuang-tung.

' Gesantschaft der Ost-Indischen Gesellschaft, p. 96 (Amsterdam, 1669).

* Memoirs and Observations made in a Late Journey through the Empire of
China, English translation, p. 158 (London, 1697).

' Driejaarige Reize naar China, p. 165 (Amsterdam, 1710).

* E. Kaempfer (History of Japan, Vol. II, p. 369) alludes to another superstition
prevalent in his time (end of the seventeenth century), that hvunan bones should
form an ingredient of China ware.

' E. Fourdrignier, Les 6tapes de la c^ramique dans I'antiquit^ {Bull, et Mim.
de la Soc. d'Anthr., 1905, p. 239); he gives his opinion with great reserve, however.

Introduction of Glazes into China 137

en passant J to a remarkable find of pottery which offers a fair guaranty
of being identical with the mnrrine vases.

F. Petrie's discovery in 1909-10, at the south end of Memphis, of
kilns for baking glazed pottery, with a large niunber of fragments of
vessels, felicitously fills a gap in the early history of glazed ware, and
speaks in favor of the presence on Egyptian soil of murrine vessels,
and particularly even of Parthian murrine vessels. The date of Petrie's
finds is calculated at a period between a.d. i and 50, a fragment of a
lamp of known type permitting this conclusion.^ The principal tints
of the glazed shards, which are remarkable for their coloring and their
design, are a deep indigo blue, lighter blues, manganese purple, and
apple green. The designs are almost entirely Persian, showing little,
if any, direct Greek influence. Winged bulls, rampant beasts,
"sacred tree," etc., all occtu*; and the problem arises whether this
Persian character points to some Oriental revival of the art of making
glazed pottery. In Diospolis, according to the Periplus,* miurines
were imitated in glass; and this imitative manufacture presupposes
the existence there of true pottery murrines which were taken as
models. The Memphis pottery of Persian style due to Petrie per-
fectly answers this purpose, as to both its technical properties and
its chronology.

Among Greek authors, the murrines are mentioned only by Pau-
sanias and the Periplus. Pausanias (second century a.d.) recalls
them merely in a passing manner. In the Arcadica (XVIII, § 5)
he speaks of ''glass, crystal, murrine vessels, and others made by men
from stone."' The idea that Pausanias speaks of vessels carved from
stone is thoroughly excluded; he hints, on the contrary, at vessels
turned out from products and devices of human labor. "Crystal"
is probably nothing but cut glass; the union of the terms "crystal"
and "miura" has already been discussed. "Glass" indeed belongs
to the same category as "murra;" and the passage of Pausanias is
sanely interpreted by the rendering, "glass, cut glass, and glazed
pottery, and other products made by men from stone."

In the Periplus Maris Erythraei, written approximately about
A.D. 85,* the murrines are mentioned in three passages. In Chapter VI

1 Compare O. M. Dalton, Byzantine Art and Archaeology, p. 608.
' See below, and p. 138.

*"TaXos yJkv ye Kal KpvcrdWos Kal fiop^ia kclL 6<ra efftlv dv^pcoTTOis ciXXa \idou
Toioviieva.

* Compare the writer's Notes on Turquois in the East, p. 2, note. J. Kennedy
(Journ. Royal As. Soc, 1916, p. 835) is now inclined to date the Periplus at about
A.D. 70.

138 Beginnings of Porcelain

we meet "several kinds of glass and other murrine vases, which are
made in Diospolis."^ The latter city is regarded as identical with
Thebse in upper Egypt. Here the substance murra is designated as a
kind of glass, but it is *' another '^ kind of glass, different from ordinary
glass. There is no doubt in my mind that it denotes here the vitreous
paste employed for the glazing of pottery, and this conclusion per-
fectly agrees with all that we know about the thriving industries of
ceramics and glass in Egypt of that period.^

Chapter XLVIII of the Periplus mentions the trade of Ozene, —
that is, Ujjayini (Ujjain), — the chief city of Malva, in India, whence
onyx-like and murrine stones^ are brought to the port Barygaza on
the west coast. In the following chapter it is stated that these articles,
among others, are exported from Barygaza. Again, in this case, we
have not to understand by the murrine material a pure mineral of
uniform character, but an artificial composition of partially mineral
origin, tiimed to glazing-purposes, and introduced into commerce in the
shape of cakes, which, on the surface, appeared to the uninitiated as a
mineral substance resembling onyx. The Periplus thus opens our eyes
to the fact that substances for glazing were traded as far as India, and
this is confirmed both by Indian traditions and by the Chinese annals.

The Chinese, indeed, were acquainted with the murra of the ancients;
and Chinese records point in the same manner to the home of the sub-
stance,— the anterior Orient, styled by them Ta Ts'in (''Great Ts'in").
The glassy paste for the production of ceramic glazes was called liu-li
5K ^ (in the Han Annals ^ fil) or pH-liu-li, derived from Prakrit
veluriyay Maharashtn verulia (Sanskrit vaidurya).'* The Wei liOj

^At^tas vakijs irXelova yevrj Kal aWrjs fiovpplvrjs rrjs yivonkvrjs h AioffirdXa
(ed. of B. Fabricius, p. 42).

2 Compare T. Reil, Beitrage zur Kenntnis des Gewerbes im hellenistischen
Agypten, pp. 37-50. The mass is well described by W. M. Flinders Petrie
(Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt, p. 117): "Quartz rock pebbles were pounded
into fine chips after many heatings which cracked them. These were mixed with
lime and potash and some carbonate of copper. The mixture was roasted in pans,
and the exact shade depended on the degree of roasting. This mass was half fused
and became pasty; it was then kneaded and toasted gradually, sampling the color
until the exact tint was reached. A porous mass of frit of uniform color results.
This was then ground up in water, and made into a blue or green paint, which was
either used with a flux to glaze objects in a furnace, or was used with gum or white
of egg as a wet paint for frescoes."

^ 'Owx^'^Tj Xi^ta Kal fiovpplvr).

* Palladius (Chinese-Russian Dictionary, Vol. I, p. 367), our foremost authori-
ty on Chinese lexicography, has given as the principal meaning of liu-li "glaze"
(Russian glazur). Several writers accept the term liu-li in the too narrow sense of
"glass" only, and construe a theory that quantities of glass vessels were imported
at the Han time from the workshops of Syria and Egypt (for instance, S. W. Bushell,

Introduction of Glazes into China 139

written in the third centtiry a.d., attributes to Ta Ts'in ten varieties
of liu-li, — carnation, white, black, green, yellow, blue, purple, azure,
red, and red-brown.^ This extensive color-scale shows us that not a
precious stone is involved (and with reference to India pH-liu-li or
liu-li may well denote a variety of quartz or rock-crystaP), but an
artificial, man-made product. This is clearly evidenced by other texts,
in which the peculiar utilization of liu-li in Ta Ts'in is specified. Thus
we are informed by the Tsin Annals that the people of Ta Ts'in use
liu-li in the making of walls, and rock-crystal in making the bases of
pillars. The Kiu T'ang shu reports that eaves, pillars, and window-
bars of the palaces there are frequently made of rock-crystal and liu-li.^
Glazed faience for architectural purposes is doubtless alluded to in
these two cases; and we face here the same combination of mtirra and
crystal as we noticed in Pliny .^ It was almost at the same time, or only
a little later, that the knowledge of glazed ware spread to the West
and the Far East alike from the same focus. It thus was the knowl-
edge of the highly-developed ceramic processes of the anterior Orient,
at their climax in the second century B.C. or earlier, which was trans-
mitted to China, and gave there the impetus to the production of glazes.
The conception of liu-li as a precious stone is chiefly upheld in
Buddhist texts; but in reading these with critical understanding it is
obvious that something else is hidden behind this alleged stone. The
Yi tsHe king yin i^ written by Yuan Ying about a.d. 649, states that

Chinese Art, Vol. II, p. 17). Nothing of the kind, however, is to be found in the
ancient Chinese texts, which, with reference to the Roman Orient, never mention
any vessels of liu-li, but merely speak of a substance of that name, without any
reference to objects made from it. This clearly indicates that no vessels of any
sort were imported, but only pasty masses of various tinges which could be applied
to pottery bodies. That liu-li has nothing to do with the production of glass,
simply results from the fact that only as late as the fifth century a.d. did the Chinese
learn from foreigners how to make glass. If glazed ware makes its appearance
under the Han, it is obvious that it bears some relation to the liu-li originating from
the Roman-Hellenistic Orient.

1 HiRTH, China and the Roman Orient, p. 73.

"^ See T'oung Pao, 19 15, p. 198. In the dictionary Kuang ya of the third century
(Ch. 9, p. 5 b; ed. of Han Wei ts'ung shu) liu-li is classed with quartz {shui tsing

^ HiRTH, /. c, pp. 44, 51. Hirth translates liu4i by "opaque glass;" but such
walls and pillars of glass have not yet been discovered.

* In Egypt, as early as 5500 B.C., glazing was applied on a large scale for the
lining of rooms. Tiles have been found about a foot long, stoutly made, with
dovetails on the back, and holes through them edgeways in order to tie them back
to the wall with copper wire. They are glazed all over with hard blue-green glaze
(W. M. Flinders Petrie, Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt, p. 108).

•* Ch. 23, p. 12 b (see above, p. 115). This text has been adopted by the Fan
yi ming i tsi (Ch. 8, p. 12 b; edition of Nanking).

I40 Beginnings of Porcelain

"the name liu-li or pH-Uu-li is derived from that of a mountain, and is
said to be the precious stone of a distant mountain, which is the Sumeru
of Buddhist cosmology. This jewel is of green (ff ) color. Altogether,
all jewels cannot be injured, nor can they be melted and cast by means
of blaze and smoke. Only the demons and spirits have sufficient
strength to break them to pieces. There is further a saying that liu-li
is the shell of the egg of the bird with golden wings.^ The demons and
spirits obtain it and sell it to mankind." This Chinese text is the
reproduction of a theme of Indian lore; and the tradition hints at the
importation into India of a substance from abroad, which could be
wrought only by demons (that is, foreigners) } The allusion to melting
shows that it really could be melted; and the comparison with the shell
of a bird's eggj which hints at a coating, is the best possible poetical
metaphor for a ceramic glaze. It thus seems to me that the Sanskrit
term vaidurya and its congeners originally denoted some semi-precious
quartz-like stone, and were then transferred to the enamel glaze of the
anterior Orient.^

Chinese tradition refers the earliest employment of liu-li to the
reign of the Emperor Wu (140-86 B.C.) of the Former Han dynasty.
It is said in the Annals of the Han that this sovereign despatched
special agents over the sea for the purchase of the substance pH-liu-li}
It was likewise known at that period that this article figured among the
products of the country Ki-pin (Kashmir), which opened intercourse
with China under the same emperor.^

It is notable that in the Han period objects were found under ground,
said to have been made of liu-li , and that we have accounts of objects
wrought from liu-li by Chinese craftsmen. Since glass was manu-
factured in China only several centuries later, it cannot come here into
question; and from the nature of these objects it follows that they
cannot either have been of rock-crystal or lapis lazuli. In the biog-
raphy of Hu Tsung iK ^ ^ it is narrated that Hu, during the life

^ The saliva of this bird was believed to produce the gem mu-nan (see this
volume, p. 70, note 3). It is the fabulous bird Garuda.

^ It is a well-known fact that foreign tribes were characterized by the Aryan
Indians as demons under such names as Nagas, Rakshasas, or Pigacas.

• It is possible also that the Indian words are derived from a West-Asiatic
language.

* In the geographical chapter of the TsHen Han shu (Ch. 28 b, p. 17 b).

^ Ts'ien Han shu, Ch. 96 a, p. 5. S. W. Bushell (Chinese Art, Vol. I, p. 61)
dates the appearance of glaze in China only from the Later Han dynasty
(a.d. 25-220).

' San kuo chi, Wu shu, Ch. 62. See also Yu yang isa tsu, Ch. 11, p. 4 (ed. of
Pai hai).

Introduction of Glazes into China 141

time of Sun K'uan M ^ (a.d. 181-252), while digging the ground,
found a copper or bronze chest two feet and seven inches long, the
cover of it being made of liu-li (iS^tf^ESHK-tl-^i^eS:^
M S). This bronze vessel evidently was of Chinese make; and the
only reasonable supposition is that the cover was of glazed ware, the
whole affair coming down from the Former Han dynasty. Sun Liang
M ^, who died in a.d. 260, a son of the aforementioned Sun K'uan,
made a screen of liu-li.^

In the Han wu ku shi ^ ^ Sfc ^ (that is, "Old Affairs relating to
Wu of the Han Dynasty") it is on record that Wu was fond of the
gods and genii, and erected in their honor sanctuaries the doors of
which were coated with a white glaze {pai liu-li & ^§ ^) that reflected
its light afar. The Emperor Ch'eng (32-7 b.c.) built the palace Fu-
t'ang M, M K for Chao Fei-yen, and had the doors glazed green.*
In the same manner, liu-li is combined with the names for pottery ves-
sels: thus we read about ** glazed wine-cups" {liu-li chung Sft^M)*
and glazed bowls {liu-li wan $5).* The Chinese hardly ever made use
of glass for practical household purposes. Pottery was always the
article they preferred. Wine being taken hot, glass was prohibitive
for wine-cups. The same holds good for tea. Glass beads were the
only article of practical utility to the Chinese. Those who have
written on glass in ancient China, merely by consulting Chinese sources,
seem to have never seen antique glass or collections of Chinese glass.
When the making of glass became known to the Chinese, they began to
cut and polish it in its hard state; that is, they treated it in the same
manner as hard stone, and applied to it the principles of their glyptic
art. Glass became the domain of the carver, of a rather limited art-
industrial importance, but it never had any practical bearing upon the

1 Ku kin chu "jS" '^ ffi (^h. c, p. 5 b; ed. of Han Wei ts'ung shu). A fantastic
description of this screen is given in the Shi i ki 1*^ 5^ f fi (Ch. 8, p. 6; ed. of Han
Wei ts'ung shu). There are several other allusions to such screens of liu-li, which
in my opinion were made of a thin wall of clay coated with a glaze.

2 T'ai p'ing yii Ian, Ch. 808, p. 4. Several writers have conceived the windows
and doors of this palace as being made of glass (for instance, A. Forke, Mitt. Sent,
or. Spr., Vol. I, p. 113); but we do not know that window-glass existed at the same
time in the Western world. Scanty remains of window-glass have been found only
in Pompeii and Herculaneum, but no extensive use was ever made of it in the time
of the Roman empire. In western Asia no window-glass was made, and accordingly
no export to China could take place. Aside from this point, I would be disinclined
to believe in the possibility of transporting window-glass from the Orient to China
at that time.

» Tsin shu, Ch. 45, p. 8.

* Yiian kien lei han, Ch. 364, p. 31 b; glazed dishes for eating in Tsin shu {T'ai
p'ing yii Ian, Ch. 808, p. 4 b).

142 Beginnings of Porcelain

life of the people. Certainly, the term liu-li refers also to opaque
glass, especially from the fifth century onward. If in 519, under the
Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty (502-520), Khotan sent to China
a tribute gift of liu-U pitchers {liu-li ying ®),^ these may be con-
ceived of as glass as well as of glazed pottery. In other passages the
exact significance of the term remains doubtful, as in the case of a
saddle of brilliant white liu-li, which in the dark emitted light at the
distance of a hundred feet, and which is mentioned in the Si king tsa ki
® ^ H Ifi 2 among presents sent to the Emperor Wu from India. Here
we have a fabiilous echo of traditions that were exaggerated by later
generations.

It is a significant fact that the reign of the same Emperor Wu is
characterized by the sudden rise of alchemy and chemical notions and
experiments;^ and this novel line of thought is certainly connected with
the western expansion and the newly-opened trade-routes across
Central Asia inaugurated by the same sovereign. In the Greek alchemi-
cal papyri we meet the oldest technical recipes for the fabrication of
glass and enamels, and technical treatises on glass.'* Aeneas of Gaza,
a Neo-Platonic philosopher of the fifth centiuy, represents glass directly
as an alchemical transmutation from a baser to a nobler material by
observing, "There is nothing incredible about the metamorphosis of
matter into a superior state. In this manner those versed in the art
of matter take silver and tin, change their appearance, and transmute
them into excellent gold. Glass is manufactured from divisible sand
and dissoluble natron, and thus becomes a novel and brilliant thing. "^
We have a few intimations to the effect that liu-li was appreciated also
by the Chinese alchemists. Tung-fang So obtained multi-colored
dew and placed it in glazed vessels, which he offered as a gift to the
Emperor Wu.^ The famous alchemist Li Shao-kiin ^ -^ ^, whose
life and deeds have been narrated by Se-ma Ts'ien, is said to have
repaired the brilliant-white liu-li saddle of Wu mentioned afore, when
this saddle was once broken during an imperial hunting-expedition;
he availed himself of pieces of bone, which were joined by means of a
thin, sticky substance, with such good effects, that no damage could be

* Liang shu, Ch. 54, p. 14 b.

2 Ch. 2, p. 2 b (ed. of Han Wei ts'ung shu).

^ See particularly Chavannes, M^moires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien, Vol. Ill .
p. 465.

* M. Berthelot, Introduction a I'etude de la chimie des anciens et du moyen
age, pp. 200, 202; Les Origines de ralchimie, pp. 123, 125.

^ M. Berthelot, Origines, p. 75.
^ T'ai pHng yii Ian, Ch. 808, p. 4 b.

Introduction of Glazes into China 143

perceived even in broad daylight.^ When the ancient Chinese litera-
ture on alchemy shall have become as accessible as the Greek, Arabic,
and European records of this ancient science, the subject in question
will doubtless receive further elucidations.

While liu-li was imported into China from the Hellenistic Orient
over the established trade-routes across Central Asia, and from Kash-
mir, another source of supply was represented by Cambodja, which,
as we know, was in intimate commercial relations with India, and
received from there the products and merchandise of western Asia.
In the Calendar or Chronological Tables of the Cotmtry of Wu {Wu It
i^ M), by Hu Ch'ung lS9 #,2 it is on record that in the fourth year of
the period Huang-wu M S (a.d. 225), Fu-nan ^ S (Cambodja) and
other foreign countries sent envoys to China with gifts of liu-li} Ac-
cording to another version of the same text, this event would have
taken place in the period Huang-lung ^H (229-231).'* This text
contains the mention of the first embassy from Fu-nan (Cambodja)
to China, and allows us to infer that liu-li was found there in the begin-
ning of the third century and transmitted to China. Another allusion
to the presence of liu-li in the countries south of China is encountered
in the Kuang chi K i£, written by Kuo I-kung #15 ^ S under the
Liang dynasty (502-556), where it is said that liu-li is a product of
Huang-chi S %^ Se-tiao M M,^ Tsl Ts'in, and Ji-nan 0 S (Annam).
Finally liu-li was sent also to China from Central India under the
Liang dynasty (502-556).^

Our most important witnesses certainly are the numerous specimens
of Han mortuary pottery glazed in the most varied shades of green

^ Pm shu tsi ch'engy under liu-li.

2 Pelliot, Bull, de VEcolefrangaise, Vol. IV, p. 391.

' Yiian kien lei han, Ch. 364, p. 31.

* T'ai pHng yii Ian, Ch. 808, p. 4 b. Compare also Pelliot, Le Fou-nan (Bull,
de VEcolefrangaise, Vol. Ill, p. 283). The Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms
(san kuo), reigned from 222 to 280.

^ Presumably on the Malay Peninsula (see Chinese Clay Figures, p. 80, note 2).
Liu-li is also enumerated among the tribute-gifts sent from Huang-chi to the Chinese
Court (T'ai p'ing huan yii ki, Ch. 176, p. 2 b). Pi-liu-li is mentioned as an article
of Huang-chi as early as the Han period (TsHen Han shu, Ch. 28 b, p. 17).

* Probably Java (T'oung Pao, 1915, pp. 351, 373). In the latter passage I
mentioned a plant mo-ch'u as growing in Se-tiao. M. G. Ferrand, Consul General
of France in New Orleans, has been good enough to write me that this Chinese tran-
scription corresponds to Javanese mo jo, the designation of the tree Aegle marmelos,
and that the emendation of Se-tiao into Ye-tiao is thus assured, and the identification
of Ye-tiao with Java becomes a definite result. M. Ferrand himself will soon report
about this ingenious discovery.

^ Liang shu, Ch. 54, p. 8.

144 Beginnings of Porcelain

and brown, and still called by the Chinese ltu4i wa ^SlS.^ The
fact that the process of glazing itself is not described in the ancient
texts, as pointed out by Hobson, is not of great concern. In fact, we
have no ancient description of pottery whatsoever; and no technical
treatise, if there ever was any, has survived from the Han period. The
subject of pottery began to interest Chinese scholars only as late as
the age of the Sung and Yuan; and in the same manner as the old
writers fail to record the evolution of porcelanous ware, they are reticent
as to glazing and other ceramic processes. It cannot be strongly
enough emphasized that our knowledge of the subject should be re-
constructed on the basis of actual material before our eyes, and not
on literary sources which are still very incompletely exploited, or on
philological considerations. It is unreasonable to expect also that
literary traditions and antiquities of China should blend into a uniform
and harmonious picture: neither is such the case in the archseology of
Greece or Italy. We have hundreds and hundreds of Chinese antiqm-
ties which cannot be traced to any records, but it would be an absurd
procedure to disregard them simply for this reason. Monuments
speak their own language, and are entitled to a fair and impartial hearing
on their own merits. Both monuments and literature have come
down to us only in fragments; and while it is not necessary that one
department confirms the other, we must regard ourselves fortunate
in seeing one supplemented by the other.*

Owing to their lack of interest in technical matters, the notions of
Chinese scholars regarding liu-li are the vaguest possible. Mong

^ A disk labelled pi-liu-li is represented on the Han bas-reliefs among the objects
of happy augury. No conclusions can be drawn from this design as to objects
made from liu-li, as the artist took the first element pi in the sense of "disk" or
"ring," and based his conception on this interpretation. His work represents
merely an art-motive, not a reality. This subject has been well expounded by
E. Chavannes (Mission arch^ologique, Vol. I, La sculpture h. I'^poque des Han,
p. 170).

" There are several allusions to green-glazed Han pottery in Chinese writings.
One is extracted by Hobson (Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Vol. I, p. 199) from
the Gazetteer of Shen-si Province, and refers to the village Lei-siang in the pre-
fecture of T'ung-chou, where the inhabitants sometimes dig up castaway wares,
archaic in shape and style, of green, deep and dark, but brilliant color, some with
ornaments in raised clay. The Gazetteer of the District of Hua-yang (forming
with the district of Ch'eng-tu the prefectural city of Ch'eng-tu, the capital of Sze-
ch'uan) reports (Ch. 41, p. 64), "An ancient pottery censer ("^ ^ ^ j^J) is in
the Kuang-fa temple (J| ^ ^), outside of the city, twenty /* in easterly direction.
It is rectangular in shape, posed on four feet, two feet five inches in length, and
one foot two inches in width. It is provided with lion's ears [relief designs of animal-
heads], and is green and glossy. According to a tradition it is an object of the Shu
Han period (221-264)."

Introduction of Glazes into China 145

K'ang of the third century, commenting on the Han Annals,^ remarks
that pH-liu-li is green in color, like jade. Yen Shi-ku (579-645),
however, rejects this generalization, observing that Mong K'ang's
definition is too narrow; that the substance is a natural object, varie-
gated, glossy, and brilliant; that it exceeds any hard stones (^); and
that its color is unchangeable. "It is the present practice,^' he con-
tinues, "to prepare it by the use of molten stones, with the addition
of certain chemicals to the flux. This mass, however, is hollow, brittle,
and not evenly compact; it is not the genuine article."* This is appar-
ently an allusion to glass. The notion that pH-liu-U was regarded as a
product of natural origin was suggested by the meaning "quartz," which
originally adhered to the Sanskrit term vaidurya, the prototype of the
word p'i-liu-U; but this does not mean that vitreous bodies were taken
by the ancient Chinese for precious stones, as has been intimated by
some authors. The confusion is one of terminology rather than of reali-
ties. The parallel with the conception of murra as a stone is obvious.

In the Nan chou i wu chi ^ ffl ^ ^ S, by Wan Chen ?S M of
the third century, we read as follows:^ "The principal material under-
l5dng liu-li is stone. In order to make vessels from it, it must be
worked by means of carbonate of soda.* The latter has the appear-
ance of yellow ashes, which are found on the shores of the southern
sea, and are suitable also for the washing of clothes. When applied,
it does not require straining; but it is thrown into water, and becomes
slippery like moss-covered stones. Without these ashes, the material
cannot be dissolved." This is probably a recipe for making a glaze.
Compare the Chinese notions on using ashes for porcelain glazes and
obtaining such ashes.''

At the Court of the Mongol lynasty, four kilns were established in
1276 at Ta-tu for the manufacture of plain, white-glazed bricks and
tiles (# fi SR ^ W KL), with an army of three hundred workmen. The
so-called Southern Kiln {nan yao ^ S) was erected in 1263, the West-
em Kiln {si yao ffi S) in 1267, and that of Liu-li ku SR ^ M (north-
west of Peking) in 1263.® The latter was still operated under the

^ TsHen Han shu, Ch. 96 A, p. 5.

2 HoBSON (Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, p. 144) gives only an abridged quo-
tation of Yen Shi-ku's text, as quoted in the T'ao shuo, which does not bring out
the author's true meaning. The main point is that Yen Shi-ku regarded p'i-liu-li
as a natural substance, and looked upon the artifacts of his time as poor substitutes.

' T*ai p'ing yii Ian, Ch. 808, p. 5.

* Tse jan hui g ^ Jl^, literally "natural ashes;" used also with reference
to a kind of earth and feldspath (Geerts, Produits, pp. 404, 416).

^ JuLiEN, Histoire et fabrication de la porcelaine chinoise, p. 131.

• Yiian shi, Ch. 90, p. 5.

146 Beginnings of Porcelain

Manchu dynasty, furnishing the well-known glazed tiles and bricks
for the palace, official buildings, and state temples of the metropolis.
Glazed tiles and bricks, however, were known in China long before the
time of the Yiian. They certainly existed under the Sung. Chou
Shan, who in a.d. 1177 accompanied an embassy sent by the Sung
Emperor from Hang-chou to the Court of the Elin dynasty at Peking,
reports that the palace of the Kin was covered with tiles, all coated
with enamels, their colors resplendent in the sunlight.^ Ngou-yang
Siu (1007-72) speaks of glazed tiles.^ Sir Aurel Stein ^ discovered in
the ruins of Ch'iao-tse bricks and tiles bearing in beautifiil green glaze
scroll ornaments in low reliefs, and employed in a Stupa constructed
during Sung times.^ Glazed tiles were likewise known under the T*ang.
A certain Ts*ui Yung S S$, who lived in the T'ang era, erected on
Mount Sung in Ho-nan, in honor of his mother, a memorial temple
covered with glazed tiles (liu-li chi wa). The famous poet Po Ku-i
(a.d. 772-846) speaks of a pair of white-glazed {pai liu-li) vases.^
Remains from buildings of this period show also the application of
glazing for architectural purposes. The bricks and tiles of the Han
and Wei periods, as far as we know them, are all unglazed, but it would
be premature to assert that glazing was then not applied to them.^

The continuity of Chinese tradition is vividly illustrated by the
fact that the term liu-li, in the same manner as in the Han period,
denotes glazed potter}^ also at the present time. From the T'ang
period onward, when porcelain came into vogue as a special class of
ceramic ware, a division of nomenclature took place, — liu-li remain-
ing reserved for common pottery, tiles, bricks, and other building-
material, while a new term was adopted for a porcelain glaze. The
porcelain enamel was styled yu ift (''oil"), written also M ,?fi,^ and
'/^f. As far as I know, this term is first applied by Liu Siin of the T'ang

1 Chavannes, Pei Yuan Lou (T'oung Pao, 1904, p. 189). Green-glazed tiles
were employed in the palace of the Sung Emperors, according to the Yii t'ang kia
huo written by Wang Hui in 1360 (Ch. 4, p. 4 b; ed. of Shou Shan ko ts'ung shu),

* P*ei wen yiinfu, Ch. 51, p. 79 b.

' Ruins of Desert Cathay, Vol. II, p. 252.

* Many remains of fine glazed pottery were found by Stein on his third expedi-
tion in the ruins of Karakhoto (A Third Journey of Exploration in Central Asia,
p. 39, reprint from Geographical Journal for August and September, 1916). See
also the same author's Ancient Khotan, Vol. I, pp. 442, 482.

^ Pw shu tsi ch'eng, xxvii, Ch. 334.

* For further notes on this subject see Hobson, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain,
Vol. I, pp. 201 et seq.

' According to K'ang-hi's Dictionary, this character is first listed in the Tsi
yun (middle of the eleventh century).

Introduction of Glazes into China 147

period, in his Ling piao lu i,^ where the making of earthen cooking-
kettles in the potteries of Kuang-tung is mentioned: "They were
fired from clay and then glazed" (^ ^ J^ ± }fi ^). A gloss explains
>/w as tt. What is meant here is the application of porcelain glazes to
earthenware. In ceramic literature the term yu refers exclusively to
porcelain enamels. ^ It is quite certain also that in the present col-
loquial language glass is exclusively styled p'o-liy never Itu-li, which
strictly refers to glazed ware.

While we recognize that the Chinese received the stimulus for
the production of ceramic glazes from western Asia, it must be empha-
sized at once that it was no more than a stimulus, and that the Chinese
were not slavish imitators, but soon applied their own genius to the
novel idea. The green glaze of the Han pottery, as analyzed by Mr.
Nichols (p. 93), may have its analogies in the West, and a thorough
search for corresponding materials would in all probability bring to
light a Western recipe of the same composition. The first step to
independence, however, is taken by the production of the porcelanous
glaze of post-Han times (p. 90), which hardly offers any contempo-
raneous parallel in the West. From this time onward the Chinese
have exercised their own actunen in perfecting the process of glazing
and multiplying the scale of beautiful colors. Flinders Petrie^ has
offered the ingenious suggestion that glaze in prehistoric Egypt, where
it is found on quartz bases, was probably invented from finding quartz
pebbles fluxed by wood ashes in a hot fire; hence glazing on quartz was
the starting-point, and glazing on artificial wares was a later stage.
Such observations of natural glazes may have also impressed and
stimulated the Chinese. The Field Museum owns two earthenware
crucibles, obtained by the writer in Si-ngan fu (Cat. Nos. 1 19076
and 1 19077), which by purely natural causes, owing to the infusion of
molten metals, are colored a sky-blue with red flecks; likewise a melting-
pot (Cat. No. 1 19347), artificially glazed in the interior and in the upper
portion of the exterior, while the lower unglazed part has assumed
natural colors of fiery-red and dark green from the effect of liquid
metals. It is not impossible that this natural process of glazing in-
spired the imagination of the potters and gave the incentive for certain
mottled ceramic glazes.

* Ch. A, p. 6 (ed. of Wu ying Hen).

2 JuLiEN, Histoire et fabrication de la porcelaine chinoise, pp. 245, 247.

' Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt, p. 107.

THE POTTER'S WHEEL

When the clay is on the wheel the potter
may shape it as he will, though the clay
rejoins, * Now you trample on me, one day
I shall trample on you.'

Sir Herbert Risley, The People of India.

Most of the phenomena of Chinese ctdture have hitherto been
studied in splendid isolation. Sinologues have usually been content to
gather their information from Chinese sources and to arrange it in
chronological order, giving a more or less critical digest of the subject
from the Chinese viewpoint; but the question as to what the phe-
nomena actually mean is, as a rule, shunned, their interpretation hardly
attempted. It is certainly impossible to grasp any phenomenon with-
in a given culture-zone without understanding the parallel phenomena
in other areas, and without setting them in correlation with their
concomitant factors. The historical position and development of any
cultural idea can be determined only by an attempt to unravel its
causal connection with the nattiral group of related or associated ideas;
for no phenomenon is isolated or absolute, but conditional upon others,
relative, and cohesive. Whether this method be styled that of com-
parative ethnology or archaeology, or that of culture-science, or some-
thing else, does not matter. It is there, and must be applied if we
are eager to reach results. How it can be applied I wish to demonstrate
by discussing on the following pages the nature of a simple instrument,
— the potter's wheel. Its concatenation with other technical elements
and with social and religious factors will be pointed out, and may help
to show the history of pottery in a new light, and in particular to
determine the relation of ancient Chinese ceramic art to that of the
West. In a case like this one, the foundation of which reaches back
into a prehistoric past, a pvirely historical method is of no avail, and
will lead us nowhere. Thus Hobson^ observes, ''Unfortunately, none
of the [Chinese] writers can throw any light on the first use of the
potter's wheel in China. It is true, that, like several other nations,
the Chinese claim for themselves the invention of that essential im-
plement, but there is no real evidence to illuminate the question, and
even if the wheel was independently discovered in China, the priority

1 Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Vol. I, p. 2.
148

The Potter's Wheel 149

of invention undoubtedly rests with the Near Eastern nations." This
indeed is all that from an historical point of view could be stated.

The making of pottery may well be called a universal phenomenon,
despite the fact that there are many areas inhabited by peoples not
acquainted with the art. It is unknown to the natives of Australia,
New Zealand, and all other island groups of the South Sea populated
by Poljniesians^ (while it thrives among the Melanesians), to the
Negrito of the Philippines, to numerous primitive tribes of the Indo-
Chinese,^ to the inhabitants of the Himalaya (with the exception of
the Nepalese), and to many nomadic and hunting tribes of Siberia.*
It is further absent in the extreme southern parts of South Africa and
South America, also in the whole north-western portion of North
America. Among the polar peoples, pottery has hardly any impor-
tance. Of the Eskimo, only the western group in Alaska makes (or

^ With the exception of Easter Island, where pottery is used for the cooking of
certain foods (A. Lesson, Les Polyn^siens, Vol. I, p. 457; Vol. II, p. 282). It is
difficult to accept the oft-repeated statement that the Polynesians do not make
pottery for want of proper clays in their habitats. There surely is workable clay
in New Zealand and Hawaii; but whether there is or not, I believe with E. B. Tylor
(Primitive Culture, Vol. I, p. 57), that, "as the isolated possession of an art goes
to prove its invention where it is found, so the absence of an art goes to prove that
it was never present: the onM5 ^ro&a«fit is on the other side."

'Thus the Lo-lo have never produced pottery (A. F. LEGENDRE,*Far West
chinois, T'oung Pao, 1909, p. 611).

' It is particularly lacking among the present-day tribes of the Amur, also
among the Gilyak and Ainu. Hii K'ang-tsung, who as Chinese ambassador in
1 125 visited the Kin or Djurchi, observed that the latter made no vessels of clay,
but only wooden cups and plates coated with a varnish (Chavannes, Voyageurs
chinois. Journal asiatique, 1898, mai-juin, p. 395). The same observation still
holds good for all Amur tribes, which during historical times appear never to have
manufactured pottery. The Japanese traveller Mamiya Rinso, who visited the
island of Saghalin in 1808, reports that the forms of the clay vessels and porcelains
of the Gilyak (Smerenkur) resemble Chinese and Japanese ware (P. F. v. Siebold,
Nippon, 2d ed.. Vol. II, p. 233). The question is here of imported Chinese articles,
and the observation is of no great consequence. Nevertheless L. v. Schrenck
(Reisen und Forschungen im Amur-Lande, Vol. Ill, p. 448) has based an elaborate
speculation on this passage, ascribing the manufacture of crockery and porcelain (!)
to the Olcha and Gold on the Amur in the first part of the nineteenth century, and
making the Manchu-Chinese Government responsible for the forcible destruction
of this industry. This is a fantasy of the worst kind, for which no foundation exists
in the history of the Amur tribes. What the Chinese colonists manufactured in
Manchuria was only crude pottery; contrary to what is asserted by L. v. Schrenck,
porcelain was never made there. The term "porcelain" used in Siebold's transla-
tion of Mamiya RinsO's account with reference to a kiln in the village Kitsi, on the
right bank of the Amur, as usual in such cases, rests on a mistranslation. It is of
greater importance that the Japanese traveller tells us of earthen pots six to seven
inches in diameter, with loop handles on both sides, made at his time by the Ainu
of Saghalin. There is indeed reason to believe that the Ainu formerly made a rude
and primitive kind of pottery. From the lips of an Ainu seventy years old, on the

I50 Beginnings of Porcelain

rather made) lamps of clay, which ordinarily are turned out of soap-
stone, and cooking-pots.^

A. Byhan^ is disposed to assume that pottery is of foreign origin
among the Eskimo. The Chukchi, according to Bogoras,^ have now-
forgotten this industry, but it never was more than a sporadic phe-
nomenon among them. The Itelmen of Kamtchatka formerly manu-
factured clay vessels, chiefly lamps, as shown by finds in ancient pit-
dwellings.'* F. BoAS^ is inclined to attribute the presence or absence
of pottery to geographical location rather than to general culttiral
causes. Economic conditions have a certain bearing on the question.
The production of clay vessels is dependent upon a sedentary mode
of life. Pastoral tribes, as a rule, evince no inclination toward the
industry, and deem utensils of bark, wood, or metal preferable. In
Tibet, with its twofold population of agricultural and nomadic elements,
we find the use of pottery only among the stationary settlers, never
among the roaming shepherds. Even among the former it is an art
introduced from China, as is evidenced by the few kilns in eastern Tibet
which are operated by Chinese potters.^

The utilization of the potter's wheel is restricted to a well-defined
geographical area. It occurs only in the Old World, and belongs to
ancient Egypt, the Mediterranean and West-Asiatic civilizations, Iran,
India, and China with her dependencies. It is germane to the higher
stages of culture only, and is conspicuously lacking among all primitive
tribes. In aboriginal American pottery the wheel was never employed.

northern Kuriles, Torii has recorded the story of how pots were previously made
there, chiefly by women (Mitteil. d. Ges. Ostasiens, Vol. IX, 1903, p. 327). As is
well known, the Ainu of Yezo have preserved no recollection of pottery-manufacture
(J. Batchelor, The Ainu of Japan, p. 310), and also on Saghalin and the Kuriles
the industry is now wiped out of existence. The prehistoric pottery found in the
shell-heaps of Japan likewise must be attributed to the Ainu, who are thus to be
classed among pottery-making peoples. See also p. 166, note 2.

^ J. Murdoch, Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expedition {Ninth
Report Bureau of Ethnology , 1892, pp. 91-93).

2 Polarvolker, p. 69.

' Mem. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. XI, p. 186.

* K. VON DiTMAR, Reisen uild Aufenthalt in Kamtschatlq^a, pp. 246-247. As
early as 1695, the first visitor to Kamtchatka, the Cossack W. Atlasov, reported
that the inhabitants made wooden and earthen vessels (P. J. von Strahlenberg,
Nord- und Ostliche Theil von Europa und Asia, p. 435).

^ The Mind of Primitive Man, p. 183.

" W. W. RocKHiLL, in a note to his edition of Sarat Chandra Das' Journey to
Lhasa (p. 88), states that, though he never saw the making of pottery in Tibet, he
knows that no wheel is used; which is perfectly correct, inasmuch as it is never
handled by Tibetans. F. Grenard (Le Tibet, p. 286) observes, "Pottery is of
indigenous manufacture, but the Chinese wheel is utilized."

The Potter's Wheel 151

Our foremost authority on this subject, W. H. Holmes/ makes this
observation: "It is now well established that the wheel or lathe was
unknown in America, and no substitute for it capable of assisting
materially in throwing the form or giving symmetry to the outline by
purely mechanical means had been devised. The hand is the true
prototype of the wheel as well as of other shaping tools, but the earliest
artificial revolving device probably consisted of a shallow basket or
bit of goiurd in which the clay vessel was commenced and by means
of which it was turned back and forth with one hand as the building
went on with the other." Of course, if further on (p. 69) Holmes
styles the basket used as a support in modelling a clay vessel ''an in-
cipient form of the wheel," this is only a figure of speech, for this device
bears no relation whatever to the wheel. This remark holds good
also for ''that simple approximation to a potter's wheel, consisting of
a stick grasped in the hand by the middle and turned round inside a
wall of clay formed by the other hand," evolved for North America
by Squier and Davis,^ and the "natviral primitive potter's wheel,"
consisting of a roundish pebble, ascribed to the New-Caledonians by
O. T. Mason ^ after J. J. Atkinson. Wherever wheel-turned pottery
has been found in America on aboriginal sites, it has conclusively been
proved either that it is of European manufacture, or that the wheel
was introduced there by the white man. Thus it has been disclosed
that the wheel-made jars, showing also traces of a brownish glaze,
which were reported from Florida and other Southern States, and
occasionally were even recovered from Indian mounds, are of Spanish
manufacture, having been used in early Colonial times for the shipping
of olives to America."* The Quichua employ for the making of pottery
a very simple lathe, which is justly traced to European influence by
E. NoRDENSKioLD.^ It is worthy of note also that the distribution
of the wheel over the area mentioned has remained almost stationary
for millenniums, and that primitive tribes are not susceptible to adopt-
ing it, even if surrounded by civilized peoples who make use of it.
The Vedda of Ceylon, for instance, fashion pots by hand,^ while the
surrounding Singalese avail themselves of the wheel. Nothing of the

1 Aboriginal Pottery of the Eastern United States, p. 50 {Twentieth Ann. Rep.
Bureau Am. Ethnology, Washington, 1903).

2 See J. Lubbock, Prehistoric Times (5th ed.), p. 260.

* Origins of Invention, p. 161.

* Holmes, /. c, pp. 129-130.

** Einige Beitrage zur Kenntnis der siidamerikanischen Tongefasse und ihrer
Herstellung (Stockholm, 1906).

^ C. G. Seligmann, The Veddas, p. 324.

152 Beginnings of Porcelain

character of a potter's wheel is known among the inhabitants of the
Andaman group.^ Or, to cite another example, the Negroes of Africa
have always remained unacquainted with the wheel, though they might
have learned its use from the ancient Egyptians, or at a later time from
the Arabs. The sporadic occurrence of the wheel in the Malayan
Archipelago indicates its introduction from outside. It is found only
in Padang Lawas on Sumatra and on Java;^ while in all other Malayan
regions, including the Philippines, pottery has remained in the stage of
handwork, and is the lot of woman. The Yakut, the most intelligent
and progressive people of Siberia, never avail themselves of the potter's
wheel, nor do they know of any process of glazing vessels. Despite
the fact that they intermarry with the Russians, and that on the
market of Yakutsk wheel-made Russian crockery is offered for sale,
they still adhere to their primitive mode of fashioning vessels solely
by hand, the only implement that is used being a half-round or round
smooth stone, with which the interior of the pot is shaped and smoothed.
Instead of securing Russian ware, they prefer to purchase the raw clay
material (at from five to ten kopeck a pound), and entrust it to a
skilful woman potter, together with fragments of old broken pots, which
are pounded and mixed with the fresh clay. According to Saroshevski,'
to whom we owe a detailed description of the process, also the illus-
tration of a Yakut potter at work, these products come very near to
those of the stone age. In their crude technique, they form a curious
contrast to the excellent iron-forged work and wood-carving for which
the same people are reputed.

While ethnologists have clearly recognized that the pottery-making
of primitive peoples is essentially a woman's avocation, it has not yet
been sufficiently emphasized that the wheel is a man-made invention,
and that, aside from the mere technical difference of the hand and
wheel processes, there is a fundamental sociological contrast between
the two. Among the Indian tribes of America, the fictile art was
woman's occupation, and such it is at present. In discussing the
methods of primitive pottery, O. T. Mason* observes, "It will be noted
that the feminine gender is used throughout in speaking of aboriginal
potters. This is because every piece of such ware is the work of woman's
hands. She quarried the clay, and, like a patient beast of burden,
bore it home on her back. She washed it and kneaded it, and rolled

1 E. H. Man, On the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, p. 154.
' Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-Indig, Vol. Ill, pp. 321, 322.
« The Yakut (in Russian), Vol. I, p. 378.

* Origins of Invention, p. i66; see also his Woman's Share in Primitive Culture,
p. 91.

The Potter's Wheel 153

it into fillets. These she wound carefully and symmetrically until
the vessel was built up. She further decorated and btirned it, and
wore it out in household drudgery. The art at first was woman's."
As regards Africa, we owe a very able investigation to H. Schurtz,^
whose studies of African conditions prompted him to the conclusion
that pottery everywhere appears to be an invention of woman, who
was more urgently in need of boiling water in the preparation of vege-
table food than man in dressing his hunting-spoils. A map constructed
by Schurtz, and illustrating the distribution of pottery over Africa,
shows at a glance that the largest territory is occupied by female
potters; that male potters occur only in Abyssinia, among the Galla
and Somali in eastern Africa, and this owing to Arabic influence. In
a few other areas men are engaged in the making of the bowls for their
cherished tobacco-pipes, while the women produce from clay all domes-
tic and kitchen utensils; and in a few localities only, men and women
co-operate in the ceramic industry. In regard to the Khasi in Assam,
Major GuRDON^ observes, "The women fashion the pots by hand, they
do not use the potter's wheel." On the Nicobars the men take no
part in the construction of pots.' All over Melanesia, pottery is made
exclusively by women. The making of clay vessels is no longer prac-
tised by the Chukchi, but their old women (not the men) have a vivid
recollection of the clay kettles which were used in former times.*

The potter's wheel, however, is the creation of man, and therefore
is an independent act of invention which was not evolved from any
contrivance utilized during the period of hand-made ceramic ware.
The two processes have grown out of two radically distinct spheres of
human activity. The wheel, so to speak, came from another world.
It had no point of contact with any tool that existed in the old indus-
try, but was brought in from an outside quarter as a novel affair, when

"• Das afrikanische Gewerbe, pp. 13-19.

2 The Khasis, p. 61.

' C. B. Kloss, In the Andamans and Nicobars, p. 107. According to E. H.
Man (On the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, p. 154), the manu-
facture of pots on the Andamans is not confined to any particular class, or to either
sex, but the better specimens are generally produced by men. Compare the same
author's Nicobar Pottery (/. Anthr. Institute, Vol. XXIII, 1894, pp. 21-27). Also
among the Vedda pots are turned out by both men and women (C. G. Seligmann,
The Veddas, p. 324).

* W. BoGORAs, in Mem. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. XI, p. 186. The industry
of primitive pottery is fast dying out everywhere under the influence of "civiliza-
tion" (compare, for instance, M. R. Harrington, Catawba Potters and Their
Work, in Am. Anthr., Vol. X, 1908, pp. 399-407; and The Last of the Iroquois Pot-
ters, in N. Y. State Mus. Bull., 1909, pp. 222-227; as to Africa, see O. Baumann,
Globus, Vol. LXXX, 1901, p. 127).

154 Beginnings of Porcelain

man appropriated to himself the work hitherto cultivated by woman.
The development was one from outside, not from within. All efforts,
accordingly, which view the subject solely from the technological
angle, and try to derive the wheel from previous devices of the female
potter, are futile and misleading,^ It is as erroneous as tracing the
plough back to the hoe or digging-stick, whereas in fact the two
are in no historical interrelation, and belong to fundamentally differ-
ent culture strata and periods, — the hoe to the gardening activity of
woman, the plough to the agrictdttu-al activity of man. Both in India
and China, the division of ceramic labor sets apart the thrower or
wheel-potter, and distinctly separates him from the moulder. The
potters of India, who work on the wheel, do not intermarry with those
who use a mould or make images.^ They form a caste by them-
selves.^ In ancient China, a net discrimination was made between
wheel-potters {Vao jen M A) and moulders {fang jen M A)."* This
clear distinction is accentuated also by Chu Yen ;^ ^ in his Treatise

1 E. J. Banks (Terra-Cotta Vases from Bisraya, Am. Journ. Sem. Langs.,
Vol. XXII, 1905-06, p. 140) has this observation on the making of Babylonian
pottery: "From the study of Bismya pottery it is evident that a wheel was employed
at every period, yet all of the vases were not turned. No. 43, a form reconstructed
from several fragments from the lowest strata of the temple hill, and which therefore
dates several millenniums before 4500 B.C., has the appearance of having been formed
by placing the clay upon a flat surface, and while the potter shaped it with one hand,
he turned the board or flat stone, whatever it was upon which it rested, with the
other. This was probably the origin of the potter's wheel; it was but a matter
of time when an arrangement was attached to the board that it might be turned
with the feet." All this is purely speculative and fantastic, and has no value for
the real history of the wheel.

2 A. Baines, Ethnography (Castes and Tribes) of India, p. 65.

3 The social position of the Indian potter is differently described by various
authors. H. Compton (Indian Life in Town and Country, p. 65) observes that
the potter in India is an artist; that he is an hereditary village officer, and receives
certain very comfortable fees; that his position is respected; that he enjoys the
privilege of beating the drum at merry-makings, that he shares with the barber
a useful and lucrative place in the community; and that there is probably no member
of it who is happier in his lot, and less liable to the vicissitudes of fortune. H.
RiSLEY (People of India, p. 130) gives us a bit of Indian popular thought regarding
the potter: "He lives penuriously, and his own domestic crockery consists of broken
pots. He is a stupid fellow — in a deserted village even a potter is a scribe —
and his wife is a meddlesome fool, who is depicted as burning herself, like a Hindu
wife, on the carcase of the Dhobi's donkey." According to G. C. M. Bird wood
(Ii^dustrial Arts of India, Vol. II, p. 146), the potter is one of the most useful and
respected members of the community, and in the happy religious organization of
Hindu village life there is no man happier than the hereditary potter. The truth
probably lies in the midway between these two extreme appreciations. As to an-
cient times, compare the Buddhist story of the sage potter, translated by E. Lang
(Journal asiatique, 191 2, mai-juin, p. 530).

* E. BiOT, Tcheou-li, Vol. II, pp. 537-539-

The Potter's Wheel 155

on Pottery.* He justly observes also that the articles made by the
wheel-potters were all intended for cooking, with the exception of the
vessel yii ^, which was designed for measuring; while the output of
the moulders, who made the ceremonial vessels kuei #1 and tou JB.
by availing themselves of the plumb-line, was intended for sacrificial
use. Also here, in like manner as in ancient Rome, India, and Japan,
the idea may have prevailed that a wheel-made jar is of a less sacred
character than one made by hand.

Wherever the potter's wheel is in use, it is manipulated by man,
never by woman.^ It is man's invention, it is man's sphere of work.
As implied by its very name, it is directly derived from a chariot-wheel,
which is likewise due to man's efforts. Such a real cart-wheel with
four spokes is still operated by the Tamil potters. It is well illustrated
by E. Thurston,^ and thus described after E. Holder (Fig. i): "The
potter's implements are few, and his mode of working is very simple.
The wheel, a clumsily constructed and defective apparatus, is com-
posed of several thin pliable pieces of wood or bamboo, bent and tied
together in the form of a wheel about three feet and a half in diameter.
This is covered over thickly with clay mixed with goat's hair or any
fibrous substance. The four spokes and the centre on which the vessel
rests are of wood. The pivot is of hard wood or steel. The support
for the wheel consists of a rounded mass of clay and goat's hair in
which is embedded a piece of hard wood or stone, with one or two slight
depressions for the axle or pivot to move in. The wheel is set into
motion first by the hand, and then spun rapidly by the aid of a long
piece of bamboo, one end of which fits into a slight depression in the
wheel. The defects in the apparatus are, firstly, its size, which re-
quires the potter to stoop over it in an uneasy attitude; secondly, the
irregularity of its speed, with a tendency to come to a standstill, and
to wave or wobble in its motion; and, thirdly, the time and labor ex-
pended in spinning the wheel afresh every time its speed begins to

^ T'ao shuo j^ ^, Ch. 2, p. 2 (new edition, 1912). Compare S. W. Bushell,
Description of Chinese Pottery, p. 33.

2 Woman working on the potter's wheel is a strictly modern artificial reform
of our "civilization," which tends to check the "man-made world," with the result
that it insures woman's industrial enslavement to perfection. Mary White (How
to make Pottery, p. 28) observes, "Until lately, few women potters have worked on
the wheel, because the ordinary form of potter's wheel, which was turned with
one foot, the potter standing on the other, made the work too difficult and laborious
for a woman to attempt. Now, however, a wheel copied from an old French model
is in use, which enables the potter to sit while at work."

' Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Vol. IV, p. 190. Holder's article is
in Journal of Indian Art, No. 58, being accompanied by excellent illustrations of
potter's wheels and of potters working at the wheel.

156 Beginnings of Porcelain

slacken. Notwithstanding, however, the rudeness of this machine,
the potters are expert at throwing, and some of their small wares are
thin and delicate." It shoiild be added, that, as may be seen in the
illustration (Fig. i), the wheel is but slightly above the ground, and that
the potter stands bent over the vessel. The apparatus, described by
E. A. Gait^ for the kilns of Assam, has likewise features in common
with the cart-wheel. While the centre consists of a solid disk of tama-
rind or some other hard wood, about thirteen inches in diameter,
there is an outer rim joined to it by means of four wooden spokes, each
of these being about six inches in length. The outer rim, about six
inches wide, is made of split bamboo, bound with cane, and covered
with a thick plaster of clay mixed with fibres of the sago palm. The
object of this rim is to increase the weight of the wheel, and thereby
add to its momentum.^ In Assamese as well as in Bengali, the potter's
wheel is simply called cak (''wheel," from Sanskrit cakra).

In the f atapatha Brahmana (XI, 8) the potter's wheel (kauld-
lacakra; kuldlay "potter;" cakra^ "wheel") is thus alluded to in close
connection with the cart-wheel: "Verily, even as this cart-wheel, or
a potter's wheel, would creak if not steadied, so, indeed, were these
worlds unfirm and unsteadied."^ A similar association of ideas occurs
in the Chinese philosopher Huai-nan-tse, who died in 122 B.C. He
compares the activity of Heaven as the creative power with the revolu-
tions of a wheel by saying, "The wheel of the potter revolves, the
wheel of the chariot t-ums; when their circle is completed, they repeat
their revolution."* In the porcelain-factories of King-te-chen, the
potter's wheel is styled fao cWt M # (that is, "potter's chariot") or
lun ch*i H -S (that is, "wheeled chariot"). Ordinarily the potter
speaks simply of his "wheel" (lun-tse 16 •?). An engraving of about
1540 shows an Italian potter's table in the shape of a regular six-
spoked wheel.^ Technically speaking, the potter's wheel is nothing

1 The Manufactureof Pottery in Assam {Journalof Indian Art, Vol.Yll, 1897, p. 6).

' The Assam potters do not finish their pieces on the wheel, but when taken
down and sun-dried, they are placed in a hollow mould of wood or earthenware,
in which they assume their final shape by being beaten with a flat wooden or earthen-
ware mallet, held in the right hand, against a smooth, oval-shaped stone held by
the left hand against the inner surface. When the required shape has been given
the vessel, it is again sun-dried, the surface being then polished with an earthen-
ware pestle or a rag.

3 J. Eggeling's translation in Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XLIV, p. 126. The
exact date of this work is not known, but it is believed that it goes back to the
sixth century B.C.

* Chavannes, M^moires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien, Vol. V, p. 27.

' Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. V, p. 706.

The Potter's Wheel

157

Fig. I

Indian Potter's wheel in the Shape of a Cart-wheel

(Sketch after Holder, Journal of Indian Art)

158 Beginnings or Porcelain

but a primitive cart-wheel turning on its axle. The invention pre-
supposes the existence of the wheel adapted to transportation, and
in all the great civilizations in which, as stated above, the potter's
wheel is found, we indeed meet also the wheeled cart. We further
observe, that, wherever the potter's wheel occurs and the wheeled
cart does not occur, the former was introduced from a higher culture-
zone: for instance, in Japan, to which the conception of the cart is
foreign, and which received the potter's wheel from Korea; or among
the Tibetans, who have no wheeled vehicles, and in the midst of whom
the potter's wheel is only handled by Chinese.^ Again, the wheeled
cart is conspicuously absent in all those culture-areas in which, as has
been stated, the potter's wheel is unknown. Wherever original con-
ditions have remained intact and undisturbed by outside currents,
the two implements either co-exist, or do not exist at all. Of course,
it must not be understood that the idea of the potter's wheel was con-
ceived in a haphazard manner, as though a wheel, intentionally or
incidentally, had been detached from a cart, its novel utilization being
reasoned out on speculative and technical grounds. Primitive man,
and man of the prehistoric past, is not a rationalistic or utilitarian
being, but one endowed with thoughts of highly emotional character,
and prompted to peculiar associations of ideas that are inspired by
religious sentiments. Of the theories which have been expounded in
regard to the primeval origin of the wheel, none as yet is wholly satis-
factory; but this much is assured, that it was connected with a certain
form of religious worship, that in its origin the chariot was utilized in
the cult before it was turned to practical ptirposes of transportation.^
The symbolism and worship of the wheel in western Asia, prehistoric
Eiu-ope and India, is so well known that this matter does not require
recapitulation. A similar spirit pervades the early references to the
potter, his work and his wheel. In the Old Testament the potter's
control over the clay illustrates the sovereignty of God, who made
man of clay, and formed him according to his will. " O house of Israel,
cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the
clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, saith the Lord"
(Jeremiah XVIII. 1-6). "Shall the thing formed say to him that
formed it. Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power

^The wheeled cart is designated in Tibetan shing rta ("wooden horse"), — a
word-formation which testifies to the fact that the cart is foreign to Tibetan culture.
In fact, carts are not employed by Tibetans. We only read in ancient records of
vehicles for the use of kings, presumably introduced from India.

2E. Hahn, Alter der wirtschaftlichen Kultur, p. 123; and Entstehung der
Pflugkultur, p. 40.

The Potter's Wheel 159

over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour and
another unto dishonour?" (Romans IX. 20, 21.) In ancient Egypt,
the god Phtah fashions the egg of the world on a potter's wheel, setting
it in motion with his feet.^ According to W. Crooke,^ the potter of
India regards the making of his vessels as a semi-religious art. The
wheel he worships as a type of the creator of all things; and when he
fires his kiln, he makes an offering and a prayer. He also makes the
funeral jar, in which the soul of the dead man for a time takes refuge.
Hence he is a sort of fimeral priest, and in some parts of the country
receives regular fees. It was a current notion in ancient China that
the evolution of Heaven creates the beings in the same manner as the
potter turns his objects of clay on the wheel. The potter's wheel was a
S3rmbol of the creative power of nature. In the ancient writers in whose
works this conception looms up it appears as a purely philosophical
abstraction; but it is obvious that the latter goes back to a genuine
mythological idea, which, like everything mythical in China, is lost, —
the naive conception of the creator as a potter and thrower (as in the
Old Testament). The potter's wheel was used also as a simile with
reference to the activity of the sovereign. Yen Shi-ku, in his commen-
tary on the Han Annals, quotes a saying that *'the holy rulers by virtue
of their regulations managed the empire in the same manner as a potter
turns the wheel." It is therefore not impossible that religious specula-
tions, centring around the cart-wheel and the fashioning of clay vessels
and figures, might have had a prominent share in associating the wheel
with the potter's activity, and given the first impetus to "throwing."
If it can be maintained that the ancient Egyptians were the first to employ
the potter's wheel, it may well be that the invention is due to the circle
of the priests. Be this germ idea as it may, the culture-historical posi-
tion of the potter's wheel is well ascertained. In view of the vast periods
of human prehistory, it is a comparatively late invention, following in
time the construction of the wheeled cart, being based on the cart-wheel,
and made by man (presumably first by priests in illustration of a myth
for religious worship) during the stage of fully-developed agriculture.

In the stage of hoe-culture or gardening, the occupation of woman,
the potter's wheel is absent. Wherever it appears, it is correlated with
man's activity in agriculture, based on the employment of the ox and
plough. This feature is illustrated by both ancient China and India.
The Emperor, or more correctly culture-hero, Shun (alleged 2258-2206
B.C.), in his youth, before he assumed charge of the administration of

* E. A. W. Budge, Gods of the Egyptians, Vol. I, p. 500, with colored plate.

* Things Indian, p. 389.

i6o Beginnings of Porcelain

the empire, is said to have practised husbandry, fishing, and making
pottery jars: he fashioned clay vessels on the bank of the River, and
all these were without flaw.^ The philosopher Mong-tse explained this
act by saying that Shun continually tried to learn from others and to
take example from his fellowmen in the practice of virtue.^ Another
tradition crops out in the Ki chung Chou shu:^ here the incipient work
in clay is attributed to the culture-hero Shen-nung, who, as implied
by his name (''Divine Husbandman"), was regarded as the father of
agriculture and discoverer of the healing-properties of plants. In
this ancient lore we meet a close association of agriculture with pottery,
and an illustration of the fact that husbandman and potter were one
and the same person during the primeval period.

Likewise in ancient India the potter's trade was localized in special
villages, either suburban or ancillary to large cities, or themselves
forming centres of traffic with surrounding villages.'* Thus it is the
case at the present day. When the writer, in 1908, passed through
Calcutta and desired to see a Hindu potter at work, he was obliged
to drive several miles out of the city into a neighboring village. In
fact, the potter is a peasant, and attends to his field during the rainy
season, when he is unable to pursue his craft; he must have dry weather
to harden his pots before they are fired.^ According to Sir A. Baines,®
the potter is one of the recognized village staff, and, in return for his
customary share in the harvest, is bound to furnish the earthenware
vessels required for domestic use. His caste is associated with the
donkey, the saddle-animal of the Goddess of Small-Pox; and his donkey,
when the kiln is not in operation, is employed in carrying grain and
other produce. In most parts of the country the potters sometimes
hold land, and in others take service in large households.

Likewise in ancient China the potter lived in close contact with the
farmer, and received from him cereals in exchange for his products.^

1 Chavannes, M6moires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien, Vol. I, pp. 72, 74; compare
BiOT, Tcheou-li, Vol. II, p. 462. See also Shi ki, Ch. 128, p. 5, where the com-
mentary cites the Shi pen to the effect that Kun-wu (this volume, p. 39) made
pottery.

2 Legge, Chinese Classics, Vol. II, p. 206.
» Chavannes, /. c, Vol. V, p. 457.

*R. FiCK, Die sociale Gliederung im nordSstlichen Indien, pp. 179, 181. Mrs.
Rhys Davids, Notes on Early Economic Conditions in Northern India {Journ.
Roy. As. Soc, 1901, p. 864).

•* W. Crooke, Natives of Northern India, p. 135.

•Ethnography (Castes and Tribes), p. 65 (Strassburg, 19 12; Encyclopmdia of
Indo- Aryan Research).

'According to Mong-tse, hi, i, § 4 (Legge, Chinese Classics, Vol. II, p. 248).

The Potter's Wheel i6i

The farmer was in urgent need of these articles, which were in large
demand; for "a single potter would not do in a country of ten thousand
families, and could not supply their wants," and ''with but few potters
a kingdom cannot subsist."^

The potter's particular residence is naturally determined by the
sites of suitable clay, and his dependence on clay-digging excludes
him from towns and cities. Thus A. K. Coomaraswamy^ observes,
''The Singalese potters are found all over the country in every village
affording the necessary clay, but often aggregated in greater numbers
in places where an especially good supply of suitable clay is available.
Thence the potter carries his pots for sale to more remote districts in
huge pingo loads." The same holds good for China: all kilns are lo-
cated in the country, and the potters supplying the wants of the villages
and towns are farmers themselves.

The modifications brought about in the industry by the application
of the wheel were fundamental and far-reaching. Technically they led to
a greater rapidity and hence intensity of the process, but, above all,
to many new features of form, consigning many others to oblivion.
Likewise they resulted in a regularity, symmetry, harmony, and grace
of shape, in a refinement and perfection unattained heretofore. The
potter's art came in close touch and was set in correlation with other
man-made industries, particularly with that of the bronze-founder,
who furnished the potter with new ideas of forms and designs.^ The
birth of artistic pottery was thus inaugurated. In passing from the
hands of woman into those of man, the whole industry was imbued
with a more active and vigorous spirit, and elevated to a higher plane
by man's creative genius. It overstepped the narrow boundary of
purely domestic necessity and developed into an organized system of
carefully-planned and skilfully-directed manufacture on a large scale
and with a wide scope. The ceramic work turned out by woman
depended on local conditions, and catered to the narrow circle of the

1 MoNG-TSE, VI, 2, §§ 3 and 6 {ibid., p. 442).

2 Mediaeval Sinhalese Art, p. 218.

^ W. Hough (Man and Metals, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
Vol. II, 1916, p. 125) justly insists on the intimate connection of clay and metal
working. The activity of the ancient sovereigns of China is likened not only to
that of the potter, but also to that of the founder. Potter and founder |^ J§ are
frequently mentioned together (for instance, by Mong-tse: Legge, Chinese Classics,
Vol. II, p. 248). The correlation of the mortuary pottery of the Han with corre-
sponding types in bronze has been shown by me in detail. The same phenomenon
occurs in the prehistoric ceramic art of central Europe, where imported Roman
bronze vessels were imitated and reproduced in clay (see particularly A. Voss,
Nachahmungen von Metallgefassen in der prahistorischen Keramik, Verh. Berl.
Anthr. Ges., Vol. XXXIII, 1901, pp. 277-284).

1 62 Beginnings of Porcelain

home community. The widened horizon of man led him to search for
clays and other materials in distant localities, and to trade his finished
product over the established routes of commerce in exchange for other
goods. It was due to the introduction of the wheel that ceramic
labor was afforded the opportunity of growing out of a mere communal,
clannish, or tribal industry into a national and international factor of
economic value.^

In the suburbs and villages around Peking, where pottery is manu-
factured, two kinds of wheel are in use. The two specimens illustrated
oA Plates XI and XII were secured near Peking by the writer in 1903,
and are in the American Museum of Natural History, New York. The
one is made of a hat-shaped mass of clay, which is hardened by the
addition of pig's hair and straw. This wheel is employed for turning
out circiilar vessels of small and mediimi sizes, and may be regarded
as the common, typical wheel used throughout northern China. The
other wheel consists of a weighty stone disk made in the great indus-
trial centre, the town Huai-lu in Shan-si Province. It serves for the
making of round and heavy vessels of large dimensions.^ A round
wooden board is placed on the stone disk as support or table on which
the mass of clay is shaped. The difference between the clay and stone
wheels, accordingly, is one of degree only, not of type; indeed, they
represent the same type, and are identical in their mechanical con-
struction. Both wheels revolve on a wooden vertical axis, the lower
extremity of which is fixed into a pit, so that the upper surface of the
disk lies on the same level as the floor of the shed in which the potter
works. The latter squats on the ground in front of the wheel, and sets
it in motion by means of a wooden stick, which is inserted in a shallow
cavity near the periphery of the stone disk. While the disk continues
to twirl, a lump of clay is thrown upon it and worked by the potter
with both of his hands: he vigorously presses his thumbs downward,
shaping the bottom of the jar, then draws them upward, and it seems
as though by magic the walls of the vessel come running out of his

1 With reference to the La-T^ne period, these changes are well characterized
by H. Schmidt in his excellent article Keramik, in the Reallexikon der germanischen
Altertumskunde, edited by J. Hoops (Vol. Ill, p. 36).

2 Aside from China, stone wheels seem to occur in India, but only occasionally
(H. H. Cole, Catalogue of the Objects of Indian Art in the South Kensington
Museum, p. 201). H. R. C. Dobbs {Journal of Indian Art, No. 57, p. 3) remarks
that in the north-west provinces of India wheels are made either of clay, or stone, or
wood, but most commonly of clay. The difference is merely one of durability:
a clay wheel lasts about five years and can be made in four days without cost to the
potter; a wooden wheel lasts for about ten years, being made by a local carpenter
for Rs. 1-8; a stone wheel will last a lifetime, and is usually brought from Mirzapur
or Indore at an average cost of Rs. 4.

The Potter's Wheel 163

fingers. The procedure is exactly identical with the practice of the
ancients, as described by H. Blumner.^ I never saw a Chinese potter
spinning the wheel with his left hand and simultaneously forming a
pot only with his right. He will always swing his wheel first, and then
use both hands for fashioning the vessel. This point is particularly
mentioned, because several authors tell us that the potter at the same
time works the wheel with his left hand and fashions the clay with his
right. Thus A. Erman^ says, with reference to ancient Egypt, that
the wheel was turned by the left hand, whilst the right hand shaped
the vessel. The same is asserted with regard to the potter on Sumatra.'
If these observations shotild be correct, which may justly be doubted,
the potters who behave in this manner can hardly be credited with
common sense. If the wheel is once set spinning, a constant revolution
of sufficient velocity may very well be maintained for from five to seven
minutes, which would afford ample time for a skilful workman to turn
out one or even several vessels by the use of both hands. There
is no necessity whatever for his left hand to operate the wheel, and
how the right hand alone could satisfactorily model a pot is difficult to
see. In China, Japan, and India, at all events, the potter will always
use both hands in this process; or he has a helpmate to attend to the
wheel.

In his description of the porcelain-manufacture at King-te-chen,
P^re d'Entrecolles has alluded to the employment of the wheel,
without, however, going deeper into the subject."* In the King te chen
fao luy^ the wheel is described as a round wooden board, with a mech-
anism below, that effects a speedy revolution. The potter is seated
over the wheel (literally, "he sits on the chariot" tt^S^$_b),
pushing it with a small bamboo stick, and moulding the clay with both
of his hands. The illustrations reproduced by Jiilien after the first
edition of 181 5 (Plates V and VP) show the potter squatting at the end
of two low benches, steadying his feet on the latter; but the mode of
turning the wheel is represented in a different manner from the descrip-
tion in the text. In one illustration the potter avails himself of an
assistant, who bends over a bench, and sets the wheel in motion with
his left hand. In the other, the helpmate turns the wheel with his

* Technologic, Vol. II, p. 39.
' Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 457.

' Encyclopaedic van Ncderlandsch-Indie, Vol. Ill, p. 321.

*DuHalde, Description of the Empire of China, Vol. I, p. 342; or S. W.
BusHELL, Description of Chinese Pottery, pp. 190-191.

^ Ch. I, p. 18 b (new edition of 1891); compare Juhen, Histoire, p. 146.
" Those of the new edition are different, and much coarser in execution.

i64 Beginnings of Porcelain

right unshod foot, while supporting himself by means of a rope sus-
pended from the branch of a tree. The wheel itself is a cog-wheel, the
projecting teeth being of a rectangular shape.^ The foot of the turner
fits exactly into the space left by two teeth. This arrangement is
identical with that of the small lead cylinders fixed around a Roman
wheel of baked clay found near Arezzo in 1840, and the pegs attached
to the circumference of other wheels discovered in the vicinity of
Nancy.^

The devices depicted in this Chinese book are obviously those of
central and southern China. This is confirmed by an observation of
E. S. Morse, who had occasion to see and to sketch a potter at work
near Canton, and who points out the same rope contrivance. **The
wheel rests on the ground, and the potter squats beside the wheel. A
helper stands near by, steadying himself with a rope that hangs down
from a frame above; holding on to this and resting on one foot, he kicks
the wheel around with the other foot. The potter first puts sand on
the wheel, so that the clay adheres slightly. He does not separate the
pot from the wheel by means of a string, as is usual with most potters
the world over, but lifts it from the wheel, the separation being easy
on account of the sand previously applied. The pot is somewhat de-
formed by this act, but is straightened afterwards with a spatula
and the hand, as was the practice of a Hindu potter whom I saw at
Singapore."'

Besides the plain wheel, as considered heretofore, another type oc-
curs in China, — a wheel with double disks. In this case, there are two
horizontal, parallel disks or wheels connected by a vertical spindle.
The lower one, being of considerably smaller diameter, is operated by
the feet of the workman, and accordingly turns the upper one, which
is reserved as the potter's table. A similar device is described by
Jesus Sirach in the third century b.c* The same principle is brought
out in a potter's wheel found by Fabroni in 1779 at Cincelli or Centtmi
Cellas, in the neighborhood of Arezzo, in Italy. It is composed of two
disks or tables, both placed horizontally, of unequal diameter, having
a certain distance between them, and their centre traversed by a
vertical pin, which revolves. The wheel discovered was part of one

1 It is doubtless on this illustration that E. Zimmermann's (Chinesisches Porzel-
lan, Vol. I, p. 179) description of the potter's wheel is based; but I do not believe
that this type is common, at least I never saw it in any of the kilns which I had
occasion to visit.

2 H. Blumner, Technologie, Vol. II, p. 39.

' E. S. Morse, Glimpses of China and Chinese Homes, p. 199.
* Blumner, /. c, p. 38, note 3.

The Potter's Wheel 165

of the disks, made of terra cotta, about three inches thick and eleven
feet in diameter, with a groove all round the border.^

A double wooden wheel is occasionally employed by the potters in the
north-west provinces of India and Oudh, but, curiously enough, the upper
disk is the smaller one. It is about ten inches in diameter, and on it
the clay is worked. The lower disk, two feet apart from the upper one,
measures two feet across. The whole apparatus is placed in a pit about
three feet deep, the smaller disk being on a level with the surface of the
ground. The axle turns on a stone slab at the bottom of the pit, and is
kept upright by a crossbeam with a perforation in the middle, through
which it runs. The potter is seated on the edge of the pit, and turns
the wheel by pressing the lower disk with his right foot. The motion of
this wheel is more even and continuous than that of the single wheel,
and is employed for the finer kinds of pottery at Rampur and Mirut.'

The double wheel is used also in Java, where it is called prebot. It
is composed of two wooden disks, one placed above the other, the upper
one, of somewhat larger size, being revolved on the lower one. The
upper one is styled ''female board" {uncher wedok)^ the lower one "male
board" {uncher lanang). The upper wheel, on which is placed a flat
board for the clay to be moulded, is set in motion by means of the foot.^

F. Brinkley* describes the contrivance of a double wheel in the
hands of the potters at Arita in Hizen. It consists of a driving and
a working wheel, fixed about twelve to fifteen inches apart on a hollow
wooden prism. On the lower side of the driving-wheel is a porcelain
cup that rests on a vertical wooden pivot projecting from a round block
of wood over which the system is placed. The pivot is planted in a
hole of such depth that the rim of the driving-wheel is slightly raised
above the surface of the ground. Beside this hole the modeller sits,
and, while turning the system with his foot, moulds: a mass of material
placed on the working- wheel. His only tools are a piece of wet cloth
to smooth and moisten the vessel, a small knife to shape sharp edges,
a few pieces of stick to take measurements, and a fine cord to sever the
finished vase from its base of superfluous matter.

Sir Ernest Satow,^ describing the work of the potters of Tsuboya,
observes that these use wheels of three different sizes. The smallest

^ S. Birch, History of Ancient Pottery, p. 556.

^ H. R. C. DoBBS, Pottery and Glass Industries of the North-West Provinces
and Oudh {Journal of Indian Art, No. 57, p. 4).

' Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-Indie, Vol. Ill, p. 322.

^ Japan, Vol. VIII, p. 68.

•^Korean Potters in Satsuma (Transactions As. Soc. of Japan, Vol. VI, 1878,
p. 196).

i66 Beginnings of Porcelain

is formed by two wooden disks about three inches thick, the upper one
being fifteen inches, the lower eighteen inches, in diameter, connected
by four perpendicular bars somewhat over seven inches long. It is
poised on the top of a spindle planted in a hole of sufficient depth, which
passes through a hole in the lower disk, and enters a socket in the under
side of the upper disk; and the potter, sitting on the edge of the hole,
turns the wheel round with his left foot. The largest wheel is about
twice the size of the smallest in every way. This description fits very
well the illustration of a potter's wheel in the T'u shu tsi ch'eng (see
Fig. 2), except that the two wheels are here connected by two vertical
bars, and that the whole apparatus is above ground, so that the potter
is obliged to stand.

Although the real study of Korean pottery remains to be made,*
the general development of the art in its main features can be clearly
traced. We may distinguish four principal periods, — first, a prehis-
toric or neolithic period prior to the cultural contact of Korea with
China, during which primitive vessels without the application of the
wheel were turned out, that represent a uniform group with the pre-
historic pottery found in the Amur region, Manchuria, Saghalin, and
Japan; 2 second, the period of the Silla kingdom (57-924) heralded by
the introduction of Chinese culture, in the wake of which the forms of
the ancient Chinese sacrificial vessels as well as dishes for every-day
use and the potter's wheel made their appearance; third, the Korai
period (925-1392), centring aroimd Song-do, where glazed pottery, also
porcelain, was produced according to models and traditions of Chinese
Sung ware; and, fourth, the modem period after 1392. Here we are
concerned only with the second or the first historic period, which is
characterized by the novel feature of the wheel and by new and elegant
shapes based on Chinese prototypes. We have authentic records in

1 Compare in particular A. Billequin, Notes sur la porcelaine de Cor^e (T'oung
Pao, Vol. VII, 1896, pp. 39-46); E. S. Morse, Catalogue of the Morse Collection
of Japanese Pottery, pp. 25-31, and the study of P. L. Jouy, quoted below; J.
Platt, Ancient Korean Tomb Wares {Burlington Mag., Vol. XX, No. 106, 1912,
pp. 222-230, 2 plates); Petrucci, Korean Pottery {ibid., 1912, p. 82, 2 plates),
and letter of J. Platt [ibid., 1913, p. 298); A. Fischer, Oriental. Archiv, Vol. 1, 191 1,
pp. 154-157, plate XXXIV).

2 As to the Amur region, a great quantity of pottery fragments was dug up by
G. Fowke in 1898 (compare his report Exploration of the Lower Amur Valley,
Am. Anthr., Vol. VIII, 1906, pp. 276-297); this collection is in the American Museum
of Natural History, New York. The Japanese archaeologist ToRii found similar
material in eastern Mongolia and Manchuria (Journ. of the College of Science,
TokyQ, Vol. XXXVI, No. 4, pp. 49 et seq., and No. 8 of the same volume,
PP- 9> 30-41. 62-64, 71, and plates XIV-XVIII, XXIII). Neolithic Korean pot-
tery is described by ShOzaburi Yagi {Journ. Anthr. Soc. of Tokyo, Vol. XXX, 1915,
p. 178).

The Potter's Wheel

167

Fig. 2
Chinese Double-Wheel Potter's Lathe
(Sketch after T"u shu tsi ch'eng)

i68 Beginnings of Porcelain

regard to the adoption of the latter on the part of the Koreans;^ and
as the greater part of the pottery of this period is turned on the wheel, ^
while that of the preceding ages was fashioned only by hand, it is safe
to assume that the introduction of the wheel is due to Chinese
influence.

P. L. JouY writes on the Korean potter's wheel as follows: "The
Korean potter's wheel consists of a circular table from two to three
feet in diameter and four to six inches thick, made of heavy wood so
as to aid in giving impetus to it when revolving. In general appearance
it is not very unlike a modeller's table. This arrangement is sunken
into a depression in the ground, and revolves easily by means of small
wheels working on a track underneath, the table being pivoted in the
centre. The wheel is operated directly by the foot, without the aid
of a treadle of any kind. The potter sits squatting in front of the
wheel, his bench or seat on a level with it, and space being left between
his seat and the wheel to facilitate his movements. With his left
foot underneath him, he extends his right foot, and strikes the side of
the wheel with the bare sole of the foot, causing it to revolve.'"

A Japanese tradition credits the celebrated Korean monk GyOgi
fir S (a.d. 670-749) * with the invention of the potter's wheel. W. G.
AsTON,^ W. GowLAND,® and F. Brinkley^ have rejected this legend
as unfounded by pointing out that the wheel was known in Japan

* Hou Han shu, Ch. 1 15, and the writer's Chinese Pottery, p. 127. The Wo-tsii
in Korea interred in the graves pottery vessels filled with rice. In this respect
the Chinese account is of interest, that all the Eastern barbarous tribes, Tung I
^ ^ availed themselves of dishes and platters {tsu tou ^ _3,) for eating and
drinking, with the sole exception of the Yi-lou or Su-shen ( T^ai p'ing huan yii ki,
Ch. 175, p. 4 b). See also Kiu T'ang shu, Ch. 199 a, p. i.

« P. L. JouY, The Collection of Korean Mortuary Pottery {Report of the U. S.
National Museum, 1887-88, pp. 589-596, particularly p. 591).

• Science, Vol. XII, 1888, p. 144. Mrs. Bishop (Korea and Her Neighbours,
Vol. I, p. 93) says, "The potters pursue their trade in open sheds, digging up the
clay close by. The stock-in-trade is a pit in which an uncouth potter's wheel
revolves, the base of which is turned by the feet of a man who sits on the edge of
the hole. A wooden spatula, a mason's wooden trowel, a curved stick, and a piece
of rough rag, are the tools, efficient for the purpose." A Korean drawing showing
a potter at work is reproduced in Int. Archiv. f. Ethnogr., Vol. IV, 1891, plate III,
fig. 6.

* His life is briefly summed up by E. Papinot, Dictionnaire de geographic et
d'histoire du Japon, p. 152. J. J. Rein (Industries of Japan, p. 457) states only
that GyOgi was the first to introduce the wheel into Japan, which may well be the
original tradition, and that this event took place in a.d. 724.

^ Nihongi, Vol. I, p. 121.

• The Dolmen and Burial Mounds in Japan, p. 494.
' Japan, Vol. VIII: Keramic Art, p. 9.

The Potter's Wheel 169

long before his time.^ Of course, GyOgi is not the "inventor" of
the wheel, any more than Anacharsis the Scythian, or Hyperbius of
Corinth, or Talus, the nephew of Daedalus. Nevertheless it may be
that Gyogi, who, being a craftsman, was doubtless instrumental in
the advancement of the ceramic industry in Japan, brought the speci-
men of a wheel along on his mission; and, if nothing else, this tradition
would at least point to an introduction of the wheel from Korea. This
is the natural coiu-se of events that we should expect, for the prehistoric
pottery of Japan was solely made by hand.^ The early historic pottery
found in the dolmens is wheel-shaped; but whether, with Gowland, it
is to be dated in the beginning of our era, is a debatable point. E. S.
Morse* has offered another kind of convincing testimony for the
fact that the early Japanese potter modelled by hand: the ancient
practice is still continued in its prehistoric form in various parts of the
empire, where many potters use only the hand in making bowls, dishes,
or teapots. The vessels employed as offerings at Shinto shrines are
usually made without the wheel, and are unglazed, — a phenomenon
that we likewise meet in ancient Rome and in ancient India.

According to Morse, the typical form of the potter's wheel in Japan
consists of a wooden disk fifteen to eighteen inches in diameter, and
three inches thick. This is fastened to a hollow axis fourteen or more
inches in length. A spindle with pointed end is planted firmly in the
ground; and on this the wheel is placed, the spindle passing up through
the hollow axis, and a porcelain saucer or cup being inserted in the
wheel to lessen friction as it rests on the spindle. The wheel itself
is on a level with the floor; and the potter, sitting in the usual Japanese
position, bends over the wheel, which he revolves by inserting a slender
stick in a shallow hole or depression near the periphery of the wheel.
With a few vigorous motions of his arm the wheel is set in rapid motion;
then, with his elbows braced against his knees, the whole body at rest,
he has the steadiest command of the clay he is to turn. As the wheel
slackens in motion, he again sets it twirling.*

* I am unable, however, to admit Aston's statement that the text of the Nihongi
to which he refers contains evidence of this fact. This evidence is negative or inconclu-
sive, as the text in question speaks only of hand-made (ta-kujiri) small jars, which, ac-
cording to Aston, should lead to the conclusion that "this was exceptional," and
that fashioning on the wheel was the common practice of the time. In a.d. 588 the
first potters came to Japan from the Korean state Pektsi (Aston, /. c, p. 117).

* E. S. Morse, Shell Mounds of Omori, p. 9; Iijima and Sasaki, Okadaira
Shell Mound at Hitachi, pp. 2-5; N. G. Munro, Prehistoric Japan, p. 167.

* Catalogue of the Morse Collection of Japanese Pottery, p. 6.

* Illustrations of the implements used by the Japanese brick-layer and potter
may be seen in Siebold, Nippon, Vol. VI, plate IV.

I70 Beginnings of Porcelain

The wheel is termed rokuro K@ (Chinese lu-lu)y which properly
means a ptdley, windlass, capstan, then further a turning-lathe. The
Japanese double wheel has been pointed out (above on p. 165).

If it is correct that the potter's art came to Burma from China rather
than from India, and that glazing was acquired there from the Chinese
either directly or through the medium of the Shan,^ it is probable also
that the wheel reached Burma from the same centre. In the town of
Bassein the double wheel is in use.^ In like manner it is probable that
also the Annamese, who learned the entire process of porcelain-manu-
facture from their conquerors, the Chinese, adopted the wheel from
the latter.^ The invasion of the outskirts of Tibet through Chinese
potters working on the wheel has already been mentioned. They
use a plain wooden wheel sunk into the ground, and work it with
the foot. China, consequently, was the centre from which the art of
wheel-made pottery radiated to all other countries of the East, in
accordance with the diffusion of Chinese culture among the same
peoples.

The great antiquity of the wheel in China cannot reasonably be
doubted. As has been stated, it is alluded to in early writers of the
pre-Christian era, and appears to have played a part in mythological
conceptions. It is designated by a plain root-word, kiln % or ^,
which means also "even, level, harmonious." It ^as the instrument
by means of which clay vessels were evenly balanced; it was a sort of
"harmonizer." A description of the ancient wheel has apparently
not come down to us. A commentator of Se-ma Ts'ien's Annals notes
that it was seven feet high and provided with a plimib-line for adjusting
the vessels.* From Biot's translation of the Chou li^it would seem as
if the wheel were mentioned in that work, for we read, ''Tout vase
d'usage ordinaire doit ^tre conforme au tour. . . Le tour est haut
de quatre pieds. En carr^, il a quatre dixitoes de pied." A potter's
wheel of course is round, and everybody will be struck by the anomaly
that the wheel should be four-tenths of a foot square. In fact, the text
does not speak of a wheel, but of an instrument manipulated by the
moulders. The passage runs thus: ^^BMMBKJ^m-t.

1 Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States, Part I, Vol. II, pp. 399, 403.
In support of this deduction, the fact is cited, that, in proportion to the population,
there are more potters' villages in the Shan states than in Burma, and that in many
places, notably in Papun, the potters are emigrant Shan.

^ L. c, p. 400.

' A. DE PouvouRViLLE, L'Art indo-chinois, p. 238.

* P'ei wen yiin fu, Ch. 51, p. 77.

^ Vol. II, p. 539.

The Potter's Wheel 171

The word po, as far as I know, occurs only in this text as a potter's
term. The commentator Ch'en Yung-chi W^ 1^ explains it as "sliced
meat" {9 1^), saying that the potter's products should.be like the
latter, that is, as thin and smooth; and that the object of rendering a
vessel equally thick and smooth is attained by the application of the
instrument po, which accordingly may have been a lathe. Cheng Ngo
SB If, another commentator of the Chou It, remarks that it was of wood
and placed on the side of the potter's wheel {kiin ^), but his further
description is not very lucid. At all events, the instrument in question
was not, as conceived by Biot, a potter's wheel, which in fact is not
mentioned in the text of the Chou It.

Almost all the round jars and vases of the Han period have been
shaped on the wheel; and these ancient potters exercised considerable
skill in its use.^ The profession of the throwers is emphasized in the
ritual of the Chou dynasty {Chou It) , and distinguished from that of the
moulders. Moreover, we now have well-authenticated specimens of
pottery of that period, which likewise exhibit the marks of the wheel.
A truly neolithic, primitive, hand-made pottery, such as we have from
Japan and Korea, has now also been traced in Chinese soil, particularly
in southern Manchuria, Liao-tung, and Shen-si. I am inclined to
date the use of the wheel in China back to a very remote age. The
chief reason which prompts me to this conclusion is, that ancient Chinese
records contain no traditions to the effect that pottery was ever the
office of woman; on the contrary, they associate the industry exclu-
sively with the activity of man, and these potters were agriculturists.
The only ancient industry characterized as a female occupation is that
of the rearing of silkworms and weaving. The "invention" of pottery,
however, is ascribed to the mythical emperors Huang-ti, Shen-nung,
and Shim; and throughout Chinese history we hear only of male potters.
In fact, as we observe also at the present time, woman has no share
whatever in this business. The potter's wheel, therefore, cannot be
simply regarded as borrowed by the Chinese from the West in historical
times, but it belongs to those primary elements of culture which the
Chinese have in common with certain ancient forms of Western civiliza-
tion. In our present state of knowledge, it is futile to endeavor to
explain the how and why of this interrelation. There can be no doubt,
however, that the ancient Chinese wheel has sprung from the same

1 This is also the opinion of so prominent an expert in pottery as J. Brinck-
MANN, the late director of the Hamburg Museum fiir Kunst und Gewerbe, who has
written an excellent, though brief, article on Han pottery, especially with reference
to its technique {Jahrbuch der Hamburgischen Wissensch. Anstalten, Vol. XXVII,
1909, pp. 96-102).

172 Beginnings of Porcelain

source as that found in the West. Both are identical as to mechanical
construction, even in minor points, and as to effect.

A comparatively great antiquity of the potter's wheel may be
assumed also for India. Allusion has been made to the early mention
of it in the Qatapatha Brahmana (p. 157). The jar employed for the
ritual, as described by Katyayana,^ was solely formed by hand after
the fashion of coiled pottery. This does not prove that the wheel
was not in use at that time, for jars serving religious purposes were
made by hand likewise in Rome and Japan, even after the intro-
duction of the wheel. The case merely goes to show that hand-
made ware preceded the wheel-made fabric also in ancient India,
and that the concept of a fundamental difference between the two
was maintained, the hand-made product being reserved for religious
worship.

The potter's wheel is twice mentioned in the Jataka.^ In one story
it is told how a Bodhisatva went to the king's potter and became his
apprentice. One day, after he had filled the house with potter's clay,
he asked if he should make some vessels; and when the potter answered,
"Yes, do so," he placed a lump of clay on the wheel and turned it.
When once it was turned, it went on swiftly till mid-day. After mould-
ing all manners of vessels, great and small, he began making one espe-
cially for Pabhavati with various figures on it. The potter's work is
a favorite simile in Buddhist scriptures.^

In this respect the following story is of particular interest: "In
the town of Revata, in the north-west of India, there lived a master-
potter, who prided himself on his dexterity. He was waiting for the
objects which he manufactured to dry on the wheel, and only at this
moment he withdrew them. Knowing that the time of his conversion
had arrived, Bhagavat (Buddha) transformed himself into a master-
potter, and, chatting with the other potter, asked him why he did not
withdraw from the wheel the plates and utensils. The potter replied
that he would do so, when they were perfectly dry. The Buddha
transformed into a man said, 'Also I withdraw them, when they are
perfectly dry. You and I follow the same procedure. I, however,
have a special method. I withdraw the objects only after they are
completely baked on the wheel.' The master-potter retorted, 'You

^A. HiLLEBRANDT, Ritual-Lit., Vedische Opfer, p. 8; L. D. Barnett, An-
tiquities of India, p. 176.

* Nos. 531 and 546 (Cowell and Rouse, The Jataka, Vol. V, p. 151; Vol. VI,
p. 188).

*For instance, Dighanikaya, II, 86 (R. O. Franke's translation, p. 79); T.
Suzuki, Agvaghosha's Discourse on the Awakening of Faith, pp. 74, 75.

The Potter's Wheel 173

are more skilful than I am/ The Buddha transformed into a man
said, ^Not only do I produce on the wheel objects completely baked,
but also I can produce objects formed with the seven precious sub-
stances.' The master-potter's eyes were opened: he immediately
received faith, and was converted. Thereupon Bhagavat, who had
transformed himself temporarily into a potter, reassumed his proper
body. He expounded the supernatural and subtle law, so that the
potter's family was initiated into the four cardinal truths." ^

In southern India, wheel-made pottery came into general use
during the iron age.^

The cart-wheel in the hands of the Indian potter has been referred
to. This, however, is an exceptional local type, while commonly the
wheel is a plain wooden disk. G. C. M. Bird wood ^ describes it as a
horizontal fiy-wheel, two or three feet in diameter, loaded heavily with
clay around the rim, and put in motion by the hand; and, once set spin-
ning, it revolves for five or seven minutes with a perfectly steady and
true motion. The clay to be moulded is heaped on the centre of the
wheel, and the potter squats down on the ground before it. The Tamil
potters (Kusavans) are divided into two classes, northern and southern;
the former using a wheel of earthenware, the latter one made of wood.*
Their badge, recorded at Conjiveram, is a potter's wheel.^ The Singalese
wheel (pdruva) is a circular board, about two feet and a half in diameter,
mounted on a stone pivot, which fits into a larger stone socket em-
bedded in the ground; the horizontal surface of the wheel itself standing
not more than six inches above the ground. The wheel is turned by a
boy, who squats on the ground opposite the potter, and keeps it going
with his hands.®

Ceramic art is very ancient in Iran, being alluded to in two pass,
ages of the Avesta.^ In the latter, mention is made of brick-layer's

1 J. Przyluski, Le Nord-ouest de I'lnde dans le Vinaya des Mola-Sarvastivadin
et les textes apparent^s (Journal asiatique, 1914, nov.-dec, pp. 513, 514).

* R. B. FooTE, Gov. Museum, Madras, Cat. of the Prehistoric Antiquities,
p. III. In regard to South-Indian pottery compare also R. B. Foote, The Foote
Collection of Indian Prehistoric and Protohistoric Antiquities (Madras, 19 14;
new ed., 19 16); and A. Rea, Cat. of the Prehistoric Antiquities from Adichanallur
and Perumbair (Madras, 1915). F. W. v. Bissing {Sitzher. Bayer. Akad., 191 1,
p. 16) seems to overvalue the antiquity of the potter's wheel in southern India; it
is certainly out of the question that it should be older there than in Egypt.

^ The Industrial Arts of India, Vol. II, p. 144.

* E. Thurston, Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Vol. IV, p. 1 13.

* Ibid., p. 197.

"A. K. CooMARASWAMY, Mediaeval Sinhalese Art, p. 219.
' Videvdat, ii, 32; vm, 84.

174 Beginnings of Porcelain

or potter's kilns.^ As a rule, the kiln is the natural consequence
of the wheel; but it woiild be premature to conclude from this
general observation that for this reason the wheel was known to
the Avestans. It is not specifically mentioned in their sacred books;
but that it was unknown cannot be deduced, either, from this
silence.

The question of the antiquity of the potter's wheel in Babylonia
seems not to be settled. Perrot and Chipiez^ remark that the inven-
tion of the potter's wheel and firing-oven must have taken place
at a very remote period both in Egypt and Chaldaea; that the oldest
vases found in the country, those taken from tombs at Warka and
Mugheir, have been burnt in the oven; that some, however, do
not seem to have been thrown on the wheel. All that Handcock^
states regarding the wheel is a reference to the article of Banks,
whose theory of the origin of the wheel has already been charac-
terized as unfounded (p. 154). In Palestine the wheel became general
from the sixteenth century B.C. Likewise the Israelites were familiar
with it, and turned almost all their vessels on the wheel.'* As has been
mentioned, it is alluded to in several passages of the Old and New
Testaments.^

In the graves of the Siberian bronze age has been found pottery of
inferior workmanship, made by hand, of a coarse and badly baked
clay. That from the graves of the iron age appears to be wheel-shaped,
and abounds in artistic shapes.® Its historical position is not yet ex-
actly ascertained, but it appears to bear some relation to Scythian and
Iranian cultures.

In ancient Egypt the wheel was known at the earHest epoch of his-
tory the sculptures of which have been preserved.^ It is depicted on
the monuments, being of simple construction and turned with the hand.

1 See also W. Geiger, Ostiranische Kultur, p. 390; and A. V. W. Jackson,
From Constantinople to the Home of Omar Khayyam, p. 234. The Avestan
word for the kiln, tanura (Middle and New Persian tanur) is regarded as a loan
from Semitic taniir.

2 History of Art in Chaldaia and Assyria, Vol. II, p. 298.
' Mesopotamian Archaeology, p. 334.

*F. ViGOUROUX, Dictionnaire de la Bible, Vol. V, pp. 573-574; S. Birch,
Ancient Pottery, p. 107. A photograph from Damascus of a potter at the wheel
is reproduced in the National Geogr. Mag., 191 1, p. 67.

^ Regarding the use of the wheel in Asia Minor, see W. Belck, Z. /. Ethnologic,
Vol. XXXIII, 1901, p. 493.

^ W. Radloff, Aus Sibirien, Vol. II, pp. 89, 90, 129.

' J. G. Wilkinson, Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, Vol. II,
pp. 190-192 (new ed., by S. Birch), or 2d ed.. Vol. Ill, p. 163.

The Potter's Wheel 175

It is plausible that the invention spread from Egypt or Crete to Greece,
and from there to Italy.^

The gradual dissemination of the wheel over Europe is vividly
illustrated by the fact that in every culture-area there we encounter
a primitive epoch of pottery-making, which shows no trace of the
wheel, but a rude hand-made process. Such is found in the earliest
stages of Hissarlik, the Homeric Troy, in Italy, central and north-
ern Europe, and in the British Isles. During the second settlement
of pre-Mycen«an Hissarlik (presumably before 2000 B.C.) we observe
the beginning of the use of the wheel and the covered furnace. Through-
out the Mycensean period, pottery was turned on the wheel. The
Swiss lake-dwellers, though capable potters, were unacquainted with
the wheel. Likewise it was unknown in the British Isles during the
bronze period.^ In the north of Europe, the potter's wheel appears at
a late date in the La-Tene period. Thus the assumption gains ground
that Egypt was the centre from which the wheel gradually spread to
southern, and ultimately to central and northern, Europe.

In two areas of the Old World, accordingly, we can clearly observe
a diffusion of the wheel from one point, — from China to her depen-
dencies Korea, Japan, Annam, and Burma; and from Egypt to Europe.
India was perhaps another focus, as far as Sumatra and Java are con-
cerned. A direct transmission of the device from Egypt to India is
conceivable, though it is of course impossible to furnish the exact proof.
It is inconceivable, however, that the wheels of India and China shoiild
be independent from those of the West. Not only is there a perfect
coincidence between their constructions and manipulations, but also
the culture-associations by which the wheel is surrounded here and
there are strikingly identical. The social setting of the wheel and the
concomitant culture-elements have been characterized above. The
wheeled cart, the highly-developed system of agriculture, bronze cast-
ing, and the affiliation of pottery with the latter, are features peculiar
to the same area, and absent in other culture-zones. Consequently
the presence of the wheel in the East and West alike cannot be attributed
to an accident, but it appears as an organic constituent and ancient

^ Regarding details, see H. Blumner, Technologie, Vol. II, pp. 36-40; O.
ScHRADER, Reallexikon, p. 868; etc. H. B. Walters (Cat. of the Greek and Etrus-
can Vases in the British Museum, Vol. II, p. 228) describes the medallion of a
kylix on which a potter, nude and beardless, is seated before a wheel; on it is a
kylix of archaic shape, the handle of which he is moulding. The question as to
whether the wheel was employed in Crete at an earlier date than in Egypt, or vice
versa, must be left to the decision of specialists in this field.

'^ J. Evans, Ancient Bronze Implements of Great Britain, p. 487; British Mu-
seum Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age, p. 43.

176 Beginnings of Porcelain

heritage in the life of the Mediterranean and great Asiatic civilizations.
This well-defined geographical distribution, and the absence of the
wheel in all other parts of the globe, speak well in favor of a monistic
origin of the device.

The chief results of the present investigation may be summarized
as follows. The industry of ancient Chinese pottery, in its principal
technical and social features, has exactly the same fovmdation as the
corresponding industry of western Asia, Egypt, and India. This
phenomenon is only one of a complex of others with which it is in
organic cohesion; that is, the entire economic foundation of ancient
Chinese civilization has a common basis with that of the West.^ It is
a reasonable conclusion that identity of apparatus and technical
processes must have yielded similar results. Comparative study of
forms, however, is futile for the present, as long as we do not have the
very earliest prehistoric ceramic productions of China, Central Asia,
Iran, and India. This much is evident, that only by co-ordination can
the real problem to be pursued be solved, and that isolation or detach-
ment of each particular field will 5rield no result that is worth while.
The incentive for the process of glazing pottery was received by the
Chinese directly from the West, owing to their contact with the Hel-
lenistic world in comparatively late historical times. The knowledge
of glazing rendered the manufacture of a porcelanous ware possible;
yet in this achievement the creative genius of the Chinese was not
guided by outside influence, but relied on its own powerful resources.
Nothing of the character of porcelain was known under the Han
(206 B.c.-A.D. 220). The murrine vases of the ancients were not
porcelain, and in fact bear no relation to China. They may have been
instrumental, however, in bringing to the notice of the Chinese the
beauty and effect of ceramic glazes; hence the manufacture of glazed
ware springs up in the age of the Han, more particularly under the
reign of the Emperor Wu (140-87 B.C.). It is admissible to place the
first subconscious gropings with ware of more or less porcelanous char-
acter in the closing days of the Later Han dynasty; and under the Wei,
in the middle or latter part of the third century, we see these tentative
experiments ultimately crowned with success. Continued till the end
of the sixth century and the beginning of the seventh through a long
line of experiences and improvements, they gradually resulted in the

* The details are somewhat more developed in the writer's popular article
Some Fundamental Ideas of Chinese Culture {Journal of Race Development, Vol. V,
1914, pp. 160-174).

The Potter^s Wheel 177

production of a true white porcelain. Porcelain is not an invention,
and there is no inventor of it. It is not in a category by itself, but is
only a variety of pottery; its diversity from common pottery is one of
degree, not of principle.

Finally, the question may be raised as to why Chinese records on all
these points are so sparse and unsatisfactory. The same observation
holds good for bronze, iron, wood-carving, basketry, and other ancient
industries and crafts. The occupation with such themes on the part
of Chinese scholars begins as late as the age of the Sung. The ancient
professional annalists and chroniclers were not interested in the doings
and thoughts of the broad masses of the people. If they recorded with
some degree of exactness the invention of rag-paper in a.d. 105, it was
for the reason that paper had a direct bearing on the life and work of
the scholar. The plain farmer-potter of old led a secluded existence,
far removed from the seats of scholarship. The average type of Con-
fucian scholar never took an interest in technical questions, or else
looked down upon these without a gleam of understanding. Our hopes
for further elucidations of the problems connected with the history of
pottery in China must be placed in archasology, not in sinology, which
certainly reflects not on the sinologue, but on the character of the
scanty source-material that has fallen to our lot.

INDEX

Abel-Remusat, 121.

Aeneas of Gaza, 142.

Africa, pottery of, 152, 153.

Ainu, pottery of, 149, 150.

Alaska, pottery of, 149.

Alchemy, 113 note i, 118, 142-143.

Amber, 131.

America, potter's wheel absent, in, 151;
pottery, occupation of woman, in, 152.

Amur tribes, pottery of, 149, 166.

Analyses, of body of porcelanous Han
pottery, 86; of Chinese and Japanese
glazes, 90; of Chinese and Japanese
porcelains, 86; of glaze of porcelanous
Han pottery, 90; of green glaze of Han
pottery, 93.

Andaman, unacquainted with potter's
wheel, 152, 153.

Aristotle, 131.

Assam, kilns of, 156.

Aston, W. G., 168, 169.

Athenaeus, 131.

Atkinson, J. J., 151.

Atlasov, W., 150.

Augustus, 123.

Australia, pottery unknown in, 149.

Avesta, pottery mentioned in, 173.

Babelon, E., 129.

Bacon, 135.

Baines, A., 154, 160.

Banks, E. J., 154.

Barber, E. A., 108.

Barbosa, 135.

Bartholomae, 126.

Batchelor, J., 150.

Bauer, M., 129,

Baumann, O., 153.

Belck, W., 174.

Bemeker, E., 126.

Berthelot, M., 142.

Billequin, A., 166.

Biot, E., 80, 154, 160, 170, 171.

Birch, S., 165.

Bird wood, G. C. M., 154.

Bishop, Mrs., 168.

Bissing, F. W. v., 173.

Bliimner, H., 127, 129, 133, 134, 164,

175-
Boas, F., 150.
Bogoras, V., 150, 153.
Bostock and Riley, 123.
Boston Fine Arts Museum, porcelanous

ware in, 82, 100.
Bretschneider, E., 112, 115.

Brinckmann, J., 171.

Brinkley, F., 165, 168.

Bronze, connection of with pottery,

161.
Bronze-founder, influence of on potter.

161.
Browne, Th., 135.
Bucaro, 131 note i.
Budge, E. A. W., 159.
Burma, pottery of, 170.
Bushell, S. W., 95, 96, loi, 102, 124, 138,

140, 155, 163.
Buttmann, Ph., 122.
Byhan, A., 150.

Cambodja, liu-li of, 143.

Cardan, J., 122.

Catapatha Brahmana, 156.

Chang Yi, 115, 118.

Chao Chang-li, 99.

Chavannes, E., 83, 113, 124, 142, 144,

146, 149, 156, 160.
Che ngo, 115.

Cheng lei pen ts'ao, 112, 113.
Cheng Ngo, 171.
Ch'en Yung-chi, 171.
Chou H, 80, 154, 170, 171.
Chou Shan, 146.
Chu Yen, 154.
Chuang-tse, 117.
Chukchi, pottery of, 150, 153.
Cole, H. H., no, 162.
Compton, H., 154.
Cooking-stove, of iron, 79, 80.
Coomaraswamy, A. K., no, 161, 173.
Corsi, F., 129.

Court, pottery destined for the, loi.
Couvreur, S., 105, 117.
Crooke, W., 96, 159, 160.
Crucibles with natural glaze, 146.

Dal, v., 125, 126.

Dalton, O. M., 137.

Ditmar, K. v., 150.

Dobbs, H. R. C, 162, 165.

Double wheel, used by potters of China,

164; in Java, 165; in Japan, 165; in

Burma, 170.

Easter Island, pottery of, 149.
Eggeling, J., 156.
d'Entrecolles, 163.
Erman, A., 163.
Eskimo, pottery of, 149-150.
Evans, J., 175.

179

i8o

Index

Fabricius, B., 125, 138.
Fagfur, 126.
Fan yi ming i tsi, 139.
Farfor, Russian designation for porce-
lain, 126.
Ferrand, G., 143.
Fick, R., 160.
Fischer, A., 166.
Fluor-spar, 122-
Foote.R.B., 173.
Forke, A., 141.
Fourdrignier, E., 136.
Fowke, G., 166.
Franke, R. O., 172.
Freer, C., 82, 100.
Fu-chou, cinerary urns from, 84.
Fu-nan, 143.

Gait, E. A., 156.

Gammon, C. F., 82, 83.

Geerts, A. J. C., n8, 145.

Geiger, W., 174.

Gilyak, pottery of, 149.

Glass, 138 note 4, 142, 147.

Glazes, introduction of into China,

120-147.
Glazing, ancient Chinese recipe for, 135.
Gowland, W., 168.
Grandidier, E., 108.
Grenard, F., 150.
Gurdon, Major, 153.
de Groot, loi.

Hager, J., 121.

Hahn, E., 158.

du Halde, 163.

Han art, definition of, 81.

Han pottery , 79-8 1 , 92 , 1 43-1 44, 1 7 1 ; men-
tioned in Chinese records, 144 note 2.

Han-tan, kaolin of, 113.

Han ts'e, porcelanous ware of the Han
period or of Han style, 79, 10 1.

Han wu ku shi, 141.

Handcock, 174.

Hang mountains, 116.

Harrington, M. R., 153.

d'Herbelot, 126.

Herzfeld, E., 97.

Hillebrandt, A., 172.

Hing chou, porcelain of, 99.

Hippisley, 102.

Hirth, F., 103, 105, in, 113, 123, 130, 139

Ho-nan, porcelain of, 99.

Hobson, R. L., 84, 95, 98, 99, loi, 104,
108, 112, 120, 144, 145, 146, 148.

Holder, E., 155.

Holmes, W. H., 151.

Holt, H. F., 84.

Hou Han shu, 100, 168.

Hough, W., 161.

Hu Ch'ung, 143.

Hu Tsung, 140.

Hu-chou, pottery of, 106.

Hu K'ang-tsung, 149.

Hua yang hien chi, 144.

Hua yang kuo chi, 115.

Huai-lu, manufacture of stone disks in,

162.
Huai-nan-tse, 156.
Huang-chi, 143.

I-tsing, 95, 96.

Ides, E. Y., 136.

India, liu-li of, 140, 143; porcelain in,

95-;96; potter's wheel of, 156-157;

social position of potters in, 154.
Iran, pottery in, 173-174.

Jackson, A. V. W., 174.

Jade, not to be understood by murrines,

121.
Jao chou, kaolin of, 1 13; porcelain of, 99.
Japan, double wheel of, 165; potter's

wheel of, 158, 169-170; prehistoric

pottery of, 150.
Japan Society, Catalogue of Potteries

published by, 103.
Jataka, potter's wheel in the, 172.
Java, double wheel of, 165; potter's

wheel of, 152.
Jeremiah, 158.
Jouy, P. L., 168.
Julien, S., 86, 87, 97, 99, loi, 102, 104,

107, 108, 115, 118, 123, 145, 147, 163.
Juvenalis, 124.

Kaempfer, E., 136.

Kamtchatka, pottery of, 150.

Kaolin, notes on, 110-119.

Karakhoto, pottery of, 146 note 4.

Karlbeck, O., 84.

Katyayana, 172.

Kennedy, J., 137.

Kershaw, F. S., 82, 83.

Khasi, pottery of, 153.

Ki chung Chou shu, 160.

Kin, palace of, 146.

King te chen t'ao lu, 97, 98, loi, 105,

106, 163.
Kitsi, kiln of, 149.
Kiu T'ang shu, 168.
Kloss, C. B., 153.
Koptos, scented pottery of, 131.
Korea, pottery of, 166-167.
K'ou Tsung-shi, 113, 114.
Krause, J. H., 131.
Ku kin chu, 141.
Kuan-chung, kilns of, loi, 102.
Kuang chi, 143.
Kuang ya, 115.
Kuo I-kung, 143.
Kuo P'o, 114, 118.
Kuriles, pottery of, 150.

Lang, E., 154.

Le Compte, L., 136.

Index

i8i

Le Coq, A. v., 126.

Lei, type of jar, 79, 80.

Legendre, A. F., 149.

Legge, J., loi, 117, 160, 161.

Lesson, A., 149.

Li ki, 117.

Li Shao-kun, 142.

Li Shi-chen, 112, 113, 114, 115.

Liang shu, 142, 143.

Liao shi, 105.

Lie-tse, 115 note 5.

Ling piao lu i, 113, 147.

Liu Hi, 116.

Liu-li, 138-147.

Liu-li ku, kiln of, 145.

Liu Sun, 113, 146.

Lui-li wa, 100.

Lo-lo, unacquainted with pottery, 149.

Loadstone, 104, 106.

Lu Kuang-wei, 116.

Lubbock, J., 151.

Malayans, potter's wheel of, 152.

Man, E. H., 152, 153.

Mariette, P. J., 122.

Martialis, 124, 129.

Mason, O. T., 151.

MasQdi, 126.

Mei Piao, 115.

Melanesia, pottery of, 149, 153.

M^ly, F. de, 104, 117.

de Mendoza, 136.

Mineralogy, Chinese work on, 115.

Mo-ch'u,=» Javanese mojo, 143 note 6.

Mong K'ang, 144, 145.

Mong-tse, 160, 161.

Mongol dynasty, glazed pottery of, 145.

Morse, E. S., 164, 166, 169.

Mu-nan, 140.

Munro, N. G., 169.

Murdoch, J., 150.

Murra, 125, 128, 138, 145.

Murrine vases, 120-138.

Nan chou i wu chi, 145.

Nanjio, Bunyiu, 115.

Negrito, unacquainted with pottery, 149.

Negroes, unacquainted with potter's

wheel, 152.
Neuhof, J., 136.

New Zealand, pottery unknown in, 149.
Nichols, H. W., technical report of, 86-94.
Nicobar, pottery of, 153.
Nihongi, 168.
Nordenskiold, A. v., 121.
Nordenskiold, E., 151.

Okakura, 82.

Pai ngo, 111-114, 116.
Pai shan, 11 4-1 15.
Pai tun-tse, 118.
Palladius, 100, 105, 106, 138.

Pan-liang coins, 82, 83, 100.

Papinot, E., 168.

Parthians, kilns of, 122, 124, 126.

Pausanias, 125, 137.

Pelliot, P., 143.

Pen ts'ao kang mu, 104, 112, 113, 114.

Pen ts'ao yen i, 113, 114.

Periplus 121, 137, 138.

Perrot and Chipiez, 174.

Petrie, W. M. F., 137, 138, 139, 147.

Petrucci, 166.

Petuntse, no, in, 11 8-1 19.

Pie lu, 113, 114, 118.

Piatt, J., 166.

Pliny, 106, 121, 124, 127, 131, 132, 134.

Po Ku-i, 146.

Polar peoples, pottery of, 149-150.

Polynesians, unacquainted with pottery,

149.
Pompey, 123.
Porcelain, in India, 95-96; no inventor

of, 99; of Ts'e-chou, 104, 106.
Porcelanous Han pottery, analysis of

body of, 86; analysis of glaze of, 90;

chemical character of body of, 86;

mode of preparation of glaze of, 91;

physical character of body of, 87.
Potter's wheel, see wheel.
Pouvourville, A. de, 170.
Prestwich, no.
Propertius, 122, 124, 126.
Przyluski, J., 173.

Quichua, pottery-making of, 151.

RadlofI, W., 126, 174.

Rea, A., 173.

Reil, T., 131.

Rein, J. J., 168.

Reinaud, M., 97.

Rhys Davids, 160.

RinsO, Mamiya, 149.

Risley, Sir Herbert, 148, 154.

Rock-crystal, theories on the origin of,

131; vessels of, 132, 133, 137.
RockhiU, W. W., 150.
Roloflf, E. H., 122, 125.
Romans, 159.
Rondot, N., 99, 123.

Saddle, of liu-li, 142.
Saghalin, pottery of, 149.
Salv^tat, A., 86, 87, 90.
Samarra, excavations in, 97-98.
San kuo chi, 140.
Saroshevski, 152.
Sarre, F., 97, 98.
Satow, Sir Ernest, 165.
Scaliger, J. C, 122.
Scaliger, J. J., 122.
Scented pottery, 131.
Schmidt, H., 162.
Schrenck, L. v., 149.

l82

Index

Schurlz, H., 153.

Seger, H. A., 86, 87.

Seligmann, C. G., 151, 153.

Se-ma Siang-ju, 115.

Se-ma Ts'ien, 116, 124, 142.

Se-tiao, 143.

Shan hai king, 114, 116, 118.

Shen-nung, 160.

Shi i ki, 141.

Shi ki, 115, 124.

Shi king, alleged porcelain whistle in, loi.

Shi ming, 116.

Shi yao erh ya, 115.

Shu king, pottery not mentioned in, 102.

Shun, mythical originator of pottery,

159-160.
Shuo wen, definition of the term ts'e in,

102-103; definition of the term ngo in,

116.
Si king tsa ki, 142.

Siberia, pottery of tribes of, 149, 174.
Siebold, P. F. v., 149, 169.
Singalese, potter's wheel of, 151; potters

of, 161.
Smith, F. P., 117.
Smith, W., 130.
Soleyman, 96, 97,
Sprenger, A., 126.
Squier and Davis, 161.
Stage-fool, 117 note 2.
Statius, 124.
Stein, Sir Aurel, 98, 146.
Strahlenberg, P. J. v., 150.
Stull, R. T., 93.
Su chou fu chi, 116.
Su Kimg, 113.
Su-shen, 168 note i.
Su Sung, 113, 114.
Suetonius, 123.

Sumatra, potter's wheel of, 152.
Suzuki, T., 172.

Ta T'ang sin yu, 98.

Ta-ts'e, mountains of, 114.

Ta Ts'in, 138, 139, 143.

Ta Ts'ing i t'ung chi, 84, 104.

T'ai p'ing huan yii ki, 99, 104, 107, 143,
168.

T'ai p'ing yii Ian, 141, 142, 143, 145.

Takakusu, J., 96.

T'ang leu tien, 99.

T'ang pen ts'ao, 112.

T'ang pen yii, 112.

T'ang period, porcelain of, 99.

T'ang Shen-wei, 112.

T'ang shu, 99, 104, 105.

T'ang shu shi yin, 116.

T 'ao Hung-king, 1 1 1 - 1 1 3 .

T'ao shuo, 96, 98, 124, 145, 155.

Taoists, share of in the initial produc-
tion of porcelain, 118.

Thiersch, F., 122, 125, 128, 129, 132,
134.

Thurston, E., 155, 173.

Tibet, pottery of, 150.

Ting chou, porcelain of, 99; kaolin of,

113.
Ting Tu, 107.
Torii, 150, 166.
Ts'ai Yung, loi.
Tse jan hui, 145.
Ts'e, does not refer to common glazed

Han pottery, 100; discussion of the

term, 102-109.
Ts'e-chou, city of, 104, 107 note.
Tse su fu, 115.
Tsi yiin, 107, 146.
Tsin shu, 141.
Ts'ien Han shu, 107, 115, 140, 143,

145-
Ts'ui Yung, 146.
Ts'ung-lung, mountains of, 1 14.
T'u king pen ts'ao, 114.
T'u shu tsi ch'eng, 105.
Tung-fang So, 142.
Turkistan, porcelain in, 98.
Tu tuan, loi.
Tylor, E. B., 149.

Vedda, pottery of, 151,
Vigouroux, F., 174.
Voss, A., 161.

153.

Walters, H. B., 175.

Wan Chen, 145.

Wang Hui, 146.

Watt, G., no.

Watts, A. S., no.

Watters, T., ns.

Wave patterns, 81.

Wei lio, 138.

Wheel, potter's, 148-176; absent in
America, 150-151; associated with
the stage of agriculture, 159-161;
geographical distribution of, 150; in
Egypt, 159, 163, 174; in Old Testa-
ment, 158; in Palestine, 174; influence
of on progress of ceramics, 1 61-162;
invention of man, 152-155; of ancient
Europe, 175; of Babylonia, 154, 174;
of China, 162-164, 171, 175; of India,
155-157, 172; static in its distribution,
151; technical connection with cart-
wheel, 156-158.

Wheel-potters and moulders, distinct
professions in ancient China and
India, 154.

White, M., 155.

Wieger, L., 115, 117.

Wilkinson, J. G., 174.

Window-glass, 141.

Wo-tsii, burial customs of, 168 note i.

Wu, Emperor, 140, 142.

Wu li, 143.

Wu P'u, n5, 118.

Wu p'u pen ts'ao, 115.

Index 183

Wu ti ki, 116. Yu yang tsa tsu, 98, 140.

Wylie, A., 115. Yuan kien lei han, 143.

Yuan Ying, 96, 115, 131, 139.

Yakut, pottery of, 152. Yu chou, porcelain of, 99.

Yang-shan, 116. Yu t'ang kia huo, 146.

Yellow, color of earth, 114. Yuan shi, 105, 145.

Yen Kan-yiian, 79, 80, loi. Yiie chou, porcelain, of, 99.

Yen Shi-ku, 116, 145, 159. Yule, H., 126, 135.
Yi ts'ie king yin i, 96, 115, 131, 139.

Yu ngo, 117. Zimmermann, E., 99, 164.

fe-¥-

no

PLATE I.

Han Porcelanous Pottery (see p. 79).
Small jug. The yellowish-green, vitrified porcelanous glaze covers only the
medial portion of the body, inclusive of the two ears or loop handles. The exterior
of the neck and the base are unglazed. In the base, nail-marks are left. The
bottom is flat and without a rim. The clay appears to contain iron ore. Found
on top of a cast-iron stove (Plate II), in a grave near the village Ma-kia-chai, 5 li
north of the town Hien-yang, Shen-si Province.

Middle or end of the third century a.d
Height, 16.7 cm. Cat. No. 118718.

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

ANTHROPOLOGY, VOL. XV, PLATE I.

HAN PORCELANOUS JUG.

aoo ftoti 9irr .v?t 'Q 335 ;(' •

PLATE II.

Cast-Iron Stove (see p. 80).
Side and front views.
In type and style it exactly corresponds to the Han pottery burial cooking-
stoves. Posed on four feet in the form of elephant-heads, it is built in the shape
of a horse-shoe, and provided with a chimney, five cooking-holes, and a projecting
platform in front of the fire-chamber. On the latter is cast an inscription consisting
of six raised characters in Han style of writing, reading ta ki ch'ang i hou wang
("Great felicity! May it be serviceable to the lords!"); see p. 79. The iron core
is entirely decomposed, so that for exhibition purposes the object had to be braced
on wooden supports. Found in a grave near the village Ma-kia-chai, 5 li north
of the town Hien-yang, Shen-si Province. Inserted here as collateral evidence in
determining the provenience and date of the pottery jug illustrated in Plate I.
End of Han period (a.d. 220), or, generally, third century a.d.
Height, 35 cm; length, 71.5 cm; width, 40.5 cm. Cat. No. 120985.

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

ANTHROPOLOGY, VOL. XV, PLATE

Cast-Iron stove.

PLATE III.

Han Porcelanous Pottery.

Small jug. The interior of the neck is glazed in its upper part. Only the

upper portion of the body is coated with a thick, lustrous, porcelanous glaze of

greenish-yellow tinge, interspersed with small white dots, the glaze running down

in streaks over the lower unglazed part. This is the best-glazed piece in the lot.

Two rounded ears or loop handles are attached to the shoulders.

Middle or latter part of third century a.d.

Height, 20.1 cm. Cat. No. 1 18723.

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

ANTHROPOLOGY, VOL. XV, PLATE

HAN PORCELANOUS JUG.

Plate IV.

Han Porcelanous Pottery.
Large globular vase of harmonious proportions, decorated with two opposite
animal (tiger) -heads in flat relief, holding dead rings, of the same style as in com-
mon Han pottery. In the middle between these heads, but somewhat higher, and
opposite each other, are two semi-circular loop handles stuck on to the body of
the vessel, obviously for the passage of a cord, by means of which the vase was
held and carried. Each handle is bordered by two knotted bands moulded sep-
arately in high relief. This feature, — that is, the combination of loop handles with
tiger-heads, — to my knowledge, does not occur in ordinary Han pottery. The
slip appears to have been lost in part of the neck. The glaze exhibits various
tinges of light green, mingled with the deep brown of the slip, and interspersed
with black spots, the brown approaching that of maple-leaves in the autumn.
The red-brown slip covers one side of the neck and almost the entire base; in the
middle portion the porcelanous glaze appears to be laid over this slip. Three
bands, each consisting of three concentric grooves, in the same manner as in Han
pottery, are laid around the body. The bottom is flat, and has along the rim
a broad grayish ring of irregular form and depth. The walls of the vessel are un-
usually thick, and its :weight is almost six pounds.

Third century a.d.
Height, 354 cm. Cat. No. 1 18720.

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

ANTHROPOLOGY, VOL. XV, PLATE IV.

Han Porcelanous Vase.

PLATE V.

Han Porcelanous Pottery.
Small jar, now unglazed, but originally glazed in its middle portion; when
found, covered all over with masses of earth, the glaze having been destroyed by
chemical influences under ground, and a white engobe being left in its place. A
wave-band, each consisting of five lines, presumably done by means of a roller,
runs around the upper rim and the neck. A double knot in low relief is stamped
above the loop handles, which terminate in a flat ring filled with incised, radiating
lines, apparently the reproduction in clay of a metal ring. The bottom is raised
on a rim, about i cm high.

Third century a.d.
Height, 21.2 cm. Cat. No. 1 187 17.

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

ANTHROPOLOGY, VOL. XV, PLATE V.

Han Porcelanous Jar.

PLATE VI.

Han Porcelanous Pottery.
Globular vase, slightly asymmetrical, a narrow medial zone reaching from the
neck down to the shoulders being well coated with a uniform, lustrous, yellowish-
green porcelanous glaze; the neck and base showing a glossy brown sUp. Its inte-
rior is glazed over a space of 6 cm. Decorated with three incised wave-bands,
bordered by deep grooves, the lower one under the glaze. The almost semi-circular
loop handles exhibit a leaf or fish-bone design.

Third century A.D.
Height, 25.2 cm. Cat. No. 11 8721.

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

ANTHROPOLOGY, VOL. XV, PLATE VI.

HAN PORCELANOUS VASE.

Plate VI I.

Han Porcelanous Pottery.

Large globular vase, in its medial portion and inside of the neck coated with a
thin, but evenly distributed porcelanous glaze. Wave-band along upper rim, and
a broader wave-band of bolder design around the neck. The loop handles show
a fish-bone design incised under the glaze. Flat bottom without rim. Of almost
perfect workmanship.

Third century a.d.
Height, 34.8 cm. Cat. No. 1 18722.

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

ANTHROPOLOGY. VOL. XV, PLATE VII.

HAN PORCELANOUS VASE.

PLATE VIII.

Han Porcelanous Pottery.
Large vase with asymmetrical neck, apparently turned out by an unskilled
potter. A large piece is broken out of the neck (found in this condition) on the
side of the vase not shown in the illustration. The glaze, covering only the middle
portion, is thick and unevenly appHed, in some instances forming small warts or
globules. Decorated with two wave-bands. Loop handles with fish-bone design.
The bottom is raised on a rim i cm high.

Third century a.d.
Height, 27.2 cm. Cat. No. 1 18724.

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. ANTHROP0L03Y, VOL. XV, PLATE VIII.

HAN PORCELANOUS VA3E.

PLATE IX.

Han Porcelanous Pottery.
Large ovoid vase of good proportions, of light-reddish clay, glazed in the medial
portion and in the interior of the neck, exterior of neck and base being coated with
a brown slip. Two wave-bands. Loop-handles with leaf design of raised lines.

Third century a.d.
Height, 35.6 cm. Cat. No. 11 87 19.

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

ANTHROPOLOGY, VOL. XV, PLATE IX.

Han Porcelanous Vase.

PLATE X.

Han Porcelanous Pottery.
Jar of the type lei @. The bottom inside is glazed. The exterior is glazed
as far down as the middle of the body; the base is coated with a brown-red slip.
The handles are glazed only in their upper portions. A wave-band is run over
the shoulders under the glaze, passing below the loop handles. The latter are
wrought into the appearance of an elaborate animal-head of similar style, that
i s moulded in relief on the body of the vessel.

Third century a.d.
Height, 25.9 cm. Cat. No. 1 18864.

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

ANTHROFOLCGY. VOL. XV, PLATE X.

HAN FORCELANOUS jAR.

PLATE XI.

Chinese Potter's Wheel (see p. 162).

From kiln near Peking. Table of clay, 52 cm in diameter on the top, 60 cm
across the opening below.

In the collections of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.
Secured by the writer in 1903.

Height, 1.24 m. Cat. No ^.

12797

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.

ANTHROPOLOGY, VOL. XV, PLATE XI.

Chinese Potter's Wheel of Clay.

cm od >!

ii'J

' i i - ; \VJ : • ■'■' Vi.

:nuo^>?.

PLATE XII.

Chinese Potter's Wheel (see p. 162).
From kiln near Peking. The table is formed by a heavy stone disk 60 cm
in diameter and 9 cm thick. On top of it is placed a small wooden table, 35 cm in
diameter. The main shaft is of wood and 87 cm high; the two wooden side-supports
are 37 cm in length.

In the collections of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.
Secured by the writer in 1903.

Cat. No. — 7o_.
12798

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. ANTHROPOLOGY, VOL. XV, PLATE XII.

Chinese Potter's Wheel of Stone.

Publications

OF

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL
HISTORY

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SERIES
Volume XV, No. 3

CHICAGO
1919

Field Museum of Natural History ^.•

Publication 201
Anthropological Series Vol. XV, No. 3

SINO-IRANICA

Chinese Contributions to the History of Civilization
in Ancient Iran

With Special Reference to the History of
Cultivated Plants and Products

BY

Berthold Laufer

Curator of Anthropology

The Blackstone Expedition

Chicago
1919

CONTENTS

PAGE

Introduction 185

Sino-Iranica 208

Alfalfa 208

The Grape-Vine 220

The Pistachio 246

The Walnut 254

The Pomegranate 276

Sesame and Flax 288

The Coriander 297

The Cucumber 300

Chive, Onion, and Shallot 302

Garden Pea and Broad Bean . ^ 305

Saffron and Turmeric 309

Safflower 324

Jasmine 329

Henna 334

The Balsam-Poplar 339

Manna 343

asafoetida 353

Galbanum 363

Oak-Galls 367

Indigo 370

Rice 372

Pepper . 374

Sugar 376

Myrobalan 378

The **Gold Peach" 379

FU-TSE 379

Brassica 380

Cummin 383

The Date-Palm 385

The Spinach 392

Sugar Beet and Lettuce 399

Ricinus 403

The Almond 405

The Fig 410

The Olive 415

iii

iv Contents

Page

Cassia Pods and Carob 420

Narcissus 427

The Balm of Gilead 429

Note on the Language of Fu-lin 435

The Water-Melon 438

Fenugreek 446

NUX-VOMICA 448

The Carrot 451

Aromatics 455

Spikenard, p. 455. — Storax, p. 456. — Myrrh, p. 460. — Putchuck, p. 462. — Styrax
benjoin, p. 464.

The Malayan Po-se and Its Products 468

Alum, p. 474. — Lac, p. 475. — Camphor, p. 478. — Aloes, p. 480. — Amomum, p. 481. —
P, o-lo-te, p. 482.— Psoralea, p. 483.— Ebony, p. 485.

Persian Textiles 488

Brocades, p. 488. — Rugs, p. 492. — Yue no, p. 493. — ^Woolen §tuffs, p. 496. — Asbestos,
p. 498.

Iranian Minerals, Metals, and Precious Stones . . .• 503

Borax, p. 503. — Sal Ammoniac, p. 503. — Litharge, p. 508. — Gold, p. 509. — Oxides
of Copper, p. 510. — Colored Salt, p. 511. — Zinc, p. 511. — Steel, p. 515. —
Se-se, p. 516. — Emerald, p. 518. — Turquois, p. 519. — Lapis Lazuli, p. 520. —
Diamond, p. 521. — Amber, p. 521. — Coral, p. 523. — Bezoar, p. 525.

Titles o^ the Sasanian Government 529

Irano-Sinica 535

The Square Bamboo, p. 535. — Silk, p. 537. — Peach and Apricot, p. 539. — Cinnamon,
541. — Zedoary, p. 544. — Ginger, p. 545. — Mamiran, p. 546. — Rhubarb, p. 547. —

Jalsola, p. 551. — Emblic Myrobalan, p. 551. — Althaea, p. 651. — Rose of China,
_). 551. — Mango, p. 552. — Sandal, p. 552. — Birch, p. 552. — Tea, p. 553. — Onyx,
p. 554. — Tootnague, p. 555. — Saltpetre, p. 555. — Kaolin, p. 556.— Smilax pseudo-

china, p. 656. — Rag-paper, p. 557. — Paper Money, p. 559. — Chinese Loan-Words
in Persian, p. 564. — The Chinese in the Alexander Romance, p. 570.

Appendix I Iranian Elements in Mongol 572

Appendix II Chinese Elements in Turki 577

Appendix III The Indian Elements in the Persian Pharma-
cology of Abu Mansur Muwaffaq . . . 580

Appendix IV The Basil 586

Appendix V Additional Notes on Loan-Words in Tibetan 591

General Index 599

Botanical Index 617

Index of Words 621

/$^

Sino-Iranica

By Berthold Laufer

INTRODUCTION

If we knew as much about the culture of ancient Iran as about
ancient Egypt or Babylonia, or even as much as about India or China,
our notions of cultural developments in Asia wotdd probably be widely
different from what they are at present. The few literary remains left
to us in the Old-Persian inscriptions and in the Avesta are insufficient
to retrace an adequate picture of Iranian life and civilization; and,
although the records of the classical authors add a few touches here
and there to this fragment, any attempts at reconstruction, even
combined with these sources, will remain imsatisfactory. During the
last decade or so, thanks to a benign dispensation of fate, the Iranian
horizon has considerably widened: important discoveries made in
Chinese Turkistan have revealed an abundant literature in two hitherto
unknown Iranian languages, — the Sogdian and the so-called Eastern
Iranian.! We now know that Iranian peoples once covered an immense
territory, extending all over Chinese Turkistan, migrating into China,
coming in contact with Chinese, and exerting a profound influence on
nations of other stock, notably Turks and Chinese. The Iranians were
the great mediators between the West and the East, conveying the
heritage of Hellenistic ideas to central and eastern Asia and trans-
mitting valuable plants and goods of China to the Mediterranean area.
Their activity is of world-historical significance, but without the
records of the Chinese we should be unable to grasp the situation
thoroughly. The Chinese were positive utilitarians and always inter-
ested in matters of reality: they have bequeathed to us a great amount
of useful information on Iranian plants, products, animals, minerals,
customs, and institutions, which is bound to be of great service to
science.

The following pages represent Chinese contributions to the history
of civilization in Iran, which aptly fill a lacune in ovir knowledge of
Iranian tradition. Chinese records dealing with the history of Iranian
peoples also contain numerous transcriptions of ancient Iranian words,

^ Cf., for instance, P. Pelliot, Influences iraniennes en Asie centrale et en
Extreme-Orient (Paris, 191 1).

185

1 86 Sino-Iranica

part of which have tested the ingenuity of several sinologues and
historians; but few of these Sino-Iranian terms have been dealt with
accurately and adequately. While a system for the study of Sino-
Sanskrit has been successfully established, Sino-Iranian has been
woefully neglected. The honor of having been the first to apply the
laws of the phonology of Old Chinese to the study of Sino-Iranica is
due to Robert Gauthiot.^ It is to the memory of this great Iranian
scholar that I wish to dedicate this voltime, as a tribute of homage not only
to the scholar, but no less to the man and hero who gave his life for
France.^ Gauthiot was a superior man, a kiun-tse ^ ■J' in the sense of
Confucius, and every line he has written breathes the mind of a thinker
and a genius. I had long cherished the thought and the hope that I
might have the privilege of discussing with him the problems treated
on these pages, which would have considerably gained from his sagacity
and wide experience — #^A;^^®Tl5lfl;S.

Iranian geographical and tribal names have hitherto been identified
on historical grounds, some correctly, others inexactly, but an attempt
to restore the Chinese transcriptions to their correct Iranian prototypes
has hardly been made. A great amount of hard work remains to be
done in this field.^ In my opinion, it must be our foremost object first
to record the Chinese transcriptions as exactly as possible in their
ancient phonetic garb, according to the method so successfully inaugu-
rated and applied by P. Pelliot and H. Maspero, and then to proceed
from this secure basis to the reconstruction of the Iranian model.
The accurate restoration of the Chinese form in accordance with

^Cf. his Quelques termes techniques bouddhiques et manich^ens, Journal
asiatique, 191 1, II, pp. 49-67 (particularly pp. 59 et seq.), and his contributions to
Chavannes and Pelliot, Traits manich^en, pp. 27, 42, 58, 132.

2 Gauthiot died on September 11, 1 916, at the age of forty, from the effects of a
wound received as captain of infantry while gallantly leading his company to a
grand attack, during the first offensive of Artois in the spring of 1915. Cf. the
obituary notice by A. Meillet in Bull, de la Sod St e de Linguistique, No. 65,
pp. 127-132.

^ I hope to take up this subject in another place, and so give only a few examples
here. Ta-ho §wi ^ -^ ;JC is the Ta-ho River on which Su-li, the capital of Persia,
was situated {Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 7 b). Hirth (China and the Roman Orient, pp. 198,
313; also Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXXIII, 1913, p. 197), by means of a Cantonese
Tat-hot, has arrived at the identification with the Tigris, adding an Armenian
Deklath and Pliny's Diglito. Chinese to, however, corresponds neither to ancient
ti nor de, but only to *tat, dat, dad, dar, d'ar, while ho ^ represents *hat, kat, kad,
kar, kal. We accordingly have *Dar-kat, or, on the probable assumption that a
metathesis has taken place, *Dak-rat. Hence, as to the identification with the Tigris,
the vocalism of the first syllable brings difficulties: it is i both in Old Persian and in
Babylonian. Old Persian Tigram (with an alteration due to popular etymology, cf .
Avestan tiyriS, Persian fir, "arrow") is borrowed from Babylonian Di-ik-lat (that

Introduction 187

rigid phonetic principles is the essential point, and means much more
than any haphazardly made guesses at identification. Thus Mu-lu
;fC ^, name of a city on the eastern frontier of An-si (Parthia),^ has
been identified with Mourn (Muru, Merw) of the Avesta.^ Whether
this is historically correct, I do not wish to discuss here; from an his-
torical viewpoint the identification may be correct, but from a phonetic
viewpoint it is not acceptable, for Mu-lu corresponds to ancient *Muk-
luk, Mug-ruk, Bug-luk, Bug-rug, to be restored perhaps to *Bux-rux.^
The scarcity of Hnguistic material on the Iranian side has imposed
certain restrictions: names for Iranian plants, one of the chief subjects
of this study, have been handed down to us to a very moderate extent,
so that in many cases no identification can be attempted. I hope,
however, that Iranian scholars will appreciate the philological con-
tributions of the Chinese to Iranian and particularly Middle-Persian
lexicography, for in almost every instance it is possible to restore with
a very high degree of certainty the primeval Iranian forms from which
the Chinese transcriptions were accurately made. The Chinese scholars
had developed a rational method and a fixed system in reproducing
words of foreign languages, in the study of which, as is well known,
they took a profound interest; and from day to day, as our experience
widens, we have occasion to admire the soundness, solidity, and con-
sistency of this system. The same laws of transcription worked out
for Sanskrit, Malayan, Turkish, Mongol, and Tibetan, hold good also
for Iranian. I have only to ask Iranian scholars to have confidence in
our method, which has successfully stood many tests. I am convinced
that this plea is unnecessary for the savants of France, who are the

is, Dik-lat, Dik-rat), which has passed into Greek T^Tpi/j and TLypit and Elamite
Ti-ig-ra (A. Meillet, Grammaire du vieux perse, p. 72). It will thus be seen that
the Chinese transcription *Dak-rat corresponds to Babylonian Dik-rat, save the
vowel of the first element, which cannot yet be explained, but which will surely be
traced some day to an Iranian dialect. — The T'ai pHn hwan yii ki (Ch. 185, p. 19)
gives four geographical names of Persia, which have not yet been indicated. The
first of these is the name of a city in the form ^ ^ J3 Ho-p*o-kie, *Hat(r, 1)-
bwa-g'iat. The first two elements *Har-bwa correspond to Old Persian Haraiva
(Babylonian Hariva), Avestan Haraeva, Pahlavi *Harew, Armenian Hrew, — the
modern Herat. The third element appears to contain a word with the meaning
"city." The same character is used in jg (j{ JS!| Kie-li-pie, *G'iat-li-b'iet, name of a
pass in the north-eastern part of Persia; here *g'iat, *g'iar, seems to represwit
Sogdian yr, *7ara ("mountain"). Fan-tou S or |^ ^ (Ts'ien Han §u, Ch. 96 a),
anciently *Pan-tav, *Par-tav, corresponds exactly to Old Persian Par^ava, Middle
Persian Par^u.

* Hou Han Su, Ch. 116, p. 8 b.

^ HiRTH, China and the Roman Orient, p. 143.

' Cf. also the observation of E. H. Parker (Imp. and As. Quarterly Review,
1903* P- I54)» who noticed the phonetic difficulty in the proposed identification.

1 88 Sino-Iranica

most advanced and most competent representatives of the sinological
field in all its varied and extensive branches, as well as in other domains
of Oriental research. It would have been very tempting to simimarize
in a special chapter the Chinese method of transcribing Iranian and to
discuss the phonology of Iranian in the light of Chinese contributions.
Such an effort, however, appears to me premature at this moment:
our knowledge of Sino-Iranian is in its infancy, and plenty of fresh
evidence will come forward sooner or later from Turkistan manuscripts.
There is no doubt that many hundreds of new Iranian terms of various
dialects will be revived, and will considerably enrich our now scanty
knowledge of the Iranian onomasticon and phonology. In view of the
character of this publication, it was necessary to resort to a phonetic
transcription of both ancient and modem Chinese on the same basis,
as is now customary in all Oriental languages. The backwardness of
Chinese research is illustrated by the fact that we slavishly adhere to
a clumsy and antiquated system of romanization in which two and
even three letters are wasted for the expression of a single soimd. My
system of transliteration will be easily grasped from the following com-
parative table.

OLD ^TYLE

PHONETIC ST VLB

ng

a

ch

t

ch'

V

j

£ (while j serves to indicate the palatal

sh

S sonant, written also d£).

Other slight deviations from the old style, for instance, in the
vowels, are self-explanatory. For the sake of the numerous compara-
tive series including a large number of diverse Oriental languages it
has been my aim to standardize the transcription as far as possible,
with the exception of Sanskrit, for which the commonly adopted method
remains. The letter x in Oriental words is never intended for the
combination ks, but for the spirant surd, sometimes written kh. In
proper names where we are generally accustomed to kh, I have allowed
the latter to pass, perhaps also in other cases. I do not believe in super-
consistency in purely technical matters.

The linguistic phenomena, important as they may be, form merely
a side-issue of this investigation. My main task is to trace the history
of all objects of material culture, pre-eminently cultivated plants,
drugs, products, minerals, metals, precious stones, and textiles, in their
migration from Persia to China (Sino-Iranica), and others transmitted
from China to Persia (Irano-Sinica). There are other groups of Sino-
Iranica not included in this publication, particularly the animal world,

Introduction 189

games, and musical instruments.^ The manuscript dealing with the
fauna of Iran is ready, but will appear in another article the object of
which is to treat all foreign animals known to the Chinese according
to geographical areas and from the viewpoint of zoogeography in
ancient and modem times. My notes on the games (particularly polo)
and musical instnmients of Persia adopted by the Chinese, as well as
a study of Sino-Iranian geographical and tribal names, must likewise
be reserved for another occasion. I hope that the chapter on the titles
of the Sasanian government will be welcome, as those preserved in the
Chinese Annals have been identified here for the first time. New
results are also offered in the notice of Persian textiles.

As to Iranian plants of which the Chinese have preserved notices,
we must distinguish the following groups: (i) cultivated plants actually
disseminated from Iranian to Chinese soil, (2) cultivated and wild
plants of Iran merely noticed and described by Chinese authors, (3) drugs
and aromatics of vegetable origin imported from Iran to China. The
material, as far as possible, is arranged from this point of view and in
chronological order. The single items are ntmibered. Apart from the
five appendices, a hundred and thirty-five subjects are treated. At
the outset it should be clearly imderstood that it is by no means the
intention of these studies to convey the impression that the Chinese
owe a portion of their material culture to Persia. Stress is laid on the
point that the Chinese furnish us with immensely useful material for
elaborating a history of cultivated plants. The foundation of Chinese
civilization with its immense resources is no more affected by these
introductions than that of Europe, which received numerous plants
from the Orient and more recently from America. The Chinese merit
our admiration for their far-sighted economic policy in making so
many useful foreign plants tributary to themselves and amalgamating
them with their soimd system of agriculture. The Chinese were think-
ing, sensible, and broad-minded people, and never declined to accept
gratefully whatever good things foreigners had to offer. In plant-
economy they are the foremost masters of the world, and China presents
a unique spectacle in that all useful plants of the universe are cultivated
there. Naturally, these cultivations were adopted and absorbed by a
gradual process: it took the Chinese many centuries to become familiar
with the flora of their own country, and the long series of their herbals
(Pen ts'ao) shows us well how their knowledge of species increased
from the T'ang to the present time, each of these works stating the

^ Iranian influences on China in the matter of warfare, armor, and tactics have
been discussed in Chinese Clay Figures, Part I.

iQo Sino-Iranica

number of additional species as compared with its predecessor. The
introduction of foreign plants begins from the latter part of the second
century B.C., and it was two plants of Iranian origin, the alfalfa and
the grape-vine, which were the first exotic guests in the land of Han.
These were followed by a long line of other Iranian and Central-Asiatic
plants, and this great movement continued down to the fourteenth
century in the Yuan period. The introduction of American species in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries denotes the last phase in
this economic development, which I hope to set forth in a special
monograph. Aside from Iran, it was Indo-China, the Malayan region,
and India which contributed a large quota to Chinese cultivations.
It is essential to realize that the great Iranian plant-movement extends
over a period of a millennium and a half; for a learned legend has been
spread broadcast that most of these plants were acclimatized during
the Han period, and even simultaneously by a single man, the well-
known general, Cafi K'ien. It is one of my objects to destroy this
myth. Can K*ien, as a matter of fact, brought to China solely two
plants, — alfalfa and the grape-vine. No other plant is attributed to him
in the contemporaneous annals. Only late and untrustworthy (chiefly
Taoist) authors credit him also with the introduction of other Iranian
plants. As time advanced, he was made the centre of legendary fabrica-
tion, and almost any plant hailing from Central Asia and of doubtful
or obscure history was passed off under his name: thus he was ulti-
mately canonized as the great plant-introducer. Such types will
spring up everywhere under similar conditions. A detailed discussion
of this point will be found under the heading of each plant which by
dint of mere fantasy or misunderstanding has been connected with
Can K'ien by Chinese or European writers. In the case of the spinach
I have furnished proof that this vegetable cannot have been culti-
vated in Persia before the sixth century a.d., so that Can K'ien could
not have had any knowledge of it. All the alleged Cafi-K'ien plants
were introduced into China from the third or fourth century a.d. down
to the T'ang period inclusively (618-906). The erroneous reconstruction
alluded to above was chiefly championed by Bretschneider and Hirth;
and A. de Candolle, the father of the science of historical botany, who,
as far as China is concerned, depended exclusively on Bretschneider,
fell victim to the same error.

F. V. RiCHTHOFEN,' reproducing the long list of Bretschneider^s
Can-K'ien plants, observes, "It cannot be assumed that Can K'ien
himself brought along all these plants and seeds, for he had to travel

1 China, Vol. I, p. 459.

Introduction 191

with caution, and for a year was kept prisoner by the Hiun-nu.'* When
he adds, however, ''but the relations which he had started brought the
cultivated plants to China in the course of the next years," he goes on
guessing or speculating.

In his recent study of Can K'ien, Hirth^ admits that of cultivated
plants only the vine and alfalfa are mentioned in the Si ki} He is
unforttmate, however, in the attempt to safeguard his former position
on this question when he continues to argue that "nevertheless, the one
hero who must be looked upon as the pioneer of all that came from
the West was Chang K'ien.'* This is at best a personal view, but an
unhistorical and uncritical attitude. Nothing allows us to read more
from our sources than they contain. The TsH min yao §u, to which
Hirth takes refuge, can prove nothing whatever in favor of his
theory that the pomegranate, sesame, garUc,^ and coriander were
introduced by Can K'ien. The work in question was written at least
half a millennium after his death, most probably in the sixth century
A.D., and does not fall back on traditions coeval with the Han and
now lost, but merely resorts to popular traditions evolved long after
the Han period. In no authentic document of the Han is any allusion
made to any of these plants. Moreover, there is no dependence on
the TsH min yao Su in the form in which we have this book at present.
Bretschneider* said wisely and advisedly, "The original work was in
ninety-two sections. A part of it was lost a long time ago, and much
additional matter by later authors is found in the edition now cur-
rent, which is in ten chapters. . . . According to an author of the
twelfth century, quoted in the Wen hien Vun k'ao, the edition then
extant was already provided with the interpolated notes; and accord-
ing to Li Tao, also an author of the Sung, these notes had been added
by Sun Kufi of the Sung dynasty."^ What such a work would be
able to teach us on actual conditions of the Han era, I for my part
am unable to see.

1 Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXXVII, 1917, p. 92. The new translation of this
chapter of the Si ki denotes a great advance, and is an admirable piece of work. It
should be read by every one as an introduction to this volume. It is only on points
of interpretation that in some cases I am compelled to dissent from Hirth 's opinions.

^ This seems to be the direct outcome of a conversation I had with the author
during the Christmas week of 19 16, when I pointed out this fact to him and remarked
that the alleged attributions to Can K'ien of other plants are merely the outcome of
later traditions.

' This is a double error (see below, p. 302).

* Bot. Sin., pt. I, p, 77.

^ Cf. also Pelliot {Bull, de VEcole frangaise, Vol. IX, p. 434), who remarks,
"Ce vieil et pr^cieux ouvrage nous est parvenu en assez mauvais 6tat."

192 Sino-Iranica

It has been my endeavor to correlate the Chinese data first of all
with what we know from Iranian sources, and further with classical,
Semitic, and Indian traditions. Unfortunately we have only fragments
of Iranian literature. Chapter xxvii of the Bundahisn^ contains a
disquisition on plants, which is characteristic of the treatment of this
subject in ancient Persia. As it is not only interesting from this point
of view, but also contains a great deal of material to which reference
will be made in the investigations to follow, an extract taken from
E. W. West's translation^ may be welcome.

"These are as many genera of plants as exist: trees and shrubs,
fruit-trees, com, flowers, aromatic herbs, salads, spices, grass, wild
plants, medicinal plants, gtim plants, and all producing oil, dyes, and
clothing. I will mention them also a second time: all whose fruit is
not welcome as food of men, and are perennial, as the cypress, the
plane, the white poplar, the box, and others of this genus, they call
trees and shrubs {ddr va diraxt). The produce of everything welcome
as food of men, that is perennial, as the date, the myrtle, the lote-plum
{kundTy a thorny tree, allied to the jujube, which bears a small plum-
like fruit), the grape, the quince, the apple, the citron, the pomegranate,
the peach, the fig, the walnut, the almond, and others in this genus,
they call fruit (mivak). Whatever requires labor with the spade, and
is perennial, they call a shrub (diraxt). Whatever requires that they
take its crop through labor, and its root withers away, such as wheat,
barley, grain, various kinds of pulse, vetches, and others of this genus,
they call com (jurddk). Every plant with fragrant leaves, which is
cultivated by the hand-labor of men, and is perennial, they call an
aromatic herb (siparam). Whatever sweet-scented blossom arises at
various seasons through the hand-labor of men, or has a perennial root
and blossoms in its season with new shoots and sweet-scented blossoms,
as the rose, the narcissus, the jasmine, the dog-rose (nestarun)^ the
tulip, the colocynth {kavastlk)y the pandanus {kedi), the camhay the
ox-eye (/im), the crocus, the swallow-wort (zarda), the violet, the
kdrda, and others of this genus, they call a flower (gul). Everything
whose sweet-scented fruit, or sweet-scented blossom, arises in its sea-
son, without the hand-labor of men, they call a wild plant (vahdr or
nihdl). Whatever is welcome as food of cattle and beasts of burden
they call grass (giydh). Whatever enters into cakes (pes-pdrakthd)
they call spices (dvzdrihd). Whatever is welcome in eating of bread,
as torn shoots of the coriander, water-cress (kaklj), the leek, and

1 Cf. E. W. West, Pahlavi Literature, p. 98 (in Grundriss iran. Phil., Vol. II).

2 Pahlavi Texts, pt. I, p. 100 (Sacred Books of the East, Vol V).

Introduction 193

others of this genus, they call salad (terak or tdrak, Persian tarah).
Whatever is like spinning cotton, and others of this genus, they call
clothing plants (jdmak). Whatever lentil (macag) is greasy, as sesame,
duMdUj hemp, vandak (perhaps for zeto, 'olive,' as Anquetil supposes,
and Justi assimies), and others of this genus, they call an oil-seed
(rdkano). Whatever one can dye clothing with, as saffron, sapan-wood,
zacava, vaha, and others of this genus, they call a dye-plant (rag).
Whatever root, or gum (tuf), or wood is scented, as frankincense
(Pazand kendri for Pahlavi kundur), vardst (Persian barghast)^ kust,
sandalwood, cardamom (PSLzand kdkur a j Persian qaqulak, 'cardamoms,
or kdkul, kdkul, 'marjoram'), camphor, orange-scented mint, and
others of this genus, they call a scent (bod). Whatever stickiness
comes out from plants they call gtimmy (vadak). The timber
which proceeds from the trees, when it is either dry or wet, they
call wood (clbd). Every one of all these plants which is so, they call
medicinal (ddruk).

"The principal fruits are of thirty kinds, and there are ten species
the inside and outside of which are fit to eat, as the fig, the apple, the
quince, the citron, the grape, the mulberry, the pear, and others of this
kind. There are ten the outside of which is fit to eat, but not the
inside, as the date, the peach, the white apricot, and others of this kind;
those the inside of which is fit to eat, but not the outside, are the walnut,
the almond, the pomegranate, the coco-nut,^ the filbert {funduk), the
chestnut {^ahbalut), the pistachio nut, the vargdn^ and whatever else
of this description are very remarkable.

"This, too, it says, that every single flower is appropriate to an
angel {ame^ospend)^ as the white jasmine (saman) is for Vohuman, the
myrtle and jasmine (ydsmtn) are Auharmazd's own, the mouse-ear
(or sweet marjoram) is Asavahist's own, the basil-royal is Satviro's
own, the musk flower is Spendarmad's, the lily is Horvadad's, the
^amba is Amerodad's, Dm-pavan-Ataro has the orange-scented mint
(vddrang-bdd)j Ataro has the marigold (ddargun), the water-lily is
Avan's, the white marv is XurSed's, the ranges (prohahly rand, 'laurel')
is Mah's, the violet is Tir's, the meren is Gos's, the kdrda is Din-pavan-
Mitro's, all violets are Mitro's, the red chrysanthemimi (xer) is SrOs's,
the dog-rose (nestran) is Rasna's, the cockscomb is Fravardin's, the
sisebar is Vahram's, the yellow chrysanthemum is Ram's, the orange-

^ Pazand andrsar is a misreading of Pahlavi andrgll (Persian ndrgtl), from
Sanskrit ndrikela.

^ These are the thirty archangels and angels whose names are applied to the
thirty days of the Parsi month, in the order in which they are mentioned here, except
that Auharmazd is the first day, and Vohuman is the second.

194 Sino-Iranica

scented mint is Vad's, the trigonella is Din-pavan-Din^s, the hundred-
petalled rose is Din's, all kinds of wild flowers (vahdr) are Ard's, Agtad
has all the white Hom, the bread-baker's basil is Asman's, Zamyad has
the crocus, Maraspend has the flower of Ardasir, Aniran has this
Horn of the angel HOm, of three kinds."

From this extract it becomes evident that the ancient Persians paid
attention to their flora, and, being fond of systematizing, possessed a
classification of their plants; but any of their botanical literature, if
it ever existed, is lost.

The most important of the Persian works on pharmacology is the
Kitah-ulahniyat 'an haqdHq-uladviyat or "Book of the Foundations of
the True Properties of the Remedies," written about a.d. 970 by the
physician Abu Mansur Muvaffaq bin 'All alharavi, who during one
of his journeys visited also India. He wrote for Mansar Ibn Nuh II
of the house of the Samanides, who reigned from 961 to 976 or 977.
This is not only the earliest Persian work on the subject, but the
oldest extant production in prose of New-Persian literature. The
text has been edited by R. Seligmann from a unique manuscript
of Vienna dated a.d. 1055, the oldest extant Persian manuscript.^
There is a translation by a Persian physician, Abdul-Chalig
AcHUNDOW from Baku.^ The translation in general seems good, and
is provided with an elaborate commentary, but in view of the im-
portance of the work a new critical edition would be desirable.
The sources from which Abu MansOr derived his materials should
be carefully sifted: we should like to know in detail what he
owes to the Arabs, the Syrians, and the Indians, and what is due
to his own observations. Altogether Arabic influence is pre-eminent.
Cf. Appendix III.

A good many Chinese plant-names introduced from Iran have the
word Hu iSB prefixed to them. Hu is one of those general Chinese desig-
nations without specific ethnic value for certain groups of foreign
tribes. Under the Han it appears mainly to refer to Turkish tribes;
thus the Hiufi-nu are termed Hu in the Si ki. From the fourth century
onward it relates to Central Asia and more particularly to peoples of

* Codex Vindobonensis sive Medici Abu Mansur Muwaffak Bin All Heratensis
liber Fundamentorum Pharamacologiae Pars I Prolegomena et textum continens
(Vienna, 1859).

* Die pharmakologischen Grundsatze des A. M. Muwaffak, in R. Kobert's
Historische Studien aus dem Pharmakologischen Institute der Universitat Dorpat,
1873. Quoted as "Achundow, Abu Mansur." The author's name is properly
'Abdu'l-Khaliq, son of the Akhund or schoohnaster. Cf. E. G. Browne, Literary
History of Persia, pp. 11, 478.

Introduction 195

Iranian extraction.* Bretschneider^ annotated, "If the character
hu occurs in the name of a plant, it can be assumed that the plant is
of foreign origin and especially from western Asia, for by Hu Sen the
ancient Chinese denoted the peoples of western Asia." This is but
partially correct. The attribute hu is by no means a safe criterion in
stamping a plant as foreign, neither does hu in the names of plants
which really are of foreign origin apply to West-Asiatic or Iranian
plants exclusively.

1. The word hu appears in a nvtmber of names of indigenous and
partially wild plants without any apparent connection with the tribal
designation Hu or without allusion to their provenience from the Hu.
In the Li SaOj the famous elegies by K*u Yuan of the fourth century
B.C., a plant is mentioned under the name hu §en fi9 M, said to be a
fragrant grass from which long cords were made. This plant is not
identified.^

2. The acid variety of yu ffl {Citrus grandis) is styled hu kan
jffl "H*,* apparently an ironical nickname, which may mean "sweet like
the Hu." The tree itself is a native of China.

3. The term hu hien SB ^ occurs only in the T*u kin pen ts'ao of
Su Sun of the eleventh century as a variety of hien {Amarantus), which
is indigenous to China. It is not stated that this variety came from
abroad, nor is it known what it really was.

4. Hu mien man 4B M ^ is a variety of Rehmannia^^ a native
of China and Japan. The name possibly means "the man with the face
of a Hu."® C'en Ts'afi-k4 of the T'ang says in regard to this plant that
it grows in Lifi-nan (Kwan-tufi) , and is like ti hwah ^ "M {Rehmannia
glutinosa).

5. The plant known as ku-sui-pu ^ ^^ {Poly podium fortunei)
is indigenous to China, and, according to C*en Ts'afi-k'i, was called

* "Le terme est bien en principe, vers I'an 800, une designation des Iraniene et
en particulier des Sogdiens" (Chavannes and Pelliot, Traite manich^en, p. 231).
This in general is certainly true, but we have well authenticated instances, traceable
to the fourth century at least, of specifically Iranian plants the names of which are
combined with the element Hu, that can but apply to Iranians.

* Chinese Recorder, 1871, p. 221.

* Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. II, No. 420; and Li sao ts*ao mu su (Ch. 2,
p. 16 b, ed. of Ci pu isu lai ts^un ^u) by Wu Zen-kie ^^j^oi the Sung period.
See also T'ai pHn yu Ian, Ch. 994, p. 6 b.

* Bretschneider, op. cit., No. 236; W. T. Swingle in Plantae Wilsonianae,
Vol. 11, p. 130.

* Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 372.

* Cf. analogous plant-names like our Jews-mallow, Jews-thorn, Jews-ear, Jews-
apple.

196 Sino-Iranica

by the people of Kiafi-si iW S S hu-sun-kiaiif a purely local name
which does not hint at any relation to the Hu.

6. Another botanical name in which the word hu appears without
reference to the Hu is Vui-hu-ken ^ iSB tB, unidentified, a wild plant
diffused all over China, and first mentioned by C'en Ts'ari-k'i as grow-
ing in the river-valleys of Kiafi-nan.^

7-8. The same remark holds good for ts"e-hu lE (^) tR^ (Bupleurum
falcatum), a wild plant of all northern provinces and already described
in the Pie lu, and for tsHen-hu tif AB^ {Angelica decursiva), growing in
damp soil in central and northern China.

9. Su-hu-lan l§ SB ffll is an unidentified plant, first and solely men-
tioned by C'en Ts'afi-k'i,* the seeds of which, resembling those of
Pimpinella anisum, are eatable and medicinally employed. It grows
in Annam. One might be tempted to take the term as hu-lan of Su
(Se-5'wan), but ^u-hu-lan may be the transcription of a foreign word.

10. The ma-k'in S ff or niu ^ kHn {Viola pinnata), a wild violet,
is termed hu kHn 4B ]^ in the Tun U il ife by Cefi Tsiao % tl (i 108-62)
and in the T'w kin pen ts'ao of Su Sufi.** No explanation as to the mean-
ing of this hu is on record.

11. The hu-man {wan) iM S is a poisonous plant, identified with
Celsemium elegans.^ It is mentioned in the Pei hu lu^ with the synonyme
ye-ko Jp ®,* the vegetable yuii ^ {Ipomoea aquatica) being regarded as
an antidote for poisoning by hu-man. C'en Ts'afi-k'i is cited as au-
thority for this statement. The Lin piao lu i* writes the name ^ J5,
and defines it as a poisonous grass; hu-man grass is the common col-
loquial name. The same work further says, "When one has eaten of
this plant by mistake, one should use a broth made from sheep's blood
which will neutralize the poison. According to some, this plant grows
as a creeper. Its leaves are like those of the Ian hiah BS #, bright and
thick. Its poison largely penetrates into the leaves, and is not employed

* Pen ts'ao kari tnu, Ch. 16, p. 7 b.

* Op. cit., Ch. 13, p. 6 b.

* Op. cit., Ch. 13, p. 7 b.

* Op. cit., Ch. 26, p. 22 b.

• Op. cit., Ch. 26, ^. 21 \ Ciwu mifi U Vu k*ao, Ch. 14, p. 76.

• Cf. C. Ford, China Review, Vol. XV, 1887, pp. 215-220. Stuart (Chinese
Materia Medica, p. 220) says that the plant is unidentified, nevertheless he describes
it on p. 185.

^ Ch. 2, p. 18 b (ed. of Lu Sin-y^an).

• According to Matsumura (Shokubutsu mei-i, No. 2689), Rhus toxicodendron
(Japanese tsuta-uruH).

• Ch. B, p. 2 (ed. of Wu yi* Hen),

Introduction 197

as a drug. Even if an antidote is taken, this poison will cause death
within a half day. The goats feeding on the sprouts of this plant will
fatten and grow." Fan C'efi-ta ?E ^ ::^ (1126-93), in his Kwet hat
yii hen U^ mentions this plant under the name hu-man fen M C'hu-man
creeper"), sa3ang that it is a poisonous herb, which, rubbed and soaked
in water, will result in instantaneous death as soon as this liquid enters
the mouth. The plant is indigenous to southern China, and no reason
is given for the word hu being prefixed to it.

12. Hu fui-tse iS ^ ? (literally, ''chin of the Hu") is the name
of an evergreen tree or shrub indigenous throughout China, even to
Annam. The name is not explained, and there are no data in Chinese
records to indicate that it was introduced from abroad.^ It is men-
tioned by C'en Ts'afi-k'i as a tree growing in P*ifi-lin ^ #, and it is
said to be alluded to in the chapter Wu kin U 35l U iS of the Sun ^u.
The synonyme kHo'r-su S^^ ("sparrow-curd," because the birds
are fond of the fruit) first appears in the Pao U lun of Lei Hiao of the
fifth century. The people of Yue call the plant p'u-fui-tse W^^;
the southerners, lu-tu-tse ft ?P ■?', which according to Liu Tsi 20 ^
of the Ming, in his Fei sue /w H S Sl^, is a word from the speech of
the Man. The people of Wu term the tree pan-han-^'un ^ ^ ^,
because its fruit ripens at an early date. The people of Siafi M style
it hwan-p"o-nai S^i^ ("yellow woman's breast"), because the
fruit resembles a nipple.

13. In hu-lu JS8 or ^ ft (Lagenaria vulgaris) the first character is
a substitute for IS hu. The gourd is a native of China.

14. Hui-hui tou HI 0 S (Hterally, "Mohammedan bean") is a
plant everywhere growing wild in the fields.' The same remark holds
good for hu tou S9 A, a kind of bean which is roasted or made into
flour, according to the Pen ts*ao H i, a weed growing in rice-fields. Wu
K'i-ts'iin, author of the Ci wu min H Vu k"ao, says, "What is now hu tou,
grows wild, and is not the hu tou of ancient times."*

15. Yen hu su Mt^M denotes tubers of Corydalis ambigua: they
are little, hard, brown tubers, of somewhat flattened spherical form,
averaging half an inch in diameter. The plant is a native of Siberia,

^ Ed. of Ci pu tsu cai ts'un Su, p. 30.

* Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 161) is mistaken in saying that several
names of this plant are "possibly transliterations of Turkic or Mongol names."
There are no such names on record. The tree is identified with Elosagnus longipes
or pungens.

* Ci wu min H Vu k'ao, Ch. 2, p. 11 b. _It is first mentioned in the Kiu hwan
pen ts'ao, being also called na-ho-tou 3P ^ ^

* See, further, below, p. 305.

193 Sino-Iranica

Kamchatka, and the Amur region, and flowers upon the melting of the
snow in early spring.^ According to the Pen ts'ao kan mu^^ the plant
is first mentioned by C'en Ts'an-k'i of the T'ang period as growing in
the country Hi ^, and came from Nan-tun ^ % (in Korea). Li §i-6en
annotates that by Hi the north-eastern barbarians should be under-
stood. Wan Hao-ku S SF !&, a physician of the thirteenth century,
remarks that the name of the plant was originally hilan ^ hu-sUy but
that on account of a taboo (to avoid the name of the Emperor Cen-tsun
of the Sung) it was altered into yen-husu; but this explanation cannot
be correct, as the latter designation is already ascribed to C'en Ts'afi-k'i
of the T*ang. It is not known whether hu in this case would allude to
the provenience of the plant from Korea. In the following example,
however, the allusion to Korea is clear.

The mint, W ^ po-ho, *bak-xa (Mentha arvensis or aquatica)j occurs
in China both spontaneously and in the cultivated state. The plant
is regarded as indigenous by the Chinese, but also a foreign variety is
known as hu pa-ho (*bwat-xa) IS ^ ft.* C'en §i-lian ffi ± fi., in his
St sin pen ts*ao Jttt^^^, published in the tenth century, introduced
the term wu ^ pa-ho, "mint of Wu" (that is, Su-Sou, where the best
mint was cultivated), in distinction from hu pa-ho, "mint of the Hu."
Su Sun, in his T*u kin pen ts'ao, written at the end of the eleventh
century, affirms that this foreign mint is similar to the native species,
the only difference being that it is somewhat sweeter in taste; it grows
on the border of Kian-su and Ce-kian, where the people make it
into tea; commonly it is styled Sin-lo MM. po-ho, "mint of Sinra"
(in Korea). Thus this variety may have been introduced under the
Sung from Korea, and it is to this country that the term hu may refer.

Li Si-5en relates that Sun Se-miao ^ JS S, in his TsHen kin fan
^ ^ j^,* writes the word H # fan-ho, but that this is erroneously due
to a dialectic pronunciation. This means, in other words, that the first
character fan is merely a variant of ^,^ and, like the latter, had the
phonetic equivalent *bwat, bat.*

* Hanbury, Science Papers, p. 256.
2 Ch. 13, p. 13.

' The word po-ho is Chinese, not foreign. The Persian word for "peppermint"
is pudene, pudina, budenk (Kurd punk) ; in Hindi it is pudUnd or pudinekd, derived
from the Persian. In Tibetan (Ladakh) it is p'o-lo-lin; in the Tibetan written lan-
guage, byi-rug-pa, hence Mongol jirukba; in Manchu it is /or jo.

* See below,, p. 306.

^ As Sun Se-miao lived in the seventh century, when the Korean mint was not
yet introduced, his term fan-ho could, of course, not be construed to mean "foreign
mint."

* In T*oung Pao (1915, p. 18) Pelliot has endeavored to show that the char-

Introduction 199

In the following example there is no positive evidence as to the
significance of hu. Hu wan iz ^^ "SB EE ffi ^ C* envoy of the king of the
Hu") is a synonyme of tu hwo M JS {Peucedanum decursivum)} As
the same plant is also styled kHan tsHn ^ W, kHaii hwoy and hu kHan
H ie^%^^, the term K'ian (*Giafi) alluding to Tibetan tribes, it
may be inferred that the king of the Hu likewise hints at Tibetans.
In general, however, the term Hu does not include Tibetans, and the
present case is not conclusive in showing that it does. In the chapter
on the walnut it will be seen that there are two introduced varieties, —
an Iranian {hu Vao) and a Tibetan one (k'ian Vao).

In hu ts'ai {Brassica rapa) the element hu, according to Chinese
tradition, relates to Mongolia, while it is very likely that the vegetable
itself was merely introduced there from Iran.^

In other instances, plants have some relation to the Hu; but what
this relation is, or what group of tribes should be understood by Hu,
is not revealed.

There is a plant, termed hu hwan lien M H ^, the hwan-lien {Coptis
teeta) of the Hu, because, as Li Si-5en says, its physical characteristics,
taste, virtue, and employment are similar to those of hwan-lien. It
has been identified with Barkhausia repens. As evidenced by the

acter fan, on the authority of K'aii-hi, could never have had the pronunciation po
nor a final consonant, and that, accordingly, in the tribal name T'u-fan (Tibet) the
character fan, as had previously been assumed, could not transcribe the Tibetan
word bod. True it is that under the character in question K'an-hi has nothing to
say about po, but ^ is merely a graphic variant of if, with which it is phonetically
identical. Now under this character, K'an-hi indicates plainly that, according to the
Tsi yiin and Cen yiin, fan in geographical names is to be read p'o (anciently *bwa)
^ (fan-ts'ie ^ jft), and that, according to the dictionary 5i wen, the same char-
acter was pronounced p*o (*bwa) §|, p'u J^. and p'a»l|(cf. also Schlegel, Secret of
the Chinese Method, pp. 21-22). In the ancient transcription S or j|f 5fiG fan-tou,
*par-tav, reproduction of Old Persian Parl?ava (see above, p. 1 87) ,fan corresponds very
well to par or 6ar; and if it could interchange with the phonetic^ pa, *bwat, bwar, it is
perfectly clear that, contrary to Pelliot's theory, there were at least dialectic cases,
where ^ was possessed of a final consonant, being sounded bwat or bwar. Con-
sequently it could have very well served for the reproduction of Tibetan bod. From
another phonetic viewpoint the above case is of interest: we have *bak-xa and
*bwat-xa as ancient names for the mint, which goes to show that the final con-
sonants of the first element were vacillating or varied in different dialects (cf . T'oung
Pao, 1916, pp. 110-114).

' Tun U (above, p. 196), Ch. 75, p. 12 b.

* See below, p. 381. In the term hu yen ("swallow of the Hu"), A« appears to
refer to Mongolia, as shown by the Manchu translation monggo tibin and the TurkI
equivalent qalmaq qarlogac (Mongol xatun xariyatsai, Tibetan gyi-gyi k'ug-rta; cf.
Ross, Polyglot List of Birds, No. 267). The bird occurs not only in Mongolia, but
also in Ce-kian Province, China (see Kwei ki sanfu ^m # ^ H ® St, Ch. 2, p. 8;
ed. of Si yin hiian ts'un Su).

200 Sino-Iranica

attribute Hu, it may be of foreign origin, its foreign name being 91 M
H W ko-hu-lu-tse (*kat-wu-lou-dzak). Unfortunately it is not indicated
at what time this transcription was adopted, nor does Li Si- Sen state
the source from which he derived it. The only T'ang author who
mentions the plant, Su Kun, does not give this foreign name. At all
events, it does not convey the impression of representing a T'ang
transcription; on the contrary, it bears the ear-marks of a transcription
made under the Yuan. Su Kun observes, "Hu hwan-lien is produced
in the country Po-se and grows on dry land near the sea-shore. Its
sprouts are like those of the hia-ku ts^ao Kte ^ {Brunella vulgaris).
The root resembles a bird's bill; and the cross-section, the eyes of the
mainah. The best is gathered in the first decade of the eighth month."
Su Sufi of the Sung period remarks that the plant now occurs in Nan-hai
(Kwafi-tun), as well as in TsHn-lufi ^ Bl (Sen-si and Kan-su). This
seems to be all the information on record.^ It is not known to me that
Barkhausia grows in Persia; at least, Schlimmer, in his extensive dic-
tionary of Persian plants, does not note it.

Sou-ti Wi^ is mentioned by C*en Ts*afi-k*i as a plant (not yet
identified) with seeds of sweet and warm flavor and not poisonous, and
growing in Si-fan (Western Barbarians or Tibet) and in northern China
^b d:, resembling kwai hian ^ ^ (Pimpinella anisum). The Hu make
the seeds into a soup and eat them.^ In this case the term Hu may be
equated with Si-fan, but among the Chinese naturalists the latter term
is somewhat loosely used, and does not necessarily designate Tibet.'

Hiun-kHun ^ H {Conioselinum univittatum) is an imibelliferous
plant, which is a native of China. As early as the third centvu-y a.d.
it is stated in the Wu H pen ts'ao^ that some varieties of this plant grow
among the Hu; and Li Si-6en annotates that the varieties from the Hu
and Zufi are excellent, and are hence styled hu kHun M^.^ It is stated
that this genus is found in mountain districts in Central Eiirope,
Siberia, and north-western America.^

1 What Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 65) says regarding this plant is
very inexact. He arbitrarily identifies the term Hu with the Kukunor, and wrongly
ascribes Su Kun's statement to T'ao Hun-kin. Such an assertion as, "the drug is
now said to be produced in Nan-hai, and also in Sen-si and Kan-su," is misleading,
as this "now" comes from an author of the Sung period, and does not necessarily
hold good for the present time.

2 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 26, p. 22 b. —
^ Cf. below, p. 344.

^Cf. Beginnings of Porcelain, p. 115.

^ He also imparts a Sanskrit name from the Suvamaprabhasa-sutra in the form
M ^ ^^se-mo-kHe, *3a-mak-gia. The genus is not contained in Watt's Dictionary.
^ Treasury of Botany, Vol. I, p. 322.

Introduction 201

In hu tsiao ("pepper") the attribute hu distinctly refers to India.^
Another example in which hu alludes to India is presented by the
term hu kan kian 68 ^ K ("dried ginger of the Hu"), which is a
synonyme of THen-iu % ^ kan kian ("dried ginger of India"), "pro-
duced in the country of the Brahmans."^

In the term hufen S9 1^ (a cosmetic or facial powder of white lead),
the element hu bears no relation to the Hu, although it is mentioned
as a product of KuCa' and subsequently as one of the city of Ili (Yi-li-
pa-li).* In fact, there is no Chinese tradition to the effect that this
substance ever came from the Hu.^ F. P. Smith* observed with refer-
ence to this subject, "The word hu does not denote that the substance
was formerly obtained from some foreign source, but is the result of a
mistaken character." This evidently refers to the definition of the
dictionary Si min P? ^ by Liu Hi of the Han, who explains this hu
by IS hu ("gruel, congee"), which is mixed with grease to be rubbed
into the face. The process of making this powder from lead is a thor-
oughly Chinese affair.

In the term hu yen tR S ("salt of the Hu") the word Hu refers to
barbarous, chiefly Tibetan, tribes bordering on China in the west; for
there are also the synonymes lun 1&, yen and kHan ^ yen, the former
already occurring in the Pie lu. Su Kun of the seventh century equalizes
the terms lun yen and hu yen, and gives fu-ten ^ ^ yen as the word
used in Sa-^ou ^ ^. Ta Min 'J<. ^, who wrote in a.d. 970, says that this
is the salt consumed by the Tibetans (Si-fan), and hence receives the
designation ^un or k'ian yen. Other texts, however, seem to make a
distinction between hu yen and }^un yen: thus it is said in the biography
of Li Hiao-po $ # f & in the Wei 3u, "The salt of the Hu cures pain
of the eye, the salt of the Zufi heals ulcers."

The preceding examples are sufficient to illustrate the fact that
the element hu in botanical terms demands caution, and that each case
must be judged on its own merits. No hard and fast rule, as deduced
by Bretschneider, can be laid down: the mere addition of hu proves
neither that a plant is foreign, nor that it is West-Asiatic or Iranian.
There are native plants equipped with this attribute, and there are
foreign plants thus characterized, which hail from Korea, India, or

^ See below, p. 374.

* Cen lei pen ts*ao, Ch. 6, p. 67 b.

' Cou Su, Ch. 50, p. 5; Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 5 b.

* Ta Min i t'uA U, Ch. 89, p. 22; Kwan yu ki, Ch. 24, p. 6 b.

* Pen ts'ao kari mu, Ch. 8, p. 6; Geerts (Produits, pp. 596-601), whose transla-
tion "poudre des pays barbares" is out of place.

* Contributions towards the Materia Medica of China, p. 231.

202 Sino-Iranica

some vaguely defined region of Central Asia. The fact, however, re-
mains that there are a nimiber of introduced, cultivated Hu plants
coming from Iranian lands, but in each and every case it has been my
endeavor to furnish proof for the fact that these actually represent
Iranian cultivations. With the sole exception of the walnut, the his-
tory of which may tolerably well be traced, the records of these Hu
plants are rather vague, and for none of them is there any specific
account of the introduction. It is for botanical rather than historical
reasons that the fact of the introduction becomes evident. It is this
hazy character of the traditions which renders it impossible to connect
these plants in any way with Can K'ien. Moreover, it cannot be
proved with certainty that any names of plants or products formed
with the element hu existed under the Han. The sole exception would
be hu ts^aiy^ but its occurrence in the T*un su wen of the Han is not
certain either; and this hu, according to Chinese tradition, refers to
Mongolia, not to Iran. Another merely seeming exception is presented
by hu fun-let,^ but this is a wild, not a cultivated tree; and hu, in this
case, has a geographical rather than an ethnographical significance. In
the wooden documents discovered in Turkistan we have one good,
datable instance of a Hu product; and this is hu Vie ("iron of the Hu"
and implements made of such iron). These tablets belong to the Tsin
period (a.d. 265-419),* while in no wooden document of the Han has
any compound with Hu as yet been traced. Again, all available evi-
dence goes to show that these Hu plants were not introduced earlier
than the Tsin dynasty, or, generally speaking, duting what is known
as the Leu C'ao or six minor dynasties, covering the time from the
downfall of the Han to the rise of the T'ang dynasty. It is noteworthy
that of none of these plants is an Iranian name on record.

The element hu, in a few cases, serves also the purpose of a tran-
scription: thus probably in the name of the coriander, hu-swi* and
quite evidently in the name of the fenugreek, hu4u-pa}

Imported fruits and products have been named by many nations
for the countrie^from which they hailed or from the people by whom
they were first brought. The Greeks had their "Persian apple" (jirfKov
UepcTLKdv, "peach"), their "Medic apple" (/x^Xov MrjSiKdv, "citron"),
their "Medic grass" (MijSui} ir6a, "alfalfa"), and their "Armenian

1 Below, p. 381.

* Below, p. 339.

* Chavannes, Documents chinois d^couverts par Aurel Stein, pp. 168, 169.

* Below, p. 298.

* Below, p. 446. It thus occurs also in geographical names, as in Hu-6'a-la
(Guzerat); see Hirth and Rockhill, Chao Ju-kua, p. 92.

Introduction 203

apple'* (fjLrjXov 'Apfi€viaK6Vf "apricot")- Rabelais (1483-1553)^ has
already made the following just observation on this point, " Les autres
[plantes] ont retenu le nom des regions des quelles furent ailleurs
transport^es, comme pommes medices, ce sont pommes de Medie, en
laquelle furent premierement trouvees; pommes puniques, ce sont
grenades, apport^es de Punicie, c'est Carthage. Ligusticunty c'est
Hvesche, apport^e de Ligurie, c'est la couste de Genes: rhabarbe, du
fleuve Barbare nomm^ Rha, comme atteste Ammianus: santonique,
fenu grec; castanes, persiques, sabine; stoechas, de mes isles Hieres,
antiquement dites Stoechades; spica celtica et autres." The Tibetans,
as I have shown,^ form many names of plants and products with Bal
(Nepal), Mon (Himalayan Region), rGya (China), and Li (Khotan).

In the same manner we have numerous botanical terms preceded
by "American, Indian, Turkish, Turkey, Guinea," etc.

Aside from the general term Hu, the Chinese characterize Iranian
plants also by the attribute Po-se (Parsa, Persia): thus Pose tsao
("Persian jujube") serves for the designation of the date. The term
Po-se requires great caution, as it denotes two different countries, Persia
and a certain Malayan region. This duplicity of the name caused
grave confusion among both Chinese and European scholars, so that
I was compelled to devote to this problem a special chapter in which
all available sources relative to the Malayan Po-se and its products
are discussed. Another tribal name that quite frequently occurs in
connection with Iranian plant-names is Si-2ufi B 3ft ("the Western
Zun"). These tribes appear as early as the epoch of the Si kin and
Su kirif and seem to be people of Hiufi-nu descent. In post-Christian
times Si-2un developed into a generic term without ethnic significance,
and vaguely hints at Central-Asiatic regions. Combined with botanical
names, it appears to be synonymous with Hu.* It is a matter of course
that all these geographical and tribal allusions in plant-names have
merely a relative, not an absolute value; that is, if the Chinese, for
instance, designate a plant as Persian (Po-se) or Hu, this signifies that
from their viewpoint the plant under notice hailed from Iran, or in
some way was associated with the activity of Iranian nations, but it
does not mean that the plant itself or its cultivation is peculiar or due
to Iranians. This may be the case or not, yet this point remains to be
determined by a special investigation in each particular instance.
While the Chinese, as will be seen, are better informed on the history

* Le Gargantua et le Pantagruel, Livre III, chap. L.

* Toung Pao, 1916, pp. 409, 448, 456.

^ For examples of its occurrence consult Index.

204 Sino-Iranica

of important plants than any other people of Asia (and I should even
venture to add, of Europe), the exact and critical history of a plant-
cultivation can be written only by heeding all data and consulting all
sources that can be gathered from every quarter. The evidence accruing
from the Semites, from Egypt, Greece, and Rome, from the Arabs,
India, Camboja, Annam, Malayans, Japan, etc., must be equally
requisitioned. Only by such co-ordination may an authentic result be
hoped for.

The reader desirous of information on the scientific literatiire
of the Chinese utilized in this publication may be referred to Bret-
schneider's "Botanicon Sinicum" (part I).^ It is regrettable that no
Pen ts'ao (Herbal) of the T'ang period has as yet come to light, and
that for these works we have to depend on the extracts given in later
books. The loss of the Hu pen ts'ao (''Materia Medica of the Hu")
and the C'u hu kwo fan ("Prescriptions from the Hu Countries") is
especially deplorable. I have directly consulted the Cen lei pen ts'ao,
written by T'afi Sen-wei in 1108 (editions printed in 1521 and 1587),
the Pen ts'ao yen i by K'ou Tsufi-§i of 11 16 in the edition of Lu Sin-
yuan, and the well-known and inexhaustible Pen ts'ao kan mu by Li
Si-6en, completed in 1578. With all its errors and inexact quotations,
this remains a monumental work of great erudition and much solid
information. Of Japanese Pen ts'ao (Honzo) I have used the Yamato
hon&d, written by Kaibara Ekken in 1709, and the Honzo komoku keimo
by Ono Ranzan. Wherever possible, I have resorted to the original
source-books. Of botanical works, the Kwan k'ilnfan p'u, the Hwa p"u^
the Ci wu min H Vu k'ao, and several Japanese works, have been utilized.
The Yu yan tsa tsu has yielded a good many contributions to the plants
of Po-se and Fu-lin; several Fu-lin botanical names hitherto unexplained
I have been able to identify with their Aramaic equivalents. Although
these do not fall within the subject of Sino-Iranica, but Sino-Semitica,
it is justifiable to treat them in this connection, as the Fu-lin names
are given side by side with the Po-se names. Needless to say, I have
carefully read all accounts of Persia and the Iranian nations of Central
Asia contained in the Chinese Annals, and the material to be found
there constitutes the basis and backbone of this investigation.^

There is a class of literature which has not yet been enlisted for the

1 We are in need, however, of a far more complete and critical history of the
scientific literature of the Chinese.

2 The non-sinological reader may consult to advantage E. H. Parker, Chinese
Knowledge of Early Persia (Imp. and Asiatic Quarterly Review, Vol. XV, 1903,
pp. 144-169) for the general contents of the documents relating to Persia. Most
names of plants and other products have been omitted in Parker's article.

Introduction 205

study of cultivated plants, and this is the early literature on medicine.
Prominent are the books of the physician Can Cun-kin §S W S or
Can Ki §1 tS, who is supposed to have lived under the Later Han at
the end of the second century a.d. A goodly ntimber of cultivated plants
is mentioned in his book Kin kwei yii han yao lio fan lun ^ R ^ ®
Ic S ZS" li or abbreviated Kin kwei yao lio} This is a very interesting
hand-book of dietetics giving detailed rules as to the avoidance of
certain foods at certain times or in certain combinations, poisonous
effects of articles of diet, and prescriptions to counteract this poison.
Neither this nor any other medical writer gives descriptions of plants
or notes regarding their introduction; they are simply enumerated in
the text of the prescriptions. But it is readily seen that, if such a work
can be exactly dated, it has a chronological value in determining whether
a given plant was known at that period. Thus Can Ej mentions, of
plants that interest us in this investigation, the walnut, the pome-
granate, the coriander, and Allium scorodoprasum (hu swan). Unfortu-
nately, however, we do not know that we possess his work in its
original shape, and Chinese scholars admit that it has suffered from inter-
polations which it is no longer possible to unravel. The data of such
a work must be utilized with care whenever points of chronology are
emphasized. It was rather tempting to add to the original prescrip-
tions of Can Ki, and there is no doubt that the subsequent editions
have blended primeval text with later comments. The earliest com-
mentary is by Wan Su-ho 3£ -^ Si of the Tsin. Now, if we note that
the plants in question are otherwise not mentioned tinder the Han, but
in other books are recorded only several centuries later, we can hardly
refrain from entertaining serious doubts as to Can Ki's acquaintance
with them. A critical bibliographical study of early Chinese medical
literature is an earnest desiderattun.

A. DE Candolle's monumental work on the "Origin of Cultivated
Plants" is still the only comprehensive book on this subject that we
have. It was a masterpiece for his time, and still merits being made
the basis and starting-point for any investigation of this kind. De Can-
doUe possessed a really critical and historical spirit, which cannot be
said of other botanists who tried to follow him on the path of his-
torical research; and the history of many cultivated plants has been
outlined by him perfectly well and exactly. Of many others, our con-
ceptions are now somewhat different. Above all, it must be said that

* Reprinted in the Yii tswan i tsun kin kien of 1739 (Wylie, Notes on Chinese
Literature, p. loi). A good edition of this and the other works of the same author on
the basis of a Sung edition is contained in the medical Ts'uii-§u, the / t'ui^ le'h mo
ts'iian Su, published by the Ce-kiafi gu ku.

2o6 Sino-Iranica

since his days Oriental studies have made such rapid strides, that his
notes with regard to India, China, and Japan, are thoroughly out of
date. As to China, he possessed no other information than the super-
ficial remarks of Bretschneider in his ** Study and Value of Chinese
Botanical Works," ^ which teem with mistmderstandings and errors.'
De CandoUe's conclusions as to things Chinese are no longer acceptable.
The same holds good for India and probably also for Egypt and western
Asia. In point of method, de CandoUe has set a dangerous precedent
to botanists in whose writings this effect is still visible, and this is
his over-valuation of purely linguistic data. The existence of a native
name for a plant is apt to prove little or nothing for the history of
the plant, which must be based on doctmientary and botanical evi-
dence. Names, as is well known, in many cases are misleading or
deceptive; they constitute a welcome accessory in the chain of evidence,
but they cannot be relied upon exclusively. It is a different case, of
course, if the Chinese offer us plant-names which can be proved to be
of Iranian origin. If on several occasions I feel obliged to uphold
V. Hehn against his botanical critic A. Engler, such pleas must not
be construed to mean that I am an unconditional admirer of Hehn;
on the contrary, I am wide awake to his weak points and the short-
comings of his method, but wherever in my estimation he is right, it
is my duty to say that he is right. A book to which I owe much in-
formation is Charles Joret's "Les Plantes dans Tantiquit^ et au
moyen dge" (2 vols., Paris, 1897, 1904), which contains a sober and
clear account of the plants of ancient Iran.*

A work to which I am greatly indebted is " Terminologie m^dico-
pharmaceutique et anthropologique frangaise-persane, " by J. L.
ScHLiMMER, Hthographed at Teheran, 1874.* This comprehensive work
of over 600 pages folio embodies the lifelong labors of an instructor at
the Pol5rtechnic College of Persia, and treats in alphabetical order of
animal and vegetable products, drugs, minerals, mineral waters, native

* Published in the Chinese Recorder for 1870 and 1871.

* They represent the fruit of a first hasty and superficial reading of the Pen
ts*ao kari mu without the application of any criticism. In Chinese literature we can
reach a conclusion only by consulting and sifting all documents bearing on a problem.
Bretschneider's Botanicon Sinicum, much quoted by sinologues and looked upon as
a sort of gospel by those who are unable to control his data, has now a merely relative
value, and is uncritical and unsatisfactory both from a botanical and a sinological
viewpoint; it is simply a translation of the botanical section of the Pen ts'ao kan mu
without criticism and with many errors, the most interesting plants being omitted.

* Joret died in Paris on December 26, 1914, at the age of eighty-five years
(cf. obituary notice by H. Cordier, La GSographie, 1914, p. 239).

* Quoted "ScHLiMMER, Terminologie." I wish to express my obligation to the
Surgeon General's Library in Washington for the loan of this now very rare book.

Introduction 207

therapeutics and diseases, with a wealth of solid information that has
hardly ever been utilized by our science.

It is hoped that these researches will chiefly appeal to botanists
and to students of hiiman civiHzation; but, as it can hardly be expected
that the individual botanist will be equally interested in the history
of every plant here presented, each subject is treated as a unit and
as an independent essay, so that any one, according to his inclination
and choice, may approach any chapter he desires. Repetitions have
therefore not been shunned, and cross-references are liberally inter-
spersed; it should be borne in mind, however, that my object is not
to outline merely the history of this or that plant, but what I wish to
present is a synthetic and comprehensive picture of a great and unique
plant-migration in the sense of a cultural movement, and simultane-
ously an attempt to determine the Iranian stratum in the structure of
Chinese civilization. It is not easy to combine botanical, oriental,
philological, and historical knowledge, but no pains have been spared
to render justice to both the botanical and the historical side of each
problem. All data have been sifted critically, whether they come
from Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Persian, Arabic, or classical sources,
and in no instance have I depended on a second-hand or dogmatic
statement. The various criticisms of A. de CandoUe, A. Engler, E.
Bretschneider, and other eminent authorities, arise from the critical
attitude toward the subject, and merely aim at the furtherance of the
cause.

I wish to express my thanks to Dr. Tanaka TyOzaburO in the
Bureau of Plant Industry of the Department of Agriculture, Washing-
ton, for having kindly prepared a translation of the notices on the
grape-vine and the walnut from Japanese sources, which are appended
to the chapters on the history of these plants. The manuscript of this
publication was completed in April, 191 8.

The generosity of Mrs. T. B. Blackstone and Mr. Charles R.
Crane in contributing a fund toward the printing of this volume is
gratefully acknowledged.

ALFALFA

1. The earliest extant literary allusion to alfalfa^ {Medicago saliva)
is made in 424 B.C. in the Eqtdtes ("The Knights") of Aristophanes,
who says (V, 606) :

"Hcr^toj' hk Tovs irayovpovs &vtI wotas fiTjdLKrjs.
"The horses ate the crabs of Corinth as a substitute for the Medic*!

The term "Medike " is derived from the name of the country Media,
In his description of Media, Strabo^ states that the plant constituting
the chief food of the horses is called by the Greeks "Medike" from its
growing in Media in great abundance. He also mentions as a product
of Media silphton, from which is obtained the Medic juice.' Pliny*
intimates that "Medica" is by nature foreign to Greece, and that it
was first introduced there from Media in consequence of the Persian
wars tinder King Darius. Dioscorides*^ describes the plant without
referring to a locality, and adds that it is used as forage by the cattle-
breeders. In Italy, the plant was disseminated from the middle of the
second century B.C. to the middle of the first century a.d.,** — almost
coeval with its propagation to China. The Assyriologists claim that
aspasti or aspastu, the Iranian designation of alfalfa, is mentioned in
a Babylonian text of ca. 700 b.c.;^ and it would not be impossible that
its favorite fodder followed the horse at the time of its introduction
from Iran into Mesopotamia. A. de Candolle' states that Medicago

* I use this term (not lucerne) in accordance with the practice of the U. S.
Department of Agriculture; it is also the term generally used and understood by the
people of the United States. The word is of Arabic origin, and was adopted by the
Spaniards, who introduced it with the plant into Mexico and South America in the
sixteenth century. In 1854 it was taken to San Francisco from Chile (J. M. West-
gate, Alfalfa, p. 5, Washington, 1908).

2X1. xm, 7.

■ Theophrastus (Hist, plant., VIII. vii, 7) mentions alfalfa but casually by
saying that it is destroyed by the dung and urine of sheep. Regarding silphion
see p. 355.

* xm, 43.
•11,176.

* Hehn, Kulturpflanzen, 8th ed., p. 412.

' Schrader in Hehn, p. 416; C. Joret (Plantes dans Tantiquit^, Vol. II, p. 68)
states after J. Hal6vy that aspasti figures in the list drawn up by the gardener of the
Babylonian king Mardukbalidin (Merodach-Baladan), a contemporary of Ezechias
King of Juda.

* Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 103.

208

Alfalfa 209

sativa has been found wild, with every appearance of an indigenous
plant, in several provinces of Anatolia, to the south of the Caucasus,
in several parts of Persia, in Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and in Kashmir.^
Hence the Greeks, he concludes, may have introduced the plant from
Asia Minor as well as from India, which extended from the north of
Persia. This theory seems to me inadmissible and superfluous, for
the Greeks allude solely to Media in this connection, not to India.
Moreover, the cultivation of the plant is not ancient in India, but is
of recent date, and hardly plays any r61e in Indian agriculture and
economy.

In ancient Iran, alfalfa was a highly important crop closely associated
with the breeding of superior races of horses. Pahlavi aspast or aspist
New Persian aspust, uspust, aspist, ispist, or isfist (Pustu or Afghan spastu,
^peHa), is traceable to an Avestan or Old-Iranian *aspo-asti (from the
root ad, 'Ho eat"), and literally means "horse-fodder."^ This word has
penetrated into Syriac in the form aspestd or pespestd (the latter in the
Geoponica). Khosrau I (a.d. 531-578) of the Sasanian dynasty included
alfalfa in his new organization of the land-tax:^ the tax laid on alfalfa
was seven times as high as that on wheat and barley, which gives an
idea of the high valuation of that forage-plant. It was also employed
in the pharmacopoeia, being dealt with by Abu Mansur in his book
on pharmacology.^ The seeds are still used medicinally.^ The Arabs
derived from the Persians the word isfist, Arabicized into fisfisa; Arabic
designations being ratha and qatt, the former for the plant in its nattiral
state, the latter for the dried plant. ^

The mere fact that the Greeks received Medicago ^rom the Persians,
and christened it "Medic grass," by no means signifies or proves at the
outset that Medicago represents a genuinely Iranian cultivation. It is
well known how fallacious such names are: the Greeks also had the
peach under the name "Persian apple," and the apricot as "Armenian
apple;" yet peach and apricot are not originally Persian or Armenian,
but Chinese cultivations: Iranians and Armenians in this case merely

^ As to Kashmir, it will be seen, we receive a confirmation from an ancient
Chinese document. See also G. Watt, Dictionary of the Economic Products of
India, Vol. V, pp. 199-203.

^ Neldeke, ZDMG, Vol. XXXII, 1878, p. 408. Regarding some analogous
plant-names, see R. v. Stackelberg, ibid., Vol. LIV, 1900, pp. 108, 109.

' Noldeke, Tabari, p. 244.

* AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 73 (cf. above, p. 194).

^ ScHLiMMER, Terminologie, p. 365. Ife gives yondle as the Persian name, which,
however, is of Turkish origin (from yont, "horse"). In Asia Minor there is a place
Yon jali (" rich in alfalfa ") .

^ Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. Ill, p. 35.

2IO Sino-Iranica

acted as mediators between the far east and the Mediterranean. How-
ever, the case of alfalfa presents a different problem. The Chinese, who
cultivate alfalfa to a great extent, do not claim it as an element of
their agriculture, but have a circumstantial tradition as to when and
how it was received by them from Iranian quarters in the second
century B.C. As any antiquity for this plant is lacking in India or any
other Asiatic country, the verdict as to the centre of its primeval culti-
vation is decidedly in favor of Iran. The contribution which the Chinese
have to make to the history of Medicago is of fundamental importance
and sheds new light on the whole subject: in fact, the history of no
cultivated plant is so well authenticated and so solidly founded.

In the inscription of Persepolis, King Darius says, "This land Persia
which Auramazda has bestowed on me, being beautiful, populous, and
abimdant in horses — according to the will of Auramazda and my own.
King Darius — it does not tremble before any enemy." I have alluded
in the introduction to the results of General Cafi K'ien's memorable
expedition to Central Asia. The desire to possess the fine Iranian
thoroughbreds, more massively built than the small Mongolian horse,
and distinguished by their noble proportions and slendemess of feet
as well as by the development of chest, neck, and croup, was one of
the strongest motives for the Emperor Wu (140--87 B.C.) to maintain
regular missions to Iranian countries, which led to a regular caravan
trade with Fergana and Parthia. Even more than ten such missions
were dispatched in the course of a year, the minimum being five or six.
At first, this superior breed of horse was obtained from the Wu-sim,
but then it was found by Can K*ien that the breed of Fergana was far
superior. These horses were called "blood-sweating" (han-hiie ff jiL),^
and were believed to be the offspring of a heavenly horse (Vien ma
5? ^). The favorite fodder of this noble breed consisted in Medicago
sativa; and it was a sound conclusion of General Can K'ien, who was a
practical man and possessed of good judgment in economic matters,
that, if these much-coveted horses were to continue to thrive on Chinese
soil, their staple food had to go along with them. Thus he obtained
the seeds of alfalfa in Fergana,^ and presented them in 126 B.C. to his
imperial master, who had wide tracts of land near his palaces covered

^ This name doubtless represents the echo of some Iranian mythical concept,
but I have not yet succeeded in tracing it in Iranian mythology.

* In Fergana as well as in the remainder of Russian Turkistan Medicago sativa
is still propagated on an immense scale, and represents the only forage-plant of that
country, without which any economy would be impossible, for pasture-land and hay
are lacking. Alfalfa yields four or five harvests there a year, and is used for the feed-
ing of cattle either in the fresh or dry state. In the mountains it is cultivated up to
an elevation of five thousand feet; wild or as an escape from cultivation it reaches

Alfalfa 211

with this novel plant, and enjoyed the possession of large ntimbers of
celestial horses.^ From the palaces this fodder-plant soon spread to
the people, and was rapidly diffused throughout northern China.
According to Yen §i-ku (a.d. 579-645), this was already an accom-
plished fact during the Han period. As an officinal plant, alfalfa appears
in the early work Pie lu} The TsH min yao §u of the sixth century
A.D. gives rules for its cultivation; and T'ao Hun-kifi (a.d. 451-536)
remarks that *'it is grown in gardens at C*afi-nan (the ancient capital
in Sen-si), and is much valued by the northerners, while the people
of Kiafi-nan do not indiilge in it much, as it is devoid of flavor. Abroad
there is another mu-su plant for healing eye-diseases, but different
from this species."'

Can K'ien was sent out by the Emperor Wu to search for the
Yue-6i and to close an alliance with them against the Turkish Hiun-nu.
The Yue-(H, in my opinion, were an Indo-Etu-opean people, speaking a
North-Iranian language related to Scythian, Sogdian, YagnObi, and
Ossetic. In the course of his mission, Can K*ien visited Fergana, Sog-
diana, and Bactria, all strongholds of an Iranian population. The
"West" for the first time revealed by him to his astounded country-
men was Iranian civilization, and the products which he brought back
were thoroughly and typically Iranian. The two cultivated plants
(and only these two) introduced by him into his fatherland hailed
from Fergana: Ferganian was an Iranian language; and the words for
the alfalfa and grape, mu-su and p^u-Vao, were noted by Can K'ien
in Fergana and transmitted to China along with the new cxiltivations.
These words were Ferganian; that is, Iranian.* Can K'ien himself was

an altitude up to nine thousand feet. Cf. S. Korzinski, Vegetation of Turkistan
(in Russian), p. 51. Russian Turkistan produces the largest supply of alfalfa-seed
for export (E. Brown, Bull. Dep. of Agriculture, No. 138, 1914).
^Siki, Ch. 123.

* Cf. Chinese Clay Figures, p. 135.

* Cen lei pen ts*ao, Ch. 27, p. 23. It is not known what this foreign species is.

* Hirth's theory {Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXXVII, 1917, p. 149), that the
element yiian of Ta-yuan (Fergana) might represent a "fair linguistic equivalent" of
Yavan (Yavana, the Indian name of the Greeks), had already been advanced by J.
Edkins (Journal China Branch Roy. As. Soc, Vol. XVIII, 1884, p. 5). To me it
seems eccentric, and I regret being unable to accept it. In the T'ang period we have
from Huan TsaA a reproduction of the name Yavana in the form @ ^ ^
Yen-mo-na, *Yam-mwa-na (Pelliot, Btdl. de VEcole frangaise, Vol. IV, p. 278).
For the Han period we should expect, after the analogy of H ^ Ye-tiao, *Yap
(Dzap)-div (Yavadvlpa, Java), a transcription ^ Jf Ye-na, *Yap-na, for Yavana.
The term ^ ^ Yu-yue, * Yu-vat (var) , does not represent a transcription of Yavana,
as supposed by Chavannes (M6moires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien, Vol. IV, 1901,
PP* 558-559), but is intended to transcribe the name Yuan (*Yuvar, Yijar),
still employed by the Cam and other peoples of Indo-China as a designation of

212 Sino-Iranica

very well aware of the fact that the speech of the people of Fergana was
Iranian, for he stated in his report, that, although there were different
dialects in the tract of land stretching from Fergana westward as far
as Parthia (An-si), yet their resemblance was so great that the people
could make themselves intelligible to each other.^ This is a plain
allusion to the differentiation and at the same time the unity of Iranian
speech;* and if the Ferganians were able to understand the Parthians,
I do not see in what other language than Iranian they could have
conversed. Certainly they did not speak Greek or Turkish, as some
prejudiced theorists are inclined to imagine.

The word brought back by Can K'ien for the designation of alfalfa,
and still used everywhere in China for this plant, was mu-su @ ©,
consisting of two plain phonetic elements,' anciently *muk-suk (Japa-
nese moku-Suku), subsequently written W ^ with the addition of the
classifier No. 140. I recently had occasion to indicate an ancient Tibetan
transcription of the Chinese word in the form hug-sug,^ and this appears
to come very near to the Iranian prototype to be restored, which was
*buksuk or *buxsux, perhaps *buxstik. The only sensible explanation
ever given of this word, which unfortimately escaped the sinologues,
was advanced by W. Tomaschek,*^ who tentatively compared it with
Gilaki (a Caspian dialect) huso ("alfalfa")* This would be satisfactory
if it cotild be demonstrated that this hiiso is evolved from *bux-sox or
the like. Further progress in our knowledge of Iranian dialectology

Annam and the Annamese (cf. Cam Yuan or Yuon, Bahnar, Juon, Khmer Yuon,
Stien Ju6n). This native name, however, was adapted to or assimilated with Sanskrit
Yavana; for in the Sanskrit inscriptions of Campa, particularly in one of the reign
of Jaya-Rudravarman dated a.d. 1092, Annam is styled Yavana (A. Bergaigne,
L'Ancien royaume de Campa, p. 61 of the reprint from Journal asiatique, 1888).
In the Old- Javanese poem Nagarakrtagama, completed in a.d. 1365, Yavana
occurs twice as a name for Annam (H. Kern, Bijdragen tot de taal- land- en volkenkunde,
Vol.LXXII, 1916, p. 399). Kern says that the question as to how the name of the
Greeks was applied to Annam has not been raised or answered by any one; he over-
looked the contribution of Bergaigne, who discussed the problem.

* Strabo (XV. 11, 8) observes, "The name of Ariana is extended so as to include
some part of Persia, Media, and the north of Bactria and Sogdiana; for these peoples
speak nearly the same language."

* Emphasized by R. Gauthiot in his posthumous work Trois M6moires sur
I'unit^ linguistique des parlers iraniens (reprinted from the Memoires de la Societi
de Linguistique de Paris, Vol. XX, 1916).

' The two characters are thus indeed written without the classifiers in the Han
Annals. The writings tS^ ^ *muk-suk of Kwo P'o and 7[c J!l *niuk-swok of Lo
Yuan, author of the Er ya i (simply inspired by attempts at reading certain mean-
ings into the characters), have the same phonetic value. In Annamese it is muk-tuk.

* Toung Poo, 1916, p. 500, No. 206.

» Pamir-Dialekte (Sitzber. Wiener Akad., i88o, p. 792).

Alfalfa 213

will no doubt supply the correct form of this word. We have to be
mindful of the fact that the speech of those East-Iranian tribes, the
advance-guard of Iran proper, with whom the Chinese first came in
contact, has never be^n committed to writing, and is practically lost
to us. Only secluded dialects may still harbor remnants of that lost
treasure. We have to be the more grateful to the Chinese for having
rescued for us a few words of that extinct language, and to place *buksuJk
or *buxsux on record as the ancient Ferganian appellation of Medicago
saliva. The first element of this word may survive in Sariqoli (a Pamir
dialect) wux ("grass"). In Waxi, another Pamir idiom, alfalfa is
styled wujerk; and grass, wUL "Horse" is ya^ in Waxi, and vurj in
Sariqoli.^

Bretschneider^ was content to say that mu-su is not Chinese,
but most probably a foreign name. Waiters, in his treatment of
foreign words in Chinese, has dodged this term. T. W. Kingsmill'
is responsible for the hypothesis that mu-su "may have some connec-
tion with the MrjSiKri ^oravrj of Strabo." This is adopted by the Chinese
Dictionary of Giles.* This Greek designation had certainly not pene-
trated to Fergana, nor did the Iranian Ferganians use a Greek name
for a plant indigenous to their country. It is also impossible to see
what the phonetic coincidence between *muk-suk or *buk-suk and
medike is supposed to be.

The least acceptable explanation of mu-su is that recently pro-
pounded by HiRTH,^ who identifies it with a Turkish bur(^akf which is
Osmanli, and refers to the pea.^ Now, it is universally known that a
language like Osmanli was not in existence in the second century B.C.,
but is a comparatively modem form of Turkish speech; and how Cafi
K'ien should have picked up an Osmanli or any other Turkish word for
a typically Iranian plant in Fergana, where there were no Turks at that
time, is unintelligible. Nor is the alleged identification phonetically
correct: Chinese mu, *muk, *buk, cannot represent buTj nor can su,

1 Cf. R. B. Shaw, On the Ghalchah Languages (Journal As. Soc. Bengal, 1876,
pp. 221, 231). According to Tomaschek {op. cit., p. 763), this word is evolved from
*bharaka, Ossetic hairdg ("good foal").

^ Bot. Sin., pt. Ill, p. 404.

' Journal China Branch Roy. As. Soc, Vol. XIV, 1879, p. 19.

* No. 8081, wrongly printed McStKi^. The word fioT&vrj is not connected with
the name of the plant, but in the text of Strabo is separated from lArjSiK^v by eleven
words. Mr]8LK-n is to be explained as scil. wSa, "Medic grass or fodder."

'^ Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXXVII, 1917, p. 145.

• Kara hurtak means the "black pea" and denotes the vetch.

214 Sino-Iranica

*suk, stand for ^ak.^ The entire speculation is deplorable, and we are
even expected "to allow for a change the word may have undergone
from the original meaning within the last two thousand years"; but
there is no trace of evidence that the Osmanli word has existed that
length of time, neither can it be reasonably admitted that the signifi-
cance of a word can change from "pea" to "alfalfa." The universal
term in Central Asia for alfalfa is bida/^ or bedUy^ Djagatai bida. This
word means simply "fodder, clover, hay."* According to Tomaschek,^
this word is of Iranian origin (Persian beda). It is found also in Sariqoli,
a Pamir dialect.^ This would indicate very well that the Persians
(and it could hardly be expected otherwise) disseminated the alfalfa
to Tiirkistan.

According to Vambery,^ alfalfa appears to have been indigenous
among the Tiu-ks from all times; this opinion, however, is only based
on Hnguistic evidence, which is not convincing: a genuine Turkish
name exists in Djagatai jonu^ka (read yonucka) and Osmanli yondza^
(add Kasak-Kirgiz yonur^ka)^ which simply means "green fodder,
clover." Now, these dialects represent such recent forms of Turkish
speech, that so far-reaching a conclusion cannot be based on them.
As far as I know, in the older Turkish languages no word for alfalfa
has as yet been found.

A Sanskrit M M- iJ M sai-pi-li-kHe^ *sak-bi-lik-kya, for the designa-
tion of mu-sUf is indicated by Li Si-£en,® who states that this is the
word for mu-su used in the Kin kwan min kin ^ jfc TO S (Suvar-
iiaprabhasa-sutra). This is somewhat surprising, in view of the fact
that there is no Sanskrit word for this plant known to us;^° and there
can be no doubt that the latter was introduced into India from Iran
in comparatively recent times. Bretschneider's suggestion,^^ that in

1 Final k in transcriptions never answers to a final r, but only to ^, g, or x (cf.
also Pelliot, T'oung Pao, 1912, p. 476).

* A. Stein, Khotan, Vol. I, p. 130.

* Le Coq, Sprichw6rter und Lieder aus Turfan, p. 85.

* I. KuNOS, Sulejman Efendi's Cagataj-Osman. Worterbuch, p. 26.
^ Pamir- Dialekte, p. 792.

« R. B. Shaw, Journal As. Soc. Bengal, 1876, p. 231.
^ Primitive Cultur des turko-tatarischen Volkes, p. 220.

* The et3rmology given of this word by Vdmb6ry is fantastic and unacceptable.

* Pen ts*ao kafi mu, Ch. 27, p. 3 b. Mu-su is classified by him under ts'ai
("vegetables").

'0 This was already remarked by A. de Candolle (Origin of Cultivated Plants,
p. 104). Also Watt gives only modem Indian vernacular names, three of which,
spastu, sebist, and beda, are of Iranian origin.

" Bot. Sin., pt. Ill, p. 404.

Alfalfa 215

Kabul the TrifoUum giganteum is called stbarga, and Medicago sativa
is styled rUka^ is unsatisfactory. The word stbarga means *' trefoil"
(si J *' three;'' 6arga = Persian barak, varak, "leaf"), and is Iranian, not
Sanskrit; the corresponding Sanskrit word is tripatra or triparna- The
word riSka is Afghan; that is, likewise Iranian.^ Considering the fact
that nothing is known about the plant in question in early Indian
sources, it is highly improbable that it should figure in a Buddhist
Sutra of the type of the Suvarnaprabhasa; and I think that Li Si-(5en
is mistaken as to the meaning of the word, which he says he encountered
there.

The above transcription occurs also in the Fan yi min yi tsi
(section 27) and answers to Sanskrit qaka-vfika, the word qdka denoting
any eatable herb or vegetable, and vrika (or baka) referring to a certain
plant not yet identified (cf. the analogous formation qaka-bilvaj ** egg-
plant")* It is not known what herb is to be understood by gdka-vfika,
and the Chinese translation mu-su may be merely a makeshift, though
it is not impossible that the Sanskrit compound refers to some species
of Medicago. We must not lose sight of the fact that the equations
established in the Chinese-Sanskrit dictionaries are for the greater part
merely bookish or lexicographical, and do not relate to plant introduc-
tions. The Buddhist translators were merely anxious to find a suitable
equivalent for an Indian term. This process is radically different from
the plant-names introduced together with the plants from Iranian,
Indian, or Southeast-Asiatic regions: here we face living realities,
there we have to do with literary productions. Two other examples
may suffice. The Fan yi min yi tsi (section 24) offers a Sanskrit botani-
cal name in the form ^ ® ?& ien-Vou-kia, anciently *tsin(tin)-du-k'ie,
answering to Sanskrit tinduka (Diospyros embryopteris) j a dense ever-
green small tree common throughout India and Burma. The Chinese
gloss explains the Indian word by H ffi, which is the well-known Dio-
spyros kaki of China and Japan, not, however, found in ancient India; it
was but recently introduced into the Botanical Garden of Calcutta by
Col. Kyd, and the Chinese gardeners employed there call it (^in ("Chi-
nese").* In this case it signifies only the Diospyros embryopteris of
India. Under the heading kan-sun hian (see p. 455), which denotes the
spikenard (Nardostachys jatamansi), Li Si-6en gives a Sanskrit term
^ Sll^ k'u-mi-(^'e, *ku-mi-Si, likewise taken from the Suvaniapra-
bhasaslitra; this corresponds to Sanskrit kunci or kuncika, which applies
to three different plants, — i. Abrus precatoriuSj 2. Nigella indica,

* There are, further, in Afghan sebist (connected with Persian supust) and
durel^ta.

* W. Roxburgh, Flora Indica, p. 412.

2i6 Sino-Iranica

3. Trigonella foenum graecum. In this case the compromise is a failure,
or the identification of kunci with kan-sun even results from an error;
the Sanskrit term for the spikenard is gandhamdmsl.

We must not draw inferences from mere Sanskrit names, either, as to
the origin of Chinese plants, unless there is more substantial evidence.
Thus Stuart^ remarks under U ^ (Prunus domestica) that the Sanskrit
equivalent S IS M ku-lin-kia indicates that this plum may have been
introduced from India or Persia. Prunus domestica, however, is a native
of China, mentioned in the Si kin, Li ki, and in Mon-tse. The Sino-
Indian word is given in the Fan yi min yi tsi (section 24) with the trans-
lation li. The only corresponding Sanskrit word is kulingd, which
denotes a kind of gall. The question is merely of explaining a Sanskrit
term to the Chinese, but this has no botanical or historical value for the
Chinese species.

Thus the records of the Chinese felicitously supplement the meagre
notices of alfalfa on the part of the ancients, and lend its history
the proper perspective: we recognize the why and how of the world-
wide propagation of this useful economic plant. ^ Aside from Fergana,
the Chinese of the Han period discovered mu-su also in Ki-pin (Kash-
mir),' and this fact is of some importance in regard to the early geo-
graphical distribution of the species; for in Kashmir, as well as in
Afghanistan and Baluchistan, it is probably spontaneous.'*

Mu-su gardens are mentioned under the Emperor Wu (a.d. 265-290)
of the Tsin dynasty, and the post-horses of the T'ang dynasty were fed
with alfalfa.^

The fact that alfalfa was used as an article of human food under
the T'ang we note from the story of Sie Lin-6i SP ^ ;^, preceptor at
the Court of the Emperor Yuan Tsufi (a.d. 713-755), who wrote a
versified complaint of the too meagre food allotted to him, in which
alfalfas with long stems were the chief ingredient.^ The good teacher,
of course, was not familiar with the highly nutritive food-values of
the plant.

1 Chinese Materia Medica, p. 358.

2 It is singular that A. de Candolle, in his Origin of Cultivated Plants, while he
has conscientiously reproduced from Bretschneider all his plants wrongly ascribed
to Can K'ien, doss not make any reference to China in speaking of Medicago
(pp. 102-104). In fact, its history has never before been outlined correctly.

' TsHen Han Su, Ch. 96 A.

* A. DE Candolle, op. ciL, p. 103 ; G. T. Vigne, Travels in Kashmir, Vol. II, p. 455.
^ S. Matsuda ^03 ^ ^, On Medicago sativa and the Species of Medicago

in China {Botanical Magazine ^fi © ^ IS |S, Tokyo, Vol. XXI, 1907, p. 243).
This is a very interesting and valuable study written in Japanese.

• Cf. C. P^TiLLON, Allusions litt^raires, p. 350.

Alfalfa 217

According to the Su i ki ^ M 12, written by Zen Fan ffi BS in
the beginning of the sixth century, "the mu-su (alfalfa) gardens of
Cafi K'ien are situated in what is now Lo-yafi; mu-su was originally
a vegetable in the land of the Hu, and K'ien was the first to obtain it
in the Western Countries." A work, Kiu ^V ^i* ft M 12/ says that east
of the capital there were mu-su gardens, in which there were three
pestles driven by water-power.

The Si kin tsa kiM^M 12^ states, "In the Lo-yu gardens ^M'M
(in the capital C'afi-nan) there are rose-bushes ©C ?6 IS" {Rosa rugosa)^
which grow spontaneously. At^the foot of these, there is abundance
of mu-su, called also kwaifun fe 1^ ('embracing the wind'), sometimes
kwanfun jfc ®. ('brilHant wind').^ The people of Mou-lifi M B^* style
the plant lien-U ts'ao 3L ^ ^ ('herb with connected branches')."^

The Lo yan kHe Ian ki ?& S flP ^ ^, a record of the Buddhist
monasteries in the capital Lo-yafi, written by Yan Hiian-Ci i^ ^ ^ in
A.D. 547 or shortly afterwards, says that "Huan-wu ^ ffi is situated
north-east of the Ta-hia Gate :fe X P? ; now it is called Kwafi-fufi
Garden it%*Wij producing mu-su J* Kwah-fun, as shown by the Si kin
tsa ki, is a synonyme of mu-su.

K'ou Tsufi-§i, in his Pen ts^ao yen i,^ written in a.d. 1116, notes that
alfalfa is abundant in Sen-si, being used for feeding cattle and horses,
and is also consumed by the population, but it should not be eaten in
large quantity. Under the Mongols, the cultivation of alfalfa was
much encouraged, especially in order to avert the danger of famines/
and gardens were maintained to raise alfalfa for the feeding of horses.*
According to Li §i-Cen (latter part of the sixteenth century),* it was in
his time a common, wild plant in the fields everywhere, but was culti-
vated in §en-si and Kan-su. He apparently means, however, Medicago
denticulata, which is a wild species and a native of China. Forbes

^ T'ai pHn yii Ian, Ch. 824, p. 9.

^ That is, Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital (C'an-nan in Sen-si),
written by Wu Kun ^ ;^ of the sixth century a.d.

^ The explanation given for these names is thus: the wind constantly whistles
in these gardens, and the sunlight lends brilliancy to the flowers.

■* Ancient name for the present district of Hin-p'in ^ ^ in the prefecture of
Si-nan, §en-si.

•^ Pat p'iA yu Ian, Ch. 996, p. 4 b.

^ Ch. 19, p. 3 (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan).

' Yiian H, Ch. 93, P- 5 b.

^ Ibid., Ch. 91, p. 6 h.

^ Pen ts'ao kafi tnu, Ch. 28, p. 3 b.

2i8 Sino-Iranica

and Hemsley^ give as Chinese species Medicago denticulata, falcatay^
and lupulina (the black Medick or nonsuch), M. /w^w/ma ''apparently
common, and from the most distant parts," and say with reference to
Medicago sativa that it is ctdtivated in northern China, and also occurs
in a wild state, though it is probably not indigenous. This "wild"
Medicago sativa may be an escape from cultivation. It is an interesting
point that those wild species are named ye mu-su ("wild alfalfa"),
which goes to show that these were observed by the Chinese only after
the introduction of the imported cultivated species.^ Wu K'i-tsun*
has figured two ye mu-su, following his illustration of the mu-su, — one
being Medicago lupulina, the other M. denticulata.

The Japanese call the plant uma-goyaH ("horse-nourishing").^
Matsumura^ enimierates four species: M. sativa: murasaki ("purple")
umagoyaU;"^ M. denticulata: umagoyaH; M, lupulina: kometsubu-
umagoyaH; and M. minima: ko-umagoyaH.

In the Tibetan dialect of Ladakh, alfalfa is known as ol. This word
refers to the Medicago sativa indigenous to Kashmir or possibly intro-
duced there from Iran. In Tibet proper the plant is unknown. In
Armenia occur Medicago sativa, M. falcata, M, agrestis, and M,
lupulina}

Under the title "Notice sur la plante mou-sou ou luzeme chinoise
par C. de Skattschkoff, suivie d'une autre notice sur la mtoe plante
traduite du chinois par G. Pauthier," a brief article of i6 pages appeared
in Paris, 1864, as a reprint from the Revue de V Orient.^ Skattschkoff,
who had spent seven years in Peking, subsequently became Russian
constd in Dsungaria, and he commimicates valuable information on the
agriculture of Medicago in that region. He states that seeds of this

^ Journal Linnean Soc, Vol. XXIII, p. 154.

* Attempts are being made to introduce and to cultivate this species in the
United States (cf. Oakley and Garver, Medicago Falcata, U. S. Department of
Agriculture, Bull. No. 428, 1917).

' We shall renew this experience in the case of the grape-vine and the walnut.

* Ci wu min H t'u k*ao, Ch. 3, pp. 58, 59.

^ In the same manner, Manchu morxo is formed from morin ("horse") and
orxo ("grass").

* Shoku butsu-mei-i, Nos. 183-184.

^ The flower of this species is purple-colored.

* A. B^GUiNOT and P. N. Diratzsuyan, Contributo alia flora dell' Armenia,
p. 57.

* The work of Pauthier is limited to a translation of the notice on the plant in
the Ci wu min H Vu k'ao. The name Yu-lou nufi frequently occurring in this work
does not refer to a treatise on agriculture, as conceived by Pauthier, but is the literary
style of Wu K'i-tsun, author of that work.

Alfalfa 219

plant were for the first time sent from China to Russia in 1840, and
that he himself has been active for six years in propagating it in Russia,
Livonia, Esthonia, and Finland. This is not to be doubted, but the
point I venture to question is that the plant should not have been
known in Russia prior to 1840. Not only do we find in the Russian
language the words medunka (from Greek medike) and the European
Vutserna (lucerne) for the designation of Medicago sativa, but also
krasni (*'red") burkun, lecuxay lugovoi v'azel {^'Coronilla of the
meadows"); the word burkun, burundHk, referring to Medicago falcata
(called also yUmorki), burunUk to M. lupulina. It is hard to realize
that all these terms should have sprung up since 1840, and that the
Russians should not have received information about this useftd plant
from European, Iranian, or Turkish peoples. A. de Candolle^ ob-
serves, "In the south of Russia, a locality mentioned by some authors,
it is perhaps the result of cultivation as well as in the south of Europe."
Judging from the report of N. E. Hansen,* it appears that three species
of Medicago {M, falcata, M. platycarpa, and M. ruthenica) are indigenous
to Siberia.

The efforts of our Department of Agriculture to promote and to
improve the cultivation of alfalfa in this country are well known; for
this purpose also seeds from China have been introduced. Argentine
chiefly owes to alfalfa a great amount of its cattle-breeding.^

^ Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 103.

* The Wild Alfalfas and Clovers of Siberia, pp. 11-15 (Bureau of Plant Industry,
Bull. No. 150, Washington, 1909).

' Cf. I. B. LoRENZETTi, La Alfafa en la Argentina (Buenos Aires, 1913, 360 p.)«

THE GRAPE-VINE

2. The grape-vine (Vitis mnijera) belongs to the ancient cultivated
plants of western Asia and Egypt. It is not one of the most ancient
ctiltivations, for cereals and many kinds of pulse are surely far earlier,
but it is old enough to have its beginnings lost in the dawn of history.
Viticulture represents such a complexity of ideas, of a uniform and
persistent character throughout the ancient world, that it can have
been disseminated but from a single centre. Opinions as to the loca-
tion of this focus are of course divided, and our present knowledge of
the subject does not permit us to go beyond more or less probable
theories. Certain it is that the primeval home of vine-growing is to
be sought in the Orient, and that it was propagated thence to Hellas
and Italy, while the Romans (according to others, the Greeks) trans-
planted the vine to Gaul and the banks of the Rhine.^ For botanical
reasons, A. de Candolle^ was inclined to regard the region south of
the Caucasus as ''the central and perhaps the most ancient home of
the species." In view of the Biblical tradition of Noah planting the
grape-vine near the Ararat,^ it is a rather attractive hypothesis to con-
ceive of Armenia as the country from which the knowledge of the
grape took its starting-point.* However, we must not lose sight of the
fact that both vine and wine were known in Egypt for at least three or
four millenniums B.C.,* and were likewise famiHar in Mesopotamia at
a very early date. This is not the place for a discussion of O. Schrader's
theory* that the name and cultivation of the vine are due to Indo-
Europeans of anterior Asia; the word for "wine" may well be of Indo-
European or, more specifically, Armenian origin, but this does not

* Cf. the excellent study of G. Curtel, La Vigne et le vin chez les Romains
(Paris, 1903). See also A. Stummer, Zur Urgeschichte der Rebe und des Weinbaues
{Mitt. Anthr. Ges. Wien, 191 1, pp. 283-296).

* Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 192.
' Genesis, ix, 20.

* Cf. R. Billiard, La Vigne dans Tantiquit^, p. 31 (Lyon, 1913). This is a well
illustrated and artistic volume of 560 pages and one of the best monographs on the
subject. As the French are masters in the art of viticulture, so they have also pro-
duced the best literature on the science of vine and wine. Of botanical works,
J.-M. GuiLLON, Etude g6n6rale de la vigne (Paris, 1905), may be recommended.

* V. LoRET, Flore pharaonique, p. 99.

* In Hehn, Kulturpflanzen, pp. 91-95.

220

The Grape-Vine 221

prove that the origin of viticulture itself is traceable to Indo-Europeans.
The Semitic origin seems to me to be more probable. The Chinese
received the grape- vine in late historical times from Fergana, an Iranian
country, as a cultivation entirely unknown in previous epochs; and
it is therefore sufficient for our purpose to emphasize the fact that
vine-culture in its entire range was at that time firmly established in
Western Asia, inclusive of Iran.

The first knowledge of the cultivated vine {Vitis vinijera) and of wine
produced from its grapes was likewise obtained by the Chinese through
the memorable mission of General Can K'ien, when in 128 B.C. he
travelled through Fergana and Sogdiana on his way to the Yue-Si
and spent a year in Bactria. As to the people of Fergana (Ta-yuan) ,
he reported, "They have wine made of grapes." The same fact he
learned regarding the Parthians (An-si). It is further stg,ted in the
same chapter of the Si ki that the wealthy among the people of Fergana
stored grape-wine in large quantity up to ten thousand gallons (^, a
dry measure) for a long time, keeping it for several decades without
risk of deterioration; they were fond of drinking wine in the same
manner as their horses relished alfalfa. The Chinese envoys took the
seeds of both plants along to their cotmtry, and the Son of Heaven was
the first to plant alfalfa and the vine in fertile soil; and when envoys
from abroad arrived at the Court, they beheld extensive cultivations of
these plants not far from the imperial palace. The introduction of the vine
is as well authenticated as that of alfalfa. The main point to be noted
is that the grape, in like manner as alfalfa, and the art of making wine,
were encountered by the Chinese strictly among peoples of Aryan
descent, principally of the Iranian family, not, however, among any
Turkish tribes.

According to the Han Annals, the kingdom Li-3ri ^ -^, which
depended on Sogdiana, produced grapes; and, as the water of that
country is excellent, its wine had a particular reputation.^

K'afi (Sogdiana) is credited with grapes in the Annals of the Tsin
Dynasty.^ Also grape- wine was abundant there, and the rich kept up to
a thousand gallons of it.'* The Sogdians relished wine, and were fond of
songs and dances. ** Likewise in Si (Tashkend) it was a favorite bever-

^This is also the conclusion of J. Hoops (Waldbaiime und Kulturpflanzen,
p. 561).

^ Hou Han Su, Ch. 118, p. 6 (cf. Chavannes, Toung Pao, 1907, p. 195).

' Tsin Su, Ch. 97, p. 6 b {ibid., p. 6: grape-wine in Ta-yuan or Fergana).

* Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 4 b.

^TafiSu, Ch. 221 b, p. i.

222 SiNO-IrANICA

age.^ When the Sogdian K'ari Yen-tien in the first part of the seventh
century a.d. established a Sogdian colony south of the Lob Nor, he
founded four new cities, one of which was called ''Grape City'* (P'u-
t*ao c*en) ; for the vine was planted in the midst of the town.^

The Iranian Ta Yue-($i or Indo-Scythians must also have been in
possession of the vine, as we are informed by a curious text in the
Kin lou tse ^ ft ?,^ written by the Emperor Yuan jt (a.d. 552-555)
of the Liang dynasty. "The people in the country of the Great Yue-6i
are clever in making wine from grapes, flowers, and leaves. Sometimes
they also use roots and vegetable juice, which they cause to ferment.*
These flowers resemble those of the clove-tree {tin-hian T ?, Caryo-
phyllus aromaticus)y but are green or bright-blue. At the time of
spring and simimer, the stamens of the flowers are carried away and
scattered around by the wind like the feathers of the bird Iwan St.
In the eighth month, when the storm blows over the leaves, they are
so much damaged and torn that they resemble silk rags: hence people
speak of a grape-storm {p'u-Vao fun) , or also call it 'leaves-tearing storm*
(lie ye fun ^ MM.) J'

Finally we know also that the Aryan people of Ku6a, renowned
for their musical ability, songs, and dances, were admirers of grape-
wine, some families even storing in their houses up to a thousand hu
f^ of the beverage. This item appears to have been contained in the
report of General Lu Kwan S :^, who set out for the conquest of Ku6a
in A.D. 384.^

In the same manner as the Chinese discovered alfalfa in Ki-pin
(Kashmir), they encountered there also the vine.® Further, they found
it in the countries Tsiu-mo M. M^ and Nan-tou H ^.

* T'ai p'iA hwan yii ki, Ch. 186, p. 7 b; also in Yen-k'i (Kara§ar): Cou Su,
Ch. 50, p. 4 b.

* Pelliot, Journal asiatique, 191 6, I, p. 122. ^ Ch. 5, p. 23.

* Strabo (XL xiii, 11) states that the inhabitants of the mountainous region
of northern Media made a wine from some kind of roots.

* Other sources fix the date in the year 382 (see Sylvain L£vi, Le "Tokharien
B," langue de Koutcha, Journal asiatique, 1913, II, p. 333). The above fact is
derived from the Hou lian /« ^ ^ ifj^, quoted in the Tai p'in yii Ian (Ch. 972, p. 3) ;
see also T'an Su, Ch. 221 a, p. 8. We owe to S. L^vi the proof that the people of
Ku5a belong to the Indo-European family, and that their language is identical with
what was hitherto known from the manuscripts discovered in Turkistan as
Tokharian B.

* TsHen Han Su, Ch. 96 A, p. 5. Kashmir was still famed for its grapes in the
days of the Emperor Akbar (H. Blochmann, Ain I Akbari, Vol. I, p. 65), but at
present viticulture is on the decline there (Watt, Commerical Products of India,
pp. 1 1 12, 1 1 14).

^ Regarding this name, see Chavannes, Les Pays d'occident d'aprds le Wei
lio {Toung Pao, 1905, p. 536).

The Grape-Vine 223

In the T'ang period the Chinese learned also that the people of
Fu-lin (Sjoia) relished grape-wine/ and that the country of the Arabs
(Ta-si) produced grapes, the largest of the size of fowl's eggs.^ In
other texts such grapes are also ascribed to Persia.^ At that epoch,
Turkistan had fallen into the hands of Turkish tribes, who absorbed
the culture of their Iranian predecessors; and it became known to the
Chinese that the Uigur had vine and wine.

Viticulture was in a high state of development in ancient Iran.
Strabo^ attributes to Margiana (in the present province of Khorasan)
vines whose stock it would require two men with outstretched arms to
clasp, and clusters of grapes two cubits long. Aria, he continues, is
described as similarly fertile, the wine being still richer, and keeping
perfectly for three generations in unpitched casks. Bactriana, which
adjoins Aria, abounds in the same productions, except the olive.

The ancient Persians were great lovers of wine. The best vintage-
wines were served at the royal table.^ The couch of Darius was over-
shadowed by a golden vine, presented by Pythius, a Lydian.^ The
inscription of Persepolis informs us that fifty congius^ of sweet wine
and five thousand congius of ordinary wine were daily delivered to the
royal house.^ The office of cup-bearer in the palace was one of im-
portance.' The younger Cyrus, when he had wine of a peculiarly fine
flavor, was in the habit of sending half -emptied flagons of it to some
of his friends, with a message to this effect: "For some time Cyrus has
not found a pleasanter wine than this one; and he therefore sends some
to you, begging you to drink it to-day with those whom you love
best."^°

Strabo" relates that the produce of Carmania is like that of Persia,
and that among other productions there is the vine. "The Carmanian

* HiRTH, China and the Roman Orient, pp. 58, 63.

* T'ai pHn hwan yu ki, Ch. 186, p. 15 b.

' For instance, Pen ts*ao yen i, Ch. 18, p. i (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan).

* II. I, 14, and XI. X, 2.

^ Esther, i, 7 ("And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, the vessels being
diverse one from another, and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of
the king").

* Herodotus, vii, 27; Athenaeus, xii, 514 f. According to G. W. Elderkin
{Am. Journal of Archaeology, Vol. XXI, 1917, p. 407), the ultimate source of this
motive would be Assyrian.

^ A measure of capacity equal to about six pints.
® JoRET, Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 95.

* Xenophon, Cyropasdia, I. in, 8-^.
^^ Xenophon, Anabasis, I. ix, 25.
"XV. II, 14.

224 Sino-Iranica

vine, as we call it, often bears bunches of grapes of two cubits in size,
the seeds being very numerous and very large; probably the plant
grows in its native soil with great luxuriance." The kings of Persia were
not content, however, with wines of native growth; but when Syria
was united with their empire, the Chalybonian wine of Syria became
their privileged beverage.^ This wine, according to Posidonius, was
made in Damascus, Syria, from vines planted there by the Persians.^

Herodotus^ informs us that the Persians are very fond of wine and
consume it in large quantities. It is also their custom to discuss im-
portant affairs in a state of intoxication; and on the following morning
their decisions are put before them by the master of the house where
the deliberations have been held. If they approve of the decision in the
state of sobriety, they act accordingly; if not, they set it aside. When
sober at their first deliberation, they always reconsider the matter under
the influence of wine. In a similar manner, Strabo'* says that their
consultations on the most important affairs are carried on while drink-
ing, and that they consider the resolutions made at that time more to
be depended upon than those made when sober. In the Sahnameh,
the Persian epic, deliberations a^e held during drinking-bouts, but
decision is postponed till the following day.^ Cambyses was ill reputed
for his propensity for wine.® Deploring the degeneracy of the Persians,
Xenophon^ remarks, "They continue eating and drinking till those
who sit up latest go to retire. It was a rule among them not to bring
large cups to their banquets, evidently thinking that abstinence from
drinking to excess would less impair their bodies and minds. The
custom of not bringing such vessels still continues; but they drink so
excessively that instead of bringing in, they are themselves carried out,
as they are no longer able to walk upright." Procopius, the great
Byzantine historian of the sixth century,^ says that of all men the
Massagetae (an Iranian tribe) are the most intemperate drinkers. So

1 Strabo, XV. m, 22.

2 Athenaeus, i.

' I. 133.

* XV. HI, 20.

^ F. Spiegel, Eranische Altertumskunde, Vol. Ill, p. 672. Cf . what John Fryer
(New Account of East India and Persia being Nine Years' Travels 1672-81, Vol. II,
p. 210, ed. of Hakluyt Society) says of the modem Persians: "It is incredible to see
what quantities they drink at a merry-meeting, and how unconcerned the next day
they appear, and brisk about their business, and will quaflE you thus a whole week
together."

* Herodotus, in, 34.

' Cyropaedia, VIII. viii, 9-10.

* Historikon, III. xii, 8.

The Grape-Vine 225

were also the Sacae, who ,^ maddened with wine, were defeated by
Cyrus.^ In the same passage, Strabo speaks of a Bacchanalian festival
of the Persians, in which men and women, dressed in Scythian style,
passed day and night in drinking and wanton play. On the other
hand, it must not be forgotten that such judgments passed by one
nation on another are usually colored or exaggerated, and must be
accepted only at a liberal discount; also temperance was preached in
ancient Persia, and intemperance was severely pimished.^ With all
the evils of over-indulgence in wine and the social dangers of alcohol,
the historian, whose duty it is to represent and to interpret phe-
nomena as they are, must not lose sight of the fact that wine con-
stitutes a factor of economic, social, and cultural value. It has largely
contributed to refine and to intensify social customs and to heighten
sociability, as well as to promote poetry, music, and dancing. It has
developed into an element of human civilization, which must not
be underrated. Temperance literature is a fine thing, but who would
miss the odes of Anakreon, Horace, or Hafiz?

The word for the grape, brought back by Cafi K'ien and still current
in China and Japan {hudo), is^Wi (ancient phonetic spelling of the
Han Annals, subsequently -ffi ^Yp"u-fao, *bu-daw, "grape, vine". Since
Cafi K'ien made the acquaintance of the grape in Ta-yiian (Fergana)
and took its seeds along from there to China, it is certain that he also
learned the word in Fergana; hence we are compelled to assimie that
*bu-daw is Ferganian, and corresponds to an Iranian ^budawa or
*bu5awa, formed with a suffix wa or awa^ from a stem huda, which in
my opinion may be connected with New Persian hada ("wine") and
Old Persian ^aTiaKt) C ' wine-vessel ")= Middle Persian hatak^ New
Persian hddye} The Sino- Iranian word might also be conceived as a
dialectic form of Avestan madav ("wine from berries").

It is well known that attempts have been made to derive the Chinese
word from Greek ^brpvs ("a bunch of grapes"). Tomaschek^ was
the first to offer this suggestion; T. Kingsmill* followed in 1879, and

1 Strabo, XI. viii, 5.

* Cf. Jackson, in Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, Vol. II, p. 679.

' The graphic development is the same as in the case^of mu-su (see above, p. 212).

* Cf . Horn, Neupersische Etymologie, No. 155. The Chinese are fond of etymol-
ogizing, and Li Si-6en explains the word p'u-Vao thus: "When people drink (p'u
SS) it, they become intoxicated {t'ao ^)." The joke is not so bad, but it is
no more than a joke.

^ Sogdiana, Sitzungsber. Wiener Akad., 1877, p. 133.

® Journal China Branch Roy. As. Soc, Vol. XIV, pp. 5, 19.

226 Sino-Iranica

HiRTH^ endorsed Kingsmill. No one gave a real demonstration of the
case. Tomaschek argued that the dissemination of the vine in Central
Asia is connected with Macedonian-Greek rule and Hellenic influence.
This is decidedly wrong, for the vine grows spontaneously in all north-
em Iranian regions; and its cultivation in Iran is traceable to a great
antiquity, and is certainly older there than in Greece. The Greeks
received vine and wine from western Asia.^ Greek jSorpus, in all likeli-
hood, is a Semitic loan-word.^ It is highly improbable that the people
of Fergana would have employed a Greek word for the designation of
a plant which had been cultivated in their dominion for ages, nor is
there any evidence for the silent admission that Greek was ever known
or spoken in Fergana at the time of Can K'ien's travels. The influence
of Greek in the Iranian domain is extremely slight: nothing Greek has
as yet beeg found in any ancient manuscripts from Turkistan. In
my opinion, there is no connection between p'u-fao and ^oTpvsy nor
between the latter and Iranian *budawa.

It is well known that several species of wild vine occur in China, in
the Amtir region, and Japan.** The ancient work Pie lu is credited with
the observation that the vine {p'u-Vad) grows in Ltin-si (Kan-su) , Wu-yuan
3[ W> (north of the Ordos), and in Tun-hwafi (in Kan-su).^ Li Si-6en
therefore argues that in view of this fact the vine must of old have existed
in Lim-si in pre-Han times, but had not yet advanced into Sen-si. It
is inconceivable how Bretschneider^ can say that the introduction of
the grape by Cafi KHen is inconsistent with the notice of the grape in
the earliest Chinese materia medica. There is, in fact, nothing alarming
about it: the two are different plants; wild vines are natives of northern

* Fremde Einflusse in der chin. Kunst, p. 28; and Journal Am. Or. Soc,
Vol. XXXVII, 1917, p. 146. Hirth's arguments are based on unproved premises. The
grape-design on the so-called grape mirrors has nothing to do with Greek or Bactrian
art, but comes from Iranian-Sasanian art. No grape mirrors were turned out under the
Han, they originated in the so-called Leu-6'ao period from the fourth to the seventh
century. The attribution "Han" simply rests on the puerile assumption made in
the Po ku Vu lu that, because Can K'ien introduced the grape, the artistic designs
of grapes must also have come along with the same movement.

* Only a "sinologue" could assert that the grape was "originally introduced
from Greece, vid Bactria, about 130 B.C." (Giles, Chinese Dictionary, No. 9497).

* Muss-Arnolt, Transactions Am. Phil. Assoc, Vol. XXIII, 1892, p. 142.
The variants in spelling fiSarpvxos, fi&rpvxos, plainly indicate the status of a loan-
word. In Dioscorides (in, 120) it denotes an altogether difiEerent plant, — Chen-
opodium hotrys.

* The Lo-lo of Yun-nan know a wild grape by the name ko-p'i-ma, with large,
black, oblong berries (P. Vial, Dictionnaire frangais-lolo, p. 276). The grape is
ze-mU'Se-ma in N)d Lo-lo, sa-lu-zo or sa-So-zo in Ahi Lo-lo.

•^ Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 33, p. 3.

* Bet. Sin., pt. Ill, p. 438.

The Grape-Vine 227

China, but have never resulted in a cultivation; the cultivated species
(Vitis mntfera) was introduced from Iran, and never had any relation
to the Chinese wild species (Vitis bryoniaefolia) , In a modern work,
Mun ts'Uan tsa yen ^ ;^ H K,^ which gives an intelligent discussion
of this question, the conclusion is reached that the species from Fergana
is certainly different from that indigenous to China. The only singular
point is that the Pie lu employs the Ferganian word p'u-Vao with refer-
ence to the native species; but this is not an anachronism, for the Pie lu
was written in post-Christian times, centuries after Can K'ien; and it
is most probable that it was only the introduced species which gave the
impetus to the discovery of the wild species, so that the latter received
the same name.^

Another wild vine is styled yin-yii ® ^ {Vitis bryoniaefolia or
V. labrusca)y which appears in the writings of T'ao Hun-kin (a.d.
451-536) and in the T'an pen ts^ao of Su Kufi, but this designation has
reference only to a wild vine of middle and northern China. Yen Si-ku
(a.d. 579-645), in his K^an miu ien suJ^iWlE fS,^ ironically remarks
that regarding the yin-yil as a grape is like comparing the ^i ^ (Poncirus
trifoliata) of northern China with an orange (kU tS) ; that the yin-yii^
although a kind of p'u-Vao^ is widely different from the latter; and that
the yin-yii of Kiafi-nan differs again from the yin-yU of northern China.
Hirth's theory,* that this word might represent a transcription of
New Persian angur, is inadmissible. We have no right to regard Chinese
words as of foreign origin, unless these are expressly so indicated by the
Chinese philologists who never fail to call attention to such borrowing.
If this is not the case, specific and convincing reasons must be adduced
for the assumption that the word in question cannot be Chinese. There
is no tradition whatever that wotild make yin-yii an Iranian or a foreign
word. The opposite demonstration lacks any sound basis: New Persian,
which starts its career from the end of the tenth century, could not come
into question here, but at the best Middle Persian, and angur is a
strictly New-Persian type. A word like angur would have been dis-
sected by the Chinese into an+gut (gur)y but not into an-\-uk; more-
over, it is erroneous to suppose that final k can transcribe final r;^
in Iranian transcriptions, Chinese final k corresponds to Iranian k,
g, or the spirant x. It is further inconceivable that the Chinese might

1 T'u Su tsi Veil, xx, Ch. 113.

' Compare the analogous case of the walnut.

« Ch. 8, p. 8 b (ed. of Uu pet ts'un $u).

* Fremde Einflusse in der chinesischen Kunst, p. 17.

^ Compare above, p. 214.

228 Sino-Iranica

have applied a Persian word designating the cultivated grape to a
wild vine which is a native of their country, and which particularly
grows in the two Kiafi provinces of eastern China. The Gazetteer of
Su-5ou^ says expressly that the name for the wild grape, iaw p'u-Vao,
in the Kiafi provinces, is yin-yii. Accordingly it may be an ancient
term of the language of Wu. The Pen ts'ao kan mu^ has treated yin-yii
as a separate item, and Li Si-Sen annotates that the meaning of the
term is unexplained. It seems to me that for the time being we have
to acquiesce in this verdict. Yen-yii ^ ^ and yin-h 51 "S" are added
by him as synonymes, after the Mao ^i ^ W and the Kwan ya, while
ye p'u-fao ("wild grape") is the common colloquial term (also Ven
min or mu lun ^ ^ ;^ fil). It is interesting to note that the earliest
notices of this plant come only from Su Kufi and C'en Ts'afi-k'i of the
T'ang dynasty. In other words, it was noted by the Chinese naturalists
more than seven centuries later than the introduction of the ctdtivated
grape, — sufficient evidence for the fact that the two are not in any way
interrelated.

It must not be imagined that with Cafi K'ien's deed the introduction
of the vine into China was an accomplished fact; but introductions of
seeds were subsequently repeated, and new varieties were still imported
from Turkistan by K'afi-hi. There are so many varieties of the grape
in China, that it is hardly credible that all these should have at once
been brought over by a single man. It is related in the Han Annals
that Li Kwafi-li ^^M, being General of Er-si ^ M (*Ni-§'i), after
the subjugation of Ta-yuan, obtained grapes which he took along to
China.

Three varieties of grape are indicated in the Kwan U,^ written
before a.d. 527, — yellow, black, and white. The same varieties are
enumerated in the Yu yan tsa tsUy while Li Si-6en speaks of four varie-
ties,— a round one, called ts^ao lun <^u ^ M ^ ("vegetable dragon-
pearls"); a long one, ma ^u p*u-Vao {see below); a white one, called
"crystal grapes" (Swi tsin p*u-fao); and a black one, called "purple
grapes" (tse ^ p'u-Vao)^ — and assigns to Se-c'wan a green (^) grape,
to Yiin-nan grapes of the size of a jujube.* Su Sun of the Sung mentions
a variety of seedless grapes.

* Su toufu U, Ch. 20, p. 7 b.
2 Ch. 33, p. 4.

' Pat pHn yii Ian, Ch. 972, p. 3.

* T'an Ts'ui ^S ^ , in his valuable description of Yun-nan {Tien hat yii
hen H, published in 1799, Ch. 10, p. 2, ed. of Wen yin lou yii ti ts*un Su), states that the
grapes of southern Yun-nan are excellent, but that they cannot be dried or sent to dis-
tant places.

The Grape- Vine 229

In Han-5ou yellow and bright white grapes were styled ^u-tse 3^ ^
("beads, pearls"); another kind, styled "rock-crystal" {^wi-tsiii), ex-
celled in sweetness; those of purple and agate color ripened at a little
later date.^

To Turkistan a special variety is attributed under the name so-so
S 9 grape, as large as wu-wei-tse S BS ^ ("five flavors," Schizandra
chinensis) and without kernels Si ^. A lengthy dissertation on this
fruit is inserted in the Pen ts'ao kan mu H i} The essential points are
the following. It is produced in Turf an and traded to Peking; in appear-
ance it is like a pepper-corn, and represents a distinct variety of grape.
Its color is purple. According to the Wu tsa tsu 2 M S, written in
1 6 10, when eaten by infants, it is capable of neutralizing the poison of
small-pox. The name so-so is not the reproduction of a foreign word,
but simply means "small." This is expressly stated in the Pen kin fun
yilan ^ ffi ^ ^, which says that the so-so grapes resemble ordinary
grapes, but are smaller and finer, and hence are so called (IfD 9 SH
^ ^). The Pi ^'en ¥ M of Yii-wen Tifi ^ :^ ^ annotates, however,
that so-so is an error for sa-so (S^, without giving reasons for this
opinion. Sa-so was the name of a palace of the Han emperors, and this
substitution is surely fantastic. Whether so-so really is a vine-grape
seems doubtful. It is said that so-so are planted everywhere in China
to be dried and marketed, being called in Kian-nan/aw p*u-Vao ("foreign
grape").'

The Emperor K'an-hi (1662-17 2 2), who knew very well that grapes
had come to China from the west, tells that he caused three new varie-
ties to be introduced into his country from Hami and adjoining terri-
tories,— one red or greenish, and long like mare-nipples; one not very
large, but of agreeable taste and aroma; and another not larger than a
pea, the most delicate, aromatic, and sweetest kind. These three varie-
ties of grape degenerate in the southern provinces, where they lose
their aroma. They persist fairly well in the north, provided they are
planted in a dry and stony soil. "I would proctire for my subjects,"
the Emperor concludes, "a novel kind of fruit or grain, rather than
build a hundred porcelain kilns."*

Tturkistan is well known to the Chinese as producing many varieties

1 M liafi /« ^ IK H, by WuiTse-mu ^^ g ift of the Sung (Ch. 18, p. 5 b;
ed. of Ci pu tsu £ai ts'un Su).

' Ch. 7, p. 69. This valuable supplement to the Pen ts*ao kafi mu was first
published in 1650 (reprinted 1765 and appended to several modern editions of the
Pen ts'ao) by Cao Hio-min ffi ^ ^ {hao §u-hien S W) of Hafi-6ou.

3 Mun ts'iian tsa yenM^^B, cited in T'u su tsi Veh, XX, Ch. 130.

* M^moires concemant les Chinois, Vol. IV, 1779, pp. 471-472.

9$o Sino-Iranica

of grape. According to the Hut kHah ?i 0 H S ("Records of Turkis-
tan")» written in 1772 by the two Manchu officers Fusambd and Surde,
"there are purple, white, blue, and black varieties; further, round and
long, large and small, sour and sweet ones. There is a green and seed-
less variety, comparable to a soy-bean, but somewhat larger, and of
very sweet and agreeable flavor [then the so-so is mentioned]. Another
kind is black and more than an inch long; another is white and large.
All varieties ripen in the seventh or eighth month, when they are
dried and can be transported to distant places." According to the
Wu tsa tsUy previously quoted, Turkistan has a seedless variety of
grape, called tu yen % M. p'u-Vao ("hare-eye grape").

A. v. Le Coq^ mentions under the name sozuq saivi a cylindrical,
whitish-yellow grape, the best from Toyoq and Bulayiq, red ones of
the same shape from Manas and ShichO. Sir Aurel Stein* says that
throughout Chinese Ttu*kistan the vines are trained along low fences,
ranged in parallel rows, and that the dried grapes and ciurants of
Ujat find their way as far as the markets of Aksu, Kashgar, and Turfan.

Every one who has resided in Peking knows that it is possible to
obtain there during the summer seemingly fresh grapes, preserved from
the crop of the previous autumn, and that the Chinese have a method of
preserving them. The late F. H. King,' whose studies of the agriculture
of China belong to the very best we have, observed regarding this
point, "These old people have acquired the skill and practice of storing
and preserving such perishable fruits as pears and grapes so as to
enable them to keep them on the market almost continuously. Pears
were very common in the latter part of Jtme, and Consul-General
Williams informed me that grapes are regularly carried into July. In
talking with my interpreter as to the methods employed, I could only
learn that the growers depend simply upon dry earth cellars which can
be maintained at a very uniform temperature, the separate fruits being
wrapped in paper. No foreigner with whom we talked knew their
methods." This method is described in the Ts'i min yao iw, an ancient
work on husbandry, probably from the beginning of the sixth century,*
although teeming with interpolations. A large pit is dug in a room of
the farmhouse for storing the grapes, and holes are bored in the walls
near the surface of the ground and stuffed with branches. Some of
these holes are filled with mud to secure proper support for the room.

* SprichwOrter und Lieder aus Turfan, p. 92.
■ Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan, p. 228.

•Fanners of Forty Centuries, p. 343 (Madison, Wis., 191 1).

* See Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. I, p. 77; Hirth, T*oung Pao, 1895, p. 436;
Pelliot, Bulletin de VEcoleJranQaise, Vol. IX, p. 434.

The Grape- Vine 231

The pit in which the grapes are stored is covered with loam, and thus
an even temperature is secured throughout the winter.^

The Jestiit missionaries of the eighteenth century praise the raisins
of Hoai-lai-hien' on account of their size: "Nous parlous d'apr^s le
t^moignage de nos yeux: les grains de ces grappes de raisins sont gros
comme des prunes damas- violet, et la grappe longue et grande k propor-
tion. Le climat peut y faire; mais si les livres disent vrai, cela vient
originairement de ce qu'on a ent6 des vignes sur des jujubiers; et
r^paisseur de la peau de ces raisins nous le ferait croire."'

Raisins are first mentioned as being abundant in Yun-nan in the
YUn-nan ki* ("Memoirs regarding Yiin-nan"), a work written in the
beginning of the ninth century. Li Si-5en remarks that raisins are made
by the people of the West as well as in T'ai-yuan and P'in-yafi in §an-si
Province, whence they are traded to all parts of China. Hami in
Turkistan sends large quantities of raisins to Peking.^ In certain parts
of northern China the Turkish word ki§mi§ for a small kind of raisin
is known. It is obtained from a green, seedless variety, said to originate
from Bokhara, whence it was long ago transplanted to Yarkand.
After the subjugation of Turkistan under K*ien-lun, it was brought to
Jehol, and is still cultivated there.''

Although the Chinese eagerly seized the grape at the fijst oppor-
tunity offered to them, they were slow in accepting the Iranian custom
of making and drinking wine.^ The Arabic merchant Soleiman (or
whoever may be responsible for this account), writing in a.d. 851,
reports that "the wine taken by the Chinese is made from rice; they
do not make wine from grapes, nor is it brought to them from abroad;

* A similar contrivance for the storage of oranges is described in the M^moires
concernant les Chinois, Vol. IV, p. 489.

* I presume that Hwai (or Hwo)-lu hien in the prefecture of CeA-tiA, Ci-li
Province, is meant.

* M^moires concernant les Chinois, Vol. Ill, 1778, p. 498.

* T'ai pHn yu Ian, Ch. 972, p. 3.

* An article on Hami raisins is inserted in the M^moires concernant les Chinois
(Vol. V, 1780, pp. 481-486). The introduction to this article is rather strange, an
effort being made to prove that grapes have been known in China since times of
earliest antiquity; this is due to a confusion of the wild and the cultivated vine.
In Vol. II, p. 423, of the same collection, it is correctly stated that vine and wine be-
came known under the reign of the Emperor Wu.

' Cf. O. Franke, Beschreibung des Jehol-Gebietes, p. 76.

^ The statement that CaA K'ien taught his countrymen the art of making wine,
as asserted by Giles (Biographical Dictionary, p. 12) and L. Wieger (Textes
historiques, p. 499), is erroneous. There is nothing to this effect in the Si ki or in
the Han Annals.

232 Sino-Iranica

they do not know it, accordingly, and make no use of it."^ This doubt-
less was correct for southern China, where the information of the
Arabic navigators was gathered. The grape, however, is chiefly to be
foimd in northern China,^ and at the time of Soleiman the manu-
facture of grape-wine was known in the north. The principal document
bearing on this subject is extant in the history of the T'ang dynasty.

In A.D. 647 a peculiar variety of grapes, styled ma l^u p'u fao ^
^ ® ^ C' mare-nipple grapes") were sent to the Emperor T'ai Tsun
:^ ^ by the (Turkish) cotmtry of the Yabgu MM, It was a bunch
of grapes two feet long, of purple color.^ On the same occasion it is
stated, "Wine is used in the Western Countries, and under the
former dynasties it was sometimes sent as tribute, but only after
the destruction of Kao-6'afi M M (Turf an), when 'mare-nipple grapes*
cultivated in orchards were received, also the method of making wine
was simultaneously introduced into China (a.d. 640). T'ai Tsun
experienced both its injurious and beneficial effects. Grape-wine, when
ready, shines in all colors, is fragrant, very fiery, and tastes like the
finest oil. The Emperor bestowed it on his officials, and then for the
first time they had a taste of it in the capital."*

These former tributes of wine are alluded to in a verse of the poet
Li Po o| the eighth centiu-y, "The Hu people annually ofi&ered grape-
wine."^ Si Wan Mu, according to the Han Wu ti net (^wan of the
third century or later, is said to have presented grape-wine to the Han
Emperor Wu, which certainly is an unhistorical and retrospective
tradition.

A certain Can Hun-mao 3M ^ j^, a native of Tun-hwan in Kan-su,
is said to have devoted to grape-wine a poem of distinct quality.®
The locality Tun-hwan is of significance, for it was situated on the

^ M. Reinaud, Relation des voyages faits par les Arabes et les Persans dans
rinde et ^ la Chine, Vol. I, p. 23.

^ In the south, I am under the impression it is rather isolated. It occurs, for
instance, in San-se ^ou Jh ^ jj] in the prefecture of T'ai-p'in, Kwan-si Province,
in three varieties, — ^green, purple, and crystal, — together with an uneatable wild
grape (SaA se cou U, Ch. 14, p. 8, ed. published in 1835). "Grapes in the neighbor-
hood of Canton are often unsuccessful, the alternations of dry heat and rain being
too much in excess, while occasional typhoons tear the vines to pieces" (J. F. Davis,
China, Vol. II, p. 305). They occur in places of Fu-kien and in the Chusan Archi-
pelago (cf. Tu Su tsi Veil, VI, Ch. 1041).

3 Tan hut yao, Ch. 200, p. 14; also Fun H wen kien ki l^j ]^ ^ S IS, Ch. 7,
p. I b (ed. of Kifu ts'un Su), by Fun Yen i^ iK of the T'ang.

4 Ibid., p. 15.

^ Pen ts'ao yen i, Ch. 18, p. i.

^ This is quoted from the TsHen liafi /w "Stf ^ ^. a work of the Tsin dynasty,
in the Si leu kwo Vun tsHu (T'ai pHfi yii Ian, Ch. 972, p. i b).

The Grape-Vine 233

road to Ttirkistan, and was the centre from which Iranian ideas radiated
into China.

The curious point is that the Chinese, while they received the grape
in the era of the Han from an Iranian nation, and observed the habit
of wine-drinking among Iranians at large, acquired the art of wine-
making as late as the T'ang from a Turkish tribe of Turkistan. The
Turks of the Han period knew nothing of grapes or wine, quite natu-
rally, as they were then restricted to what is now Mongolia, where soil
and climatic conditions exclude this plant. Vine-growing, as a matter
of course, is compatible solely with a sedentary mode of life; and only
after settling in Turkistan, where they usurped the heritage of their
Iranian predecessors,^ did the Turks become acquainted with grape
and wine as a gift of Iranians. The Turkish word for the grape, Uigur
oziim (other dialects Uzum), proves nothing along the line of historical
facts, as speculated by VAmbery.^ It is even doubtful whether the word
in question originally had the meaning *^ grape '^; on the contrary, it
merely seems to have signified any berry, as it still refers to the berries
and seeds of various plants. The Turks were simply epigones and
usurpers, and added nothing new to the business of vine-culture.

In accordance with the introduction of the manufacture of grape-
wine into China, we find this product duly noted in the Pen ts*ao of
the T'ang,'^ published about the middle of the seventh century; further,
in the Si liao pen ts'ao by Mori Sen Si I5fe (second half of the seventh
century), and in the Pen ts*ao H i by C'en Ts'an-k'i 1^ IK ^, who wrote
in the K'ai-yuan period (713-741). The T'aw pen ts*ao also refers to
the manufacture of vinegar from grapes.* The Pen ts*ao yen t, pub-
lished in 1 1 16, likewise enumerates grape-wine among the numerous
brands of alcoholic beverages.

The Lian se kun tse ki by Can Yue (667-730)^ contains an anecdote
to the effect that Kao-^'an offered to the Court frozen wine made from
dried raisins, on which Mr. Kie made this comment: "The taste of
grapes with thin shells is excellent, while grapes with thick shells are
bitter of taste. They are congealed in the Valley of Eight Winds
(I^a fun ku A R ^). This wine does not spoil in the course of years."^

1 This was an accomplished fact by the end of the fourth century a.d.

* Primitive Cultur des turko-tatarischen Volkes, p. 218.

3 Cefi lei pen t$*ao, Ch. 23, p. 7,

< Ibid., Ch. 26, p. I b.

^ See The Diamond, this volume, p. 6.

^ Pen ts*ao kan mu, Ch. 25, p. 14 b. A different version of this story is quoted
in the T'ai pHA yii Ian (Ch. 845, p. 6 b).

\

234 Sino-Iranica

A recipe for making grape-wine is contained in the Pel San tsiu kin
^fc tfj S S/ a work on the different kinds of wine, written early in the
twelfth century by Cu Yi-5un ;9c S ^, known as Ta-yin Wen ::^ IS ^.
Sotir rice is placed in an earthen vessel and steamed. Five ounces of
apricot-kemels (after removing the shells) and two catties of grapes
(after being washed and dried, and seeds and shells removed) are put
together in a bowl of thin clay (i?a p^en 5^ fi),* pounded, and strained.
Three pecks of a cooked broth are poured over the rice, which is placed
on a table, leaven being added to it. This mass, I suppose, is used to
cause the grape-juice to ferment, but the description is too abrupt and
by no means clear. So much seems certain that the question is of a
rather crude process of fermentation, but not of distillation (see below).

Su T'ifi # S, who lived under the Emperor Li Tsufi (1224-63) of
the Southern Simg, went as ambassador to the Court of the Mongol
Emperor Ogotai (1229-45). His memoranda, which represent the
earliest account we possess of Mongol customs and manners, were
edited by P'efi Ta-ya ^ ::^ SI of the Sung under the title Hei Ta H lio
1^ S^ BS (''Outline of the Affairs of the Black Tatars"), and pub-
lished in 1908 by Li Wen-t'ien and Hu Se in the Wen yin lou yii ti ts'un
Su} Su T'ifi informs us that grape-wine put in glass bottles and sent
as tribute from Mohammedan countries figured at the headquarters
of the Mongol Khan; one bottle contained about ten small cups, and
the color of the beverage resembled the juice of the Diospyros kaki
[known in this country as Japanese persimmons] of southern China.
It was accordingly a kind of claret. The Chinese envoy was told that
excessive indulgence in it might result in intoxication.

1 Ch. c, p. 19 b (ed. of Ci pu tsu lai ts^wh Su). The work is noted by Wylie
(Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 150).

* Literally, "sand-pot." This is a kind of thin pottery (colloquially called $a
kwo ^ ^) peculiar to China, and turned out at Hwai-lu (Ci-li), P'in-tin 6ou and
Lu-nan (San-si), and Yao-6ou (Sen-si). Made of clay and sand with an admixture
of coal-dust, so that its appearance presents a glossy black, it is extremely light
and fragile; but, on account of their thin walls, water may be heated in these pots
with a very small quantity of fuel. They are a money and time saving device, and
hence in great demand among the poor, who depend upon straw and dried grass for
their kitchen fire. With careful handling, such pots and pans may endure a long
time. The proverb runs, "The sand-pot will last a generation if you do not hit it";
and there is another popular saying, "You may pound garlic in a sand-pan, but you
can do so but once" (A. H. Smith, Proverbs and Common Sayings from the Chinese,
p. 204). Specimens of this ware from Yao-6ou may be seen in the Field Museum,
others from Hwai-lu are in the American Museum of New York (likewise collected
by the writer). The above text of the Sung period is the first thus ,far found by me
which contains an allusion to this pottery.

' This important work has not yet attracted the attention of our science. I hope
to be able to publish a complete translation of it in the future.

The Grape-Vine 235

In his interesting notice "Le Nom turc du vin dans Odoric de
Pordenone,"^ P. Pelliot has called attention to the word bor as a
Turkish designation of grape-wine, adding also that this word occurs
in a Mongol letter found in Turf an and dated 1398.^ I can furnish
additional proof for the fact that bor is an old Mongol word in the
sense of wine, although, of course, it may have been borrowed from
Turkish. In the Mongol version of the epic romance of Geser or Gesar
Khan we find an enumeration of eight names of liquor, all supposed
to be magically distilled from araki ("arrack, brandy")* These are:
aradsa (araja), xoradsa or xuradsa, Hradsa^ boradsaf iakpa, tikpa,
marba, mirba} These terms have never been studied, and, with the
exception of the first and third, are not even listed in Kovalevski's and
Golstuntki's Mongol Dictionaries. The four last words are characterized
as Tibetan by the Tibetan suffix pa or ba. Marwa (corresponding in
meaning to Tibetan ^'aw) is well known as a word generally used
throughout Sikkim and other Himalayan regions for an alcoholic
beverage.* As to tikpa^ it seems to be formed after the model of Tibetan
tig-c'an, the liquor for settling (tig) the marriage-affair, presented by the
future bridegroom to the parents of his intended.^

The terms aradsay xoradsa or xuradsa, Hradsa, and boradsa, are all
provided with the same ending. The first is given by Kovalevski*
with the meaning "very strong koumiss, spirit of wine." A parallel is
offered by Manchu in ar(^an ("a liquor prepared from milk"), while
Manchu arjan denotes any alcoholic drink. The term xoradsa or xuradsa
may be derived from Mongol xuru-t {-t being suffix of the plural),
corresponding to Manchu kuru, which designates "a kind of cheese
made from fermented mare's milk, or cheese prepared from cow's or
mare's milk with the addition of sugar and sometimes pressed into
forms." The word Hradsa has been adopted by Schmidt and Kovalevski
in their respective dictionaries as "wine distilled for the fourth time"
or "esprit de vin quadruple;" but these explanations are simply based
on the above passage of Geser, in which one drink is supposed to be

» Toung Pao, 1914, pp. 448-453.

* Ramstedt's tentative rendering of this word by "beaver" is a double error:
first, the beaver does not occur in Mongolia and is unknown to the Mongols, its
easternmost boundary is formed by the Yenisei; second, bor as an animal-name
means "an otter cub," and otter and beaver are entirely distinct creatures.

' Text, ed. I. J. Schmidt, p. 65; translation, p. 99. Schmidt transcribes arasa,
chorasa, etc., but the palatal sibilant is preferable.

* Cf. H. H. RisLEY, Gazetteer of Sikkim, p. 75, where also the preparation is
described.

* Jaschke, Tibetan Dictionary, p. 364.

* Dictionnaire mongol, p. 143.

236 Sino-Iranica

distilled from the other. This process, of course, is purely fantastic,
and described as a magical feat; there is no reality underlying it.

The word boradsa, in my opinion, is derived from the Turkish word
bor discussed by Pelliot; there is no Mongol word from which it could
be explained. In this connection, the early Chinese accoimt given
above of foreign grape-wine among the Mongols gains a renewed
significance. Naturally it was a rare article in Mongolia, and for this
reason we hear but little about it. Likewise in Tibet grape- wine is
scarcely used, being restricted to religious offerings in the temples.^

The text of the Geser Romance referred to is also important from
another point of view. It contains the loan-word arikij from Arabic
'araq, which appears in eastern Asia as late as the Mongol epoch
(below, p. 237). Consequently our work has experienced the influence
of this period, which is visible also in other instances.^ The foundation
of the present recension, first printed at Peking in 17 16, is indeed trace-
able to the thirteenth and fotuteenth centuries; many legends and
motives, of course, are of a much older date.

Marco Polo relates in regard to T'ai-yuan fu, called by him Taianfu,
the capital of §an-si Province, "There grow here many excellent vines,
supplying a great plenty of wine; and in all Cathay this is the only place
where wine is produced. It is carried hence all over the country."'
Marco Polo is upheld by contemporary Chinese writers. Grape-wine
is mentioned in the Statutes of the Yuan Djmasty.'* The Yin ^an ^en
yao 'K ^ IE 3c, written in 133 1 (in 3 chapters) by Ho Se-hwi ^P M W,
contains this account:^ ** There are nimierous brands of wine: that
coming from Qara-Khoja (Ha-la-hwo "^^l !KY is very strong, that
coming from Tibet ranks next. Also the wines from P'ifi-yan and T'ai-

1 Cf. Toung Pao, 1914, p. 412.

2 Cf. ibid., 1908, p. 436.

8 Yule and Cordier, The Book of Ser Marco Polo, Vol. II, p. 13. Klaproth
(cf. Yule's notes, ibid., p. 16) was quite right in saying that the wine of that locality-
was celebrated in the days of the T'ang dynasty, and used to be sent in tribute to the
emperors. Under the Mongols the use of this wine spread greatly. The founder of
the Ming accepted the offering of wine from T'ai-yuan in 1373, but prohibited its
being presented again. This fact is contained in the Ming Annals (cf. L. Wieger,
Textes historiques, p. 201 1).

* Yuan Hen Ian j^ JSj^ i^, Ch. 22, p. 65 (ed. 1908).

^ Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 25,! p. 14 b. Regarding that work, cf. the Imperial
Catalogue, Ch. 116, p. 27 b.

• Regarding this name and its history see Pelliot, Journal asiatique, 19 12, I,
p. 582. Qara-Khoja was celebrated for its abundance of grapes (Bretschneider,
Mediaeval Researches, Vol. I, p. 65). J. Dudgeon (The Beverages of the Chinese,
p. 27), misreading the name Ha-so-hwo, took it for the designation of a sort of wine.
Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 459) mistakes it for a transliteration of "hoi-

The Grape- Vine 237

yuan (in San-si) take the second rank. According to some statements,
grapes, when stored for a long time, will develop into wine through a
natural process. This wine is fragrant, sweet, and exceedingly strong:
this is the genuine grape-wine."^ The Ts^ao mu tse '-^ ;^ ?, written
in 1378 by Ye Tse-k'i ^ -f "S*, contains the following information:
''Under the Yuan dynasty grape- wine was manufactured in Ki-nifi
M ^ and other circuits ^ of San-si Province. In the eighth month
they went to the T'ai-hafi Mountain ::fe fif Uj^ in order to test the
genuine and adulterated brands: the genuine kind when water is
poured on it, will float; the adulterated sort, when thus treated, will
freeze.^ In wine which has long been stored, there is a certain portion
which even in extreme cold will never freeze, while all the remainder is
frozen: this is the spirit and fluid secretion of wine.* If this is drunk,
the essence will penetrate into a man's arm-pits M , and he will die.
Wine kept for two or three years develops great poison.''

The first author who offers a coherent notice and intelligent discus-
sion of the subject of grape-wine is Li Si-6en at the end of the sixteenth
century.^ He is well acquainted with the fact that this kind of wine was
anciently made only in the Western Countries, and that the method of
manufacturing it was but introduced under the T'ang after the sub-
jugation of Kao-C'afi. He discriminates between two types of grape-
wine, — the fermented K J^ #, of excellent taste, made from grape-
juice with the addition of leaven in the same fashion as the ordinary
native rice-wine (or, if no juice is available, dried raisins may be used),
and the distilled ^M. In the latter method "ten catties of grapes are
taken with an equal quantity of great leaven (distillers' grains) and
subjected to a process of fermentation. The whole is then placed in an
earthen kettle and steamed. The drops are received in a vessel, and
this liquid is of red color, and very pleasing." There is one question,
however, left open by Li §i-6en. In a preceding notice on distillation
^M he states that this is not an ancient method, but was practised
only from the Yuan period; he then describes it in its application to rice-
lands," or maybe "alcohol." The latter word has never penetrated into China in
any form. Chinese a-la-ki does not represent the word "alcohol," as conceived by
some authors, for instance, J. Macgowan (Journal China Branch Roy. As. Soc,
Vol. VII, 1873, p. 237); see the following note.

1 This work is also the first that contains the word a-la-ki fSf JJ ^, from
Arabic 'araq (see T'oung Pao, 1916, p. 483).

^ A range of mountains separating §an-si from Ci-li and Ho-nan.

' This is probably a fantasy. We can make nothing of it, as it is not stated how
the adulterated wine was made.

* This possibly is the earliest Chinese allusion to alcohol.

•* Pen ts*ao kart mu, Ch. 25, p. 14 b.

238 Sino-Iranica

wine in the same manner as for grape- wine. Certain it is that distillation
is a Western invention, and was unknown to the ancient Chinese.*
Li §i-6en fails to inform us as to the time when the distillation of grape-
wine came into existence. If this process had become known in China
under the T'ang in connection ,with grape-wine, it would be strange if
the Chinese did not then apply it to their native spirits, but should have
waited for another foreign impulse until the Mongol period. On the
other hand, if the method due to the Uigiu- under the T'ang merely
applied to fermented grape-wine, we may justly wonder that the Chinese
had to learn such a simple affair from the Uigur, while centuries eariier
they must have had occasion to observe this process among many
Iranian peoples. It wotild therefore be of great interest to seize upon
a docimient that would tell us more in detail what this method of
manufacture was, to which the T'ang history obviously attaches so
great importance. It is not very likely that distillation was involved;
for it is now generally conceded that the Arabs possessed no knowledge
of alcohol, and that distillation is not mentioned in any relevant litera-
ture of the Arabs and Persians from the tenth to the thirteenth cen-
tury.* The statement of Li Si-6en, that distillation was first practised
under the Mongols, is historically logical and in keeping with our
present knowledge of the subject. It is hence reasonable to hold (at
least for the present) also that distilled grape-wine was not made
earlier in China than in the epoch of the Yiian. Mon Sen of the T'ang
says advisedly that grapes can be fermented into wine, and the recipe
of the Sung does not allude to distillation.

In the eighteenth century European wine also reached China. A
chest of grape-wine figures among the presents made to the Emperor
K'an-hi on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday in 171 5 by the Jesuits
Bernard KiHan Stumpf, Joseph Suarez, Joachim Bouvet, and Domini-
cus Parrenin.'

P. OsBECK,* the pupil of Linn^, has the following notice on the
importation of European wine into China: "The Chinese wine, which
our East India traders call Mandarin wine, is squeezed out of a fruit
which is here called PausioJ^ and reckoned the same with our grapes.

1 Cf. Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. II, p. 155; J. Dudgeon, The Beverages of
the Chinese, pp. 19-20; Edkins, China Review, Vol. VI, p. 211. The process of
distillation is described by H. B. Gruppy, Samshu-Brewing in North China {Journal
China Branch Roy. As. Soc, Vol. XVIII, 1884, pp. 163-164).

^ E. O. V. LiPPMANN, Abhandlungen, Vol. II, pp. 206-209; cf. also my remarks
in American Anthropologist, 1917, p. 75.

» Cf. Wan Sou Sen tien S # ffi :ft' Ch. 56, p. 12.

* A Voyage to China and the East Indies, Vol. I, p. 315 (London, 1771).

* Apparently a bad or misprinted reproduction of p'u-t'ao.

The Grape-Vine 239

This wine was so disagreeable to us, that none of us would drink it.
The East India ships never fail taking wine to China, where they often
sell it to considerable advantage. The Xeres (sherry) wine, for which
at Cadiz we paid thirteen piastres an anchor, we sold here at thirty-
three piastres an anchor. But in this case you stand a chance of having
your tons split by the heat diiring the voyage. I have since been told,
that in 1754, the price of wine was so much lowered at Canton, that
our people could with difficulty reimburse themselves. The Spaniards
send wines to Manilla and Macao, whence the Chinese fetch a con-
siderable quantity, especially for the court of Peking. The wine of
Xeres is more agreeable here than any other sort, on account of its
strength, and because it is not liable to change by heat. The Chinese
are very temperate in regard to wine, and many dare not empty a single
glass, at least not at once. Some, however, have learned from foreigners
to exceed the limits of temperance, especially when they drink with
them at free cost."

Grape-wine is attributed by the Chinese to the Arabs.* The
Arabs cultivated the vine and made wine in the pre-Islamic epoch.
Good information on this subject is given by G. Jacob .^

Theophrastus^ states that in India only the mountain-country has
the vine and the olive. Apparently he hints at a wild vine, as does also
Strabo,^ who says after Aristobulus that in the country of Musicanus
(Sindh) there grows spontaneously grain resembling wheat, and a vine
producing wine, whereas other authors affirm that there is no wine in
India. Again, he states^ that on the moimtain Meron near the city
Nysa, founded by Bacchus, there grows a vine which does not ripen
its fruit; for, in consequence of excessive rains, the grapes drop before
arriving at maturity. They say also that the Sydracae or Oxydracae
are descendants of Bacchus, because the vine grows in their country.
The element -dracae (drakai) is probably connected with Sanskrit
drdk^d ("grape"). These data of the ancients are vague, and do not
prove at all that the grape-vine has been cultivated in India from time
immemorial, as inferred by Joret.® Geographically they only refer to
the regions bordering on Iran. The ancient Chinese knew only of grapes
in Kashmir (above, p. 222). The Wei ^u' states that grapes were ex-

^ HiRTH, Chao Ju-kua, pp. 115, 121.

^ Altarabisches Beduinenleben, 2d ed., pp. 96-109.

' Hist, plant., IV. IV, 11.

* XV, 22.

•XV. 1,8.

« Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 280.

' Ch. 102, p. 8.

240 Sino-Iranica

ported from Pa-lai S S (*Bwat-lai) in southern India. Huan Tsafi^
enumerates grapes together with pears, crab-apples, peaches, and
apricots,^ as the fruits which, from Kashmir on, are planted here and
there in India. The grape, accordingly, was by no means common in
India in his time (seventh century).

The grape is not mentioned in Vedic literature, and Sanskrit drdk$d
I regard with Spiegel' as a loan-word. Viticulture never was extensive
or of any importance in Indian agriculture. Prior to the Moham-
medan conquest, we have little precise knowledge of the cultivation of
the vine, which was much fostered by Akbar. In modem times it is
only in Kashmir that it has been received with some measure of
success.

Huan Tsafi* states that there are several brands of alcoholic and
non-alcoholic beverages in India, differing according to the castes.
The Ksatriya indulge in grape and sugar-cane wine. The Vaigya take
rich wines fermented with yeast. The Buddhists and Brahmans partake
of a syrup of grapes or sugar-cane, which does not share the nattire
of any wine.^ In Jataka No. 183, grape-juice {muddikdpdnam) of in-
toxicating properties is mentioned.

Huan Yin* gives three Sanskrit words for various kinds of wine: —

(i) %^ su-lo, *su5-la, Sanskrit surdj explained as rice-wine
MM.'

1 Ta T'an si yii ki, Ch. 2, p. 8.

^ Not almond-tree, as erroneously translated by Julien (M6moires, Vol. I,
p. 92). Regarding peach and apricot, see below, p. 539.

' Arische Periode, p. 41.

* Ta rail si yii ki, Ch. 2, p. 8 b.

^ S. Julien (M^moires, Vol. I, p. 93) translates wrongly, "qui different tout h
fait du vin distill^." Distilled wine was then unknown both to the Chinese and in
India, and the term is not in the text. "Distillation of wines" is surely not spoken
of in the Cukraniti, as conceived by B. K. Sarkar (The Sukraniti, p. 157; and Hindu
Sociology, p. 166).

8 Yi ts'ie kifi yin i, Ch. 24, p. 8 b.

' This definition is of some importance, for in Boehtlingk's Sanskrit Dictionary
the word is explained as meaning "a kind of beer in ancient times, subsequently,
however, in most cases brandy," which is certainly wrong. Thus also O. Schrader's
speculation (Sprachvergleichung, Vol. II, p, 256), connecting Finno-Ugrian sara,
sur, etc. ("beer") with this word, necessarily falls to the ground, Macdonell and
Keith (Vedic Index, Vol. II, p. 458) admit that "the exact nature of surd is not
certain, it may have been a strong spirit prepared from fermented grains and plants,
as Eggehng holds, or, as Whitney thought, a kind of beer or ale." It follows also
from Jataka No. 512 that surd was prepared from rice. In Cosmas' Christian
Topography (p. 362, ed. of Hakluyt Society) we have ^oyxoaoOpa ("coconut-
wine"); here sura means "wine," while the first element may be connected with
Arabic ranej or ranj ("coco-nut").

The Grape-Vine 241

(2) ^MM nti-li-ye, *mei-li(ri)-ya, answering to Sanskrit maireya,
explained as a wine mixed from roots, stems, flowers, and leaves.^

(3) ^ K mo-fo, *mwa5-do, Sanskrit madhUy explained as "grape-
wine" (p'u-Vao tsiu). The latter word, as is well known, is connected
with Avestan maba (Middle Persian maij New Persian mei)^ Greek
ixeQvy Latin temetum. Knowledge of grape-wine was conveyed to India
from the West, as we see from the Periplus and Tamil poems alluding
to the importation of Yavana (Greek) wines.^ In the Raghuvara^a
(iv, 65), madhu doubtless refers to grape-wine; for King Raghu van-
quished the Yavana, and his soldiers relieve their fatigue by enjoying
madhu in the vine regions of the Yavana country.

According to W. Ainslie,' the French at Pondicherry, in spite of the
great heat of the Camatic, are particularly successful in cultivating
grapes; but no wine is made in India, nor is the fruit dried into raisins \
as in Europe and Persia. The Arabians and Persians, particularly the
latter, though they are forbidden wine by the Koran, bestow much
pains on the cultivation of tjie grape, and suppose that the different
kinds possess distinguishing medicinal qualities. Wine is brought to
India from Persia, where, according to Tavernier (1605-89), three
sorts are made: that of Yezd, being very delicate; the Ispahan produce,
being not so good; and the Shiraz, being the best, rich, sweet, and
generous, and being obtained from the small grapes called ki^mi^,
which are sent for ^ale to Hindustan when dried into raisins."* There
are two brands of Shiraz wine, a red and a white, both of which are
excellent, and find a ready market in India. Not less than four thou-
sand tuns of Shiraz wine is said to be annually sent from Persia to
different parts of the world. ^ The greatest quantity is produced in the
district of Korbal, near the village of Bend Emir.® In regard to Assam,

1 Compare above (p. 222) theiwine of the Yue-c$i. According to Boehtlingk,
maireya is an intoxicating drink prepared from sugar and other substances.

* V. A. Smith, Eariy History of India, p. 444 (3d ed.).
' Materia Indica, Vol. I, p. 157.

* Compare above, p. 231.

^ * ' Wines too , of every clime and hue,

Around their liquid lustre threw;
Amber RosoUi, — the bright dew
From vineyards of the Green-Sea gushing;
And Shiraz wine, that richly ran
As if that jewel, large and rare,
The ruby, for which Kublai-Khan
Offer'd a city's wealth, was blushing
Melted within the goblets there!"

Thomas Moore, Lalla Rookh.
® AiNSLEE, /.c, p. 473.

t^2 Sino-Iranica

Ta VERNIER* states that there are quantities of vines and good grapes,
but no wine, the grapes being merely dried to distil spirits from. Wild
vine grows in upper Siam and on the Malay Peninsula, and is said to
furnish a rather good wine.*

A wine-yielding plant of Central Asia is described in the Ku kin l^u
•& -^ Sfe' by Ts'ui Pao -S 19 of the fourth century, as follows: "The
tsiu-pei-fen S W 0 ("wine-cup creeper") has its habitat in the West-
em Regions (Si-yu). The creeper is as large as an arm; its leaves are
like those of the ko ^ (Pachyrhizus thunhergianuSj a wild-growing
creeper); flowers and fruits resemble those of the wu-Vun {Sterculia
platanifolia) f and are hard; wine can be pressed out of them. The
fruits are as large as a finger and in taste somewhat similar to the tou-k'ou
s, ^ {Alpinia glohosum) ; their fragrance is fine, and they help to digest
wine. In order to secure wine, the natives get beneath the creepers,
pluck the flowers, press the wine out, eat the fruit for digestion, and
become intoxicated. The people of those coimtries esteem this wine,
but it is not sent to China. Can K'ien obtained it when he left Ta-yiian
(Fergana). This affair is contained in the Can KHen <i'u kwan U 36 31
Hi IB iS ('Memoirs of Can K'ien's Journey')-"* This account is re-
stricted to the Ku kin ^w, and is not confirmed by any other book. Li
Si-6en's work is the only Pen ts'ao which has adopted this text in an
abridged form.* Accordingly the plant itself has never been introduced
into China; and this fact is sufficient to discard the possibility of an
introduction by Can K'ien. If he had done so, the plant would have
been disseminated over China and mentioned in the various early
Pen ts'ao; it wotild have been traced and identified by our botanists.
Possibly the plant spoken of is a wild vine, possibly another genus.
The description, though by no means clear in detail, is too specific to
be regarded as a mystification.

The history of the grape-vine in China has a decidedly method-
ological value. We know exactly the date of the introduction and

* Travels in India, Vol. II, p. 282.

' DiLOCK Prinz von Siam, Landwirtschaft in Siam, p. 167.

* Ch. c, p. 2 b. The text has been adopted by the 5w po wu li (Ch. 5, p. 2 b)
and in a much abbreviated form by the Yu yah tsa tsu (Ch. 18, p. 6 b). It is not in
the Pen ts'ao kah mu, but in the Pen ts*ao kah mu H i (Ch. 8, p. 27).

* HiRTH (Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXXVII, 1917, p. 91) states that this
work is mentioned in the catalogue of the library of the Sui dynasty, but not in the
later dynastic catalogues. We do not know when and by whom this alleged book
was written; it may have been an historical romance. Surely it was not produced
by Cafi K'ien himself.

• See also Tu Su isi I'eA, XX, Ch. 112, where no other text on the subject is
quoted.

The Grape- Vine 243

the circumstances which accompanied this important event. We have
likewise ascertained that the art of making grape-wine was not learned
by the Chinese before a.d. 640. There are in China several species of
wild vine which bear no relation to the imported ctdtivated species.
Were we left without the records of the Chinese, a botanist of the
type of Engler would correlate the cultivated with the wild forms and
asstire us that the Chinese are original and independent viticulturists.
In fact, he has stated^ that Vitis thunbergii, a wild vine occurring in
Japan, Korea, and China, seems to have a share in the development of
Japanese varieties of vine, and that Vitis filifolia of North China seems
to have influenced Chinese and Japanese vines. Nothing of the kind
can be inferred from Chinese records, or has ever been established by
direct observation. The fact of the introduction of the cultivated grape
into China is wholly unknown to Engler. The botanical notes appended
by him to Hehn's history of the grape* have nothing whatever to do
with the history of the cultivated species, but refer exclusively to wild
forms. It is not botany, but historical research, that is able to solve the
problems connected with the history of our cultivated plants.

Dr. T. Tanaka of the Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department
of Agriculttu-e, Washington, has been good enough to contribute the
following notes on the history of the grape-vine in Japan: —

"The early history of the cultivation of the grape-vine (Vitis
vinifera) in Japan is very obscure. Most of the early Japanese medical
and botanical works refer to btuid % 4^ (Chinese p'u-fao) as ebi, the
name occurring in the Kojiki (compiled in a.d. 712, iSrst printed in
1644) as yebikadzurGy^ which is identified by J. Matsumura* as Vitis
vinifera. It seems quite incomprehensible that the grape-vine, which
is now found only in cultivated fonii, should have occurred during the
mythological period as early as 660 B.C. The Honzd-wamyo ^ ^
^H ^ (compiled during the period 897-930, first printed 1796) mentions
o-ehi-kadzura as vine-grape, distinguishing it from ordinary ebi-kadzura,
but the former is no longer in common use in distinction from the latter.
The ebi-dzuru which should correctly be termed inu-ebi (false ebi
plant), as suggested by Ono Ranzan,** is widely applied in Japan for
S^ (Chinese yin-yU), and is usually identified as Vitis thunbergii ,

* Eriauterungen zu den Nutzpflanzen der gemassigten Zonen, p. 30.

* Kulturpflanzen, pp. 85-91.

* B. H. Chamberlain, Ko-ji-ki, p. xxxiv.

* Botanical Magazine, Tokyo, Vol. VII, 1893, p. 139.

* Honzd kOmoku keimO, ed. 1847, Ch. 29, p. 3.

244 Sino-Iranica

but is an entirely different plant, with small, deeply-lobed leaves,
copiously villose beneath. Ehi-kadzura is mentioned again in the
Wamyo-ruiju^o ^ ^ M ^ 1^ (compiled during the period 923-931,
first edited in 161 7), which gives htcdo as the fruit of Hkwatsu or Vitis
coignetiae^j as growing wild in northern Japan.

"These three plants are apparently mixed up in early Japanese
literature, as pointed out by Arai Kimiyo^i.^ Describing budo as a food
plant, the HoYi6d ^okukan # ^ "^ ^^ mentions that the fruit was not
greatly appreciated in ancient times; for this reason no mention was
made of it in the Imperial chronicles, nor has any appropriate Japanese
term been coined to designate the vine-grape proper.

"In the principal vine-grape district of Japan, Yamana§i-ken
(previously called Kai Province), were found a few old records, an
account of which is given in Viscount Y. Fukuba's excellent discourse
on Pomology.* An article on the same subject was published by J.
Dautremer.^ This relates to a tradition regarding the accidental dis-
covery by a villager, Amenomiya Kageyu (not two persons), of the vine-
grape in 1 1 86 (Dautremer erroneously makes it 1195) at the mountain
of Kamiiwasaki Ji ;§ !•*&, not far from Kofu ? /ff . Its cultivation must
have followed soon afterward, for in 1197 a few choice fruits were
presented to the Sogun Yoritomo (1147-99). At the time of Takeda
Harunobu (1521-73) a sword was presented to the Amenomiya family
as a reward for excellent fruits which they presented to the Lord.
Viscoimt Fukuba saw the original document relative to the official
presentation of the sword, and bearing the date 1549.* The descendants
of this historical grape-vine are still thriving in the same locality around
the original grove, widely recognized among horticulturists as a true
Vitis vinifera. According to a later publication of Fukuba,^ there is
but one variety of it. Several introductions of Vitis vinifera took place
in the early Meiji period (beginning 1868) from Europe and America.

"The following species of Vitis are mentioned in Umemura's work
Ino^okukwai-no-^okubutsu-H t^ 'fe t^ ;^ fli ^ 1$^ as being edible:

1 Matsumura, Shokubutsu Mei-i, p. 380.

2 Toga ^ SH (completed in 17 19), ed. 1906, p. 272.

3 ch. 4, p. 50 (ed. of 1698).

* Kwaju engei-ron ^W ^M W, privately published in 1892.
^ Situation de la vigne dans I'empire du Japon, Transactions Asiatic Society of
Japan, Vol. XIV, 1886, pp. 176-185.
^ Fukuba, op. ciL, pp. 461-462.

^ Kwaju saibaijenSo :^ M ^ ^ :lr ♦, Vol. IV, 1896, pp. 1 19-120.
^ Vol. 4, 1906.

The Grape-Vine 245

" Yama-budO (Vitis coignetiae) : fruit eaten raw and used for wine;
leaves substituted for tobacco.

"Ebi-dzuru (V. thunhergii): fruit eaten raw, leaves cleaned and
cooked; worm inside the cane baked and eaten by children as remedy
for convulsions.

" Sankaku-dzuru {V.flexuosa): fruit eaten raw.

"Ama-dzuru \{V. saccharijera): fruit eaten raw; children are very
fond of eating the leaves, as they contain sugar."

THE PISTACHIO

3. Pistacia is a genus of trees or shrubs of the family AnacardicKeae,
containing some six species, natives of Iran and western Asia, and also
transplanted to the Mediterranean region. At least three species
{Pistacia vera, P. terehinihus, and P. acuminata) are natives of Persia,
and from ancient times have occupied a prominent place in the life of the
Iranians. Pistachio-nuts are still exported in large quantities from
Afghanistan to India, where they form a common article of food among
the well-to-do classes. The species found in Afghanistan and Baluchis-
tan do not cross the Indian frontier.^ The pistachio (Pistacia vera) in
particular is indigenous to ancient Sogdiana and Khorasan,* and still
is a tree of great importance in Russian Turkistan.^

When Alexander crossed the mountains into Bactriana, the road
was bare of vegetation save a few trees of the bushy terminthus or
terebinthus.* On the basis of the information furnished by Alexander's
scientific staff, the tree is mentioned by Theophrastus^ as growing in
the country of the Bactrians; the nuts resembling almonds in size
and shape, but surpassing them in taste and sweetness, wherefore the
people of the country use them in preference to almonds. Nicandrus
of Colpphon* (third century B.C.), who calls the fruit Pkttclklov or <f>LTTaK(,oVy
a word derived from an Iranian language (see below), says that it grows
in the valley of the Xoaspes in Susiana. Posidonius, Dioscorides, Pliny,
and Galenus know it also in Syria. Vitellius introduced the tree into
Italy; and Flaccus Pompeius, who served with him, introduced it at
the same time into Spain.^

The youths of the Persians were taught to endure heat, cold, and
rain; to cross torrents and to keep their armor and clothes dry; to
pasture animals, to watch all night in the open air, and to subsist on
wild fruit, as terebinths {Pistacia terebinthus) , acorns, and wild pears.*

1 Watt, Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Vol. VI, p. 268.

* JORET, Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, pp. 47, 76.

' S. KoRziNSKi, Vegetation of Turkistan (in Russian), pp. 20, 21.

* Strabo, XV. 11, 10.

5 Hist, plant., IV. iv, 7.
» Theriaka, 890.

^ Pliny, XV, 22, §91. A. de Candolle (Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 316)
traces Pistacia vera only to Syria, without mentioning its occurrence in Persia.
8 Strabo, XV. in, 18.

246

The Pistachio 347

The Persians appeared to the ancients as terebinth-eaters, and this
title seems to have developed into a sort of nickname: when Astyages,
King of the Medians, seated on his throne, looked on the defeat of his
men through the army of C5mis, he exclaimed, "Woe, how brave are
these terebinth-eating Persians!"^ According to Polyaenus,* terebinth-
oil was among the articles to be furnished daily for the table of the
Persian kings. In the Bundahisn, the pistachio-nut is mentioned to-
gether with other fruits the inside of which is fit to eat, but not the
outside.' "The fniits of the country are dates, pistachios, and apples
of Paradise, with other of the like not found in our cold climate."*

Twan C*efi-§i ^ J^ ^, in his Yu yan tsa tsu M ^ M &, written
about A.D. 860 and containing a great amount of useful information
on the plants of Persia and Fu-lin, has the following: —

"The hazel-nut (Corylus heterophylld) of the Hu (Iranians), styled
a-yiie M M , grows in the countries of the West.^ According to the
statement of the barbarians, a-yiie is identical with the hazel-nuts
of the Hu. In the first year the tree bears hazel-nuts, in the second
year it bears a-yiie. ^^^

C'en Ts'afi-k'i ^ ^ H, who in the K*ai-yuan period (a.d. 713-741)
wrote the Materia Medica Pen ts*ao H i ^ ^ JS" jft, states that "the
fruits of the plant a-yue-hun M M W are warm and acrid of flavor,
non-poisonous, cure catarrh of the bowels, remove cold feeling, and
make people stout and robust, that they grow in the western countries,
the barbarians saying that they are identical with the hazel-nut of the
Hu JB ^ ?. During the first year the tree bears hazel-nuts, in the
second year it bears a-yue-hun"

Li Sun ^ ^, in his Hat yao pen ts*ao M^^^ (second half of the
eighth century), states, "According to the Nan ^ou ki S IW 12 by
Su Piao # ^,^ the Nameless Tree {wu mih mu ft^ ^ ;^C) grows in the
mountainous valleys of Lin-nan (Kwan-tufi) . Its fruits resemble in appear-
ance the hazel-nut, and are styled Nameless Fruits {wu min tse il ^

1 Nicolaus of Damaskus (first century B.C.), cited by Hehn, Kulturpflanzen,
p. 424.

' Strategica, IV. iii, 32.

' These fruits are walnut, almond, pomegranate, coconut, filbert, and chestnut.
See West, Pahlavi Texts, Vol. I, p. 103.

* Marco Polo, Yule's edition. Vol. I, p. 97.

' The editions of the Yu yan tsa tsu write |S M, "in the gardens of the West";
but the T'u su tsi I' en (section botany, Ch. 311) and Ci wu min H t'u k'ao, in repro-
ducing this text, offer the reading 5 B » which seems to me preferable.

« Yu yan tsa isujl^^, Ch. 10, p. 3 b (ed. of Tsin tat pi Su).

' This work is quoted in the Ts*i min yao $u, written by Kia Se-niu under the
Hou Wei dynasty (a.d. 386-534).

248 Sino-Iranica

■?). Persians 1&M ^ designate them a-yiie-hun fruits.*'* For the same
period we have the testimony of the Arabic merchant Soleiman, who
wrote in a.d. 851, to the effect that pistachios grow in China.^

As shown by the two forms, a-yiie of the Yu yah tsa tsu and a-yiie-hun
of the Pen ts'ao H i and Hai yao pen ts'ao, the fuller form must repre-
sent a compound consisting of the elements a-yile and hun. In order to
understand the transcription a-yiie, consideration of the following facts
is necessary.

The Old-Iraniaji word for the walnut has not been handed down to
us, but there is good evidence to prompt the conclusion that it must
have been of the type *agoza or *afig5za. On the one hand, we have
Armenian engoiz, Ossetic dngoza or angUz, and Hebrew egoz;^ on the
other hand, we meet in Yidgha, a Hindu-Kush language, the form
ogUzOy as compared with New Persian kdz and goz.^ The signification
of this word is "nut" in general, and "walnut" in particular. Further,
there is in Sanskrit the Iranian loan-word dkhota, aksdta, or ak^dda,
which must have been borrowed at an early date, as, in the last-named
form, the word occurs twice in the Bower Manuscript.^ It has survived
in Hindustani as axrot or dkrot. The actual existence of an East-
Iranian form with the ancient initial a- is guaranteed by the Chinese
transcription a-yiie; for a-yiie M ^ answers to an ancient *a-fiwie5
(nw'e5) or *a-gwie5, a-gwu5;® and this, in my opinion, is intended to
represent the Iranian word for "nut" with initial a-, mentioned above;
that is, *arigwiz, afigwOz, agOz.

Chinese hun M answers to an ancient *7wun or wun. In regard
to this Iranian word, the following information may be helpful. E.

1 If it is correct that the transcription a-yiie-hun was already contained in the
Nan iou ki (which it is impossible to prove, as we do not possess the text of this
work), the transcription must have been based on an original prototype of early
Sasanian times or on an early Middle-Persian form. This, in fact, is confirmed by
the very character of the Sino-Iranian word, which has preserved the initial a-,
while this one became lost in New Persian. It may hence be inferred that Li Sun's
information is correct, and that the transcription a-yiie-hun may really have been
contained in the Nan £ou ki, and would accordingly be pre-T'an.

2 M. Reinaud, Relation des voyages faits par les Arabes et les Persans dans
rinde et k la Chine, Vol. I, p. 22.

* Whether Georgian nigozi and the local name N£7ouf a of Ptolemy (W.
ToMASCHEK, Pamirdialekte, Sitzber. Wiener Akad., 1880, p. 790) belong here, I do
not feel certain. Cf . Hubschmann, Armenische Grammatik, p. 393.

* In regard to the elision of initial a in New Persian, see Hubschmann, Persische
Studien, p. 120. '

5 Hoernle's edition, pp. 32, 90, 121.

^ Regarding the phonetic value of ^ , see the detailed study of Pelliot (Bull,
de VEcole frangaise, Vol. V, p. 443) and the writer's Language of the Yiie-chi or
Indo-Scythians.

The Pistachio 249

Kaempfer* speaks of Terehinthus or Pistacea syhestris in Persia thus:
*'Ea Pistaceae hortensi, quam Theophrastus Therebinthtim Indicam
vocat, turn magnitudine, turn totius ac partium figur^ persimilis est,
nisi quod flosculos ferat fragrantiores, nuces vero praeparvas, insipidas;
unde a descriptione botanica abstinemus. Copiosa crescit in recessibus
montium brumalis genii, petrosis ac desertis, circa Schamachiam Mediae,
Schirasum Persidis, in Luristano et Larensi territoriis. Mihi nullibi
conspecta est copiosior quam in petroso monte circa Majin, pagum
celebrem, un^ diaeta dissitum Sjirasd: in quo mihi duplicis varietatis
indicarunt arborem; unam vulgariorem, quae generis sui retineat
appellationem Diracht [diraxt, 'tree'] Ben seu Wen; alteram rariorem,
in specie Kasudaan [kasu-dan], vel, ut rustici pronunciant, Kasuddn
dictam, quae a priori fructuiun rubedine differat." Roediger and Pott^
have added to this ben or wen sl Middle-Persian form ven ("wild pista-
chio"). In the Persian Dictionary edited by Steingass (p. 200) this
word is given as ban or wan (also banak), with the translation *' Persian
turpentine seed."^ Vullers* writes it ban. Schlimmer^ transcribes
this word beneh. He identifies the tree with Pistacia acuminata and
observes, "C'est I'arbre qui foumit en Perse un produit assez semblable
a la tr^mentine, mais plut6t mou que liquide, vu qu'on I'obtient par
des d^coupures, dont le produit se rassemble durant les grandes chaleurs
dans un creux fait en terre glaise au pied de I'arbre, de fagon k ce que la
mati^re s^cr^t^e perd une grande partie de son huile essentielle avant
d'etre enlev^e. Le m^me produit, obtenu k Kerman dans un outre,
fix6 k I'arbre et enlev^ aussit6t plein, ^tait k peu pres aussi liquide que
la tdr^benthine de Venise. ... La Pistacia acuminata est sauvage au
Kordesthan persan et, d'apr^s Buhse, aussi k Reshm, Damghan et
Dereghum (province de Yezd) ; Haussknecht la vit aussi k Kuh Kiluye
et dans le Luristan."

The same word we meet also in Kurd dariben, dar-i-ben (''the tree
6^w"), and in all probability in Greek repk^ivdos, older forms rkpiiivOos
and TpkfiiOos.^ Finally Watt^ gives a Balu^i word ban^ wan, wana, gwa,

^ Amoenitatum exoticarum fasciculi V, p. 413 (Lemgoviae, 17 12).

^ Zeitschr. Kunde d. MorgenL, Vol. V, 1844, p. 64.

^ This notion is also expressed by bandslb (cf. hindst, "turpentine").

^ Lexicon persico-latinum, Vol. I, p. 184.

^ Terminologie, p. 465.

*The Greek ending, therefore, is -^os, not -vdos, as stated by Schrader (in
Hehn, Kulturpflanzen, 8th ed., p. 221); n adheres to the stem: tere-hin-Bos.

^ Commercial Products of India, p. 902 ; and Dictionary of the Economic
Products of India, Vol. VI, p. 271.

250 Sino-Iranica

gwaw, gwana, for Pistacia mutica (or P. terehinthus, var. ntutica); this
form comes nearest to the Chinese transcription.

While a compound *agoz-van(vun), that is, "nut of pistachio," as
far as I know, has not yet been traced in Iranian directly, its existence
follows from the Chinese record of the term. An analogy to this com-
pound is presented by Kurd kizvan, kezvdn, kazu-vaUj kasu-van ("pista-
chio" or "terebinthus-tree").^

The Honzo komoku keimo (Ch. 25, fol. 24), written by Ono Ranzan
/J^ 1^ BB Ul, first published in 1804, revised in 1847 by IguSi Bosi #
n ^ ;^, his grandson, mentions the same plant M M W-^j which
reads in Japanese agetsu-konU, He gives also in Kana the names
fusvdasiu or Jusiidasu? He states, "The plant is not known in Japan
to grow wild. It used to come from foreign countries, but not so at
present. A book called Zokyohi furoku M^^ &Wi ^ mentions this
plant, stating that agetsu-konH is the fruit of the tree c*a mu fiffl yfC
(in Japanese sakuboku) .'^^

*A. Jaba, Dictionnaire kurde-francais, p. 333. Cf. above the kasu-ddn of
Kaempfer.

* These terms are also given by the eminent Japanese botanist Matsumura
in his Shokubutsu mei-i (No. 2386), accompanied by the identification Pistacia
vera.

* This tradition is indeed traceable to an ancient Chinese record, which will be
found in the Cen lei pen ts'ao of 1108 (Ch. 12, p. 55, ed. of 1583). Here the question
is of the bark of the san or ta tree flt >fC S, mentioned as early as the sixth century
in the Kwan U ^ '^ oi Kwo Yi-kun as growing in wild country of Kwan-nan
Sf ^ (the present province of Kwan-tun and part of Kwan-si), and described in a
commentary of the Er ya as resembling the mulberry-tree. This, of course, is a wild
tree indigenous to a certain region of southern China, but, as far as I know, not yet
identified, presumably as the ancient name is now obsolete. The Nan tou ki by
Su Piao (see above) says that the fruits of this tree are styled wu min tse ^ "^ ^
0' nameless fruits"); hence the conclusion is offered by T'an §en-wei, author of the
Can lei pen ts'ao, that this is the tree termed a-yue-hun by the Persians (that is, a cul-
tivated Pistacia). This inference is obviously erroneous, as the latter was introduced
from Persia into China either under the T'ang or a few centuries earlier, while the
san or Va tree pre-existed spontaneously in the Chinese flora. The only basis for this
hazardous identification is given by the attribute "nameless." A solution of this
problem is possible if we remember the fact that there is a wild Pistacia, Pistacia
chinensis, indigenous to China, and if we identify with it the tree san or c'a; then it
is conceivable that the wild and the imported, cultivated species were correlated
and combined under the same popular term wu min. Matsumura (op. cit., No.
2382) calls P. chinensis in Japanese orenju, adding the characters ^ ^^. The word
lien refers in China to Melia azedarach. The modern Chinese equivalent for P.
chinensis is not known to me. The peculiar beauty of this tree, and the great age to
which it lives, have attracted the attention of the indefatigable workers of our
Department of Agriculture, who have already distributed thousands of young trees to
parks throughout the country (see Yearbook of the U. S. Department of Agriculture
1916, p. 140, Washington, 191 7). In the English and Chinese Standard Dictionary,
the word "pistachio" is rendered by /« fl|, which, however, denotes a quite dif-

The Pistachio 251

G. A. Stuart* has identified a-yile hun-tse^ with Pistacia vera, and
this is confirmed by Matsumura.

The Japanese name fusudasiu or fusttdasu is doubtless connected
with Persian pista, from Old Iranian *pistaka, Middle Persian *pistak,'
from which is derived Greek ^laraKiov, <f)LTTaKL0Vf TncTTOLKiov or ipLaTanov,
Latin psittacium, and our pistacia or pistachio. It is not known to me,
however, to what date the Japanese word goes back, or through what
channels it was received. In all likelihood it is of modem origin, the
introduction into Japan being due to Europeans.

In Chinese literature, the Persian word appears in the Geography
of the Ming Dynasty,* in the transcription [ki-] pi-se-tan [M] ^ ^ Si,
stated to be a product of Samarkand, the leaves of the tree resembling
those of the iaw S'a \U ^ (Camellia oleijera), and its fruit that of the
yin hin ^ ■^ (Salisburia adiantifolia) .

The Persian word, further, occurs in the new edition of the Kwan yii
kiy entitled Tsen tin kwan yil ki ^ tJ ^ ^ t^. The original, the Kwan
yii kiy was written by Lu Yin-yafi ^M^,^ and published during the
Wan-li period in 1600. The revised and enlarged edition was prepared
by Ts*ai Fan-pin ^ ^ ffi (hao Kiu-hia :^ M) in 1686; a reprint of
this text was issued in 1744 by the publishing-house Se-mei fan 0 H ^.
Both this edition and the original are before me. The latter® mentions
only three products under the heading "Samarkand"; namely, coral,
amber, and ornamented cloth {hwa ^ui pu'^^ ^). The new edition,
however, has fifteen additional items, the first of these being [ki-]
pi-se-Van, written as above,^ stated to be a tree growing in the region
of Samarkand. *'The leaves of the tree," it is said, "resemble those
of the ^an c'a (Camelia oleifera) ; the fruits have the appearance of the
nut-like seeds of the yin kin {Salisburia adiantifolia), but are smaller."
The word pi-se-Van doubtless represents the transcription of Persian

ferent plant, — Torreya nucifera. A revival on the part of the Chinese, of the good,
old terms of their own language, would be very desirable, not only in this case, but
likewise in many others.

* Chinese Materia Medica, p. 334.

' Wrongly transcribed by him o-yueh-chiin-tzu.

* These reconstructions logically result from the phonetic history of Iranian,
and are necessitated by the existence of the Greek loan-word. Cf., further, Byzantine
pustux and fustox, Comanian pistac, and the forms given below (p, 252). Persian
pista is identified with Pistacia vera by Schlimmer (Terminologie, p. 465).

* Ta Min i Vun ci, Ch. 89, p. 23.

^ Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 59.

« Ch. 24, p. 6 b.

^ The addition of ki surely rests on an error (Schott also reads pi-se-t^an, which
he presumably found in his text; see the following note).

252 Sino-Iranica

pistdn ("a place abounding with pistachio-nuts")-* Again, the Persian
word in the transcription pi-se-ta i^ M # appears in the Pen is'ao
kan mu H i^ by Cao Hio-min, who states that the habitat of the plant
is in the land of the Mohammedans, and refers to the work Yin ^an
^en yao^ of 133 1, ascribed by him to Hu-pi-lie M> i^* S^l; that is, the
Emperor Kubilai of the Yuan dynasty. We know, however, that this
book was written in 133 1 by Ho Se-hwi/ Not having access to this,
I am unable to state whether it contains a reference to pi-se-tay nor do
I know whether the text of Cao Hio-min, as printed in the second
edition of 1765, was thus contained in the first edition of his work, which
was published in 1650. It would not be impossible that the tran-
scription pi-se-ta, accurately corresponding to Persian pista, was
made in the Mongol period; for it bears the ear-marks of the Yuan style
of transcription.

The Persian word pista (also pasta) has been widely disseminated:
we find it in Kurd fystiq, Armenian fesdux and fstoiil, Arabic fistaq or
Justaq, Osmanli fistiq,^ and Russian fistaika.

In the Yuan period the Chinese also made the acquaintance of
mastic, the resinous product of Pistacia lentiscus} It is mentioned in
the Yin ^an ien yao, written in 133 1, under its Arabic name mastaki,
in the transcription ^ i@» ^ "n" ma-se-ta-kiJ Li Si-Sen knew only the
medical properties of the product, but confessed his ignorance regarding
the nature of the plant; hence he placed his notice of it as an appendix
to ctimmin {U-lo), The Wu tsa ^5m- 5 H S, written in 1610, says that
mastaki is produced in Turkistan and resembles the tsiao W- {Zanth-
oxylunty the fruit jdelding a pepper-like condiment) ; its odor is very
strong; it takes the place there qf a condiment like pepper, and is
beneficial to digestion. ^ The Persian word for "mastic" is kundurak
(from kunduTy "incense"), besides the Arabic loan-word mastaki or

1 As already recognized by W. Schott (Topographie der Producte des chinesi-
schen Reiches, Ahh. Berl.Akad,, 1842, p. 371), who made use only of the new edition.

2 Ch. 8, p. 19; ed. of 1765 (see above, p. 229).
' Cf. above, p. 236.

* Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 213.

^ Hence Pegoletti's fistuchi (Yule, Cathay, new ed. by Cordier, Vol. Ill,
p. 167).

* Greek ax'^vos (Herodotus, iv, 177).

^ The Arabic word itself is derived from Greek naarlxv (from fiaar&^eiv, "to
chew"), because the resin was used as a masticatory. Hence also Armenian maz-
tak'e. Spanish almdciga is derived from the Arabic, as indicated by the Arabic
article al, while the Spanish form mdsticis is based on Latin mastix.

^ Quoted in the Pen ts'ao kan mu H i, Ch. 6, p. 12 b. The digestive property
is already emphasized by Dioscorides (i, 90).

The Pistachio 253

mdstakl} The Persianized form is masdax; in Kurd it is mstekki. "On
these mountains the Mastich Tree brings forth plenty of that gum, of
which the country people make good profit. ... As for the Mastick
Trees, they bore red berries, and if wounded would spew out the liquid
resin from the branches; they are not very tall, of the bigness of oiir
Bully Trees: Whether they bring forth a cod or not, this season "would
not inform me, nor can I say it agrees in all respects with the Lentisk
Tree of Clusius."^ The resin (mastic) occurs in small, irregular, yellowish
tears, brittle, and of a vitreous fracture, but soft and ductile when
chewed. It is used as a masticatory by people of high rank in India to
preserve the teeth and sweeten the breath, and also in the preparation
r of a perfimie.^ It is still known in India as the "gum mastic of Rum."*
The case of the pistachio (and there are several others) is interesting
in showing that the Chinese closely followed the development of Iranian
speech, and in course of time replaced the Middle-Persian terms by the
corresponding New-Persian words.

1 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, pp. 137, 267.

2 John Fryer, New Account of East India and Persia, Vol. II, p. 202 (Hakluyt
Soc, 1912).

' Watt, Commercial Products of India, p. 902.

* D. C. Phillott, Journal As. Soc. Bengal, Vol. VI, 1910, p. 81.

THE WALNUT

4. The Buddhist dictionary Fan yi min yi tsi MM ^^^y
compiled by Fa Yiin *S S/ contains a Chinese-Sanskrit name for the
walnut {hu Vao SB Wi, Juglans regia) in the transcription po-lo-H
S 'Si iSp, which, as far as I know, has not yet been identified with its
Sanskrit equivalent.^ According to the laws established for the Buddhist
transcriptions, this formation is to be restored to Sanskrit pdrast,
which I regard as the feminine form of the adjective pdrasa, meaning
"Persian" (derived from Parsa, "Persia"). The walnut, accordingly,
as expressed by this term, was regarded in India as a tree or fruit sus-
pected of Persian provenience. The designation pdrast for the walnut
is not recorded in Boehtlingk^s Sanskrit Dictionary, which, by the way,
contains many other lacunes. The common Sanskrit word for "walnut"
is dkhota, ak^dta^ aksosaj^ which for a long time has been regarded as
a loan-word received from Iranian."*

Pliny has invoked the Greek names bestowed on this fruit as testi-
mony for the fact that it was originally introduced from Persia, the

^Ch. 24, p. 27 (edition of Nanking). — Bunyiu Nanjio (Catalogue of the
Buddhist Tripitaka, No. 1640) sets the date of the work at 1151. Wylie (Notes on
Chinese Literature, p. 210) and Bretschneider (Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 94) say that it
was completed in 1143. According to S. Julien (M^thode, p. 13), it was compiled
from 1 143 to 1 157.

* Bretschneider (Study and Value of Chinese Botanical Works, Chinese
Recorder, Vol. Ill, 1871, p. 222) has given the name after the Pen ts^aokan mu, but
has left it without explanation.

' The last-named form occurs twice in the Bower Manuscript (Hoernle's
edition, pp. 32, 90, 121). In Hindustani we have axrot or dkrot.

* F. Spiegel, Arische Periode, p. 40. The fact that the ancient Iranian name for
the walnut is still unknown does not allow us to explain the Sanskrit word satisfac-
torily. Its relation to Hebrew egoz, and Persian koz, goz (see below), is perspicuous.
Among the Hindu-Kush languages, we meet in Yidgha the word oghuzoh (J. Biddulph,
Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh, Appendices, p. clxvii), which appears as a missing
link between Sanskrit on the one hand and the Semitic- Armenian forms on the other
hand: hence we may conjecture that the ancient Iranian word was something like
*agoza, angoza; and this supposition is fully confirmed by the Chinese transcription
a-yiie (above, p. 248). Large walnuts of India are mentioned by the traveller C'an
Te toward the middle of the thirteenth century (Bretschneider, Mediaeval
Researches, Vol. I, p. 146). The walnuts of the province of Kusistan in Persia, which
are much esteemed, are sent in great quantities to India (W. Ainslie, Materia
Indica, Vol. I, p. 464).

254

The Walnut 255

best kinds being styled in Greek Persicum and hasilicon,^ and these being
the actual names by which they first became known in Italy .^ Pliny
himself employs the name nuces iuglandes. Although Juglans regia is
indigenous to the Mediterranean region, the Greeks seem to have
received better varieties from anterior Asia, hence Greek names like
Kapva TrepcTLKa or Kapva aiviainKa.

In fact, Juglans regia grows spontaneously in northern Persia and
in Baluchistan; it has been found in the valleys of the Pskem and
Ablatun at altitudes varying from 1000 to 1500 m. Another species
{Juglans pterocarpa, ^'Juglans with winged fruits") is met in the prov-
inces of Ghilan and Mazanderan and in the vicinity of Astrabad.*
A. Engler® states that the walnut occurs wild also in eastern Afghanis-
tan at altitudes of from 2200 to 2800 m. Ibn Haukal extols the walnuts
of Arrajan, Muqaddasi those of Kirman, and Istaxri those of the
province of Jiruft.^

In Fergana, Russian Turkistan, the walnut is cultivated in gardens;
but the nuts offered for sale are usually derived from wild-growing trees
which form complete forests in the mountains.^ According to A. Stein,'
walnuts abound at Khotan. The same explorer found them at Yiil-arik
and neighboring villages.®

^ That is, "Persian nut" and "nut of the king," respectively, the king being
the Basileus of Persia. These two designations are also given by Dioscorides (i, 178).

2 Et has e Perside regibus translatas indicio sunt Graeca nomina: optimum
quippe genus earum Persicum atque basilicon vocant, et haec fuere prima nomina
(Nat. hist., XV, 22, § 87).

' J. Hoops, Waldbaume und Kulturpflanzen, p. 553. The Romans transplanted
the walnut into Gallia and Germania during the first centuries of our era. Numerous
walnuts have been brought to light from the wells of the Saalburg, testifying to
the favor in which they were held by the Romans. The cultivation of the tree is
commended in Charles the Great's Capitulare de villis and Garden Inventories.
Its planting in Gaul is shown by the late Latin term nux gallica, Old French nois
gauge, which survives in our "walnut" (German walnuss, Danish valnod. Old Norse
valhnot, Anglo-Saxon wealh-hnutu) ; walk, wal, was the Germanic designation of the
Celts (derived from the Celtic tribe Volcae), subsequently transferred to the Romanic
peoples of France and Italy.

* C. JORET, Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 44. Joret (p. 92) states that the
Persians cultivated nut-trees and consumed the nuts, both fresh and dried. The
walnut is twice mentioned in the Bandahi§n among the fruits serving as food, and
among fruits the inside of which is fit to eat, but not the outside (West, Pahlavi
Texts, Vol. I, pp. loi, 103; cf. also p. 275).

^ Erlauterungen zu den Nutzpflanzen der gemassigten Zonen, p. 22.

* P. ScHWARZ, Iran im Mittelalter, pp. 114, 218, 241.

' S. KoRziNSKi, Sketches of the Flora of Turkistan, in Russian {Memoirs Imp.
Russ. Ac, 8th ser.. Vol. IV, No. 4, pp. 39, 53).
' Ancient Khotan, Vol. I, p. 131.

* Ruins of Desert Cathay, Vol. I, p. 152.

2s6 Sino-Iranica

The New-Persian name for the walnut is kdz and goz.^ According
to HuBSCHMANN, this word comes from Armenian.^ The Armenian word
is engoiz; in the same category belongs Hebrew egoz,^ Ossetic dngoza,
Yidghal oyuza, Kurd egviz, Gruzinian nigozi} The Persian word we
meet as a loan in Turkish koz and xoz}

The earliest designation in Chinese for the cultivated walnut is hu
fao fiB ^ ("peach of the Hu'^ Hu being a general term for peoples of
Central Asia, particularly Iranians). As is set forth in the Introduction,
the term hu i^ prefixed to a large number of names of cultivated plants
introduced from abroad. The later substitution hu or ho fao W. Wi
signifies ''peach containing a kernel," or "seed-peach," so called because,
while resembling a peach when in the husk, only the kernel is eaten.®
In view of the wide dissemination of the Persian word, the question
might be raised whether it would not be justifiable to recognize it also
in the Chinese term hu Vao ftS ^, although, of course, in the first line it
means "peach of the Hu (Iranians)." There are a number of cases
on record where Chinese designations of foreign products may simulta-
neously convey a meaning and represent phonetic transcriptions.
When we consider that the word hu SB was formerly possessed of an
initial guttural sonant, being sounded *gu (7U) or *go,^ the possibility
that this word might have been chosen in imitation of, or with especial
regard to, an Iranian form of the type goz, cannot be denied: the two-
fold thought that this was the "peach styled go" and the "peach of the
Go or Hu peoples" may have been present simultaneously in the minds
of those who formed the novel term; but this is merely an hypothesis,
which cannot actually be proved, and to which no great importance is
to be attached.

^ Arabic joz; Middle Persian joz, 70;. Kurd ^;mz {guwiz), from govz, goz (Socin,
Grundr. iran. Phil., Vol. I, pt. 2, p. 268). Sariqoli ghauz (Shaw, Journal As. Soc.
Bengal, 1876, p. 267). Pu§tu ughz, waghz. Another Persian designation for "walnut"
is girdu or girdgdn.

^ Grundr. iran. Phil., Vol. I, pt. 2, p. 8; Armen. Gram., p. 393.

' Canticle vi, 10. Of. Syriac gauzd.

* W. Miller, Sprache der Osseten, p. 10; Hubschmann, Arm. Gram., p. 393.

^ Radloff, WSrterbuch der Turk-Dialecte, Vol. II, col. 628, 1710. In Osmanli
jeviz.

® The term ho t'ao is of recent date. It occurs neither under the T'ang nor
under the Sung. It is employed in the Kwo su ^^, a work on garden-fruits by
Wan §i-mou EE Ifr S, who died in 1591, and in the Pen ts'ao kan mu. The latter
remarks that the word ho 1^ is sounded in the north like hu JB . and that the sub-
stitution thus took place, citing a work Min wu H ^ ^ '^ as the first to apply
this term.

^ Compare Japanese go-ma fi3 ^ and go-fun fR ^.

The Walnut 257

There is a tradition to the effect that the walnut was introduced
into China by General Can K'ien.^ This attribution of the walnut to
Can K'ien, however, is a purely retrospective thought, which is not
contained in the contemporaneous documents of the Han Annals. There
are, in fact, as we have seen, only two ctdtivated plants which can
directly be credited to the mission of Can K'ien to the west, — the
grape and the alfalfa. All others are ascribed to him in subsequent
books. Bretschneider, in his long enimieration of Cafi-K'ien plants,^
has been somewhat uncritical in adopting the statements of such a
recent work as the Pen ts^ao kan mu without even taking pains to ex-
amine the sources there referred to. This subject requires a renewed
critical investigation for each particular plant. As regards the walnut,
Bretschneider was exposed to singular errors, which should be rectified,
as they have passed into and still prominently figure in classical botani-
cal and historical books of our time. According to Bretschneider, the
walnut was brought from K'iang-hu ^ fiS, and "K'iang" was at the
time of the Han dynasty the name for Tibet. There is, of course, no
such geographical name as "K'iafi-hu"; but we have here the two
ethnical terms, **K4an'* and "Hu," joined into a compound. More-
over, the K'iafi (anciently *Gian) of the Han period, while they may
be regarded as the forefathers of the subsequent Tibetan tribes, did
not inhabit the country which we now designate as Tibet; and the term
'*Hu" as a rule does not include Tibetans. What is said in this respect
in the Pen ts'ao kan mu^ is vague enough: it is a single sentence culled
from the T'w kin pen ts*ao @ 8 ^ ^ of Su Sufi JS S (latter part of
the eleventh century) of the Sung period, which reads, "The original
habitat of this fruit was in the countries of the K'iafi and the Hu"
(itbl^^liJ^fiB). Any conclusion like an introduction of the walnut
from '* Tibet "cannot be based on this statement.

Bretschneider's first victim was the father of the science of historical
and geographical botany, A. de Candolle,^ who stated, referring to
him as his authority, ''Chinese authors say that the walnut was
introduced among them from Tibet, imder the Han dynasty, by Chang-

^ The first to reveal this tradition from the Pen ts*ao ka'h mu was W. Schott
{Ahh. Berl. Akad., 1842, p. 270).

^ Chinese Recorder, 1871, pp. 221-223; and Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 25. Likewise
Hirth, T'oung Pao, Vol. VI, 1895, p. 439. Also Giles (Biographical Dictionary, p. 12)
connects the walnut with Can K'ien.

3 Ch. 30, p. 16.

* Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 427.

258 Sino-Iranica

kien, about the year 140-150 B.C."' In Hehn's "Kulturpflanzen"^
we still read in a postscript from the hand of the botanist A. Engler,
"Whether the walnut occurs wild in North China may be doubted, as
according to Bretschneider it is said to have been imported there from
Tibet." As will be seen below, a wild-growing species of Juglans is
indeed indigenous to North China. As to the alleged feat of Can K'ien,
the above-mentioned Su Sun, who lived during the Sung period in the
latter part of the eleventh century, represents the source of this purely
traditional opinion recorded by Bretschneider. Su Sun, after the above
statement, continues, "At the time of the Han, when Can K'ien was
sent on his mission into the Western Regions, he first obtained the
seeds of this fruit, which was then planted in Ts'in (Kan-su) ; at a later
date it gradually spread to the eastern parts of our country; hence it
was named hu fao.'^^ Su Sufi's information is principally based on the
Pen ts*ao of the Kia-yu period (1056-64) S Sft 1® ^ ^ ^; this work
was preceded by the Pen ts'ao of the K'ai-pao period (968-976) IB Jf
# ^; and in the latter we meet the assertion that Can K'ien should
have brought the walnut along from the Western Regions, but cautiously
preceded by an on dit (^).'* The oldest text to which I am able to trace
this tradition is the Po wu ^t' IS % y£ of Cafi Hwa 36 ^ (a.d. 232-300).^
The spurious character of this work is well known. The passage, at any
rate, existed, and was accepted in the Sung period, for it is reproduced
in the T^ai pHn yii lan.^ We even find it quoted in the Buddhist dic-
tionary Yi tsHe kin yin i -^ SO S "a ^,^ compiled by Yuan Yin JC Jffi
about A.D. 649, so that this tradition must have been credited in the

* Besides Bretschneider 's article in the Chinese Recorder, de Candolle refers to
a letter of his of Aug. 23, 1881, which shows that Bretschneider had not changed
his view during that decade. Needless to add, that Can K'ien never was in Tibet,
and that Tibet as a political unit did not exist in his time. Two distinct traditions
are welded together in Bretschneider's statement.

2 Eighth edition (191 1), p. 400.

* Cen lei pen ts'ao, Ch. 23, p. 45 (edition of 152 1). G. A. Stuart (Chinese
Materia Medica, p. 223) regards the "Tangut country about the Kukunor" as the
locality of the tree pointed out in the Pen ts'ao.

* The text of the K'ai-pao pen ts'ao is not reproduced in the Pen ts'ao kari mu>
but will be found in the Ci wu min H t'u k'ao, Ch. 17, p. 33. T'an §en-wei ^ ^ US[»
in his Cen lei pen ts'ao (Ch. 23, p. 44 b), has reproduced the same text in his own
name.

'5g^^ffi«5t7!r(orig)#JS||^a (Ch. 6, p. 4, of the Wu-d'an
print).

•Ch. 97i,p. 8.

' Ch. 6, p. 8 b (ed. of Nanking). In this text the pomegranate and grape are
added to the walnut. In the same form, the text of the Po wu U is cited in the modern
editions of the Ts'i min yao Su (Ch. 10, p. 4).

The Walnut 259

beginning of the T'ang dynasty. It is not impossible, however, that
this text was actually written by Can Hwa himself, or at least that the
tradition underlying it was formed during the fourth century; for, as
will be seen, it is at that time that the walnut is first placed on record.
Surely this legend is not older than that period, and this means that
it sprang into existence five centuries after Cafi K'ien's Hfetime. It
should be called to mind that the Po wu ci entertains rather fantastic
notions of this hero, and permits him to cross the Western Sea and even
to reach Ta Ts'in.^ It is, moreover, the Po wu ci which also credits to
Can K'ien the introduction of the pomegranate and of ta or hu swan
:^ (i^ ) ^ or hu^ (Allium scorodoprasum) } Neither is this tradition
contained in the texts of the Han period. The notion that Can K'ien
really introduced the walnut in the second century B.C. must be posi-
tively rejected as being merely based on a retrospective and tmauthentic
account.^

The question now arises. Is there any truth in Su Sufi's allegation
that the walnut was originally produced in the country of the K'iafi?
Or, in other words, are we entitled to assume the co-existence of two
Chinese traditions, — first, that the walnut was introduced into China
from the regions of the Hu (Iranians) ; and, second, that another intro-
duction took place from the land of the K'iafi, the forefathers of the
Tibetans?* There is indeed an ancient text of the Tsin period from the
first part of the fourth century, one of the earliest datable references
to the walnut, in which its origin from the K'ian is formally admitted.
This text is preserved in the T'ai pHn yii Ian as follows: —

"The mother of Liu T'ao t'J S,^ in her reply to the letter of Yu
R , princess of the country of Wu ^ @, said, *In the period Hien-ho
^ ?P (a.d. 326-335, of the Tsin dynasty) I escaped from the rebellion

1 Ch. I, p. 3 b.
^ See below, p. 302.

' The Can-K'ien legend is also known in Korea {Korea Review, Vol. II, 1902,
p. 393).

* The term kHan Vao ^ ^ for the walnut is given, for instance, in the Hwa
kin 1^ M . "Mirror of Flowers" (Ch. 3, p. 49), written by C'en Hao-tse ^ '}%
J^ in 1688. He gives as synonyme also wan swi tse'^ ^ •? ("fruits of ten thousand
years"). The term kHan t^ao is cited also in the P'ei wen lai kwan k'iin fan p'u
(Ch. 58, p. 24; regarding this work cf. Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 70), and in
the P'an San £i ISL \U ^ (Ch.15, p. 2 b; published in 1755 by order of K'ien-lun).

^ The T'u Su tsi Ven and Kwan k'iin fan p'u (Ch. 58, p. 25) write this name Niu
i8|. The Ko U kin yiian (Ch. 76, p. 5), which ascribes this text to the Tsin Su, gives
it as Sl. The ran Sun pai k'un leu tHe >^ ^ S ?L 7^ if iS (Ch. 99, p. 12) has, "The
mother of Liu T'ao of the Tsin dynasty said, in reply to a state document, 'walnuts
were originally grown in the country of the Western K'ian.' "

26o Sino-Iranica

of Su Tsun M ^^ into the Lin-nan mountains ^ ^ tlj . The country
of Wu sent a messenger with provisions, stating in the accompanying
letter: 'These fruits are walnuts ffl ^ and fei-^an MM.^ The latter
come from southern China. The walnuts were originally grown abroad
among the Western K'iafi (fi9^^^®^^S). Their exterior is hard,
while the interior is soft and sweet. Owing to their durabiHty I wish to
present them to you as a gift.' "^ It is worthy of note, that, while the
walnut is said in this text to hail from the Western K'ian, the term
hu Vao (not kHan Vao) is employed; so that we may infer that the intro-
duction of the fruit from the Hu preceded in time the introduction
from the K'ian. It is manifest also that in this narrative the walnut
appears as a novelty.

The Tibetan name of the walnut in general corresponds to a type
tar-ka, as pronounced in Central Tibetan, written star-ka, star-ga,
and dar-sga} The last-named spelling is given in the Polyglot Dic-
tionary of K'ien-lun,^ also in Jaschke's Tibetan Dictionary. The element
ka or ga is not the well-known siiffix used in connection with nouns,^
but is an independent base with the meaning "walnut," as evidenced
by Kanauri ka (''walnut")-'^ The various modes of writing lead to a
restitution *iJar, dar^ d'ar (with aspirate sonant). This word is found
also in an Iranian dialect of the Pamir: in Waxi the walnut is called

1 He died in a.d. 328. His biography is in the Tsin Su, Ch. 100, p. 9. See also
L. WiEGER, Textes historiques, p. 1086.

2 Literally, "flying stalk of grain." Bretschneider and Stuart do not mention
this plant. Dr. T. Tanaka, assistant in the Bureau of Plant Industry, Department
of Agriculture, Washington, tells me that fei-iafi is a synonyme of the fingered citrus
(/« lou kan ^ ^ tB"» Citrus chirocarpus). He found this statement in the Honzo
komoku keimo (Ch. 26, p. 18, ed. 1847) by Ono Ranzan, who on his part quotes the
run ya S SS by Fan I-6i.

3 The rat p'in yii Ian reads R J>Jl ^W^i>X^M- The T'an Sun pat k'ufi
leu Vie and the Tu S'u tsi len, however, have S'lH'fe'R^i^^^' "their
substance resembles the ancient sages, and I wish to present them," — apparently a
corruption of the text.

^ W. W. RocKHiLL (Diary of a Journey through Mongolia and Tibet, p. 340)
gives taga as pronunciation in eastern Tibet. J. D. Hooker (Himalayan journals,
p. 237) offers taga-Un (Hn, "tree") as Bhutia name.

5 Ch. 28, p. 55.

^ ScHiEFNER, Milanges asiatiques, Vol. I, pp. 380-382.

' Given both by T. R. Joshi (Grammar and Dictionary of the Kanawari Lan-
guage, p. 80) and T. G. Bailey (Kanauri-English Vocabulary, Journal Royal As.
Soc, 191 1, p. 332). Bailey adds to the word also the botanical term Juglans regia.
The same author, further, gives a word ge as meaning "kernel of walnut; edible part
of Pinus gerardiana"; while Joshi (p. 67) explains the same word as the "wild
chestnut." Thus it seems that ge, ka, originally referred to an indigenous wild-grow-
ing fruit, and subsequently was transferred to the cultivated walnut.

The Walnut 261

tar.^ This apparently is a loan-word received from the Tibetan, for in
Sariqoli and other Pamir dialects we find the Iranian word gkoz?
Tarka is a genuine Tibetan word relating to the indigenous walnut,
wild and cultivated, of Tibetan regions. In view of this state of affairs,
it is certainly possible that the Chinese, in the beginning of the fourth
century or somewhat earlier, received walnuts and their seeds also
from Tibetan tribes, which resulted in the name KHan Vao. The
Lepcha of Sikkim are acquainted with the walnut, for which they have
an indigenous term, kdl-pdty and one of their villages is even called
''Walnut-Tree Foundation" (K61-ban).^

G. Watt* informs us that the walnut-tree occurs wild and cultivated
in the temperate Himalaya and Western Tibet, from Kashmir and
Nubra eastwards. W. Roxburgh^ says about Juglans regta, "A native
of the mountainous countries immediately to the north and north-east
of Hindustan, on the plains of Bengal it grows pretty well, but is not
fruitful there." Another species of the same genus, /. plerococca Roxb.,
is indigenous in the vast forests which cover the hills to the north and
east of the province of Silhet, the bark being employed for tanning, while
J. regia is enlisted among the oil-yielding products.^ J. D. Hooker^
is authority for the information that the walnut occurs wild in Sikkim,
and is cultivated in Bhatan, where also Captain Turner^ found it
growing in abundance. Kirkpatrick' met it in Nepal. In Burma it
grows in the Ava Hills. In the Shan states east of Ava grows another
species of Juglans^ with smaller, almost globose, quite smooth nuts,
but nothing is known about the tree itself. ^*^

The Tibetans certainly cultivate the walnut and appreciate it

^ R. B. Shaw, On the Ghalchah Languages {Journal As. Soc. Bengal, 1876,
p. 267), writes the word tor. A. Hujler (The Languages Spoken in the Western
Pamir, p. 36, Copenhagen, 1912) writes tar, explaining the letter a as a "dark deep a,
as in the French pas.'^

2 W. ToMASCHEK (Pamirdialekte, p. 790) has expressed the opinion that WaxJ
tor, as he writes, is hardly related to Tibetan star-ga; this is not correct.

3 G. Mainwaring, Dictionary of the Lepcha Language, p. 30.

* Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Vol. IV, p. 550.

*» Flora Indica, p. 670.

® N. G. MuKERji, Handbook of Indian Agriculture, p. 233.

' Himalayan Journals, p. 235; also Risley, Gazetteer of Sikkim, p. 92 (compare
Darwin, Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, Vol. I, p. 445).

^ Account of an Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama, p. 273. Also Eden
and Pemberton (Pohtical Missions to Bootan, p. 198, Calcutta, 1895) mention
the walnut in Bhatan.

® Account of Nepaul, p. 81.

'° S. KuRZ, Forest Flora of British Burma, Vol. II, p. 490 (Calcutta, 1877).

262 Sino-Iranica

much. The tree is found everywhere in eastern Tibet where horti-
culture is possible, and among the Tibetan tribes settled on the soil
of Se-6'wan Province. W. W. Rockhill^ even mentions that in the
Ba-t'afi region barley and walnuts are used in lieu of subsidiary coinage.
Lieut.-Col. Waddell^ makes two references to cultivated walnut-trees
in Central Tibet. The Chinese authors mention "Tibetan walnuts**
as products of the Lhasa district.*

While the Can-K'ien tradition is devoid of historical value, and
must be discarded as an historical fact, yet it is interesting from a
psychological point of view; for it shows at least that, at the time when
this fiction sprang into existence, the Chinese were under the impression
that the walnut was not an indigenous tree, but imported from abroad.
An autochthonous plant could not have been made the object of such a
legend. A direct reference to the introduction of the cultivated walnut
with an exact date is not extant in Chinese records, but the fact of such
an introduction cannot reasonably be called into doubt. It is supported
not only by the terms hu Vao and kHah Vao (** peach of the Hu," "peach
of the K'iafi"), but also by the circumstantial evidence that in times
of antiquity, and even under the Han, no mention is made of the
walnut. True it is, it is mentioned in the Kin kwei yao Ho of the second
century; but, as stated, this may be an interpolation."* Of all the data
relating to this fruit, there is only one that may have a faint chance to
be referred to the Han period, but even this possibility is very slight.
In the Si kin tsa ki M ^ M1^^ it is said that in the gardens of the
San-Hn Park _h # ^ of the Han emperors there were walnuts which
had come from the Western Regions or Central Asia. The Si kin tsa ki,
however, is the work of Wu Kun i^ %, who lived in the sixth century
a.d.,* and cannot be regarded as a pure source for tracing the culture
of the Han. It is not difficult to see how this tradition arose. When the
Safi-lin Park was established, the high dignitaries of the empire were
called upon to contribute famed fruits and extraordinary trees of distant
lands. We know that after the conquest of Nan-yue in iii B.C. the
Emperor Wu ordered southern products, like oranges, areca-nuts,

^ Diary of a Journey through Mongolia and Tibet, p. 347.
2 Lhasa and its Mysteries, pp. 307, 315. See also N. V. KtNER, Description of
Tibet (in Russian), Vol. I, pt. 2, p. 137.

* RocKHiLL, Journal Royal As. Soc, 1891, p. 273.

* Above, p. 205. Can Ki says or is made to say, "Walnuts must not be eaten in
large quantity, for they rouse mucus and cause man to drink" (Ch. c, p. 27).

'^ Ch. I, p. 6 (ed. of Han Wei ts'un Su).

* Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 189; and Chavannes, T'oung Poo,
1906, p. 102.

The Walnut 263

lun nafiy li-U, etc., to be broug:ht to the capital C'afi-nan, and to be
planted in the Fu-li Palace ^M*M, founded in commemoration of the
conquest of Nan-yiie, whereupon many gardeners lost their lives when
the crops of the li-(^i proved a failure.* Several of his palaces were named
for the fruits cultivated around them: thus there were a Grape-Palace
and a Pear-Palace. Hence the thought that in this exposition of foreign
fruits the walnut should not be wanting, easily impressed itself on the
mind of a subsequent writer. Wu Kun may also have had knowledge
of the Can-K'ien tradition of the Po wu U^ and thus believed himself
consistent in ascribing walnuts to the Han palaces. Despite his ana-
chronism, it is interesting to note Wu Kun*s opinion that the walnut
came from Central Asia or Turkistan.

It is not probable that the walnut was generally known in China
earlier than the fourth century a.d., under the Eastern Tsin ^ S
dynasty (265-419).^ In the Tsin kun ko min S ^ M ^, a description
of the palaces of the Tsin emperors, written during that dynasty,^ it is
stated that there were eighty-four walnut-trees in the Hwa-lin Park

^ The palace Fu-li was named for the li-li ^ ^ (see Sanfu hwan /'m H U 3t
g , Ch. 3, p. 9 b, ed. of Han Wei ts'un Su).

* Bretschneider (Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 39) asserts that Juglans regia figures
among the plants mentioned passingly in the Nan fan ts'ao mu Iwan by Ki Han
^ -^j a minister of state under the Emperor Hui ]§ of the Tsin dynasty
(a.d. 290-306) . He does not give any particulars. There are only two allusions to the
walnut, that I am able to trace in this work: in the description of the coco-nut,
the taste of this fruit is Ukened to that of the walnut; and the flavor of the "stone
chestnut" {H-li ^ ^, Aleurites triloba) is compared with that of the same fruit.
We know at present that the book in question contains interpolations of later date
(see L. AuROUSSEAU, Bull, de I'Ecolefrangaise, Vol. XIV, 1914, p. 10); but to these
the incidental mention of the walnut does not necessarily belong, as Ki Han lived
under the Tsin. It is likewise of interest that the walnut is not dealt with as a special
item in the Ts'i min yao Su, a work on husbandry and economic botany, written by
Kia Se-niu J ^ ^S of the Hou Wei dynasty (a.d, 386-534) ; see the enumeration
of plants described in this book in Bretschneider {op. cit., p. 78). In this case, the
omission does not mean that the tree was unknown to the author, but it means only
that it had then not attained any large economic importance. It had reached the
palace-gardens, but not the people. In fact, Kia Se-niu, at least in one passage
(Ch. 10, p. 48 b, ed. 1896), incidentally mentions the walnut in a quotation from the
Kiao lou ki ^ j^ |S by Liu Hin-k'i ^\ffkM, where it is said, "The white yuan
tree j^ i^^^ [evidently = |^] is ten feet high, its fruits being sweeter and finer
than walnuts S9 ^•" As the Kiao tou ki is a work relating to the products of
Annam, it is curious, of course, that it should allude to the cultivated walnut, which
is almost absent in southern China and Annam; thus it is possible that this clause
may be an interpolation, but possibly it is not. The fact that the same work like-
wise contains the tradition connecting the walnut with Can K*ien has been pointed
out above. The tree pai yuan is mentioned again in the Pen ts'ao kan mu U i (Ch. 8,
p. 23), where elaborate rules for the medicinal employment of the fruit are given.

* Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 202, No. 945.

264 Sino-Iranica

IS # S.^ Another allusion to the walnut relative to the period Hien-ho
(a.d. 326-335) has been noted above (p. 259). There is, further, a refer-
ence to the fruit in the history of Su S , when, after the death of Li Hiufi
^ ^ in A.D. 334, Han Pao ^ 15 from Fu-fufi ft R in Sen-si
was appointed Grand Tutor {Vaiju :iv fj) of his son Li K'i ^ SB, and
asked the latter to grant him seeds for the planting of walnut-trees,
which, on account of his advanced age, he was anxious to have in his
garden.^

Dtuing the third or foiuth century, the Chinese knew also that
walnuts grew in the Hellenistic Orient. "In Ta Ts'in there are jujubes,
jasmine, and walnuts," it is stated in the Wu H wai kwo (^i ^^ ^
@ jS (''Memoirs of Foreign Countries at the time of the Wu").^

The Kwah U ^ jS by Kwo Yi-kun #15 ^ 1^* contains the following
account: *'The walnuts of C'en-ts'an 1^ ^^ have a thin shell and a
large kernel; those of Yin-p'in ^ ^^ are large, but their shells are brittle,
and, when quickly pinched, will break. "^

Coming to the T'ang period, we encounter a description of the
walnut in the Yu yan tsa ^5W S IS§ H S., written about a.d. 860,^ from
which the fact may be gleaned that the fruit was then much cultivated

^ T^ai p'in yii Ian, l.c,

2 This story is contained in the Kwari wu hin ^t ^ 3l fi^ |fi (according to
Bretschneider, a work of the Sung literature). As the text is embodied in the
T'ai pHn yii Ian, it must have been extant prior to A.D. 983, the date of Li Fan's
cyclopaedia.

' Presumably identical with the Wu H wai kwo twan noted by Pelliot {Bull, de
VEcole frangaise, Vol. IV, p. 270) as containing information secured by the mission
of K'an T'ai in the first part of the third century a.d. Cf. also Journal asiaiique,
191 8, II, p. 24. The Min U ascribes walnuts to Ormuz (Bretschneider, Notices
of the Mediaeval Geography, p. 294).

* This work is anterior to the year a.d. 527, as it is cited in the ^wi kin lu of
Li Tao-yuan, who died in that year. Kwo Yi-kun is supposed to have lived under
the Tsin (a.d. 265-419). Cf. Pelliot, Bull, de VEcole frangaise, Vol. IV, p. 412.

* Now the district of Pao-ki in the prefecture of Fun-sian, Sen-si Province.

* At the time of the Han period, Yin-p'in was the name for the present prefec-
ture of Lun-nan f| ^ in the province of Se-6'wan. There was also a locality of the
same name in the prefecture of Kiai in the province of Kan-su, inhabited by the Ti,
a Tibetan tribe (Chavannes, Toung Pao, 1905, p. 525).

^ T^ai p'in yii Ian, I. c; Ko ci kin yiian, Ch. 76, p. 5; Ci wu min H Vu k'ao, I. c.
This text is cited also by Su Sun in his T'u kin pen ts'ao. The earliest quotation
that I can trace of it occurs in the Pei hu lu, written by Twan Kun-lu about a.d.
875 (Ch. 3, p. 4 b, ed. of Lu Sin-yuan), where, however, only the last clause in regard
to the walnuts of Yin-p'in is given (see below, p. 268).

^ Pelliot, T'oung Pao, 191 2, p. 375. The text is in the T'u su tsi e'en and
Ci wu min H t'u k'ao (I. c.). I cannot trace it in the edition of the Yu yan tsa tsu in
the Tsin tai pi Su or Pai hai.

The Walnut 265

in the northern part of China {At:& ^ M '^), — a statement repeated
in the K'ai-pao pen ts'ao. The Yu yan tsa tsu, which is well informed
on the cultivated plants of Western and Central Asia, does not contain
the tradition relating to Can K'ien, but, on the other hand, does not
speak of the tree as a novel introduction, nor does it explain its name.
It begins by saying that "the kernel of the walnut is styled 'toad'
ha-mo iSS."i

Mon Sen 3l I5fe, who in the second half of the seventh century wrote
the Si liao pen ts'aOf^ warns people from excessive indulgence in walnuts
as being injurious to health.^ The T'ai pHn hwan yUki :k,^%^Wii
by Yo Si Ife i& (published during the period T'ai-p'ifi, a.d. 976-981),
mentions the walnut as being cultivated in the prefecture of Fun-sian
M*^ in Sen-si Province, and in Kiafi ^ou ^ ^*N in San-si Province.*

According to the Pen ts'ao kan mUy the term hu fao first appears in
the Pen ts'ao of the K'ai-pao period (968-976) of the Sung dynasty,
written by Ma Ci ^ iS; that is to say, the plant or its fruit was then
officially sanctioned and received into the pharmacopoeia for the first
time. We have seen that it was certainly known prior to that date.
K'ou Tsun-§i M^M,m his Pen ts*ao yen i^^^M of 1116,^ has a
notice on the medicinal application of the fruit.

It is possible also to trace in general the route which the walnut has
taken in its migration into China. It entered from Turkistan into
Kan-su Province, as stated by Su Sun (see above, p. 258), and gradually
spread first into Sen-si, and thence into the eastern provinces, but always
remained restricted to the northern part of the country. Su Sun ex-
pressly says that walnuts do not occur in the south, but only in the
north, being plentiful in Sen-si and Lo-yah (Ho-nan Province), while
those grown in K'ai-furi (Pien Cou?1^ ffl) were not of good quality. In the
south only a wild-growing variety was known, which is discussed
below. Wan Si-mou 3E ifr ^, a native of Kiafi-su, who died in 1591,
states in his Kwo 5W :^ BS, a treatise on garden-fruits, that "the walnut
is a northern fruit {pei kwo At 1^), and thrives in mountains; that it
is but rarely planted in the south, yet can be cultivated there. "^ Almost

^ This definition is ascribed to the Ts'ao mu tse^ ^^ in the Ko ci kin yuan
(Ch. 76, p. 5); that work was written by Ye Tse-k'i ^ ^ -^ in 1378 (Wylie,
Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 168).

"^ Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 45.

^ T'an Sun pai k'un leu Vie, Ch. 99, p. 12.

* Tai p'in hwan yu ki, Ch. 30, p. 4; Ch. 47, p. 4 (ed. of Kin-lift Su kil, 1882).
^ Ch. 18, p. 6 b (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan).

* Also J. DE LouREiRO (Flora cochinchinensis, p. 702) states that the habitat of
Juglans regia is only in the northern provinces of China.

266 Sino-Iranica

all the district and prefectural gazetteers of §en-si Province enumerate
the walnut in the lists of products. The ** Gazetteer of San-tufi"*
mentions walnuts for the prefectures of Ts'i-nan, Yen-Sou, and Ts'in-
^ou, the last-named being the best. The Gazetteer of the District of
Tun-fio ^ M^ in the prefecture of Tai-nan in San-tun reports an
abundance of walnuts in the river-valleys. An allusion to oil-production
from walnuts is found in the ** Gazetteer of Lu-nan," where it is said,
"Of all the fruits growing in abundance, there is none comparable to
the walnut. What is left on the markets is sufficient to supply the needs
for lamp-oil."^ Also under the heading "oil," walnut-oil is mentioned
as a product of this district.^

Juglans regia, in its cultivated state, has been traced by our botanists
in San-tun, Kiafi-su, Hu-pei, Yun-nan, and Se-6'wan.^ Wilson nowhere
saw trees that could be declared spontaneous, and considers it highly
improbable that Juglans regia is indigenous to China. His opinion is
certainly upheld by the results of historical research.

A wild species {Juglans mandshurica or caihayensis Dode) occurs
in Manchuria and the Amur region, Ci-li, Hu-pei, Se-S'wan, and Yun-
nan.^ This species is a characteristic tree of the Amur and Usuri val-
leys.^ It is known to the Golde imder the name koioa or ko^oa^ to the
Managir as koriOy to the Gilyak as tiv-alys. The Golde word is of
ancient date, for we meet it in the ancient language of the JurSi, Ju($en,
or Niiici in the form xu^u^ and in Manchu as xdsixa. The great antiquity
of this word is pointed out by the allied Mongol word xusiga. The
whole series originally applies to the wild and indigenous species,

» San tufi Vuft U, Ch. 9, p. 15.
« Ch. 2, p. 32 (1829).

» Quotation from Lu-nan ci %% ^ jS. in the San Sou tsuA U ffi ^H |S iS
(General Gazetteer of San-5ou), 1744, Ch. 8, p. 3.

* Ihid., Ch. 8, p. 9. Oil was fonnerly obtained from walnuts in France both
for use at table and for varnishing and burning in lamps, also as a medicine sup-
posed to possess vermifuge properties (Ainslie, Materia Indica, Vol. I, p. 464).

^ See particularly C. S. Sargent, Plantae Wilsonianae, Vol. Ill, pp. 184-185
(1916). J. Anderson (Report on the Expedition to Western Yunan, p. 93, Calcutta,
1 871) mentions walnuts as product of Yiin-nan. According to the Tien hat yii heU
ti (Ch. ID, p. I b; above, p. 228), the best walnuts with thin shells grow on the Yan-pi
or Yan-p'ei River 8| '/^ fll of Yun-nan.

* Forbes and Hemsley, Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany, Vol. XXVI,
p. 493; Sargent, op. cit., pp. 185 et seq. J. de Loureiro (Flora cochinchinensis,
p. 702), writing in 1788, has a species Juglans catnirium (Annamese dedu lai) "habitat
agrestis cultaque in Cochinchina;" and a Juglans catappa (Annamese cdy mo cua)
''habitat in sylvis Cochinchinae montanis."

^ Grum-Grzimailo, Description of the Amur Province (in Russian), p. 313.

* W. Grube, Schrift und Sprache der Ju6en, p. 93.

The Walnut 267

Juglans mandshurtca, Manchu xosixa designates the tree, while its
fruit is called xdwalama or xdwalame usixa {-ixa being a frequent ter-
mination in the names of plants and fniits). The cultivated walnut is
styled mase} One of the earliest explorers of the Amur territory, the
Cossack chieftain Poyarkov, who reached the Amur in 1644, reported
that walnuts and hazel-nuts were cviltivated by the Daur or Dahur on
the Dseya and Amur.^

The same species is known to the aboriginal tribes of Yun-nan.
The VdL-yi and San style its fruit twai-^ the Nyi Lo-lo, se-mi-ma; the Ahi
Lo-lo, sa-nti. The Cufi-kia of Kwei-cou call it dsao; the Ya-c'io Miao,
(^i or U; the Hwa Miao, klaeo; while other Miao tribes have the Chinese
loan-word he-dao.^

The wild walnut has not remained unknown to the Chinese, and it
is curious that it is designated iaw hu Vao \U tH^, the term ^an ("moun-
tain") referring to wild-growing plants. The "wild Iranian peach"
is a sort of linguistic anomaly. It is demonstrated by this term that
the wild indigenous species was discovered and named by the Chinese
only in times posterior to the introduction of the cultivated variety; and
that the latter, being introduced from abroad, was not derived from the
wild-growing species. The case is identical with that of the wild alfalfas
and vines. C'en Hao-tse, who wrote a treatise on flowers in 1688,^
determines the difference between the cultivated and wild varieties
thus: the former has a thin shell, abundant meat, and is easy to break;'
the latter has a thick and hard shell, which must be cracked with a
hammer, and occurs in Yen and Ts'i (Ci-li and San-tufi). This observa-

* K'ien-luh's Polyglot Dictionary, Ch. 28, p. 55.

* L. V. ScHRENCK, Reisen und Forschungen im Amur-Lande, Vol. Ill, p. 160.
« F. W. K. MtJLLER, T'oung Pao, Vol. Ill, 1892, p. 26.

* S. R. Clarke, Tribes in South-West China, p. 312.

* Hwa kin, Ch. 3, p. 49 b.

* According to the Ci wu min H Vu k*ao (Ch. 31, p. 3 b), the walnuts with thin
shells grow only in the prefecture of Yun-p*in ;^ ^ in Ci-li, being styled lu SaA
ho Vao S 9 ^ -^ I^ C'an-li, which belongs to this prefecture, these nuts have
been observed by F. N. Meyer (Agricultural Explorations in the Orchards of China,
p. 51), who states, "Some trees produce small hard-shelled nuts of poor flavor, while
others bear fine large nuts, with a really fine flavor, and having shells so thin that
they can be cracked with the fingers like peanuts. Between these extremes one finds
many gradations in hardness of shell, size, and flavor." "In England the walnut
presents considerable differences, in the shape of the fruit, in the thickness of the
husk, and in the thinness of the shell; this latter quality has given rise to a variety
called the thin-shelled, which is valuable, but suffers from the attacks of titmice"
(Darwin, Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, Vol. I, p. 445).
A variety of walnut with thin shells grows on the Greek Island Paros (T. v. Held-
reich, Nutzpflanzen Griechenlands, p. 59).

268 Sino-Iranica

tion is quite to the point; the shell of the walnut gradually became more
refined under the influence of cultivation.

The earliest texts alluding to the wild walnut are not older than
the T'ang period. The Pei hu lu A\j ^ ^, written by Twan Kufi-lu
S ^ ^ about A.D. 875,^ contains the following text concerning a wild
walnut growing in the mountains of southern China: —

"The wild walnut has a thick shell and a flat bottom jS ^. In
appearance it resembles the areca-nut. As to size, it is as large as a
bundle of betel-leaves.^ As to taste, it comes near the walnuts of
Yin-p'ifi' and Lo-3ai, but is different from these, inasmuch as it has a
fragrance like apricot extract. This fragrance, however, does not last
long, but will soon vanish. The Kwan ii says that the walnuts of Yin-
p*in have brittle shells, and that, when qmckly pinched, the back of
the kernel will break. Liu Si-lufi W tt ^, in his Sie lo yu yiian M M
M ^, remarks, with reference to the term hu Vao, that the Hu take to
flight like rams,* and that walnuts therefore are prophets of auspicious
omens. Cen K'ien 9B S^ says that the wild walnut has no glumelle;
it can be made into a seal by grinding off the nut for this ptirpose.
Judging from these data, it may be stated that this is not the walnut
occurring in the mountains of the south."*

The Lin piao lui^^^^, by Liu Sun 9] t& of the T'ang period,^
who lived imder the reign of the Emperor Cao Tsufi (a.d. 889-904),
contains the following information on a wild walnut: —

"The slanting or glandular walnut {pHen ho Vao iS S ^) is pro-
duced in the coimtry Can-pi fi ♦.^ Its kernel cannot be eaten. The

1 Cf . Pelliot, Bull, de VEcole frangaise, Vol. IX, p. 223.

* Fu-liu, usually written ^ S, is first mentioned in the Wu lu ti It ci ^^j^
S iS by Can Pu 56 ® of the third or beginning of the fourth century (see Ts'i
min yao Su, Ch, 10, p. 32). It refers to Piper hetle (Bretschneider, Chinese Recorder,
Vol. Ill, 1 87 1, p. 264; C. Imbault-Huart, Le b^tel, T'oung Pao, Vol. V, 1894,
p. 313). The Chinese name is a transcription corresponding to Old Annamese
bldu; Mi^son, Uy-ld, and Hung plu; Khmer m-luw, Stien m-lu, Bahnar bo-lou, Kha,
b-lu ("betel").

' See above, p. 264.

* A jocular interpretation by punning Vao ^ upon Vao ^ (both in the same
tone).

*» Author of the lost Hu pen ts*ao '^ :^^ (BRETSCHNEroER, Bot. Sin., pt. i,
p. 45). He appears to have been the first who drew attention to the wild walnut.
His work is repeatedly quoted in the Pei hu lu.

* Pei hu lu, Ch. 3, p. 4 b (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan).
^ Ch. B, p. 5 (ed. of Wu yin tien).

® The two characters are wrongly inverted in the text of the work. In the text
of the Pei hu lu that follows, the name of this country is given in the form Can-pel
(^ 1^. From the mention of the Malayan Po-se in the same text, it follows that

The Walnut 269

Hu S9 people gather these nuts in abundance, and send them to the
Chinese officials, designating them as curiosities ^^. As to their
shape, they are thin and pointed; the head is slanting like a sparrow's
beak. If broken and eaten, the kernel has a bitter taste resembling that
of the pine-seeds of Sin-ra ft ^ ^ -^.^ Being hot by nature, they are
employed as medicine, and do not differ from the kernels of northern
China."

The Pei hu lu^ likewise mentions the same variety of glandular wal-
nut ip'ten ho-Vao) as growing in the country Can-pei fi $>, shaped
like the crescent of the moon, gathered and eaten by the Po-se,^ having
a very fine fragrance, stronger than the peach-kernels of China, but of
the same effect in the healing of disease.

The species here described may be identical with Juglans catha-
yenstSj called the Chinese butternut, usually a bush, but in moist
woods forming a tree from twelve to fifteen metres tall; but I do not
know that this plant occurs in any Malayan region. With reference to
Can-pi, however, it may be identical with the fruit of Canarium com-
mune (family Burseraceae) , called in Malayan kanari, in Javanese kenari.
J. Crawfurd,* who was not yet able to identify this tree, offers the
following remarks: *'0f all the productions of the Archipelago the one
which 3delds the finest edible oil is the kanari. This is a large handsome
tree, which yields a nut of an oblong shape nearly of the size of a walnut.
The kernel is as delicate as that of a filbert, and abounds in oil. This

Can-pi is a Malayan territory probably to be located on Sumatra. For this reason
I am inclined to think that Can-pi t^ ^ is identical with Can-pei yj ^ ; that is,
Jambi, the capital of eastern Sumatra (Hirth and Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua, pp. 65,
66; see further Groeneveldt, Notes on the Malay Archipelago, pp. 188, 196; and
Gerini, Researches on Ptolemy's Geography, p. 565; Lin wai tai ta, Ch. 2, p. 12).
From a phonetic point of view, however, the transcription ^ ^, made in the
T'ang period, represents the ancient sounds *5an-pit, and would presuppose an
original of the form *c$ambit, Sambir, or jambir, whereas ^ is without a final con-
sonant. The country Can-pei is first mentioned under the year a.d. 852 {-j^ pf* sixth
year), when Wu-sie-ho ^ 3B S ^.nd six men from there came to the Chinese Court
with a tribute of local products {T*ai p'in hwan yti ki, Ch. 177, p. 15 b). A second
embassy is on record in 871 (Pelliot, Bull, de lEcole frangaise, Vol. IV, p. 347).

* Pinus koraiensis Sieb. et Zucc. (J. Matsumura, Shokubutsu mei-i, pp. 266-267,
ed. 1915), in Japanese 6dsen-matsu ("Korean pine"); see also Stuart, Chinese
Materia Medica, p. 333. Sin-ra (Japanese §in-ra, Siraki) is the name of the ancient
kingdom of Silla, in the northern part of Korea.

^ Ch. 3, p. 5 (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan).

' S ®f certainly is here not Persia, for the Pei hu lu deals with the products
of Kwah-tuh, Annam, and the countries south of China (Pelliot, Bull, de I'Ecole
frangaise, Vol. IX, p. 223). See below, p. 468. The Pei hu lu has presumably served
as the source for the text of the Lin piao lu i, quoted above.

* History of the Indian Archipelago, Vol. I, p. 383.

«7o Sino-Iranica

is one of the most useful trees of the countries where it grows. The
nuts are either smoked and dried for use, or the oil is expressed from
them in their recent state. The oil is used for all culinary purposes,
and is more palatable and finer than that of the coconut. The kernels,
mixed up with a little sago meal, are made into cakes and eaten as
bread. The kanari is a native of the same country with the sago tree,
and is not found to the westward. In Celebes and Java it has been
introduced in modem times through the mediiun of traffic."

The Yu yan tsa isu^ speaks of a man hu Vao S ffl ^ as "growing
in the kingdom of Nan-Cao S S in Yun-nan; it is as large as a flat
conch, and has two shells of equal size; its taste is like that of the
cultivated walnut. It is styled also 'creeper in the land of the Man'
{Man iun Ven-tse If 't'JK^)." It will be remembered that Twan
C'en-si, the author of this work, describes also the cultivated walnut
(p. 264).

The T^ai pHn yu Ian contains another text attributed to the Lin
piao lu i relating to a wild walnut, which, however, is not extant in the
edition of this work pubHshed in the collection Wu yin lien in 1775.
This text is as follows: "The large walnut has a thick and firm shell.
It is larger than that of the areca-nut.^ It has much meat, but little
glumelle. It does not resemble the nuts found in northern China. It
must be broken with an axe or hammer. The shell, when evenly
smoothed over the bottom, is occasionally made into a seal, for the
crooked structiire of the shell {ko P5) resembles the seal characters."'

In the Lin wai iai ta^^iK ^,^ written by Cou K'u-fei JS i #
in 1 178, mention is made, among the plants of southern China and
Tonking, of a "stone walnut (H hu Vao S iS8 ft), which is like stone,
has hardly any meat, and tastes like the walnut of the north." Again,
a wild species is involved here. I have not found the term H hu Vao in
any other author.

The various names employed by the T'ang writers for the wild

* Ch. 19, p. 9 b (ed. of Tsin tai pi Su); or Ch. 19, p. 9 a (ed. of Pai hat).

* This sentence, as well as the first, agrees with the definition given by the Pei
hu lu with reference to a wild walnut (above, p. 268).

* T*ai p'in yu Ian, Ch. 971, p. 8 b. The same text is cited by the Pen ts*ao kan
mu and the Ko ti kin yiian (Ch. 76, p. 5 b), which offer the reading ian hu Vao jlj
S3 % ("wild walnut") instead of "large walnut." The Kwan k'iinfan p'u (Ch. 58,
p. 26) also has arranged this text under the general heading "wild walnut." The
Pen ts'ao kan mu opens it with the sentence, "In the southern regions there is a wild
walnut." The restriction to South China follows also from the text as given in the
T*ai pHn yH Ian.

* Ch. 8, p. 10 b (ed. of Ci pu tsu Iai ts*uA Su).

The Walnut 271

varieties (pHen hu Vao, §an hu Vao, man hu Vao^ ia hu Vao)y combined
with the fact that two authors describe both the varieties p'ten and
iaw, raise the question whether this nomenclature does not refer to
different plants, and whether, aside from the wild walnut, other nuts
may not also be included in this group. In this respect it is of interest
to note that the hickory, recently discovered in Ce-kian by F. N.
Meyer, and determined by Sargent^ under the name Carya cathayensis,
is said by Meyer to be called shan-gho-to in the colloquial language;
and this evidently is identical with our San hu Vao, This certainly does
not mean that this term refers exclusively to the hickory, but only
that locally the hickory falls also within the category of §an hu Vao,
The distribution of the hickory over China is not yet known, and the
descriptions we have of iaw hu Vao do not refer to Ce-kian.

In the P'aw !^an U ^ Ui ^, a description of the P'an mountains,*
the term San ho Vao is given as a synonyme for the bark of Catalpa
bungei (tsHu pH ^ S), which is gathered on this mountain for
medicinal purposes, — presumably because the structure of this bark
bears some superficial resemblance to that of a walnut. Wild walnuts,
further, are mentioned as growing on Mount Si fu 2ufi ® 35 ^ Uj ,
forming part of the Ma-ku Mountains Mfe te ^J situated in Fu-^ou
HSk #1 in the prefecture of Kien-6'an M, ^ My Kian-si Provinoe.'

While the cultivated walnut was known in China during the fourth
century under the Tsin dynasty, the wild species indigenous to south-
em China was brought to the attention of scholars only several cen-
turies later, toward the close of the T'ang period. This case fiutiishes
an excellent object-lesson, in that it reveals the fallacies to which
botanists and others are only too frequently subject in drawing con-
clusions from mere botanical evidence as to cultivated plants. The
favorite argtmientation is, that if, in a certain region, a wild and a
corresponding cultivated species co-exist, the cultivated species is simply
supposed to have been derived from the wild congener. This is a de-
ceptive conclusion. The walnut (as well as the vine) of China offers a

* Plantae Wilsonianae, Vol. Ill, p. 187.

* Ch. 15, p. 2 b, of the edition published in 1755 by order of K'ien-lun. The
P'an San is situated three or four days' journey east of Peking, in the province of
Ci-li, the summit being crowned by an interesting Buddhist temple, and there being
an imperial travelling-station at its foot. It was visited by me in September, 1901.
F. N. Meyer (Agricultural Explorations in the Orchards of China, p. 52) says that
in the Pangshan district east of Peking one may still find a few specimens of the real
wild walnut growing in ravines among large bowlders in the mountains.

* Ma-ku San U (Ch. 3, p. 6 b), written by members of the family Hwan g, and
published in 1866 by the Tun t'ien iu wu J|^ ^ ^ g. These mountains contain
thirty-six caves dedicated to the Taoist goddess Ma-ku.

272 Sino-Iranica

specific case apt to teach just the opposite: a wild walnut (probably in
several species) is indigenous to China, nevertheless the species culti-
vated in this area did not spring from domestic material, but from
seeds imported from Iranian and Tibetan regions of Central Asia.
The botanical dogma has been hurled against many deductions of
Hehn: botanists proclaimed that vine, fig, laurel, and myrtle have been
indigenous to Greece and Italy in a wild state since time immemorial;
likewise pomegranate, cypress, and plantain on the Aegean Islands
and in Greece; hence it was inferred that also the cultivations of these
plants must have been indigenous, and could not have been introduced
from the Orient, as insisted on by Hehn. This is nothing but a sophism:
the botanists still owe us the proof that the cultivated species were
really derived from indigenous stock. A species may indeed be indige-
nous to a certain locality; and yet, as brought about by historical
inter-relations of the peoples, the same or a similar species in the
cultivated state may have been introduced from an outside quarter.
It is only by painstaking historical research that the history of culti-
vated plants can be exactly determined. Engler (above, p. 258) doubts
the occurrence of the wild walnut in China, because a cultivated species
was introduced there from Tibet ! It is plain now where such logic will
lead us. Wilson deserves a place of honor among botanists, for, after
close study of the subject in China, he recognized that "it is highly
improbable that Juglans regia is indigenous to China."

With reference to the walnut, conditions are the same in China as
in the Mediterranean region: there also Juglans regia grows spontane-
ously; still better, ctiltivated varieties reached the Greeks from Persia;
the Greeks handed these on to the Romans; the Romans transplanted
them to GalHa and Germania. Juglans regia occupies an extensive
natural area throughout the temperate zone, stretching from the
Mediterranean through Iran and the Himalaya as far as southern China
and the Chinese maritime provinces. Despite this natural distribution,
the fact remains that Iran has been the home and the centre of the
best-cultivated varieties, and has transmitted these to Greece, to India,
to Central Asia, and to China.

Dr. T. Tanaka has been good enough to furnish the following infor-
mation, extracted from Japanese literature, in regard to the walnut.

"Translation of the notice on ko-to {kurumi), * walnut,' from a
Japanese herbal Yamato honzo >^ fP # ^, by Kaibara Ekken ^ JH
^^ (Ch. 10, p. 23), published in 1709.

"Kurumi SB ^ (koto). There are three sorts of walnut. The first
is called oni-gurumi ^ SfJ tffe (* devil walnut')- It is round in shape,

The Walnut 273

and has a thick, hard skin (shell), difficult to break; it has very little
meat. In the Honzd (Pen ts'ao, usually referring to the Pen ts^ao kan
mu) it is called Uj fi9 ^ (yama-gurumij ^an hu Vao). It is customary
to open the shell by first baking it a little while in a bed of charcoal,
and suddenly plunging it in water to cool off; then it is taken out of the
fire, the shell is struck at the joint so that it is crushed, and the meat can
be easily removed. The second variety is called kime-gurumi $S ^
/^ ^ ('demoiselle walnut'), and has a thin shell which is somewhat
flat in form; it is very easily broken when struck with an iron hammer
at the joint. It has plenty of meat, is rich in oil, and has a better taste
than the one mentioned before. The names 'devil' and 'demoiselle'
are derived from the appearance of the nuts, the one being rough and
ugly, while the other is beautiful.

"The third variety, which is believed to have come from Korea,
has a thin shell, easily cracked, with very Httle meat, but of the best
quaHty. Mori Sen :£ I5fe (author of the ^i liao pen ts'ao ^ ^ # ^,
second half of the seventh century) says, 'The walnut, when eaten,
increases the appetite, stimtdates the blood-circulation, and makes one
appear glossy and elegant. It may be considered as a good medicine of
high merit.' For further details refer to the prescriptions of the Pen
ts^ao.

"Translation of the notice on walnut from the Honzd komoku keimd
(Ch. 25, pp. 26-27) by Ono Ranzan; revised edition by Iguci Bo§i
of 1847 (first edition 1804).

^%ot5j kurimi (walnut, Juglans regia L., var. sinensis Cas., ex Matsu-
MURA, Shokubutsu Mei-i, ed. 1915, Vol. I, p. 189).

"Japanese names: td-kurimi ('Chinese walnut'); ^dsen-kurimi
(' Korean walnut ') .

"Chinese synonymes: kaku-kwa (Jibutsu imei); ^insd kyoho (ibid.);
inpei Unkwa {ibid.); kokaku (Jibutsu kon^u); ken^a {ibid.); to^HH
{Kunmo jikwai) .

"Names for kernels: kama {Rdya taisui-hen),

"Other names for iaw hu Vao: sankakutd {Hokuto-roku); banzai-H
{Jonan HoH); ^U {Kummo jikwai).

"The real walnut originated in Korea, and is not commonly planted
in Japan.

"The leaves are larger than those of onigurumi (giant walnut,
Juglans sieboldiana Maxim., ex Matsumura, I.e.). The shells are also
larger, measuring more than i sun (1.193 inches) in length, and having
more striations on the surface. The kernels are also larger, and have
more folds.

"The variety commonly planted in our country is onigurumi j the

274 Sino-Iranica

abbreviated name of which is kurumi; local names are ogurumi (Prov-
ince of Kaga), okkoromi (eastern provinces), and so on. This giant wal-
nut grows to a large tree. Its leaves are much like those of the lacquer-
tree {Rhus vernificera DC.) and a little larger; they have finely serrated
margins. Its new leaves come out in the spring. It flowers in the
autumn.

"The flower-clusters resemble chestnut-catkins, but are much
larger, ranging in length from six to seven sun; they are yellowish white
and pendulous. A single flower is very small, like that of a chestnut.
The fruit is peach-shaped and green, but turns black when ripe. The
shells are very hard and thick, and can be opened by being put on the
fire for a little while; then insert a knife in the slit or fissure between the
shells, which thus break. The kernels are good for human food, and
are also used for feeding little birds.

"One species called hime-gurumi ('demoiselle walnut,* Juglans
cordijormis Maxim., ex Matsimiura, /.c), or me-gurumi ('female wal-
nut,* from the province of Kaga), has thin shells with fewer furrows, and
the kernels can easily be taken out. Under the heading §ukai {U-kie,
explanatory information in the Pen ts*ao), this kind of walnut is de-
scribed as 'a walnut produced in Cin§o (C'en-ts*ari, a place in Fufi-
sian fu. Sen-si, China) with thin shells and many surfaces,* so we call
it Unso-gurumi ((^'en-ts'an hu-Vao)} This variety is considered the
best of all yama-gurumi {^an hu VaOy wild walnuts), because no other
variety has such saddle-shaped kernels entirely removable from the
shells.

"A species called karasu-gurumi ('crow walnut') is a product of the
province of E6igo; it has a shell that opens by itself when ripe, and
looks like a crow's bill when opened, whence it is called 'crow walnut.*

"Another variety from 0§io-mura village of the Aidzu district is
called gonroku-gurumi ('Gonroku's walnut'); it has a very small shell
capable of being used as ojime ('string-fastener of a pouch*). This
name is taken from the personal name of a man called Anazawa Gon-
roku, in whose garden this variety originated. It is said that the same
kind has been found in the province of Kai.

"A variety found at No§iro, province of U§a (Uzen and Ugo),
is much larger in size, and has thinner shells, easily crushed by hand,
so that the kernels may be taken out without using any tools. The
name of this variety is therefore teuU-gurumi ('hand-crushed walnut*).**

The most interesting point in these Japanese notes is presented by

* Compare above, p. 264.

The Walnut 275

the tradition tracing the cultivated walnut of Japan to Korea. The
Koreans again have a tradition that walnuts reached them from China
about fifteen hundred years ago in the days of the Silla Kingdom.*
The Korean names for the fruit are derived from the Chinese: ho do
being the equivalent of hu Vao, kan do corresponding to k*ian Vao,
and ha do to ho Vao. The Geography of the Ming Dynasty states that
walnuts are a product of Korea.*

* Korea Review, Vol. II, 1902, p. 394.

* Ta Min i t'un £i, Ch. 89 p. 4 b.

THE POMEGRANATE

5. A. DE Candolle^ sums up the result of his painstaking investi-
gation of the diffusion of the pomegranate {Punica granatum, the sole
genus with two species only within the family Punicaceae) as follows:
"To conclude, botanical, historical, and philological data agree in show-
ing that the modem species is a native of Persia and some adjacent
countries. Its cultivation began in prehistoric time, and its early
extension, first toward the west and afterwards into China, has caused
its naturalization in cases which may give rise to errors as to its true
origin, for they are frequent, ancient, and enduring." In fact, the
pomegranate occurs spontaneously in Iran on stony ground, more
particularly in the mountains of Persian Kurdistan, Baluchistan, and
Afghanistan. I am in full accord with A. de CandoUe's opinion, which,
as will be seen, is signally corroborated by the investigation that fol-
lows, and am not in the least disturbed by A. Engler's view^ that the
pomegranate occurs wild in Greece and on the islands of the
Grecian Archipelago, and that, accordingly, it is indigenous in anterior
Asia and part of the Balkan Peninsula, while its propagation in Italy
and Spain presumably followed its cultivation in historical times. First,
as stated also by G. Buschan,^ these alleged wild trees of Greece are
not spontaneous, but have reverted from cultivation to a wild state."*
Second, be this as it may, all ancient Greek accounts concerning the
pomegranate relate exclusively to the cultivated, in no case to the
wild species; and it is a grattiitous speculation of O. Schrader,^ who
follows suit with Engler, that the Greek word pod was originally
applied to the indigenous wild species, and subsequently transferred
to the cultivated one. As will be shown hereafter, the Greek term is a
loan-word. The naturalization of the fruit in the Mediterranean basin
is, as A. DE Candolle justly terms it, an extension of the origi ^al

1 Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 240.

2 In Hehn's Kiilturpflanzen, p. 246 (8th ed.).

' Vorgeschichtliche Botanik, p. 159.

^ I am unable, however, to share Buschan's view that the wild specimens of Iran
and north-western India also belong to this class; that area is too extensive to
allow of so narrow an interpretation. In this case, Buschan is prejudiced in order
to establish his own hypothesis of an indigenous origin of the tree in Arabia (see
below).

^ In Hehn's Kulturpflanzen, p. 247.

276

The Pomegranate 277

area; and Hehn is quite right in dating its cultivation on the part of
the Greeks to a time after the Homeric epoch, and deriving it from Asia
Minor.

G. BuscHAN^ holds that Europe is out of the question as to the
indigenous occurrence of the pomegranate, and with regard to Punica
protopumca, discovered by Balfour on the Island of Socotra, proposes
Arabia felix as the home of the tree; but he fails to explain the diffusion
of the tree from this alleged centre. He opposes Loret's conclusions
with reference to Egypt, where he believes that the tree was naturalized
from the time of the Eighteenth Dynasty; but he overlooks the prin-
cipal point made by Loret, namely, that the Egyptian name is a Semitic
loan-word.^ Buschan's theory conflicts with all historical facts, and
has not been accepted by any one.

The pomegranate-tree is supposed to be mentioned in the Avesta
imder the name habdnaepata,^ the wood serving as fuel, and the juice
being employed in sacrificial libations; but this interpretation is solely
given by the present Parsi of India and Yezd, and is not certain. The
fruit, however, is mentioned in Pahlavi literature (above, p. 193).

There are nttmerous allusions to the pomegranate of Persia on
the part of Mohammedan authors and European travellers, and it
would be of little avail to cite all these testimonies on a subject which
is perfectly well known. Suffice it to refer to the Pars Ndmah^ and to
give the following extract from A. Olearius:** —

"Pomegranate-trees, almond-trees, and fig-trees grow there with-
out any ordering or cultivation, especially in the Province of Kilan,
where you have whole forests of them. The wild pomegranates, which
you find almost every where, especially at Karabag, are sharp or sowrith.

^ Vorgeschichtliche Botanik, p. 159.

^ This fact was simultaneously and independently found by an American
Egyptologist, Ch. E. Moldenke (tJber die in altagyptischen Texten erwahnten
Baume, p. 115, doctor dissertation of Strassburg, Leipzig, 1887); so that Loret
(Flore pharaonique, p. 76) said, "Moldenke est arrive presque en mdme temps que
moi, et par des moyens diff^rents, ce qui donne une enti^re certitude h. notre d6-
couverte commune, k la d6termination du nom ^gyptien de la grenade." See also
C. Joret, Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. I, p. 117. Buschan's book appeared in 1895;
nevertheless he used Loret's work in the first edition of 1887, instead of the second
of 1892, which is thoroughly revised and enlarged.

' For instance, Yasna, 62, 9; 68, i. Cf. also A. V. W. Jackson, Persia Past
and Present, p. 369.

* G. Le Strange, Description of the Province of Pars in Persia, p. 38 (London,
1912). See also d'Herbelot, Biblioth^que orientale, Vol. Ill, p. 188; and F. Spiegel,
Eranische Altertimiskunde, Vol. I, p. 252.

* Voyages of the Ambassadors to the Great Duke of Muscovy, and the King
of Persia (1633-39), P- 232 (London, 1669).

278 Sino-Iranica

They take out of them the seed, which they call Nardan, wherewith
they drive a great trade, and the Persians make use of it in their
sawces, whereto it gives a colour, and a picquant tast, having been
steep'd in water, and strain'd through a cloath. Sometimes they boyl
the juyce of these Pomegranates, and keep it to give a colour to the
rice, which they serve up at their entertainments, and it gives it withall
a tast which is not unpleasant. . . . The best pomegranates grow in
Jescht, and at Caswin, but the biggest, in Karabag."

Mirza Haidar mentions a kind of pomegranate peculiar to Baluris-
tan (Kafiristan), sweet, ptire, and full-flavored, its seeds being white
and very transparent.^

"Grapes, melons, apples, and pomegranates, all fruits, indeed, are
good in Samarkand."^ The pomegranates of Khojand were renowned
for their excellence.^ The Emperor Jahangir mentions in his Memoirs
the sweet pomegranates of Yazd and the subacid ones of Farrah, and
says of the former that they are celebrated all over the world.* J.
Crawfurd^ remarks, "The only good pomegranates which, indeed,
I have ever met with are those brought into upper India by the cara-
vans from eastern Persia."

The Yu yan tsa tsu^ states that the pomegranates of Egypt ^Sf SI
(Wu-se-li, *Mwir-si-li, Mirsir)^ in the country of the Arabs (T^-si,
*Ta-d2ik) weigh up to five and six catties.

Also in regard to the pomegranate we meet the tradition that its
introduction into China is due to General Can K'ien. In the same
manner as in the case of the walnut, this notion looms up only in
post-Han authors. It is first recorded by Lu Ki 1^ S9, who lived under
the Western Tsin dynasty (a.d. 265-313), in his work Yii ti yiin iw
JR ^ S #. This text has been handed down in the TsH min yao iw
of Kia Se-niu of the sixth century.^ There it is said that Can K'ien,
while an envoy of the Han in foreign countries for eighteen years,
obtained Vu-lin W ^, this term being identical with nan-H-Uu $ ^
tS. This tradition is repeated in the Po wu ci^ of Can Hwa and in the

1 Elias and Ross, Tarikh-i-Rashidi, p. 386.

* A. S. Beveridge, Memoirs of Babur, p. 77.

» Ihid., p. 8. They are also extolled by Ye-lu C'u-ts'ai (Bretschneider, Mediae-
val Researches, Vol. I, p. 19).

* H. M. Elliot, History of India as told by Its Own Historians, Vol. VI, p. 348 .

* History of the Indian Archipelago, Vol. I, p. 433.

* ^ ^ Ch. ID, p. 4 b (ed. of Tsin tax pi lu).

^ Old Persian Mudraya, Hebrew Mizraim, Syriac Mezroye.

* Ch. 4, p. 14 b (new ed., 1896).

* See above, p. 258.

The Pomegranate 379

Tu i U M M A^, written by Li Yu ^ t (or Li Yuan X) of the T'ang
dynasty. Another formal testimony certifying to the acceptance of
this creed at that period comes from Fun Yen t^" ffi of the T'ang in
his Fun H wen kien H ^4" S ffi Mi 12 ,^ who states that Can K'ien
obtained in the Western Countries the seeds of H-Uu ^ 1® and alfalfa
(mU'Su)j and that at present these are to be found -everywhere in
China. Under the Sung this tradition is repeated by Kao C'efi ^ ^.^
C'en Hao-tse, in his Hwa kin,^ pubhshed in 1688, states it as a cold-
blooded fact that the seeds of the pomegranate came from the country
Nan-si or An-si (Parthia), and that Can K*ien brought them back.
There is nothing to this effect in Can K'ien's biography, nor is the
pomegranate mentioned in the Annals of the Han.* The exact time of
its introduction cannot be ascertained, but the tree is on record no earlier
than the third and fourth centuries a.d.^ ^

Li Si-6en ascribes the term nan-H-liu to the Pie lu ^9 ^, but he
cites no text from this ancient work, so that the case is not clear.*
The earliest author whom he quotes regarding the subject is T'ao
Hufi-kin (a.d. 452-536), who says, "The pomegranate, particularly as
regards its blossoms, is charming, hence the people plant the tree in
large numbers. It is also esteemed, because it comes from abroad.
There are two varieties, the sweet and the sour one, only the root of
the latter being used by physicians." According to the TsH min yao iw,
Ko Hun M ^ oi the fourth century, in his Pao p*u tse tS ^^h ?, speaks
of the occurrence of bitter liu ^ IS on stony mountains. These, indeed,

1 Ch. 7, p. I b (ed. of Ki fu ts'uri Su),

' Si wu ki yiian ^ ^ ffi J^ (ed. of Si yin hiian ts'un Su), Ch. 10, p. 34 b.

' Ch. 3, p. 37, edition of 1783; see above, p. 259.

* The Can-K'ien legend is repeated without criticism by Bretschneider
(Bot. Sin., pt. I, p. 25; pt. 3, No. 280), so that A. de Candolle (Origin of Cultivated
Plants, p. 238) was led to the erroneous statement that the pomegranate was intro-
duced into China from Samarkand by Can K'ien, a century and a half before the
Christian era. The same is asserted by F. P. Smith (Contributions towards the
Materia Medica of China, p. 176), G. A. Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 361),
and HiRTH {T'oung Pao, Vol. VI, 1895, p. 439).

'^ It is mentioned in the Kin kwei yao Ho (Ch. c, p. 27) of the second century a.d.,
"Pomegranates must not be eaten in large quantity, for they injure man's lungs."
As stated (p. 205), this may be an interpolation in the original text.

• The Pie lu is not quoted to this effect in the Cen lei pen ts*ao (Ch. 22, p. 39),
but the Ci wu min U Vu k'ao (Ch. 15, p. 102; and 32, p. 36 b) gives two different
extracts from this work relating to our fruit. In one, its real or alleged medical prop-
erties are expounded; in the other, different varieties are enumerated, while not a
word is said about foreign origin. I am convinced that in this form these two texts
were not contained in the Pie lu. The question is of no consequence, as the work
itself is lost, and cannot be dated exactly. All that can be said with certainty is that
it existed prior to the time of T'ao Hun-kin.

28o Sino-Iranica

are the particular places where the pomegranate thrives. Su Sun of
the Sung period states that the pomegranate was originally grown in
the Western Countries (Si yiiM ^), and that it now occurs everywhere;
but neither he nor any other author makes a positive statement as to
the time and exact place of origin. The Yao sin lun^ Pen ts'ao H ij
and Pen ts'ao yen i^ give merely a botanical notice, but nothing of his-
torical interest.

The pomegranate (H-liu) is mentioned in the "Poem on the Capital
of Wu" ^ ?P ® by Tso Se & ^^ who lived in the third centtuy under
the Wu dynasty (a.d. 222-280). P'an Yo M S, a poet of the fourth
century a.d., says, ''Pomegranates are the most singular trees of the
empire and famous fruits of the Nine Provinces.^ A thousand seed-
cases are enclosed by the same membrane, and what looks Hke a single
seed in fact is ten."

The Tsin Lun nan kH ku ^u S H ^ ^ S Sfe ("Annotations on
the Conditions of the period Lufi-nan [a.d. 397-402] of the Tsin Dy-
nasty") contains the following note:^ "The pomegranates (nan H
liu) of the district Lin-yuan Wt Hii in Wu-lin ^ W.^ are as large as cups;
they are not sour to the taste. Each branch bears six fruits."

Lu Hui l^iH of the Tsin dynasty, in his Ye ^un ki H^ 4* Ifi,^ states
that in the park of §i Hu ^ ^ there were pomegranates with seeds as
large as cups, and they were not sour. Si Hu or Si Ki-lufi ^ ^ tl ruled
from a.d. 335 to 349, under the appellation T'ai Tsu :;^ jffi. of the Hou
Cao dynasty, as "regent celestial king" {kii-^e tHen wan), and shifted
the capital to Ye ^, the present district of Lin-($afi ^ S, in the pre-
fecture of Cafi-te ^ ^ in Ho-nan.^

The pomegranate is mentioned in the Ku kin ^w "& '^ 1&J written
by Ts'ui Pao SI3 during the middle of the fourth century, with
reference to the pumelo W (Citrus grandis), the fruit of which is com-
pared in shape with the pomegranate. The TsH min yao iw (I.e.) gives
rules for the planting of pomegranates.

1 Ch. 18, p. 7 (ed. of Lu Sin-jman); the other texts see in Cen lei pen ts'ao, I. c.

^ ^ ffl , the ancient division of China under the Emperor Yu.

' T'ai pHn yii Ian, Ch. 970, p. 4 b. Regarding the department of records styled
k'i ku 6u, see The Diamond, p. 35. In the Yiian kien lei han (Ch. 402, p. 2) the
same text is credited to the SuA Su.

* In Hu-nan Province.

^ Ed. of Wu yin Hen, p. 12.

'Regarding his history, see L. Wieger, Textes historiques, pp. 1095-1100.
Bretschneider's (Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 211) note, that, besides the Ye lun ki of Lu
Hui, there is^another work of the same name by Si Hu, is erroneous; Si Hu is simply
the "hero" of the Ye tun ki.

' Ch. c, p. I (ed. of Han Wei ts'uti Su or Kifu ts*ufi Su). Cf. also below, p. 283.

The Pomegranate 281

The Annals of the Liu Sung Dynasty, a.d. 420-477 {Sun^u), contain
the following account: ''At the close of the period Yiian-kia JC M
(a.d. 424-453), when T'ai Wu (a.d. 424-452) ::;fc ^ of the Wei dynasty
conquered the city Ku WL^,^ he issued orders to search for sugar-
cane and pomegranates {nan U liu). Can C'ari 5M ^ said that pome-
granates (H-liu) come from Ye." This is the same locality as mentioned
above.

The Sian kwo ki X S %^ reports that in the district of Lufi-kafi
tl 1^ ^^ there are good pomegranates {U liu). These various examples
illustrate that in the beginning the tree was considered as peculiar to
certain locaHties, and that accordingly a gradual dissemination must
have taken place. Apparently no ancient Chinese author is informed
as to the locality from which the tree originally came, nor as to the how
and when of the transplantation.

The Kwan U M JS, written by Kwo Yi-kufi IP ft # prior to a.d.
527, as quoted in the TsH min yao ^u, discriminates between two varie-
ties of pomegranate (nan U liu), a sweet and a sour one, in the same
manner as T'ao Him-kifi.* This distinction is already made by Theo-
phrastus.^ As stated above, there was also a bitter variety.^

It is likewise a fact of great interest that we have an isolated instance
of the occurrence of a pomegranate-tree that reverted to the wild state.
The La ^an ki /S \\\ W contains this notice: "On the summit of the
Hiafi-lu fufi # ffl ^ (' Censer-Top ') there is a huge rock on which
several people can sit. There grows a wild pomegranate (iaw H-liu
llj ^ IS) drooping from the rock. In the third month it produces blos-
soms. In color these resemble the [cultivated] pomegranate, but they

^ Modem Cen-tin fu in Ci-li Province.

2 Thus in Tai pHn yii Ian, Ch. 970, p. 5 b; the Ts^i min yao lu (Ch. 4, p. 14)
ascribes the same text to the Kin k'ou ki '^ P |E-

' At present the district which fonns the prefectural city of §un-te in Ci-H
Province.

* Above, p. 279. .

^ Historia plantanim, II. 11, 7.

^ Pliny (XIII, 113) distinguishes five varieties, — dulcia, acria, mixta, acida,
vinosa.

^ T'ai p'in yii Ian, Ch. 970, p. 5. The Lu Mountain is situated in Kian-si Prov-
ince, twenty-five li south of Kiu-kian. A work under the title Lii San ki was written
by C'en Liri-ku |^ ^ :^ in the eleventh century (Wylie, Notes on Chinese Liter-
ature, p. 55) ; but, as the T'ai pHn yii Ian was published in a.d. 983, the question here
must be of an older work of the same title. In fact, there is a Lii San ki by Kin §i
;^ ^ of the Hou Cou dynasty; and the Yiian kien lei han (Ch. 402, p. 2) ascribes
the same text to the Cou Kin $i Lii san ki. The John Crerar Library of Chicago
(No. 156) possesses a Lii san siao ti in 24 chapters, written by Ts'ai Yin ^ '^ and
published in 1824.

282 Sino-Iranica

are smaller and pale red. When they open, they display a purple calyx
of bright and attractive hues." A poem of Li Te-yii ^ ^ ^ (787-849)
opens with the words, "In front of the hut where I live there is a wild
pomegranate."^

Fa Hien S ffl, the celebrated Buddhist traveller, tells in his Fu kwo
ki ^ 0 12 (''Memoirs of Buddhist Kingdoms"), written about a.d.
420, that, while travelling on the upper Indus, the flora differed from
that of the land of Han, excepting only the bamboo, pomegranate, and
sugar-cane.* This passage shows that Fa Hien was familiar with that
tree in China. Huan Tsari observed in the seventh century that pome-
granates were grown ever3rwhere in India.' Soleiman (or whoever may
be the author of this text), writing in a.d. 851, emphasizes the abun-
dance of the fruit in India.* Ibn Batuta says that the pomegranates of
India bear fruit twice a year, and emphasizes their fertility on the
Maldive Islands.*^ Seedless pomegranates came to the household of the
Emperor Akbar from Kabul.*

The pomegranate occurred in Fu-nan (Camboja), according to the
Nan TsH iw or History of the Southern Ts*i (a.d. 479-501), compiled
by Siao Tse-hien in the beginning of the sixth century.^ It is mentioned
again by Cou Ta-kwanof the Yuan dynasty, in his book on the "Customs
of Camboja."* In Hafi-Sou, large and white pomegranates were styled
yU liu ^ tS ("jade" liu)^ while the red ones were regarded as inferior or
of second quality."

The following ancient terms for the pomegranate, accordingly, are
on record: —

(i) '^ # fu-lifiy *du-lim. Aside from the Po wu U^ this tenri is
used by the Emperor Yuan of the Liang dynasty in a eulogy of the
fruit. ^° HiRTH^^ identified this word with an alleged Indian darim; and,
according to him. Can K'ien must have brought the Indian name to

^ Li wei kun pie tsi, Ch. 2, p. 8 {Ki fu ts'un Su, Vao 10).

* Cf. J. Legge, a Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, p. 24.

' Ta T'an si yii ki, Ch. 2, p. 8 b (S. Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western
World, Vol. I, p. 88).

* M. Reinaud, Relation des voyages, Vol. I, p. 57.

^ Defr6mery and Sanguinetti, Voyages d'Ibn Batoutah, Vol. Ill, p. 129.

« H. Blochmann, Ain I Akbari, Vol, I, p. 65.

^ Pelliot, Le Fou-nan, Bull, de VEcole frangaise, Vol. Ill, p. 262.

' Pelliot, ibid., Vol. II, p. 168.

» Mon Han /« ^ ^ H by Wu Tse-mu :^ g t$C of the Sung (Ch. 18, p. 5 b;
ed. of Ci pu tsu lai ts^un Su).

^^ Yiian kien lei han, Ch. 402, p. 3 b. Further, in the lost Hu pen ts*ao, as follows
from a quotation in a note to the Pei hu lu (Ch. 3, p. 12).

" Toung Paoy Vol. VI, 1895, p. 439.

The Pomegranate 283

China. How this would have been possible, is not explained by him.
The Sanskrit term for the pomegranate (and this is evidently what
Hirth hinted at) is dddima or ddlima, also dddimva^ which has passed
into Malayan as dellma} It is obvious that the Chinese transcription
bears some relation to this word; but it is equally obvious that the
Chinese form cannot be fully explained from it, as it leads only to
*du-lim, not, however, to dalim. There are two possibilities: the Chinese
transcription might be based either on an Indian vernacular or
Apabhrarhga form of a type like *dulim, *dudim,^ or on a word of the
same form belonging to some Iranian dialect. The difficulty of the
problem is enhanced by the fact that no ancient Iranian word for the
fruit is known to us.' It appears certain, however, that no Sanskrit
word is intended in the Chinese transcription, otherwise we should
meet the latter in the Sanskrit-Chinese glossaries. The fact remains
that these, above all the Fan yi min yi tsi, do not contain the word
Vu-lin; and, as far as I know, Chinese Buddhist literature offers no
allusion to the pomegranate. Nor do the Chinese say, as is usually
stated by them in such cases, that the word is of Sanskrit origin; the
only positive information given is that it came along with General
Cafi K'ien, which is to say that the Chinese were under the im-
pression that it hailed from some of the Iranian regions visited by him.
*Dulim, dulima, or *durim, durima, accordingly, must have been a
designation of the pomegranate in some Iranian language.

(2) ^9- ^ tan-lioy *dan-zak, dan-yak, dan-n'iak. This word appears
in the Ku kin iu^ and in the Yu yan tsa tsu} Apparently it represents a
transcription, but it is not stated from which language it is derived. In
my estimation, the foundation is an Iranian word still unknown to us,
but congeners of which we glean from Persian ddnak C* small grain"),

* J. Crawfurd (History of the Indian Archipelago, Vol. I, p. 433) derives this
word from the Malayan numeral five, with reference to the five cells into which the
fruit is divided. This, of course, is a mere popular etymology. There is no doubt
that the fruit was introduced into the Archipelago from India; it occurs there only
cultivated, and is of inferior quality. On the Philippines it was only introduced
by the Spaniards (A. de Morga, Philippine Islands, p. 275, ed. of Hakluyt Society).

* The vernacular forms known to me have the vowel a; for instance, Hindustani
darim, Bengali idlim, dalim or ddrim; Newari, dhd(}e. The modern Indo-Aryan
languages have also adopted the Persian word andr.

* In my opinion, the Sanskrit word is an Iranian loan-word, as is also Sanskrit
karaka, given as a synonyme for the pomegranate in the Amarako§a. The earliest
mention of dddima occurs in the Bower Manuscript; the word is absent in Vedic
literature.

* At least it is thus stated in cyclopaedias; but the editions of the work, as
reprinted in the Han Wei ts*un Su and Kifu ts'un Su, do not contain this term.

* Ch. 18, p. 3 b (ed. of Pai hat).

284 Sino-Iranica

ddna ("grain, berry, stone of a fruit, seed of grain or fruit"), ddngu
("kind of grain"), Sina danu ("pomegranate");' Sanskrit dhanika,
dhanydka, or dhamyaka ("coriander"; properly "grains"). The no-
tion conveyed by this series is the same as that underlying Latin
granatuntf from granum ("grain"); cf. Anglo-Saxon cornceppel and
English pomegranate ("apple made up of grains").

(3) $ ^ t§ nan H liu or ^ f§ H liu. This transcription is generally
taken in the sense "the plant liu of the countries Nan and Si, or of the
country Nan- si." This view is expressed in the Po wu U, which, as
stated, also refers to the Cafi-K'ien legend, and to the term t'u-Un,
and continues that this was the seed of the liu of the countries Nan
and Si; hence, on the return of Cafi K'ien to China, the name nan-H-liu
was adopted.^ Bretschneider intimates that Nan and Si were little
realms dependent on K'an at the time of the Han. Under the T'ang,
the name Nan referred to Bukhara, and Si to Taskend; but it is hardly
credible that these two geographical names (one does not see for what
reason) should have been combined into one, in order to designate
the place of provenience of the pomegranate. It is preferable to assume
that ^ ^ nan H, *an-sek, an-sak, ar-sak, represents a single name
and answers to Arsak, the name of the Parthian dynasty, being on a
par with $ S nan-si, *Ar-sik, and 3c ® nan-si, *Ar-sai. In fact,
^ ^ is the best possible of these transcriptions. We should expect,
of course, to receive from the Chinese a specific and interesting story as
to how and when this curious name, which is unique in their botanical
nomenclature, was transmitted;^ but nothing of the kind appears to
be on record, or the record, if it existed, seems to have been lost. It
is manifest that also the plant-name liu (*riu, r'u) presents the tran-
scription of an Iranian word, and that the name in its entirety was
adopted by the Chinese from an Iranian community outside of Parthia,
which had received the tree or shrub from a Parthian region, and there-
fore styled it "Parthian pomegranate." It is not likely that the tree
was transplanted to China directly from Parthia; we have to assume
rather that the transplantation was a gradual process, in which the

1 W. Leitner, Races and Languages of Dardistan, p. 17.

^ It is not correct, as asserted by Bretschneider {Chinese Recorder, 1871,
p. 222), to say that this definition emanates from Li Si-^en, who, in fact, quotes
only the Po wu U, and presents no definition of his own except that the word liu
means S/*« ("goitre"); this, of course, is not to be taken seriously. In Jehol, a
variety of pomegranate is styled hai '^ liu (O. Franke, Beschreibung des Jehol-
Gebietes, p. 75); this means literally, ''liu from the sea," and signifies as much as
"foreign liu.'*

^Cf. nan-si hiafi 3c <& § ("Parthian incense") as designation for styrax
benzoin (p. 464).

The Pomegranate 285

Iranian colonies outside of Iran proper, those of Sogdiana and Turkis-
tan, played a prominent part. We know the Sogdian word for the
pomegranate, which is written nW^kh, and the reading of which has
been reconstructed by R. Gauthiot^ in the form *narak(a), developed
from *anar-aka. This we meet again in Persian andr, which was adopted
in the same form by the Mongols, while the Uigur had it as nara. At
all events, however, it becomes necessary to restore, on the basis of the
Chinese transcription, an ancient *riu, *ru, of some Iranian dialect.
This lost Iranian word, in my opinion, presents also the foundation of
Greek p6a or pota, — the origin of which has been hitherto unexplained or
incorrectly explained,^ — and the Semitic names, Hebrew rimmon,
Arabic rummdnj Amharic rumdnj Syriac rumdno^ Aramaic rummdna,
from which Egyptian arhmdni or anhmdnt (Coptic erman or herman)
is derived.^

(4) ^^S !^o-Uuj *zak (yak, n'iak)-liu (riu). This hybrid compound,
formed of elements contained in 2 and 3, is found in the dictionary
Kwan ya M S8, written by Can Yi 51 ti about a.d. 265.* It is also
employed by the poet P'an Yo of the fourth century, mentioned above.**
Eventually also this transcription might ultimately be traced to an
Iranian prototype. Japanese zakuro is based on this Chinese form.*

While the direct historical evidence is lacking, the Chinese names of
the tree point clearly to Iranian languages. Moreover, the tree itself
is looked upon by the Chinese as a foreign product, and its first intro-
duction into China appears to have taken place in the latter part of
the third century a.d.

In my opinion, the pomegranate-tree was transplanted to India,

1 Essai sur le vocalisme du sogdien, p. 49. Of. also Armenian nrneni for the
tree and nurn for the fruit.

^The etymologies of the Greek word enumerated by Schrader (in Hehn,
Kulturpflanzen, p. 247) are so inane and far-fetched that they do not merit dis-
cussion. It is not necessary, of course, to hold that an immediate transmission of
the Persian word took place, but we must look to a gradual propagation and to
missing links by way of Asia Minor. According to W. Muss-Arnolt {Transactions
Am. Phil. Assoc, Vol. XXIII, 1892, p. no), the Cyprian form f!>v8La forbids all
connection with the Hebrew. It is not proved, however, that this dialectic word
has any connection with ^6a; it may very well be an independent local development.

' V. LoRET, Flore pharaonique, p. 76. Portuguese roma, romeira, from the
Arabic; Anglo-Saxon read-cBppel.

* This is the date given by Watters (Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 38).
Bretschneider (Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 164) fixes the date at about 227-240.

^ T'an lei han, Ch. 183, p. 9.

" Written also f§ !§. E. Kaempfer (Amoenitates exoticae, p. 800) already
mentions this term as dsjakurjo, vulgo sakuro, with the remark, "Rara est hoc
coelo et fructu ingrato."

286 Sino-Iranica

likewise from Iranian regions, presumably in the first centuries of
our era. The tree is not mentioned in Vedic, Pali, or early Sanskrit
literature; and the word ddlima, dddima, etc., is traceable to Iranian
*dulim(a), which we have to reconstruct on the basis of the Chinese
transcription. The Tibetans appear to have received the tree from
Nepal, as shown by their ancient term hal-poi seu-sin {"seu tree of
Nepal ")'^ From India the fruit spread to the Malayan Archipelago
and Camboja. Both Cam daltm and Khmer tatim^ are based on the
Sanskrit word. The variety of pomegranate in the kingdom of Nan-6ao
in Yiin-nan, with a skin as thin as paper, indicated in the Yu yah tsa
tsu,^ may also have come from India. J. Anderson* mentions pome-
granates as products of Yiin-nan.

Pomegranate-wine was known throughout the anterior Orient at
an early date. It is pointed out under the name dsis in Cant. VIII, 2
(Vulgata: mustum) and in the Egyptian texts under the name kdeh-it}
Dioscorides* speaks of pomegranate-wine (potrris olvos). Ye-lu C'u-
ts*ai, in his Siyulu (account of his journey to Persia^ 1219-24), speak-
ing of the pomegranates of Khojand, which are **as large as two fists
and of a sour-sweet taste," says that the juice of three or five fruits is
pressed out into a vessel and makes an excellent beverage.^ In the
country Tun-sun ©S (Tenasserim) there is a wine-tree resembling
the pomegranate; the juice of its flowers is gathered and placed in jars,
whereupon after several d^ys it turns into good wine.* The inhabitants
of Hai-nan made use of pomegranate-flowers in fermenting their wine.*
I have not found any references to pomegranate-wine prepared by the
Chinese, nor is it known to me that they actually make such wine.

It is known that the pomegranate, because of its exuberant seeds,
is regarded in China as an emblem alluding to numerous progeny; it
has become an anti-race-suicide symbol. The oldest intimation of this
symbolism looms up in the Pel H ^b ife, where it is told that two pome-
granates were presented to King Nan-te 3^ ^ of Ts'i ^ on the occasion

• This matter has been discussed by me in T'oung Pao, 1916, pp. 408-410. In
Lo-lo we have sa-hu-se in the A-hi dialect and se-bu-se in Nyi. Sa or se means "grain "
(corresponding to Tibetan sa in sa-bon, "seed"). The last element se signifies
"tree." The fruit is se-bu-ma (ma, "fruit").

■ Aymonier and Cabaton, Dictionnaire ^am-fran^ais, p. 220.

• Ch. 18, p. 3 b.

• Report on the Expedition to Western Yunan, p. 93 (Calcutta, 1871).

• V. LoRET, Flore pharaonique, pp. 77, 78.

• V, 34.

' Bretschneider, Mediaeval Researches, Vol. I, p. 19.

• Lian Su, Ch. 54, p. 3.

• HiRTH, Chau Ju-kua, p. 177.

The Pomegranate 287

of his marriage to the daughter of Li Tsu-§ou $ IB Jft. The latter
explained that the pomegranate encloses many seeds, and implies the
wish for many sons and grandsons. Thus the fruit is still a favorite
marriage gift or plays a role in the marriage feast.^ The same is the
case in modem Greece. Among the Arabs, the bride, when dismounting
before the tent of the bridegroom, receives a pomegranate, which she
smashes on the threshold, and then flings the seeds into the interior of
the tent.* The Arabs would have a man like the pomegranate, — bitter-
sweet, mild and affectionate with his friends in security, but tempered
with a just anger if the time call him to be a defender in his own or in
his neighbor's cause.'

* See, for instance, H. DoRf , Recherches sur les superstitions en Chine, pt. i
Vol. II, p. 479.

2 A. MusiL, Arabia Petraea, Vol. Ill, p. 191.

^ C. M. Doughty, Travels in Arabia Deserta, Vol. I, p. 564.

SESAME AND FLAX

6. In A. DE Candolle's book^ we read, "Chinese works seem to
show that sesame was not introduced into China before the Christian
era. The first certain mention of it occurs in a book of the fifth or sixth
century, entitled TsH min yao iw. Before this there is confusion between
the name of this plant and that of flax, of which the seed also yields an
oil, and which is not very ancient in China." Bretschneider is cited as
the source for this information. It was first stated by the latter that,
according to the Pen ts^ao, hu ma ffl M {Sesamum orientale) was brought
by Can K'ien from Ta-yuan.^ In his ''Botanicon Sinicum"^ he asserts
positively that hu ma, or foreign hemp, is a plant introduced from west-
em Asia in the second century b.c.^ The same dogma is propounded
by Stuart.^

All that there is to this theory amounts to this. T'ao Hufi-ldn
(a.d. 451-536) is credited in the Pen ts^ao kan mu^ with the statement
that ^'huma JK M ('hemp of the Hu') originally grew in Ta-yuan
(Fergana) ^ ^i<,Mj and that it hence received the name hu ma
('Iranian hemp')." He makes no reference to Cafi K'ien or to the time
when the introduction must have taken place; and to every one
familiar with Chinese records the passage must evoke suspicion through
its lack of precision and chronological and other circumstantial evi-
dence. The records regarding Ta-yiian do not mention hu ma, nor
does this term ever occtir in the Annals. Now, T'ao Hufi-kifi was a
Taoist adept, a drug-hunter and alchemist, an immortality fiend; he
never crossed the boundaries of his country, and certainly had no
special information concerning Ta-yuan. He simply drew on his
imagination by arguing, that, because mu-su (alfalfa) and grape sprang

^ Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 420.

2 Chinese Recorder, 1871, p. 222; adopted by Hirth, T*oung Pao, Vol. VI, 1895,
p. 439, and maintained again in Journal Am. Or. Soc, 191 7, p. 92.

3 Pt. II, p. 206.

* Ibid., p. 204, he says, however, that the Pen ts'ao does not speak of flax, and
that its introduction must be of more recent date. This conflicts with his statement
above.

^ Chinese Materia Medica, p. 404.

^ Ch. 22, p. I. Likewise in the eariier CeH lei pen ts'ao, Ch. 24, p. i b.

^ This tradition is reproduced without any reference in the Pen ts'ao yen i of
1 1 16 (Ch. 20, p. I, ed. of Lu Sin-yiian).

288

Sesame and Flax 289

from Ta-yuan (that is, a Hu country), hu ma also, being a Hu plant,
must likewise have emanated from that quarter. Such vagaries
cannot be accepted as history. All that can be inferred from the passage
in question is that T'ao Hufi-kifi may have been familiar with hu ma.
Li Si-6en, quoting the Mon kH pi Van ^ ^ * ie by Sen Kwa ft W
of the eleventh century, says, *'In times of old there was in China only
'great hemp' ta ma i<,M {Cannabis sativa) growing in abundance.
The envoy of the Han, Can K'ien, was the first to obtain the seeds of
oil-hemp Yt^ M""" from Ta-yuan; hence the name hu ma in distinction
from the Chinese species ta maJ* The Can-K'ien tradition is further
voiced in the T'ww Si of Cefi Tsiao (1108-62) of the Sung.^ The T'ai
pHn yil lan,^ published in a.d. 983, quotes a Pen ts'ao kin of unknown
date as saying that Cafi K'ien obtained from abroad hu ma and hu tou.^
This legend, accordingly, appears to have arisen under the Sung (a.d.
960-1278); that is, over a millennium after Can K'ien's lifetime. And
then there are thinking scholars who would make us accept such stuff
as the real history of the Han dynasty!

In the T'ang period this legend was wholly unknown: the T'an Pen
ts'ao does not allude to any introduction of hu ma, nor does this work
speak of Can K'ien in this connection.

A serious book like the T'u kin pen ts*ao of Su Sun, which for the
first time has also introduced the name yu ma ("oil hemp"), says only
that the plant originally grew in the territory of the Hu, that in appear-
ance it is like hemp, and that hence it receives the name hu ma.

Unfortunately it is only too true that the Chinese confound Sesamum
indicum (family Pedaliaceae) and Linum usitatissimum (family Linaceae)
in the single term hu ma (''Iranian hemp"); the only apparent reason
for this is the fact that the seeds of both plants yield an oil which is put
to the same medicinal use. The two are totally different plants, nor
do they have any relation to hemp. Philologically, the case is somewhat
analogous to that of hu tou (p. 305). It is most probable that the two
are but naturalized in China and introduced from Iranian regions, for
both plants are typically ancient West-Asiatic cultivations. The alleged
wild sesame of China^ is doubtless an escape from cultivation.

^ This is the author wrongly called "Ch'en Ts'ung-chung " by Bretschneider
(Bot. Sin., pt. II, p. 377). Ts'un-2un ^ 4* is his hao.
^ A synonyme of hu ma.
3 Ch. 75, p. 33.
*Ch. 84i,p. 6 b.
* See below, p. 305.
" Forbes and Hemsley, Journal Linnean Soc, Vol. XXVI, p. 236.

290 Sino-Iranica

Herodotus^ emphasizes that the only oil used by the Babylonians
is made from sesame. Sesame is also mentioned among their products
by the Babylonian priest Berosus (fotirth century B.C.).*

AeHus Gallus, a member of the Equestrian order, carried the Roman
arms into Arabia, and brought back from his expedition the report that
the Nomades (nomads) live on milk and the flesh of wild animals, and
that the other peoples, like the Indians, express a wine from palms and
oil from sesame.^ According to Pliny, sesame comes from India, where
they make an oil from it, the color of the seeds being white.* Both the
seeds and the oil were largely employed in Roman pharmacology.^
Megasthenes* mentions the cultivation of sesame in India. It likewise
occurs in the Atharva Veda and in the Institutes of Manu (Sanskrit
tila)7 A. DE Candolle's view^ that it was introduced into India from
the Sunda Isles in prehistoric times, is untenable. This theory is based
on a purely linguistic argument: ''Rumphius gives three names for
the sesame in these islands, very different one from the other, and from
the Sanskrit word, which supports the theory of a more ancient existence
in the archipelago than on the continent." This alleged evidence proves
nothing whatever for the history of the plant, but is merely a fact of
language.* There can now be no doubt that from a botanical viewpoint
the home of the genus is in tropical Africa, where twelve species occur,
while there are only two in India. ^'^

In the Fan yi min yi tsij^^ a Sanskrit synonytne of "sesame" is given as
PSJ S @ ^ ftp a-Vi-mu-to-kHe, *a-di-muk-ta-g'a, i.e., Sanskrit adhi-
muktakay which is identified with kii-hn (see below) and hu-nta. An
old gloss explains the term as "the foreign flower of pious thoughtf ill-
ness" (iaw se i hwa S iS ^ ^), an example of which is the lighting of
a lamp fed with the oil of three flowers (sandal, soma, and campaka
[Michelia champaca]) and the placing of this lamp on the altar of the

' I, 193-

^ MuLLER, Fragmenta historiae graecae, Vol. II, p. 496. Regarding Egypt,
see V. LoRET, Flore pharaonique, p. 57.

• Pliny, VI, 28, §161.

• Sesama ab Indis venit. Ex ea et oleum faciunt; colos eius candidus (xviii,
22, §96).

" Pliny, xxii, 64, §132.

« Strabo, XV. i, 13.

' JORET, Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 269.

^ Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 422.

• The Malayan languages possess a common name for Sesamum indicum:
Javanese and Malayan lena, Batak lona, Cam lono or land; IGimer lono.

'° A. Engler, Pflanzenfamilien, Vol. IV, pt. 3 b, p. 262.
" Ch. 8, p. 6 (see above, p. 254).

Sesame and Flax 291

Triratna.^ From the application of adhimuktaka it becomes self-evident
also that sesame-oil must be included in this series. The frequent
mention of this oil for sacred lamps is familiar to all readers of the
Buddhist Jataka. The above Sanskrit-Chinese Dictionary adds the
following comment: *'This plant is in appearance like the 'great hemp*
(Cannabis sativa). It has red flowers and green leaves. Its seeds can
be made into oil; also they yield an aromatic. According to the Tsui%
kin yin nie lun ^ M 51 ^ ffe, sesame (ku-^en) is originally charcoal,
and, while for a long time buried in the soil, will change into sesame.
In the western countries (India) it is customary in anointing the body
with fragrant oil to use first aromatic flowers and then to take sesame-
seeds. These are gathered and soaked till thoroughly bright; afterwards
they proceed to press the oil out of the sesame, which henceforth be-
comes fragrant."

Of greater importance for our purpose is the antiquity of sesame in
Iran. According to Herodotus^, it was cultivated by the Chorasmians,
Hyrcanians, Parthians, Sarangians, and Thamanaeans. In Persia
sesame-oil was known at least from the time of the first Achaemenides.*
G. Watt* even looks to Persia and Central Asia as the home of the
species; he suggests that it was probably first cultivated somewhere
between the Euphrates valley and Bttkhara south to Afghanistan and
upper India, and was very likely diffused into India proper and the
Archipelago, before it found its way to Egypt and Europe.

Sesamum indicum (var. subindivisum Dl.) is cultivated in Russian
Turkistan and occupies there the first place among the oil-producing
plants. It thrives in the warmest parts of the valley of Fergana, and
does not go beyond an elevation of two thousand five hundred feet.
It is chiefly cultivated in the districts of Namanga and Andijan, though
not in large quantity.^ Its Persian name is kunjut.

While there is no doubt that this species was introduced into China
from Iranian regions, the time as to when this introduction took place
remains obscure. First, there is no historical and dependable record
of this event; second, the confusion brought about by the Chinese in
treating this subject is almost hopeless. Take the earliest notice of
hu ma cited by the Pen ts'ao and occurring in the Pie lu: "Hu ma is
also called ku-hn E 0. It grows on the rivers and in the marshes of

^ Cf . EiTEL, Handbook of Chinese Buddhism, p. 4.
»m, 117.

' JoRET, Op. cit., Vol. II, p. 71. Sesame is mentioned in Pahlavi literature
(above, p. 193).

* Gingelly or Sesame Oil, p. 11 (Handbooks of Commercial Products, No. 21).

• S. K0R21NSK1, Vegetation of Turkistan (in Russian), p. 50.

292 Sino-Iranica

San-tafi Jb M (south-eastern portion of San-si), and is gathered in the
autumn. What is called tsHn Ian ff ^ are the sprouts of the ku-hn.
They grow in the river-valleys of Cun-3ruan 4* i^ (Ho-nan)." Nothing
is said here about a foreign introduction or a ctdtivation; on the con-
trary, the question evidently is of an indigenous wild swamp-plant,
possibly Mulgedium sihiriacum} Both Sesamum and Linum are thor-
oughly out of the question, for they grow in dry loam, and sesame espe-
cially in sandy soil. Thus suspicion is ripe that the terms hu ma and
ku-hn originally applied to an autochthonous plant of San-si and
Ho-nan, and that hu ma in this case moves on the same line as the term
hu hn in the Li sao (p. 195). This suspicion is increased by the fact
that hu ma occurs in a passage ascribed to Hwai-nan-tse, who died in
122 B.C., and cited in the T^ai pHn yii Ian?' Moreover, the Wu H (or
p^u) pen ts'ao, written in the first half of the third century by Wu P'u
^ ^, in describing hu ma, alludes to the mythical Emperor Sen-nun
and to Lei kun S ^, a sage employed by the Emperor Hwafi in his
efforts to perfect the art of heaHng.

The meaning of kii-hn is "the great superior one." The later authors
regard the term as a variety of Sesamum, but give varying definitions
of it: thus, T*ao Hun-kin states that the kind with a square stem is
called kil-hn (possibly Mulgedium), that with a round stem hu ma,
Su Kufi of the T'ang says that the plant with capsules {kio ^ ) of eight
ridges or angles {pa len A IS) is called ku-hn; that with quadrangular
capsules, hu ma. The latter definition would refer to Sesamum indicum,
the capsule of which is oblong quadrangiilar, two-valved and two-celled,
each cell containing numerous oily seeds.

Mori §en :£ B5fc, in his Si liao pen Vsao (written in the second half
of the seventh century), observes that "the plants cultivated in fertile
soil produce octangular capsules, while those planted in mountainous
fields have the capsules quadrangular, the distinction arising from the
difference of soil conditions, whereas the virtues of the two varieties are
identical. Again, Lei Hiao W $^ of the fifth century asserts that
kU-hn is genuine, when it has seven ridges or angles, a red color, and
a sour taste, but that it is erroneous to style hu ma the octangular
capsules with two pointed ends, black in color, and furnishing a black oil.
There is no doubt that in these varying descriptions entirely different
plants are visualized. Kao C'efi of the Sung, in his Si wu ki yUan^

^ Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 269. This identification, however, is
uncertain.

2 Ch. 989, p. 6 b.

' Ch. 10, p. 29 b (see above, p. 279).

Sesame and Flax 293

admits that it is unknown what the hu ma spoken of in the Pen-ts*ao
literature really is.

I have also prepared a translation of Li §i-Sen's text on the subject,
which Bretschneider refrained from translating; but, as there are several
difficult botanical points which I am unable to elucidate, I prefer to
leave this subject to a competent botanist. In substance Li Si-6en
understands by hu ma the sesame, as follows from his use of the modipm
term ci ma fla M. He says that there are two crops, an early and a late
one,^ with black, white, or red seeds; but how he can state that the
stems are all square is unintelligible. The criticism of the statements
of his predecessors occupies much space, but I do not see that it enlight-
ens us much. The best way out of this difficulty seems to me Stuart's
suggestion that the Chinese account confoimds Sesamum, Linum,
and Mulgedium. The Japanese naturalist Ono Ranzan* is of the same
opinion. He says that there is no variety of sesame with red seed, as
asserted by Li Si-^en (save that the black seeds of sesame are reddish
in the immature stage), and infers that this is a species of Linum which
always produces red seeds exclusively. Ono also states that there is a
close correlation between the color of the seeds and the angles of the
capsules: a white variety will always produce two or four-angled cap-
sules, while hexangular and octangular capsules invariably contain only
black seeds. Whether or in how far this is correct I do not know. The
confusion of Sesamum and Linum arose from the common name hu ma,
but unfortunately proves that the Chinese botanists, or rather pharma-
cists, were bookworms to a much higher degree than observers; for it
is almost beyond comprehension how such radically distinct plants
can be confounded by any one who has even once seen them. In view
of this disconsolate situation, the historian can only beg to be excused.

7. It is a point of great ctilture-historical interest that the Chinese
have never utilized the flax-fibre in the manufacture of textiles, but
that hemp has always occupied this place from the time of their
earliest antiquity.^ This is one of the points of fundamental diversity
between East-Asiatic and Mediterranean civilizations, — there hemp,
and here flax, as material for clothing. There are, further, two important
facts to be considered in this connection, — first, that the Aryans

^ In S. Couling's Encyclopaedia Sinica (p. 504) it is stated that in China there is
only one crop, but late and early varieties exist.

^ Honzo komoku keimo, Ch. 18, p. 2.

' In a subsequent study on the plants and agriculture of the Indo-Chinese, I
hope to demonstrate that the Indo-Chinese nations, especially the Chinese and
Tibetans, possess a common designation for "hemp," and that hemp has been
cultivated by them in a prehistoric age. There also the history of hemp will be
discussed.

294 Sino-Iranica

(Iranians and Indo-Aryans) possess an identical word for "hemp" (Avestan
bangha, Sanskrit hhanga), while the European languages have a distinct
designation, which is presumably a loan-word pointing to Finno-Ugrian
and Turkish; and, second, that there is a common Old-Turkish word
for ^'hemp" of the type kdndir, which stands in some relation to the
Finno-Ugrian appellations.^ It is most likely that the Scythians brought
hemp from Asia to Europe.^ On the other hand, it is well known what
vital importance flax and linen claimed in the life of the Egyptians
and the classical peoples.' Flax is the typically European, hemp the
typically Asiatic textile. Surely Linum usitatissimum was known in
ancient Iran and India. It was and is still wild in the districts included
between the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea, and the Black Sea.* It
was probably introduced into India from Iran, but neither in India nor
in Iran was the fibre ever used for garments: the plant was only culti-
vated as a source of linseed and linseed-oil.^ Only a relatively modem
utilization of flax-fibres for weaving is known from a single locality in
Persia, — Kazirtin, in the province of Fars. This account dates from the
beginning of the fourteenth century, and the detailed description
given of the process testifies to its novelty and exceptional character."
This exception confirms the rule. The naturalization of Linum in China,
of cotu-se, is far earlier than the fourteenth century. As regards the
utilization of Linum^ the Chinese fall in line with Iranians and Indo-
Aryans; and it is from Iranians that they received the plant. The
case is a clear index of the fact that the Chinese never were in direct
contact with the Mediterranean culture-area, and that even such culti-
vated plants of this area as reached them were not transmitted from
there directly, but solely through the medium of Iranians. The case
is further apt to illustrate how superficial, from the viewpoint of tech-
nical culture, the influence of the Greeks on the Orient must have
been since Alexander's campaign, as an industry like flax-weaving
was not promoted by them, although the material was offered there
by nature.

For botanical reasons it is possible that Linum usitatissimum was
introduced into China from Fergana. There it is still cultivated, and
only for the exclusive purpose of obtaining oil from the seeds.' As has

* Z. GoMBOCZ, Bulgarisch-turkische Lehnworter, p. 92.

^ Cf. for the present, A. de Candolle, Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 148.
3 Pliny, XIX, 1-3; H. BLtiMNER, Technologie, Vol. I, 2d ed., p. 191.

* A. DE Candolle, Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 130.

' See the interesting discussion of Watt, Commercial Products of India, p. 721.
« G. Le Strange, Description of the Province of Pars in Persia, p. 55.
^ S. KoRziNSKi, Vegetation of Turkistan (in Russian), p. 51.

Sesame and Flax 295

been pointed out, the plant is indigenous also in northern Persia, and
must have been cultivated there from ancient times, although we have
no information on this point from either native docimients or Greek
authors.^

Bretschneider^ says that "flax was unknown to the ancient
Chinese; it is nowadays cultivated in the mountains of northern China
(probably also in other parts) and in southern Mongolia, but only for
the oil of its seeds, not for its fibres; the Chinese call it hu ma ('foreign
hemp'); the Pen ts'ao does not speak of it; its introduction must be of
more recent date." This is erroneous. The Pen ts'ao includes this
species under the ambiguous term hu ma; and, although the date of the
introduction cannot be ascertained, the event seems to have taken
place in the first centuries of our era.

At present, the designation hu ma appears to refer solely to flax.
A. Henry' states under this heading, "This is flax (Linum usitatis-
simum), which is cultivated in San-si, Mongolia, and the mountainous
parts of Hu-pei and Se-5'wan. In the last two provinces, from personal
observation, flax would seem to be entirely cultivated for the seeds,
which are a common article in Chinese drug-shops, and are used locally
for their oil, utiUzed for cooking and lighting piuposes." In another
paper,* the same author states that Linum usitatissimum is called at
Yi-^'afi, Se-6'wan, ian H ma Ul Ba^ IS ("mountain sap-hemp"), and
that it is cultivated in the mountains of the Patufi district, not for the
fibre, but for the oil which the seed yields.

Chinese hu ma has passed into Mongol as xuma (khuma) with the
meaning "sesame,"* and into Japanese as goma, used only in the sense
of Sesamum indicum,^ while Linum usitatissimum is in Japanese ama
or iUnen-ama}

Yao Mifi-hwi JSfe ^ t?, in his book on Mongolia {Mon-ku U)^
mentions hu ma among the products of that country. There are several
wild-growing species of Linum in northern China and Japan, — ya ma

^ JORET, Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 69.

* Bot. Sin., pt. II, p. 204.

' Chinese Jute, p. 6 (publication of the Chinese Maritime Customs, Shanghai,
1891).

* Chinese Names of Plants, p. 239 {Journal China Branch Royal As. Soc,
Vol. XXII, 1887).

' The popular writing ^, according to the Pen ts*ao kan mu, is incorrect.

• KovALEVSKi, Dictionnaire mongol, p. 934.
' Matsumura, No. 2924.

» Ibid., No. 1839.

• Ch. 3, p. 41 (Shanghai, 1907).

296 Sino-Iranica

35 M (Japanese nume-goma or aka-goma), Linum perenne, and Japanese
matsuha-ninjin or matsuba-nadeHko, Linum possarioides } Forbes and
Hemsley,^ moreover, enumerate Linum nutans for Kan-su, and L.
stelleroides for Ci-li, San-tun, Manchuria, and the Korean Archipelago.
In northern China, Linum sativum (San-si hu ma \UM i^i M) is
cultivated for the oil of its seeds. ^

1 Matsumura, Nos. 1837, 1838; Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 242.

^ Journal Linnean Soc, Vol. XXIII, p. 95.

' This species is figured and described in the Ci wu miA Si Vu k'ao.

THE CORIANDER

8. The Po wu Uj faithftil to its tendencies regarding other Iranian
plants, generously permits General Can K*ien to have also brought back
from his journey the coriander, ku swi ffl 3? (Coriandrum sativum).^
Li Si-($en, and likewise K'an-hi's Dictionary, repeat this statement
without reference to the Po wu U-^ and of course the credulous com-
munity of the Changkienides has religiously sworn to this dogma.^
Needless to say that nothing of the kind is contained in the General's
biography or in the Han Annals.^ The first indubitable mention of the
plant is not earlier than the beginning of the sixth century a.d.; that
is, about six centimes after the General's death, and this makes some
difference to the historian/ The first Pen ts*ao giving the name hu-swi
is the Si liao pen ts'aOj written by Mon Sen in the seventh century,
followed by the Pen ts*ao H i of C'en Ts'afi-k'i in the first half of the
eighth century. None of these authors makes any observation on
foreign introduction. In the literature on agriculture, the cultivation
of the coriander is first described in the TsH min yao Su of the sixth
century, where, however, nothing is said about the origin of the plant
from abroad.

An interesting reference to the plant occurs in the Buddhist dic-
tionary Yi tsHe kin yin i (I.e.), where several variations for writing

1 This passage is not a modem interpolation, but is of ancient date, as it is cited
in the Yi tsHe kifi yin i, Ch. 24, p. 2 (regarding this work, see above, p. 258). Whether
it was contained in the original edition of the Po wu £i, remains doubtful.

2 Under ^ ("garlic") K'a^-hi cites the dictionary T'afi. ytin, published by Sun
Mien in a.d. 750, as saying that the coriander is due to CaA K'ien.

2 Bretschneider, Chinese Recorder, 1871, p. 221, where the term hu-swi is
wrongly identified with parsley, and Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 25; Hirth, T'oung Pao,
Vol. VI, 1895, p. 439.

* The coriander is mentioned in several passages of the Kin kwei yao Ho by
the physician Caft Cun-kin of the second century a.d.; but, as stated above (p. 205),
there is no guaranty that these passages belonged to the original edition of the
work. "To eat pork together with raw coriander rots away the navel" (Ch. c,
p. 23 b). "In the fourth and eighth months do not eat coriander, for it injures the
intellect " (ibid., p. 28). " Coriander eaten for a long time makes man very forgetful;
a patient must not eat coriander or hwaH-hwa ts'ai 3f ffi 3S {Lampsanq
apogonoides)," ibid., p. 29.

^An incidental reference to hu swi is made in the Pen ts'ao kaft mu in
the description of the plant Man er (see Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. II,
No. 438), and ascribed to Lu Ki, who lived in the latter part of the third century
A.D. In my opinion, this reading is merely due to a misprint, as there is preserved no
description of the hu-swi by Lu Ki.

297

298 Sino-Iranica

the character swi are given, also the synonjnnes Man ts*ai # ^
("fragrant vegetable") and hian sun ^ W-* In Kiafi-nan the plant
was styled hu swi fiS ^, also hu ki ® ^, the pronunciation of the
latter character being explained by JfiS kH, *gi. The coriander belongs
to the five vegetables of strong odor (p. 303) forbidden to the geomancers
and Taoist monks.^

I have searched in vain for any notes on the plant that might
elucidate its history or introduction; but such do not seem to exist,
not even in the various Pen ts*ao. As regards the Annals, I found only
a single mention in the Wu Tai H,^ where the coriander is enumerated
ajtnong the plants cultivated by the Uigur. In tracing its foreign origin,
we are thrown back solely on the linguistic evidence.

The coriander was known in Iran: it is mentioned in the Bundahign.*
Its medical properties are discussed in detail by Abu Mansur in his
Persian pharmacopoeia.^ Schlimmer® observes, "Se cultive presque
partout en Perse comme plante potag^re; les indigenes le croient
antiaphrodisiaque et plus sp^cialement an^antissant les Erections." It
occurs also in Fergana.^ It was highly appreciated by the Arabs in their
pharmacopoeia, as shown by the long extract devoted to it by Ibn
al-Baitar.^ In India it is cultivated during the cold season. The San-
skrit names which have been given on p. 284, mean simply "grain,"
and are merely attributes,^ not proper designations of the plant, for
which in fact there is no genuine Sanskrit word. As will be seen below,
Sanskrit kustumburu is of Iranian origin; and there is no doubt in my
mind that the plant came to India from Iran, in the same manner as
it appears to have spread from Iran to China.

fiS ^ or ^ hu-swi, *ko(go)-swi (su), appears to be the transcription
of an Iranian form *koswi, koswi, goswi. Cf. Middle Persian go^niz;

^ Two dictionaries, the Tse yiian ^ ^ and Yiln Ho §i Ji§, are quoted in this
text, but their date is not known to me. As stated in the Pen ts' ao si i and $i wu ki yiian
(Ch. ID, p. 30 ; above, p. 279) , the change from hu swi to Man swi was dictated by a taboo
imposed by Si Lo ^ Jft (a.d. 273-333), who was himself a Hu (cf. below,
p. 300) ; but we have no contemporaneous account to this effect, and the attempt
at explanation is surely retrospective.

* Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 26, p. 6 b; and Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 28.
» Ch. 74, p. 4.

* Above, p. 192.

^ AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 112.

* Terminologie, p. 156.

^ S. KoRziNSKi, Vegetation of Turkistan (in Russian), p. 51.

* L. Leclerc, Traits des simples. Vol. Ill, pp. 170-174.

•Such are also the synon3rmes sUk^tnapatra, ttk^t^apatra, tlk^f^aphala ("with
leaves or fruits of sharp taste").

The Cortander 299

New Persian kUnlz, ku^nlz, and gUnlz^ also ^untz-^ Kurd ksnis or kiSniS;
Turkish ki§ni§; Russian kiinets; Aramaic kusbarta and kusbar (Hebrew
gad, Punic yol8f are unconnected), Arabic kozbera or kosher et; Sanskrit
kustumhuru and kustumharl; Middle and Modem Greek KovcrSapas*
and KLffvvrjT^i.

According to the Hut kHan ci, the coriander is called in Turkistan
(that is, in Turki) yun-ma-su ^iSf^M.

It is commonly said that the coriander is indigenous to the Mediter-
ranean and Caucasian regions (others say southern Europe, the Levant,
etc.), but it is shown by the preceding notes that Iran should be included
in this definition. I do not mean to say, however, that Iran is the ex-
clusive and original home of the plant. Its antiquity in Egypt and in
Palestine cannot be called into doubt. It has been traced in tombs of
the twenty-second dynasty (960-800 B.C.), ^ and Pliny* states that the
Egyptian coriander is the best. In Iran the cultivation seems to have
been developed to a high degree; and the Iranian product was propa-
gated in all directions, — in China, India, anterior Asia, and Russia.

The Tibetan name for the coriander, usu, may be connected with
or derived from Chinese hu-sui. L. A. Waddell^ saw the plant culti-
vated in a valley near Lhasa. It is also cultivated in Siam.®

Coriander was well known in Britain prior to the Norman Con-
quest, and was often employed in ancient Welsh and English medicine
and cookery.^ Its Anglo-Saxon name is cellendrej coliandre, going back
to Greek koridndron, koriannon.

* Another Persian word is bughunj. According to Steingass (Persian Diction-
ary), tdlkt or tdlgi denotes a "wild coriander."

* The second element of the Arabic, Sanskrit, and Greek words seems to bear
some relation to Coptic herUu, beresu (V. Loret, Flore pharaonique, p. 72). In
Greece, coriander is still cultivated, but only sparsely, near Theben, Corinth, and
Cyparissia (Th. v. Heldreich, Nutzpflanzen Griechenlands, p. 41).

' V. Loret, op. cit., p. 72; F. Woenig, Pflanzen im alten Aegypten, p. 225.

* XX, 20, §82.

' Lhasa, p. 316.

* Pallegoix, Description du royaume thai. Vol. I, p. 126.
' Fl^ckiger and Hanbury, Pharmacographia, p. 329.

THE CUCUMBER

9. Another dogma of the Changkienomaniacs is that the renowned
General should have also blessed his countrymen with the introduction
of the cucumber {Cucumis sativus), styled hu kwa ftS JR ("Iranian
melon") or hwan kwa ^ JK. ("yellow melon ").^ The sole document
on which this opinion is based is presented by the recent work of Li
Si-6en,* who hazards this bold statement without reference to any older
authority. Indeed, such an earlier soiirce does not exist: this bit of
history is concocted ad hoc, and merely suggested by the name hu kwa.
Any plants formed with the attribute hu were ultimately palmed off on
the old General as the easiest way out of a difficult problem, and as a
comfortable means of saving further thought.

Li §i-6en falls back upon two texts only of the T'ang period, — the
Pen ts*ao H i, which states that the people of the north, in order to avoid
the name of Si Lo ^ ft (a.d. 273-333), who was of Hu descent, tabooed
the term hu kwa, and replaced it by hwan kwa;^ and the Si i lu Jq'J&IS^
by Tu Pao tt K, who refers this taboo to the year 608 (fourth year
of the period Ta-ye of the Sui dynasty).* If this information be correct,
we gain a chronological clew as to the terminus a quo: the cucumber
appears to have been in China prior to the sixth century a.d. Its culti-
vation is alluded to in the TsH min yao iw from the beginning of the
sixth century, provided this is not an interpolation of later times.^

According to Engler," the home of the cucumber would most prob-

1 Bretschneider, Chinese Recorder, 1871, p. 21 (accordingly adopted by
DE Candolle, Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 266); Stuart, Chdnese Materia
Medica, p. 135. In Japanese, the cucumber is ki-uri.

* Pen ts^ao kafi mu, Ch. 28, p. 5 b.

' A number of other plant-names was hit by this taboo (cf . above, p. 298) : thus
the plant lo-lo jS WJ {Ocimum basilicum), which bears the same character as Si Lo's
personal name, as already indicated in the Ts'i min yao Su (see also 5* wu ki ytian,
Ch. 10, p. 30 b; Ci wu min H t'u k*ao, Ch. 5, p. 34; and Pen ts*ao kaH mu, Ch. 26,
p. 22 b). He is said to have also changed the name of the myrobalan ho-li-lo (below,
p. 378) into ho'tse ^ ^. There is room for doubt, however, whether any of these
plants existed in the China of his time; the taboo explanations may be makeshifts
of later periods.

* This is the Ta ye H i lu (Records relative to the Ta-ye period, 605-618),
mentioned by Bretschneider (Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 195). The Pen ts'ao kafi mu
(Ch. 22, p. i) quotes the same work again on the taboo of the term hu ma (p. 288),
which in 608 was changed into kiao ma ■^^.

^ Cf. Ci wu mifi H Vu k'ao, Ch. 5, p. 43.

* In Hehn, Kulturpflanzen, p. 323.

300

The Cucumber 301

ably be in India; and Watt^ observes, "There seems to be no doubt
that one at least of the original homes of the cucimiber was in North
India, and its ctiltivation can be traced to the most ancient classic times
of Asia." De Candolle^ traces the home of the plant to northwestern
India. I am not yet convinced of the correctness of this theory, as the
historical evidence in favor of India, as usual in such cases, is weak;^
and the cultivation of the cuciunber in Egypt and among the Semites
is doubtless of ancient date.^ At any rate, this Cucurhitacea belongs to
the Egypto-West-Asiatic ct4ture-sphere, and is not indigenous to
China. There is, however, no trace of evidence for the gratuitous
speculation that its introduction is due to General Can K'ien. The
theory that it was transmitted from Iranian territory is probable, but
there is thus far no historical document to support it. The only trace
of evidence thereof appears from the attribute Hu.

Abu Mansur mentions the cucumber under the name qittdy adding
the Arabic-Persian xiydr and kawanda in the language of Khorasan.^
The word xiydr has been adopted into Osmanli and into Hindustani in
the form xlrd. Persian xdwuS or xdwa3 denotes a cucumber kept for
seed; it means literally "ox-eye" (gdv-aS; Avestan a^iy Middle Persian
a^y Sanskrit ak^ij "eye"), corresponding to Sanskrit gavdksi ("a kind
of cuctunber"). A Pahlavi word for "cucumber" is vdiraUy which
developed ijito New Persian badratiy bdlan, or varan (Afghan bddran).^

1 Commercial Products of India, p. 439. In Sanskrit the cucumber is trapu^a,

2 Op. cit., p. 265.

' Such a positive assertion as that of de Candolle, that the cucumber was
cultivated in India for at least three thousand years, cannot be accepted by any
serious historian.

* V. LoRET, Flore pharaonique, p. 75; C. Joret, Plantes dans I'antiquit^,
Vol. I, p. 61.

^ AcHUNDOW, Abu] Mansur, p. 106.

•This series is said to mean also "citron." The proper Persian word for the
latter fruit is turunj (Afghan turanj, Bala6i trunj). The origin of this word, as far
as I know, has not yet been correctly explained, not even by HtJBSCHMANN (Armen .
Gram., p. 266). Vullers (Lexicon persico-latinum. Vol. I, p. 439) tentatively
suggests derivation from Sanskrit suranga, which is surely impossible. The real
source is presented by Sanskrit mdtulunga ("citron," Citrus medico).

CHIVE, ONION, AND SHALLOT

lo. Although a number of alliaceous plants are indigenous to China,*
there is one species, the chive {Allium scorodoprasum; French rocambole) ^
to which, as already indicated by its name hu swan Wim or hu ^
("garlic of the Hu, Iranian garlic"), a foreign origin is ascribed by the
Chinese. Again, the worn-out tradition that also this introduction
is due to Can K'ien, is of late origin, and is first met with in the
spurious work Po wu H, and then in the dictionary T*an yiln of the middle
of the eighth century.^ Even Li Si-6en^ says no more than that *' people
of the Han dynasty obtained the hu swan from Central Asia." It seems
difficult, however, to eradicate a long-established prejudice or an error
even from the minds of scholars. In 191 5 I endeavored to rectify it,
especially with reference to the wrong opinion expressed by Hirth in
1895, that garlic in general must have been introduced into China
for the first time by Can K'ien. Nevertheless the same misconception
is repeated by him in 191 7,* while a glance at the Botanicon Sinicum**
would have convinced him that at least four species of Allium are of
a prehistoric antiquity in China. The first mention of this Central-
Asiatic or Iranian species of Allium is made by T'ao Hun-kin
(a.d. 45 1-536) , provided the statement attributed to him in the Cen lei pen
ts^ao and Pen ts'ao kan mu really emanates from him.^ When the new
i4//iww was introduced, the necessity was felt of distinguishing it from the
old, indigenous Allium sativum^ that was designated by the plain root-
word swan. The former, accordingly, was characterized as ta swan
i<.m ("laxge Allium''); the latter, as stao /h swan ("small Allium'').
This distinction is said to have first been recorded by T'ao Hun-kiri.
Also the Ku kin (^u is credited with the mention of hu swan; this, how-
ever, is not the older Ku kin ^u by Ts'ui Pao of the fourth century, but,
as expressly stated in the Pen ts*ao, the later re-edition by Fu Hou

1 Cf. Toung Pao, 1915, pp. 96-99.

* Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. Ill, No. 244.
' Pen ts'ao kafi mu, Ch. 26, p. 6 b.

* Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXXVII, p. 92.

* Pt. II, Nos. 1-4, 63, 357-360, and III, Nos. 240-243.

* The Kin kwei yao Ho (Ch. c, p. 24 b) of the second century a.d. mentions hu
Twan, but this in all probability is a later interpolation (above, p. 205).

302

Chive, Onion, and Shallot 303

'K 1!^ of the tenth century. However, this text is now inserted in the
older Ku kin cu^ ^ which teems with interpolations.

Ta swan is mentioned also as the first among the five vegetables of
strong odor tabooed for the Buddhist clergy, the so-called wu hun
3i! $.* This series occurs in the Brahmajala-sutra, translated in
A.D. 406 by Ktmiarajiva.^ If the term ta swan was contained in the
original edition of this work, we should have good evidence for carry-
ing the date of the chive into the Eastern Tsin dynasty (a.d. 317-419).

11. There is another cultivated species of Allium (probably A,
fistulosum) derived from the West. This is first mentioned by Sun Se-
miao M iS ^,* in his TsHen kin H W^ ^ "^ ia (written in the begin-
ning of the seventh century), under the name hu ts'un M My because
the root of this plant resembles the hu swan ® M. It was usually styled
swan-ts"un m M or hu 'Si ts'un (the latter designation in the K'ai pao
pen ts'ao of the Sung). In the Yin ^an ien yao (p. 236), written in 133 1
under the Yiian, it is called hui-hui ts'un 0 0^ ("Mohammedan
onion 'O.*^ This does not mean, however, that it was only introduced
by Mohammedans; but this is simply one of the many favorite alter-
ations of ancient names, as they were in vogue during the Mongol
epoch. This Allium was cultivated in Se-6'wan under the T'ang, as
stated by Mori Sen :£ iJfe in his Si liao pen ts^aOy written in the second
half of the seventh century. Particulars in regard to the introduction
are not on record.

12. There is a third species of Allium ^ which reached China under
the T'ang, and which, on excellent evidence, may be attributed to
Persia. In a.d. 647 the Emperor T'ai Tsuri solicited from all his tribu-
tary nations their choicest vegetable products,® and their response to
the imperial call secured a number of vegetables hitherto unknown in
China. One of these is described as follows: "Hun-Vi onion W^M
resembles in appearance the onion {ts*un, Allium fistulosum) y but is
whiter and more bitter. On account of its smell, it serves as a remedy.

1 Ch. c, p. 3 b.

* This subject is treated in the Pen ts'ao kan mu (Ch. 26, p. 6 b) under the
article swan, and summed up by Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 28). See,
further, De Groot, Le Code du MahaySna en Chine, p. 42, where the five plant-
names are unfortunately translated wrongly {hin-k'ii, "asafoetida" [seep. 361], is
given an alleged literal translation as "le lys d'eau montant"!), and Chavaknes
and Pelliot, Traits manich^en, pp. 233-235.

' BuNYiu Nanjio, Catalogue of the Buddhist Tripitaka, No. 1087.

* Cf. below, p. 306.

^ Pen ts*ao kan mu, Ch. 26, p. 5.

* We shall come back to this important event in dealing with the history of the
spinach.

304 Sino-Iranica

In its appearance it is like lan-lin-tun SB ^ ^,^ but greener. When
dried and powdered, it tastes like cinnamon and pepper. The root is
capable of relieving colds."^ The Fun H wen kien ki^ adds that hun-Vi
came from the Western Countries {Si yu) .

Hun-Vi is a transcription answering to ancient *gwun-de, and
corresponds to Middle Persian gandena, New Persian ganddnd, Hindi
gawdawa, Bengali gww<iwa (Sanskrit mleccha-kanda, ''bulb of the bar-
barians"), possibly the shallot {Allium ascalonicum; French ichalotte,
cihoule) or A. porrum, which occurs in western Asia and Persia, but not
in China.^

Among the vegetables of India, Huan Tsan^ mentions 5C fiS hun-Vo
(*hun-da) ts^ai. Julien left this term untranslated; Beal did not know,
either, what to make of it, and added in parentheses kandu with an
interrogation-mark. Watters^ explained it as *'kunda (properly the
olibanum-tree)." This is absurd, as the question is of a vegetable ctilti-
vated for food, while the olibanum is a wild tree offering no food. More-
over, hun cannot answer to kun; and the Sanskrit word is not kunda,
but kundu or kunduru. The mode of writing, huUy possibly is intended
to allude to a species of Allium. Huan Tsafi certainly transcribed a
Sanskrit word, but a Sanskrit plant-name of the form hunda or gunda
is not known. Perhaps his prototype is related to the Iranian word
previously discussed.

1 The parallel text in the Ts'efu yilan kwei (Ch. 970, p. 12) writes only lin-tufi.
This plant is unidentified.

2 Tafi hut yao, Ch. 100, p. 3 b; and Ch. 200, p. 14 b.
' Ch. 7, p. I b (above, p. 232).

*A. DE Candolle, Origin of Cultivated Plants, pp. 68-71; Leclerc, Trait6
des simples. Vol. Ill, pp. 69-71; Achundow, Abu Mansur, pp. 113, 258. Other
Persian names are tdrd and kawar. They correspond to Greek Trp&aov, Turkish
prdsa, Arabic kurdt. The question as to whether the species ascalonicum or porrum
should be understood by the Persian term gdnddnd, I have to leave in suspense and
to refer to the decision of competent botanists. Schlimmer (Terminologie, p. 21)
identifies Persian gdnddnd with Allium porrum; while, according to him, A. ascalon-
icum should be musir in Persian. Vullers (Lexicon persico-latinum. Vol. II, p. 1036)
translates the word by "porrum." On the other hand, Stuart (Chinese Materia
Medica, p. 25), following F. P. Smith, has labelled Chinese hiai ^, an Allium
anciently indigenous to China, as A. ascalonicum. If this be correct, the Chinese
would certainly have recognized the identity of the foreign hun-tH with hiai, provided
both should represent the same species, ascalonicum. Maybe also the two were
identical species, but differentiated by cultivation.

5 Ta Taft si yu ki, Ch. 2, p. 8 b.

« On Yuan Chwang's Travels, Vol. I, p. 178.

GARDEN PEA AND BROAD BEAN

13. Among the many species of pulse cultivated by the Chinese,
there are at least two to which a foreign origin must be assigned. Both
are comprised under the generic term hu tou M -9. ("bean of the Hu,"
or "Iranian bean")> but each has also its specific nomenclature. It
is generally known that, on account of the bewildering number of species
and variations and the great antiquity of their cultivation, the history
of beans is fraught with graver difficulties than that of any other group
of plants.

The common or garden pea (Pisum sativum) is usually styled wan
tou 16 5. (Japanese Hro-endo), more rarely tsHn siao tou W /h S
("green small pulse"), tsHn pan tou^^ 3^ ("green streaked pulse"),
and ma lei iS M . A term ^ 3^ pi tou, *pit (pir) tou, is regarded as
characteristic of the T'ang period; while such names as hu tou, Sun Su
^M ("pulse of the 2ufi"V and hui-hu tou HI tl S ("pulse of the
Uigur;" in the Yin ^an ien yao of the Mongol period changed also into
hui-hui tou © HI J2., "Mohammedan pulse") are apt to bespeak the
foreign origin of the plant. ^ Any doctmient alluding to the event of the
introduction, however, does not appear to exist in Chinese records.
The term hu tou occurs in the present editions of the Ku kin ^u,^ hu-^a
^ & being given as its synonyme, and described as "resembling the
li tou H A, but larger, the fruit of the size of a child's fist and eatable."
The term li tou is doubtfully identified with Mucuna capitata;^ but the
species of the Ku kin <^u defies exact identification; and, as is well known,
this book, in its present form, is very far from being able to claim abso-
lute credence or authenticity. Also the Kwan ci, written prior to
A.D. 527, contains the term hu tou;^ but this name, unfortunately, is ambig-
uous. Li §i-Cen acquiesces in the general statement that the pea has
come from the Hu and ^ufi or from the Western Hu (Iranians) ; he cites,
however, a few texts, which, if they be authentic, would permit us to

^This term is ambiguous, for originally it applies to the soy-bean {Glycine
hispida), which is indigenous to China.

' Cf. Pen ts'ao kafi mu, Ch. 24, p. 7; and Kwafi k'iln fan p*u, Ch. 4, p. 11. The
list of the names for the pea given by Bretschneider {Chinese Recorder, 1871,
p. 223) is rather incomplete.

' Ch. B, p. I b.

* Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 269. The word li is also written ^.

' T'ai pHn yU Ian, Ch. 841, p. 6 b.

305

3o6 Sino-Iranica

fix approximately the date as to when the pea became known to the
Chinese. Thus he quotes the TsHen kin fan ^ ^ ^ of. the Taoist
adept Sun Se-miao dS i^ ^/ of the beginning of the seventh century, as
mentioning the term hu ton with the synonymes tsHn siao tou and ma-lei.
The Ye Sun ki^ of the fourth century a.d. is credited with the statement
that, when Si Hu tabooed the word hu ffl, the term hu tou was altered
into kwo tou 19 H. ("bean of the country," "national bean"). Accord-
ing to Li Si-5en, these passages allude to the pea, for anciently the
term hu tou was in general use instead of wan tou. He further refers to
the T^an H H i6 as sajdng that the pi tou comes from the Westei^
2ufi and the land of the Uigur, and to the dictionary Kwan ya by Can
Yi (third century a.d.) as containing the terms pi toUy wan tou^ and liu
tou S S. It wotild be difficult to vouchsafe for the fact that these
were really embodied in the editio princeps of that work; yet it would
not be impossible, after all, that, like the walnut and the pomegranate,
so also the pea made its appearance on Chinese soil during the fourth
century a.d. There can be no doubt of the fact that it was cultivated in
Chiina under the T'ang, and even under the Sui (a.d. 590-617). In the
account of Liu-kiu (Formosa) it is stated that the soil of the island is
advantageous for the cultivation of hu tou} Wu K'i-tsun* contradicts
Li Si-6en's opinion, stating that the terms hu tou and wan tou apply to
different species.

None of the Chinese names can be regarded as the transcription of
an Iranian word. Pulse played a predominant part in the nutrition of
Iranian peoples. The country Si (Tashkend) had all sorts of pulse.^
Abu Mansur discusses the pea under the Persian name xulldr and the
Arabic julhan.^ Other Persian words for the pea are nujOd and gergeru
or xereghan?

A wild plant indigenous to China is likewise styled hu tou. It is
first disclosed by C'en Ts'afi-k'i of the T'ang period, in his Pen ts*ao H i,
as growing wild everywhere in rice-fields, its sprouts resembling the
bean. In the Ci wu min H Vu k'ao^ we meet illustrations of two wild

1 Regarding this author, see Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, pp. 97, 99;
Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 43; L. Wieger, Taoisme, le canon, pp. 142, 143,
182; Pelliot, Bull, de VEcole frariQaise, Vol. IX, pp. 435-438.

* See above, p. 280.
»5Mi^t/, Ch. 81, p. 5 b.

^ Ci wu mift H Vu k*ao, Ch. 2, p. 150.
' T'ai pHfi hwan yii ki, Ch. 186, p. 7 b.

• AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, pp. 41, 223.

' The latter is given by Schlimmer (Tenninologie, p. 464).
"Ch. 2, pp. 11, 15.

Garden Pea and Broad Bean 307

plants. One is termed hut-hui tou ("Mohammedan bean"), first men-
tioned in the Kiu hwah pen ts'ao of the fourteenth century, called also
na-ho tou M "^ 3., the bean being roasted and eaten. The other,
named hu tou^ is identified with the wild hu tou of C'en Ts'ari-k'i; and
Wu K'i-tsun, author of the Ci wu min H Vu k'aOj adds the remark,
*'What is now called hu tou grows wild, and is not the hu tou [that is,
the pep] of ancient times."

14. On the other hand, the term hu tou tJ] JB. refers also to Faba
sativa (F. vulgaris ^ the vetch or common bean), according to Bret-
SCHNEIDER,^ "onc of the ctdtivated plants introduced from western
Asia into China, in the second century B.C., by the famous general
Chang K'ien." This is an anachronism and a wild statement, which he
has not even supported by any Chinese text.^ The history of the species
in China is lost, or was never recorded. The supposition that it was
introduced from Iran is probable. It is mentioned under the name
pag (gdvirs) in the Bundahisn as the chief of small-seeded grains.'
Abu Mansur has it under the Persian name bdqild or bdqld.* Its culti-
vation in Egypt is of ancient date.^

15. Ts'an tou S5 (''silkworm bean,'* so called because in its
shape it resembles an old silkworm), Japanese 5orama we, the kidney-
bean or horse-bean {Vtciafaba), is also erroneously counted by Bret-
SCHNEIDER* among the Can-K'ien plants, without any evidence being
produced. It is likewise called hu tou i^'^, but no historical documents
touching on the introduction of this species are on record. It is not
mentioned in T'ang or Sung literature, and seems to have been intro-
duced not earlier than the Yuan period (i 260-1367). It is spoken of
in the Nun ^m >^ # ("Book on Agriculture") of Wan Cen BE M of
that period, and in the Kiu hwan pen ts*ao i5C ^ i ^- of the early

1 Bot. Sin., pt. II, No. 29.

• The only text to this effect that I know of is the Pen ts*ao kin, quoted in the
T'ai p'ifi yii Ian (Ch. 841, p. 6 b), which ascribes to Can K'ien the introduction of
sesame and hu tou; but which species is meant {Pisum sativum, Faba sativa, or
Viciafaba) cannot be guessed. The work in question certainly is not the Pen ts'ao
kifi of Sen-nun, but it must have existed prior to A.D. 983, the date of the publication
of the Vai p'in yii Ian.

* West, Pahlavi Texts, Vol. I, p. 90.

* AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 20.

' V. LoRET, Flore pharaonique, p. 94.

• Chinese Recorder, 1 871, p. 221 (thus again reiterated by de Candolle, Origin
of Cultivated Plants, p. 318). The Kwan k'iin fan p"u (Ch. 4, p. 12 b) refers the
above text from the T'ai p'in yii Ian to this species, but also to the pea. This con-
fusion is hopeless.

3o8 Sino-Iranica

Ming/ which states that "now it occurs everyivhere." Li §i-($en says
that it is ciiltivated in southern China and to a larger extent in Se-
^'wan. Wan Si-mou ^ ffi: S, who died in 1591, in his Hio pu tsa ^u
^ H S BR, a work on hortictdture in one chapter,^ mentions an espe-
cially large and excellent variety of this bean from Yun-nan. This is
also referred to in the old edition of the Gazetteer of Yiin-nan Province
(Kiu Yiin-nan Vun U) and in the Gazetteer of the Prefecture of Mufi-
hwa in Yun-nan, where the synonyme nan ton M S ("southern bean")
is added, as the flower turns its face toward the south. The New-Persian
name of the plant is hdgeld}

1 Ci wu mift H Vu k'ao, Ch. 2, p. 142. Bretschneider (Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 52)
has recognized Vicia faba among the illustrations of this work.

^ Cf. the Imperial Catalogue, Ch. 116, p. 37 b.

' SCHLIMMER, Terminologie,p.562. Arabic bdqild. Finally, the Fan yi miti yi tsi
(section 27) offers a Sanskrit term ^ ftl wu-kia, *mwut-g'a, translated by hu tou
and explained as "a green bean." The corresponding Sanskrit word is mudga
(Phaseolus mungo), which the Tibetans have rendered as mon sran rdeu, the term
Mon alluding to the origin from northern India or Himalayan regions {MSm. Soc.
finno-ougrienne, Vol. XI, p. 96). The Persians have borrowed the Indian word in the
form mung, which is based on the Indian vernacular tnuiiga or tnungu (as in Singha-
lese; Pali mugga). Phaseolus mungo is peculiar to India, and is mentioned in Vedic
literature (Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index, Vol. II, p. 166).

SAFFRON AND TURMERIC

1 6. Saffron is prepared from the deep orange-colored stigmas,
with a portion of the style, of the flowers of Crocus sativus (family
Irideae). The dried stigmas are nearly 3 cm long, dark red, and aro-
matic, about twenty thousand of them making a pound, or a grain
containing the stigmas and styles of nine flowers. It is a small plant
with a fleshy bulb-like corm and grassy leaves with a beautiful purple
flower blossoming in the autumn. As a dye, condiment, perfume, and
medicine, saffron has always been highly prized, and has played an
important part in the history of commerce. It has been cultivated in
western Asia from remote ages, so much so that it is unknown in a
wild state. It was always an expensive article, restricted mostly to the
use of kings and the upper classes, and therefore subject to adulteration
and substitutes.^ In India it is adulterated with saffiower (Carthamus
tinctorius), which yields a coloring-agent of the same deep-orange color,
and in Oriental records these products are frequently confused. Still
greater confusion prevails between Crocus and Curcuma (a genus of
Zingiheraceae) , plants with perennial root-stocks, the dried tubers of
which yield the turmeric of commerce, largely used in the composition
of curry-powder and as a yellow dye. It appears also that the flowers
of Memecylon tinctorium were substituted for saffron as early as the
seventh century. The matter as a subject of historical research is there-
fore somewhat complex.

Orientalists have added to the confusion of Orientals, chiefly being
led astray by the application of our botanical term Curcuma, which is
derived from an Oriental word originally relating to Crocus, but also
confounded by the Arabs with our Curcuma. It cannot be too strongly
emphasized that Sanskrit kunkuma strictly denotes Crocus sativus,
but never our Curcuma or turmeric (which is Sanskrit haridra),^ and

1 Pliny already knew that there is nothing so much adulterated as saffron
(adulteratur nihil aeque. — xxi, 17, §31). E. Wiedemann (Sitzber. Phys.-med.
Soz. ErL, 1914, pp. 182, 197) has dealt with the adulteration of saffron from Arabic
sources. According to Watt (Commercial Products of India, p. 430), it is too
expensive to be extensively employed in India, but is in request at princely marriages,
and for the caste markings of the wealthy.

* This is not superfluous to add, in view of the wrong definition of kunkuma
given by Eitel (Handbook of Chinese Buddhism, p. 80). Sanskrit kavera ("saffron")
and kdverl ("turmeric") do not present a confusion of names, as the two words
are derived from the name of the trading-place Kavera, Chaveris of Ptolemy and
Caber of Cosmas (see MacCrindle, Christian Topography of Cosmas, p. 367).

309

3IO Sino-Iranica

that our genus Curcuma has nothing whatever to do with Crocus or
saffron.

As regards Chinese knowledge of saffron, we must distinguish two
long periods, — first, from the third centtiry to the T'ang dynasty
inclusive, in which the Chinese received some information about the
plant and its product, and occasionally tribute-gifts of it; and, second,
the Mongol period (i 260-1367), when saffron as a product was actually
imported into China by Mohammedan peoples and commonly used.
This second period is here considered first.

Of no foreign product are the notions of the Chinese vaguer than
of saffron. This is chiefly accounted for by the fact that Crocus sativus
was hardly ever transplanted into their country,^ and that, although
the early Buddhist travellers to India caught a glimpse of the plant
in Kashmir, their knowledge of it always remained rather imperfect.
First of all, they confounded saffron with saffiower (Carthamus tinctori-
us)f as the products of both plants were colloquially styled "red
flower" {hun hwa fil^). Li Si-cen^ annotates, "The foreign {fan H)
or Tibetan red flower [saffron] comes from Tibet (Si-fan) , the places of
the Mohammedans, and from Arabia (T'ien-fafi %^). It is the
hun-lan [Carthamus] of those localities. At the time of the Yuan
(i 260-1367) it was used as an ingredient in food-stuffs. According to
the Po wu ci of Can Hwa, Can K'ien obtained the seeds of the hun-lan
[Carthamus] in the Western Countries (Siyu), which is the same species
as that in question [saffron], although, of course, there is some difference
caused by the different climatic conditions. ' ' It is hence erroneous to state,
as asserted by F. P. Smith,^ that "the story of Can K'ien is repeated for
the saffron as well as for the saffiower;" and it is due to the utmost con-
fusion that Stuart^ writes, "According to the Pen-ts'ao, Crocus was
brought from Arabia by Can K'ien at the same time that he brought the
saffiower and other Western plants and drugs." Can K'ien in Arabia!
The Po wu ci speaks merely of saffiower (Carthamus), not of saffron
(Crocus), — two absolutely distinct plants, which even belong to different
families; and there is no Chinese text whatever that would link the
saffron with Cafi K'ien. In fact, the Chinese have nothing to say re-

1 It is curious that the Armenian historian Moses of Khorene, who wrote about
the middle of the fifth century, attributes to China musk, saffron, and cotton (Yule,
Cathay, Vol. I, p. 93). Cotton was then not manufactured in China; hkewise is
saffron cultivation out of the question for the China of that period.

2 Pen ts*ao kan mu, Ch. 15, p. 14 b.

' Contributions towards the Materia Medica of China, p. 189.
* Chinese Materia Medica, p. 131.

Saffron and Turmeric 311

garding the introduction or cultivation of saffron.^ The confusion of
Li Si-Cen is simply due to an association of the two plants known as
"red flower." Safflower is thus designated in the TsH min yao iw,
further by Li Cufi ^ 4* of the T'ang and in the Sun H, where the yen-U
red flower is stated to have been sent as tribute by the prefecture of
Hin-yuan ^ TU in Sen-si.^

The fact that Li Si-6en in the above passage was thinking of
saffron becomes evident from two foreign words added to his nomen-
clature of the product: namely, V§ ^ ^ ki-fu-lan and }S S IP sa-fa-
tsi. The first character in the former transcription is a misprint for ^^
tsa (*tsap, dzap); the last character in the latter form must be emen-
dated into JW lan,^ Tsa-fu-lan and sa-fa-lan (Japanese safuran, Siamese
faran), as was recognized long ago, represent transcriptions of
Arabic za'ferdn or za'fardn, which, on its part, has resulted in our "saf-

1 Bretschneider {Chinese Recorder, 1871, p. 222) asserts that saffron is not
cultivated in Peking, but that it is known that it is extensively cultivated in other
parts of China. I know nothing about this, and have never seen or heard of any
saffron cultivation in China, nor is any Chinese account to that effect known to me.
Crocus sativus is not listed in the great work of F. B. Forbes and W. B. Hemsley
(An Enumeration of All the Plants known from China Proper, comprising Vols.
23, 26, and 36 of the Journal of the Linnean Society), the most comprehensive syste-
matic botany of China. Engler (in Hehn, Kulturpflanzen, p. 270) says that Crocus
is cultivated in China. Watt (Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 593) speaks of Chinese saffron
imported into India. It is of especial interest that Marco Polo did not find saffron
in China, but he reports that in the province of Fu-kien they have "a kind of fruit,
resembling saffron, and which serves the purpose of saffron just as well" (Yule,
Marco Polo, Vol. II, p. 225). It may be, as suggested by Yule after Fluckiger, that
this is Gardenia florida, the fruits of which are indeed used in China for dyeing-pur-
poses, producing a beautiful yellow color. On the other hand, the Pen ts'ao kan mu
U i (Ch. 4, p. 14 b) contains the description of a "native saffron" {Vu hun hwa jt
^ ;{£, in opposition to the "Tibetan red flower" or genuine saffron) after the Con-
tinued Gazetteer of Fu-kien ^ ^ S J^. as follows: "As regards the native
Saffron, the largest specimens are seven or eight feet high. The leaves are like those
of the pH-p'a ^ |C {Eriobotrya japonica), but smaller and without hair. In the
autumn it produces a white flower like a grain of maize (su-mi ^ 7^, Zea mays).
It grows in Fu-dou and Nan-nen-($ou ^ S ^H [now Yan-kian ^ fC in Kwan-tun]
in the mountain wilderness. That of Fu-6ou makes a fine creeper, resembling the
fu-yun (Hibiscus mutabilis), green above and white below, the root being like that of
the ko 1^ {Pachyrhizus thunbergianus). It is employed in the pharmacopoeia, being
finely chopped for this purpose and soaked overnight in water in which rice has been
scoured; then it is soaked for another night in pure water and pounded: thus it is
ready for prescriptions." This species has not been identified, but may well be
Marco Polo's pseudo-saffron of Fu-kien.

2 ru Su tsi t'en, XX, Ch. 158.

' Cf. Watters, Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 348. This transcription,
however, does not prove, as intimated by Watters, that "this product was first
imported into China from Persia direct or at least obtained immediately from
Persian traders." The word zafardn is an Arabic loan-word in Persian, and may
have been brought to China by Arabic traders as well.

312 Sino-Iranica

fron."^ It is borne out by the very form of these transcriptions that
they cannot be older than the Mongol period when the final consonants
had disappeared. Under the T'ang we should have *dzap-fu-lam and
*sat-fap-lan. This conclusion agrees with Li Si-5en's testimony that
saffron was mixed with food at the time of the Yiian, — an Indo-Persian
custom. Indeed, it seems as if not imtil then was it imported and used
in China; at least, we have no earlier document to this effect.

Saffron is not cultivated in Tibet. There is no Crocus tihetan us, as
tentatively introduced by Perrot and Hurrier^ on the basis of the
Chinese term ''Tibetan red flower." This only means that saffron is
exported from Tibet to China, chiefly to Peking; but Tibet does not
produce any saffron, and imports it solely from Kashmir. Stuart'
says that '^Ts'an hun hwa S^ tCffi ('Red flower from Tsafi,' that is.
Central Tibet) is given by some foreign writers as another name for
saffron, but this has not been found mentioned by any Chinese writer."
In fact, that term is given in the Pen ts'ao kan mu H i^ and the Ct wu
min H fu k'ao of 1848,^ where it is said to come from Tibet (Si-tsan)
and to be the equivalent of the Fan hun hwa of the Pen ts^ao kan mu,
Ts^an hwa is still a colloquial name for saffron in Peking; it is also called
simply hun hwa ("red flower").^ By Tibetans in Peking I heard it
designated gur-kum, ^a-ka-ma, and dri-hzan ("of good fragrance").
Saffron is looked upon by the Chinese as the most valuable drug sent
by Tibet, ts^an hian ("Tibetan incense") ranking next.

Li Si-cen^ holds that there are two yii-kin M ^, — the yii-kin aromatic,
the flowers of which only are used; and the yii-kin the root of which is
employed. The former is the saffron {Crocus sativus) ; the latter, a
Curcuma. As will be seen, however, there are at least three yii-kin.

Of the genus Curcuma, there are several species in China and
Indo-China, — C. leucorrhiza {yii-kin), C. longa {kian hwan ^ or S K,

^ The Arabs first brought saffron to Spain; and from Arabic za^fardn are derived
Spanish azafran, Portuguese agafrao or azafrao, Indo-Portuguese safrao, ItaHan
zafferano, French safran, Rumanian sofrdn. The same Arabic root {'asfur, "yellow")
has supplied also those Romance words that correspond to our safflow, safflower
{Carthamus tinctorius), like Spanish azafranillo, alazor, Portuguese agafroa, Italian
asforo, French safran; Old Armenian zavhran, New Armenian zafran; Russian
safran; Uigur sakparan.

2 Mat. m6d. et pharmacop^e sino-annamites, p. 94.

3 Chinese Materia Medica, p. 132.
* Ch. 4, p. 14 b.

5 Ch. 4, p. 35 b.

^ It should be borne in mind that this name is merely a modem colloquialism,
but huH hwa, when occurring in ancient texts, is not "saffron," but "safflower"
{Carthamus tinctorius) ; see below, p. 324.

' Pen ts^ao kafi mu, Ch. 14, p. 18.

Saffron and Turmeric 313

"ginger-yellow")) ^- pcilltda, C. petiolata, C. zedoaria. Which partictdar
species was anciently known in China, is difficult to decide; but it
appears that at least one species was utilized in times of antiquity.
Curcuma longa and C. leucorrkiza are described not earlier than theT'ang
period, and the probability is that either they were introduced from the
West; or, if on good botanical evidence it can be demonstrated that
these species are autochthonous,^ we are compelled to assume that
superior cultivated varieties were imported in the T'ang era. In regard
to yii-kin {C. leucorrkiza), Su Kufi of the seventh century observes
that it grows in Su (Se-c'wan) and Si-2un, and that the Hu call it
^ ^ ma-^u, *mo-dzut (dzut),^ while he states with reference to kian-
hwan {C. longa) that the Zufi ^ A call it ^ iw, *dzut (dzut, dzur) ;
he also insists on the close resemblance of the two species. Likewise
C'en Ts'afi-k'i, who wrote in the first part of the eighth century, states
concerning ktan-hwan that the kind coming from the Western Bar-
barians (Si Fan) is similar to yU-kin and ^u yao ^ ^.^ Su Sun of the
Sung remarks that yii-kin now occurs in all districts of Kwafi-tufi and
Kwafi-si, but does not equal that of Se-S'wan, where it had previously
existed. K'ou Tsuri-§i ^ states that yii-kin is not aromatic, and that in
his time it was used for the dyeing of woman's clothes. Li Si-(5en re-
minds us of the fact that yU-kin was a product of the Hellenistic Orient
(Ta Ts'in) : this is stated in the Wei lie of the third century,^ and the
Lian ^u^ enumerates yU-kin among the articles traded from Ta Ts'in
to western India.^

The preceding observations, in connection with the foreign names

1 According to Loureiro (Flora Cochin-Chinensis, p. 9), Curcuma longa
grows wild in Indo-China.

^ This foreign name has not been pointed out by Bretschneider or Stuart or
any previous author.

^ This term is referred (whether correctly, I do not know) to Kcsmpferia
pundurata (Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 227). Another name for this
plant is ^ ^ ^ p'un-no Su (not mou), *bun-na. Now, Ta Min states that the
Curcuma growing on Hai-nan is ^ ^ ^ p'un-no Su, while that growing in Kian-nan
is kian-hwan {Curcuma longa). Kcempferia belongs to the same order as Curcuma,
— Scitamineae. According to Ma Ci of the Sung, this plant grows in Si-zun and in
all districts of Kwafi-nan; it is poisonous, and the people of the West first test it
on sheep: if these refuse to eat it, it is discarded. Chinese p^un-no, *bun-na, looks like
a transcription of Tibetan bon-na, which, however, applies to aconite.

* Pen ts'ao yen i, Ch. 10, p. 3.

^ San kwo ci, Ch. 30, p. 13.

« Ch. 78, p. 7.

^ The question whether in this case Curcuma or^ Crocus is meant, cannot be
decided; both products were known in western Asia. C'en Ts'an-k'i holds that the
yii-kin of Ta Ts'in was safflower (see below).

314 Sino-Iranica

^u and ma-$u, are sufficient to raise serious doubts of the indigenous
character of Curcuma; and for my part, I am strongly inclined to believe
that at least two species of this genus were first introduced into Se-c'wan
by way of Central Asia. This certainly would not exclude the possi-
bility that other species of this genus, or even other varieties of the
imported species, pre-existed in China long before that time; and this
is even probable, in view of the fact that a fragrant plant yil #, which
was mixed with sacrificial wine, is mentioned in the ancient Cou H,
the State Ceremonial of the Cou Dynasty, and in the Li ki. The com-
mentators, with a few exceptions, agree on the point that this ancient
yil was a yU-kin; that is, a Curcuma}

In India, Curcuma longa is extensively cultivated all over the coun-
try, and probably so from ancient times. The plant (Sanskrit haridrd)
is already Hsted in the Bower Manuscript. From India the rhizome is
exported to Tibet, where it is known as yun-ha or skyer-pa, the latter
name originally applying to the barberry, the wood and root of which,
like Curcuma, yield a yellow dye.

Ibn al-Baitar understands by kurkum the genus Curcuma, not Cro-
cus, as is obvious from his definition that it is the great species of the
tinctorial roots. These roots come from India, being styled hard in
Persian; this is derived from Sanskrit haridrd (Curcuma longa). Ibn
Hassan, however, observes that the people of Basra bestow' on hard
the name kurkum, which is the designation of saffron, and to which it
is assimilated; but then he goes on to confound saffron with the root of
wars, which is a Memecylon (see below). ^ Turmeric is called in Persian
zird-cUhe or darzard (''yellow wood"). According to Garcia da Orta,
it was much exported from India to Arabia and Persia; and there was
unanimous opinion that it did not grow in Persia, Arabia, or Turkey,
but that all comes from India. ^

The name yU-kin, or with the addition hiaii (''aromatic"),^ is fre-
quently referred in ancient documents to two different plants of Indian
and Iranian countries, — Memecylon tinctorium and Crocus sativus, the

1 Cf. Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. II, No. 408.

2 Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. Ill, p. 167.
' C. Markham, Colloquies, p. 163.

* As a matter of principle, the term yii-kin Man strictly refers to saffron. It is
this term which Bretschneider (Bot. Sin., pt. II, No. 408) was unable to identify,
and of which Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 140) was compelled to admit,
"The plant is not yet identified, but is probably not Curcuma^ The latter remark
is to the point. The descriptions we have of yu-kin\hian, and which are given below,
exclude any idea of a Curcuma. The modern Japanese botanists apply the term yii-kin
Man (Japanese ukkonko) to Tulipa gesneriana, a flower of Japan (Matsumura,
No. 3193)-

Saffron and Turmeric 315

latter possibly confounded again with Curcuma} It is curious that
in the entire Pen-ts'ao literature the fact has been overlooked that under
the same name there is also preserved the ancient description of a tree.
This fact has escaped all European writers, with the sole exception of
Palladius. In his admirable Chinese-Russian Dictionary^ he gives
the following explanation of the term yii-kin: "Designation of a tree
in Ki-pin; yellow blossoms, which are gathered, and when they begin
to \\dther, are pressed, the sap being mixed with other odorous sub-
stances; it is found likewise in Ta Ts'in, the blossoms being like those
of saffron, and is utilized in the coloration of wine."

A description of this tree yii-kin is given in the Buddhist dictionary
Yi tsHe kin yin i^ of a.d. 649 as follows: "This is the name of a tree,
the habitat of which is in the country Ki-pin M ^ (Kashmir). Its
flowers are of yellow color. The trees are planted from the flowers.
One waits till they are faded; the sap is then pressed out of them and
mixed with other substances. It serves as an aromatic. The grains
of the flowers also are odoriferous, and are likewise employed as aro-
matics.'^

I am inclined to identify this tree with Memecylon tinctorium, M.
edule, or M, capitellatum (Melastomaceae) , a very common, small tree
or large shrub in the east and south of India, Ceylon, Tenasserim, and
the Andamans. The leaves are employed in southern India for dyeing
a "delicate yellow lake." The flowers produce an evanescent yellow.*
In restricting the habitat of the tree to Kashmir, Hiian Yin is doubtless
influenced by the notion that saffron (yii-kin) was an exclusive product
of Kashmir (see below).

The same tree is described by Abu Mansur under the name wars
as a saffron-like plant of yellow color and fragrant, and employed by
Arabic women for dyeing garments.^ The ancients were not acquainted

^ A third identification has been given by Bretschneider (Chinese Recorder,
1 87 1, p. 222), who thought that probably the sumbul (Sumbulus moschatus) is meant.
This is a mistaken botanical name, but he evidently had in mind the so-called musk-
root of Euryangium or Ferula sumbul, of musk-like odor and acrid taste. The only
basis for this identification might be sought in the fact that one of the synonymes
given for yii-kin hian in the Pen ts'ao is ts'ao Se Man !^ ^ § ("vegetable musk");
this name itself, however, is not explained. Saffron, of course, has no musk odor;
and the term ts^ao se hian surely does not relate to saffron, but is smuggled in here
by mistake. The Tien hai yii hen ci (Ch. 3, p. i b, see above, p. 228) also equates ^'m-
kin hian with ts'ao Se hian, adding that the root is like ginger and colors wine yel-
low. This would decidedly hint at a Curcuma.

^ Vol. II, p. 202.

^ Ch. 24, p. 8 (cf. Beginnings of Porcelain, p. 115; and above, p. 258).

* Watt, Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Vol. V, p. 227.

* AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 145.

3i6 Sino-Iranica

with this dye. Abu Hanifa has a long discourse on it.^ Ibn Hassan
knew the root of wars^ and confounded it with saffron.^ Ibn al-Baitar
offers a lengthy notice of it.^ Two species are distinguished, — one from
Ethiopia, black, and of inferior quaHty; and another from India, of a
brilliant red, yielding a dye of a pure yellow. A variety called hdrida
dyes red. It is cultivated in Yemen. Also the association with Cur-
cuma and Crocus is indicated. Isak Ibn Amran remarks, ''It is said
that wars represents roots of Curcuma, which come from China and
Yemen"; and Ibn Massa el-Basri says, "It is a substance of a brilliant
red which resembles pounded saffron." This explains why the Chinese
included it in the term yii-kin. Leclerc also has identified the wars
of the Arabs with Memecylon tinctorium, and adds, "L'ouars n'est pas
le produit exclusif de I'Arabie. On le rencontre abondamment dans
ITnde, notamment aux environs de Pondichery qui en a envoye en
Europe, aux demi^res expositions. II s'appelle kana dans le pays."^
The Yamato honzo speaks of yii-kin as a dye-stuff coming from Siam;
this seems to be also Memecylon.

The fact that the Chinese included the product of Memecylon in
the term yii-kin appears to indicate that this cheap coloring-matter
was substituted in trade for the precious saffron.

While the Chinese writers on botany and pharmacology have over-
looked yii-kin as the name of a tree, they have clearly recognized that
the term principally serves for the designation of the saffron, the product
of the Crocus sativus. This fact is well borne out by the descriptions
and names of the plant, as well as by other evidence.

The account given of Central India in the Annals of the Liang
Dynasty^ expressly states that yii-kin is produced solely in Kashmir
(Ea-pin), that its flower is perfectly yellow and fine, resembling the
flower fu-yun {Hibiscus mutahilis) . Kashmir was always the classical
land famed for the cultivation of saffron, which was (and is) thence
exported to India, Tibet, Mongolia, and China. In Kashmir, U^diyana,

1 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 272.

2 Leclerc, Trait6 des simples, Vol. Ill, p. 167.

* Ihid.f p. 409.

* Arabic wars has also been identified with Flemingia congesta (Watt, Diction-
ary, Vol. Ill, p. 400) and Mallotus philippinensis (ibid., Vol. V, p. 114). The whole
subject is much confused, particularly by Fluckiger and Hanbury (Pharma-
cographia, p. 573; cf. also G. Jacob, Beduinenleben, p. 15, and Arab. Geographen,
p. 166), but this is not the place to discuss it. The Chinese description of the yii-kin
tree does not correspond to any of these plants.

^ Lian Su, Ch. 54, p. 7 b. This work was compiled by Yao Se-lien in the first
half of the seventh century from documents of the Liang dynasty, which ruled from

A.D. 502 to 556.

Saffron and Turmeric 317

and Jaguda (Zabulistan) it was observed by the famous pilgrim Hiian
Tsafi in the seventh century.^ The Buddhist traveller Yi Tsifi (671-695)
attributes it to northern India.^

The earliest description of the plant is preserved in the Nan cou i
wu ci, written by Wan Cen in the third century a.d.,' who says, ''The
habitat of yil-kin is in the country Ki-pin (Kashmir), where it is culti-
vated by men, first of all, for the purpose of being offered to the Buddha.
After a few days the flower fades away, and then it is utilized on
account of its color, which is uniformly yellow. It resembles the fu-yun
(Hibiscus) and a young lotus {Nelumbium speciosum), and can render
wine aromatic." This characteristic is fairly correct, and unequivocally
applies to the Crocus, which indeed has the appearance of a liliaceous
plant, and therefore belongs to the family Irideae and to the order
Liliiflorae. The observation in regard to the short duration of the
flowers is to the point."*

In A.D. 647 the country Kia-p'i flW ^Jt in India offered to the Court
yu-kin Man, which is described on this occasion as follows: "Its leaves
are like those of the mai-men-tun ^ PI ^ (Ophiopogon spicatus). It
blooms in the ninth month. In appearance it is similar to fu-yun
(Hibiscus mutabilis). It is purple-blue ^ @ in color. Its odor may be
perceived at a distance of several tens of paces. It flowers, but
does not bear fruit. In order to propagate it, the root must be
taken."'

^S. JuLiEN, M^moires sur les contr6es occidentales, Vol. I, pp. 40, 131; Vol.
II, p. 187 (story of the Saffron-Stapa, ibid., Vol. I, p. 474; or S. Beal, Buddhist
Records, Vol. II, p. 125); W. W. Rockhill, Life of the Buddha, p. 169; S. L^vi,
Journal asiatique, 1915, I, pp. 83-85.

2 Takakusu's translation, p. 128; he adds erroneously, "species of Curcuma,**

' Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 14, p. 22.

* Compare Pliny's (xxi, 17, §34) description of Crocus: "Floret vergiliarum
occasu paucis diebus folioque florem expellit. Viret bruma et colligitur; siccatur
umbra, melius etiam hiberna."

^ T'an hui yao, Ch. 200, pp. 14 a-b. This text was adopted by the Pen ts*ao
kan mu (Ch. 14, p. 22), which quotes it from the T'ang Annals. Li Si-cen comments
that this description agrees with that of the Nan cou i wu ci, except in the colors of
the flower, which may be explained by assuming that there are several varieties; in
this he is quite correct. The flower, indeed, occurs in a great variation of colors, —
purple, yellow, white, and others. W. Woodville (Medical Botany, Vol. IV, p. 763)
gives the following description of Crocus: "The root is bulbous, perennial: the flower
appears after the leaves, rising very little above the ground upon a slender succulent
tube: the leaves rise higher than the flower, are linear, simple, radical, of a rich
green colour, with a white line running in the centre, and all at the base inclosed
along with the tube of the flower in a membranous sheath. The flower is large, of a
bluish purple, or lilac colour: the corolla consists of six petals, which are nearly
elliptical, equal, and turned inwards at the edges. The filaments are three, short,
tapering, and support long erect yellow antherae. The germen is roundish, from

3i8 Sino-Iranica

The last clause means that the plant i^ propagated from
bulbs. There is a much earlier tribute-gift of saffron on record. In
A.D. 519, King Jayavarman of Fu-nan (Camboja) offered saffron with
storax and other aromatics to the Chinese Court.^ Accordingly we have
to assume that in the sixth century saffron was traded from India to
Camboja. In fact we know from the T'ang Annals that India, in her
trade with Camboja and the anterior Orient, exported to these coun-
tries diamonds, sandal-wood, and saffron.^ The T'ang Annals, further,
mention saffron as a product of India, Kashmir, Uddiyana, Jaguda,
and Baltistan.^ In a.d. 719 the king of Nan (Bukhara) presented
thirty pounds of saffron to the Chinese Emperor.^

Li Si-cen has added to his notice of yil-kin Man a Sanskrit name
^ ffi ^ c'a-ku-mo, *dza-gu-ma, which he reveals from the Suvar-
^aprabhasa-sutra.^ This term is likewise given, with the translation
yil-kifiy in the Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary Fan yi min yi tsi.^ This name
has been discussed by me and identified with Sanskrit jaguda through
the meditim of a vernacular form *jaguma, the ending -ma corresponding
to that of Tibetan ^a-ka-maJ

A singular position is taken by C'en Ts'an-k'i, who reports, " Yil-kin
aromatic grows in the country Ta Ts'in. It flowers in the second or
third month, and has the appearance of the hun-lan (saffiower. Car-
thamus tinctorius) ,^ In the fourth or fifth month the flowers are gathered
and make an aromatic." This, of course, cannot refer to the saffron
which blooms in September or October. C'en Ts'afi-k'i has created
confusion, and has led astray Li Si-&n, who wrongly enumerates hun-
lan hwa among the synonymes of yU-kin hian.

The inhabitants of Ku-lin (Quilon) 1^ & rubbed their bodies with

which issues a slender style, terminated by three long convoluted stigmata, of a
deep yellow colour. The capsule is roundish, three-lobed, three-celled, three-valved,
and contains several round seeds. It flowers in September and October."

^ According to the Lian H; cf . Pelliot, Bull, de VEcolefrangaise, Vol. Ill, p. 270.

2 T'an Su, Ch. 221 A, p. 10 b.

3 Kiu Tan Su, Ch. 221 B, p. 6; 198, pp. 8 b, 9; T'an H, Ch. 221 a, p. 10 b; cf.
Chavannes (Documents sur les Tou-kiue occidentaux, pp. 128, 150, 160, 166),
whose identification with Curcuma longa is not correct.

* Chavannes, ihid., p. 203.

5 The passage in which Li §i-5en cites this term demonstrates clearly that he
discriminated well between Crocus and Curcuma; for he adds that "6'a-ku-mo is
the aromatic of the yii-kin flower (Crocus), but that, while it is identical in name
with the yii-kin root (Curcuma) utilized at the present time, the two plants are
different."

« Ch. 8, p. ID b.

7 Toung Pao, 191 6, p. 458.

8 See below, p. 324.

Saffron and Turmeric 319

yii-ktn after every bath, with the intention of making it resemble the
**gold body" of a Buddha.^ Certainly they did not smear their bodies
with *' turmeric,"^ which is used only as a dye-sttiif, but with saffron.
Annamese mothers rub the bodies of their infants with saffron-powder
as a tonic to their skin/

The Ain-i Akbari, written 1597 in Persian by Abul Fazl 'Allami
(1551-1602), gives detailed information on the saffron cultivation in
Kashmir/ from which the following extract may be quoted: *'In the
village of Pampur, one of the dependencies of Vihi (in Kashmir), there
are fields of saffron to the extent of ten or twelve thousand btghas, sl
sight that would enchant the most fastidious. At the close of the
month of March and during all April, which is the season of cultivation,
the land is plowed up and rendered soft, and each portion is prepared
with the spade for planting, and the saffron bulbs are hard in the ground.
In a month's time they sprout, and at the close of September, it is at
its full growth, shooting up somewhat over a span. The stalk is white,
and when it has sprouted to the height of a finger, one bud after another
begins to flower till there are eight flowers. It has six lilac-tinted petals.
Usually among six filaments, three are yellow and three ruddy. The
last three yield the saffron. [There are three stamens and three stigmas
in each flower, the latter yielding the saffron.] When the flowers are
past, leaves appear upon the stalk. Once planted it will flower for six
years in succession. The first year, the yield is small : in the second as
thirty to ten. In the third year it reaches its highest point, and the
bulbs are dug up. If left in the same soil, they gradually deteriorate,
but if taken up, they may be profitably transplanted."

The Emperor Jahangir was deeply impressed by the saffron planta-
tions of Kashmir, and left the following notes in his Memoirs:^ —

"As the saffron was in blossom, his Majesty left the city to go to
Pampur, which is the only place in Kashmir where it flourishes. Every
parterre, every field, was, as far as the eye could reach, covered with
flowers. The stem inclines toward the ground. The flower has five
petals of a violet color, and three stigmas producing saffron are found
within it, and that is the purest saffron. In an ordinary year, 400

* Lin wai tai ta, Ch. 2, p. 13.
2 HiRTH, Chau Ju-kua, p. 91.

' Perrot and Hurrier, Mat. m^d. et pharmacop^e sino-annamites, p. 94.
Cf. also Marco Polo's observation (Yule's edition, Vol. II, p. 286) that the faces
of stuffed monkeys on Java are daubed with saffron, in order to give them a manlike
appearance.

* Translation of H. Blochmann, Vol. I, p. 84; Vol. II, p. 357.

^ H. M. Elliot, History of India as told by Its Own Historians, Vol. VI, p. 375

320 Sino-Iranica

i

maunds, or 3200 Khurasani maunds, are produced. Half belongs to

the Government, half to the cidtivators, and a sir sells for ten rupees;

but the price sometimes varies a little. It is the estabhshed custom to

weigh the flowers, and give them to the manufacturers, who take them

home and extract the saffron from them, and upon giving the extract,

which amoimts to about one-fourth weight of the flower, to the public

officers, they receive in return an equal weight of salt, in lieu of money

wages."

The ancient Chinese attribute saffron not only to Kashmir, but also
to Sasanian Persia. The Cou ^u^ enimierates yii-kin among the products
of Po-se (Persia) ; so does the Sui ^u? In fact. Crocus occurs in Persia
spontaneously, and its ciiltivation must date from an early period.
Aeschylus alludes to the saffron-yellow footgear of King Darius.^
Saffron is mentioned in Pahlavi literature (above, p. 193). The plant is
well attested for Derbend, Ispahan, and Transoxania in the tenth
century by Istaxri and Edrisi.^ Yaqut mentions saffron as the principal
production of Rud-Derawer in the province Jebal, the ancient Media,
whence it was largely exported.^ Abu Mansur describes it under the
Arabic name zafardn.^ The Armenian consiuners esteem most highly
the saffron of Khorasan, which, however, is marketed in such small
quantities that the Persians themselves must fill the demand with
exportations from the Caucasus.^ According to Schlimmer,^ part of
the Persian saffron comes from Baku in Russia, another part is culti-
vated in Persia in the district of Kain, but in quantity insufficient to
fill the demand. In two places, — ^Rudzabar (identical with the above
Rud-Derawer), a mountainous tract near Hamadan, and Mount
Derbend, where saffron cultivation had been indicated by previous
writers, — he was unable to find a trace of it.

It is most probable that it was from Persia that the saffron-plant
was propagated to Kashmir. A reminiscence of this event is preserved
in the Sanskrit term vdhltka, a synon3mie of "saffron," which means
"originating from the Pahlava."^ The Buddhists have a legend to the

1 Ch. 50, p. 6.

2 Ch. 83, p. 7 b; also Wei Su, Ch. 102, p. 5 b.
^ Hehn, Kulturpflanzen, p. 264.

* A. Jaubert, Geographic, pp. 168, 192.

^ B. DE Meynard, Dictionnaire g^ogr. de la Perse, p. 267. See also G. Fer-
RAND, Textes relatifs k rExtrSme-Orient, Vol. II, pp. 618, 622.

" AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 76.

^E. Seidel, Mechithar, p. 151. Chardin (Voyages en Perse, Vol. II, p. 14)
even says that the saffron of Persia is the best of the world.

8 Terminologie, p. 165.

^ Cf. T'oung Pao, 1916, p. 459.

Saffron and Turmeric 321

effect that Madhyantika, the first apostle of Buddha's word in Kashmir,
planted the saffron there.^ If nothing else, this shows at least that the
plant was regarded as an introduction. The share of the Persians in the
distribution of the product is vividly demonstrated by the Tibetan
word for "saffron," ^wr-^ww, gwr-^wm,gwr-gwm, which is directly traceable
to Persian kurkum or karkam, but not to Sanskrit kunkuma.^ The
Tibetans carried the word to Mongolia, and it is still heard among the
Kalmuk on the Wolga. By some, the Persian word (Pahlavi kulkem)
is traced to Semitic, Assyrian karkuma^ Hebrew karkom, Arabic kurkum;
while others regard the Semitic origin as doubtfiil.^ It is beyond the
scope of this notice to deal with the history of saffron in the west and
Europe, on which so much has been written."*

From the preceding investigation it follows that the word yii-kin
W ^, owing to its multiplicity of meaning, offers some difficulty to
the translator of Chinese texts. The general rule may be laid down that
yU-kin, whenever it hints at a plant or product of China, denotes a
species of Curcuma, but that, when used with reference to India, Indo-
China, and Iran, the greater probability is in favor of Crocus. The term
yii-kin Man ("yii-kin aromatic"), with reference to foreign countries,
almost invariably appears to refer to the latter plant, which indeed
served as an aromatic; while the same term, as will be seen below, with
reference to China, again denotes Curcuma. The question may now be
raised. What is the origin of the word yii-kin? And what was its original
meaning? In 1886 Hirth^ identified yU-kin with Persian karkam
("saffron"), and restated this opinion in 1911,^ by falling back on an
ancient pronunciation *hat-kam. Phonetically this is not very con-
vincing, as the Chinese would h9,rdly have employed an initial h for

1 ScHiEFNER, Taranatha, p. 13; cf. also J. Przyluski, Journal asiatique, 19 14

n, p. 537.

2 T'oung Pao, 191 6, p. 474. Cf. also Sogdian kurkumba and Tokharian kurkama.

3 Horn, Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, Vol. I, pt. 2, p. 6. Besides kurkum,
there are Persian kakbdn and kaji^a, which denote "saffron in the flower." Old
Armenian k'rk'um is regarded as a loan from Syriac kurkemd (Hubschmann, Armen.
Gram., p. 320).

* In regard to saffron among the Arabs, see Leclerc, Trait6 des simples,
Vol. II, pp. 208-210. In general cf. J. Beckmann, Beytrage zur Geschichte der
Erfindungen, 1784, Vol. II, pp. 79-91 (also in English translation); Fluckiger and
Hanbury, Pharmacographia, pp. 663-669; A. de Candolle, Geographic botanique,
p. 857, and Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 166; Hehn, Kulturpflanzen (8th ed.),
pp. 264-270; Watt, Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 592; W. Heyd, Histoire du commerce du
levant. Vol. II, p. 668, etc.

•^ Journal China Branch Roy. As. Soc, Vol. XXI, p. 221.

" Chau Ju-kua, p. 91.

322 Sino-Iranica

the reproduction of a foreign k; but the character yu in transcriptions
usually answers to *ut, ud. The whole theory, however, is exposed to
much graver objections. The Chinese themselves do ^ot admit that
yii-kin represents a foreign word; nowhere do they say that yii-kin is
Persian, Sanskrit, or anything of the sort; on the contrary, they regard
it as an element of their own language. Moreover, if yii-kin should
originally designate the saffron, how, then, did it happen that this alleged
Persian word was transferred to the genus Curcumaj some species of
which are even indigenous to China, and which, at any rate, has been
acclimated there for a long period? The case, indeed, is not simple, and
requires closer study. Let us see what the Chinese have to say con-
cerning the word yii-kin. Pelliot^ has already clearly, though briefly,
outlined the general situation by calling attention to the fact that as
early as the beginning of the second centtny, yii-kin is mentioned in
the dictionary Swo wen as the name of an odoriferous plant, offered as
tribute by the people of Yii, the present Yu-lin in Kwafi-si Province;
hence he inferred that the sense of the word should be "gold of Yii,''
in allusion to the yellow color of the product. We read in the Swi kin
H ^M. W as follows: "The district Kwei-lin ft » ffl^ of the Ts'in
dynasty had its name changed into the Yu-lin district ^ # ^ in the
sixth year of the period Yiian-tifi (iii B.C.) of the Emperor Wu of the
Han dynasty. Wan Mafi made it into the Yu-p'ifi district M ^. Yin
Sao M W [second century a.d.], in his work Ti li fun su ki MMM>
f&ifi, says, 'The Cou li speaks of the yii ^en^K ('officials in charge of
the plant :vw')> who have charge of the jars serving for libations; when-
ever libations are necessary for sacrifices or for the reception of guests,
they attend to the blending of the plant yii with the odoriferous wine
^'aw, pour it into the sacred vases, and arrange them in their place. '^
Yii is a fragrant plant. Flowers of manifold plants are boiled and mixed
with wine fermented by means of black millet as an offering to the
spirits: this is regarded by some as what is now called yii-kin hian
IP ^ # (Curcuma) ; while others contend that it was brought as
tribute by the people of Yii, thus connecting the name of the plant
with that of the clan and district of Yu.'* The latter is the explanation

1 Bull, de VEcolefrangaise, Vol. Ill, p. 270.

2 This work is a commentary to the Swi kin, a canonical book on water-courses,
supposed to have been written by San K'in under the Later Han dynasty, but it
was elaborated rather in the third century. The commentary is due to Li Tao-yuan
of the Hou Wei period, who died in a.d. 527 (his biography is in Wei su, Ch. 89;
Pet si, Ch. 27). Regarding the various editions of the work, see Pelliot, Bull, de
VEcole frangaise, Vol. VI, p. 364, note 4.

» Cf. BiOT, Le Tcheou-li, Vol. I, p. 465.

Saffron and Turmeric 323

favored by the Swo wen} Both explanations are reasonable, but only-
one of the two can be correct.^ My own opinion is this: yu is an ancient
Chinese name for an indigenous Chinese aromatic plant; whether
Curcuma or another genus, can no longer be decided with certainty.'
The term yii-kin means literally ^'gold of the yu plant," "gold" re-
ferring to the yellow rhizome,^ yii to the total plant-character; the con-
crete significance, accordingly, is ":vw-rhizome" or ^'yii-root.^' I do not
believe, however, that yii-kin is derived from the district or clan of Yii;
for this is impossible to assume, since yii as the name of a plant existed
prior to the name of that district. This is clearly evidenced by the
text of the Swi kin cu: for it was only in iii B.C. that the name Yii-lin
("Grove of the Yii Plant") came into existence, being then substituted
for the earlier Kwei-lin ("Grove of Cinnamomum cassia' '). It is the
plant, consequently, which lent its name to the district, not the dis-
trict which named the plant. As in so many cases, the Chinese con-
found cause and effect. The reason why the name of this district was
altered into Yu-lin is now also obvious. It must have been renowned
under the Han for the wealth of its yii-kin plants, which was less con-
spicuous under the Ts'in, when the cassia predominated there. At
any rate, yii-kin is a perfectly authentic and legitimate constituent
of the Chinese language, and not a foreign word. It denotes an indig-
enous Curcuma; while under the T'ang, as we have seen, additional
species of this genus may have been introduced from abroad. The word
yii-kin then underwent a psychological treatment similar to yen-U:
as yen-U, "safflower," was transformed to any cosmetic or rouge, so yii-kin
"turmeric," was grafted on a'ny dyes producing similar tinges of yellow.
Thus it was applied to the saffron of Kashmir and Persia.

^ The early edition of this work did not contain the form yii-kin, but merely the
plain, ancient yii. Solely the Fan yi min yi tsi (Ch. 8, p. 10 b) attributes ( I believe,
erroneously) the term yii-kin to the Bwo wen.

2 Li Si-cen says that the district Yu-lin of the Han period comprises the territory
of the present cou j\\ of Sun ^^, Liu 1^, Yun | , and Pin ^ of Kwan-si and Kwei-
2ou, and that, according to the Ta Min i t'un ci, only the district of Lo-c'en ^ ^
in Liu-cou fu (Kwan-si) produces yii-kin hian, which is that here spoken of (that is,
Crocus), while in fact Curcuma must be understood.

' There is also the opinion that the ancient yii must be a plant similar "to Ian
SB, an orchidaceous plant (see the PH ya of Lu Tien and the T'un £i of Cen Tsiao).

* Pallegoix (Description du royaume Thai ou Siam, Vol. I, p. 126) says, "Le
curcuma est une racine bulbeuse et charnue, d'un beau jaune d'or."

SAFFLOWER

17. A. DE Candolle,! while maintaining that the ctdtivation of
safflower^ (Carthamus tinctorius) is of ancient date both in Egypt and
India, asserts on Bretschneider's authority that the Chinese received it
only in the second century B.C., when Can K'ien brought it back from
Bactriana. The same myth is repeated by Stuart.^ The biography
of the general and the Han Annals contain nothing to this effect. Only
the Po wu ci enumerates hwan Ian S M in its series of Cafi-K'ien plants,
adding that it can be used as a cosmetic {yen-U S^ ~^)} The Ku kin
cu, while admitting the introduction of the plant from the West, makes
no reference to the General. The TsH min yao ^u discusses the method
of cultivating the flower, but is silent as to its introduction. The fact
of this introduction cannot be doubted, but it is hardly older than the
third or fourth century a.d. under the Tsin dynasty. The introduction
of safflower drew the attention of the Chinese to an indigenous wild
plant (Basella rubra) which yielded a similar dye and cosmetic, and
both plants and their products were combined or confounded under
the common name yen-U.

Basella rubra, a climbing plant of the family Basellaceae, is largely
cultivated in China (as well as in India) on account of its berries, which
contain a red juice used as a rouge by women and as a purple dye for
making seal-impressions. This dye was the prerogative of the highest

1 Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 164.

2 Regarding the history of this word, see Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 779.

' Chinese Materia Medica, p. 94. It is likewise an erroneous statement of Stuart
that Tibet was regarded by the Chinese as the natural habitat of this plant. This is
due to a confusion with the term Si-ts"an hurt hwa ("red flower of Tibet "), which refers
to the saffron, and is so called because in modern times safiEron is imported into
China from Kashmir by way of Tibet (see p. 312). Neither Carthamus nor safifron is
grown in the latter country.

* Some editions of the Po wu ci add, "At present it has also been planted in
the land of Wei ^ (China)," which might convey the impression that it had only
been introduced during the third century a.d., the lifetime of Can Hwa, author of
that work. In the commentary to the Pet hu lu (Ch. 3, p. 12), the Po wu U is quoted
as saying, "The safflower {hun hwa ^ !^, 'red flower') has its habitat in Persia,
Su-le (Kashgar), and Ho-lu }Sf jj§^. Now that of Lian-han ^ 9| is of prime quaHty,
a tribute of twenty thousand catties being annually sent to the Bureau of Weaving
and Dyeing." The term hun hwa in the written language does not refer to "saffron,"
but to "safflower." Java produced the latter (Javanese kasumba), not saffron, as
translated by Hirth (Chau Ju-kua, p. 78). The Can-K'ien story is repeated in the
Hwa kin of 1688 (Ch. 5, p. 24 b).

324

Safflower 325

boards of the capital, the prefects of Sun-t'ien and Mukden, and all
provincial governors.^ Under the name lo k'wei ^ # it is mentioned
by T'ao Hun-kin (a.d. 451-536), who refers to its cultivation, to the
emplo3mient of the leaves as a condiment, and to the use of the berries
as a cosmetic.^ This probably came into use after the introduction of
safflower. The Ku kin In^ written by Ts'ui Pao in the middle of the
fourth century, states, "The leaves of yen-U ^ ^ resemble those of
the thistle (H SS) and the p'u-kun W S" (Taraxacum officinalis). Its
habitat is in the Western Countries ® ^, where the natives avail them-
selves of the plant for dyeing, and designate it yen-U iS ^, while the
Chinese call it hun-lan (fil M 'red indigo,' Carthamus tinctorius);
and the powder obtained from it, and used for painting the face, is
styled yen-ci fen #. [At present, because people value a deep-red
color ^, they speak of the yen-H flower which dyes; the yen-ci flower,
however, is not the dye-plant yen-U, but has its own name, hun-lan
(Carthamus tinctorius). Of old, the color intermediate between ^'i #
and white is termed hun HSl, and this is what is now styled hun-lan.]'^ ^
It would follow from this text that Basella was at an early date con-
founded with Carthamus y but that originally the term yen-U related to
Carthamus only.

The Pei hu lu ^ contains the following information in regard to the
yen-U flower: "There is a wild flower growing abundantly in the
rugged mountains of Twan-6ou JS W.^ Its leaves resemble those of the
Ian ^ (Indigofera) ; its flowers, those of the liao M (Polygonum, prob-
ably P. tinctorium). The blossoms It, when pulled out, are from two
to three inches long, and yield a green-white pigment. It blooms in
the first month. The natives gather the bursting seeds while still in
their shells, in order to sell them. They are utilized in the preparation
of a cosmetic ^ ^ ^, and particularly also for dyeing pongee and
other silks. Its red is not inferior to that of the Ian flower. Si Ts'o-S'i

^P. HoANG, M61anges sur radministration, pp. 80-81.

2 Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. II, No. 148; pt. Ill, No. 258.

^ Ch. c, p. 5 (ed. of Han Wei ts'un ^m). In regard to the historicity of this work,
the critical remarks of the Imperial Catalogue (cf . Wylie, Notes on Chinese Litera-
ture, p. 159) must be kept in mind. Cf. also above, p. 242.

^ The passage enclosed in brackets, though now incorporated in the text of the
Ku kin cUy is without any doubt later commentatorial wisdom. This is formally
corroborated by the Pei hu lu (Ch. 3, p. 12), which omits all this in quoting the
relevant text of the Ku kin lu.

^ Ch. 3, p. II (see above, p. 268).

« Name of the prefecture of Cao-k'ifi j^ ^ in Kwan-tun Province. This
wild flower is Basella rubra.

326 Sino-Iranica

^ S "®, in his Yu sie H cun iw ^ Ht f# ^f* #, says,i 'These are huh-
Ian (Carthamus) :^ did you know these previously, Sir, or not? The
people of the north gather these flowers, and dye materials a red-yellow
by rubbing their surface with it. The fresh blossoms are made into a
cosmetic.^ Women, when dressing, use this pigment, it being the fashion
to apply only a piece the size of a small bean. When distributed evenly,
the paint is pleasing, as long as it is fresh. In my youth I observed this
cosmetic again and again; and to-day I have for the first time beheld
the hun-lan flower. Afterwards I shall raise its seeds for your benefit,
Sir. The Hiufi-nu styled a wife yen-ci 19 K,^ a word just as pleasing as
yen-(^i M S ('cosmetic ') . The characters 19 and M have the same sound
yen; the character ft has the sound ^ ci. I expect you knew this
before. Sir, or you may read it up in the Han Annals.' Cefi K'ien SB S ^
says that a cosmetic may be prepared from pomegranate flowers." ®

The curious word yen-ci has stirred the imagination of Chinese
scholars. It is not only correlated with the Hiufi-nu word yen-ci, as
was first proposed by Si Ts'o-S'i, but is also connected with § Yen-6i
mountain. Lo Yiian, in his Er ya i, remarks that the Hiufi-nu had a
Yen-6i mountain, and goes on to cite a song from the Si ho kiu H H W
K ♦j^ which says, "If we lose our K*i-lien mountain S^ ^ ill ,^ we cause
our herds to diminish in number; if we lose our Yen-ci mountain, we
cause our women to go without paint." ^ The Pei pien pei tui At jS
lira S, a work of the Sung period, states, "The yen-U ^ ^^ of the Yen-6i
mountain S 5 tU is the yen-U # Sa of the present time. This moun-

1 This author is stated to have lived under the Tsin dynasty (a.d. 265-419)
in the T'u iu tsi t'en, XX, Ch. 158, where this passage is quoted; but his book is
there entitled Yii yen wan su ^ ^^^. The same passage is inserted in the
Er ya i of Lo Yiian ^ M of the twelfth century, where the title is identical with
that given above.

* In the text of the T'u su: "At the foot of the mountain there are hun Ian"
' Carthamus was already employed for the same purposes in ancient Egypt.

* This is the Hiun-nu word for a royal consort, handed down in the Han Annals
{TsHen Han Su, Ch. 94 A, p. 5). See my Language of the Yiie-chi, p. 10.

5 Author of the lost Hu pen ts'ao (above, p. 268).

^ Then follow a valueless anecdote anent a princess of the T'ang dynasty pre-
paring a cosmetic, and the passage of the Ku kin cu given above.

' Mentioned in the T'ang literature, but seems to date from an earlier period
(Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 190).

8 A mountain-range south-west of Kan 6ou in Kan-su (Si ki, Ch. 123, p. 4).
The word kH-lien belongs to the language of the Hiun-nu and means "heaven."
In my opinion, it is related to Manchu kulun, which has the same meaning. The
interpretations given by Watters (Essays, p. 362) and Shiratori (Sprache der
Hiung-nu, p. 8) are not correct.

' The same text is quoted in the commentary to the Pei hu lu (Ch. 3, p. 11 b).

Safflower 327

tain produces hun-lan (Carthamus) which yields yen-ct (^cosmetic')."
All this, of course, is pure fantasy inspired by the homophony of the two
words yen-ci (''cosmetic") and Hiufi-nu yen-ct ("royal consort").
Another et5miology propounded by Fu Hou t^ ^ in his Cun hwa ku
kin ^u 't'^'fi'^ii (tenth century) is no more fortunate: he explains
that yen-^i is produced in the country Yen #, and is hence styled B 3a
yen-ci (''sap of Yen"). Yen was one of the small feudal states at the
time of the Cou dynasty. This is likewise a philological afterthought,
for there is no ancient historical record to the effect that the state of
Yen should have produced (exclusively or pre-eminently) Basella or
Carthamus. It is perfectly certain that yen-ci is not Chinese, but the
transcription of a foreign word: this appears clearly from the ancient
form # 5, which yields no meaning whatever; 5, as is well known,
being a favorite character in the rendering of foreign words. This is
further corroborated by the vacillating modes of writing the word,
to which Li Si-6en adds J^ M/ while he rejects as erroneous K tt
and flS ^, and justly so. Unfortunately we are not informed as to the
country or language from which the word was adopted: the Ku kin
(^u avails itself only of the vague term Si fan ("Western Countries"),
where Carthamus was called yen-ci; but in no language known to me is
there any such name for the designation of this plant or its product.
The Sanskrit name for safflower is kusumbha; and if the plant had come
from India, Chinese writers would certainly not have failed to express
this clearly. The supposition therefore remains that it was introduced
from some Iranian region, and that yen-B represents a word from an
old Iranian dialect now extinct, or an Iranian word somehow still
unknown. The New-Persian name for the plant is gdwdUla; in Arabic
it is qurtum}

Li §i-6en distinguishes four kinds of yen-U: (i) From Carthamus
tinctorius, the juice of the flowers of which is made into a rouge (the
information is chiefly drawn from the Ku kin ^u, as cited above).'
(2) From Basella rubra, as described in the Pei hu lu. (3) From the
^an-liu Ui ^§ flower [unidentified, perhaps a wild pomegranate: above,
p. 281], described in the Hu pen ts'ao. (4) From the tree producing
gum lac (tse-kun W ^^\^),^ this product being styled 49 # BS huyen-U
(''foreign cosmetic") and described in the Nan hai yao p'uM'M^W
of Li Siin ^ ^^/ "At present," Li Si-cen continues, "the southerners

* Formed with the classifier 155, "red."
2 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 105.

' See below, p. 476.

* He lived in the second half of the eighth century.

328 Sino-Iranica

make abundant use of tse-kun cosmetic, which is commonly called
t^e-kun. In general, all these substances may be used as remedies in
blood diseases.^ Also the juice from the seeds of lo k'wei ^ ^ {Basella
rubra) may be taken, and, mixed evenly with powder, may be applied
to the face. Also this is styled hu yen-ci.^' Now it becomes clear why
Basella rubra, a plant indigenous to China, is termed hu yen-U in the
T^un li of Cefi Tsiao and by Ma Ci of the tenth century: this name
originally referred to the cosmetic furnished by Butea Jrondosa or other
trees on which the lac-insect lives, ^ — trees growing in Indo-China, the
Archipelago, and India. This product, accordingly, was foreign, and
hence styled "foreign cosmetic" or "cosmetic of the barbarians"
Qiu yen-U). Since Basella was used in the same manner, that name
was ultimately transferred also to the cosmetic furnished by this
indigenous plant.

What is not stated by Li Si-6en is that yen-U is also used with
reference to Mirabilis jalapa, because from the flowers of this plant is
derived a red coloring-matter often substituted for carthamine.^ It
is obvious that the term yen-U has no botanical value, and for many
centuries has simply had the meaning "cosmetic."

Fan C'en-ta (1126-93), in his Kwei hai yU hen ^^* mentions o, yen-U
ffii 8h tree, strong and fine, with a color like yen-U (that is, red) , good
for making arrowheads, and growing in Yuri cou, also in the caves of
this department, and in the districts of Kwei-lin, in Kwafi-si Province.
A. Henry ^ gives for Yi-6'an in Se-6 Van a plant-name yen-U ma i® Ha
M ("cosmetic hemp"), identified with Patrinia villosa,

1 On account of the red color of the berries.

2 See p. 478.

' Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 264; Matsumura, No. 2040; Perrot and
HuRRiER, Mati^re m^dicale et pharmacop6e sino-annamites, p. 116, where lo-k'wei
is erroneously given as Chinese name of the plant.

* Ed. of Ci pu tsu (5ai ts'un Su, p. 28 b.

5 Chinese Names of Plants, p. 239 (Journal China Branch Roy. As. Soc,
Vol. XXII, 1887).

JASMINE

1 8. The Nan fan ts*ao mu cwan "^ ^^S' ^ /fc tK, the oldest Chinese
work devoted to the botany of southern China, attributed to Ki Han
^ -^j a minister of the Emperor Hwei M (a.d. 290-309), contains
the following notice:^ —

"The ye-si-min ^ ^ S flower and the mo-li 5^ M flower {Jas-
minum officinale, family Oleaceae) were brought over from western
countries by Hu people SB A, and have been planted in Kwan-tun
(Nan hai S W). The southerners are fond of their fragrant odor, and
therefore cultivate them . . . The mo-li flower resembles the white
variety of tsHan-mi ^ ^ {Cnidium monnieri), and its odor exceeds that
of the ye-si-minJ^

In another passage of the same work^ it is stated that the U-kia
}b ¥ flower {Lawsonia alha),^ ye-si-min, and mo-li were introduced by
Hu people from the cotmtry Ta TsHn; that is, the Hellenistic Orient.

The plant ye-si-min has been identified with Jasminum officinale;
the plant mo-li, with Jasminum samhac. Both species are now cultivated
in China on account of the fragrancy of the flowers and the oil that
they yield/

The passage of the Nan fan ts^ao mu ^wan, first disclosed by Bret-
SCHNEIDER,^ has givcu rise to various misunderstandings. Hirth®
remarked, "This foreign name, which is now common to all Emropean
languages, is said to be derived from Arabic-Persian jdsamln [read
ydsmln], and the occurrence of the word in a Chinese record written
about A.D. 300 shows that it must have been in early use." Waiters^
regarded ydsmln as "one of the earliest Arabian words to be found in
Chinese literature." It seems never to have occurred to these authors

» Ch. A, p. 2 (ed. of Han Wei ts'wh, Su),

2 Ch. B, p. 3.

' See below, p. 334.

* The sambac is a favored flower of the Chinese. In Peking there are special
gardeners who cultivate it exclusively. Every day in summer, the flower-buds are
gathered before sunrise (without branches or leaves) and sold for the purpose of
perfuming tea and snuff, and to adorn the head-dress of Chinese ladies. Jasminum
officinale is not cultivated in Peking (Bretschneider, Chinese Recorder, Vol. Ill,
1871, p. 225).

5 Chinese Recorder, Vol. Ill, p. 225.
^ China and the Roman Orient, p. 270.
' Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 354.

329

330 Sino-Iranica

that at this early date we know nothing about an Arabic or Persian
language; and this rapprochement is wrong, even in view of the Chinese
work itself, which distinctly says that both ye-si-min and mo-li were
introduced from Ta Ts'in, the Hellenistic Orient. Pelliot^ observes
that the authenticity of the Chinese book has never been called into
doubt, but expresses surprise at the fact that jasmine figures there
under its Arabic name. But Arabic is surely excluded from the languages
of Ta Ts'in. Moreover, thanks to the researches of L. Aurousseau,^
we now know that the Nan fan ts^ao mu cwan is impaired by inter-
polations. The passage in question may therefore be a later addition,
and, at all events, cannot be enlisted to prove that prior to the year 300
there were people from western Asia in Canton.^ Still less is it credible
that, as asserted in the Chinese work, the Nan yUe kin ki^M^iS 12
ascribed to Lu Kia 1^ M, who lived in the third and second centiuies
B.C., should have alluded to the two species of Jasminum} In fact,
this author is made to say only that in the territory of Nan Yue the
five cereals have no taste and the flowers have no odor, and merely
that these flowers are particularly fragrant. Their names are not given,
and it is Ki Han who refers them to ye-si-min and mo-li. It is out of
the question that at the time of Lu Kia these two foreign plants should
have been introduced over the maritime route into southern China;
Lu Kia, if he has written this passage, may have as well had two other
flowers in mind.

The fact must not be overlooked, either, that the alleged introduction
from Ta Ts'in is not contained in the historical texts relative to that
country, nor is it confirmed by any other coeval or subsequent source.

The Pei hu lu ^ mentions the flower under the names ye-si-mi ^ ^ 5?
and white mo-li 6 ^ ^0 ffi as having been transplanted to China by
Persians, like the pH-H-^a or gold-coin flower.^ The Yu yan tsa tsu
has furnished a brief description of the plant, ^ stating that its habitat
is in Fu-lin and in Po-se (Persia). The Pen ts'ao kan mu, Kwan k'iin
fan p'u,^ and Hwa kin^ state that the habitat of jasmine (mo-li) was

1 Bull, de VEcolefrangaise, Vol. II, p. 146.

2 See above, p. 263.

» HiRTH, Chau Ju-kua, p. 6, note i.

* This point is discussed neither by Bretschneider nor by Hirth, who do not
at all mention this reference.

5 Ch. 3, p. 16 (see above, p. 268).

6 See below, p. 335.

7 Translated by Hirth, Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXX, 1910, p. 22.

8 Ch. 22, p. 8 b.

9 Ch. 4, p. 9.

Jasmine 331

originally in Persia, and that it was thence transplanted into Kwan-
tun. The first-named work adds that it is now (sixteenth century)
cultivated in Yun-nan and Kwafi-tun, but that it cannot stand cold,
and is unsuited to the climate of China. The Tan kHen tsun lu j^^
H 0 of Yafi Sen ^ til (1488-1559) is cited to the effect that "the name
nai ^ used in the north of China is identical with what is termed in the
Tsin Annals # # tsan nai hwa ® ('hair-pin') ^ ffi.^ As regards this
flower, it entered China a long time ago."

Accordingly we meet in Chinese records the following names for
jasmine :^ —

(i) ^ ^ S ye-si-miiij * ya-sit(si5)-min, = Pahlavi ydsmm.
New Persian ydsamln, ydsmln, ydsmun, Arabic yasmin^ or ^ S S
ye-si-mij *ya-sit-mit (in Yu yan tsa tsu)=Mid61e Persian *yasmir (?).^
Judging from this philological evidence, the statement of the Yu yan
tsa tsu, and Li Si-2en's opinion that the original habitat of the plant was
in Persia, it seems preferable to think that it was really introduced from
that country into China. The data of the Nan fan ts'ao mu ^wan are
open to grave suspicion; but he who is ready to accept them is com-
pelled to argue, that, on the one hand, the Persian term was extant in
western Asia at least in the third century a.d., and that, on the other
hand, the Indian word mallikd (see No. 2) had reached Ta Ts'in about
the same time. Either suggestion wotild be possible, but is not con-
firmed by any West-Asiatic sources.^ The evidence presented by the
Chinese work is isolated; and its authority is not weighty enough, the
relation of the modem text to the original issue of about a.d. 300 is
too obscure, to derive from it such a far-reaching conclusion. The
Persian- Arabic word has become the property of the entire world: all
European languages have adopted it, and the Arabs diffused it along
the east coast of Africa (Swahili yasmini, Madagasy dzasimini),

(2) "MM or y^^\ mo-li,^ *mwat(mwal)-li=ma//^ transcription of

^ This is the night-blooming jasmine (Nyctanthes arbor tristis), the musk-flower
of India (Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 287).

2 There are numerous varieties of Jasminum, — about 49 to 70 in India, about
39 in the Archipelago, and about 15 in China and Japan.

3 From the Persian loan-word in Armenian, yasmik, Hubschmann (Armen.
Gram., p. 198) justly infers a Pahlavi *yasmlk, beside ydsmln. Thus also *yasmlt
or *yasmlr may have existed in Pahlavi.

* It is noteworthy also that neither Dioscorides nor Galenus was acquainted
with jasmine.

* For the expression of the element li are used various other characters which
may be seen in the Kwan k'iin fan p'u (Ch. 22, p. 8 b); they are of no importance
for the phonetic side of the case.

332 Sino-Iranica

Sanskrit mallika {Jasminum sambac), Tibetan mal-li-ka, Siamese ma-U,^
Khmer maly or mlihy Cam molih. Malayan melati is derived from
Sanskrit mdlatl, which refers to Jasminum grandiflorum. Mongol
melirge is independent. Hirth's identification with Syriac molo^ must
be rejected.

(3) ft ^ san-mo, *san-mwat (Ftilden mwak) . This word is given
in the Nan fan ts'ao mu ^wan^ as a synonyme of Lawsonia alba, furnish-
ing the henna; but a confusion has here arisen, for the transcription
does not answer to any foreign name of Lawsonia^ but apparently cor-
responds to Arabic zanbaq (" jasmine ")> from which the botanical term
sambac is derived. It is out of the question that this word was known
to Ki Han: it is clearly an interpolation in his text.

(4) M^ man hwa {'^man flower") occurs in Buddhist literature,
and is apparently an abridgment of Sanskrit sumand (Jasminum grandi-
florum), which has been adopted into Persian as suman or saman.

Jasminum officinale occurs in Kashmir, Kabtil, Afghanistan, and
Persia; in the latter country also in the wild state.

Jasmine is discussed in Pahlavi literature (above, p. 192) and in the
Persian pharmacopoeia of Abu Mansur.^ C'an Te noticed the flower
in the region of Samarkand.^ It grows abundantly in the province of
Pars in Persia.^

Oil of jasmine is a famous product among Arabs and Persians, being
styled in Arabic duhn az-zanbaq. Its manufactiire is briefly described in
Ibn al-Baitar's compilation/ According to Istaxri, there is in the
province of Darabejird in Persia an oil of jasmine that is to be found
nowhere else. Sabur and Siraz were renowned for the same product.^

The oil of jasmine manufactured in the West is mentioned in the
Yu yan tsa tsu as a tonic. It was imported into China during the Sung
period, as we learn from the Wei lio W §/ written by Kao Se-sun
M mMf who lived toward the end of the twelfth and in the beginning
of the thirteenth century. Here it is stated, "The ye-si-min flower is
a flower of the western countries, snow-white in color. The Hu 58
(Iranians or foreigners) bring it to Kiao-6ou and Canton, and every one

^Pallegoix, Description du royaume Thai, Vol. I, p. 147.

^Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXX, 1910, p. 23.

' Ch. B, p. 3. See below, p. 334.

*AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 147.

5 Bretschneider, Mediaeval Researches, Vol. I, p. 131.

8 G. Le Strange, Description of the Province of Pars, p. 51.

7 L. Leclerc, Traits des simples. Vol. II, p. iii.

8 P. Schwarz, Iran, pp. 52, 94, 97, 165.

9 Ch. 9, p. 9.

Jasmine 333

is fond of its fragrance and plants this flower. According to the Kwan
cou Vu kin R #1 @S ('Gazetteer of Kwan-tun Province'), oil of
jasmine is imported on ships; for the Hu gather the flowers to press
from them oil, which is beneficial for leprosy M %} When this fatty-
substance is rubbed on the palm-of the hand, the odor penetrates through
the back of the hand.'*

1 According to the Arabs, it is useful as a preventive of paralysis and epilepsy
(Leclerc, /. c).

HENNA

19. It is well known that the leaves of Lawsonia alba or L. inermis,
grown all Over southern China, are extensively used by women and
children as a finger-nail dye, and are therefore styled ci kia hwa Jh ^
ffi ("finger-nail flower").^ This flower is mentioned in the Sanfu hwan
fu,^ of unknown authorship and date, as having been transplanted
from Nan Yiie (South China) into the Fu-li Palace at the time of the
Han Emperor Wu (140-87 e.g.). This is doubtless an anachronism or
a subsequent interpolation in the text of that book. The earliest datable
reference to this plant is again contained in the Nan fan ts'ao mu cwan by
Ki Han,^ by whom it is described as a tree from five to six feet in height,
with tender and weak branches and leaves like those of the young elm-
tree tfe (Ulmus campestris) , the flowers being snow-white like ye-si-min
and mo-li, but different in odor. As stated above (p. 329), this work goes
on to say that these three plants were introduced by Hu people from
Ta TsHn, and cultivated in Kwafi-tufi.'* The question arises again
whether this passage was embodied in the original edition. It is some-
what suspicious, chiefly for the reason that Ki Han adds the synonyme
san-mo, which, as we have seen, in fact relates to jasmine.

The Pei hu lu,^ written about a.d. 875 by Twan Kufi-lu, contains
the following text under the heading H kia hwa: "The finger-nail flower
is fine and white and of intense fragrance. The barbarians # A now
plant it. Its name has not yet been explained. There are, further, the
jasmine and the white mo-li. All these were transplanted to China by
the Persians (Po-se). This is likewise the case with the pH-H-^a Bit/'
lS^ (or 'gold coin') flower {Inula chinensis). Originally it was only
produced abroad, but in the second year of the period Ta-t'ufi i<, M
(a.d. 536 of the Liang dynasty) it came to China for the first time
(fe ^ 't*zh)." In the Yu yan tsa tsu,^ written about fifteen years
earlier, we read, "The gold-coin flower ^ ® ffi, it is said, was originally
produced abroad. In the second year of the period Ta-t'ufi of the

1 Cf. Notes and Queries on China and Japan, Vol. I, 1867, pp. 40-41. Stuart,
Chinese Materia Medica, p. 232.

2 Ch. 3, p. 9 b (see above, p. 263).

3 Ch. B, p. 3 (ed. of Han Wei ts'un Su).

* Cf. also HiRTH, China and the Roman Orient, p. 268.

5 Ch. 3, p. 16 (see above, p. 268).

6 Ch. 19, p. 10 b.

334

Henna 335

Liang (a.d. 536) it came to China. At the time of the Liang dynasty,
people of Kin c^ou M ^'H used to gamble in their houses at backgammon
with gold coins. When the supply of coins was exhausted, they resorted
to gold-coin flowers. Hence Yii Hufi ft §A said, 'He who obtains flowers
makes money.' " The same work likewise contains the following note:^
*^PH-H-SaWkP ^ is a synonyme for the gold-coin flower,^ which was
originally produced abroad, and came to China in the first year of
the period Ta-t'ufi of the Liang (a.d. 535)." The gold-coin flower vis-
ualized by Twan Kufi-lu and Twan C 'en-si assuredly cannot be Inula
chinensis, which is a common, wild plant in northern China, and which
is already mentioned in the Pie lu and by T'ao Hun-kin.^ It is patent
that this flower introduced under the Liang must have been a different
species. The only method of solving the problem would be to determine
the prototype of pH-H-^a, which is apparently the transcription of a
foreign word. It is not stated to which language it belongs; but, judging
from appearances, it is Sanskrit, and should be traceable to a form
like *visisa (or *vi5esa). Such a Sanskrit plant-name is not to be
found, however. Possibly the word is not Sanskrit.*

The Pet hu lu, accordingly, conceives the finger-nail flower as an
introduction due to the Persians, but does not allude to its product,
the henna. I fail to find any allusion to henna in other books of the
T'ang period. I am under the impression that the use of this cosmetic
did not come into existence in China before the Sung epoch, and that
the practice was then introduced (or possibly only re-introduced) by
Mohammedans, and was at first restricted to these. It is known that
also the leaves of Impatiens halsamina {fun sien M* \^) mixed with alimi
are now used as a finger-nail dye, being therefore styled Ian Ukia ts*ao
^ J0 ¥ ^ ("plant dyeing finger-nails"),^ — a term first appearing
in the Kiu hwan pen ts'ao, published early in the Ming period. The
earliest source that mentions the practice is the Kwei sin tsa H ^ ^

1 Ch. 19, p. 10 a.

2 The addition of 4* before kin in the edition of Pai hai surely rests on an error.

' Cf. also Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. Ill, p. 158.

* The new Chinese Botanical Dictionary (p. 913) identifies the gold-coin
flower with Inula hritannica. In Buddhist lexicography it is identified with
Sanskrit jdti {Jasminum grandifiorum; cf. Eitel, Handbook, p. 52). The same
word means also "kind, class"; so does likewise vige^a, Q,n6. the compound ja/*'-
vige^a denotes the specific characters of a plant (Hoernle, Bower Manuscript,
p. 273). It is therefore possible that this term was taken by the Buddhists in
the sense of "species of Jasminum,*' and that finally vige^a was retained as the
name of the flower.

^ Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 215; Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 17 b, p. 12 b.

336 Sino-Iranica

H M^ by Cou Mi )9 ^ (1230-1320), who makes the following ob-
servation: "As regards the red variety of the fun sien flower (Impatiens
balsamina), the leaves are used, being pounded in a mortar and mixed
with a little alimi.^ The finger-nails must first be thoroughly cleaned,
and then this paste is applied to them. During the night a piece of
silk is wrapped around them, and the dyeing takes effect. This process
is repeated three or five times. The color resembles that of the yen-H
(Basella ruhrum). Even by washing it does not come off, and keeps
for fully ten days. At present many Mohammedan women are fond
of using this cosmetic for dyeing their hands, and also apply it to cats
and dogs for their amusement." The Pen ts'ao kan mu quotes only the
last clause of this text. From what Cou Mi says, it does not appear
that the custom was of ancient date; on the contrary, it does not seem
to be older than the Sung period.

None of the early Pen ts'ao makes mention of Lawsonia. It first
appears in the Pen ts'ao kan mu. All that Li Si-6en is able to note
amounts to this: that there are two varieties, a yellow and a white one,
which bloom during the summer months; that its odor resembles that
of must PfC ^ {Osmanthus fragrans) ; and that it can be used for dyeing
the finger-nails, being superior in this respect to the fun sien flower
{Impatiens halsamina). Cefi Kan-5ufi SB M 't', an author of the Sung
period, mentions the plant under the name i Man hwa M # ffi ("flower
of peculiar fragrance").

It has generally been believed hitherto that the use of henna and
the introduction of Lawsonia into China are of ancient date; but, in
fact, the evidence is extremely weak. In my opinion, as far as the em-
ployment of henna is concerned, we have to go down as far as the
Sung period. It is noteworthy also that no foreign name of ancient date,
either for the plant or its product, is on record. F. P. Smith and Stuart
parade the term M ^ hai-na (Arabic hinna) without giving a reference.
The very form of this transcription shows that it is of recent date: in
fact, it occiurs as late as the sixteenth centtiry in the Pen ts'ao kan mu,^
then in the K'unfan p'u of 1630^ and the Nun cen is'iian iw J^ ^ ^ ♦,
published in 1619 by Sii Kwan-k'i # jfc ^A, the friend and supp6rter
of the Jesuits. It also occurs in the Hwa kin of 1688.^

It is well known what extensive use of henna (Arabic hinna, hence

' S ft -h, P- 17 (ed. of Pai hat).

2 In this manner the dye is also prepared at present.

3 Ch. 17 B, p. 12 b.

* Kwan k'iin fan p*u, Ch. 26, p. 4 b. The passages of the first edition are
especially indicated.
5 Ch. 5, p. 23 b.

Henna 337

Malayan inei) has been made in the west from ancient times. The
Egyptians stained their hands red with the leaves of the plant ^ (Egyp-
tian puqer, Coptic kuper or khuper, Hebrew kopherj Greek Kvwpos). All
Mohammedan peoples have adopted this custom; and they even dye
their hair with henna, also the manes, tails, and hoofs of horses.^ The
species of western Asia is identical with that of China, which is sponta-
neous also in Baluchistan and in southern Persia.^ Ancient Persia
played a prominent r61e as mediator in the propagation of the plant/
"They [the Persians] have also a custom of painting their hands, and,
above all, their nails, with a red color, inclining to yellowish or orange,
much near the color that our tanners nails are of. There are those
who also paint their feet. This is so necessary an ornament in their
married women, that this kind of paint is brought up, and distributed
among those that are invited to their wedding dinners. They there-
with paint also the bodies of such as dye maids, that when they appear
before the Angels Examinants, they may be found more neat and
handsome. This color is made of the herb, which they call Chinne,
which hath leaves like those of liquorice, or rather those of myrtle. It
grows in the Province of Erak, and it is dry'd, and beaten, small as
flower, and there is put thereto a little of the juyce of sour pomegranate,
or citron, or sometimes only fair water; and therewith they color their
hands. And if they would have them to be of a darker color, they rub
them afterwards with wall-nut leaves. This color will not be got off in
fifteen days, though they wash their hands several times a day."^ It

^ V. LoRET, Flore pharaonique, p. 80; Woenig, Pflanzen im alten Aegypten,
P- 349.

2 L. Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. I, p. 469; G. Jacob, Studien in arabischen
Geographen, p. 172; A. v. Kremer, Culturgeschichte des Orients unter den Chalifen,
Vol. II, p. 325.

' C. JoRET, Plantes dans Tantiquit^, Vol. II, p. 47.

^ ScHWEiNFURTH, Z. Ethfiologie, Vol. XXIII, 1 891, p. 658.

^ A. Olearius, Voyages of the Ambassadors to the Great Duke of Muscovy
and the King of Persia (1633-39), P- 234 (London, 1669). I add the very exact
description of the process given by Schlimmer (Terminologie, p. 343): "C'est avec
la poudre fine des feuilles siches de cette plante, largement cultiv^e dans le midi
de la Perse, que les indigenes se colorent les cheveux, la barbe et les ongles en rouge-
orange. La poudre, formic en p&te avec de I'eau plus ou moins chaude, est appliqu6e
sur les cheveux et les ongles et y reste pendant une ou deux heures, ayant soin de la
tenir constamment humide en emp^chant I'^vaporation de son eau; apr^s quoi la
partie est lav^e soigneusement; I'eflet de I'application du henna est de donner une
couleur rouge-orange aux cheveux et aux ongles. Pour transformer cette couleur
rougedtre en noir luisant, on enduit pendant deux ou trois autres heures les cheveux
ou la barbe d'une seconde pite form6e de feuilles pulv6ris6es finement d'une esp^ce
d'indigof ^re, cultiv^e sur une large ^chelle dans la province de Kerman. Ces mani-
pulations se pratiquent d'ordinaire au bain persan, oil la chaleur humide diminue

338 Sino-Iranica

seems more likely that the plant was transmitted to China from Persia
than from western Asia, but the accounts of the Chinese in this case are
too vague and deficient to enable us to reach a positive conclusion.

In India, Lawsonia alba is said to be wild on the Coromandel coast.
It is now cultivated throughout India. The use of henna as a cosmetic
is universal among Mohammedan women, and to a greater or lesser
extent among Hindu also; but that it dates "from very ancient times,"
as stated by Watt,^ seems doubtful to me. There is no ancient Sanskrit
term for the plant or the cosmetic (mendht or mendhikd is Neo-Sanskrit),
and it would be more probable that its use is due to Mohammedan
influence. Joret^ holds that the tree, although it is perhaps indigenous,
may have been planted only since the Mohammedan invasion.^

Francois Pyrard, who travelled from 1601 to 16 10, reports the
henna-furnishing plant on the Maldives, where it is styled innapa
{=hmd-fai, "henna-leaf"). "The leaves are bruised," he remarks,
"and rubbed on their hands and feet to make them red, which they
esteem a great beauty. This color does not yield to any washing, nor
until the nails grow, or a fresh skin comes over the flesh, and then (that
is, at the end of five or six months) they rub them again."*

singuli^rement la dur^e de reparation." While the Persians dye the whole of their
hands as far as the wrist, also the soles of their feet, the Turks more commonly
only tinge the nails; both use it for the hair.

^ Commercial Products of India, p. 707.

2 Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 273.

' Cf. also D. Hooper, Oil of Lawsonia alba, Journal As. Soc. Bengal, Vol. IV,
1908, p. 35-

4 Voyage of F. Pyrard, ed. by A. Gray, Vol. II, p. 361 (Hakluyt Society). The
first edition of this work appeared in Paris, 161 1.

THE BALSAM-POPLAR

20. Under the term hu fun (Japanese koto) 68 M C't'ung tree of
the Hu, Iranian Paulownia imperialis-/^ that is, Populus balsamifera),
the Annals of the Former Han Dynasty mention a wild-growing tree
as characteristic of the flora of the Lob-nor region; for it is said to be
plentiful in the kingdom of San-san & #.^ It is self-evident from the
nomenclature that this was a species new to the Chinese, who discovered
it in their advance through Turkistan in the second century B.C., but
that the genus was somewhat famiUar to them. The commentator
Mon K'ah states on this occasion that the hu fun tree resembles the
mulberry {Morus alha)^ but has numerous crooked branches. A more
elaborate annotation is furnished by Yen Si-ku (a.d. 579-645), who
comments, "The hu fun tree resembles the fun fli {Paulownia im-
perialis), but not the mulberry; hence the name hu fun is bestowed
upon it. This tree is punctured by insects, whereupon flows down a
juice, that is commonly termed hu fun lei S9 1^ M {^hu-fun tears'),
because it is said to resemble human tears.^ When this substance
penetrates earth or stone, it coagulates into a solid mass, somewhat on
the order of rock salt, called wu-fun kien ^Mtk ('natron of the wu-fun
tree,' Sterculia platanifolia) , It serves for soldering metal, and is now
used by all workmen."^

The T^un tien M :ft, written by Tu Yu tt fS between the years
766 and 801, says that "the country Lou ^^ among the Si Zufi M ^
produces an abundance of tamarisks ^W (Tamarix chinensis), hu fun,
and pai ts'ao & W- ('white herb or grass '),^ the latter being eaten by

1 TsHen Han Su, Ch. 96 A, p. 3 b. Cf. A. Wylie, Journal Anthropological In-
stitute, Vol. X, 1 88 1, p. 25.

2 Pliny (xii, 18, § 33) speaks of a thorny shrub in Ariana on the borders of India,
valuable for its tears, resembling the myrrh, but difficult of access on account of the
adhering thorns (Contermina Indis gens Ariana appellatur, cui spina lacrima pretiosa
murrae simili, difficili accessu propter aculeos adnexos). It is not known what plant
is to be understood by the Plinian text; but the analogy of the "tears" with the
above Chinese term is noteworthy.

' This text has been adopted by the T'ai pHn hwan yii ki (Ch. 181, p. 4) in
describing the products of Lou-Ian.

* Abbreviated for Lou-Ian ^ ^, the original name of the kingdom of §an-§an.

^This is repeated from the Han Annals, which add also rushes. The "white
grass" is explained by Yen §i-ku as "resembling the grass yu ^ (Setaria viridis) , but
finer and without awns; when dried, it assumes a white color, and serves as fodder
for cattle and horses."

339

340 Sino-Iranica

cattle and horses. The hu fun looks as if it were corroded by insects.
A resin flows down and comes out of this tree, which is popularly called
*hu-Vun tears'. It can be used for soldering gold (or metal) and silver.
In the colloqmal language, they say also lu # instead of lei, which is
faulty."!

The Tan pen ts'ao^ is credited with this statement: '^Hu fun lei
is an important remedy for the teeth. At present this word is the name of
a place west of Aksu. The tree is full of small holes. One can travel
for several days and see nothing but hu fun trees in the forests. The
leaves resemble those of the fun (Paulownia), The resin which is like
glue flows out of the roots."

The Lin piao lu i^ states positively that hu fun lei is produced in
Persia, being the sap of the hu fun tree, and adds that there are also
"stone tears," H lei ^ M, which are collected from stones.

Su Kuri, the reviser of the Pen ts'ao of the T'ang, makes this ob-
servation:^ "Hw fun lei is produced in the plains and marshes as well
as in the mountains and valleys lying to the west of Su-Sou M #1.
In its shape it resembles yellow vitriol {hwan fan ® S),^ but is far
more solid. The worm-eaten trees are styled hu fun trees. When their
sap filters into earth and stones, it forms a soil-made product like
natron. This tree is high and large, its bark and leaves resembling those
of the white poplar and the green fun W fl?. It belongs to the family
of mulberries, and is hence called hu fun tree. Its wood is good for
making implements."

Han Pao-sefi ^ 'fiS #, who edited the Su pen ts'ao S ^ ^ about
the middle of the tenth century, states, "The tree occtu"s west of Liafi-
&>u 2^ ^1 (in Kan-su). In the beginning it resembles a willow; when
it has grown, it resembles a mulberry and the fun. Its sap sinks into
the soil, and is similar to earth and stone. It is used as a dye like the
ginger-stone {kian H 3K^).^ It is extremely salty and bitter. It is
dissolved by the application of water, and then becomes like altim
shale or saltpetre. It is collected during the winter months."

Ta Mifi i^ 09, who wrote a Pen ts'ao about a.d. 970, says with
reference to this tree, "There are two kinds, — a tree-sap which is not
employed in the pharmacopoeia, and a stone-sap collected on the

^ Cf. CeA lei pen ts*ao, Ch. 13, p. 33.
2 As quoted in the Ci wu min U t'u k'ao, Ch. 35, p. 8 b.
2 Ch. B, p. 7 a (see above, p. 268).
^ Cen lei pen ts'ao, I.e.
^ F. DE M£ly, Lapidaire chinois, p. 149.

^ A variety of stalactite (see F. de M]6ly, Lapidaire chinois, p. 94; Geerts,
Produits, p. 343; Cen lei pen ts'ao, Ch. 5, p. 32).

The Balsam-Poplar 341

surface of stones; this one only is utilized as a medicine. It resembles
in appearance small pieces of stone, and those colored like loess take
the first place. The latter are employed as a remedy for toothache."
Su Sun, in his T^u kin pen ts'aOj remarks that it then occurred among
the Western Barbarians (Si Fan), and was traded by merchants. He
adds that it was seldom used in the recipes of former times, but that
it is now utilized for toothache and regarded as an important remedy in
families.

Li Si-6en^ refers to the chapter on the Western Countries {Si yu
huan) in the Han Annals, stating that the tree was plentiful in the
country Ku-si ^ W (Turf an). No such statement is made in the
Annals of the Han with regard to this country, but, as we have seen,
only with reference to San-san.^ He then gives a brief r^stmi^ of the
matter, setting down the two varieties of "tree-tears" and "stone-
tears."

The Ming Geography mentions hu fun lei as a product of Hami.
The Kwan yu ki^ notices it as a product of the Chikin Mongols between
Su-6ou and Sa-^ou. The Si yil wen kien lUy^ written in 1777, states in
regard to this tree that it is only good as fuel on account of its crooked
growth: hence the natives of Tiurkistan merely call it odon or otun,
which means "wood, fuel" in Turkish.^ The tree itself is termed in
Turki tograk.

The Hui k*ian U^ likewise describes the hu fun tree of Hami, saying
that the Mohammedans use its wood as fuel, but that some with
ornamental designs is carved into cases for writing-brushes and into
saddles.

Bretschneider^ has identified this tree with Populus euphratica,
the wood of which is used as fuel in Turkistan. It is not known, however,
that this tree produces a resin, such as is described by the Chinese.
Moreover, this species is distributed through northern China ;^ while
all Chinese records, both ancient and modem, speak of the hu fun

^ Pen ts*ao kafi mu, Ch. 34, p. 22.

2 There is a passage in the ^wi kin £u where the hu Vwh is mentioned, and may
be referred to Ku-§i (Chavannes, T'oung Pao, 1905, p. 569).

3 Above, p. 251.

* Ch. 7, p. 9 (Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 64).

5 This passage has already been translated correctly by W. Schott (Abh. Berl.
Ak., 1842, p. 370). It was not quite comprehended by Bretschneider (Mediaeval
Researches, Vol. II, p. 179), who writes, "The characters hu Vung here are intended
to render a foreign word which means 'fuel'."

^ Above, p. 230.

^ Mediaeval Researches, Vol. II, p. 179.

8 Forbes and Hemsley, Journal Linnean Society, Vol. XXVI, p. 536.

342 Sino-Iranica

exclusively as a tree pectiliar to Turkistan and Persia. The correct
identification of the tree is Populus balsamifera, var. genuina Wesm.^
The easternmost boundary of this tree is presented by the hills of
Kumbum east of the KukunOr, which geographically is part of Central
Asia. The same species occurs also in Siberia and North America; it
is called Hard by the French of Canada. It is met with, farther, wild
and cultivated, in the inner ranges of the north-western Himalaya,
from Kunawar, altitude 8000 to 13000 feet, westwards. In western
Tibet it is found up to 14000 feet.^ The buds contain a balsam-resin
which is considered antiscorbutic and diuretic, and was formerly im-
ported into Europe under the name haume facot and tacamahaca ^ com-
munis (or vulgaris). Watt says that he can find no account of this
exudation being utilized in India. It appears from the Chinese records
that the tree must have been known to the Iranians of Central Asia
and Persia, and we shall not fail in asstuning that these were also the
discoverers of the medical properties of the balsam. It is quite credible
that it was efficacious in alleviating pain caused by carious teeth, as it
would form an air-tight coating around them.

1 Matsumura, Shokubutsu mei-i, No. 2518.

' G. Watt, Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Vol. VI, p. 325.

» The tacamahaca (a word of American-Indian origin) was first described
by NicoLOSo de Monardes (Dos libros el uno que trata de todas las cosas que traen
de nuestras Indias Occidentales, Sevilla, 1569) : " Assi mismo traen de nueva Espana
otro genero de Goma, o resina, que llaman los Indios Tacamahaca. Y este mismo
nombre dieron nuestros Espanoles. Es resina sacada por incision de un Arbol
grande como Alamo, que es muy oloroso, echa el fruto Colorado como simiente de
P eonia. Desta Resina o goma, usan mucho los Indios en sus enf ermedades, mayor-
mente en hinchazones, en qualquiera parte del cuerpo que se engendran, por que las
ressuelue madura, y deshaze marauillosamente," etc. A copy of this very scarce work
is in the Edward E. Ayer collection of the Newberry Library, Chicago; likewise
the continuation Segunda parte del libro, de las cosas que se traen de nuestras
Indias Occidentales (Sevilla, 1571).

MANNA

21. The word "manna," of Semitic origin (Hebrew man, Arabic
mann), has been transmitted to us through the medium of Greek fidwa
in the translation of the Septuaginta and the New Testament. Manna
is a saccharine product discharged from the bark or leaves of a ntimber
of plants under certain conditions, either through the puncttu-e of insects
or by making incisions in the trunk and branches. Thus there are
mannas of various nature and origin. The best-known manna is the
exudation of Fraxinus ornus (or Ornus europaea), the so-called manna-
ash, occurring in the Mediterranean region and Asia Minor.^ The chief
constituent of manna is manna-sugar or mannite, which occiirs in
many other plants besides Fraxinus,

The Annals of the Sui Dynasty ascribe to the region of Kao-6'an
M M (Turf an) a plant, styled yan ts'e # M ("sheep-thorn"), the upper
part of which produces honey of very excellent taste.^

C'en Ts'an-k'i, who wrote in the first part of the eighth century,
states that in the sand of Kiao-ho ^ W (Yarkhoto) there is a plant
with hair on its top, and that in this hair honey is produced; it is styled
by the Hu (Iranians) loft ( = ^) H kHe-p'o-lo, *k'it(k'ir)-bwu5-la.3
The first element apparently corresponds to Persian xdr ("thorn") or
the dialectic form ydr;^ the second, to Persian hurra or hura ("lamb"),^
so that the Chinese term yan ts'e presents itself as a literal rendering
of the Persian (or rather a Middle-Persian or Sogdian) expression.
In New Persian the term xar-i-^utur ("camel-thorn") is used, and,
according to Aitchison, also xar-i-huzi ("goat's thorn").®

It is noteworthy that the Chinese have preserved a Middle-Persian
word for "manna," which has not yet been traced in an Iranian source.
The plant {Hedysarum alhagi), widely diffused over all the arid lowlands

^ Cf . the excellent investigation of D. Hanbury, Science Papers, pp. 355-368.

2 Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 3 b. The same text is also found in the Wei Su and Pet H;
in the Tai pHn hwan yii ki (Ch. 180, p. 11 b) it is placed among the products of
Ku-§i Jl pSp in Turf an.

' Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 258) erroneously writes the first char-
acter jjiq . He has not been able to identify the plant in question.

* P. Horn, Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, Vol. I, pt. 2, p. 70.

^ In dialects of northern Persia also varre, varra, and werk (J. de Morgan,
Mission en Perse, Vol. V, p. 208).

« Cf. D. Hooper, Journal As. Soc. Bengal, Vol. V, 1909, p. 33.

343

344 Sino-Iranica

of Persia, furnishes manna only in certain districts. Wherever it fails
to yield this product, it serves as pasture to the camels (hence its name
"thorn of camels"), and, according to the express assiirance of Schlim-
MER,i also to the sheep and goats. "Les indigenes des contr^es de la
Perse, oii se fait la r^colte de teren-djebin, me disent que les pasteurs
sont obliges par les institutions communales de s'^loigner avec leurs
troupeaux des plaines oti la plante mannif^re abonde, parce que les
moutons et ch^vres ne manqueraient de faire avorter la r^colte." In
regard to a related species (Hedysarum semenowi), S. Korzinski^
states that it is particularly relished by the sheep which fatten on it.

The Lian se kun tse H ^ 0 ^ -f Ifi^ is cited in the Pen ts'ao kan mu
as follows: "In Kao-6'afi there is manna {^s^e mi Jll 3f). Mr. Kie i^
^ says. In the town Nan-p'in ffi ^^ isfe the plant yan ts'e is devoid of
leaves, its honey is white in color and sweet of taste. The leaves of the
plant yan ts'e in Salt City (Yen S'en S Wd) are large, its honey is dark
# in color, and its taste is indifferent. Kao-6'afi is the same as Kiao-ho,
and is situated in the land of the Western Barbarians (Si Fan S ^) f
at present it forms a large department (ta Sou ::fe ffl)."

Wan Yen-te, who was sent on a mission to Turf an in a.d. 981,
mentions the plant and its sweet manna in his narrative.^

Cou K'u-fei, who wrote the Lin wai tai ta in 11 78, describes the
"genuine manna (sweet dew) " M "tt* S of Mosul ("^ M M Wu-se-li)
as follows:^ "This country has a number of famous mountains. When
the auttunn-dew falls, it hardens under the influence of the sun-rays
into a substance of tjbe appearance of sugar and hoar-frost, which is
gathered and consumed. It has purif )dng, cooling, sweet, and nutritious
qualities, and is known as genuine manna. "^

Wan Ta-yiian te ::^ l^, in his Tao i U lio ^ ^ iS S of 1349,^ has

1 Tenninologie, p. 357.

2 Vegetation of Turkistan (in Russian), p. 77.

3 The work of Can Yue (a.d. 667-730) ; see The Diamond, this volume, p. 6.

* Other texts write ^ hu.

5 This term, which in general denotes Tibet, but certainly cannot refer to Tibet
in this connection, has evidently misled Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 258)
into saying that the substance is spoken of as coming from Tangut.

« Cf. W. ScHOTT, Zur Uigurenfrage II, p. 47 {Ahh. Berl. Akad., 1875).

^ Ch. 3, p. 3 b (ed. of Ci pu tsu tai ts'un Su). Regarding the term kan lu, which
also translates Sanskrit amrjta, see Chavannes and Pelliot, Traits manich^en,
p. 155.

8 The same text with a few insignificant changes has been copied by Cao Zu-kwa
(Hirth's translation, p. 140).

' Regarding this work, cf. Pelliot, Bull, de VEcole frangaise, Vol. IV, p. 255.

Manna 345

the following note regarding manna {kan lu) in Ma-k'o-se-li : ^ "Every
year during the eighth and ninth months it rains manna, when the
people make a pool to collect it. At sunrise it will condense like water-
drops, and then it is dried. Its flavor is like that of crystallized sugar.
They also store it in jars, mixing it with hot water, and this beverage
serves as a remedy for malaria. There is an old saying that this is the
country of the Amritaraja-tathagata "H* ^ i ^ ^."^

Li Si-($en, after quoting the texts of C'en Ts'afi-k'i, the Pei H, etc.,^
arrives at the conclusion that these data refer to the same honey-bearing
plant, but that it is unknown what plant is to be understood by the
term yah ts*e.

The Turki name for this plant is yantaq^ and the sweet resin accumu-
lating on it is styled yantaq Sdkdri C^yantaq sugar ").^

The modem Persian name for the manna is tdr-dngubin (Arabic
terenjobtn; hence Spanish tereniahin) ; and the plant which exudates the
sweet substance, as stated, is styled xar-i-Sutur ("camel-thorn")- The
manna suddenly appears toward the close of the summer during the
night, and must be gathered during the early hours of the morning. It
is eaten in its natural state, or is utilized for sjrup (Ure) in Central Asia
or in the sugar-factories of Meshed and Yezd in Persia.^ The Persian
word became known to the Chinese from Samarkand in the tran-
scription ta-lah-ku-pin ^ W "fe X.^ The product is described under
the title kan lu '^ % ("sweet dew") as being derived from a small
plant, one to two feet high, growing densely, the leaves being fine like
those of an Indigofera (Ian), The autumn dew hardens on the siirface
of the stems, and this product has a taste like sugar. It is gathered and
boiled into sweetmeats. Under the same name, kan-lu, the Kwan yu ki''
describes a small plant of Samarkand, on the leaves of which accumu-
lates in the autumn a dew as sweet in taste as honey, the leaves resem-

1 Unidentified. It can hardly be identified with Mosul, as intimated by

ROCKHILL.

2 RocKHiLL, T'oung Pao, 1915, p. 622. This Buddhist term has crept in here
owing to the fact that ^o« lu ("sweet dew") serves as rendering of Sanskrit amr,ita
("the nectar of the gods") and as designation for manna.

2 Also the Yu yafi tsa tsu, but this passage refers to India and to a different
plant, and is therefore treated below in its proper setting.

^ A. V. Le Coq, Sprichworter und Lieder aus Turfan, p. 99. If the supposition
of B. MuNKACSi (Keleti szemle, Vol. XI, 1910, p. 353) be correct, that Hungarian
gyanta (gydnta, jdnta, gyenta, "resin") and gyantdr ("varnish") may be Turkish
loan-words, the above Turki name would refer to the resinous character of the plant.

5 VAmb^ry, Skizzen aus Mittelasien, p. 189.

« Ta Min i t'un U, Ch. 89, p. 23.

^ Ch. 24, p. 26, of the edition printed in 1744; this passage is not contained in
the original edition of 1600 (cf. above, p. 251, regarding the various editions).

346 Sino-Iranica

bling those of an Indigof era (Ian) ; and in the same work^ this plant is
referred to Qara--Khoja iK ffl under the name yan ts'e. Also the Ming
Annals^ contain the same reference. The plant in question has been
identified by D. H anbury with the camel-thorn (Alhagi camelorum),
a small spiny plant of the family Leguminosae, growing in Iran and
Ttirkistan.^

In the fourteenth century, Odoric of Pordenone found near the
city Huz in Persia manna of better quality and in greater abundance
than in any part of the world.^ The Persian-Arabic manna was made
known in Europe during the sixteenth century by the traveller and
naturalist Pierre Belon du Mons (1518-64),^ who has this account:
*'Les Caloieres auoy^t de la Mane liquide recueillie en leurs montagnes,
qu'ils appellent Tereniahin, a la difference de la dure: Car ce que les
autheurs Arabes ont appell^ Tereniabin, est gard^e en pots de terra
comme miel, et la portent vendre au Caire: qui est ce qu' Hippocrates
nomma miel de Cedre, et les autres Grecs ont nomm^ Ros6e du mont
Liban: qui est differente k la Manne blanche seiche. Celle que nous
auons en France, apport^e de Brianson, recueillie dessus les Meleses k
la sommjt^ des plus hautes montagnes, est dure, differente k la susdicte.
Parquoy estant la Manne de deux sortes. Ion en trouve au Caire de
Tvne et de I'autre es boutiques des marchands, expos^e en vente.
L'vne est appellee Manne, et est dure: I'autre Tereniabin, et est liquide:
et pource qu'en auons fait plus long discours au liure des arbres tousiours
verds, n'en dirons autre chose en ce lieu." The Briangon manna men-
tioned by Belon is collected from the larch-trees {Pinus larix) of south-
ern France.^ Garcia da Orta^ described several kinds of manna, one
brought to Ormuz from the country of the Uzbeg under the name
xir quest or xircast, * 'which means the milk of a tree called quest j for xir
[read ^tr] is milk in the Persian language, so that it is the dew that falls

1 Ch. 24, p. 6, of the original edition; and Ch. 24, p. 30 b, of the edition of 1744.

2 Ch. 329 (cf. Bretschneider, Mediaeval Researches, Vol. II, p. 192).

' The plant is said to occur also in India (Sanskrit vigdladd and gdndhdrl; that
is, from Gandhara), Arabia, and Egypt, but, curiously, in those countries does not
produce a sugar-like secretion. Consequently it cannot be claimed as the plant
which furnished the manna to the Israelites in the desert (see the Dictionnaire de
la Bible by F. Vigouroux, Vol. I, col. 367). The manna of northern India became
known to the Chinese in recent times (see Lu Van kun H kH ^ ^ ^ ^ ff^, p. 44,
in TsHA lao fan ts'un ^«).

* Yule, Cathay, new ed.. Vol. II, p. 109; Cordier's edition of Odoric, p. 59.
5 Les Observations de plusieurs singularitez, pp. 228-229 (Anvers, 1555).
« FLtJCKiGER and Hanbury, Pharmacographia, p. 416.
7 C. Markham, Colloquies, p. 280.

Manna 347

from these trees, or the gum that exudes from them.^ The Portuguese
corrupted the word to siracost.'* The other kind he calls tiriam-jahim
or trumgihim (Persian tdr-dngubin). "They say that it is found among
the thistles and in small pieces, somewhat of a red color. It is said that
they are obtained by shaking the thistles with a stick, and that they are
larger than a coriander-seed when dried, the color, as I said, between
red and vermilion. The vulgar hold that it is a fruit, but I believe
that it is a gtrni or resin. They think this is more wholesome than the
kind we have, and it is much used in Persia and Ormuz." ''Another
kind comes in large pieces mixed with leaves. This is like that of Cala-
bria, and is worth more money, coming by way of Bagora, a city of
renown in Persia. Another kind is sometimes seen in Goa, liquid in
leather bottles, which is like coagulated white honey. They sent this
to me from Ormuz, for it corrupts quickly in our land, but the glass
flasks preserve it. I do not know anything more about this medicine."
John Fryer^ speaks of the mellifluous dew a-nights turned into manna,
which is white and granulated, and not inferior to the Calabrian.
According to G. Watt,^ shirkhist is the name for the white granular
masses found in Persia on the shrub Cotoneaster nummularia; white
taranjahin { = tdr-dngubin) is obtained from the camel-thorn (Alhagi
camelorum and A. maurorum), growing in Persia, and consisting of a
peculiar sugar called melezitose and cane-sugar. The former is chiefly
brought from Herat, and is obtained also from Atraphaxts spinosa
(Polygonaceae) .*

It is thus demonstrated also from a philological and historical point
of view that the yan ts*e and kHe-p'o4o of the Chinese represent the
species Alhagi camelorum.

Another Persian name for manna is xo^kenjuinn, which means "dry
honey." An Arabic tradition explains it as a dew that falls on trees in
the mountains of Persia; while another Arabic author says, "It is dry
honey brought from the mountains of Persia. It has a detestable odor.
It is warm and dry, warmer and dryer than honey. Its properties in
general are more energetic than those of honey." ^ This product, called

^ Garcia's etymology is only partially correct. The Persian word is Hr-xeU,
which means "goat's milk." Hence Armenian HrixiM, HrxeM, SiraxuSg, or Uraxui
(cf. E. Seidel, Mechithar, p. 210).

2 New Account of East India and Persia, Vol. II, p. 201.

» Agricultural Ledger, 1900, No. 17, p. 188.

* See Fluckiger and Hanbury, op. cit., p. 415. According to Schlimmer
(Terminologie, p. 357), this manna comes from Herat, Khorasan, and the district
Lor-Sehrestanek.

^ L. Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. II, p. 32.

\

348 Sino-Iranica

in India guzangabin, is collected from the tamarisk {Tamarix gallica,
var. mannifera Ehrenb.) in the valleys of the Peninsula of Sinai and
also in Persia.^ In the latter country, the above name is likewise applied
to a manna obtained from Astragalus florulentus and A. adscendens
in the mountain-districts of Chahar-Mahal and Faraidan, and especially
about the town of Khonsar, south-west of Ispahan. The best sorts of
this manna, which are termed gaz-alefi or gaz-khonsar (from the prov-
ince Khonsar), are obtained in August by shaking it from the branches,
the little drops finally sticking together and forming a dirty, grayish-
white, tough mass. According to Schlimmer,^ the shrub on which this
manna is formed is common everywhere, without yielding, however,
the slightest trace of manna, which is solely obtained in the small
province Khonsar or Khunsar. The cause for this phenomenon is
sought in the existence there of the Coccus mannifer and in the absence
of this insect in other parts of the country. Several Persian physicians
of Ispahan, and some European authors, have attributed to the puncture
of this insect the production of manna in Khonsar; and Schlimmer
recommends transporting and acclimatizing the insect to those regions
where Tamarix grows spontaneously.

It has been stated that the earliest allusion to tamarisk-manna is
to be found in Herodotus,^ who says in regard to the men of the city
Callatebus in Asia Minor that they make honey out of wheat and the
fruit of the tamarisk. The case, however, is different; Herodotus does
not allude to the exudation of the tree.

Stuart^ states that tamarisk-manna is called ^^en ^u ^% ?L. The
tamarisk belongs to the flora of China, three species of it being known.^
The Chinese, as far as I know, make no reference to a manna from any
of these species; and the term pointed out by Stuart merely refers to
the sap in the interior of the tree, which, according to the Pen ts^ao, is
used in the Materia Medica. Cefi Tsiao SB 1^ of the Sung period, in
his T^un U S S,^ simply defines I' en lu as "the sap in the wood or
trunk of the tamarisk."^

^ See particularly D. Hooper, Tamarisk Manna, Journal As. Soc. Bengal,
Vol. V, 1909, pp. 31-36.
2 Terminologie, p. 359.
^ VII, 31.
* Chinese Materia Medica, p. 259.

5 Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. II, No. 527; Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 35 b, p. 9.

6 Ch. 76, p. 12.

^ The Turkl name for the tamarisk is yulgun. In Persian it is styled gaz or
gazm (Kurd gazo or gezu), the fruit gazmdzak or gazmdzu {gaz basrah, the manna of
the tree); further, balangmuU, balangmusk, or balanjmusk, and Arabic-Persian
kizmdzaj.

Manna 349

There is, further, an oak-manna collected from Quercus vallonea
Kotschy and Q. persica. These trees are visited in the month of August
by immense numbers of a small white Coccus, from the puncture of
which a saccharine fluid exudes, and solidifies in little grains. The people
go out before sunrise, and shake the grains of manna from the branches
on to linen cloths spread out beneath the trees. The exudation is also
collected by dipping into vessels of hot water the small branches on
which it is formed, and evaporating the saccharine solution to a syrupy
consistence, which in this state is used for sweetening food, or is mixed
with flour to form a sort of cake.^

Aside from the afore-mentioned mannas, Schlimmer^ describes two
other varieties which I have not found in any other author. One he
calls in Persian Hker eighal ("sugar eighaV'), sa3dng that it is produced
by the puncture of a worm in the plant. This worm he has himself
found in fresh specimens. This manna is brought to Teheran by the
farmers of the Elburs, Lawistan, and Dimawend, but the plant occurs
also in the environment of Teheran and other places. Although this
manna almost lacks sweetness, it is a remarkable pectoral and alleviates
obstinate coughs. The other is the manna of Apocynum syriacum,
known in Persia as Hker al-oh and imported from Yemen and Hedjaz.
According to the Persian phamiacologists, it is the product of a
nocturnal exudation solidified during the day, similar to small
pieces of salt, either white, or gray, and even black. It is likewise
employed medicinally.

Manna belonged to the food-products of the ancient Iranians, and
has figured in their kitchen from olden times. When the great king so-
journed in Media, he received daily for his table a hundred baskets full
of manna, each weighing ten mines. It was utilized like honey for
the sweetening of beverages.^ I am inclined to think that the Iranians
diffused this practice over Central Asia.

The Yu yan tsa tsu has a reference to manna of India, as follows:
"In northern India there is a honey-plant growing in the form of a
creeper with large leaves, without withering yn. the autumn and winter.
While it receives hoar-frost and dew, it forms the honey." According
to G. Watt,^ some thirteen or fourteen plants in India are known to

1 Fluckiger and Hanbury, Pharmacographia, p. 416; Hanbury, Science
Papers, p. 287; Schlimmer (Terminologie, p. 358) attributes the oak-manna to the
mountains of Kurdistan in Persia.

2 Terminologie, p. 359.

3 C. Joret, Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 93. Regarding manna in Persia,
see also E. Seidel, Mechithar, p. 163.

* Commercial Products of India, p. 929.

350 Sino-Iranica

yield, under the parasitic influence of insects or otherwise, a sweet fluid
called "manna." This is regularly collected and, like honey, enters more
largely than sugar into the pharmaceutical preparations of the Hindu.

The silicious concretion of crystalline form, found in the culms or
joints of an Indian bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea) and known as
tabashir, is styled in India also ^* bamboo manna," — decidedly a
misnomer. On the other hand, a real manna has sometimes been
discovered on the nodes of certain species of bamboo in India.^ The
subject of tabashir has nothing to do with manna, nor with Sino-Iranian
relations; but, as the early history of this substance has not yet been
correctly expounded, the following brief notes may not be unwelcome.^
Specimens of tabashir, procured by me in China in 1902, are in the
American Museum of Natural History in New York.^

We now know that tabashir is due to an ancient discovery made in
India, and that at an early date it was traded to China and Egypt.
In recent years the very name has been traced in the form tahasis
(ra/Sao-is) in a Greek pap5niis, where it is said that the porous stone is
brought down [to Alexandria] from [upper] Egypt: the articles of
Indian commerce were shipped across the Red Sea to the Egyptian
ports, and then freighted on the Nile downward to the Delta."* The
Indian origin of the article is evidenced, above all, by the fact that the
Greek term tahasis (of the same phonetic appearance as Persian tahdHr)
is connected with Sanskrit tavak-k^ird (or tvak-k^lrd; kslrd, "vegetable
juice"), and permits us to reconstruct a Prakrit form tahaUra; for the
Greek importers or exporters naturally did not derive the word from
Sanskrit, but from a vernacular idiom spoken somewhere on the west
coast of India. Or, we have to assume that the Greeks received the
word from the Persians, and the Persians from an Indian Prakrit.^

The Chinese, in like manner, at first imported the article from India,
calling it "yellow of India" {THen-^u hwan %^M). It is first men-
tioned under this designation as a product of India in the Materia
Medica published in the period K'ai-pao (a.d. 968-976), the K'ai pao

1 See G. Watt, Agricultural Ledger, 1900, No. 17, pp. 185-189.

2 The latest writer on the subject, G. P. Kunz (The Magic of Jewels and Charms,
pp. 233-235, Philadelphia, 1915), has given only a few historical notes of mediaeval
origin.

3 Cat. No. 70, 13834. This is incidentally mentioned here, as Dr. Kunz states
that very little of the material has reached the United States.

* H. DiELS, Antike Technik, p. 123.

5 The Persian tahaUr is first described by Abu Mansur (Achundow, p. 95),
and is still eaten as a delicacy by Persian women {ibid., p. 247). In Armenian it is
dahalir.

Tabashir 351

pen ts*ao; but at the same time we are informed that it was then obtained
from all bamboos of China,^ and that the Chinese, according to their
habit, adulterated the product with scorched bones, the arrowroot
from Pachyrhizus angulatus, and other stuff .^ The Pen ts'ao yen i of
1116^ explains the substance as a natural production in bamboo, yellow
like loess. The name was soon changed into ** bamboo-yellow" {cu
hwan It S) or ''bamboo-grease" (cukao).^ It is noticeable that the
Chinese do not classify tabashir among stones, but conceive it as a
production of bamboo, while the Hindu regard it as a kind of pearl.

The earliest Arabic author who has described the substance is
Abu Dulaf, who lived at the Court of the Samanides of Bokhara, and
travelled in Central Asia about a.d. 940. He says that the product
comes from MandUrapatan in northwestern India (Abulfeda and
others state that Tana on the island of Salsette, twenty miles from
Bombay, was the chief place of production), and is exported from there
into all countries of the world. It is produced by rushes, which, when they
are dry and agitated by the wind, rub against one another; this motion
develops heat and sets them afire. The blaze sometimes spreads over
a surface of fifty parasangs, or even more. Tabashir is the product of
these rushes.^ Other Arabic authors cited by Ibn al-Baitar derive the
substance from the Indian sugarcane, and let it come from all coasts
of India; they dwell at length on its medicinal properties.^ Garcia
DA Orta (1563), who was familiar with the drug, also mentions the
burning of the canes, and states it as certain that the reason they set
fire to them is to reach the heart; but sometimes they do not follow
tihis practice, as appears from many specimens which are untouched
by fire. He justly says that the Arabic name {tahaHr, in his Portuguese
spelling tdbaxir) is derived from the Persian, and means "milk or juice,
or moisture." The ordinary price for the product in Persia and Arabia
was its weight in silver. The canes, lofty and large like ash-trees,

1 The Cen lei pen ts*ao (Ch. 13, p. 48) cites the same text from a work Lin hat
^» ES fS U, apparently an other work than the Lin hai i wu U mentioned by Bret-
SCHNEiDER (Bot. Sin., pt. I, p. 169).

' The following assertion by Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 64)is erroneous:
"The Chinese did not probably derive the substance originally from India, but it is
possible that the knowledge of its medicinal uses were derived from that country,
where it has been held in high esteem from very early times." The knowledge of
this product and the product itself first reached the Chinese from India, and nat-
urally induced them to search for it in their own bamboos.

» Ch. 14, p. 4 b (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan).

* Pen is'ao kan mu, Ch. 37, p. 9.

' G. Ferrand, Textes relatifs h. TExtrSme-Orient, p. 225.

8 L. Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. II, pp. 399-401.

352 Sino-Iranica

according to his statement, generate between the knots great humidity,
like starch when it is much coagulated. The Indian carpenters, who
work at these canes, find thick juice or pith, which they put on the lum-
bar region or reins, and in case of a headache on the forehead; it is used
by Indian physicians against over-heating, external or internal, and
for fevers and dysentery.^ The most interesting of all accounts remains
that of Odoric or Pordenone (died in 133 1), who, though he does not
name the product and may partially confound it with bezoar, alludes
to certain stones found in canes of Borneo, "which be such that if any
man wear one of them upon his person he can never be hiu-t or wounded
by iron in any shape, and so for the most part the men of that country
do wear such stones upon them."^

J. A. DE Mandelslo^ gives the following notice of tabashir: "It
is certain that on the coast of Malabar, Coromandel, Bisnagar, and
near to Malacca, this sort of cane (called by the Javians mambu [bam-
boo] ) produces a drug called sacar mambuSj that is, sugar of mambu.
The Arabians, the Persians, and the Moores call it tabaxir, which in
their language signifies a white frozen liquor. These canes are as big
as the body of a poplar, having straight branches, and leaves something
longer than the olive-tree. They are divided into divers knots, wherein
there is a certain white matter like starch, for which the Persians and
Arabians give the weight in silver, for the use they make of it in physick,
against burning feavers, and bloudy fluxes, but especially upon the first
approaches of any disease."

1 C. Markham, Colloquies of Garcia da Orta, pp. 409-414. A list of Sanskrit
synonymes for tabashir is given by R. Schmidt (ZDMG, Vol. LXV, 191 1, p. 745).

2 Yule, Cathay, new ed. by Cordier, Vol. II, p. 161.

3 Voyages and Travels, p. 120 (London, 1669).

ASAFCETIDA

22. The riddles of asafoetida begin with the very name: there is no
adequate explanation of our word asa or assa. The new Oxford English
Dictionary ventures to derive it from Persian dzd or aza. This word,
however, means nothing but "mastic," a product entirely different
from what we understand by asafoetida (p. 2 5 2) . In no Oriental language
is there a word of the type asa or aza with reference to this product, so
it could not have been handed on to Europe by an Oriental nation.
Kaempfer, who in 1687 studied the plant in Laristan, and was fairly
familiar with Persian, said that he was ignorant of the origin of the
European name.^ Littr:^, the renowned author of the Dictionnaire
frangais, admits that the origin of asa is unknown, and wisely abstains
from any theory.^ The supposition has been advanced that asa was
developed from the laser or laserpitium of Pliny (xix, 5), the latter
having thus been mutilated by the druggists of the middle ages.
This etymology, first given by Garcia da Orta,^ has been indorsed
by E. BoRSZczow,^ a Polish botanist, to whom we owe an excellent
investigation of the asa-fumishing plants. Although this explanation
remains as yet unsatisfactory, as the alleged development from laser
to asa is merely inferred, but cannot actually be proved from mediaeval
documents,^ it is better, at any rate, than the derivation from the
Persian.

Asafoetida is a vegetable product consisting of resin, gum, and
essential oil in varying proportions, the resin generally amounting
to more than one-half, derived from different umbelliferous plants, as
Ferula narthex, alliacea^ fostida, persica^ and scorodosma (or Scorodosma

1 Amoenitates exoticae, p. 539.

2 The suggestion has also been made thdt asa may be derived from Greek
asi (?) ("disgust") or from Persian anguza ("asafoetida"); thus at least it is said by
F. Stuhlmann (Beitrage zur Kulturgeschichte Ostafrikas, p. 609). Neither is con-
vincing. The former moves on the same high level as Li §i-Sen's explanation of
a-wei ("The barbarians call out a, expressing by this exclamation their horror at
the abominable odor of this resin").

' C. Markham, Colloquies, p. 41. John Parkinson (Theatrum botanictim,
p. 1569, London, 1640) says, "There is none of the ancient Authours either Greeke,
Latine, or Arabian, that hath made any mention of Asa, either dulcis or fcetida,
but was first depraved by the Druggists and Apothecaries in forraigne parts, that in
stead of Laser said Asa, from whence ever since the name of Asa hath continued."

* MSmoires de I'Acad. de St. Petersbourg, Vol. Ill, No. 8, i860, p. 4.

^ DuCange does not even list the word "asafoetida."

353

354 Sino-Iranica

fcetidum)} It is generally used in India as a condiment, being espe-
cially eaten with pulse and rice. Wherever the plant grows, the fresh
leaves are cooked and eaten as a green vegetable, especially by the
natives of Bukhara, who also consider as a delicacy the white under part
of the stem when roasted and flavored with salt and butter. In the
pharmacopoeia it is used as a stimulant and antispasmodic.

Abu Mansur, the Persian Li Si-5en of the tenth century, discrimi-
nates between two varieties of asafoetida (Persian anguydn, Arabic
anjuddn), a white and a black one, adding that there is a third kind
called by the Romans sesalius. It renders food easily digestible, strength-
ens the stomach, and alleviates pain of the joints in hands and feet.
Rubbed into the skin, it dispels swellings, especially if the milky juice
of the plant is employed. The root macerated in vinegar strengthens
and purifies the stomach, promotes digestion, and acts as an appetizer.^

The Ferula and Scorodosma furnishing asafoetida are typically
Iranian plants. According to Abu Hanifa,- asa grows in the sandy plains
extending between Bost and the country Kikan in northern Persia.
Abu Mansur designates the leaves of the variety from Sarachs near
Merw as the best. AcQording to Istaxri, asa was abundantly produced
in the desert between the provinces Seistan and Makran; according to
Edrisi, in the environment of Kaleh Bust in Afghanistan. Kaempfer
observed the harvest of the plant in Laristan in 1687, and gives the
following notice on its occiirrence :^ ^'Patria eius sola est Persia, non
Media, Libya, Syria aut Cyrenaica regio. In Persia plantam hodie
alimt saltem duorum locorum tractus, videlicet campi montesque circa
Heraat, emporium provinciae Chorasaan, et jugum montium in
provincia Laar, quod a flumine Cuur adusque urbem Congo secundum
Persici sinus tractum extenditur, duobus, alibi tribus pluribusve para-
sangis a litore." Herat is a renowned place of production, presumably
the exclusive centre of production at the present day, whence the
product is shipped to India.

The exact geographical distribution has been well outlined by E.
BoRSZczow.'' Aside from Persia proper, Scorodosma occurs also on the
Oxus, on the Aral Sea, and in an isolated spot on the east coast of the
Caspian Sea. Judging from Chinese accounts, plants yielding asa
appear to have occurred also near Khotan (see below). Turf an, and

1 The genus Ferula contains about sixty species.

2 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 8.

' Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. I, p. 142.
* Amoenitates exoticae, p. 291.

5 Femlaceen der aralo-caspischen Wuste {Memoir es de I'Acad. de St. Piters-
hourg. Vol. Ill, No. 8, i860, p. 16).

ASAFCETIDA 355

Shahrokia.^ We do not know, however, what species here come into
question.

Cao Zu-kwa states that the home of asafoetida is in Mu-ku-lan
;}C ffi- BB, in the country of the Ta-si (Ta-d2ik, Arabs).^ Mu-ku-lan is
identical with MekrSn, the Gedrosia of the ancients, the Maka of
the Old-Persian inscriptions. Alexander the Great crossed Gedrosia
on his campaign to India, and we should expect that his scientific staff,
which has left us so many valuable contributions to the flora of Iran
and north-western India, might have also observed the plant furnishing
asafoetida; in the floristic descriptions of the Alexander literature, how-
ever, nothing can be found that could be interpreted as referring to
this species. H. Bretzl^ has made a forcible attempt to identify a
plant briefly described by Theophrastus,^ with Scorodosma Jcetidum;
and A. Hort,'^ in his new edition and translation of Theophrastus, has
followed him. The text runs thus: "There is another shrub [in Aria]
as large as a cabbage, whose leaf is like that of the bay in size and
shape. And if any animal should eat this, it is certain to die of it.
Wherefore, wherever there were horses, they kept them under control "
[that is, in Alexander's army]. This in no way fits the properties of
Ferula or Scorodosma^ which is non-poisonous, and does not hurt any
animal. It is supposed also that the laser pittum or silphion and laser
of PHny^ should, at least partially, relate to asafoetida; this, however,
is rejected by some authors, and appears to me rather doubtful. Garcia
DA Orta^ has already denied any connection between that plant of the
ancients and asa. L. Leclerc^ has discussed at length this much-dis-
puted question.

The first European author who made an exact report of asafoetida

1 Bretschneider, Mediaeval Researches, Vol. II, pp. 193, 254. The inter-
pretation of lu-wei ("rushes") as asafoetida in the Si yu ki {ibid., Vol. I, p. 85) seems
to me a forced and erroneous interpretation.

2 HiRTH and Rockhill, Chao Ju-kua, p. 224.

' Botanische Forschungen des Alexanderzuges, p. 285.

* Histor. plant., IV. iv, 12.

5 Vol. I, p. 321.

' XIX, 15. The Medic juice, called silphion, and mentioned as a product of
Media by Strabo (XI. xiii, 7), might possibly allude to a product of the nature ol
asafoetida, especially as it is said in another passage (XV. ii, 10) that silphion grew
in great abundance in the deserts of Bactriana, and promoted the digestion of the
raw flesh on which Alexander's soldiers were forced to subsist there. According to
others, the silphion of the ancients is Thapsia garganica (Engler, Pflanzenfamilien,
Vol. Ill, pt. 8, p. 247). Regarding the Medic oil (oleum Medicum) see Ammianus
Marcellinus, xxiii, 6.

^ C. Markham, Colloquies, p. 44.

8 Traits des simples. Vol. I, p. 144.

356 Sino-Iranica

was Garcia da Orta in 1563. However, living and studying in Goa,
India, he did not learn from what plant the product was derived. On
its use in India he comments as follows : " The thing most used through-
out India, and in all parts of it, is that Assa-f etida, as well for medicine
as in cookery. A great quantity is used, for every Gentio who is able
to get the means of buying it will buy it to flavor his food. The rich
eat much of it, both Banyans and all the Gentios of Cambay, and he
who imitates Pythagoras. These flavor the vegetables they eat with it;
first rubbing the pan with it, and then using it as seasoning with every-
thing they eat. All the other Gentios who can get it, eat it, and laborers
who, having nothing more to eat than bread and onions, can only eat
it when they feel a great need for it. The Moors all eat it, but in smaller
quantity and only as a medicine. A Portuguese merchant highly praised
the pot-herb used by these Banyans who bring this Assa-fetida, and
I wished to try it and see whether it pleased my taste, but as I do not
know our spinach very well, it did not seem so palatable to me as it
did to the Portuguese who spoke to me about it. There is a respected
and discreet man in these parts, holding an office under the king, who
eats Assa-fetida to give him an appetite for his dinner, and finds it
very good, taking it in doses of two drachms. He says there is a slightly
bitter taste, but that this is appetising like eating olives. This is before
swallowing, and afterwards it gives the person who takes it much con-
tent. All the people in this country tell me that it is good to taste and
to smell."

Chr. Acosta or Da Costa* gives the following account: "Altiht,
anjuden, Assa fetida, dulce y odorata medicina (de que entre los Doc-
tores ha auido differencia y controuersia) es ona Goma, que del Coragone
traen a Ormuz, y de Ormuz a la India, y del Guzarate y del reyno Dely
(tierra muy f ria) la qual por la otra parte confina con el Coragone, y con
la region de Chiruan, como siente Auicena. Esta Goma es llamada de
los Arabios Altiht, y Antit, y delos Indios Ingu, o Ingara. El arbol de
adonde mana, se llama Anjuden, y otros le Uaman Angeydan.

"La Assa se aplica para leuatar el miembro viril, cosa muy vsada en
aquellas partes : y no viene a proposito para la diminucion del coito, vsar
del tal gimio de Regaliza. Y en las diuisiones pone Razis Altiht por
medicina para las fiestas de Venus: y Assa dulcis no la pone Doctor
Arabe, ni Griego, ni Latino, que sea de autoridad, porque Regaliza
se llama en Arabic Cuz, y el gumo del cozido, y reduzido en forma de
Arrope, le llaman los Arabes Robalguz, y los Espanoles corrompiendole

1 Tractado de las drogas, y medicinas de las Indias orientales, p. 362 (Burgos,
1578).

ASAFCETIDA 357

el nombre le Uaman Rabaguz. De suerte que Robalguz en Arabic, quiere
dezir Qumo basto de Regaliza: porque Rob, es gumo basto, y Al, ar-
ticulo de genitiuo, de, y Cuz, regaliza, y todo junto significa 5timo
basto de Regaliza: y assi no se puede llamar a este gumo Assa dulcis.
Los Indios la loan para el estomago, para facilitar el vientre, y para
consumir las ventosid^das. Tambien curan con esta medicina los
cauallos, que echan mucha ventosidad. En tanto tienen esta medicina
que le llama aquella gente, principalmente la de Bisnaguer, manjar
delos Dioses.'*

John Fryer^ relates, "In this country Assa Foetida is gathered at
a place called Descoon;^ some deliver it to be the juice of a cane or reed
inspissated; others, of a tree wounded: It differs much from the stink-
ing stuff called Hing^ it being of the Province of Carmania:^ This latter
is that the Indians perftmie themselves with, mixing it in all their piilse,
and make it up in wafers to correct the windiness of their food, which
they thunder up in belchings from the crudities created in their stom-
achs; never thinking themselves at ease without this Theriac: And this
is they cozen the Eiuropeans with instead of Assa Fostida, of which
it bears not only the smell, but color also, only it is more liquid."

J. A. DE Mandelslo* reports as follows: "The Hingh, which our
drugsters and apothecaries call Assa foetida, comes for the most part
from Persia, but that which the Province of Utrad produces in the Indies
is the best, and there is a great traffick driven in it all over Indosthan.
The plant which produces it is of two kinds; one grows like a bush, and
hath small leaves, like rice, and the other resembles a turnip-leaf, and
its greenness is like that of fig-tree leaves. It thrives best in stony and
dry places, and its gum begins to come forth towards the latter end
of summer, so that it must be gathered in autumn. The trafifick of it
is so much the greater in those parts, upon this account, that the
Benjans of Guzuratta make use of it in all their sawces, and rub their

^ New Account of East India and Persia, Vol. II, p. 195 (Hakluyt Soc, 1912).

^ Kuh-i Dozgan, west of Kuristan.

' Hing is mentioned by Fryer (Vol. I, p. 286) as in use among the natives of
southern India, "to correct all distempers of the brain, as well as stomach," "a sort
of liquid Assa Foetida, whereby they smell odiously." This is the product of Ferula
alliacea, collected near Yezd in Khorasan and in the province of Kerman, and
chiefly used by the natives of Bombay (FLtiCKiGER and Hanbury, Pharmacographia,
pp. 319-320; Watt, Commercial Products of India, p. 534). Fryer's distinction be-
tween hing and asafoetida shows well that there were different kinds and grades of
the article, derived from different plants. Thus there is no reason to wonder that
the Chinese Buddhist authors discriminate between hingu and a-wei (Chavannes
and Pelliot, Traits manich^en, p. 234); the £'ou ts*ai ("stinking vegetable") is
probably also a variety of this product.

* Voyages and Travels, p. 67 (London, 1669).

3S8 Sino-Iranica

pots and drinking vessels therewith, by which means they insensibly
accustom themselves to that strong scent, which we in Europe are
hardly able to endure."

The Chinese understand by the term a-wei products of two different
plants. Neither Bretschneider nor Stuart has noted this. Li Si-Sen^
states that "there are two kinds of a-wei y — one an herb, the other a
tree. The former is produced in Turkistan (Si yu), and can be sun-
dried or boiled: this is the kind discussed by Su Kun. The latter is
produced among the Southern Barbarians (Nan Fan), and it is the
sap of the tree which is taken: this is the kind described by Li Sun,
Su Sun, ^nd C'en C'efi." Su Kuh of the T'ang period reports that
'^ a-wei grows among the Western Barbarians (Si Fan) and in K*un-
lun.^ Sprouts, leaves, root, and stems strongly resemble the pai U S
!^ {Angelica anomala). The root is poimded, and the sap extracted
from it is dried in the sun and pressed into cakes. This is the first
quality. Cut-up pieces of the root, properly dried, take the second
rank. Its prominent characteristic is a rank odor, but it can also stop
foul smells; indeed, it is a strange product. The Brahmans say that
hiin-kU (Sanskrit hingUj see below) is the same as a-wei, and that the
coagulated juice of the root is like glue; also that the root is sliced,
dried in the sun, and malodorous. In the western countries (India)
its consumption is forbidden.^ Habitual enjoyment of it is said to do
away with foul breath. The barbarians (^ A) prize it as the Chinese
do pepper." This, indeed, relates to the plant or plants yielding asa,
and Li Si-6en comments that its habitat is in Hwo ^ou (Qara-Khoja)
and Sa-lu-hai-ya (Shahrokia) > Curiously enough, such a typical Iran-
ian plant is passed over with silence in the ancient historical texts
relative to Sasanian Persia. The only mention of it in the pre-T'ang
Annals occiu's in the Sui ^u^ with reference to the country Ts'ao Sf
north of the Ts'ufi-lih (identical with the Ki-pin of the Han), while
the T*ai pHn hwan yii ki^ ascribes a-wei to Ki-pin.

The Yu yan tsa isu' contains the following accotmt of the product:

1 Pen ts'ao kaA mu, Ch. 34, p. 21.

2 K'un-lun is given as place of production in the Kwan U, written prior to
A.D. 527, but there it is described as the product of a tree (see below).

' It was prohibited to the monks of the Mahayana (cf . S. Li;vi, Journal asiatique,
1915, I, p. 87).

* Bretschneider, Mediaeval Researches, Vol. II, pp. 253, 254, also 193.

6 Ch. 83, p. 8 (also in the Pei U),
» Ch. 182, p. 12 b.

7 Ch. 18, p. 8 b.

ASAFCETIDA 359

**A-wei is produced in Gazna ^ ffl Jll^ (*Gia-ja-na);* that is, in north-
em India. In Gazna its name is hin-yU (Sanskrit hingu). Its habitat
is also in Persia, where it is termed a-yU-tsie (see below). The tree
grows to a height of eight and nine feet.^ The bark is green and yellow.
In the third month the tree forms leaves which resemble a rodent's
ear. It does not flower, nor does it produce fruit. The branches, when
cut, have a continuous flow of sap like syrup, which consolidates, and
is styled a-wei. The monk from the country Fu-lin, Wan ^ by name,
and the monk from Magadha, T'i-p'o S ^ (*De-bwa, Sanskrit Deva),
agree in stating that the combination^ of the sap with rice or beans, and
powdered, forms what is called a-wei "^

Another description of a-wei by the Buddhist monk Hwei Zi S 0 ,
bom in a.d. 680, has been made known by S. L:fevi.^ The Chinese pil-
grim points out that the plant is lacking in China, and is not to be seen
in other kingdoms except in the region of Khotan. The root is as large
as a turnip and white; it smells like garlic, and the people of Khotan
feed on this root. The Buddhist pilgrim Yi Tsifi, who travelled in
A.D. 671-695, reports that a-wei is abundant in the western limit of
India, and that all vegetables are mixed with it, clarified butter, oil,
or any spice.®

Li Siin, who wrote in the second half of the eighth century, states
that, ''according to the Kwan U, a-wei grows in the country K'un-lun;
it is a tree with a Jsap of the appearance of the resin of the peach-tree.
That which is black in color does not keep; that of yellow color is the
best. Along the Yangtse in Yun-nan is found also a variety like the
one imported in ships, juicy, and in taste identical with the yellow brand,
but not yellow in color." Su Sun of the Sung period remarks that there
is a-wei only in Kwan-6ou (Kwafi-tufi), and that it is the coagulated
sap of a tree, which does not agree with the statement of Su Kun.
C'en C'eri ^ ;^, a distinguished physician, who wrote the Pen ts'ao

^ In the Pen ts'ao ka'fi mu, where the text is quoted from the Hai yao pen ts^ao
of Li Sun, Persia is coupled with Gazna. Gazna is the capital of Jagu^a, the Tsao-
ku-2*a of Hiian Tsan, the Zabulistan of the Arabs. Huan Tsafi reported that
asafoetida is abundant there (S. Julien, M^moires sur les contr6es occidentales.
Vol. II, p. 187. Of. S. Li:vi, Journal asiatique, 1915, I, p. 83).

2 Thus in the text of the Pen ts'ao; in the edition of Pai hai: eighty or ninety
feet. In fact, the stems of Ferula reach an average height of from eight to ten feet.

5 Instead of Jp of the text I read ^P with the Pen ts'ao.

* The translation of this passage by Hirth (Chau Ju-kua, p. 225) does not
render the sense correctly. The two monks mean to say that the sap or resin is a
condiment added to a dish of rice or beans, and that the whole mixture bears the
name a-wei.

^ Journal asiatique, 191 5, I, p. 89.

« Takakusu, I-tsing, pp. 128, 137.

360 Sino-Iranica

pie Swo about a.d. 1090, says, ^'A-wei is classed among trees. People
of Kian-su and Ce-kian have now planted it. The odor of the branches
and leaves is the same, but they are tasteless and jHield no sap." The
above K'un-lun refers to the K'un-lun of the Southern Sea;^ and Li
Si-&n comments that "this tree grows in Stunatra and Siam, and that
it is not very high. The natives take a bamboo tube and stick it into
the tree; the tube gradually becomes filled with the sap of the tree, and
during the winter months they smash the tube and obtain the sap."
Then he goes on to tell the curious tale of the sheep, in the same manner
as Cao Zu-kwa.^

Cao Zu-kwa's notice that the resin is gathered and packed in skin
bags is correct; for Garcia da Orta^ reports that the gum, obtained
by making cuts in the tree, is kept in bullock's hides, first anointed with
blood, and then mixed with wheat flour. It is more difficult to account
for the tradition given by the Chinese author, that, in order to neutralize
the poison of the plant, a sheep is tied to the base of the tree and shot
with arrows, whereupon the poison filters into the sheep that is doomed
to death, and its carcass forms the asafoetida. This bit of folk-lore was
certainly transmitted by Indian, Persian, or Arabic navigators, but any
corresponding Western tradition has not yet been traced. Hobeich
Ibn el-Hacen, quoted by Ibn al-Baitar,^ insists on the poisonous action
of the plant, and says that the harvests succeed in Sind only when asa
is packed in a cloth and suspended at the mouth of water-courses, where
the odor spread by the harvest will kill water-dogs and worms. Here
we likewise meet the notion that the poisonous properties of the plant
are capable of killing animals, and the sheep of the Chinese tradition
is obviously suggested by the simile of white sheep-fat and the white
vegetable fat of asa. In reality, sheep and goats are fond of the plant
and fatten on it.^ The asa ascribed to the country Ts'en-t'an in the Sun
H^ was surely an imported article.

1 Not to the K'un-lun mountains, as assumed by Stuart (Chinese Materia
Medica, p. 173).

2 Needless to say, this Malayan asafoetida can have been but a substitute; but
to what plant it refers, I am unable to say. The Tun si yan k'ao (Ch. 2, p. 18; 3,
p. 6 b), published in 1618, mentions a-wei as product of Siam and Java. T'an Ts'ui
1^ ^, in his Tien hai yii hen H, written in 1799 (Ch. 3, p. 4, ed. of Wen yin lou yii
ti ts'un Su), states that the a-wei of Yun-nan is produced in Siam, being imported
from Siam to Burma and brought from Burma up the Kin-§a kiafi.

3 C. Markham, Colloquies, p. 47.

4 Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. I, p. 447.

^ E. Kaempfer, Amoenitates exoticae, p. 540; C. Joret, Plantes dans I'antiquit^,
Vol. II, p. 100.

8 Ch. 490; cf. HiRTH, Chao Ju-kua, p. 127, I am not convinced that Ts'en-t'an
is identical with Ts'eri-pa or Zanguebar.

I

ASAFCETIDA 361

In regard to the modem employment of the article, S. W. Williams^
writes, **It is brought from Bombay at the rate of $15 a picul, and
ranks high in the Materia Medicaof the Chinese physician; it is exhibited
in cholera, in syphilitic complaints and worms, and often forms an
ingredient in the pills advertised to cure opium-smokers." It is chiefly
believed, however, to assist in the digestion of meat and to correct the
poison of stale meats (ptomaine poisoning), mushrooms, and herbs.^
In Annam it is carried in small bags as a preventive of cholera.^
The following ancient terms for asafoetida are on record: —
(i) Persian H S St a-yii-tsief *a-fiu-zet = Middle Persian *anguzad;
New Persian angula, angu&ady anguydn, anguwdn^ anguddn, angiHak
(stem a»gw+^a£i = "gum"^); Armenian ankuSady anjidaUj Old Arme-
nian angu^aty angSat; Arabic anjuddn. Garcia gives anjttden or angeidan
as name of the tree from which asa is extracted.

(2) Sanskrit 1^11 hin-kiiy *hin-gu; ^^ hin-yUy *hin-riu; H^
hiin-k'Uj *hun-gu; corresponding to Sanskrit hingu. In my opinion,
the Sanskrit word is an ancient loan from Iranian.^ Garcia gives imgo
or imgara as Indian name, and forms with initial i appear in Indian
vernaculars: cf. Telugu inguva; cf., further, Japanese ingUy Malayan
angu (according to J. Bontius, who wrote in 1658, the Javanese and
Malayans have also the word kin).

(3) M lt& a-weiy *a-nwai; :fc H (in the Nirvana-stitra) yan-kwei,
*an-kwai, correspond to an Indian or Iranian vernacular form of the
type *arikwa or *arikwai, that we meet in Tokharian B or Ku6a ankwa.^
This form is obviously based on Iranian angUy angwa.

(4) Mongol ^o "a JK xa-si-ni (thus given as a Mongol term in the
Pen ts*ao kan mu after the Yin San (^en yao of the Mongol period, written
in 1331), corresponds to Persian kasnty kisnl, or gisnl ("asafoetida"),
derived from the name of Gazni or Gazna, the capital of ZabuHstan,
which, according to Hiian Tsan, was the habitat of the plant. A Mon-
gol word of this type is not listed in the Mongol dictionaries of Kova-
levski and Golstunski, but doubtless existed in the age of the Yiian,

^ Chinese Commercial Guide, p. 80.

2 Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 174.

^ Perrot and Hurrier, Mat. m6d. et pharmacop^e sino-annamites, p. 161.

* Cf. Sa.nsknt jatuka (literally, "gum, lac ") = asafoetida. Hubschmann, Annen.
Gram., p. 98.

^ D'Herbelot (Biblioth^que orientale, Vol. I, p. 226; Vol. II, p. 327) derived
the Persian word (written by him angiu, engiu, ingu; Arabic ingiu, ingudan) from
Indian henk and hengu, ingu, for the reason that in India this drug is principally
used; this certainly is not correct.

^ Cf. T'oung Pao, 1915, pp. 274-275.

362 Sino-Iranica

when the Mongols introduced the condiment into China under that
name, while they styled the root M M yin-(^an. In modern Mongol,
the name of the product is Hngun, which is borrowed from the Tibetan
word mentioned below.

In the Tibetan dialect of Ladakh, asafoetida is called hiii or sip}
The name sip or sup was reported by Falconer, who was the first to
discover in 1838 Ferula narthex in western Tibet on the slopes of the
mountains dividing Ladakh from Kashmir.^ The word sip, however,
is not generally Tibetan, but only of local value; in all probability,
it is not of Tibetan origin. The common Tibetan word is Hn-kun,
which differs from the Iranian and Indian terms, and which, in view of
the fact that the plant occurs in Tibetan regions, may be a purely Tibe-
tan formation.

Finally it may be mentioned that, according to Borszczow,^
Scorodosma is generally known to the inhabitants of the Aralo-Caspian
territory under the name sasyk-karai or keurok-kurai^ which means
as much as "malodorous rush." The Bukharans call it sasyk-kawar
or simply kawar.

1 Ramsay, Western Tibet, p. 7.

2 Transactions Linnean Soc, Vol. XX, pt. I, 1846, pp. 285-291.

3 Op. cii., p. 25.

GALBANUM

23. There is only a single Chinese text relative to galbanum, which
is contained in the Yu yan tsa tsUy^ where it is said, "PH-ts"i iS^ ^
(*bit-dzi, bir-zi, bir-zai) is a product of the country Po-se (Persia).
In Fu-Hn it is styled f M # 5S 4 han-p'o-U-fa (*xan-bwi5-li-da).3 The
tree grows to a height of more than ten feet, with a circumference of
over a foot. Its bark is green, thin, and extremely bright. The leaves
resemble those of the asafoetida plant (a-wei), three of them growing
at the end of a branch. It does not flower or bear fruit. In the west-
ern countries people are accustomed to cut the leaves in the eighth
month; and they continue to do this more and more till the twelfth
month. The new branches are thus very juicy and luxuriant; without
the trimming process, they would infallibly fade away. In the seventh
month the boughs are broken off, and there is a yellow sap of the
appearance of honey and slightly fragrant, which is medicinally em-
ployed in curing disease."

Hirth has correctly identified the transcription pH-tsH with Persian
birzai, which, however, like the other Po-se words in the Yu yan tsa tsu,
must be regarded as Pahlavi or Middle Persian;* and the Fu-lin han-
p"o-li-Va he has equated with Aramaic xelbdnita, the latter from Hebrew
xelhendh, one of the four ingredients of the sacred perfume (Exodus,
XXX, 34-38). This is translated by the Septuaginta xaXjSdj'T? and by
the Vulgate galbanum. The substance is mentioned in three passages

1 Ch. 18, p. II b.

' Hirth, who is the first to have translated this text {Journal Am. Or. Soc.
Vol. XXX, p. 21), writes this character with the phonetic element "JH, apparently
in agreement with the edition of the Tsin tat pi l^u; but this character is not author-
ized by K'aA-hi, and it is difficult to see how it could have the phonetic value />'*;
we should expect ni. The above character is that given by K'an-hi, who cites under
it the passage in question. It is thus written also in the Mifi hiaA p'u :iS § Hf by
Ye T'iA-kwei ^ S S (p. 10, ed. of HiaA yen ts*un Su) and in the Pen ts'ao kari
mu (Ch. 33, p. 6), where the pronunciation is explained by J8|| *biet. The editors
of cyclopaedias were apparently staggered by this character, and most of them
have chosen the phonetic man, which is obviously erroneous. None of our
Chinese dictionaries Hsts the character.

3 The Pen ts^ao kaA mu (/. c.) annotates that the first character should have
the sound ^ to, *dwat, which is not very probable.

* There are also the forms pirzed, h&rzed (Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. I,
p. 201), berzed, barije, and bazrud; in India bireja, ganda-biroza. Another Persian
term given by Schummer (Terminologie, p. 294) is weSa.

363

364 Sino-Iranica

by Theophrastus:^ it is produced in Syria from a plant called irava^
(''all-heal"); it is only the jiiice {dirbs) which is called xo-^^^^v, and
which "was used in cases of miscarriage as well as for sprains and
such-like troubles, also for the ears, and to strengthen the voice. The
root was used in childbirth, and for flatulence in beasts of burden,
further in making the iris-perfume {Ipivov iivpov) because of its fra-
grance; but the seed is stronger than the root. It grows in Syria, and
is cut at the time of wheat-harvest. "^

Pliny says that galbanum grows on the mountain Amanus in S3rria
as the exudation from a kind of ferula of the same name as the resin,
sometimes known as stagonitis} Its medicinal emplojnnent is treated
by him in detail.^ Dioscorides^ explains it as the gum of a plant which
has the form of a ferula^ growing in Syria, and called by some metopton,
Abu Mansur* discusses the drug under the Arabic name quinna and the
Persian name harzdd. During the middle ages galbanum was well known
in Europe from the foiuteenth century onward.^

The philological result is confirmed by the botanical evidence,
although Twan C'en-si's description, made from an oral report, not as
an eye-witness, is naturally somewhat deficient; but it allows us to
recognize the characteristics of a Ferula. It is perfectly correct that the
leaves resemble those of the asafoetida Ferula^ as a glance at the ex-
cellent plates in the monograph of Borszczow {op. cit.) will convince
one. It is likewise correct that the leaves grow at the ends of the twigs,
and usually by threes. It is erroneous, however, that the tree does not
flower or bear fruit. ^ The process of collecting the sap is briefly but
well described. Nothing positive is known about the importation of gal-
banum into China, although W. Ainslie* stated in 1826 that it was

^Histor. plant., IX. i, 2; IX. vii, 2; IX. ix, 2. The term occurs also in the
Greek papyri.

2 Cf. the new edition and translation of Theophrastus by A. Hort (Vol. II,
p. 261). I do not see how the term "balsam of Mecca" (ibid., p. 219), which is a
misnomer anyhow, can be employed in the translation of an ancient Greek
author.

* Dat et galbanum Syria in eodem Amano monte e ferula, quae eiusdem nominis,
resinae modo; stagonitim appellant (xii, 56, § 126).

* XXIV, 13.

5 III, 87 (cf. Leclerc, Trait6 des simples, Vol. Ill, p. 115).

" AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 108.

' See, for instance, K. v. Megenberg, Buch der Natur (written in 1349-50),
ed. F. Pfeiffer, p. 367; Fluckiger and Hanbury, Pharmacographia, p. 321.

8 The fruits are already mentioned by Theophrastus (Hist, plant., IX. ix, 2)
as remedies.

" Materia Indica, Vol. I, p. 143.

Galbanum 365

sent from Bombay to China, and Stuart^ regards this as entirely
probable; but this is merely a supposition unsupported by any tangible
data: no modem name is known under which the article might come.
The three names given for galbanimi in the English-Chinese Standard
Dictionary are all wrong: the first, a-yu, refers to asafoetida (see above,
p. 361);^ the second, S, denotes Liquidamhar orientalis; and the third,
pai sun Man (''white pine aromatic"), relates to Pinus bungeana.
The Pen ts'ao kanmu^hsiS the notice on ^V-/5V as an appendixto "manna."
Li Si-6en, accordingly, did not know the nature of the product. He is
content to cite the text of the Yu yan tsa tsu and to define the medical
properties of the substance after C'en Ts'afi-k'i of the T'ang. Only
under the T'ang was galbanum known in China.

The trees from which the product is obtained are usually identified
with Ferula galbaniflua and F. ruhricaulis or erubescens, both natives
of Persia. The Syrian product used by the Hebrews and the ancients
was apparently derived from a different though kindred species.
F. rubricaulisy said by the botanist Buhse to be called in Persian khas-
suih,"^ is diffused all over northern Persia and in the Daena Mountains
in the southern part of the country; it is frequent in the Demawend and
on the slopes of the Alwend near Hamadan.'^ No incisions are made
in the plant : the sap flowing out of the lower part of the stalks and from
the base of the leaves is simply collected. The gtun is amber-yellow,
of not disagreeable, strongly aromatic odor, and soon softens between
the fingers. Its taste is slightly bitter. Only in the vicinity of Hamadan,
where the plant is exuberant, has the collecting of galbanum developed
into an industry.

ScHLiMMER^ distinguishes two kinds, — a brown and a white-yel-
lowish galbanum. The former (Persian barzed or barije), the product of
Ferula galbaniflua, is found near De Gerdon in the mountains Sa-ute-
polagh between Teheran and Gezwin, in the valleys of Lars (Elburs),
Khereghan, and Sawe, where the villagers gather it under the name
balubu. The latter kind is the product of Dorema anchezi Boiss., en-

^ Chinese Materia Medica, p. 181.

2 This is the name given for galbanum by F. P. Smith (Contributions towards
the Materia Medica, p. 100), but it is mere guesswork.
» Ch. 33, p. 6.

* Evidently identical with what Watt (Commercial Products of India, p. 535)
writes khassnib, explaining it as a kind of galbanum from Shiraz. Loew (Aram.
Pflanzennamen, p. 163) makes kassnih of this word. The word intended is apparently
the kastii mentioned above (p. 361).

^ BoRszczow, op. cit., p. 35.

" Terminologie, p. 295.

366 Sino-Iranica

countered by Buhse in the low mountains near Reshm (white galbanum) .
Galbanum is also called kilydnl in Persian.

Borszczow has discovered in the Aralo-Caspian region another
species of Ferula, named by him F. schair from the native word Sair
(= Persian Sir, "milk- juice") for this plant. The juice of this species
has the same properties as galbanum; also the plant has the same
odor.

Abu Mansur^ mentions a Ferula under the name sakhinaj (Arabic
form, Persian sakUna), which his translator, the Persian physician
Achundow, has identified with the Sagapenum resin of Ferula persica,
said to be similar to galbanum and to be gathered in the mountains
of Liuistan. According to PLtJCKiGER and HANBURy,^ the botanical
origin of Sagapenum is unknown; but there is no doubt that this word
{aayairrjvov in Dioscorides, iii, 95, and Galenus; sacopenium in Pliny,
XII, 56), in mediaeval pharmacy often written serapinum, is derived
from the Persian word.

The galbanum employed in India is imported from Persia to Bom-
bay. Watt^ distinguishes three kinds known in commerce, — ^Levant,
Persian solid, and Persian liquid. The first comes from Shiraz, the
second has an odor of ttirpentine, and the third is the gaoshir or jawd-
shir; the latter being a yellow or greenish semi-fluid resin, generally
mixed with the stems, flowers, and fruits of the plant. It is obtained from
the stem, which, when injured, jdelds an orange-yellow gummy fluid.
Generally, however, the galbanum of commerce forms round, agglu-
tinated tears, about the size of peas, orange-brown outside, yellowish-
white or bluish-green inside. The odor is not disagreeable, like that
of asafoetida, and the taste is bitter.

Galbanum consists of about 65 per cent resin, 20 per cent gum, and
from 3 to 7 per cent volatile oil.

^ Achundow, Abu Mansur, p. 84.

2 Pharmacographia, p. 342.

' Commercial Products of India, p. 535.

OAK-GALLS

24. Oak-galls (French noix de galles, Portuguese galhas) are globular
excrescences caused by the gall-wasp {Cynips quercus folii) puncturing
the twigs, leaves, and buds, and depositing its ova in several species
of oak (chiefly Quercus lusitanica var. infectoria), to be found in Asia
Minor, Armenia, Syria, and Persia. In times of antiquity, galls were
employed for technical and medicinal purposes. In consequence of
their large percentage (up to 60 per cent) of tannic or Gallo-tannic
acid, they served for tanning, still further for the dyeing of wool and
the manufacture of ink.^ Both Theophrastus^ and Dioscorides^ men-
tion galls under the name ktikIs. Abu Mansur describes galls under
the Arabic name afs.^

The greater part of the galls found in Indian bazars come from
Persia, being brought by Arab merchants.^ The Sanskrit name
mdjuphala (phala, "fruit") is plainly a loan-word from the Persian
mdzil.

In Chinese records, oak-galls are for the first time mentioned under
the term wu-H-tse Sft ^ ■? as products of Sasanian Persia.'' They
first became known in China under the T'ang from Persia, being intro-
duced in the Materia Medica of the T'ang Dynasty (T^aii pen ts^ao).
The T'aw pen l^u M '^^ states that they grow in sandy deserts,^ and
that the tree is like the tamarisk {f'en ® ) . A commentary, cited as
kin ^w ^ ii, adds that they are produced in Persia, while the Cen lei
pen ts'ao^ says that they grow in the country of the Western 2un
(Iranians). The Yu yan tsa tsu^ gives a description of the plant as
follows: " Wu-H-tse M^ J^ are produced in the country Po-se (Persia),

1 BLtJMNER, Technologic, Vol. I, 2d ed., pp. 251, 268.

« Hist, plant., IIL vni, 6.

» I, 146 (cf. Leclerc, Traitd des simples, Vol. II, p. 457). See also Pliny, xni ,
63; XVI, 26; XXIV, 109.

* AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 98.

^ W. AiNSLiE, Materia Indica, Vol. I, p. 145; Watt, Commercial Products of
India, p. 911.

« Sui Su, Oh. 83, p. 7 b.

' According to another reading, "in sandy deserts of the Western ^un" (that
is,' Iranians).

8 Ch. 14, p. 20.

• Ch. 18, p. 9.

367

368 Sino-Iranica

where they are styled M ftS mo-tsei^ *mwa-d2ak.i The tree grows to
a height of from six to seven feet,^ with a circumference of from eight to
nine feet. The leaves resemble those of the peach, but are more oblong.
It blossoms in the third month, the flowers being white, and their
heart reddish. The seeds are round like pills, green in the beginning,
but when ripe turning to yellow-white. Those punctured by insects
and perforated are good for the preparation of leather; those without
holes are used as medicine. This tree alternately produces galls one
year and acorns {WL M ^ pa-lU tse, *bwa5-lu; Middle Persian *ballu,
barru [see below]. New Persian halut)y the size of a finger and three
inches long, the next."^ The latter notion is not a Chinese fancy, but
the reproduction of a Persian belief.^

The Geography of the Ming {Ta Min i fun U) states that galls are
produced in the country of the Arabs (Ta-§i) and all barbarians, and
that the tree is like the camphor-tree (Laurus camphor a) , the fruits
like the Chinese wild chestnuts (mao-li W- ^).

The Chinese transcriptions of the Iranian name do not "all repre-
sent Persian mdzu/' as reiterated by Hirth after Watters, but repro-
duce older Middle-Persian forms. In fact, none of the Chinese render-
ings can be the equivalent of mazu,

(i) 0^ {Yu yah tsa tsu) mo-tsei, *mwa-d2ak (dzak, zak), answers
to a Middle Persian *mad2ak (madzak or mazak).

(2) M ^ mo-Hy *mak-zak, = Middle Persian *maxzak.

(3) ^ ^ wu-Hf *mwu-zak, = Middle Persi^ *muzak.

(4) &1S mu-Hy *mut-zak,= Middle Persian *muzak. Compare
with these various forms Tamil ma^akaiy Telugu mdSikai, and the
magican of Barbosa.

(5) #^5 mo-fUy *mwa-du, = Middle Persian *madu.

^&W- ^a-mu-lii (in Cao Zu-kwa), *§a-mut-lwut, answers to Iranian

^ Instead of tsei, some editions write '^ iso (*dzak, dzak), which is phonetically
the same.

2 The text has ^, which should be corrected into J^, for the tree seldom rises
higher than six feet.

5 The text of the following last clause is corrupted, and varies in the different
editions; it yields no acceptable sense. Hirth's translation (Chao Ju-kua, p. 215)
is not intelligible to me. Watters (Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 349) is
certainly wrong in saying that "the Chinese do not seem to know even yet the
origin of these natural products" (oak-galls); this is plainly refuted by the above
description. The T'u Su Isi e'en (XX, Ch. 310) and Ci wu min U t'u k'ao (Ch. 35,
p. 21) even have a tolerably good sketch of the tree, showing galls on the leaves.

4 E. Seidel, Mechithar, p. 127.

^ The character ^ c'a in Cao Zu-kwa, and thus adopted by Hirth (p. 215), is
an error.

Oak-Galls 369

^ah-baluf ("the edible chestnut," Castanea vulgaris), which appears in
the Bundahisn (above, p. 193), as correctly identified by Hirth; but
JB 31 p'u-lu and pa-lU of the Yu yan tsa tsu (see above) would indicate
that the Chinese heard bulu and balu without a final t, and such forms
may have existed in Middle-Persian dialects. In fact, we have this
type in the dialect of the Kurd in the form berru, and in certain Kurd
dialects barii and barru}

^ Cf. J. DE Morgan, Mission scientifique en Perse, Vol. V, p. 133. The Iranian
term means literally "acorn of the Shah, royal acorn," somehow a certain analogy
to Greek Ai6s /SAXavos ("acorn of Zeus"). The origin of Greek Kaarhvaiov or
K&aTavov is sought in Armenian kask ("chestnut") and kaskeni ("chestnut-tree";
see ScHRADER in Hehn, Kulturpfianzen, p. 402). According to the Armenian Geog-
raphy of Moses of Khorene, the tree flourished in the Old-Armenian province
Duruperan (Daron); according to Galenus, near Sardes in Asia Minor; according to
DaGd, on Cyprus; according to Abu Mansur, also in Syria; while, according to the
same author, Persia imported chestnuts from Adherbeijan and Arran; according to
Schlimmer, from Russia (E. Seidel, Mechithar, p. 152). It is striking that the
Chinese did not see the identity of the Iranian term with their li |j|, the common
chestnut, several varieties of which grow in China.

INDIGO

25. As indicated by our word "indigo" (from Latin indicum)^ this
dye-stuff took its origin from India. The indigo-plant {Indigofera
tinctoria), introduced into Persia from India, is discussed by Abu Man-
sur under the name nil or Ma. The leaves are said to strengthen the
hair. The hair, if previously dyed with henna, becomes brilliant black
from the pounded leaves of the plant. Another species, I. linifoliay
is still used in Persia for dyeing beard and hair black.^ The Persian
words are derived from Sanskrit m/a, as is likewise Arabic nllej.^ Also
nili hindi ("Indian indigo") occurs in Persian. Garcia da Orta has
handed down a form anily^ and in Spanish the plant is called anil
(Portuguese and Italian anil).* It may be permissible to assume that
indigo was first introduced into Sasanian Persia under the reign of
Khosrau I AnO§arwan (a.d. 531-579); for Masudi, who wrote about
a.d. 943, reports that this king received from India the book Kallla
wa Dimnaf the game of chess, and the black dye-stuff for the hair,
called the Indian.^

Under the designation tsHn tat W S ("blue cosmetic for painting
the eyebrows") the Chinese became acquainted with the true indigo
and the Iranian practice mentioned above. The term is first on record
as a product of Ts'ao S (JSguda)^ and Kii-lan # IB in the vicinity of
Tokharestan;^ during the T'ang period, the women of Fergana did not
employ lead-powder, but daubed their eyebrows with ts'in tai.^ Ma Ci
of the tenth century says that *'tsHn tai came from the country Po-se
(Persia), but that now in T'ai-yuan, Lu-lifi, Nan-k'an, and other

' AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, pp. 144, 271. Schlimmer (Terminologie, p. 395)
gives ringi rtS and wesme as Persian words for indigo-leaves.

2 Leclerc, Trait6 des simples, Vol. Ill, p. 384.

' C. Markham, Colloquies, p. 51. The form anil is also employed by F. Pyrard
(Vol. II, p. 359, ed. of Hakluyt Society), who says that indigo is found only in the
kingdom of Cambaye and Surat.

< Roediger and Pott (Z. /. Kunde d. Morg., Vol. VII, p. 125) regard this
prefix a as the Semitic article (Arabic al-nll, an-nll).

^ Barbier de Meynard and Pa vet de Courteille, Les Prairies d'or, Vol. II,
p. 203.

« Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 8 (see above, p. 317).

^ T'ai p'ifi hwan yil ki, Ch. 186, p. 12. It was also found in Ki-pin (ibid.,
Ch. 182, p. 12 b).

8 Ibid., Ch. 181, p. 13 b.

370

Indigo 371

places, a dye-stufiE of similar virtues is made from Hen Wt (the indigenous
Polygonum tinctorium) J'''^ Li Si-cen holds the opinion that the Persian
tsHn tai was the foreign lan-tien M ^ {Indigofera tinctoria). It must not
be forgotten that the genus Indigofera comprises some three hundred
species, and that it is therefore impossible to hope for exact identifica-
tions in Oriental records. Says G. Watt^ on this point, *' Species of
Indigofera are distributed throughout the tropical regions of the globe
(both in the Old and New Worlds) with Africa as their headquarters.
And in addition to the Indigoferas several widely different plants yield
the self-same substance chemically. Hence, for many ages, the dye
prepared from these has borne a synonymous name in most tongues,
and to such an extent has this been the case that it is impossible to say
for certain whether the nlla of the classic authors of India denoted the
self -same plant which yields the dye of that name in modern com-
merce." *' Indigo," therefore, is a generalized commercial label for a
blue dye-stuff, but without botanical value. Thus also Chinese indigo
is yielded by distinct plants in different parts of China.^

It is singular that the Chinese at one time imported indigo from
Persia, where it was doubtless derived from India, and do not refer
to India as the principal indigo-producing country. An interesting
article on the term tsHn tai has been written by Hirth.^

1 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. i6, p. 25 b.

2 Commercial Products of India, p. 663.

3 Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. II, p. 212.
* Chinesische Studien, pp. 243-258.

RICE

26. While rice is at present a common article of food of the Persian
people, being particularly enjoyed as pilau,^ it was entirely unknown
in the days of Iranian antiquity. No word for "rice" appears in the
Avesta.^ Herodotus^ mentions only wheat as the staple food of the
Persians at the time of Cambyses. This negative evidence is signally
confirmed by the Chinese annals, which positively state that there is
no rice or millet in Sasanian Persia;* and on this point Chinese testi-
mony carries weight, since the Chinese as a rice-eating nation were
always anxious to ascertain whether rice was grown and consumed by
foreign peoples. Indeed, the first question a travelling Chinese will
ask on arrival at a new place will invariably refer to rice, its qualities
and valuations. This is conspicuous in the memoirs of Can K'ien,
the first Chinese who travelled extensively across Iranian territory,
and carefully noted the cidtivation of rice in Fergana (Ta-yuan), fur-
ther for Parthia (An-si), and T'iao-6i (Chaldaea). The two last-named
countries, however, he did not visit himself, but reported what he had /
heard about them. In the Sasanian epoch, Chinese records tell us
that rice was plentiful in Ku£a, KaSgar (Su-lek), Khotan, and Ts'ao
Qagu^a) north of the Ts'un-lin;^ also in Si (Tashkend).^ On the
other hand, Aristobulus, a companion of Alexander on his expedition
in Asia and author of an Alexander biography written after 285 B.C.,
states that rice grows in Bactriana, Babylonia, Susis, and in lower
Syria ;^ and Diodorus® likewise emphasizes the abundance of rice in Susi-

1 T'oung Pao, 1916, p. 481.

2 Modi, in Spiegel Memorial Volume, p. xxxvii.

3 HI, 22.

* Wei Su, Ch. 102, pp. 5 b-6 a; Cou Su, Ch. 50, p. 6. Tabari (translation of
N6LDEKE, p. 244) mentions rice among the crops taxed by Khusrau I (a.d. 531-578);
but this is surely an interpolation, as in the following list of taxes rice is not men-
tioned, while all other crops are. Another point to be considered is that in Arabic
manuscripts, when the diacritical marks are omitted, the word birinj may be read
as well naranj, which means "orange" (cf. Ouseley, Oriental Geography of Ebn
Haukal, p. 221).

5 Sui Su, Ch. 83, pp. 5 b, 7 b.

^ T'ai pHn hwan yii ki, Ch. 186, p. 7 b.

' Strabo, XV. i, 18.

8 xix, 13.

Rice 373

ana. From these data Hehn^ infers that under the rule of the Persians,
and possibly inconsequence of their rule, rice-cultivation advanced from
the Indus to the Euphrates, and that from there came also the Greek
name opv^a. This rice-cultivation, however, can have been but sporadic
and along the outskirts of Iran; it did not affect Persia as a whole. The
Chinese verdict of "no rice" in Sasanian Persia appears to me con-
clusive, and it further seems to me that only from the Arabic period
did the cultivation of rice become more general in Persia. This con-
clusion is in harmony with the account of Hwi Cao S j^, a traveller
in the beginning of the eighth centiuy, who reports in regard to the
people of Mohammedan Persia that they subsist only on pastry and
meat, but have also rice, which is ground and made into cakes.^ This
conveys the impression that rice then was not a staple food, but merely
a side-issue of minor importance. Yaqut mentions rice for the prov-
inces Khuzistan and Sabur.^ Abu Mansiu*, whose work is largely based
on Arabic sources, is the first Persian author to discuss fully the subject
of rice.'* Solely a New-Persian word for "rice" is known, namely birinj
or gurinj (Armenian and Ossetic hrinj), which is usually regarded as a
loan-word from Sanskrit vrlhi; Afghan vrtl^e (with Greek 5pu^a, ^pl^a)
is still nearer to the latter. In view of the historical situation, the
reconstruction of an Avestan *verenja^ or an Iranian *vrinji,^ and the
theory of an originally Aryan word for "rice," seem to me inadmissible.

1 Kulturpflanzen, p. 505.

2 HiRTH, Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXXIII, 1913, pp. 202, 204, 207.

' B. DE Meynard, Dictionnaire g6ographique de la Perse, pp. 217, 294.

*AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 5. J. Schiltberger (1396-1427), in his Bondage
and Travels (p. 44, ed. of Hakluyt Society, 1879) speaks of the "rich country called
Gilan, where rice and cotton alone is grown."

5 P. Horn, Neupersische Etymologic, No. 208.

« H. HtJBSCHMANN, Persische Studien, p. 27.

PEPPER

27. The pepper-plant {hu tsiao, Japanese ko^o, SB W, Piper nigrum)
deserves mention in this connection only inasmuch as it is listed among
the products of Sasanian Persia.^ Ibn Haukal says that pepper, sandal,
and various kinds of drugs, were shipped from Siraf in Persia to all
quarters of the world.^ Pepper must have been introduced into Persia
from India, which is the home of the shrub. ^ It is already enumerated
among the plants of India in the Annals of the Han Dynasty.^ The
Yu yan tsa tsu^ refers it more specii&cally to Magadha,® pointing out
its Sanskrit name marica or marlca in the transcription ^ M i mei-
li-U? The term hu tsiao shows that not all plants whose names have
the prefix hu are of Iranian origin: in this case hu distinctly alludes
to India.^ Tsiao is a general designation for spice-plants, principally
belonging to the genus Zanthoxylon. Li Si-Sen^ observes that the black
pepper received its name only for the reason that it is bitter of taste
and resembles the tsiaOy but that the pepper-fruit in fact is not a tsiao.
It is interesting to note that the authors of the various Pen ts'ao seem
to have lost sight of the fact of the Indian origin of the plant, and do
not even refer to the Han Annals. Su Kuri states that hu tsiao grows
among the Si Zufi, which plainly shows that he took the word hu in
the sense of peoples of Central Asia or Iranians, and substituted for it

1 Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 7 b; Cou Su, Ch. 50, p. 6; and Wei su, Ch. 102, p. 6. According
to HiRTH (Chau Ju-kua, p. 223), this would mean that pepper was brought to China
by Persian traders from India. I am unable to see this point. The texts in question
simply give a list of products to be found in Persia, and say nothing about exporta-
tion of any kind.

2 W. OusELEY, Oriental Geography of Ebn Haukal, p. 133. Regarding the for-
mer importance of Siraf, which "in old times was a great city, very populous and
full of merchandise, being the port of call for caravans and ships," see G. Le Strange,
Description of the Province of Fars, pp. 41-43.

3 In New Persian, pepper is called pilpil (Arabicized filfil, fulful), from the
Sanskrit pippalt.

* Hou Han Su, Ch. 118, p. 5 b.
5Ch. 18, p. II.

" Cf. Sanskrit mdgadha as an epithet of pepper.

' In fact, this form presupposes a vernacular type *meri6i.

^ Hu tsiao certainly does not mean "Western Barbarians (Tartar) pepper,"
as conceived by Watters (Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 441). What had
the "Tartars" to do with pepper? The Uigur adopted simply the Sanskrit word in
the form murt.

• Pen ts'ao kafi mu, Ch. 32, p. 3 b.

374

Pepper 375

its synonyme Si 2un; at least, it appears certain that the latter term
bears no reference to India. Li Si-6en gives as localities where the
plant is cultivated, "all countries of the Southern Barbarians (Nan
Fan), Kiao-5i (Annam), Yiin-nan, and Hai-nan."

Another point of interest is that in the T^an pen ts'ao of Su Kun
appears a species called ^an hu tsiao tli #3 IK or wild pepper, described
as resembling the cultivated species, of black color, with a grain the
size of a black bean, acrid taste, great heat, and non-poisonous. This
plant-name has been identified with hinder a glauca by A. Henry,^
who says that the fruit is eaten by the peasants of Yi-6'an, Se-c^'wan.
The same author offers a ye hu-tsiao ("wild pepper ")> being Zanihoxy-
lum setosum.

Piper longum or Chavica roxhurghii, Chinese $- ^ or S pi-po^
*pit-pat(pal), from Sanskrit pippall, is likewise attributed to Sasanian
Persia.^ This pepper must have been also imported into Iran from
India, for it is a native of the hotter parts of India from Nepal east-
ward to Assam, the Khasia hills and Bengal, westward to Bombay,
and southward to Travancore, Ceylon, and Malacca.^ It is therefore
surprising to read in the Pen ts'ao of the T'ang that pi-po grows in the
country Po-se: this cannot be Persia, but refers solely to the Malayan
Po-se. For the rest, the Chinese were very well aware of the Indian
origin of the plant, as particularly shown by the adoption of the San-
skrit name. It is first mentioned in the Nan fan ts'ao mu ^wan, unless
it be there one of the interpolations in which this work abounds, but
it is mixed up with the betel-pepper {Chavica betel),

^ Chinese Names of Plants, No. 45.

2 Cou Su, Ch. 50, p. 6.

2 Watt, Commercial Products of India, p. 891.

SUGAR

28. The sugar-cane (Saccharum officinarum) is a typically Indian
or rather Southeast-Asiatic, and merely a secondary Iranian culti-
vation, but its history in Iran is of sufficient importance to devote here
a few lines to this subject. The Sui Annals^ attribute hard sugar
{H-mi ^ $, literally, "stone honey") and pan-mi ^ ^ ("half honey")
to Sasanian Persia and to Ts'ao (Jaguda). It is not known what kind
of sugar is to be understood by the latter term.^ Before the advent
of sugar, honey was the universal ingredient for sweetening food-stuffs,
and thus the ancients conceived the sugar of India as a kind of honey
obtained from canes without the agency of bees.^ The term H-mi first
appears in the Nan fan ts'ao mu Iwan,^ which contains the first de-
scription of the sugar-cane, and refers it to Kiao-6i (Tonking) ; according
to this work, the natives of this country designate sugar as U-mi^ which
accordingly may be the literal rendering of a Kiao-ci term. In a.d. 285
Fu-nan (Camboja) sent lu-c'6 % j^ ("sugar-cane") as tribute to China.^

It seems that under the T'ang sugar was also imported from Persia
to China; for Mori Sen, who wrote the ^i liao pen ts'ao in the second
half of the seventh century, says that the sugar coming from Po-se
(Persia) to Se-6'wan is excellent. Su Kufi, the reviser of the T'an pen
ts'ao of about a.d. 650, extols the sugar coming from the Si Zun, which
may likewise allude to Iranian regions. Exact data as to the introduc-
tion and dissemination of the sugar-cane in Persia are not available.
E. O. v. LipPMANN^ has developed an elaborate theory to the effect that

1 Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 7 b.

2 It is only contained in the Sui Su, not in the Wei Su (Ch. 102, p. 5 b), which
has merely Si-mi. The sugar-cane was also grown in Su-le (Kashgar): T'ai pHn
hwan yii ki, Ch. 181, p. 12 b.

3 Pliny, XII, 17.

4 Ch. I, p. 4. 0

5 This word apparently comes from a language spoken in Indo-China; it is already
ascribed to the dictionary Swo wen. Subsequently it was replaced by kan "^
("sweet") £0 or kan ^ 60, presumably also the transcription of a foreign word.
The Nan TsH Su mentions cu-6d as a product of Fu-nan (cf . Pelliot, Bull, de I'Ecole
frangaise, Vol. Ill, p. 262). In C'i-t'u ^ Ji (Siam) a wine of yellow color and fine
aroma was prepared from sugar and mixed with the root of a Cucurbitacea (Sui Su,
Ch. 82, p. J b).

" Geschichte des Zuckers, p. 93 (Leipzig, 1890); and Abhandlungen, Vol. I,
p. 263. According to the same author, the Persians were the inventors of sugar-
refining; but this is purely hypothetical.

376

Sugar 377

the Christians of the city GundSsapur, which was in connection with
India and cultivated Indian medicine, should have propagated the
cane and promoted the sugar-industry. This is no more than an in-
genious speculation, which, however, is not substantiated by any
documents. The facts in the case are merely, that according to the
Armenian historian Moses of Khorene, who wrote in the second half
of the fifth century, sugar-cane was cultivated in Elymais near Gunde-
sapur, and that later Arabic writers, like Ibn Haukal, Muqaddasi,
and Yaqut, mention the cultivation of the cane and the manufacture
of sugar in certain parts of Persia. The above Chinese notice is of some
importance in showing that sugar was known under the Sasanians in
the sixth century. The Arabs, as is well known, took a profound inter-
est in the sugar-industry after the conquest of Persia (a.d. 640), and
disseminated the cane to Palestine, Syria, Egypt, etc. The Chinese
owe nothing to the Persians as regards the technique of sugar-pro-
duction. In A.D. 647 the Emperor T'ai Tsun was anxious to learn its
secrets, and sent a mission to Magadha in India to study there the
process of boiling sugar, and this method was adopted by the sugar-
cane growers of Yan-6ou. The color and taste of this product then were
superior to that of India.^ The art of refining sugar was taught the
Chinese as late as the Mongol period by men from Cairo. ^

^ T'ari hut yao, Ch. lOO, p. 21.

2 Yule, Marco Polo, Vol. II, pp. 226, 230. The latest writer on the subject of
sugar in Persia is P. Schwarz {Der Islam, Vol. VI, 1915, pp. 269-279), whose
researches are restricted to the province of Ahwaz. In opposition to C. Ritter, who
regarded Siraf on the Persian Gulf as the place whither the sugar-cane was first
transplanted from India, he assigns this r61e to Hormuz; the first mention of refined
sugar he finds in an Arabic poet of the seventh century. Lippmann's work is not
known to him.

MYROBALAN

29. The myrobalan Terminalia chebula, ho-li-lo M ^ ^ (*ha-ri-
lak, Japanese kariroku, Sanskrit hantakt, Tokharian arirdk, Tibetan
a-ru-ra, Newari halala; Persian kaUla, Arabic halllaj and ihllligdt) , was
found in Persia.^ The tree itself is indigenous to India, and the fruit
was evidently imported from India into Persia.^ This is confirmed by
the fact that it is called in New Persian kaltla (Old Armenian halile),
or haUla-i kahuli, hinting at the provenience from Kabul.^

In the "Treatise on Wine," Tsiu p'u S llf,^ written by Tou Kin W M
of the Sung, it is said, "In the country Po-se there is a congee made
from the three myrobalans {san-lo tsian H^^),^ resembling wine, and
styled an-mo-lo MMWl {dmalaka, Phyllanthus emhlica) or pH-li-lo
Bfc S5 ^ {mbhltaka, Terminalia belerica)." The source of this state-
ment is not given. If Po-se in this case refers to Persia, it would go
to show that the three myrobalans were known there.

On the other hand, there is qmte a different explanation of the
term san-lo tsian. According to Ma Ci, who wrote in the tenth cen-
tury, this is the designation for a wine obtained from a flower of sweet
flavor, growing in the countries of the West and gathered by the Hu.
The name of the flower is 1^ ^ fo-tej *da-tik.^ In this case the term
san-lo may represent a transcription; it answers to ancient *sam-lak,
sam-rak.

1 Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 7 b; Cou Su, Ch. 50, p. 6.

2 Cf. T'oung Pao, 1915, pp. 275-276. Ho-li-lo were products of A-lo-yi-lo p5
S ^§ S in the north of Ucjcjiyana (T'ai pHfi hwan yii ki, Ch. 186, p. 12 b).

' Cf. G. Ferrand, Textes relatifs k rExtrSme-Orient, p. 227.

* Ed. of T'an Sufi ts'un Su, p. 20.

^ The san lo are the three plants the names of which terminate in lo, — ho-li-lo
(Terminalia chebula), pH-li-lo (T. belerica, Sanskrit vibhltaka, Persian baHla), and
a-mo-lo or an-mo-lo (Phyllanthus emblica, Sanskrit dmalaka, Persian amola).

5 The text is in the T'u Su tsi Ven, XX, Ch. 182, tsa hwa ts'ao pu, hui k'ao 2,
p. 13 b. I cannot trace it in the Pen ts'ao kan mu.

378

THE "GOLD PEACH"

30. A fruit called yellow peach {hwan Vao M ^) or gold peach
(kin Vao '^ M), of the size of a goose-egg, was introduced into China
^nder the reign of the Emperor T'ai Tsufi of the T'ang (a.d, 629-649),
being presented by the country K'afi M (Sogdiana) .^ This introduction
is assigned to the year 647 in the T'an hui yao,^ where it is said that
Sogdiana offered to the Court the yellow peach, being of the size of a
goose-egg and golden in color, and hence styled also **gold peach." A
somewhat earlier date for the introduction of this fruit is on record in
the Ts*e fu yiian kwei,^ which has the notice that in a.d. 625 (under
the Emperor Kao Tsu) Sogdiana presented gold peaches {kin Vao) and
silver peaches {yin Vao), and that by imperial order they were planted
in the gardens. This fruit is not mentioned in the Pen-ts*ao literature;
it is not known what kind of fruit it was. Maybe it was a peculiar
variety of peach.

FU-TSE

31. Fu-tse Ptf ^ is enumerated among the products of Sasanian
Persia in the Sui ^u.^ Pai S fu-tse is attributed to the country Ts'ao
Qaguda) north of the Ts'ufi-lin,^ and to IQ-pin.^

In the form # •? fu-tse, it occurs in a prescription written on a
wooden tablet of the Han period, found in Turkistan.^ Fu-tse ^ ? is
identified with Aconitum fischeri, cultivated on a large scale in Cafi-min
hien in the prefecture of Lu-fian, Se-6'wan.^ It is not known, however,
that this species occurs in Persia.

Yi Tsifi calls attention to the fact that the medicinal herbs of India
are not the same as those of China, and enumerates tubers of aconite
together with, fu-tse among the best drugs of China, and which are never
found in India.®

^ Fun si wen kien ki, Ch. 7, p. i b (ed. of Kifu ts'un l«).
^ Ch. 200, p. 14; also T'ai pHA hwan yil ki, Ch. 183, p. 3.
' Ch. 970, p. 8 b.

* Ch. 83, p. 7 b; also Cou ^m, Ch. 50, p. 6.
" Sui ^M, ibid., p. 8 a.

" T'ai pHfi hwan yil ki, Ch. 182, p. 12 b.

^ Chavannes, Documents de I'^poque des Han, p. 115, No. 530.

^ Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 10.

• Takakusu, Record of the Buddhist Religion, p. 148.

379

BRASSICA

32. Of the two species of mustard, Brassica or Sinapis juncea and
5. alba J the former has always been a native of China {kiai ^). The
latter, however, was imported as late as the T'ang period. It is first
mentioned by Su Kufi in the Pen ts^ao of the T'ang (about a.d. 650) as
coming from the Western Zufi (Si Zun),^ a term which, as noted, fre-
quently refers to Iranian regions. In the Su pen ts'ao S ^ ^, published
about the middle of the tenth century by Han Pao-sefi ^ "R #, we
find the term ^ ^ hu kiai ("mustard of the Hu")« C'en Ts'afi-k'i of
the T'ang states that it grows in T'ai-yuan and Ho-tun M M (San-si),
without referring to the foreign origin. Li Si-cen^ annotates that this
cultivation comes from the Hu and Zufi and abounds in Su (Se-6'wan),
hence the names hu kiai and iw kiai (''mustard of Se-S'wan")» while
the common designation is pai kiai ("white mustard"). This state
of affairs plainly reveals the fact that the plant was conveyed to China
over the land-route of Central Asia, while no allusion is made to an
oversea transplantation. As shown by me on a previous occasion,^
the Si-hia word si-na ("mustard") appears to be related to
Greek sinapi, and was probably carried into the Si-hia kingdom
by Nestorian missionaries, who, we are informed by Marco
Polo, were settled there. The same species was likewise foreign
to the Tibetans, as is evidenced by their designation "white turnip"
(yuns'kar). In India it is not indigenous, either: Watt^ says that
if met with at all, it occurs in gardens only within the tem-
perate areas, or in upper India during the winter months; it is not
a field crop.

This genus comprises nearly a hundred species, all natives of the
north temperate zones, and most of them of ancient European cultiva-
tion (with an independent centre in China).

Abu Mansur^ distinguishes under the Arabic name karnab five kinds
of Brassica J — Nabathaean, Brassica silvestriSj B, marina, B. cypria

1 The same definition is given by T'an Sen-wei in his Cen lei pen ts*ao (Ch. 27,
p. 15).

2 Pen ts^ao kaii mu, Ch. 26, p. 12.
8 T'oung Pao, 19 15, p. 86.

* Commercial Products of India, p. 176.
6 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. no.

380

Brassica 381

(qanbit) and Syrian from Mosul. He further mentions Brassica rapa
under the name Mgem (Arabic Mjam).^

33. One of the synonymes of yiin-Vai S Wl {Brassica rapa) is hu
ts'ai S3 ^ ("vegetable of the Hu"). According to Li Si-cen,^ this term
was first applied to this vegetable by Fu K'ien BR ^ of the second
century A.D.in his T'un su wen M f§- 3fc. If this information were correct,
this would be the earliest example of the occurrence of the term Hu in
connection with a cultivated plant; but this Hu does not relate to
Iranians, for Hu Hia JW ?a , in his Pai pin fan "S ^ 34r, a medical
work of the Sui period (a.d. 589-618), styles the plant sai ts^ai ^^,
which, according to Li Si-Sen, has the same significance as hu ts'ai, and
refers to ^ :^ Sai-wai, the Country beyond the Passes, Mongolia.
Some even believe that Yun-t'ai is a place-name in Mongolia, where
this plant thrives, and that it received therefrom its name. Such
localities abstracted from plant-names are usually afterthoughts and
fictitious.^ The term yun-Vai occurs in the early work Pie lu.

ScHLiMMER^ mentions Brassica capitata (Persian kalam pic), B,
caulozapa {kalam gomri), and B. napus or rapa {Mgem). 1 have already
pointed out that the Persians were active in disseminating species of
Brassica and Raphanus to Tibet, the Turks, and Mongolia.^ Reference
has been made above (p. 199) to the fact that Brassica rapa {yiin-Vai)
was introduced into China from Turkish tribes of Mongolia under the
Later Han dynasty, and it would be reasonable to conclude that these
had previously received the cultivation from Iranians.^ Brassica rapa
is very generally cultivated in Persi^ and most parts of India during
the dry season, from October until March/ Yiin-Vai is enumerated
among the choice vegetables of the country M ^ Mo-lu, *Mar-luk, in
Arabia.^

The country of the Arabs produced the rape-turnip {man-tsin
S W, Brassica rapa-depressa) with roots the size of a peck ^, round,
and of very sweet flavor.®

Yi Tsifi, the Buddhist pilgrim of the seventh century, makes some
commen^t on the difference between Indian and Chinese Brassica by saying,

1 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 87.

2 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 26, p. 9 b.

3 Compare p. 401.

* Terminologie, p. 93.

5 T'oung Pao, 191 5, pp. 84, 87.

" The case would then be analogous to the history of the water-melon.

^ W. Roxburgh, Flora Indica, p. 497.

8 T'ai pHn hwan yii ki, Ch. 186, p. 16 b.

9 Ibid., Ch. 186, p. 15 b.

382 Sino-Iranica

^^Man-tsin occurs [in India] in sufficient quantity and in two varieties,
one with white, the other with black seeds. In Chinese translation it is
called mustard (kie-tse 3F ?) . As in all countries, oil is pressed from it
for culinary purposes. When eating it as a vegetable, I found it not
very different from the man-tsin of China; but as regards the root, which
is rather tough, it is not identical with our man-tsin. The seeds are
coarse, and again bear no relation to mustard-seeds. They are like those
of Hovenia dulcis {U-ku ^ IS) , transformed in their shape in conse-
quence of the soil."^

1 This sentence is entirely misunderstood by J. Takakusu in his translation of
Yi Tsin's work (p. 44), where we read, "The change in the growth of this plant is
considered to be something Hke the change of an orange-tree into a bramble when
brought north of the Yangtse River." The text has: ^JS^tRMH:^^^-
There is nothing here about an oi;ange or a bramble or the Yangtse. The character
1^ is erroneously used for |§-, as is still the case in southern Chin^ (see Stuart,
Chinese Materia Medica, p. 209), and ;t^ ^&' is a well-known botanical name for a
rhamnaceous tree (not an orange), Hovenia dulcis. "Change of an orange-tree into
a bramble" is nonsense in itself.

CUMMIN

34. Under the foreign term ^ M U-lo^ *2i-la, the Chinese have
not described the fennel (Foeniculum vulgar e)^ as erroneously asserted
by Watters^ and Stuart,^ but cummin [Cuminum cyminum) and
caraway {Carum carui) . This is fundamentally proved by the prototype,
Middle Persian lira or zlra, Sanskrit jlra, of which H-lo (*zi-la) forms
the regular transcription.^ In India, jlra refers to both cummin and
caraway.^ Although Cuminum is more or less cultivated in most prov-
inces of India, except Bengal and Assam, there is, according to Watt,
fairly conclusive evidence that it is nowhere indigenous; but in several
districts it would appear to be so far naturalized as to have been re-
garded as ''wild," even by competent observers. No doubt, it was
transmitted to India from Iran. Cummin was known to the ancient
Persians, being mentioned in the inscription of Cyrus at Persepolis,^
and at an early period penetrated from Iran to Egypt on the one hand,
and to India on the other.^

Avicenna distinguishes four varieties of cummin (Arabic kammiln)^
— that of Kirman, which is black; that of Persia, which is yellow and
more active than the others; that of Syria, and the Nabathaean.^ Each
variety is both spontaneous and cultivated. Abu Mansur regards that
of Kirman as the best, and styles it zlre-i kirman.^ This name, accord-
ing to ScHLiMMER,^^ would refer to caraway, also called zlre-i siahy^^
while cummin is styled in Persian zlre-i sehze or sefid. Caraway {Carum

1 Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 440. He even adds "coriander," which
is hu swi (p. 297).

' Chinese Materia Medica, p. 176. Fennel is hwi Man ® §, while a synon3mie
of cummin is siao hwi Man ("small fennel").

' In the same form, the word occurs in Tibetan, zi-ra (T'oung Pao, 1916, p. 475).

^ G. Watt, Commercial Products of India, p. 442.

5 JORET, Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 66.

6 Ibid., p. 258.

^ Hebrew kammon, Assyrian kamanu, resulting in Greek Khynvov, Latin cumlr
num, cyminum, or cimlnum; Armenian caman; Persian kamun.

8 Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. Ill, p. 196.

" AcHUNDOw, Abu Mansur, pp. 112, 258.

^° Terminologie, p. 112.

" In India, the Persian word siah refers to the black caraway {Carum bulbocasta-
num), which confirms Schlimmer's opinion. Also Avicenna's black cummin of
Kirman apparently represents this species. This plant is a native of Baluchistan,
Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Lahal, mainly occurring as a weed in cultivated land.

383

384 Sino-Iranica

carui), however, is commonly termed in Persian ^dh-zlre ("cummin of
the Shah") or zlre-i rilml ("Byzantine or Turkish ctmimin").^

While the philological evidence would speak in favor of a trans-
mission of cummin from Persia to China, this point is not clearly brought
out by our records. C'en Ts'afi-k'i, who wrote in the first half of the
eighth century, states that H-lo grows in Fu-si ® ^ (Bhoja, Sumatra).
Li Siin, in his Hai yao pen ts^ao, says after the Kwan cou kt ^ ffl Ifi
that the plant grows in the country Po-se;^ and Su Sun of the Sung
notes that in his time it occurred in Lin-nan (Kwafi-tun) and adjoining
regions. Now, the Kwan (^ou ki is said to have been written under the
Tsin dynasty (a.d. 265-420) f and, as will be shown below in detail, the
Po-se of Li Sun almost invariably denotes, not Persia, but the Malayan
Po-se. Again, it is Li Sun who does not avail himself of the Iranian form
H-lo=Bra, but of the Sanskrit form firaka, possibly conveyed through
the medium of the Malayan Po-se.

Li Si-6en has entered under H-lo another foreign word in the form
W>^W) ts'e-mou-lo (*dzi-m^u-lak), which he derived from the K^ai
pao pen ts^ao, and which, in the same manner as H-lo, he stamps as a
foreign word. This transcription has hitherto defied identification,*
because it is incorrectly recorded. It is met with correctly in the Ceh
lei pen ts'ao^ in the form M W) ts'e-lo, *dzi-lak(rak), and this answers
to Sanskrit firaka. This form is handed down in the Hai yao pen ts'ao,
written by Li Sun in the eighth century. Thus we have, on the one
hand a Sanskrit form firaka, conveyed by the Malayan Po-se to Kwafi-
turi in the T'ang period, and on the other hand the Iranian type H-
lo=^ira, which for phonetic reasons must likewise go back to the era
of the T'ang, and which we should suppose had migrated overland to
China. The latter point, for the time being, remains an hypothesis,
which will perhaps be elucidated by the documents of Turkistan.

^ Corresponding to Arabic kardwyd, the source of our word caraway.

2 The (^en lei pen ts'ao (Ch. 13, p. 27 b) repeats this without citing a source.

3 Cf. below, p. 475.

* Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 176.
6 Ch. 13, p. 17 b.

THE DATE-PALM

35. The Chinese records of the date-palm (Phoenix dactylifera)
contain two points that are of interest to science: first, a contribution
to the geographical distribution of the tree in ancient times; and,
second, a temporary attempt at acclimating it in China. The tree is
not indigenous there. It is for the first time in the T'ang period that
we receive some information about it; but it is mentioned at an earlier
date as a product of Sasanian Persia in both the Wei ^u and Sui iw,
under the name tsHen nien tsao "T" ^ ft (''jujubes of thousand years,"
the jujube, Zizyphus vulgaris ^ being a native of China) .^ In the Yu yan
tsa tsUj^ the date is styled Pose tsao S 9f ft (''Persian jujube"), with
the observation that its habitat is in Po-se (Persia), or that it comes
from there.^ The Persian name is then given in the form S ^ k'u-man,
*k'ut(k'ur)-man, which would correspond to a Middle Persian *xurmafi
(*khurmang), Pazand and New Persian xurmdy that was also adopted
by Osmanli and Neo-Greek, xovpiids ("date") and KovpjjLadrja ("date-
palm"), Albanian korme.^ The T'an ^u^ writes the same word SI ^
hu-mafi, *gu5(gur)-man, answering to a Middle-Persian form *gurman
or *kurmari. The New-Persian word is rendered ^ ® M k'u-lu(ru)-ma
in the Pen ts*ao kan mu;^ this is the style of the Yuan transcriptions/

^ This name was bestowed upon the tree, not, as erroneously asserted by*HiRTH
(Chau Ju-kua, p. 210), "evidently on account of the stony hardness of the dates on
reaching China," but, as stated in the Pen ts'ao kan mu (Ch. 31, p. 8), owing to the
long-enduring character of the tree ^ ^ '^ 1^ ^ -|^. The same explanation
holds good for the synonyme wan sui tsao ("jujube of ten thousand or numerous
years "). Indeed, this palm lives to a great age, and trees of from one to two hundred
years old continue to produce their annual crop.

2 Ch. 18, p. ID.

' The same term, Po-se tsao, appears in a passage of the Pei hu lu (Ch. 2, p. 9 b),
where the trunk and leaves of the sago-palm {Sago rumphii) are compared with those
of the date.

* In Old Armenian of the fifth century we have the Iranian loan-word armav,
and hence it is inferred that the x of Persian was subsequently prefixed (Hubsch-
MANN, Persische Studien, p. 265; Armen. Gram., p. iii). The date of the Chinese
transcriptions proves that the initial x existed in Pahlavi.

5 Ch. 221 B, p. 13.

^ Ch. 31, p. 21. It is interesting to note that Li §i-2en endeavors to make out
a distinction between k'u-man and k'u-lu-ma by saying that the former denotes the
tree, the latter the fruit; but both, in his opinion, are closely alHed foreign words.

' The T'ang transcription, of course, is not "probably a distorted transcription
of khurma/' as asserted by Bretschneider (Chinese Recorder, 1871, p. 266), but, on
the contrary, is very exact.

38s

386 Sino-Iranica

and first occurs in the Co ken Zm Sc# §i, published in 13*66. The Persian
word has also migrated into the modern Aryan languages of India,
as well as into the Malayan group: Javanese kurma; Cam kuramo;
Malayan, Dayak, and Sunda korma; Bugi and Makassar koromma;
also into Khmer: romo, lomo, amo.

Following is the description of the tree given in the Yu yan tsa tsu:
"It is thirty to forty feet in height,^ and has a circumference of from
five to six feet. The leaves resemble those of the fu fen ih ^ (a kind
of rattan), and remain ever green. It blooms in the second month.
The blossoms are shaped like those of the banana, and have a double
bottom. They open gradually; and in the fissure are formed more than
ten seed-cases, two inches long, yellow and white in color. When the
kernel ripens, the seeds are black. In their appearance they resemble
dried jujubes. They are good to eat and as sweet as candy."

Another foreign word for the date is handed down by C'en Ts'ari-k*i
in his Pen ts*ao U ij in the form M W wu-lou, *bu-nu. He identifies
this term with the '' Persian jujube," which he says grows in Persia,
and has the appearance of a jujube. Li §i-6en annotates that the mean-
ing of this word is not yet explained. Neither Bretschneider nor any
one else has commented on this name. It is strikingly identical with
the old Egyptian designation of the date, hunnu} It is known that
the Arabs have an infinite number of terms for the varieties of the date
and the fruit in its various stages of growth, and it may be that they
likewise adopted the Egyptian word and transmitted it to China. The
common Arabic names are nakhl and tamr (Hebrew tamar^ Syriac
temar). On the other hand, the relation of wu-lou to the Egyptian word
may be accidental, if we assume that wu-lou was originally the designa-
tion of Cycas revoluta (see below), and was only subsequently trans-
ferred to the date-palm.

The Lin piao lu i^ by Liu Sun contains the following interesting
account: —

"In regard to the date ('Persian jujube')? this tree may be seen in
the subiurbs of Kwan-c^ou (Canton). The trunk of the tree is entirely
without branches, is straight, and rises to a height of from thirty to
forty feet. The crown of the tree spreads in all directions, and forms
over ten branches. The leaves are like those of the 'sea coir-palm'

1 It even grows to a height of sixty or eighty feet.

2 V. LORET, Flore pharaonique, p. 34. I concur with Loret in the opinion that
the Egyptian word is the foundation of Greek (j>otvi^. The theory of Hehn (Kul-
turpflanzen, p. 273) and upheld by Schrader {ibid., p. 284), that the latter might
denote the Phoenician tree, does not seem to me correct.

' Ch. B, p. 4 (see above, p. 268).

The Date-Palm 387

(hat isun M tf , Chamaerops excelsa)} The trees planted in Kwafi-c^ou
bear fruit once in three or five years. The fruits resemble the green
jujube growing in the north, but are smaller. They turn from green
to yellow. When the leaves have come out, the fruit is formed in
clusters, each cluster generally bearing from three to twenty berries,
which require careful handling. The foreign as well as the domestic
kind is consumed in our country. In color it resembles that of granulated
sugar. Shell and meat are soft and bright. Baked into cakes or steamed
in water, they are savory. The kernel is widely different from that of
the jujube of the north. The two ends are not pointed [as in the jujube],
but doubly rolled up and round like a small piece of red kino ^ ^}
They must be carefully handled. When sown, no shoots sprout forth
for a long time, so that one might suppose they would never mature."

The date is clearly described in this text; and we learn from it that
the tree was cultivated in Kwan-tufi, and its fruit was also imported
during the T'ang period. As Liu Sun, author of that work, lived under
the Emperor Cao Tsufi (a.d. 889-904), this notice refers to the end of
the ninth century.^ A. de Candolle^ states erroneously that the
Chinese received the tree from Persia in the third century of our era.

In his note on the date, headed by the term wu-lou tse^ Li Si-6en^
has produced a confusion of terms, and accordingly brought together

1 In the text of this work, as cited in the Pen ts'ao kait mu, this clause is worded
as follows: "The leaves are like those of the isun-lii |§ |0 {Chamaerops excelsa),
and hence the people of that locality style the tree [the date] hai tsun ('sea,' that is,
'foreign coir-palm')." This would indeed appear more logical than the passage
above, rendered after the edition of Wu yin Hen, which, however, must be regarded
as more authoritative. Not only in this extract, but also in several others, does the
Pen ts'ao kan mu exhibit many discrepancies from the Wu yin Hen edition; this
subject should merit closer study. In the present case there is only one other point
worthy of special mention; and this is, that Li §i-6en, in his section of nomenclature,
gives the synonyme ^ ^ fan tsao ("foreign jujube") with reference to the Lin
piao lu i. This term, however, does not occur in the text of this work as trans-
mitted by him, or in the Wu yin Hen edition. The latter has added a saying of the
Emperor Wen 3fiC of the Wei dynasty, which has nothing to do with the date, and
in which is found the phrase j»L fi/^w tsao ("all jujubes"). In other editions, /a»
("foreign") was perhaps substituted for this fan, so that the existence of the
synonyme established by Li and adapted by Bretschneider appears to be very
doubtful.

2 See below, p. 478.

' It is singular that Bretschneider, who has given a rather uncritical digest of
the subject from the Pen ts'ao, does not at all mention this transplantation of the
tree. To my mind, this is the most interesting point to be noted. Whether date-
palms are still grown in Kwan-tun, I am not prepared to say; but, as foreign authors
do not mention the fact, I almost doubt it.

* Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 303.

^ Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 31, p. 8. >

388 Sino-Iranica

a number of heterogeneous texts. Bretschneider^ has accepted all this
in good faith and without criticism. It is hardly necessary to be a
botanist in order to see that the texts of the Nan fan ts'ao mu ^wan
and Co ken lu, alleged to refer to the date, bear no relation to this tree.^
The hat tsao % fi described in the former work^ may very well refer
to Cycas revoluta.^ The text of the other book, which Bretschneider does
not quote by its title, and erroneously characterizes as "a writer of the
Ming," speaks of six "gold fruit" (kin kwo ^^) trees growing in
C'en-tu, capital of Se-S'wan, and, according to an oral tradition, planted
at the time of the Han. Then follows a description of the tree, the
foreign name of which is given as k'u-lu-ma (see above), and which,
according to Bretschneider, suits the date-palm quite well. It is hardly
credible, however, that this tree could ever thrive in the climate of
Se-6'wan, and Bretschneider himself admits that the fruit of Salishuria
adiantijolia now bears also the name kin kwo. Thus, despite the fact
that the Persian name for the date is added, the passage of the Co ken
lu is open to the suspicion of some misunderstanding.

Not only did the Chinese know that the date is a product of Persia,
but they knew also that it was utilized as food by certain tribes of the

1 Chinese Recorder, 1871, pp. 265-267.

2 Bretschneider, it should be understood, was personally acquainted with only
the flora of Peking and its environment; for the rest, his familiarity with Chinese
plants was mere book-knowledge, and botany as a science was almost foreign to
him. Research in the history of cultivated plants was in its very beginning in
his days; and his methods relating to such subjects were not very profound, and were
rather crude.

3 Ch, B, p. 4. Also Wu K'i-tsun, author of the Ci wu min U Vu k'ao (Ch. 17,
p. 21), has identified the term wu-lou-tse with hat tsao.

* Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 140; but Stuart falls into the other ex-
treme by identifying with this species also the terms Po-se tsao, tsHen nien tsao,
etc., which without any doubt relate to the date. In Bretschneider 's translation
of the above text there is a curious misunderstanding. We read there, "In the year
285 A.D. Lin-yi offered to the Emperor Wu-ti a hundred trees of the hai tsao. The
prince Li-sha told the Emperor that in his travels by sea he saw fruits of this tree,
which were, without exaggeration, as large as a melon." The text reads, "In the
fifth year of the period T'ai-k'an (a.d. 284), Lin-yi presented to the Court a hundred
trees. Li §ao-kun ^ /p ?^ (the well-known magician) said to the Emperor Wu
of the Han, ' During my sea- voyages I met Nan-k'i Sen S^ ffl ^ (the magician of
the Blest Islands), who ate jujubes of the size of a gourd, which is by no means an
exaggeration.' " The two events are not interrelated; the second refers to the second
century B.C. Neither, however, has anything to do with the date. The working of
Chinese logic is visibly manifest: the sea-travels of Li §ao-kun are combined with
his fabulous jujube into the sea-jujube {hai tsao), and this imaginary product is
associated with a real tree of that name. Li §i-2en's example shows at what fancies
the Chinese finally arrive through their wrong associations of ideas; and Bret-
schneider's example finally demonstrates that any Chinese data must first be taken
under our microscope before being accepted by science.

The Date-Palm 389

East-African coast. The eariy texts relating to Ta Ts'in do not mention
the palm; but at the end of the article Fu-lin (Syria), the T^an ^u speaks
of two countries, S M Mo-lin (*Mwa-lin, Mwa-rin) and ^^M
Lao-p'o-sa (*Lav-bwi5-sar), as being situated 2000 U south-west of
Fu-lin, and sheltering a dark-complexioned population. The land is
barren, the people feed their horses on dried fish, and they themselves
subsist on dates.^ Bretschneider^ was quite right in seeking this
locality in Africa, but it is impossible to accept his suggestion that
''perhaps the Chinese names Mo-lin and Lao-p'o-sa are intended to
express the country of the Moors (Mauritania) or Lybia." Hirth^
did not discuss this weak theory, and, while locating the countries
in question along the west coast of the Red Sea, did not attempt to
identify the transcriptions. According to Ma Twan-lin, the country
Mo-Hn is situated south-west of the country ^ K ^ Yafi-sa-lo, which
Hirth tentatively equated with Jerusalem. This is out of the question,
as Yafi-sa-lo answers to an ancient Afi-sa5(sar)-la(ra).* Moreover, it
is on record in the T'ai pHn hwan yii ki^ that Mo-lin is south-west of
^ M H P'o-sa-lo (*Bwi5-sa5-la), so that this name is clearly identical
with that of Ma Twan-lin and the transcription of the T'ang Annals.
In my opinion, the transcription *Mwa-lin is intended for the Malindi
of Edrisi or Mulanda of Yaqut, now Malindi, south of the Equator, in
Seyidieh Province of British East Africa. Edrisi describes this place
as a large city, the inhabitants of which live by hunting and fishing.
They salt sea-fish for trade, and also exploit iron-mines, iron being the
source of their wealth.^ If this identification be correct, the geographical
definition of the T'ang Annals (2000 U south-west of Fu-lin) is, of course,
deficient; but we must not lose sight of the fact that these data rest
on a hearsay report hailing from Fu-lin, and that, generally speaking,
Chinese calculations of distances on sea-routes are not to be taken too
seriously.^ Under the Ming, the same country appears as Jft # Ma-lin,
the king of which sent an embassy to China in 141 5 with a gift of

^ In the transcription hu-man, as given above, followed by the explanation that
this is the "Persian jujube." The date is not a native of eastern Africa, nor does it
thrive in the tropics, but it was doubtless introduced there by the Arabs (cf. F.
Storbeck, Mitt. Sem. Or. Spr., 1914, II, p. 158; A. Engler, Nutzpflanzen Ost-
Afrikas, p. 12).

2 Knowledge possessed by the Chinese of the Arabs, p. 25.
2 China and the Roman Orient, p. 204.

* If Mo-lin was on the littoral of the Red Sea, it would certainly be an absurdity
to define its location as south-west of Jersualem.
6 Ch. 184, p. 3.

^ Dozy and de Goeje, Edrlsl's description de I'Afrique, p. 56 (Leiden, 1866).
' Cf. Chinese Clay Figures, pp. 80-81, note.

39© Sino-Iranica

giraffes.^ It likewise appears in the list of countries visited by Cen Ho,^
where Ma-lin and La-sa M M are named, the latter apparently being
identical with the older Lao-p'o-sa.^

The Chinese knew, further, that the date thrives in the country of
the Arabs (Ta-§i),^ further, in Oman, Basra, and on the Coromandel
Coast.^ It is pointed out, further, for Aden and Ormuz.^

There is no doubt that the date-palm has existed in southern Persia
from ancient times, chiefly on the littoral of the Persian Gulf and in
Mekran, Baluchistan. It is mentioned in several passages of the
Bundahi^n.'^ Its great antiquity in Babylonia also is uncontested
(Assyrian giUmmaru).^ Strabo^ reports how Alexander's army was
greatly distressed on its march through the barren Gedrosian desert.
The supplies had to come from a distance, and were scanty and un-
frequent, so much so that the army suffered greatly from hunger, the
beasts of burden dropped, and the baggage was abandoned. The army
was saved by the consumption of dates and the marrow of the palm-
tree. ^'^ Again he tells us that many persons were suffocated by eating
unripe dates. ^^ Philostratus speaks of a eunuch who received ApoUonius
of Tyana when he entered the Parthian kingdom, and offered him
dates of amber color and of ^exceptional size.^^ In the Province of Pars,
the date-palm is conspicuous almost ever3rvirhere.^^ In Babylon, Persian
and Aramaic date-palms were distinguished, the former being held in
greater esteem, as their meat perfectly detaches itself from the stone,
while it partially adheres in the Aramaic date.^^ The same distinction

1 Ta Min i Vun U, Ch. 90, p. 24.

2 Min H, Ch. 304.

' It is not Ma-lin-la-sa, the name of a single country, as made out by Groene-
VELDT (Notes on the Malay Archipelago, p. 170).

* T'ai pHn hwan yu ki, Ch. 186, p. 15 b.

5 HiRTH, Chau Ju-kua, pp. 133, 137, 96.

« RocKHiLL, T'oung Pao, 191 5, p. 609. The word io-Sa-pu, not explained by
him, represents Arabic dusdb ("date- wine"; see Leclerc, Traits des simples.
Vol. II, p. 49). N6LDEKE (Persische Studien, II, p. 42) explains this word from
dilS ("honey") and Persian db ("water").

^ Above, p. 193.

8 Herodotus, i, 193; E. Bonavia, Flora of the Assyrian Monuments, p. 3;
Handcock, Mesopotamian Archaeology, pp. 12-13.

9 XV, 2, § 7.

10 Cf. Theophrastus, Histor. plant., IV. iv, 13.
" Ibid., IV. IV, 5; and Pliny, xni, 9.

" C. JoRET, Plantes dans rantiquit6. Vol. II, p. 93.

1' G. Le Strange, Description of the Province of Pars, pp. 31, 33, 35, 39, 40,
etc.

1* I. LoEW, Aramaeische Pflanzennamen, p. 112.

The Date-Palm 391

was made in the Sasanian empire: in the tax laws of Khosrau I (a.d.
531-578), four Persian date-palms were valued and taxed equally with
six common ones.^ As already remarked, the Wei and Sui Annals
attribute the date to Sasanian Persia, and the date is mentioned in
Pahlavi literature (above, p. 193). At present dates thrive in the low
plains of Kerman and of the littoral of the Persian Gulf; but the crops
are insufficient, so that a considerable importation from Bagdad takes
place.^

A. DE Candolle^ asserts, ''No Sanskrit name is known, whence it
may be inferred that the plantations of the date-palm in western India
are not very ancient. The Indian climate does not suit the species."
There is the Sanskrit name kharjura for Phoenix sylvestris, that already
occurs in the Yajurveda.^ This is the wild date or date-sugar palm,
which is indigenous in many parts of India, being most abundant in
Bengal, Bihar, on the Coromandel Coast, and in Gujarat. The edible
date (P. dactylifera) is cultivated and self-sown in Sind and the southern
Panjab, particularly near Multan, Muzaffargarh, the Sind Sagar Doab,
and in the Trans-Indus territory. It is also grown in the Deccan and
Gujarat.^ Its Hindi name is khajUra, Hindustani khajUr, ftom Sanskrit
kharjUra. It is also called sindhi, seindi, sendri, which names allude to
its origin from Sind. Possibly Sanskrit kharjUra and Iranian khurma(n)y
at least as far as the first element is concerned, are anciently related.

^ N6LDEKE, Tabari, p. 245.

2 ScHLiMMER, Terminologie, p. 175.

^ Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 303.

* Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index, Vol. I, p. 215.

5 G. Watt, Commercial Products of India, pp. 883, 885.

THE SPINACH

36. In regard to the spinach {Spinacia oleracea), Bretschneider^
stated that ''it is said to come from Persia. The botanists consider
western Asia as the native country of spinach, and derive the names
Spinacia, spinage, spinat, epinards, from the spinous seeds; but as the
Persian name is esfinadsh, our various names would seem more likely
to be of Persian origin." The problem is not quite so simple, however.
It is not stated straightforwardly in any Chinese source that the spinach
comes from Persia; and the name ''Persian vegetable" {Pose ts'ai) is
of recent origin, being first traceable in the Pen ts^ao kan mu, where
Li Si-5en himself ascribes it to a certain Fan Si-yin ^ it 8.

Strangely enough, we get also in this case a taste of the Cafi-K'ien
myth. At least, H. L. Joly^ asserts, "The Chinese and Japanese Reposi-
tory says that Chang K'ien brought to China the spinach." The only
Chinese work in which I am able to find this tradition is the T^un U
ii JS,^ written by Cefi Tsiao 8B ffi of the Sung dynasty, who states in
cold blood that Can K'ien brought spinach over. Not even the Pen
ts^ao^kan mu dares repeat this fantasy. It is plainly devoid of any
value, in view of the fact that spinach was unknown in the west as
far back as the second century B.C. Indeed, it was unfamiliar to the
Semites and to the ancients. It is a cultivation that comes to light
only in mediaeval times.

In. perfect agreement with this state of affairs, spinach is not men-
tioned in China earHer than the T'ang period. As regards the literatiire
on agriculture, the vegetable makes its first appearance in the Cun ^u
^uWM^, written toward the end of the eighth century. * Here it is
stated that the spinach, po-lin ^ ^ (*pwa-lin), came from the country
Po-lifi 'SM® (*Pwa-lin, Palinga).

The first Pen ts'ao that speaks of the spinach is the Cen lei pen ts'ao
written by T'afi Sen-wei in a.d. 1108.^ This Materia Medica describes
altogether 1746 articles, compared with 1118 which are treated in the
Kia yu pu iu pen ts'ao (published in the period Kia-yu, a.d. 1056-64),
so that 628 new ones were added. These are expressly so designated in

^ Chinese Recorder, 1871, p. 223.

2 Legend in Japanese Art, p. 35.

' Ch. 75, p. 32 b.

* Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. i, p. 79.

« Ch. 29, p. 14 b (print of 1587).

392

The Spinach 393

the table of contents preceding each chapter, and spinach ranks among
these novelties. Judging from the description here given, it must have
been a favorite vegetable in the Sung period. It is said to be particularly-
beneficial to the people in the north of China, who feed on meat and
flour (chiefly in the form of vermicelli), while the southerners, who
subsist on fish and turtles, cannot eat much of it, because their water
food makes them cold, and spinach brings about the same effect.^
The Kia yU (or hwa) lu M M (or iS) H by Liu Yu-si 9\M^ (a.d.
772-842) is cited to the effect that '^po-lin ^ ^ was originally in the
western countries, and that its seeds came thence to China^ in the
same manner as alfalfa and grapes were brought over by Can K*ien.
Originally it was the country of Po-lifi M. M, and an error arose in the
course of the transmission of the word, which is not known to many at
this time."

The first and only historical reference to the matter that we have
occurs in the T'an hut yao^ where it is on record, "At the time of the
Emperor T'ai Tsufi (a.d. 627-649), in the twenty-first year of the period
Cen-kwan (a.d. 647), Ni-p'o-lo (Nepal) sent to the Court the vegetable
po-lin '^ic ^, resembling the flower of the hun-lan tt ^ {Carthamus
tinctorius), the fruit being like that of the tsi-li M 181 {Tribulus ter-
restris). Well cooked, it makes good eating, and is savory."^

This text represents not only the earliest datable mention of the
vegetable in Chinese records, but in general the earliest reference to it
that we thus far possess. This document shows that the plant then was
a novelty not only to the Chinese, but presumably also to the people
of Nepal; otherwise they would not have thought it worthy of being
sent as a gift to China, which was made in response to a request of the

^ John Gerarde (The Herball or Generall Historic of Plantes, p. 260, London,
1597) remarks, "Spinach is evidently colde and moist, almost in the second degree,
but rather moist. It is one of the potherbes whose substance is waterie."

2 According to another reading, a Buddhist monk (sen) is said to have brought
the seeds over, which sounds rather plausible. G. A. Stuart remarks that the herb
is extensively used by the monks in their lenten fare.

3 Ch. 200, p. 14 b (also Ch. 100, p. 3 b). Cf. Ts*efu yuan kwei, Ch. 970, p. 12,
and Pet hu lu, Ch. 2, p. 19 b (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan).

* The T'ai pHfi yii Ian (Ch. 980, p. 7) attributes this text to the T'ang Annals.
It is not extant, however, in the account of Nepal inserted in the two T'an su, nor
in the notice of Nepal in the T'an hui yao. Pen ts'ao kan mu, T'u ^u tsi Ven, and
Ci wu min H t'u k'ao (Ch. 5, p. 37) correctly cite the above text from the T'an hui
yao, with the only variant that the leaves of the po-lin resemble those of the hun-
lan. The Fun H wen kien ki (Ch, 7, p. i b) by Fun Yen of the ninth century
(above, p. 232), referring to the same introduction, offers a singular name for the
spinach in the form Wi ^Wi^ po-lo-pa-tsao, *pa-la-bat-tsaw, or, if tsao, denot-
ing several aquatic plants, does not form part of the transcription, *pa-la-bat(bar).

394 Sino-Iranica

Emperor T'ai Tsufi that all tributary nations should present their
choicest vegetable products. Yiian Wen A 3fc, an author of the Sung
period, in his work Wen yu kien pHn S >W 55 ^/ states that the spinach
(po-lin) comes from (or is produced in) the country Ni-p'o-lo (Nepal)
in the Western Regions.^ The Kia yu pen ts'ao, compiled in a.d. 1057,
is the first Materia Medica that introduced the spinach into the pharma-
copoeia.^

The colloquial name is po ts'ai 'S?K ("po vegetable")? po being
abbreviated for po-lin. According to Wan Si-mou i ifr S (who died
in 1 591), in his Kwa su su J&l^ K, the current name in northern China
is c'i ken ts'ai # ffi ?K ("red-root vegetable"). The Kwan k'unfan p'u
uses also the term yin-wu ts'ai ("parrot vegetable"), named for the
root, which is red, and believed to resemble a parrot. Aside from the
term Pose ts^ai^ the Pen ts'ao kan mu H i^ gives the synonymes hun
ts'ai S?K ("red vegetable") and yan ff ts'ai ("foreign vegetable").
Another designation is ^an-hu ts*ai ("coral vegetable").

A rather bad joke is perpetrated by the Min iw K #, a description
of Fu-kien Province written at the end of the sixteenth or beginning of
the seventeenth century, where the name po-lin is explained as ^ It
po len ("waves and edges"), because the leaves are shaped like wave-
patterns and have edges. There is nothing, of course, that the Chinese
could not etymologize.^

There is no account in the traditions of the T*ang and Sung periods
to the effect that the spinach was derived fron^ Persia; and in view of
the recent origin of the term "Persian vegetable," which is not even
explained, we are tempted at the outset to dismiss the theory of
a Persian origin. Stuart^ even goes so far as to say that, " as the Chinese
have a ten^dency to attribute everything that comes from the south-
west to Persia, we are not surprised to find this called Pose ts^aOy *Per-

1 Ch. 4, p. lib (ed. of Wu yifi Hen, 1775).

'Slt1tffiH®?lg^MS- This could be translated also, "in the
Western Regions and in the country Ni-p'o-lo."

3 Ci wu mifi U Vu k'ao, Ch. 4, p. 38 b.

* Ch. 8, p. 87 b.

8 Of greater interest is the following fact recorded in the same book. The
spinach in the north of China is styled "bamboo (6u 1^) po-lin," with long and
bitter stems; that of Fu-kien is termed "stone (H ^) po-lin," and has short and
sweet stems. — The Min Su, in 154 chapters, was written by Ho K'iao-yuan jpf ^
^ from Tsin-kian in Fu-kien; he obtained the degree of tsin H in 1586 (cf. Cat. of
the Imperial Library, Ch. 74, p. 19).

* Chinese Materia Medica, p. 417.

The Spinach 395

sian vegetable.' "^ There is, however, another side to the case. In all
probability, as shown by A. de Candolle,^ it was Persia where the
spinach was first raised as a vegetable; but the date ..given by him,
''from the time of the Graeco-Roman civilization," is far too early .^
A. deCandolle's statement that the Arabs did not carry the plant to Spain
has already been rectified by L. Leclerc;^ as his work is usually not in
the hands of botanists or other students using de Candolle, this may
aptly be pointed out here.

According to a treatise on agriculture {Kitdh el-falaha) written by
Ibn al-Awwam of Spain toward the end of the eleventh century, spinach
was cultivated in Spain at that time.^ Ibn Haddjaj had then even
written a special treatise on the cultivation of the vegetable, saying that
it was sown at Sevilla in January. From Spain it spread to the rest of
Europe. Additional evidence is afforded by the very name of the
plant, which is of Persian origin, and was carried by the Arabs to Europe.
The Persian designation is aspanak^ aspandj or asfindj; Arabic isfendh
or ishenak. Hence Mediaeval Latin spinackium or spinarium,^ Spanish

^ The outcry of Watters (Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 347) against the
looseness of the term Po-se, and his denunciation of the "Persian vegetable" as "an
example of the loose way in which the word is used," are entirely out of place. It
is utterly incorrect to say that "they have made it include, beside Persia itself, Syria,
Turkey, and the Roman Empire, and sometimes they seem to use it as a sort of
general designation for the abode of any barbarian people to the south-west of
the Middle Kingdom." Po-se is a good transcription of Parsa, the native designa-
tion of Persia, and strictly refers to Persia and to nought else. When F. P. Smith applied
the name po-ts'ai to Convolvulus reptans, this was one of the numerous confusions
and errors to which he fell victim. Likewise is it untrue, as asserted by Watters,
that the term has been applied even to beet and carrot and other vegetables not
indigenous in Persia. As on so many other points, Watters was badly informed on
this subject also.

2 Origin of Cultivated Plants, pp. 98-100.

' This conclusion, again, is the immediate outcome of Bretschneider's Chang-
kienomania: for A. de Candolle says, " Bretschneider tells us that the Chinese
name signifies 'herb of Persia,' and that Western vegetables were commonly intro-
duced into China a century before the Christian era."

*Trait6 des simples. Vol. I, p. 61.

^ L. Leclerc, Histoire de la m^decine arabe. Vol. II, p. 112. The Arabic work
has been translated into French by Cl£ment-Mullet under the title Ibn al Awwam,
le livre de I'agriculture (2 vols., Paris, 1864-67). De Candolle's erroneous theory
that "the European cultivation must have come from the East about the fifteenth
century," unfortunately still holds sway, and is perpetuated, for instance, in the
last edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

^ The earliest occurrence of this term quoted by Du Cange refers to the year
1 35 1, and is contained in the Transactio inter Abbatem et Monachos Crassenses,
Spinach served the Christian monks of Europe as well as the Buddhists of China.
O. ScHRADER (Reallexikon, p. 788) asserts that the vegetable is first mentioned by
Albertus Magnus (i 193-1280) under the name spinachium, but he fails to give a

396 Sino-Iranica

espinaca, Portuguese espinafre or espinaciOy Italian spinace or spinaccio,
Provengal espinarc, Old French espinoche or epinoche, French epinard}
The Persian word was further adopted into Armenian spanax or
asbanaXf Turkish spandk or ispandk^ Comanian yspanac, Middle
Greek spinakion^ Neo-Greek spanaki{on) or spanakia (plural).
There are various spellings in older English, like spynnage,
spenege, spinnage, spinage, etc. In English literature it is not men-
tioned earlier than the sixteenth century. W. Turner, in his
"Herball" of 1568, speaks of "spinage or spinech as an herbe lately
found and not long in use."

However, in the latter part of the sixteenth century, spinach was
well known and generally eaten in England. D. Rembert Dodoens^
describes it as a perfectly known subject, and so does John Gerarde,^
who does not even intimate that it came but recently into use. The
names employed by them are Spanachea, Spinackia, Spinacheum olus,
Hispanicum olus, English spinage and spinach. John Parkinson^
likewise gives a full description and recipes for the preparation of the
vegetable.

The earliest Persian mention of the spinach, as far as I know, is
made in the pharmacopoeia of Abu Manstu-.^ The oldest sotu-ce cited
by Ibn al-Baitar (i 197-1248)" on the subject is the "Book of Nabathaean
Agriculture" {F aloha nabaftya), which pretends to be the Arabic trans-
lation of an ancient Nabathaean source, and is believed to be a forgery
of the tenth centvuy. This book speaks of the spinach as a known
vegetable and as the most harmless of all vegetables; but the most
interesting remark is that there is a wild species resembling the culti-
vated one, save that it is more slender and thinner, that the leaves are

specific reference. It is a gratuitous theory of his that the spinach must have been
brought to Europe by the Crusaders; the Arabic importation into Spain has escaped
him entirely.

1 The former derivation of the word from "Spain" or from spina ("thorn"), in
allusion to the prickly seeds, moves on the same high level as the performance of the
Min Su. Littr6 cites M6nagier of the sixteenth century to the effect, "Les espinars
sont ainsi appell^s h cause de leur graine qui est espineuse, bien qu'il y en ait de ronde
sans piqueron." In the Supplement, Littr6 points out the oriental origin of the word,
as established by Devic.

* A Niewe Herball, or Historic of Plants, translated by H. Lyte, p. 556 (Lon-
don, 1578).

» The Herball or Generall Historic of Plantes, p. 260 (London, 1597).

* Paradisus in sole paradisus tcrrcstris, p. 496 (London, 1629).
5 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 6.

« L. Leclerc, Trait6 des simples. Vol. I, p. 60.

The Spinach 397

more deeply divided, and that it rises less from the ground.^ A. de
Candolle states that "spinach has not yet been found in a wild state,
unless it be a cultivated modification of Spinacia tetandra Steven, which
is wild to the south of the Caucasus, in Turkistan, in Persia, and in
Afghanistan, and which is used as a vegetable under the name of
^amum." The latter word is apparently a bad spelling or misreading
for Persian ^omln or ^umln (Armenian zomin and ^omin), another
designation for the spinach.

The spinach is not known in India except as an introduction by the
EngHsh. The agricultiuists of India classify spinach among the English
vegetables.^ The species Spinacia tetrandra Roxb., for which Rox-
burgh^ gives the common Persian and Arabic name for the spinach,
and of which he says that it is much cultivated in Bengal and the
adjoining provinces, being a pot-herb held in considerable estimation
by the natives, may possibly have been introduced by the Moham-
medans. As a matter of fact, spinach is a vegetable of the temperate
zones and alien to tropical regions. A genuine Sanskrit word for the
spinach is unknown.* Nevertheless Chinese po-lin^ *pwa-lifi, must
represent the transcription of some Indian vernacular name. In Hin-
dustani we have palak as designation for the spinach, and palan or
palak as name for Beta vulgaris^ PuStu palak,^ apparently developed
from Sanskrit pdlankay pdlankyaj palakyiif pdlakydy to which our
dictionaries attribute the meaning "a kind of vegetable, a kind of
beet-root, Beta bengalensis''; in Bengali palun.^ To render the coin-
cidence with the Chinese form complete, there is also Sanskrit Palakka

^ Perhaps related to A triplex L., the so-called wild spinach, chiefly cultivated
in France and eaten like spinach. The above description, of course, must
not be construed to mean that the cultivated spinach is derived from the
so-called wild spinach of the Nabathaeans. The two plants may not be in-
terrelated at all.

' " N. G. MuKERji, Handbook of Indian Agriculture, 2d ed., p. 300 (Calcutta,
1907); but it is incorrect to state that spinach originally came from northern Asia.
A. DE Candolle (op. cit., p. 99) has already observed, "Some popular works repeat
that spinach is a native of northern Asia, but there is nothing to confirm this sup-
position."

•Flora Indica, p. 718.

* A. BoROOAH, in his English-Sanskrit Dictionary, gives a word gdkaprabheda
with this meaning, but this simply signifies "a kind of vegetable," and is accord-
ingly an explanation.

' H. W. Bellew, Report on the Yusufzais, p. 255 (Lahore, 1864).

• Beta is much cultivated by the natives of Bengal, the leaves being consumed
in stews (W. Roxburgh, Flora Indica, p. 260). Another species, Beta maritima, is
also known as "wild spinach." It should be remembered that the genus Beta belongs
to the same iamHy (Chenopodiaceae) as Spinacia.

398 Sino-Iranica

or Palaka^ as the name of a country, which has evidently restilted in
the assertion of Buddhist monks that the spinach must come from a
country Palinga. The Nepalese, accordingly, applied a word relative
to a native plant to the newly-introduced spinach, and, together with
the product, handed this word on to China. The Tibetans never became
acquainted with the plant; the word spo ts^od, given in the Polyglot
Dictionary ,2 is artificially modelled after the Chinese term, spo (pro-
nounced po) transcribing Chinese pOj and ts^od meaning "vegetable."

Due regard being paid to all facts botanical and historical, we are
compelled to admit that the spinach was introduced into Nepal from
some Iranian region, and thence transmitted to China in a.d. 647.
It must further be admitted that the Chinese designation "Persian
vegetable," despite its comparatively recent date, cannot be wholly
fictitious, but has some foundation in fact. Either in the Yuan or in
the Ming period (more probably in the former) the Chinese seem to
have learned the fact that Persia is the land of the spinach. I trust that
a text to this effect will be discovered in the future. All available his-
torical data point to the conclusion that the Persian cultivation can
be but of comparatively recent origin, and is not older than the sixth
century or so. The Chinese notice referring it to the seventh century
is the oldest in existence. Then follow the Nabathasan Book of Agri-
culture of the tenth century and the Arabic introduction into Spain
during the eleventh.

1 The latter form is noted in the catalogue of the Mahamayflri, edited by S.
Ltwi (Journal asiatique, 1915, I, p. 42).
» Ch. 27, p. 19 b.

SUGAR BEET AND LETTUCE

37. In the preceding notes we observed that the name for a species
of Beta was transferred to the spinach in India and still serves in China
as designation for this vegetable. We have also a Sino-Iranian name
for a Beta, ¥ 3, kun-Va, *gwun-d'ar, which belonged to the choice
vegetables of the country M M Mo-lu, *Mar-luk, in Arabia.^ The
Cen su wen S f§- 3^^ says that it is now erroneously called ken ta ts'ai
Wi:K ^ or ta ken ts'ai, which is identical with tien ts'ai ^ ^ (''sweet
vegetable ")• Stuart'' gives the latter name together with M ^ kun-Va,
identifying it with Beta vulgaris, the white sugar beet, which he says
grows in China. Stuart, however, is mistaken in saying that this plant
is not mentioned in the Pen ts'ao. It is noted both in the Cen lei pen
ts^ao"^ and the Pen ts'ao kan mu,^ the latter giving also the term kun-Va,
which is lacking in the former work. Li Si-Sen*observes with reference
to this term that its meaning is unexplained, a comment which usually
betrays the foreign character of the word, but he fails to state the
source from which he derived it. There is no doubt that this kun-Va
is merely a graphic variant of the above % ^. The writing M is as
early as the T'ang period, and occurs in the Yu yan tsa tsu,^ where the
leaves of the yu tien ts'ao vft Ifi ^ ("herb with oily spots") are com-
pared to those of the kun-Va? A description of the kun-Va is not con-
tained in that work, but from this incidental reference it must be
inferred that the plant was well known in the latter half of the ninth
century.

Beta vulgaris is called in New Persian i^ugundur or ^egonder, and
is mentioned by Abu Mansur.^ The corresponding Arabic word is
silk.^ The Chinese transcription made in the T'ang period is apparently
based on a Middle-Persian form of the type *gundar or *gundur. Beta
vulgaris is a Mediterranean and West-Asiatic plant grown as far as the

* T*ai pHfi hwan yii ki, Ch. 186, p. 16 b.

2 Ch. 12, p. 3. This work was published in 1884 by Ho Yi-hin JP I2 fif •
' Chinese Materia Medica, p. 68.

* Ch. 28, p. 9.

5 Ch. 27, p. I b. Cf. also Yamato honzo, Ch. 5, p. 26.
« Ch. 9, p. 9 b.

^ "On each leaf there are black spots opposite one another."
8 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 81.
» Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. II, p. 274.

399

400 Sino-Iranica

Caspian Sea and Persia. According to de Candolle/ its cultivation
does not date from more than three or four centuries before our era.
The Egyptian illustration brought forward by F. Woenig^ in favor of
the asstunption of an early cultivation in Egypt is not convincing to
me.

It is therefore probable, although we have no record referring to the
introduction, that Beta vulgaris was introduced into China in the T'ang
period, perhaps by the Arabs, who themselves brought many Persian
words and products to China. For this reason Chinese records some-
times credit Persian words to the Ta-§i (Arabs); for instance, the
numbers on dice, which go as Ta-§i, but in fact are Persian.^

The real Chinese name of the plant is tien ts'ai ^ ^, the first
character being explained in sound and meaning by H tien ("sweet")-
Li §i-6en identifies tien ts'ai with kiin-Va. The earliest description
of tien ts'ai comes from Su Kun of the T'ang, who compares its leaves to
those of ^en wa 51" ^ {Actea spicata, a ranunculaceous plant), adding
that the southerners steam the sprouts and eat them, the dish being very
fragrant and fine.* It is not stated, however, that tien ts'ai is an im-
ported article.

38. Reference was made above to the memorable text of the T*an
hui yaOy in which are enimierated the vegetable products of foreign
countries sent to the Emperor T'ai Tsun of the T'ang dynasty at his
special request in a.d. 647. After mentioning the spinach of Nepal,
the text continues thus: —

^'Further, there was the ts*o ts'ai BP^ ('wine vegetable') with
broad and long leaves.^ It has a taste like a good wine and k*u ts^ai
S ^ ('bitter vegetable,' lettuce, Lactuca), and in its appearance is like
kii ]g,^ but its leaves are longer and broader. Although it is somewhat
bitter of taste, eating it for a long time is beneficial. Hu kHn SB ^

^ Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 59; see also his Geographic botanique, p. 831

2 Pflanzen im alten Aegypten, p. 218.

' See T'oung Pao, Vol. I, 1890, p. 95.

^ A tien ts'ai mentioned by T'ao Hiin-ki6, as quoted in the Pen ts*ao kaft mu,
and made into a condiment £a ^!f for cooking-purposes, is apparently a different
vegetable.

5 The corresponding text of the Ts'e fu yuan kwei (Ch. 970, p. 12) has the
addition, "resembling the leaves of the Sen-hwo tS J^-" The text of the Pei hu
lu (Ch. 2, p. 19 b) has, "resembling in its appearance the Sen-hwo, but with leaves
broader and longer." This tree, also called kin Vien ^ ^ (see Yu yan tsa tsu,
Ch. 19, p. 6), is believed to protect houses from fire; it is identified with Sedum erythro-
stictum or Sempervivum tectorum (Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. Ill, No. 205;
Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 401).

** A general term for plants like Lactuca^ Cichorium, Sonchus.

Sugar Beet and Lettuce 401

resembles in its appearance the k'tn "ff ('celery/ Apium graveolens),
and has a fragrant flavor."

Judging from the description, the vegetable ts'o ts'ai appears to have
been a species of Lactuca, Cichorium^ or Sonchus. These genera are
closely allied, belonging to the family Ctchoraceaej and are confounded
by the Chinese under a large ntmiber of terms. A. de Candolle^
supposed that lettuce (Lactuca sativa) was hardly known in China at
an early date, as, according to Loureiro, Europeans had introduced it
into Macao.^ With reference to this passage, Bretschneider^ thinks
that de CandoUe ''may be right, although the Pen ts'ao says nothing
about the introduction; the hn ts^ai ^ ^ (the common name of lettuce
at Peking) or pai-kii S ^ seems not to be mentioned earlier than by
writers of the T'ang (618-906)." Again, de Candolle seized on this
passage, and embodied it in his "Origin of Cultivated Plants" (p. 96).
The problem, however, is not so simple. Bretschneider must have
read the Pen ts*ao at that time rather superficially, for some species of
Lactuca is directly designated there as being of foreign origin. Again,
twenty-five years later, he wrote a notice on the same subject,^ in which
not a word is said about foreign introduction, and from which, on the
contrary, it would appear that Lactuca^ Cichonum, and Sonchus, have
been indigenous to China from ancient times, as the bitter vegetable
{k*u ts'ai) is already mentioned in the Pen kin and Pie lu. The terms
pai ku & ^ and k'u ku ^ g are supposed to represent Cichorium
endivia; and wo-kU j§ §, Lactuca sativa. In explanation of the latter
name, Li Si-cen cites the Mo k'o hui si M.^W^ by P'efi C'efi M ^,
who wrote in the first half of the eleventh century, as saying that wo
ts*ai M S {"wo vegetable") came from the country ffii Kwa, and hence
received its name.^ The TsHn i lu W ^^, a work by T'ao Ku 1^ ^
of the Sung period, says that "envoys from the country Kwa came
to China, and at the request of the people distributed seeds of a vegetable;
they were so generously rewarded that it was called ts'ien kin ts'ai
T^ ^ ^ ('vegetable of a thousand gold pieces'); now it is styled wo-

^ Geographic botanique, p. 843.

2 This certainly is a weak argument. The evidence, in fact, proves nothing.
Europeans also introduce their own sugar and many other products of which China
has a great plenty. 1 ,

' Chinese Recorder, 1871, p. 223.

* Bot. Sin., pt. Ill, No. 257.

6 1 do not know how Stuart (p. 229) gets at the definition "in the time of the
Han dynasty." The same text is also contained in the Sil po wu U (Ch. 7, p. i b),
written by Li §i ^ ;g" about the middle of the twelfth century.

402 Sino-Iranica

^«."^ These are vague and puerile anecdotes, without chronological
specification. There is no country Kwa, which is merely distilled from
the character iS, and no such tradition appears in any historical text.^
The term wo-kU was well known under the T'ang, being mentioned in
the Pen ts'ao H i of C'en Ts'afi-k'i, who distinguishes a white and a
purple variety, but is silent as to the point of introduction.^ This
author, however, as can be shown by numerous instances, had a keen
sense of foreign plants and products, and never failed to indicate them
as such. There is no evidence for the supposition that Lactuca was
introduced into China from abroad. All there is to it amounts to this,
that, as shown by the above passage of the T'an hui yao, possibly supe-
rior varieties of the West were introduced.

In Persia, Lactuca sativa (Persian kdhu) occurs both wild and culti-
vated.^ Cichoreum is kasni in Persian, hindubd in Arabic and Osmanli.^

39. The hu kHfif mentioned in the above text of the T'an hui yao,
possibly represents the garden celery, Apium graveolens (Persian kerefs
or karafs) (or possibly parsley, Apium petroselinum) of the west.^ It
appears to be a different plant from the hu k'in mentioned above (p. 196).

Hu kHn is likewise mentioned among the best vegetables of the
country ^ JS^ Mo-lu, *Mwat-luk, Mar-luk, in Arabia.'^

In order to conclude the series of vegetables enumerated in the
text of the T'an hui yao, the following may be added here.

In A.D. 647 the king of Gandhara (in north-western India) sent to
the Chinese Court a vegetable styled fu-fu '^ zh ^ ("Buddha-land
vegetable ")> each stem possessing five leaves, with red flowers, a yellow
pith, and purple stamens.^

^ I have looked up the text of the Ts'in i lu, which is reprinted in the T'an Sun
ts'un ^u and Si yin Man ts'un Su. The passage in question is in Ch. 2, p. 7 b, and
printed in the same manner as in the Pen ts'ao kan mu, save that the country is called
Kao ]^, not Kwa ^. It is easy to see that these two characters could be con-
founded, and that only one of the two can be correct; but Kao does not help us any
more than Kwa. Either name is fictitious as that of a country.

2 We have had several other examples of alleged names of countries being
distilled out of botanical names.

3 K'ou Tsun-§i is likewise; see his Pen ts'ao yen i (Ch. 19, p. 2).
"* ScHLiMMER, Terminologie, p. 337.

" See AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 146; E. Seidel, Mechithar, p. 134; Leclerc,
Trait6 des simples, Vol. II, p. 28.

'^ Cf. AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, pp. no, 257. Celery is cultivated only in a few
gardens of Teheran, but it grows spontaneously and abundantly in the mountains
of the Bakhtiaris (Schlimmer, Terminologie, p. 43).

7 T'ai pHn hwan yii ki, Ch. 186, p. 16 b.

8 T'an hui yao, Ch. 200, p. 4 b; and T'an Su, Ch. 221 b, p. 7. The name of
Gandhara is abbreviated into *d'ar, but in the corresponding passage of the T'an
hui yao (Ch. 100, p. 3 b) and in the Ts'e fu yiian kwei (Ch. 970, p. 12) the name is
written completely M ^ Kien-ta, *G'an-d'ar.

RICINUS

40. In regard to Ricinus communis (family Euphorbiaceae) the
accounts of the Chinese are strikingly deficient and unsatisfactory.
There can be no doubt that it is an introduced plant in China, as it
occurs there only in the cultivated state, and is not mentioned earlier
than the T'ang period (618-906) with an allusion to the Hu.^ Su Kun
states in the T'an pen ts^ao, "The leaves of this plant which is culti-
vated by man resemble those of the hemp {Cannabis sativa), being very
large. The seeds look like cattle-ticks {niu pei ^ $S) } The stems of
that kind which at present comes from the Hu^ are red and over ten
feet high. They are of the size of a tsao kia -S ^ (Gleditschia sinensis) .
The kernels are the part used, and they are excellent." It would seem
from this report that two kinds of Ricinus are assumed, one presumably
the white-stemmed variety known prior to Su Kun's time, and the red-
stemmed variety introduced in his age. Unfortunately we receive no
information as to the exact date and provenience of the introduction.

The earliest mention of the plant is made by Herodotus,^ who
ascribes it to the Egyptians who live in the marshes and use the oil
pressed from the seeds for anointing their bodies. He calls the plant
silliky prion, ^ and gives the Egyptian name as kiki.^ In Hellas it grows
spontaneously (aur6juara ^uerat), but the ^Egyptians cultivate it along
the banks of the rivers and by the sides of the lakes, where it produces
fruit in abundance, which, however, is malodorous. This fruit is

^ Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 17 A, p. 11. Bretschneider (Chinese Recorder, 1871,
p. 242) says that it cannot be decided from Chinese books whether Ricinus is in-
digenous to China or not, and that the plant is not mentioned before the T'ang.
The allusion to the Hu escaped him.

2 Hence the name S or gl£ ^ pei ma (only in the written language) for the
plant (Peking colloquial ta ma, "great hemp "). This etymology has already been ad-
vanced by Su Sun of the Sung and confirmed by Li §i-6en, who explains the insect as
the "louse of cattle." This interpretation appears to be correct, for it represents a
counterpart to Latin ricinus, which means a "tick": Nostri eam ricinum vocant a
similitudine seminis (Pliny, xv, 7, § 25). The Chinese may have hit upon this simile
independently, or, what is even more likely, received it with the plant from the West.

2 This appears to be the foundation for Stuart's statement (Chinese Materia
Medica, p. 378) that the plant was introduced from "Tartary."

' II, 94.

^ The common name was Kp&rcov (Theophrastus, Hist, plant., I. x, i), Latin
croton.

^ This word has not yet been traced in the hieroglyphic texts, but in Coptic.
In the demotic documents Ricinus is deqam (V. Loret, Flore pharaonique, p. 49).

403

404 Sino-Iranica

gathered, and either pounded and pressed or roasted and boiled, and
the oily fluid is collected. It is found to be unctuous and not inferior to
olive-oil for burning in lamps, save that it emits a disagreeable odor.
Seeds of Ricinus are known from Egyptian tombs, and the plant is still
cultivated in Egypt. Pliny ^ states that it is not so long ago that the
plant was introduced into Italy. A. de Candolle^ traces its home to
tropical Africa, and I agree with this view. Moreover, I hold that it was
transplanted from Egypt to India, although, of course, we have no
documentary proof to this effect. Ricinus does not belong to the plants
which were equally known to the Iranians and Indo-Aryans. It is not
mentioned in the Vedas or in the Laws of Manu.^ The first datable
references to it occur in the Bower Manuscript, where its oil and root
are pointed out under the names eranda, gandharva, rubugaka, and
vaksana. Other names are ruvUj ruvuka, or rumka, citraka, gandharva-
hastaka, vydghrapuccha (" tiger 's-tail"). The word eranda has become
known to the Chinese in the form i-lan IP" BH/ and was adopted into the
language of Ku5a (Tokharian B) in the form hiranda} From India
the plant seems to have spread to the Archipelago and Indo-China
(Malayan, Sunda, and Javanese jarak; Khmer lohon; Annamese du du
tran, kai-dua, or kai-du-du-tia; Cam tamnon, lahaun, lahon).^ The
Miao and the Lo-lo appear to be famiUar with the plant: the former
call it zrwa-no;"^ the latter, <^*e-tu-ma (that is, "fruit for the poisoning
of dogs")-^

In Iran the ctdtivation of Ricinus has assumed great importance,
but no document informs us as to the time of its transplantation. It
may be admitted, however, that it was well known there prior to our
era.^ The Persian name is beddnjir, pandu, punde, or pendu; in Arabic
it is xarva or xirva.

' XV, 7, § 25.

2 Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 422.

3 JoRET, Plantes dans rantiquit6, Vol. II, p. 270.
^ Fan yi min yi tsi, section 24.

5 S. L6vi, Journal asiatique, 191 1, II, p. 123.

^ On the cultivation in Indo-China, see Perrot and Hurrier, Mat. m^d. et
pharmacop^e sino-annamites, p. 107. Regarding the Archipelago, see A. de Can-
dolle, op. cit., p. 422; W. Marsden, History of Sumatra, p. 92; J. Crawfurd,
History of the Indian Archipelago, Vol. I, p. 382. The plant is reported wild from
Sumatra and the Philippines, but the common Malayan name jarak hints at an
historical distribution.

7 F. M. Savina, Dictionnaire miao-tseu-frangais, pp. 205, 235.

8 P. Vial, Dictionnaire frangais-lolo, p. 290. Also the Arabs used Ricinus as a
dog-poison (Leclerc, Traits des simples. Vol. II, p. 20).

9 Joret, op, cit., p. 72.

THE ALMOND

41. Iran was the centre from which the almond (Amygdalus com-
munis or Prunus amygdalus) spread, on the one hand to Eiirope, and on
the other to China, Tibet, and India. As to India, it is cultivated but
occasionally in Kashmir and the Panjab, where its fruits are mediocre.
It was doubtless imported there from Iran. The almond yields a gum
which is still exported from Persia to Bombay, and thence re-exported
to Europe.^ The almond grows spontaneously in Afghanistan and
farther to the north-east in the upper Zarafshan valley, and in the
Chotkal mountains at an altitude of >iooa-i3oo m, also in Aderbeidjan,
Kurdistan, and Mesopotamia. According to Schlimmer,^ Amygdalus
coparia is very general on the high mountains, and its timber yields
the best charcoal.^

The Greeks derived the almond from Asia Minor, and from Greece
it was apparently introduced into Italy ."* In the northern part of Media,
the people subsisted upon the produce of trees, making cakes of apples,
sliced and dried, and bread of roasted almonds.^ A certain quantity of
dried sweet almonds was to be furnished daily for the table of the
Persian kings.^ The fruit is mentioned in Pahlavi literature (above,

p. 193).

The Yin yai hn Ian mentions almonds among the fruit grown in
Aden.'' The Arabic name is lewze or lauz. Under this name the medicinal
properties of the fruit are discussed in the Persian pharmacopoeia of
Abu Mansur, who knew both the sweet almond (bdddm-i Hrin) and the
bitter one {baddm-i tdlx).^ It is curious that bitter almonds were used
as currency in the empire of the Moguls. They were brought into the

1 G. Watt, Commercial Products of India, p. 905; and Dictionary, Vol. VI,
p. 343. JoRET, Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 279. W. Roxburgh (Flora
Indica, p. 403) concluded that the almond is a native of Persia and Arabia, whereas
it does not succeed in India, requiring much nursing to keep it alive.

2 Terminologie, p. 33.

3 A really wild almond is said to be very common in Palestine and Syria (A.
Aaronsohn, Agric. and Bot. Explorations in Palestine, p. 14).

* Hehn, Kulturpflanzen, pp. 393, 402; Fluckiger and Hanbury, Pharma-
cographia, pp. 244, 245.
5 Strabo, XI. xni, II.
« Polyaenus, Strategica, iv, 32.
^ RocKHiLL, T'oung Pao, 1915, p. 609.
8 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 128.

405

4o6 Sino-Iranica

province of Gujarat from Persia, where they grow in dry and arid
places between rocks; they are as bitter as colocynth, and there is no
fear that children will amuse themselves by eating them.^

What Watters^ has stated about the almond is for the greater part
inexact or erroneous. "For the almond which does not grow in China
the native authors and others have apparently only the Persian name
which is Bddan. This the Chinese transcribe pa-tan A 1® or G/ 0. and
perhaps also, as suggested by Bretschneider, pa-lan ffi W." First, the
Persian name for the almond is bdddm; second, the Chinese characters
given by Watters are not apt to transcribe this word, as the former
series answers to ancient *pat-dam, the latter to *pa-dan. Both A
and Ei only had an initial labial surd, but never a labial sonant, and
for this reason could not have been chosen for the transcription of a
foreign ba in the T*ang period, when the name of the almond made its
d^but in China. Further, the character fi, which was not possessed
of a final labial nasal, would make a rather bad reproduction of the
required element dam. In fact, the characters given by Watters are
derived from the Pen ts^ao kan mu,^ and represent merely a comparative-
ly modern readjustment of the original form made at a time when
the transposition of sonants into surds had taken effect. The first form
given by Watters, as stated in the Pen ts'ao itself, is taken from the
Yin ^an ^en yao (see p. 236), written by Ho Se-hwi during the Yuan
period; while the second form is the work of Li Si-6en, as admitted by
himself, and accordingly has no phonetic value whatever.^ Indeed, we
have a phonetically exact transcription of the Iranian term, handed
down from the T'ang period, when the Chinese still enjoyed the pos-
session of a well-trained ear, and, in view of the greater wealth of sounds
then prevaiHng in their speech, also had the faculty of reproducing
them with a fair degree of precision. This transcription is presented by
9k ^ p^o-tan, *bwa-dam, almond {Amygdalus communis or Prunus
amygdalus), which actually reproduces Middle Persian vadam, New
Persian bdddm (Kurd badem, betv and baify "almond-tree").^ This term,

1 Ta VERNIER, Travels in India, Vol. I, p. 27.

2 Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 348.

' Ch. 29, p. 4. Hence adopted also by the Japanese botanists (Matsumura,
No. 2567), but read amendo (imitation of our word).

^ He further gives as name for the almond hu-lu-tna ^ ^ ^= Persian xurtnd
(khurmd), but this word properly refers to the date (p. 385). From the Ta Min i
Vun ci (Ch. 89, p. 24), where the almonds of Herat are mentioned, it appears that
hu-lu-ma (xurmd) was the designation of a special variety of almond, "resembling
a jujube and being sweet."

5 The assertion of Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica,p.4o),that pa-tan may refer
to some country in Asia Minor or possibly be another name for Persia, is erroneous.

The Almond 407

as far as I know, is first mentioned in the Yu yan tsa tsu,^ where it is
said, "The flat peach iH 1^ grows in the country Po-se (Persia), where
it is styled p'o-tan. The tree reaches a height of from fifty to sixty feet,
and has a circtimference of four or five feet. Its leaves resemble those
of the peach, but are broader and larger. The blossoms, which are
white in color, appear in the third month. When the blossoms drop, the
formation of the fruit has the appearance of a peach, but the shape
is flat. Hence they are called *flat peaches.' The meat is bitter and
acrid, and cannot be chewed; the interior of the kernel, however, is
sweet, and is highly prized in the Western Regions and all other coun-
tries." Although the fact of the introduction of the plant into China
is not insisted upon by the author, Twan C'en-§i, his description, which
is apparently based on actual observation, may testify to a cultivation
in the soil of his country. This impression is corroborated by the testi-
mony of the Arabic merchant Soleiman, who wrote in a.d. 851, and
enumerates almonds among the fruit growing in China.^ The cor-
rectness of the Chinese reproduction of the Iranian name is confirmed
by the Tibetan form ba-damj Uigur and Osmanli badanij and Sanskrit
vdtdma or baddma, derived from the Middle Persian.^

The fundamental text of the Yu yan tsa tsu has unfortunately es-
caped Li §i-6en, author of the Pen ts*ao kan mu, and he is accordingly
led to the vague definition that the almond comes from the old terri-
tory of the Mohammedans; in his time, he continues, the tree occurred
in all places West of the Pass (Kwan si; that is, Kan-su and Sen-si).
The latter statement is suppressed in Bretschneider's translation of
the text,^ probably because it did not suit his peremptory opinion that
the almond-tree does not occur in China. He did not know, either, of
the text of the Yu yan tsa tsu^ and his vague data were adopted by A.
DE Candolle.^

LouREiRO^ states that the almond is both wild and cultivated in

' Ch. 18, p. 10 b.

2 M. Reinaud, Relation des voyages, Vol. I, p. 22.

^ Cf. the winter's Loan-Words in Tibetan, No. iii. It should be repeated also
in this place that the Tibetan term p*a-tin, which only means "dried apricots,"
bears no relation to the Persian designation of the almond, as wrongly asserted by
Watters. — The almond is also known to the Lo-lo (Nyi Lo-lo ni-ma, Ahi Lo-lo
i-ni-zo, i-sa).

^ Chinese Recorder, 1870, p. 176.

* Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 219. He speaks erroneously of the Pen ts'ao
published in the tenth or eleventh century. Bretschneider, of course, meant the
Pen ts'ao of the sixteenth century.

" Flora cochinchinensis, p. 316. Perrot and Hurrier (Mati^re m^dicale et
pharm. sino-annamites, p. 153) have an Amygdalus cochinchinensis for Annam.

4o8 Sino-Iranica

China. Bunge says that it is commonly ctiltivated in North China; but
that recent botanists have not seen it in South China, and the one
cultivated near Peking is Prunus davidiana, a variety of P. persica.^
These data, however, are not in harmony with Chinese accounts which
attribute the ctiltivation of the almond to China; and it hardly sounds
plausible that the Chinese should confound with this tree the apricot,
which has been a native of their country from time immemorial.
Watters asserts that "the Chinese have mixed up the foreign almond
with their native apricot. The name of the latter is hin 'S^, and the
kernels of its fruit, when dried for food, are called hin-hn -^ C This
name is given also to the kernels of almonds as imported into China
from their resemblance in appearance and to some extent in taste to
the seeds of apricots." The fact that almond-meat is styled "apricot-
kernel" does not prove that there is a confusion between hin and hin-
'ien, or between almond and apricot. The confusion may be on the
part of foreigners who take apricot-kernels for almonds. ^

It has been stated by Bretschneider^ that the word pa-lan ffi H
(*pa-lam), used by the travellers Ye-lu C'u-ts'ai and C'afi C'un, might
transcribe the Persian word haddm. This form first appears in the Sun
H (Ch. 490) in the account of Fu-lin, where the first element is written
phonetically C<,* so that the conclusion is almost warranted that this
word was transmitted from a language spoken in Fu-lin. In all prob-
ability, the question is of a Fu-lin word of the type palam or param (per-
haps *faram, fram, or even *spram).

The fruit pa-lan must have been known in China during the Sung,
for it is mentioned by Fan C'efi-ta ^^i<. (1126-93), in his Kwei hat
yu hen li^ in the description of the H li ^ 51 {Aleurites triloba), which

1 Bretschneider, Early Researches into the Flora of China, p. 149; Forbes
and Hemsley, Journal Linnean Soc, Vol. XXIII, p. 217. W. C. Blasdale (Descrip-
tion of Some Chinese Vegetable Food Materials, p. 48, Washington, 1899) men-
tions a peculiar variety of the almond imported from China into San Francisco.
The almond is cultivated in China according to K. v. Scherzer (Berichte 6sterr.
Exped. nach Siam, China und Japan, p. 96). L. de Reinach (Le Laos, p. 280)
states that almond-trees grow in the northern part of Laos.

2 F. N. Meyer (Agricultural Explorations in the Orchards of China, p. 53)
supposes erroneously that the consumption of apricot-kernels has given rise to the
statement that almonds grow in China. Cf. Schlegel's Nederlandsch-Chineesch
Woordenboek, Vol. I, p. 226.

3 Mediasval Researches, Vol. I, p. 20.

^ Cf. HiRTH, China and the Roman Orient, p. 63. His identification with
Greek fi&\avos, which refers only to the acorn, a wild fruit, is hardly satisfactory,
for phonetic and historical reasons. For Hirth's translation of ^ by "almonds"
in the same clause read "apricots."

* Ed. of Ci pu tsu tai ts*un ^«, p. 24.

The Almond 409

is said to be like pa-lan-tse. In the Gazetteer of C'en-te fu, pa-lan len
Kl is given as a variety of apricot.^

Ho Yi-hin, in his Cen su wen, published in 1884,^ observes that "at
present the people of the capital style the almond pa-ta E/ M, which is
identical with pa-tan E fi. The people of Eastern Ts'i M ^ (San-tun)
call the almond, if it is sweet and fine, (^en kin ^ ^ (hazel-nut apricot),
because it has the taste of hazel-nuts.^ According to the Hian tsu pi ki
# SB. 1^ t2, a certain kind of almond, styled * almond of the / wu hui
Park' j^ ft ^ ?a, is exported from Herat ^o SU. At present it occurs
in the northern part of China. The fruit offered in the capital is large
and sweet, that of San-tun is small with thin and scant meat."

The old tradition concerning the origin of the almond in Persia
is still alive in modem Chinese authors. The Gazetteer of Safi-se c^ou
in the prefecture of T'ai-p'in, Kwafi-si Province, states that the
flat peach is a cultivation of the country Po-se (Persia).^ The tree
is (or was) cultivated in that region. Also the Hwa mu siao U ffi yfC
/h JS (p. 29 b)^ testifies to indigenous ciiltivation by sa37ing that almond-
trees grow near the east side of mountains. It may be, of course, that
the almond has shared the fate of the date-palm, and that its cultiva-
tion is now extinct in China.^

1 O. Franke, Beschreibung des Jehol-Gebietes, p. 75.

2 Ch. 12, p. 5 b (see above, p. 399).

3 This observation is also made by Li Si-2en.

^ Safi-se iou H _t ^> #1 & Ch. 14, p. 7 b (published in 1835).
5 Published in the C'un ts'ao Vart tsi ^ ^ S ^ during the period Tao-kwan
(1820-50).

5 Hauer (Erzeugnisse der Provinz Chili, Mitt. Sent. or. Spr., 1908, p. 14) men-
tions almonds, large and of sweet flavor, as a product of the district of Mi-yun in Ci-li,
and both sweet and bitter almonds as cultivated in the district of Lwan-p'in in
the prefecture of C'en-te (Jehol), the annual output of the latter locality being
given as a hundred thousand catties, — a hardly credible figure should almonds
really be involved. Hauer's article is based on the official reports submitted by the
districts to the Governor-General of the Province in 1904; and the term rendered
by him "almond" in the original is ta pien fen -j^ J^ ^, apparently a local or
colloquial expression which I am unable to trace in any dictionary. It is at any
rate questionable whether it has the meaning ' ' almond. " O. Franke, in his description
of the Jehol territory, carefully deals with the flora and products of that region
without mentioning almonds, nor are they referred to in the Chinese Gazetteer
of C'en-te fu.

THE FIG

42. The fig {Ficus carica) is at present cultivated in the Yang-tse
valley as a small, irregular shrub, bearing a fruit much smaller and
inferior in quality to the Persian species.^ According to the Pen ts'ao
kah mu, its habitat is Yafi-6ou (the lower Yang-tse region) and Yun-
nan. In his time, Li Si-6en continues, it was cultivated also in Ce-
kiafi, Kiafi-su, Hu-pei, Hu-nan, Fu-kien, and Kwafi-tufi (i^ ^M&)
by means of twigs planted in the ground. The latter point is of par-
ticular interest in showing that the process of caprification has remained
unknown to the Chinese, and, in fact, is not mentioned in their works.
The fig is not indigenous to China; but, while there is no information in
Chinese records as to the when and how of the introduction, it is per-
fectly clear that the plant was introduced from Persia and India, not
earlier than the T'ang period.

The following names for the fig are handed down to us:—

(i) Po-se (Persian) M |B a-^i, *a-2it(£r) (or M H a-yi, *a-yik),2
corresponds to an Iranian form without n, as still occurs in Kurd heBr
or ezir. There is another reading, SB tsan, which is not at the outset
to be rejected, as has been done by Waiters^ and Hirth.^ The Pen
ts'ao kan mu^ comments that the pronunciation of this character (and
this is apparently an ancient gloss) should be ^ c'u^ *dzu, *tsu, *ts'u,
so that we obtain *adzu, *atsu, *ats'u. This would correspond to an
ancient Iranian form *ajuw At any rate, the Chinese transcriptions, in
whatever form we may adopt them, have nothing to do with New
Persian anflvj as asserted by Hirth, but belong to an older stage of
Iranian speech, the Middle Persian.

(2) K H yin-^i,^ *afi-2it(r). This is not "apparently a tran-

^ Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 174. The Ci wu min H t'u k'ao (Ch. 36,
p. 2), however, speaks of the fig of Yun-nan as a large tree. According to F. N.
Meyer (Agricultural Explorations in the Orchards of China, p. 47), the fig is grown
in northern China only as an exotic, mostly in pots and tubs. In the milder parts of
the country large specimens are found here and there in the open. He noticed black
and white varieties. They are cultivated in §an-hwa ^ -fiS in the prefecture of
C'an-sa, Hu-nan (San hwa Men U, Ch. 16, p. 15 b, ed. 1877), also in the prefecture
of Sun-t'ien, Ci-li {Kwan-sii Sun t'ien fu U, Ch. 50, p. 10).

2 Yu yan tsa tsu, Ch. 18, p. 13.

' Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 349.

^ Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXX, p. 20.

5Ch. 3i,p. 9.

8 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 31, p. 26.

410

The Fig 411

scription of Hindustani afijir," as affirmed by Hirth, but of New Persian
an fir or en fir, the Hindustani (as well as Sanskrit an fir a) being simply
borrowed from the Persian; Bukhara in fir, Afghan intsir; Russian
ind&aru.

(3) Fu-lin j£ IS ti-ni or ti-ien 3^ or ^S (*ti-tsen, *ti-ten) ; the latter
variant is not necessarily to be rejected, as is done by Hirth. Cf.
Assyrian tittu (from *tintu); Phoenician l^n; Hebrew ti^nu, te^endh;^
Arabic tin, tine, tima; Aramaic ts^intd, tenta, tena; Pahlavi tin (Semitic
loan-word). The Semitic name is said to have taken its starting-point
from south-eastern Arabia, where also, in the view of the botanists, the
origin of fig-culture should be sought; but in view of the Assyrian
word and the antiqmty of the fig in Ass3nia,^ this theory is not probable.
There is no doubt that the Chinese transcription answers to a Semitic
name; but that this is the Aramaic name, as insisted on by Hirth in
favor of his theory that the language of Fu-lin should have been Aramaic,
is not cogent. The transcription ti-ni, on the contrary, is much nearer
to the Arabic, Phoenician, and Hebrew forms.^

(4)'S## (or better Wi) yu-Van-po, *u-dan-pat(par), *u-dan-
bar = Sanskrit ^tidamhara (Ficus glomerata).^ According to Li §i-5en,
this name is current in Kwari-tun.

(5) ^ lE:^ wu hwa kwo C'flowerless fruit ")j^ Japanese iUfiku,
The erroneous notion that the fig-tree does not bloom is not peculiar
to Albertus Magnus, as Hirth is inclined to think, but goes back to
times of antiquity, and occurs in Aristotle and Pliny.^ This wrong
observation arose from the fact that the flowers, unlike those of most
fruit-trees, make no outward appearance, but are concealed within the

^ In the so-called histories of the fig concocted by botanists for popular consump-
tion, one can still read the absurdity that Latin ficus is to be derived from Hebrew
jeg. Such a Hebrew word does not exist. What does exist in Hebrew, is the word pag,
occurring only in Canticle (ii, 13), which, however, is not a general term for the fig,
but denotes only a green fig that did not mature and that remained on the tree during
the winter. Phonetically it is impossible to connect this Hebrew word with the Latin
one. In regard to the fig among the Semites, see, above all, the excellent article of
E. Levesque in the Dictionnaire de la Bible (Vol. II, col. 2237).

2 E. BoNAViA, Flora of the Assyrian Monuments, p. 14.

2 It is surprising to read Hirth's conclusion that ''ti-ni is certainly much nearer
the Aramean word than the Greek oru/c^ [better avKov\ for fig, or kpivelK for capri-
ficus." No one has ever asserted, or could assert, that these Greek words are derived
from Semitic; their origin is still doubtful (see Schrader in Hehn, Kulturpflanzen,
p. 100).

^ Fan yi min yi tsi, Ch. 8, p. 5.

^Also other fruits are described under this name (see Ci wu mifi H Vu k'ao,
Ch. 16, pp. 58-60). The terms under 4 and 5 are identified by Kao §i-ki ^ i: "S"
in his THen lu siyii%]^^ ^ (Ch. A, p. 60, published in 1690, ed. of Swo lin).

412 Sino-Iranica

fruit on its internal surface. On cutting open a fig when it has attained
little more than one-third its size, the flowers will be seen in full develop-
ment.^

The common fig-tree (Ficus carica) is no less diffused over the Iran-
ian plateau than the pomegranate. The variety rupestris is found in
the mountains Kuh-Kiluyeh; and another species, Ficus jokannis,
occurs in Afghanistan between Tebbes and Herat, as well as in Baluchis-
tan.^ In the mountain districts of the Taurus, Armenia, and in the
Iranian table-lands, fig-culture long ago reached a high development.
Toward the east it has spread to Khorasan, Herat, Afghanistan, as well
as to Merw and Khiwa.^ There can be no doubt, either, that the fig was
cultivated in Sasanian Persia; for it is mentioned in Pahlavi literature
(above, p. 192), and we have a formal testimony to this effect in the
Annals of the Liang dynasty, which ascribe udamhara to Po-se (Persia)
and describe the blossoms as charming.^ In India, as stated, this term
refers to Ficus glomerata; in China, however, it appears to be also used
for Ficus carica. Huan Tsari^ enumerates udamhara among the fruits
of India.

Strabo^ states that in Hyrcania (in Bactria) each fig-tree annually
produced sixty medimni (one bushel and a half) of fruit. According to
Herodotus,^ Croesus was dissuaded from his expedition against Cyrus
on the plea that the Persians did not even drink wine, but merely water,
nor did they have figs for sustenance. This, of course, is an anecdote
without historical value, for we know surely enough that the ancient
Persians possessed both grapes and wine. Another political anecdote
of the Greeks is that of Xerxes, who, by having Attic figs served at his
meals, was daily reminded of the fact that the land where they grow was
not yet his own. The new discovery of the presence of figs in ancient
Babylonia warrants the conclusion that they were likewise known and
consumed in ancient Persia.

We have no means of ascertaining as to when and how the fig
spread from Iran to China. The Yu yan tsa tsu is reticent as to the
transmission, and merely describes the tree as existing in Fu-lin and

1 LiNDLEY and Moore, Treasury of Botany, pt. i, p. 492.

2 C. JoRET, Plantes dans Tantiquit^, Vol. II, p. 45.

' G. EisEN, The Fig: Its History, Culture, and Curing, p. 20 (U. S. Department
of Agriculture, Washington, 1901).

^ Lian Im, Ch. 54, p. 14 b. Read yu-t'an-po instead of yu-po-Van, as there printed
through an oversight.

6 Ta Tan si yu ki, Ch. 2, p. 8.

« 11. 1, 14.

^1,71.

The Fig 413

Persia.^ We have, however, the testimony of the Arabic merchant Solei-
man, who wrote in a.d. 851, to the effect that the fig then belonged to
the fruits of China.^

Bretschneider has never written on the subject, but did communicate
some notes to the botanist Solms-Laubach, from whom they were taken
over by G. Eisen.^ Here we are treated to the monstrous statement,
"The fig is supposed to have reached China during the reign of the
Emperor Tschang-Kien [sic!], who fitted out an expedition to Turan
in the year 127 a.d.'* [sic!]. It is safe to say that Bretschneider could
not have perpetrated all this nonsense; but, discounting the obvious
errors, there remains the sad fact that again he credited Cafi K'ien with
an introduction which is not even ascribed to him by any Chinese text.
It is not necessary to be more Chinese than the Chinese, and this
Changkienomania is surely disconcerting. What a Hercules this Cari
K'ien must have been I It has never happened in the history of the world
that any individual ever introduced into any country such a stupendous
number of plants as is palmed off on him by his epigone admirers.

Li Si-6en, in his notice of the "flowerless fruit," does not fall back
on any previous Pen ts*ao; of older works he invokes only the Yu yan
tsa tsu and the Fan yu ii 3& ^ iS, which mention the udamhara of
Kwan-si.

The fig of Yun-nan deserves special mention. Wu K*i-tsun,
author of the excellent botanical work Ci wu min H Vu k*aOj has de-
voted a special chapter (Ch. 36) to the plants of Yun-nan, the first of
these being the yu-fan (udambara) flower, accompanied by two illus-
trations. From the texts assembled by him it becomes clear that this
tree was introduced into Yiin-nan from India by Buddhist monks.
Among other stories, he repeats that regarding the monk P'u-t'i(Bodhi)-
pa-po, which has been translated by C. Sainson;^ but whereas Yan Sen,
in his Nan lao ye H, written in 1550, said that one of these trees planted
by the monk was still preserved in the Temple of the Guardian Spirit
ih ^ ^ of Yiin-nan fu, Wu K'i-tsun states after the Yiin-nan Vun U
that for a long time none remained in existence, owing to the ravages
and burnings of troops. Judging from the illustration, the fig-tree of
Yun-nan is a species different from Ficus carica. The genus Ficus

1 Contrary to what is stated by A. de Candolle (Origin of Cultivated Plants,
p. 296) after Bretschneider. But the description of the fig in that Chinese work
leaves no doubt that the author speaks from observation, and that the fig,
accordingly, was cultivated in the China of his time.

2 M. Reinaud, Relation des voyages, Vol. I, p. 22.
' Op. ciL, p. 20.

* Histoire du Nan-Tchao, p. 196.

414 Sino-Iranica

comprises nearly a hundred and sixty species, and of the oiltivated fig
there is a vast number of varieties.

According to the Yamato-honzd^ of 1709, figs (icijiku) were first
introduced into Nagasaki in the period Kwan-ei $ :^ (1624-44) from
the islands in the South- Western Ocean. This agrees with E. Kaem-
pfer's^ statement that figs were brought into Japan and planted by
Portuguese.

^ Ch. 10, p. 26 b.

2 History of Japan, Vol. I, p. 180 (ed. reprinted Glasgow, 1906).

THE OLIVE

43. The Yu yan tsa tsu^ has the following notice of an exotic plant:
"The tsH-Vun a§- W (*dzi-tun, *zi-tun) tree has its habitat in the coun-
try Po-se (Persia), likewise in the country Fu-lin (Syria). In Fu-lin it
is termed ^ /£ tsH-Vt^ (*dzi, zi-ti). The tree grows to a height of twenty
or thirty feet. The bark is green, the flowers are white, resembling
those of the shaddock {yu tt, Citrus grandis), and very fragrant.
The fruit is similar to that of the yan-Vao ^ Ift {Averrhoa caramhola)
and ripens in the fifth month. The people of the Western countries
press an oil out of it for frying cakes and fruit, in the same man-
ner as sesame seeds {kU-hn E Wy are utilized in China."

The transcription tsH-Vun has been successfully identified by Hirth^
with Persian zeitun, save that we have to define this form as Middle
Persian; and Fu-lin tsH-Vi with Aramaic zaitd (Hebrew zayid). This
is the olive-tree {Olea Europaea).^ The Persian word is a loan from
the Semitic, the common Semitic form being *zeitu (Arabic zeitun). It
is noteworthy that the Fu-lin form agrees more closely with Grusinian
and Ossetic zetH, Armenian jet, dzet ("olive-oil"), zeit ("olive"), Arabic
zait,^ than with the Aramaic word. The olive-tree, mentioned in
Pahlavi literature (above, p. 193), grows spontaneously in Persia and
Baluchistan, but the cultivated species was in all likelihood received
by the Iranians (as well as by the Armenians) from the Semites. The
olive-tree was known in Mesopotamia at an early date: objects in
clay in the form of an olive belonging to the time of Urukagina, one
of the pre-Sargonic rulers of Lagash, are still extant.^

iCh. 18, p. II.

2 A gloss thus indicates the reading of this character by the fan tsHe ^ ^.

' See above, p. 292.

* Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXX, 1910, p. 19.

^ See, for instance, the illustrated article "olivier" in Dujardin-Beaumetz
and Egasse, Plantes m^dicinales indigenes et exotiques (p. 492, Paris, 1889), which
is a very convenient and commendable reference-book, particularly valuable for
its excellent illustrations. Cf. also S. Krauss, Talmudische Archaologie, Vol. II,
p. 214; S. Fraenkel, Die aramaischen Fremdworter im Arabischen, p. 147.

• W. Miller, Sprache der Osseten, p. 10; Hubschmann, Arm. Gram., p. 309.

^ Handcock, Mesopotamian Archaeology, p. 13. The contributions which
A. Engler has made to the olive in Hehn's Kulturpfianzen (p. 118) are just as sing-
ular as his notions of the walnut. Leaves of the olive-tree have been found in Pliocene
deposits near Mongardino north-west of Bologna, and this is sufficient for Engler
to "prove" the autochthonous character of the tree in Italy. All it proves, if the

415

41 6 Sino-Iranica

ScHLiMMER^ says that Olea europaea is largely cultivated by the
inhabitants of Mendjil between Besht and Ghezwin in Persia, and
that the olives are excellent; nevertheless the oil extracted is very bad
and unfit to eat. The geographical distribution of the tree in Iran
has well been traced by F. Spiegel.^

The word tsH-fun has been perpetuated by the lexicographers of
the Emperor K'ien-lufi (1736-95). It makes its appearance in the
Dictionary of Four Languages, in the section *' foreign fruit. "^ For
the Tibetan and Mongol forms, one has chosen the transcriptions
iH-tun siu (transcribing tse -?) and citun jimin respectively; while it is
surprising to find a Manchu equivalent ulusnn, which has been correctly
explained by H. C. v. d. Gabelentz and Sakharov. In the Manchu-
Chinese Dictionary TsHn wen pu huij published in 1771, we find the

fact be correct, is that a wild olive once occurred in the Pliocene of Italy, which
certainly does not exclude the idea and the well-established historical fact that the
cultivated olive was introduced into Italy from Greece in historical times. The
notice of Pliny (xv, i) weighs considerably more in this case than any alleged
palaeontological wisdom, and the Pliocene has nothing to do with historical times
of human history. The following is truly characteristic of Engler's uncritical stand-
point and his inability to think historically: "Since the fruits of the olive-tree are
propagated by birds, and in many localities throughout the Mediterranean the con-
ditions for the existence of the tree were prepared, it was quite natural also that the
tree settled in the localities suitable for it, before the Oriental civilized nations
made one of the most important useful plants of it." If the birds were the sole
propagators of the tree, why did they not carry it to India, the Archipelago, and
China, where it never occurred? The distribution of the olive shows most clearly
that it was brought about by human activity, and that we are confronted with a
well-defined geographical zone as the product of human civilization, — Western
Asia and the Mediterranean area. There is nothing in Engler like the vision and
breadth of thought of a de Candolle, in whose Origin of Cultivated Plants we read
(p. 280), "The question is not clearly stated when we ask if such and such olive-
trees of a given locality are really wild. In a woody species which lives so long and
shoots again from the same stock when cut off by accident, it is impossible to know
the origin of the individuals observed. They may have been sown by man or birds
at a very early epoch, for olive-trees of more than a thousand years old are known.
The effect of such sowing is a naturalization, which is equivalent to an extension
of area. The point in question is, therefore, to discover what was the home of the
species in very early prehistoric times, and how this area has grown larger by dif-
ferent modes of transport. It is not by the study of living olive-trees that this can
be answered. We must seek in what countries the cultivation began, and how it
was propagated. The more ancient it is in any region, the more probable it is that
the species has existed wild there from the time of those geological events which took
place before the coming of prehistoric man." Here we meet a thinker of critical
acumen, possessed of a fine historical spirit, and striving for truth nobly and honestly;
and there, a- dry pedant, who thinks merely in terms of species and genera, and is
tmwilling to learn and to understand history.

1 Terminologie, p. 406.

2 Eranische Altertumskunde, Vol. I, pp. 257-258.

3 Appendix, Ch. 3, p. 10.

The Olive 417

following definition of ulusun in Chinese: "TsH-Vun is a foreign fruit,
which is produced in the country Po-se (Persia). The bark of the tree
is green, the flowers are white and aromatic. Its fruit ripens in the fifth
month and yields an oil good for frying cakes." This is apparently based
on the notice of the Yu yan tsa tsu. The Manchu word ulusun {-sun
being a Manchu ending) seems to be an artificial formation based on
Latin oleum (from Greek elaion)^ which was probably conveyed through
the Jesuit missionaries.

The olive remained unknown to the Japanese; their modem bo-
tanical science calls it oreiju M ?'J ^, which reproduces our " olive." ^
The Japanese botanists, without being aware of the meaning of ts'i-iun,
avail themselves of the characters for this word (reading them ego-no-ki)
for the designation of Styrax japonica?

The so-called Chinese olive, kan-lan Wi M, has no afiinity with the
true olive of the West-Asiatic and Mediterranean zone, although its
appearance comes very near to this fruit. ^ The name kan-lan applies
to Canarium album and C. pimela, belonging to the order Burseraceae,
while the olive ranks in that of the Oleaceae.^ Ma Ci, who, in his K'ai

1 Matsumura, No. 2136.

' Ibid., No. 3051.

' The kan-lan tree itself is suspected to be of foreign origin; it was most probably
introduced from Indo-China into southern China. Following are briefly the reasons
which prompt me to this opinion, i. According to Li §i-6en, the meaning of the
name kan-lan remains unexplained, and this comment usually hints at a foreign word*
The ancient pronunciation was *kam-lam or *kam-ram, which we still find in
Annamese as kam-lari. The tree abounds in Annam, the fruit being eatable and
preserved in the same manner as olives (Perrot and Hurrier, Mat. m^d. et phar-
macop^e sino-annamites, p. 141). Moreover, we meet in Pa-yi, a T'ai language
spoken in Yiin-nan, a word {mak)-k'am, which in a Pa-yi-Chinese glossary is rendered
by Chinese kan-lan (the element mak means "fruit"; see F. W. K. MtJLLER, T'oung
Pao, Vol. Ill, p. 27). The relationship of Annamese to the T'ai languages has been
clearly demonstrated by H. Maspero, and it seems to me that Chinese *kam-lam
is borrowed from Annam-T'ai. There are many more such Chinese botanical names,
as I hope to show in the near future. 2. The plant appears in Chinese records
at a comparatively recent date. It is first described in the Nan cou i wu ti of the
third century as a plant of Kwan-tun and Fu-kien and in the Nan fan ts'ao mu cwan
(Ch. c, p. 3 b). It is mentioned as a tree of the south in the Kin lou tse of the Em-
peror Yuan of the Liang in the sixth century (see above, p. 222). A description of
it is due to Liu Sun in his Lin piao lu i (Ch. b, p. 5 b). In the materia medica it
first appears in the K'ai pao pen ts'ao of the end of the tenth century. 3. The tree
remained always restricted to the south-eastern parts of China bordering on Indo-
China. According to the San fu hwan t*u, it belonged to the southern plants brought
to the Fu-li Palace of the Han Emperor Wu after the conquest of Nan Yue (cf.
above, p. 262).

* The fruit of Canarium is a fleshy drupe from three to six cm in length, which
contains a hard, triangular, sharp-pointed seed. Within this are found one or more
oily kernels. The flesh of the fresh, yellowish-green fruit, like that of the true olive,
is somewhat acrid and disagreeable, and requires special treatment before it can

41 8 Sino-Iranica

pao pen ts^ao (written between a.d. 968 and 976), describes the kan-lan,
goes on to say that "there is also another kind, known as Pose kan-lan
('Persian kan-lan'), growing in Yun 5ou 1 ^M/ similar to kan-lan in
color and form, but different in that the kernel is divided into two sec-
tions; it contains a substance like honey, which is soaked in water and
eaten." The San se (^ou cP mentions the plant as a product of Safi-se
cou in Kwan-si. It would be rather tempting to regard this tree as the
true olive, as tentatively proposed by Stuart;^ but I am not ready to
subscribe to this theory until it is proved by botanists that the olive-
tree really occurs in Kwafi-si. Meanwhile it should be pointed out that
weighty arguments militate against this supposition. First of all, the
Pose kan-lan is a wild tree: not a word is said to the effect that it is
cultivated, still less that it was introduced from Po-se. If it had been
introduced from Persia, we shoiild most assuredly find it as a culti-
vation; and if such an introduction had taken place, why should it be
confined to a few localities of Kwan-si? Li Si-Cen does not express an
opinion on the question; he merely says that the fan ZS' Ian, another
variety of Canarium to be found in Kwan-si (unidentified), is a kind
of Pose kan-lan, which proves distinctly that he regards the latter
as a wild plant. The T'ang authors are silent as to the introduction of
the olive; nevertheless, judging from the description in the Yu yan tsa
tsu, it may be that the fruit was imported from Persia under the T'ang.
Maybe the Pose kan-lan was so christened on accoimt of a certain
resemblance of its fruit to the olive; we do not know. There is one
specific instance on record that the Po-se of Ma Ci applies to the
Malayan Po-se (below, p. 483) ; this may even be the case here, but the
connection escapes our knowledge.

S. JuLiEN^ asserts that the Chinese author from whom he derives
his information describes the olive-tree and its fruit, but adds that
the use of it is much restricted. The Chinese name for the tree is not
given. Finally, it should be pointed out that Ibn Batata of the four-

be made palatable. Its most important constituent is fat, which forms nearly one-
fourth of the total nutritive material. Cf. W. C. Blasdale, Description of Some
Chinese Vegetable Food Materials, p. 43, with illustration (U. S. Department of
Agriculture, Bull. No. 68, 1899). The genus Canarium comprises about eighty
species in the tropical regions of the Old World, mostly in Asia (Engler, Pflan-
zenfamilien. Vol. Ill, pt. 4, p. 240).

1 Name under the T'ang dynasty of the present prefecture Nan-nin in Kwan-si
Province.

2 Ch. 14, p. 7 b (see above, p. 409).
' Chinese Materia Medica, p. 89.

* Industries de I'empire chinois, p. 120.

The Olive 419

teenth century positively denies the occurrence of olives in China. ^
Of course, this Arabic traveller is not an authority on Chinese affairs:
many of his data concerning China are out and out absurd. He may
even not have visited China, as suggested by G. Ferrand; notwith-
standing, he may be right in this particular point. Likewise the Arch-
bishop of Soltania, who wrote about 1330, states, "There groweth
not any oil olive in that country. "^

1 Yule, Cathay, Vol. IV, p. 118.

2 im., Vol. Ill, p. 96.

CASSIA PODS AND CAROB

44. In his Pen ts*ao H i, written during the first half of the eighth
century, C'en Ts'an-k'i has this notice regarding an exotic plant:
''A-lo-p'o MWJ^ (*a-lak-bwut) grows in the country Fu-Hn (Syria),
its fruit resembling in shape that of the tsao kia % ^ (Gleditschia or
Gymnocladus sinensis)^ save that it is more rounded and elongated.
It is sweet of taste and savory."^

In the Cen lei pen ts'ao^ we read that "a-lo-p*o grows in the country
Fu-§i W jffi"; that is, Bhoja, Sumatra. Then follows the same descrip-
tion as given above, after C'en Ts*an-k'i. The name p'o-lo-men tsao
kia ^ M P? -S ^ is added as a synonyme. Li §i-5en^ comments that
P'o-lo-men is here the name of a Si-yu S® ("Western Regions")
country, and that Po-se is the name of a country of the south-western
barbarians; that is, the Malayan Po-se. The term p'o-lo-men tsao kia,
which accordingly would mean ''Gleditschia of the P'o-lo-men coun-
try," he ascribes to C'en Ts'an-k'i, but in his quotation from this
author it does not occur. The country P'o-lo-men here in question is
the one mentioned in the Man ^u}

A somewhat fuller description of this foreign tree is contained in
the Yu yan tsa tsu,^ as follows: "The Persian tsao kia (Gleditschia) has
its habitat in the country Po-se (Persia), where it is termed hu-ye-
yen-mo &^lS^, while in Fu-lin it is styled a-li-k'u-fa MM^i^.'
The tree has a height of from thirty to forty feet, and measures from
four to five feet in circumference. The leaves resemble those of Citrus
medica (kou yuan ft) W), but are shorter and smaller. Dining the cold
season it does not wither.^ It does not flower, and yet bears fruit .^
Its pods are two feet long. In their interior are shells {ko ko MM).
Each of these encloses a single seed of the size of a finger, red of color,

^ Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 31, p. 9 b, where the name of the plant is wrongly
written a-p*o-lo. The correct form a-lo-p'o is given in the Cen lei pen ts'ao.
2 Ch. 12, p. 56 (ed. of 1587).
2 Pen ts*ao kan mu, Ch. 31, p. 9 b.
* See below, p. 468.

5 Ch. 18, p. 12. Also Li §i-5en has combined this text with the preceding one
under the heading a-p'o-lo (instead of a-lo-p'o).

6 The Pen ts'ao kan mu (Ch. 31, p. 9 b), in quoting this text, gives the Po-se
name as hu-ye-yen and the Fu-lin name only as a-li.

^ This means, it is an evergreen.
8 This is due to erroneous observation.

420

Cassia Pods and Carob 421

and extremely hard. The interior [the pulp] is as black as [Chinese]
ink and as sweet as sugar-plums. It is eatable, and is also employed in
the pharmacopoeia.'*

The tree under consideration has not yet been identified, at least not
from the sinological point of view.^ The name a-lo-p^o is Sanskrit; and
the ancient form *a-lak(rak, rag)-bwut(bud) is a correct and logical
transcription of Sanskrit aragbadha, aragvadha, dragvadka, or drgvadha,
the Cassia or Cathartocarpus fistula (Leguminosae) , already mentioned
by the physician Caraka, also styled suvarnaka ('' gold-colored '0 and
rdjataru (''king's tree").^ This tree, called the Indian laburnum,
purging cassia, or pudding pipe tree from its peculiar pods (French
canificier), is a native of India, Ceylon, and the Archipelago^ (hence
Sumatra and Malayan Po-se of the Chinese), "uncommonly beautiful
when in flower, few surpassing it in the elegance of its ntmierous long,
pendulous racemes of large, bright-yellow flowers, intermixed with the
young, lively green foliage."^ The fruit, which is common in most
bazars of India, is a brownish pod, about sixty cm long and two cm
thick. It is divided into numerous cells, upwards of forty, each con-
taining one smooth, oval, shining seed. Hence the Chinese comparison
with the pod of the Gleditschia, which is quite to the point. These pods
are known as cassia pods. They are thus described in the " Treasury of
Botany " : " Cylindrical, black, woody, one to two feet long, not splitting,
but marked by three long furrows, divided in the interior into a number
of compartments by means of transverse partitions, which project
from the placentae. Each compartment of the fniit contains a single
seed, imbedded in pulp, which is used as a mild laxative." Whether
the tree is cultivated in Asia I do not know; Garcia da Orta affirms
that he saw it only in a wild state.^ The description of the tree and
fruit in the Yu yan tsa tsu is fairly, correct. Cassia fistula is indeed
from twenty to thirty feet high (in Jamaica even fifty feet). The seed,
as stated there, is of a reddish-brown color, and the pulp is of a dark
viscid substance.

^ Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 496) lists the name a-p'o-lo (instead of
a-lo-p'o) among "unidentified drugs." Bretschneider has never noted it.

2 A large number of Sanskrit synonymes for the tree are enumerated by Rodiger
and Pott {Zeitsckrift f. d. K. d. Morg., Vol. VII, p. 154); several more may be added
to this list from the Bower Manuscript.

3 Garcia da Orta (Markham, Colloquies, p. 114) adds Malacca and Sofala.
In Javanese it is tenguli or trenguli.

^ W. Roxburgh, Flora Indica, p. 349.

5 Likewise F. Pyrard (Vol. II, p. 361, ed. of Hakluyt Society), who states that
"it grows of itself without being sown or tended."

422 Sino-Iranica

When I had established the above identification of the Sanskrit
name, it was quite natural for me to lay my hands on Matsumura's
"Shokubutsu mei-i" and to look up Cassia fistula under No. 754:
it was as surprising as gratifying to find there, ^' Cassia fistula M ^ W)
namban-saikachi.'^ This Japanese name means literally the "Gleditschia
japonica (sa^'^aa = Chinese tsao-kia-tse) of the Southern Barbarians"
(Chinese Nan Fan). The Japanese botanists, accordingly, had suc-
ceeded in arriving at the same identification through the description
of the plant; while the philological equation with the Sanskrit term
escaped them, as evidenced by their adherence to the wrong form
a-p'o-lo, sanctioned by the Pen ts*ao kan mu. The case is of methodo-
logical interest in showing how botanical and linguistic research may
supplement and corroborate each other: the result of the identification
is thus beyond doubt; the rejection of a-p'o-lo becomes complete, and
the restitution of a-lo-p^o, as handed down in the Cen lei pen ts^aOj
ceases to be a mere philological conjecture or emendation, but is raised
into the certainty of a fact.

The Arabs know the fruit of this tree under the names xarnub hindi
("Indian carob")^ and xiydr ^anbdr (*' cucumber of necklaces," from
its long strings of golden flowers) .^ Abu'l Abbas, styled en-Nebati
("the Botanist"), who died at Sevilla in 1239, the teacher of Ibn
al-Baitar, who preserved extracts from his lost work Rihla ("The
Voyage"), describes Cassia fistula as very common in Egypt, par-
ticularly in Alexandria and vicinity, whence the fruit is exported to
Syria ;^ it commonly occurs in Bassora also, whence it is exported to
the Levant and Irak. He compares the form of the tree to the walnut
and the fruit to the carob. The same comparison is made by Isak Ibn
Amran, who states in Leclerc's translation, "Dans chacun de ces tubes
est renfermde une pulpe noire, sucr^e et laxative. Dans chaque com-
partiment est un noyau qui a le volume et la forme de la graine de
caroubier. La partie employee est la pulpe, k I'exclusion du noyau et du
tube."

The Persians received the fruit from the Arabs on the one hand, and
from north-western India on the other. They adopted the Arabic word
xiydr-^anbdr^ in the form xiydr-cambar (compare also Armenian rjf^'ar-

1 Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. II, p. 17.

2 Ihid., p. 64. Also gitta hindi ("Indian cucumber"), ihid., Vol. Ill, p. 62.

^ Garcia da Orta says that it grows in Cairo, where it was also found by
Pierre Belon. In ancient times, however, the tree did not occur in Egypt: Loret,
in his Flore pharaonique, is silent about it. It was no doubt brought there by the
Arabs from India.

* Garcia da Orta spells it hiar-xamber.

Cassia Pods and Carob 423

Sambj Byzantine Greek x^^P^^^y^^^Py xeao-a/xTrdp) ; and it is a Middle-
Persian variation of this type that is hidden in the "Persian" tran-
scription of the Yu yan tsa tsu, hu-ye-yen-mo M^W^, anciently
*xut(xur)-ya-dzem(dzem)-m'wak(bak, bax). The prototype to be
restored may have been *xaryad^ambax. There is a New-Persian word
for the same tree and fruit, bakbar. It is also called kdbuli ("coming
from Kabul").

The Fu-lin name of the plant is H SS 5fe 'K a-li-k*u-fa, *a-li(ri)-
go-va5. I. LoEW^ does not give an Aramaic name for Cassia fistula,
nor does he indicate this tree, neither am I able to find a name for it in
the relevant dictionaries. We have to take into consideration that the
tree is not indigenous to western Asia and Egypt, and that the Arabs
transplanted it there from India (cf . the Arabic terms given above,
"Indian carob," and "Indian cucumber"). The Fu-lin term is evi-
dently an Indian loan-word, for the transcription *a-ri-go-va5 cor-
responds exactly to Sanskrit drgvadha, answering to an hypothetical
Aramaic form *arigbada or *arigfada. In some editions of the Yu yan
tsa tsu, the Fu-lin word is written a-li or a-li-fa, *a-ri-va5. These would
likewise be possible forms, for there is also a Sanskrit variant drevata
and an Indian vernacular form alt (in Panjabi).

The above texts of C'en Ts'an-k'i and Twan C'efi-si, author of
the Yu yan tsa tsu, give occasion for some further comments. Pelliot^
maintained that the latter author, who lived toward the end of the
ninth century, frequently derived his information from the former, who
wrote in the first part of the eighth century;^ from the fact that C'en
in many cases indicates the foreign names of exotic plants, Pelliot is
inclined to infer that Twan has derived from him also his nomenclature
of plants in the Fu-lin language. This is by no means correct. I have
carefully read almost all texts preserved under the name of C'en (or
his work, the Pen ts*ao H i) in the Ceh lei pen ts^ao and Pen ts'ao kan mu,
and likewise studied all notices of plants by Twan; with the result
that Twan, with a few exceptions, is independent of C*en. As to Fu-lin
names, none whatever is recorded by the latter, and the above text is
the only one in which the country Fu-lin figures, while he gives the
plant-name solely jin its Sanskrit form. In fact, all the foreign names
noted by C'en come from the Indo-Malayan area. The above case
shows plainly that Twan's information does not at all depend on C'en's

1 Aramaeische Pflanzennamen.

2 T'oung Pao, 19 12, p. 454.

3 The example cited to this effect (Bull, de VEcole franqaise, Vol. IV, p. 1130)
is not very lucky, for in fact the two texts are clearly independent.

424 Sino-Iranica

passage: the two texts differ both as to descriptive matter and nomen-
clature. In regard to the Fu-Hn information of Twan, Hirth's opinion^
is perfectly correct: it was conveyed by the monk Wan, who had
hailed directly from Fu-lin.^ The time when he lived is unknown, but
most probably he was a contemporary of Twan. The Fu-lin names,
accordingly, do not go back to the beginning of the eighth century, but
belong to the latter half of the ninth.

An interesting point in connection with this subject is that both
the Iranian and the Malayan Po-se play their r61e with reference to
the plant and fruit in question. This, as far as I know, is the only in-
stance of this kind. Fortunately, the situation is perfectly manifest on
either side. The fact that Twan C'efi-si hints at the Iranian Po-se
(Persia) is well evidenced by his addition of the Iranian name; while
the tree itself is not found in Persia, and merely its fruit was imported
from Syria or India. The Po-se, alluded to in the Cen lei pen ts*ao and
presumably traceable to C'en Ts'afi-k'i, unequivocally represents the
Malayan Po-se: it is joined to the names of Sumatra and P'o-lo-men;
and Cassia fistula is said to occur there, and indeed occurs in the Malayan
zone. Moreover, Li Si-6en has added such an unambiguous definition
of the location of this Po-se, that there is no room for doubt of its identity.

45. Reference has been made to the similarity of cassia pods to
carob pods, and it would not be impossible that the latter were included
in the ''Persian Gleditschia" of the Chinese.

Ceratonia siliqua, the carob-tree, about thirty feet in height, is
likewise a genus of the family Leguminosae, a typical Mediterranean
cultivation. The pods, called carob pods, carob beans, or sometimes
sugar pods, contain a large quantity of mucilaginous and saccharine
matter, and are commonly employed in the south of Europe for feeding
live-stock, and occasionally, in times of scarcity, as human food. The
popular names "locust-pods'' or "St. John's Bread" rest on the suppo-
sition that the pods formed the food of St. John in the wilderness
(Luke, xv, 16); but there is better reason to believe that the locusts
of St. John were the animals so called, and these are still eaten in the
Orient. The common Semitic name for the tree and fruit is Assyrian
xarUbUf Aramaic xdrUbd, Arabic xarrub and xarnub.^ New Persian
xurnub (khurnub) or xarniib, also xarrub (hence Osmanli xarilp,^ Neo-

1 Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXX, 1910, p. 18.

2 Cf . above, p. 359.

' Egyptian d^arudi, garuta, darruga; Coptic garate, are Greek loan-words
(the tree never existed in Egypt, as already stated by Pliny, xiii, 16), from Kepdrta.

* Also ketUhujnuzu ("goat's horn"). ,

Cassia Pods and Carob 425

Greek x^P^vinov, Italian carrobo or carrubo, Spanish algarrobo, French
caroube or carouge)^ is based on the Semitic name. Lelekl is another
Persian word for the tree, according to Schlimmer/ peculiar to Gilan.

The Arabs distinguish three varieties of carob, two of which are
named saidaldni and Sdbuni.^ There is no doubt that the Arabs who
were active in transplanting the tree to the west conveyed it also to
Persia. A. de Candolle does not mention the occurrence of the carob
in that country. It is pointed out, however, by the Mohammedan
writers on Persia. It is mentioned as a cultivation of the province
Sabur by Muqaddasi^ and Yaqut."* Abu Mansur discusses the medicinal
properties of the fruit in his pharmacopoeia; he speaks of a Syrian and
a Nabathasan xarnub} Schlimmer® remarks that the tree is very
common in the forest of Gilan; the pods serve the cows as food, and are
made into a sweet and agreeable syrup. No Sanskrit name for the
tree exists, and the tree itself did not anciently occur in India.''

A botanical problem remains to be solved in connection with Cassia
fistula. DuHalde^ mentions cassia-trees {Cassia fistula) in the province
of Yun-nan toward the kingdom of Ava. "They are pretty tall, and
bear long pods; whence 'tis called by the Chinese, Chang-ko-tse-shu,
the tree with long fruit (S IS ~^ M) ; its pods are longer than those we
see in Europe, and not composed of two convex shells, like those of
ordinary pulse, but are so many hollow pipes, divided by partitions
into cells, which contain a pithy substance, in every respect like the
cassia in use with us." S. W. Williams® has the following: ^^ Cassia
fistula, tl ffi ff kwai hwa tsHn, is the name for the long cylindrical pods
of the senna tree (Cathartocarpus) , known to the Chinese as ^'an kwo-tse
^u, or tree with long fruit. They are collected in Kwafi-si for their
pulp and seeds, which are medicinal. The pulp is reddish and sweet,
and not so drastic as the American sort; if gathered before the seeds
are ripe, its taste is somewhat sharp. It is not exported, to any great

1 Terminologie, p. 120. The pods are also styled torwil.

2 L. Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. II, p. 16.

3 P. ScHWARZ, Iran, p. 32.

^ Barbier de Meynard, Dictionnaire gdographique de la Perse, p. 294.

5 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 59.

^ Terminologie, p. 119.

^ The alleged word for the carob, gimbibheda, given in the English-Sanskrit
Dictionary of A. Borooah, is a modern artificial formation from gimbi or gimba
("pod"). According to Watt, the tree is now almost naturalized in the Salt Range
and other parts of the Panjab.

8 Description of the Empire of China, Vol. I, p. 14 (or French ed., Vol. I, p. 26).

3 Chinese Commercial Guide, p. 114 (5th ed., 1863).

426 Sino-Iranica

extent, west of the Cape.'' F. P. Smith,^ with reference to this state-
ment of WilHams, asserts that the drug is unknown in Central China,
and has not been met with in the pages of the Pen ts^ao. Likewise
Stuart,^ on referring to DuHalde and Williams, says, "No other
authorities are found for this plant occurring in China, and it is not
mentioned in the Pen ts'ao. The Customs Lists do not mention it; so,
if exported as Williams claims, it must be by land routes. The subject
is worthy of investigation." Cassia fistula is not listed in the work of
Forbes and Hemsley.

There is no doubt that the trees described by DuHalde and Williams
exist, but the question remains whether they are correctly identified.
The name hwai used by Williams would rather point to a Sophora,
which likewise yields a long pod containing one or five seeds, and his
description of the pulp as reddish does not fit Cassia fistula. Contrary
to the opinions of Smith and Stuart, the species of Williams is referred
to in the Pen ts*ao kan mu.^ As an appendix to his a-p'o-lo (instead of
a-lo-p'o), Li Si-cen treats of the seeds of a plant styled lo-wan-tse M
^ ^, quoting the Kwei hai yil hen U by Fan C'efi-ta (1126-93) as
follows: *'Its habitat is in Kwafi-si. The pods are several inches long,
and are like those of the fei tsao BE Mi {Gleditschia or Gymnocladus sinen-
sis) and the tao tou 73 S (Canavallia ensiformis). The color [of the
pulp] is standard red IE i3". Inside there are two or three seeds, which
when baked are eatable and of sweet and agreeable flavor."^ This lo-wan
is identified with Tamarindus indica;^ and this, I believe, is also the
above plant of Williams, which must be dissociated from Cassia fistula;
for, while Li Si-Sen notes the latter as a purely exotic plant, he does not
state that it occurs in China; as to lo-wan^ he merely regards it as a
kindred affair on account of the peculiar pods: this does not mean, of
course, that the trees 5rielding these pods are related species. The
fruit of Tamarindus indica is a large swollen pod from four to six inches
long, filled with an acid pulp. In India it is largely used as food, being
a favorite ingredient in curries and chutnies, and for pickling fish. It is
also employed in making a cooling drink or sherbet.^

1 Contributions towards the Materia Medica of China, p. 53.

2 Chinese Materia Medica, p» 96.

3 Ch. 31, p. 9 b.

< The text is exactly reproduceid (see the edition in the Ci pu tsu £ai ts^wh l«,
p. 24).

s Matsumura, No. 3076 (in Japanese cdsen-modama-rahoU).
8 Watt, Commercial Products of India, p. 1067.

NARCISSUS

46. The Yu yan tsa tsu^ contains the following notice: "The
habitat of the nai-kH tS JlS is in the country Fu-lin (Syria). Its sprouts
grow to a height of three or four feet. Its root is the size of a duck's
egg. Its leaves resemble those of the garlic (Allium sativum). From the
centre of the leaves rises a very long stem surmounted by a six-petaled
flower of reddish-white color.^ The heart of this flower is yellow-red, and
does not form fruit. This plant grows in the winter and withers during
the summer. It is somewhat similar to shepherd's-purse (tsi ^,
Capsella hursa-pastoris) and wheat.^ An oil is pressed from the flowers,
with which they anoint the body as a preventive of colds, and is em-
ployed by the king of Fu-lin and the nobles in his country."

Li Si-cen, in his Pen ts^ao kah mu,^ has placed this extract in his
notice of ^wi sien :^ {ill (Narcissus tazetta),^ and after quoting it, adds
this comment: "Judging from this description of the plant, it is similar
to Narcissus; it cannot be expected, of course, that the foreign name
should be identical with our own."^ He is perfectly correct, for the
description answers this flower very well, save the comparison with
Capsella. Dioscorides also compares the leaves of Narcissus to those of
Allium, and says that the root is rounded like a bulb.^

The philological evidence agrees with this explanation; for nai-kH,
*nai-gi, apparently answers to Middle Persian *nargi, New Persian
nargis (Arabic narjis),^ Aramaic narkim, Armenian narges (Persian

1 Ch. 18, p. 12 b.

2 Cf. the description of Theophrastus (Hist, plant., vii, 13): "In the case of
narcissus it is only the flower-stem which comes up, and it immediately pushes up
the flower." Also Dioscorides (iv, 158) and Pliny (xxi, 25) have given descriptions
of the flower.

2 This sentence is omitted (and justly so) in the text, as reprinted in the Pen
ts*ao kan mu; for these comparisons are lame.

* Ch. 13, p. 16.

^ Also this species is said to have been introduced from abroad (Hwa mu siao U
ffi /fC /h iS. P- 19 b, in &un ts'ao fan tsi, Ch. 25).

^ In another passage of his work (Ch. 14, p. 10) he has the same text under
San nai \1] ^ (Kcempferia galanga), but here he merely adds that the description
of the Yu yan tsa tsu is "a Httle like san nai.'*

7 Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. Ill, p. 368.

^ According to Hubschmann (Armen. Gram., p. 201), the New-Persian form
would presuppose a Pahlavi *narkis. In my opinion, Greek v&pKiaaos is derived from
an Iranian language through the medium of an idiom of Asia Minor, not vice versd,
as believed by Noeldeke (Persische Studien, II, p. 43).

427

428 Sino-Iranica

loan-word), denoting Narcissus tazetta, which is still ctiltivated in
Persia and employed in the pharmacopoeia.^ Oil was obtained from the
narcissus, which is called vapdaaiov in the Greek Papyri.^

HiRTH^ has erroneously identified the Chinese name with the nard.
Aside from the fact that the description of the Yu yah tsa tsu does not
at all fit this plant, his restoration, from a phonetic viewpoint, remains
faulty. K'afi-hi does not indicate the reading not for the first character,
as asserted by Hirth, but gives the readings nai, ni, and yih. The second
character reads kH, which is evolved from *gi, but does not repre-
sent ti, as Hirth is inclined to make out.^

For other reasons it is out of the question to see the nard in the
term nai-kH; for the nard, a product of India, is well known to the
Chinese under the term kan sun hiah 'W ^ ^.^ The Chinese did not
have to go to Fu-lin to become acquainted with a product which reached
them from India, and which the Syrians themselves received from
India by way of Persia.^ Hebrew nerd (Canticle), Greek papdos,'^
Persian nard and nard, are all derived from Sanskrit nalada, which
already appears in the Atharvaveda.^ Hirth 's case would also run
counter to his theory that the language of Fu-lin was Aramaic, for
the word nard does not occur there.

1 ScHLiMMER, Terminologie, p. 390. Narcissus is mentioned among the aromatic
flowers growing in great abundance in Bi§avar, province of Fars, Persia (G. Le
Strange, Description of the Province of Fars, p. 51). It is a flower much praised
by the poets Hafiz and Jami.

2 T. Reil, Beitrage zur Kermtnis des Gewerbes im hellenistischen Aegypten,
p. 146. Regarding narcissus-oil, see Dioscorides, i, 50; and Leclerc, Traiti des
simples, Vol. II, p. 103.

' Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXX, 1910, p. 22.

* See particularly Pelliot, Bull, de VEcole frangaise, Vol. IV, p. 291.

5 Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 278.

" I. LOEW, Aram. Pflanzennamen, pp. 368-369.

' First in Theophrastus, Hist, plant., IX. vii, 2.

8 See p. 455.

THE BALM OF GILEAD

47. The Yu yan tsa tsu^ has the following notice of an exotic plant
referred exclusively to Sjnria: ''The plant H^A a-p'o-ts'an (*a-bwut-
sam) has its habitat in the country Fu-lin (Syria). The tree is over ten
feet high. Its bark is green and white in color. The blossoms are
fine M, two being opposite each other (biflorate). The flowers resemble
those of the rape-turnip, man-tsin M, ff {Brassica rapa-depressa) ,
being uniformly yellow. The seeds resemble those of the pepper-plant,
hu-tsiao i^ W^ {Piper nigrum). By chopping the branches, one obtains
a juice like oil, that is employed as an ointment, serving as a remedy for
ringworm, and is useftil for any disease. This oil is held in very high
esteem, and its price equals its weight in gold."

As indicated in the Pen ts'ao kan mu H i^ the notice of the plant
a-p'o-san has been adopted by two works, — the C'en fu Vun hwi M. W
Wt #, which simply notes that it grows in Fu-Hn; and the Hwa i hwa
mu k'ao H ^ IE ;fC :# ("Investigations into the Botany of China and
Foreign Countries"), which has copied the account of the Yu yan tsa
tsu without acknowledgment. Neither of these books gives any addi-
tional information, and the account of the Yu yan tsa tsu remains the
only one that we possess.

The transcription *a-bwut(bwur)-sam, which is very exact, leads
to Aramaic and Talmudic afursama «DmtsN3 (Greek ^aXaaiiov,
Arabic balessdn), the balm of Gilead (Amyris gileadensis, Balsamoden-
dron giliadense, or Commiphora opobalsamum, family Burseraceae) of
ancient fame. This case splendidly corroborates Hirth's opinion that
the language of Fu-lin (or rather one of the languages of Fu-lin) was
Aramaic. The last two characters p"o-ts'an (*bwut-sam) could very
well transcribe Greek balsam; but the element M excludes Greek and
any other language in which this word is found, and admits no other
than Aramaic. In Syriac we have apursdmd and pursdmd {pursmd),
hence Armenian aprsam or aprasam.^ In Neo-Hebrew, afobalsmon or

1 Ch. 18, p. 12.

2 Ch. 4, p. 15.

' I. LoEW, Aramaeische Pflanzennamen, p. 73. Also afarsma and afarsmon
(J. BuxTORF, Lexicon chaldaicum, p. 109; J. Levy, Neuhebr. Worterbuch, Vol. I,
p. 151). Cf. S. Krauss, Talmudische Archaologie, Vol. I, pp. 234-236.

* HuBSCHMANN, Armenische Grammatik, p. 107. I do not believe in the Persian
origin of this word, as tentatively proposed by this author.

429

430 Sino-Iranica

afofalsmon is derived from the Greek oTo^oKaafxov.^ It is supposed also
that Old-Testament Hebrew bdsdm refers to the balsam, and might
represent the prototype of Greek balsamon, while others deny that the
Hebrew word had this specific meaning.^ In my opinion, the Greek
/ cannot be explained from the Hebrew word.

Twan C'efi-si's description of the tree, made from a long-distance
report, is tolerably exact. The Amyris gileadensis or balsam-tree is an
evergreen shrub or tree of the order Amyridaceae, belonging to the
tropical region, chiefly growing in southern Arabia, especially in the
neighborhood of Mecca and Medina, and in Abyssinia. As will be seen,
it was transplanted to Palestine in historical times, and Twan was
therefore justified in attributing it to Fu-lin, The height of the tree is
about foiirteen feet, with a trunk eight or ten inches in diameter. It
has a double bark, — an exterior one, thin and red, and an interior one,
thick and green; when chewed, it has an unctuous taste, and leaves an
aromatic odor. The blossoms are biflorate, and the fruit is of a gray
reddish, of the size of a small pea, oblong, and pointed at both ends.
The tree is very rare and difficult to ctiltivate. Twan's oil, of course,
is the light green, fragrant gum exuded from the branches, always highly
valued as a remedy, especially efficacious in the cure of wounds.^ It
was always a very costly remedy, and Twan's valuation (equaling its
weight in gold) meets its counterpart in the statement of Theophrastus
that it sells for twice its weight in silver.

Flavius Josephus (first century a.d.)^ holds that the introduction
of the balsam-tree into Palestine, which still flourished there in his
time, is due to the queen of Saba. In another passage^ he states that
the opobalsamum (sap of the tree) grows at Engedi, a city near the lake
Asphaltitis, three hundred ftirlongs from Jerusalem; and again,^ that it
grows at Jericho: the balsam, he adds in the latter passage, is of all
ointments the most precious, which, upon any incision made in the wood
with a sharp stone, exudes out like juice.

From the time of Solomon it was cultivated in two royal gardens.

1 J. Levy, op. ciL, Vol. I, p. 137.

2 E. Levesque in Dictionnaire de la Bible, Vol. I, col. 15 17. The rapproche-
ment of bdsdm and halsamon has already been made by d'Herbelot (Biblioth^que
orientale, Vol. I, p. 377), though he gives basam only as Persian. The Arabic form
is derived from the Greek.

3 Jeremiah, viii, 22. Regarding its employment in the pharmacology of the
Arabs, see Leclerc, Trait6 des simples. Vol. I, pp. 255-257.

^ Antiquitates judaicae, VIII. vi, 6.

5 Ibid., IX. I, 2.

6 Ibid., XIV. IV, I.

The Balm of Gilead 431

This fact was already known to Theophrastus,^ who gives this account:
"Balsam grows in the valley of Syria. They say that there are only
two parks in which it grows, one of about four acres, the other much
smaller. The tree is as tall as a good-sized pomegranate, and is much
branched; it has a leaf like that of rue, but it is pale; and it is ever-
green. The fruit is like that of the terebinth in size, shape, and color,
and this too is very fragrant, indeed more so than the gum. The gum,
they say, is collected by making incisions, which is done with bent
pieces of iron at the time of the Dog-star, when there is scorching heat;
and the incisions are made both in the trunks and in the upper parts
of the tree. The collecting goes on throughout the summer; but the
quantity which flows is not very large: in a day a single man can
collect a shell-full. The fragrance is exceedingly great and rich, so that
even a small portion is perceived over a wide distance. However,
it does not reach us in a pure state: what is collected is mixed with
other substances; for it mixes freely with such, and what is known in
Hellas is generally mixed with something else.^ The boughs are also
very fragrant. In fact, it is on account of these boughs, they say, that
the tree is pruned (as well as for a different reason), since the boughs
cut off can be sold for a good price. In fact, the culture of the trees has
the same motive as the irrigation (for they are constantly irrigated).
And the cutting of the boughs seems likewise to be partly the reason
why the trees do not grow tall; for, since they are often cut about, they
send out branches instead of putting out all their energy in one direc-
tion. Balsam is said not to grow wild anywhere. From the larger park
are obtained twelve vessels containing each about three pints, from the
other only two such vessels. The pure gum sells for twice its weight
in silver, the mixed sort at a price proportionate to its purity. Balsam
then appears to be of exceptional value."

As the tree did not occur wild in Palestine, but only in the state of
cultivation, and as its home is in southern Arabia, the tradition of
Josephus appears to be well founded, though it is not necessary to
connect the introduction with the name of the Queen of Saba.

Strabo,^ describing the plain of Jericho, speaks of a palace and the
garden of the balsamum. "The latter," he says, "is a shrub with an
aromatic odor, resembling the cytisus {Medicago arhorea) and the
terminthus (terebinth-tree). Incisions are made in the bark, and vessels

* Hist, plant., IX, 6 (cf. the edition and translation of A. Hort, Vol. II, p. 245).

2 E. Wiedemann (Sitzber. phys.-med. Soz. ErL, 1914, pp. 178, 191) has dealt
with the adulteration of balsam from Arabic sources.

» XVI. II, 41.

432 Sino-Iranica

are placed beneath to receive the sap, which is like oily milk. When
collected in vessels, it becomes solid. It is an excellent remedy for head-
ache, incipient suffusion of the eyes, and dimness of sight. It bears
therefore a high price, especially as it is produced in no other place.'*

Dioscorides^ asserts erroneously that balsam grows only in a certain
valley of India and in Egypt; while Ibn al-Baitar,^ in his Arabic trans-
lation of Dioscorides, has him correctly say that it grows only|_in Judasa,
in the district called Rur (the valley of the Jordan). It is easily seen
how Judsea in Greek writing could be misread for India.

To Pliny ,^ balsamum was only known as a product of Judaea (uni
terrarum ludaeae concessum). He speaks of the two gardens after
Theophrastus, and gives a lengthy description of three different kinds
of balsamum.

In describing Palestine, Tacitus* says that in all its productions it
equals Italy, besides possessing the palm and the balsam; and the
far-famed tree excited the cupidity of successive invaders. Pompey
exhibited it in the streets of Rome in 65 B.C., and one of the wonderful
trees accompanied the triumph of Vespasian in a.d. 79. During the
invasion of Titus, two battles took place at the balsam-groves of Jericho,
the last being intended to prevent the Jews from destroying the trees.
They were then made public property, and were placed under the
protection of an imperial guard; but it is not recorded how long the two
plantations survived, tn this respect, the Chinese report of the Yu yan
tsa tsu is of some importance, for it is apt to teach that the balm of
Gilead must still have been in existence in the latter part of the ninth
century. It further presents clear-cut evidence of the fact that
Judsea was included in the Chinese notion of the country Fu-lin.

Abd al-Latif (1161-1231)^ relates how in his time balsam was col-
lected in Egypt. The operation was preferably conducted in the summer.
The tree was shorn of its leaves, and incisions were made in the trunk,
precaution being taken against injuring the wood. The sap was col-
lected in jars dug in the ground during the heat, then they were taken
out to be exposed to the sun. The oil floated on the surface and was
cleaned of foreign particles. This was the true and purest balsam, form-
ing only the tenth part of the total quantity produced by a tree. At
present, in Arabia leaves and branches of the tree are boiled. The first

ii, 18.

2 Leclerc, Trait6 des simples, Vol. I, 255.

3X11, 25, § III.

* Hist., V, 6.

5 SiLVESTRE DE Sacy, Relation de I'Egypte, p. 20 (Paris, 18 10).

The Balm of Gilead 433

floating oil is the best, and reserved for the harem; the second is for
commerce.

The tree has existed in Egypt from the eleventh to the beginning
of the seventeenth centiiry. It was prestimably introduced there by the
Arabs. d'Herbelot^ cites an Arabic author as saying that the balm
of Mathara near Cairo was much sought by the Christians, owing to
the faith they put in it. It served them as the chrism in Confirmation.

The Irish pilgrim Symon Semeonis, who started on his journey to
the Holy Land in 1323, has the following interesting account of the
balsam-tree of Egypt i^ ^'To the north of the city is a place called
Matarieh, where is that famous vine said to have been formerly in
Engaddi (cf. Cant., i, 13), which distils the balsam. It is diligently
guarded by thirty men, for it is the source of the greater portion of the
Sultan's wealth. It is not like other vines, but is a small, low, smooth
tree, and odoriferous, resembling in smoothness and bark the hazel
tree, and in leaves a certain plant called nasturcium aquaticum. The
stalk is thin and short, usually not more than a foot in length; every
year fresh branches grow out from it, having from two to three feet in
length and producing no fruit. The keepers of the vineyard hire Chris-
tians, who with knives or sharp stones break or cut the tops of these
branches in several places and always in the sign of a cross. The balsam
soon distils through these fractures into glass bottles. The keepers
assert that the flow of balsam is more abundant when the incision
is made by a Christian than by a Saracen." ^

In 1550 Pierre Belon^ still noted the tree in Cairo. Two speci-
mens were still alive ini6i2. Ini6i5, however, the last tree died.

The Semitic word introduced into China by the Yu yan tsa tsu
seems to have fallen into oblivion. It is not even mentioned in the
Pen ts'ao kan mu. The word "balsam," however, was brought back to
China by the early Jesuits. In the famous work on the geography of
the world, the Cifan wai kiWi.^ 9V^,^ first draughted by Pantoja, and
after his death enlarged and edited in 1623 by Giulio Aleni (i 582-1 649),
the Peru balsam is described under the name paW-sa-mo St M ^ ^.
The same word with reference to the same substance is employed by

1 Bibliotheque orientale, Vol. I, p. 392.

2 yi^ EsposiTO, The Pilgrimage of Symon Semeonis: A Contribution to the
History of Mediaeval Travel {Geographical Journal, Vol. LI, 1918, p. 85).

' Cf. the similar account of K. v. Megenberg (Buch der Natur, p. 358, writ-
ten in 1349-50)-

* Observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses memorables, trouv^es en
Grace, Asie, Iud6e, Egypte, Arable, p. 246.

^ Ch. 4, p. 3 (ed. of Sou san ko ts'un Su).

434 Sino-Iranica

Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-88) in his K'un yil fu ^wo ^ ]^ S ^, and
was hence adopted in the pharmacopoeia of the Chinese, for it figures
in the Pen ts*ao kan mu H i} The Chinese Gazetteer of Macao^ mentions
pa W-su-ma aromatic Ei W K ^l W as a kind of benjoin. In this case
we have a transcription of Portuguese bdlsamo.

1 Ch. 6, p. 19. See, further, Watters, Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 339.

2 Ao-men ti Ho, Ch. b, p. 41 (cf. Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 60).

NOTE ON THE LANGUAGE OF FU-LIN

48. The preceding notes on Fu-lin plants have signally confirmed
Hirth's opinion in regard to the language of Fu-lin, which was Aramaic.
There now remains but one Fu-lin plant-name to be identified. This is
likewise contained in the Yu yan tsa tsu} The text runs as follows: —

*'The p*an-nu-se ^^W tree has its habitat in Po-se (Persia),
likewise in Fu-lin. In Fu-lin it is styled k'un-han ^ SI. The tree is
thirty feet high, and measures from three to four feet in circumference.
Its leaves resemble those of the si ^un Wi ^ (the Banyan tree, Ficus
retusa). It is an evergreen. The flowers resemble those of the citrus,
kil S, and are white in color. The seeds are green and as large as a
sour jujube, swan tsao K ft {Diospyros lotus). They are sweet of taste
and glossy (fat, greasy). They are eatable. The people of the western
regions press oil out of them, to oint their bodies with to ward oflE
ulcers.''

The transcription p^an-nu-se answers to ancient *bwan-du-sek;
and k'un-hafij to ancient g'win-xan. Despite a long-continued and
intensive search, I cannot discover any Iranian plant-name of the type
bandusek or wandusek, nor any Aramaic word like ginxan. The botanical
characteristics are too vague to allow of a safe identification. Never-
theless I hope that this puzzle also will be solved in the futiire.^

In the Fu-lin name a-li-k'u-fa we recognized an Indian loan-word in
Aramaic (p. 423). It would be tempting to regard as such also the
Fu-Hn word for "pepper" *a-li-xa-da MMM^ {a-lt-ho-fo), which
may be restored to *alixada, arixada, arxad; but no such word is known
from Indian or in Aramaic. The common word for " pepper " in Aramaic
is filfol (from Sanskrit pippald). In certain Kurd dialects J. de Morgan^
has traced a word alat for "pepper," but I am not certain that this is

1 Ch. 18, p. 10 b.

2 My colleague, Professor M. Sprengling at the University of Chicago, kindly
sent me the following information: "Olive-oil was used to ward off ulcers (see
Winer, Bibl. Realwortb., Vol. II, p. 170; and Krauss, Archaeologie des Talmud,
Vol. I, pp. 229, 233, 683). Neither in Krauss nor elsewhere was I able to find the
name of an oil-producing tree even remotely resembling ginxan. There is a root
qnx ('to wipe, to rub, to anoint'). It is theoretically possible that g is pronounced
voiced and thus becomes a guttural g, and that from this root, by means of the
sufi&x -an, may be derived a noun *qlnxan, *ginxan to which almost any significance
derived from 'rubbing, anointing' might be attached. But for the existence of such
a noun or adjective I have not the sHghtest evidence."

' Mission scientifique en Perse, Vol. V, p. 132.

435

436 Sino-Iranica

connected with our Fu-lin word, which at any rate represents a loan-
word.

There is another Fu-lin word which has not yet been treated cor-
rectly. The T'ang Annals, in the account of Fu-lin (Ch. 221), mention
a mammal, styled ts^un ^, of the size of a dog, fierce, vicious, and
strong.^ Bretschneider,2 giving an incorrect form of the name, has
correctly identified this beast with the hyena, which, not being found
in eastern Asia, is unknown to the Chinese. Ma Twan-lin adds that
some of these animals are reared,^ and the hyena can indeed be tamed.
The character for the designation of this animal is not listed in K'ari-hi's
Dictionary; but K*an-hi gives it in the form ^^ with the pronunciation
hien (fan-tsHe "MM, sound equivalent M), quoting a commentary to
the dictionary Er ya, which is identical with the text of Ma Twan-lin
relative to the animal ts'un. This word hien (or possibly hiian) can be
nothing but a transcription of Greek vaiva, hyaena, or vaivri. On the
other hand, it should be noted that this Greek word has also passed as
a loan into Syriac;^ and it would therefore not be impossible that it
was Syrians who transmitted the Greek name to the Chinese. This
question is altogether irrelevant; for we know, and again thanks to
Hirth's researches, that the Chinese distinguished two Fu-lin, — the
Lesser Fu-lin, which is identical with S3nia, and the Greater Fu-lin, the
Byzantine Empire with Constantinople as capital.^ Byzantine Greek,
accordingly, must be included among the languages spoken in Fu-lin.

As to the origin of the name Fu-lin, I had occasion to refer to Pel-
liot's new theory, according to which it would be based on ROm,
Rum.^ I am of the same opinion, and perfectly in accord with the
fundamental principles by which this theory is inspired. In fact, this
is the method followed throughout this investigation: by falling
back on the ancient phonology of Chinese, we may hope to restore
correctly the prototypes of the Chinese transcriptions. Pelliot starts
from the Old-Armenian form Hrom or HrOm,^ in which h represents

1 HiRTH, China and the Roman Orient, pp. 60, 107, 220.

2 Knowledge possessed by the Ancient Chinese of the Arabs, p. 24.

3 HiRTH {op. cit., p. 79) translates, "Some are domesticated like dogs." But
the phrase fj^t J6j following ^ ^ ^ forms a separate clause. In the text printed
by Hirth (p. 115, Q 22) the character "^ is to be eliminated.

^ Thus reproduced by Palladius in his Chinese-Russian Dictionary (Vol. I,
p. 569) with the reading suan.

^ R. P. Smith, Thesaurus syriacus, Vol. I, col. 338.

5 Cf. Hirth, Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXXIII, 1913, pp. 202-208.

"^ The Diamond (this volume, p. 8). Pelli,ot's notice is in Journal asiatique,
1914, I, pp. 498-500.

8 Cf. HuBSCHMANN, Armen. Gram., p. 362.

Note on the Language or Fu-lin 437

the spiritus asper of the initial Greek r. In some Iranian dialects the
spiritus asper is marked by an initial vowel: thus in Pahlavi ArQm, in
Kurd Urum. The ancient Armenian words with initial /tr, as explained
by A. Meillet, were borrowed from Parthian dialects which transformed
initial Iranian /into h: for instance, Old Iranian /ramawa {now ferman,
** order") resulted in Armenian hraman, hence from Parthian *hraman.
Thus *Fr5m, probably conveyed by the Sogdians, was the prototype
from which Chinese Fu-lin, *Fu-lim, was fashioned. In my opinion,
the Chinese form is not based on *Fr5m, but on *Frim or *Frim. Rim
must have been an ancient variant of Rum; Rim is still the Russian
designation of Rome.^ What is of still greater importance is that, as
has been shown by J. J. Modi,* there is a Pahlavi name Sairima, which
occurs in the Farvardin Ya§t, and is identified with Rum in the Bun-
dahisn; again, in the Sahnameh the corresponding name is Rum. This
country is said to have derived its name from Prince Selam, to whom
it was given; but this traditional opinion is not convincing. A form
Rima or Rim has accordingly existed in Middle Persian; and, on the
basis of the Chinese transcription *Fu-lim or *Fu-rim, it is justifiable
to presuppose the Iranian (perhaps Parthian) prototype *Frim, from
which the Chinese transcription was made.

1 What Pelliot remarks on the Tibetan names Ge-sar and P'rom is purely
hjT^othetical, and should rather be held in abeyance for the present. We know so
little about the Ge-sar epic, that no historical conclusions can be derived from it.
For the rest, the real Tibetan designation for Byzaftice or Turkey, in the same
manner as in New Persian, is Rimi {T'oung Pao, 1916, p. 491). In regard to the
occurrence of this name in Chinese transcriptions of more recent date, see Bret-
SCHNEIDER, Mediaeval Researches, Vol. II, p. 306; and Hirth, Chau Ju-kua, p. 141.

2 Asiatic Papers, p. 244 (Bombay, 1905).

THE WATER-MELON

49. This Cucurbitacea (Citrullus vulgaris or Cucurbita citrullus)
is known to the Chinese under the name si kwa ® JR ("melon of the
west"). The plant now covers a zone from anterior Asia, the Caucasus
region, Persia to Turkistan and China, also southern Russia and the
regions of the lower Danube. There is no evidence to lead one to sup-
pose that the cultivation was very ancient in Iran, India, Central Asia,
or China; and this harmonizes with the botanical observation that
the species has not been found wild in Asia.^

A. Engler^ traces the home of the water-melon to South Africa,
whence he holds it spread to Egypt and the Orient in most ancient times,
and was diffused over southern Europe and Asia in the pre-Christian
era. This theory is based on the observation that the water-melon
grows spontaneously in South Africa, but it is not explained by what
agencies it was disseminated from there to ancient Egypt. Neverthe-
less the available historical evidence in Asia seems to me to speak
in favor of the theory that the fruit is not an Asiatic ciiltivation; and,
since there is no reason to credit it to Europe, it may well be traceable
to an African origin.

The water-melon is not mentioned by any work of the T'ang dy-
nasty; notably it is absent from the T^ai pHn kwan yii ki. The earliest
allusion to it is found in the diary of Hu Kiao iK ^^t entitled Hien lu ki
fi§ M tfi, which is inserted in chapter 73 of the History of the Five Dy-
nasties (Ww tai H)y written by Nou-yafi Siu W^^j^ (a.d. 1017-72)
and translated by E. Chavannes.^ Hu Kiao travelled in the country
of the Kitan from a.d. 947 to 953, and narrates that there for the first
time he ate water-melons {si kwa)^ He goes on to say, "It is told that
the Kitan, after the annihilation of the Uigur, obtained this cultivation.
They cultivated the plant by covering the seeds with cattle-manure
and placing mats over the beds. The fruit is as large as that of the

1 A. DE Candolle, Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 263.

2 In Hehn, Kulturpflanzen, p. 323.

• Voyageurs chinois chez les Khitan {Journal asiatique, 1897, I, pp. 390-442).

* Chavannes' translation "melons" (p. 400) is inadequate; the water-melon
is styled in French past^que or melon d'eau. Hu Kiao, of course, was acquainted
with melons in general, but what he did not previously know is this particular species.
During Napoleon's expedition to Egypt, "on mangeait des lentilles, des pigeons, et
un melon d'eau exquis, connu dans les pays m^ridionaux sous le nom de pasteque.
Les soldats I'appelaient sainte pasteque" (Thiers, Histoire de la revolution frangaise).

438

The Water-Melon 439

tun kwa ^ iR (Benincasa ceriferaY and of sweet taste."^ The water-
melon is here pointed out as a novelty discovered by a Chinese among
the Kitan, who then occupied northern China, and who professed to
have received it from the Turkish tribe of the Uigur. It is not stated
in this text that Hu Kiao took seeds of the fruit along or introduced it
into China proper. This should be emphasized, in view of the con-
clusion of the Pen ts'ao kan mu (see below), and upheld by Bretschneider
and A. de CandoUe, that the water-melon was in China from the tenth
century. At that time it was only in the portion of China held by the
Kitan, but still unknown in the China of the Chinese.^

1 "Cultivated in China, Japan, India and Africa, and often met with in a wild
state: but it is uncertain whether it is indigenous" (Forbes and Hemsley, Journal
Linnean Society, Vol. XXIII, p. 315).

2 Hu Kiao was a good observer of the flora of the northern regions, and his
notes have a certain interest for botanical geography. Following his above refer-
ence to the water-melon, he continues, "Going still farther east, we arrived at Niao-
t*an, where for the first time willows [JurCi suxei] are encountered, also water-grass,
luxuriant and fine; the finest of this kind is the grass si-ki ^ ^ with large blades.
Ten of these are sufficient to satisfy the appetite of a horse. From Niao-t'an we
advanced into high mountains which it took us ten days' journey to cross. Then we
passed a large forest, two or three li long, composed entirely of elms, wu-i ^ ^
(Ulmus macrocarpa), the branches and leaves of which are set with thorns like arrow-
feathers. The soil is devoid of grass." Si-ki apparently represents the transcription
of a Kitan word. Three species of elm occur in the Amur region, — Ulmus montana,
U. campestris, and U. suberosa (Grum-Grzimailo, Opisanie Amurskoi Oblasti,
p. 316). In regard to the locality T'an-6'en-tien, Hu Kiao reports, "The climat
there is very mild, so that the Kitan, when they suffer from great cold, go there to
warm up. The wells are pure and cool; the grass is soft like down, and makes a
good sleeping-couch. There are many peculiar flowers to be found, of which two
species may be mentioned, — one styled han-kin ^ ^, the size of the palm of a
hand, of gold color so brilliant that it dazzles man; the other, termed ts'in ian
^ ^, like the kin Ven ^ j§ (Orithia edulis) of China, resembling in color an
Indigofera {Ian ^) and very pleasing." The term han-kin appears to be the tran-
scription of a Kitan word; so is perhaps also ts'in ian, although, according to Stuart
(Chinese Materia Medica, p. 404), the leaves of Sesamum are so called; this plant,
however, cannot come here into question.

' The Pien tse lei pien cites the Wu tai Si to the effect that Siao Han J^ ^,
after the subjugation of the Uigur, obtained the seeds of water-melons and brought
them back, and that the fruit as a product of the Western Countries {Si yii, that is,
Central Asia) was called "western melon" {si kwa). I regret not having been able to
trace this text in the Wu tai si. The biography of Siao Han inserted in the Kiu
Wu tai si (Ch. 98, pp. 6 b-7 a) contains nothing of the kind. The statement itself
is suspicious for two reasons. Siao Han, married to A-pu-li, sister of the Emperor
Wu-yu, in a.d. 948 was involved in a high-treason plot, and condemned to death in
the ensuing year (cf. H. C. V. d. Gabelentz, Geschichte der grossen Liao, p. 65;
and Chavannes, op. cit., p. 392). Hu Kiao was secretary to Siao Han, and in this
capacity accompanied him to the Kitan. After his master's death, Hu Kiao was
without support, and remained among the Kitan for seven years (up to the year 953).
It was in the course of these peregrinations that, as related above, he was first
introduced to water-melons. Now, if Siao Han had really introduced this fruit into

440 Sino-Iranica

The man who introduced the fruit into China proper was Hun Hao
;K 6§ (a.d. 1 090-1 1 5 5), ambassador to the Kin or Jurci, among whom he
remained for fifteen years (1129-43). In his memoirs, entitled Sun mo
ki wen ^^^ W, he has the following report:^ *'The water-melon
(si kwa) is in shape like a fiat Acorus (p'u S), but rounded. It is very-
green in color, almost blue-green. In the course of time it will change
into yellow. This Cucurbitacea {Vie BS) resembles the sweet melon {tien
kwa ^ iR, Cucumis melo), and is sweet and crisp. ^ Its interior is filled

China during his lifetime (that is, prior to the year 949), we might justly assume
that his secretary Hu Kiao must have possessed knowledge of this fact, and would
hardly speak of the fruit as a novelty. Further, the alleged introduction of the
fruit by Siao Han conflicts with the tradition that this importation is due to Hun
Hao in the twelfth century (see above). It would be nothing striking, of course, if, as
the fruit was cultivated by the Kitan, several Chinese ambassadors to this people
should have carried the seeds to their country; but, as a rule, such new acquisitions
take effect without delay, and if Siao Han had imported the seeds, there was no
necessity for Hun Hao to do so again. Therefore it seems preferable to think either
that the text of the above quotation is corrupted, or that the tradition, if it existed,
is a subsequent makeshift or altogether erroneous.

1 Not having access to an edition of this work, I avail myself of the extract, as
printed in the Kwan k'iinfan p'u (Ch. 14, p. 17 b), the texts of which are generally
given in a reliable form.

^ In regard to the melon {Cucumis melo), A. de Candolle (Origin of Cultivated
Plants, p. 261) says with reference to a letter received from Bretschneider in 1881,
"Its introduction into China appears to date only from the eighth century of our
era, judging from the epoch of the first work which mentions it. As the relations
of the Chinese with Bactriana, and the north-west of India by the embassy of
Chang-Kien, date from the second century, it is possible that the culture of the
species was not then widely diffused in Asia." Nothing to the effect is to be found in
Bretschneider's published works. In his Bot. Sin. (pt. II, p. 197) he states that all
the cucurbitaceous plants now cultivated for food in China are probably indigenous
to the country, with the exception of the cucumber and water-melon, which, as their
Chinese names indicate, were introduced from the West. In the texts assembled
in the Pen ts'ao kan mu regarding tien kwa, no allusion is made to foreign origin.
Concerning the gourd or calabash {Lagenaria vulgaris), A. de Candolle (/. c,
p. 246) states after a letter of Bretschneider that "the earliest work which mentions
the gourd is that of Tchong-tchi-chou, of the first century before Christ, quoted in
a work of the fifth or sixth century." This seems to be a confusion with the Curi
Su Su of the T'ang period (Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. I, p. 79). The gourd, of
course, occurs in ancient canonical literature (Bot. Sin., pt. II, p. 198). The history
of this and other cucurbitaceous plants requires new and critical investigation, the
difficulty of which is unfortunately enhanced by a constant confusion of terms in
all languages, the name of one species being shifted to another. It means very little,
of course, that at present, as recently emphasized again by H. J. Spinden (Pro-
ceedings Nineteenth Congress of Americanists, p. 271, Washington, 1917), Lagenaria
is distributed over the New and Old Worlds alike; the point is, where the centre of the
cultivation was (according to A. de Candolle it was in India; see, further, Asa Gray,
Scientific Papers, Vol. I, p. 330), and how it spread, or whether the wild form had a
wide geographical range right from the beginning, and was cultivated independently
in various countries. In view of the great antiquity of the cultivation both in India
and China, the latter assumption would seem more probable; but all this requires
renewed and profound investigation.

The Water-Melon 441

with a juice which is very cold. Hun Hao, when he went out as envoy,
brought the fruit back to China. At present it is found both in the
imperial orchards and in village gardens. It can be kept for several
months, aside from the fact that there is nothing to prevent it from
assuming a yellow hue in course of time. In P'o-yafi W ^^ there lived
a man who for a long time was afflicted with a disease of the eyes.
Dried pieces of water-melon were applied to them and caused him relief,
for the reason that cold is a property of this fruit." Accordingly the
water-melon was transplanted into China proper only in the latter
part of the twelfth century. Also the Si wu ki yuan ♦ # ^ J^,^ which
says that in the beginning there were no water-melons in China,
attributes their introduction to Hun Hao. The Kin or Jur6i, a nation
of Tungusian origin, appear to have learned the cultivation from the
Kitan. From a Jur6i-Chinese glossary we know also the JurSi designa-
tion of the water-melon, which is %eko, corresponding to Manchu
xengke, a general term for cucurbitaceous plants. In Golde, xinke
(in other Tungusian dialects kemke, kenke) denotes the cucumber, and
seho or sego the water-melon. The proper Manchu word for the water-
melon is dungga or dunggan. The Tungusian tribes, accordingly, did
not adopt the Persian-Turkish word karpuz (see below) from the Uigur,
but applied to the water-melon an indigenous word, that originally
denoted another cucurbitaceous species.

Following is the information given on the subject in the Pen ts*ao
kan mu.

Wu 2ui ^ ^, a physician from the province of Ce-kiafi in the
thirteenth century, author of the Td yun pen ts^ao B ^ ^ ^, is cited
in this work as follows: "When the Kitan had destroyed the Uigur,
they obtained this cultivation. They planted this melon by covering
the seeds with cattle-manure. The formation of this fruit is like the
peck tou ^; it is large and round like a gourd, and in color like green
jade. The seeds have a color like gold, but some like black hemp. In
the northern part of our country the fruit is plentiful." Li Si-cen ob-
serves, *' According to the Hien lu ki by Hu Kiao (see p. 438), this
cultivation was obtained after the subjugation of the Uigur. It is styled
'western melon' {si kwa). Accordingly it is from the time of the Wu-tai
(a.d. 907-960) that it was first introduced into China.^ At present it
occurs both in the south and north of the country, though the southern

^ In the prefecture of Zao-^ou, Kian-si.

2 The work of Kao C'en ^ ^ of the Sung dynasty.

^ The same opinion is expressed by Yan Sen (1488-1559) in his Tan kHen tswh
lu (above, p. 331).

442 Sino-Iranica

fruit is inferior in taste to that of the north." He distinguishes sweet,
insipid, and sour varieties.

In the T'ao hun kin tu 1^ ^ ^ ffi^ it is stated that in Yun-kia
^ ^ (in the prefecture of Wen-6ou, Ci-h) there were han kwa ^ JR
("cold melons") of very large size, which could be preserved till the
coming spring, and which are regarded as identical with the water-
melon. Li Si-5en justly objects to this interpretation, commenting that,
if the water-melon was first introduced in the Wu-tai period, the name
si kwa could not have been known at that time. This objection must
be upheld, chiefly for the reason that we have no other records from the
fourth century or even the T'ang period which mention the water-
melon: it is evidently a post-T'ang introduction.^

Ye Tse-kH, in his Ts^ao mu tse ^ ^ ■f' written in 1378, remarked
that water-melons were first introduced under the Yiian, when the
Emperor Si-tsu W IS (Kubilai) subjugated Central Asia. This view
was already rejected under the Ming in the Cen lu Vwan ^ ^^ <& by
C'en Ki-2u W^^, who aptly referred to the discovery of the fruit by
Hu Kiao, and added that it is not mentioned in the Er ya, the various
older Pen ts^ao, the TsH min yao iw, and other books of a like character,
it being well known that the fruit did not anciently exist in China. As
to this point, all Chinese writers on the subject appear to be agreed; and
its history is so well determined, that it has not given rise to attempts
of antedating or "changkienizing" the introduction.

The Chinese travellers during the Mongol period frequently allude
to the large water-melons of Persia and Central Asia.^ On the other
hand, Ibn Batuta mentions the excellent water-melons of China, which
are like those of Khwarezm and Ispahan.^

According to the Manchu officers Fusamb6 and Surde, who pub-
lished an account of Turkistan about 1772,^ the water-melon of this
region, though identical with that of China, does not equal the latter
in taste; on the contrary, it is much inferior to it. Other species of melon
belong to the principal products of Turkistan; some are called by the
Chinese "Mohammedan caps" and "Mohammedan eyes." The so-
called "Hami melon," which is not a water-melon, and ten varieties
of which are distinguished, enjoys a great reputation. Probably it is

^ Apparently a commentary to the works of T'ao Hun-kin (a.d. 451-536).

2 The alleged synonyme han kwa for the water-melon, adopted also by Bret-
sCRiiEWER (Chinese Recorder, 1871, p. 223) and others, must therefore be weeded out.

' Cf. Bretschneider, Mediaeval Researches, Vol. I, pp. 20, 31, 67, 89.

< YtJLE, Cathay, new ed., Vol. IV, p. 109.

^ Hut k'iaH U, see above, p. 230; and below, p. 562.

The Water-Melon 443

a variety of sweet melon (Cucumis melo), called in Uigtir and Djagatai
kogun, kavyn, or kaufij in Turk! qdwa and qawdq.

It is said to have been introduced into China as late as the K'afi-hi
era (1662-1721), and was still expensive at that time, but became
ubiquitous after the subjugation of Turkistan.^ Of other foreign
countries that possess the water-melon, the Yin yai hn Ian mentions
Su-men-ta-la (Stmiatra), where the fruit has a green shell and red
seeds, and is two or three feet in length,^ and Ku-li !& M (Calicut) in
India, where it may be had throughout the year.^ In the country of the
Mo-ho the fruits are so heavy that it takes two men to lift them. They
are said to occur also in Camboja.'* If it is correct that the first report
of the water-melon reached the Chinese not earlier than the tenth
century (and there is no reason to question the authenticity of this
account), this late appearance of the fruit woiild rather go to indicate
that its arrival in Central Asia was almost as late or certainly not much
earlier; otherwise the Chinese, during their domineering position in
Central Asia under the T'ang, would surely not have hesitated to
appropriate it. This state of affairs is confirmed by conditions in Iran
and India, where only a mediaeval origin of the fruit can be safely sup-
posed.

The point that the water-melon may have been indigenous in
Persia from ancient times is debatable. Such Persian terms as hindewane
("Indian fruit") [Afghan hindwdnd] or battix indi (''Indian melon ")^
raise the suspicion that it might have been introduced from India.^
Garcia da Orta states, "According to the Arabs and Persians, this
fruit was brought to their countries from India, and for that reason they

^ Hui k'ian U, Ch. 2; and Ci wu mih U Vu k*ao, Ch. 16, p. 85.

2 Malayan mandeUkei, taminkei, or setnanka (Javanese semonka, Cam samkai).
Regarding other Malayan names of cucurbitaceous plants, see R. Brandstetter,
Mata-Hari, p. 27; cf. also J. Crawfurd, History of the Indian Archipelago, Vol. I,
p. 435.

' Regarding other cucurbitaceous plants of Calicut, see Rockhill, T'oung Pao,
191 5» PP« 459> 460; but tun kwais not, as there stated, the cucumber, it is Benincasa
cerifera.

* Kwan k*un fan p'u, Ch. 14, p. 18. Cf. Pelliot, Bull, de VEcole frangaise,
Vol. II, p. 169. Water-melons are cultivated in Siam (Pallegoix, Description
du royaume Thai, Vol. I, p. 126).

^ From the Arabic; Egyptian bettu-ka, Coptic betuke; hence Portuguese and
Spanish pasteca, French pasteque. The batttx hindi has already been discussed by Ibn
al-Baitar (L. Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. I, p. 240) and by Abu Mansur (Achun-
DOW, p. 23). Armenian Hum bears no relation to the dudaim of the Bible, as tenta-
tively suggested by E. Seidel (Mechithar, p. 121). The latter refers to the man-
dragora.

" Thus also Spiegel, Eranische Altertumskunde, Vol. I, p. 259.

444 Sino-Iranica

call it Batiec Indi, which means 'melon of India/ and Avicenna so calls
it in many places."^ Nor does Persian herbuz,^ Middle Persian harboflna
or xarbuzak (literally, "donkey-cucumber") favor the assimiption of
an indigenous origin. VAMB:feRY' argues that Turkish karpuz or harbuz
is derived from the Persian, and that accordingly the fruit hails from
Persia, though the opposite standpoint would seem to be equally
justifiable, and the above interpretation may be no more than the
outcome of a popular etymology. But Vdmb^ry, after all, may be right;
at least, by accepting his theory it would be comparatively easy to
account for the migration of the water-melon. In this case, Persia
would be the starting-point from which it spread to the Turks of Central
Asia and finally to China.* A philological argument may support the
opinion that the Turkish word was derived from Persia: besides the
forms with initial guttural, we meet an alternation with initial dental,
due to phonetic dissimilation. The Uigur, as we know from the Uigur-
Chinese vocabulary, had the word as karpuz; but the Mongols term the
water-melon tarbus. Likewise in Turki we have tarbuz, but also qarpuz.
This alternation is not Mongol-Turkish, but must have pre-existed in
Persian, as we have tarambuja in Neo-Sanskrit, and in Hindustani
there is xarbuza and tarbuza (also tarbuz and tarmus), and correspondingly
tarbuz in West-Tibetan. In Pu§tu, the language of the Afghans, we
have tarbuja in the sense of "water-melon," and xarbuja designating
various kinds of musk-melon.*^ Through Turkish mediation the same
word reached the Slavs (Russian arbUz,^ Bulgarian karpHz, Polish
arbuZj garbuZy harbuz) and Byzantines (Greek Kapirovcna), and Turkish
tribes appear to have been active in disseminating the fruit east and
west.

It would therefore be plausible also that, as stated by Joret,^ the
fruit may have been propagated from Iran to India, although the
date of this importation is unknown. From Indian sources, on the other
hand, nothing is to be found that would indicate any great antiquity of
the ctdtivation of this species. Of the alleged Sanskrit word chayapula,

1 C. Markham, Colloquies by Garcia da Orta, p. 304.

2 From which Armenian xarpzag is derived.

» Primitive Cultur des turko-tatarischen Volkes, pp. 217-218.

* Vdmb^ry, of course, is wrong in designating Persia and India as the mother-
country of this cultivation. The mother-country was ancient Egypt or Africa in
a wider sense.

^ H. W. Bellew, Report on the Yusufzais, p. 255 (Lahore, 1864).

" In the dialects of northern Persia we also find such forms as arhuz and arhoz
(J. DE Morgan, Mission en Perse, Vol. V, p. 212).

' Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 252.

The Water-Melon 445

which A. DE Candoxle introduces as evidence for the early diffusion
of the cultivation into Asia, I cannot find any trace. The Sanskrit
designations of the water-melon, ndtdmra ("mango of the Nata"?),
godumba, taramhuja, sedUj are of recent origin and solely to be found in
the lexicographers; while others, like kdlinga {Benincasa cerifera), orig-
inally refer to other cucurbitaceous plants. Watt gives only modern
vernacular names.

Chinese si kwa has been equated with Greek o-iKva by Hirth,^ who
arbitrarily assigns to the latter the meaning "water-melon." This
philological achievement has been adopted by Giles in his Chinese
Dictionary (No. 6281). The Greek word, however, refers only to the
cucumber, and the water-melon remained unknown to the Greeks of
ancient times.^ A late Greek designation for the fruit possibly is ireTcov,
which appears only in Hippocrates.^ A. de Candolle^ justly remarked
that the absence of an ancient Greek name which may with certainty
be attributed to this species seems to show that it was introduced into
the Graeco-Roman world about the beginning of the Christian era.
The Middle and Modem Greek word xapTroufd or Kapirohaia^ derived
from Persian or Turkish, plainly indicates the way in which the By-
zantine world became acquainted with the water-melon. There is,
fiurther, no evidence that the Greek word cLKva ever penetrated into
Asia and reached those peoples (Uigur, Kitan, Jtir^i) whom the Chinese
make responsible for the transmission of the water-melon. The Chinese
term is not a transcription, but has the literal meaning "western melon";
and the "west" implied by this term does not stretch as far as Greece, but,
as is plainly stated in the Wu tat Hj merely alludes to the fact that the
fruit was produced in Turkistan. Si kwa is simply an abbreviation
for Si yU kwa ffl ^ iR; that is, "melon of Turkistan."^

According to the Yamato-honzo^ of 1709, water-melons were first
introduced into Japan in the period Kwan-ei (1624-44).

1 Fremde Einfiusse in der chinesischen Kunst, p. 17.

2 A. DE Candolle, Geographic botanique, p. 909.

2 Even this problematic interpretation is rejected by L. Leclerc (Traits des
simples, Vol. I, p. 239), who identifies the Greek word with the common gourd.
Leclerc's controversy with A. de Candolle should be carefully perused by those
who are interested in the history of the melon family.

* Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 264.

5 Illustrations of Chinese water-melon fields may be seen in F. H. King, Farm-
ers of Forty Centuries, pp. 282, 283.

•Ch.8,p.3.

FENUGREEK

50. In regard to the fenugreek {Trigonella foenum-graecum, French
fenugrec), Chinese hu-lu-pa (Japanese koroha) iM M. Ei, Stuart^ states
without further comment that the seeds of this leguminous plant were
introduced into the southern provinces of China from some foreign
country. But Bretschneider^ had correctly identified the Chinese
name with Arabic hulba (xulba). The plant is first mentioned in the
Pen ts^ao of the Kia-yu period (a.d. 1056-64) of the Sung dynasty,
where the author, Can Yu-si ^ S ^#, says that it grows in the prov-
inces of Kwan-tufi and Kwei-6ou, and that, according to some, the
species of Lin-nan represents the seeds of the foreign lo-po {Raphanus
sativus), but that this point has not yet been investigated. Su Sun,
in his T'u kin pen ts*ao, states that "the habitat of the plant is at present
in Kwafi-tufi, and that in the opinion of some the seeds came from
Hai-nan and other barbarians; passengers arriving on ships planted
the seeds in Kwan-tufi (Lin-wai), where the plant actually grows, but
its seeds do not equal the foreign article; the seeds imported into China
are really good." Then their employment in the pharmacopoeia is
discussed.^ The drug is also mentioned in the Pen ts*ao yen i.^

The transcription hu-lu-pa is of especial interest, because the
element hu forms part of the transcription, but may simultaneously
imply an allusion to the ethnic name Hu. The form of the transcription
shows that it is post-T'ang; for under the T'ang the phonetic equiva-
lent of the character iH was still possessed of an initial guttural, and a
foreign element xu would then have been reproduced by a quite different
character.

The medical properties of the plant are set forth by Abu Mansur in
his Persian pharmacopoeia under the name hulhat} The Persian name

1 Chinese Materia Medica, p. 442.

2 Bot. Sin., pt. I, p. 65.

' Stuart (/. c.) says wrongly that the seeds have been in use as a medicine since
the T'ang dynasty; this, however, has been the cage only since the Sung. I do not
know of any mention of the plant under the T'ang. This negative documentary
evidence is signally confirmed by the transcription of the name, which cannot have
been made under the T'ang.

^ Ch. 12, p. 4 b (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan).

^ AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 47. Another Persian form is hulya. In Arme-
nian it is hulbd or hulbe (E. Seidel, Mechithar, p. 183). See also Leclerc, Traits

446

Fenugreek 447

is Sanbaltd, ^anballle in Ispahan, and ^amllz in Shiraz, which appears
in India as ^amli. As is well known, the plant occurs wild in Kashmir,
the Panjab, and in the upper Gangetic plain, and is cultivated in many
parts of India, particularly in the higher inland provinces. The Sanskrit
term is methl, meihikd, or meihint} In Greek it is ^ovKepas (" ox-horn"), ^
Middle Greek xovXirev (from the Arabic), Neo-Greek ttjXv; Latin
foenum graecum} According to A. de Candolle,^ the species is wild
(besides the Panjab and Kashmir) in the deserts of Mesopotamia and
of Persia, and in Asia Minor. John Fryer^ entmierates it among the
products of Persia.^

Another West-Asiatic plant introduced by the Arabs into China under the
Sung is Jf ^ ^ ya-pu-lu, first mentioned by Cou Mi ^ i^ (i 230-1 320) as a
poisonous plant growing several thousand li west from the countries of the Moham-
medans (Kwei sin tsa H, sii tsi A, p. 38, ed. of Pai hat; and Ci ya Van tsa l^ao, Ch. A,
p. 40 b, ed. of Yiie ya Van ts'un lu). This name is based on Arabic yabruh or abruh
(Persian j abruh), the mandragora or mandrake. This subject has been discussed by
me in detail in a monograph "La Mandragore" (in French), T'oung Pao, 191 7,
pp. 1-30.

des simples, Vol. I, p. 443. Schlimmer (Terminologie, p. 547) remarks, "L'infusion
de la semence est un remade favori des m^decins indigenes dans les blennorhagies
urethriques chroniques."

1 It occurs, for instance, as a condiment in an Indian tale of King Vikramaditya
(A. Weber, Abh. Berl. Akad., 1877, p. 67).

2 Hippocrates; Theophrastus, Hist, plant., IV. iv, 10; or r^iXts: ibid., III. xvi,
2; Dioscorides, II, 124.

» Pliny, XXIV, 120.

* Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 112.
5 New Account of East India and Persia, Vol. II, p. 311.
' For further information see FLtJcKiGER and Hanbury, Pharmacographia,
p. 172.

i

I

NUX-VOMICA

51. The niix-vomica or strychnine tree (Strychnos nux-vomica)
is mentioned in the Pen ts^ao kan mu under the name # ^ SI fan
mu-pie ("foreign mu-pie/' Momordica cochinchinensis, a cucurbitaceous
plant), with the synonymes ^ Wt-^ ma tsHen-tse ("horse-coins," re-
ferring to the coins on a horse's bridle, hence Japanese macin), ^ S
fC S. k'u H pa tou {"pa-tou [Croton iiglium] with bitter fruits"),^ and
>^ :^ ^J ffi ?P hwo-H-k^o pa-tu. The latter term, apparently of foreign
origin, has not yet been identified; and such an attempt would also
have been futile, as there is an error in the transcription. The correct
mode of writing the word which is given in the Co ken luj^ written in
A.D. 1366, is ^ :^ $9 hwO'H-la, and this is obviously a transcription of
Persian kuBa or kuMa ("nux-vomica"), a name which is also current
in India (thus in Hindustani; Bengali kuUla). The second element
pa-tu is neither Persian nor Arabic, and, in my opinion, must be ex-
plained from Chinese pa-tou {Croton tiglium).

The text of the Co ken lu is as follows: "As regards hwo-H-la pa-tu y
it is a drug growing in the soil of Mohammedan countries. In appear-
ance it is like mu-pie-tse {Momordica cochinchinensis) , but smaller. It
can cure a himdred and twenty cases; for each case there are special
ingredients and guides." This is the earliest Chinese mention of this
drug that I am able to trace; and as it is not yet listed in the Cen lei
pen ts^ao of 1108, the standard work on materia medica of the Sung
period, it is justifiable to conclude that it was introduced into China
only in the age of the Mongols, during the fourteenth century. This is
further evidenced by the very form of the transcription, which is in
harmony with the rules then in vogue for writing foreign words. The
Kwan k'iin fan p'u^ cites no other source relative to the subject than
the Pen ts'ao kan mu, which indeed appears to be the first and only

1 This name does not mean, as asserted by Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica,
p. 425), "bitter-seeded Persian bean." Stuart {ibid., p. 132) says that the Arabic
name for Croton tiglium is "batoo, which was probably derived from the Chinese
name pa tou Ei ^." True it is that the Arabs are acquainted with this plant as an
importation from China (L. Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. II, p. 95), but only
under the name dend. I fail to trace a word hatu in any Arabic dictionary or in Ibn
al-Baitar.

2 Ch. 7, p. 5 b. See above, p. 386.

3 Ch. 6, p. 7.

448

Nux-VoMiCA 449

Pen ts*ao to notice it. The point is emphasized that the drug serves
for the poisoning of dogs. The plant now grows in Se-£*wan.

The Sanskrit term for nux-vomica is kupllu, from which is derived
Tibetan go-hyi-la or go-hye-la} The latter is pronounced go-ji-la, hence
the Mongols adopted it as gojila. It is uncertain whether the Sanskrit
name is related to Persian kuUa or not.

According to Fluckiger and H anbury ,2 the tree is indigenous to
most parts of India, especially the coast districts, and is found in Burma,
Siam, Cochin-China, and northern Australia. The use of the drug in
India, however, does not seem to be of ancient date, and possibly was
taught there by the Mohammedans. It is mentioned in the Persian
pharmacopoeia of Abu Mansur (No. 113) under the Arabic name jauz
ul-qei.^ ScHLiMMER^ gives also the terms azaragi and gatel el-kelbe, and
observes, *'Son emploi dans la paralysie est d'ancienne date, car I'auteur
du Mexzen el-Edviyeh en parle d6j^, ajoutant en outre que la noix vo-
mique est un remade qui change le temperament froid en temperament
chaud; le m^me auteur recommande les cataplasmes avec sa poudre
dans la coxalgie et dans les maladies articulaires."

The Arabs, who say that the tree occurs only in the interior of
Yemen, were well acquainted with the medicinal properties of the fruit.^
Nux-vomica is likewise known in Indo-China (Cam salain and pkun
akam, Khmer slerij Annamese ku-H; the latter probably a transcription
of kucila).^

The Kew Bulletin for 191 7 (p. 341) contains the following notice on
Strychnos nux-vomica in Cochin-China: "In K, B. 1917 (pp. 184, 185),
some evidence is given as to the occurrence of this species in Cochin-
China in the wild state. Since the account was written a letter and a
packet of undoubted nux-vomica seeds have been received from the
Director, Agricultural and Commercial Services, Cochin-China, with
the information that the seeds were obtained from trees growing wild
in the country. H. B. M.'s Consul, Saigon, also sends the following
information about 5. nux-vomica in Cochin-China which he has received
from Monsieur Morange, Director of the Agricultural and Commercial

1 Cf. Loan- Words in Tibetan, No. 50 {T'oung Pao, 19 16, p. 457).

2 Pharmacographia, p. 428.

3 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 43.
* Terminologie, p. 402.

6 L. Leclerc, Traits des simples. Vol. I, p. 380.

^ Cf. E. Perrot and P. Hurrier, Matiere m6dicale et pharmacop6e sino-
annamites, p. 171; the Chinese and Annamese certainly did not avail themselves
of this drug "from time immemorial," as stated by these authors. See, further,
C. Ford, China Review, Vol. XV, 1887, p. 220.

450 Sino-Iranica

Services of Cochin-China, and also a sample of the seeds obtained from
a Chinese exporter. The tree exists in the Eastern provinces of Cochin-
China, principally in the forests of Baria. The seeds are bought by
Chinese from the savage tribes known as Mois, who collect them in the
forest; the Chinese then export them to China or sell them again to
firms exporting to Europe. The time of fruiting is in November and
December. M. Morange considers that the tree is certainly indigenous
in Cochin-China, and was not introduced by early traders." If the
tree is indigenous there, it was certainly discovered there, as far as the
Chinese are concerned, only after the Mongol period. H. Maitre^ deals
with the poisons used by the Moi for their arrows, and arrives at the
conclusion that they are derived from the upas tree (Antiaris). He does
not mention Strycknos.

1 Les regions Moi du sud indo-chinois, pp. 119-121 (Paris, 1909).

THE CARROT

52. The carrot^ {Daucus carota), hu lo-po (Japanese ninjin) SB ^ ^
("Iranian turnip"), a native of northern Europe, was first introduced
into China at the time of the Yiian dynasty (a.d. 1260^1367). This is
the opinion of Li Si-^en, who states that the vegetable first appeared
at the time of the Yuan from the land of the Hu; and it is likewise main-
tained in the Kwan k'iin fan p'u^ that the carrot first came from the
countries beyond the frontier S S. I know of no text that would give
a more detailed account of its introduction or allude to the country of
its origin. Nevertheless it is very likely that this was some Iranian
region. Li Si-cen states that in his time it was abundantly culti-
vated in the northern part of the ^country and in San-tun, likewise
in middle China.^

The history of the carrot given by Watt* after G. Birdwood suffers
from many defects. A fundamental error underlies the statement,
"In fact, the evidence of cultivation would lead to the inference that
the carrot spread from Central Asia to Europe, and if so it might be
possible to trace the European names from the Indian and Persian."
On the contrary, the carrot is a very ancient, indigenous European
cultivation, which is by no means due to the Orient. Carrots have been
found in the pile-dwellings of Robenhausen.^ It is not to the point, either,
that, as stated by Watt and Birdwood, "indeed the carrot seems to
have been grown and eaten in India, while in Europe it was scarcely
known as more than a wild plant." The Anglo-Saxons cultivated the
carrot in their original habitat of Schleswig-Holstein at a time when,
in my opinion, the carrot was not yet cultivated in India; and they con-

1 From French carote, now caroUe, Italian carota, Latin carota; Greek Kapwrbv
(in Diphilus). This word has supplanted Anglo-Saxon moru, from *morhu (Old
High German moraha, morha; Russian morkov' , Slovenian mrkva). Regarding the
origin of the word lo-po, cf. T'oung Pao, 191 6, pp. 83-86.

2 Ch. 4, p. 24.

' A designation for the carrot not yet indicated is fu f^ lo-po, derived from the
three fu ^ f^, the three decades of the summer, extending from about the middle
of July to the middle of August: during the first /« the seeds of the carrot^are planted,
in the second fu the carrots are pale red, in the third they are yellow (San hwa hien
" # fl: j^ ig, Ch. 16, p. 14 b, ed. 1877).

* Commercial Products of India, p. 489, or Dictionary, Vol. Ill, p. 45.

^J. Hoops, Waldbaume und Kulturpflanzen, p. 297; G. Buschan, Vorge-
schichthche Botanik, p. 148.

452 Sino-Iranica

tinued to ciiltivate it in England.^ Moreover, the carrot grows wild in
Britain and generally in the north temperate zone of Europe and Asia,
and no doubt represents the stock of the cultivated carrot, which can
be developed from it in a few generations. ^ It is impossible to connect
Anglo-Saxon moru (not mora, as in Watt) with Sanskrit mula or mulaka.
No evidence is given for the bold assertion that *'the carrot appears to
have been regularly used in India from fairly ancient times." The only
sources quoted are Baber's Memoirs^ and the Ain-i Akbari, both works
of the sixteenth century. I fail to see any proof for the alleged antiquity
of carrot cultivation in India. There is no genuine Sanskrit word for
this vegetable. It is incorrect that "the Sanskrit gar jam originated
the Persian zardak and the Arabic jegar" {sic, for jezer). Boehtlingk
gives for gar jar a only the meaning "kind of grass." As indicated below,
it was the Arabs who carried the carrot to Persia in the tenth century,
and I do not believe that it was known in India prior to that time.
According to Watt, Daucus carota is a native of Kashmir and the western
Himalaya at altitudes of from 5000 to 9000 feet; and throughout
India it is cultivated by Europeans, mostly from annually imported
seed, and by the natives from an acclimatised if not indigenous stock.
Also N. G. MuKERji^ observes, "The EngHsh root-crop which has a
special value as a nourishing famine-food and fodder is the carrot. Up-
country carrot or gajra is not such a nourishing and palatable food as
European carrot, and of all the carrots experimented with in this
country, the red Mediterranean variety grown at the Cawnpore Experi-
mental Farm seems to be the best."

W. Roxburgh^ states that Daucus carota "is said to be a native
of Persia; in India it is only found in a cultivated state." He gives
two Sanskrit names, — grinjana and gargara, but his editor remarks
that he finds no authority for these. In fact, these and Watt's alleged
Sanskrit names are not at all Sanskrit, but merely Hindi (Hindi
gdjara) ; and this word is derived from Persian (not the Persian derived
from Sanskrit, as alleged by Watt). The only Sanskrit terms for
the carrot known to me are yavana ("Greek or foreign vegetable")
and pitakanda (literally, "yellow root"), which appears only in the
Rajanighantu, a work from the beginning of the fifteenth century. This

1 Hoops, op. cit., p. 600.

2 A. DE Candolle, G^ographie botanique, p. 827.

2 Baber ate plenty of carrots on the night (December 21, 1526) when an attempt
was made to poison him. Cf . H. Beveridge, The Attempt to Poison Babur Padshah
{Asiatic Review, Vol. XII, 1917, pp. 301-304).

^ Handbook of Indian Agriculture, 2d ed., p. 304.

^ Flora Indica, p. 270.

The Carrot 453

descriptive formation is sufficient to show that the ctiltivated carrot
was foreign to the Hindu. Also W. Ainslie^ justly concludes, ''Carrots
appear to have been first introduced into India from Persia."

According to ScHWEiNruRTH,^ Daucus carota should display a very
peculiar form in Egypt, — a sign of ancient cultivation. This requires
confirmation. At all events, it does not prove that the carrot was
cultivated by the ancient Egyptians. Neither Loret nor Woenig men-
tions it for ancient Egypt.

In Greek the carrot is o-ra^uXtj^os (hence Syriac istaflln). It is men-
tioned by Theophrastus^ and Pliny ;^ bavKos or bavKov was a kind of
carrot or parsnip growing in Crete and used in medicine; hence Neo-
Greek rb 8a<f)Kl ("carrot"), Spanish datico. A. de Candolle** is right
in saying that the vegetable was little cultivated by the Greeks and
Romans, but, as agriculture was perfected, took a more important place.

The Arabs knew a wild and a cultivated carrot, the former under
the name nehM or nehsel,^ the knowledge of which was transmitted to
them by Dioscorides,^ the latter under the names jezer, sefanariya (in
the dialect of Magreb zorudiya), and sabdhta.^ The Arabic word dauku
or dilqu, derived from Greek davKosj denotes particularly the seed of the
wild carrot.^

JoRET^^ presumes that the carrot was known to the ancient Iranians.
The evidence presented, however, is hardly admissible : Daucus maximus
which grows in Western Persia is only a wild species. This botanical
fact does not prove that the Iranians were acquainted with the culti-
vated Daucus carota. An Iranian name for this species is not known.
Only in the Mohammedan period does knowledge of it spring up in
Persia; and the Persians then became acquainted with the carrot under
the Arabic name jazar or jezer, which, however, may have been derived
from Persian gazar (gezer). It is mentioned under the Arabic name in
the Persian pharmacopoeia of Abu Mansur,^^ who apparently copied
from Arabic sources. He further points out a wild species under the

1 Materia Indica, Vol. I, p. 57.

2 Z.f. Ethnologic, Vol. XXIII, 1891, p. 662.

3 Hist, plant., IX. xv, 5.
" XX, 15.

^ Geographic botanique, p. 827.

« L. Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. Ill, p. 380,

' Leclerc, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 353.

8 Leclerc, ibid., and p. 367.

» Leclerc, ibid., p. 138.

10 Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 66.

" AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 42.

454 Sino-Iranica

name ^a^qdqul, which, according to Achundow, is Eryngium campestre.
It is therefore very probable that it was the Arabs who introduced the
carrot into Persia during the tenth century. Besides gazar {gezer),
Persian names are zardak^ and ^awandar; the latter means "beet-root"
and ''carrot."

John Fryer, who travelled in India and Persia from 1672 to 1681,
emmierates carrots among the roots of Persia.^ The late arrival of the
vegetable in Persia is signally confirmed by the Chinese tradition
regarding its introduction under the Mongols. This is the logical
sequence of events.^

ScHLiMMER* has the following note on the subject: "Ce legume,
form^ en compdte, est consid^r6 par les Persans comme un excellent
aphrodisiaque, augmentant la quantity et am^liorant la quality du
sperme. L'alimentation jotimali^re avec des carottes est fortement
prdn^e dans les hydropisies; les carottes cuites, conserv^es au vin aigre,
dissiperaient I'engorgement de la rate." Only the yellow variety of
carrot, with short, spindle-shaped roots, occurs in Fergana.^

1 Possibly derived from zard ("yellow"). Persian murdmun is said to denote
a kind of wild carrot. In Osmanli the carrot is called hawuj.

2 New Account of East India and Persia, Vol. II, p. 310 (Hakluyt Soc, 1912).
' Regarding the Tibetan names of the carrot, see my notes in T'oung Pao, 1916,

pp. 503-505.

* Terminologie, p. 176.

5 S. KoRziNSKi, Vegetation of Turkistan (in Russian), p. 51.

AROMATICS

53. The Sui ^u^ mentions two aromatics or perfumes peculiar to
K'an (Sogdiana), — kocfi hian W^ ^ and a-sa-na hian M^%^^.
Fortunately we have a parallel text in the T^ai pHh hwan yii ki,^ where
the two aromatics of K'an are given as "H* ^ # P5 K SP §". Hence
it follows that the kan of the Sui Annals is no more than an abbreviation
of kan sun, which is well known as an aromatic, and identical with the
true spikenard furnished by Nardostachys jatamansi. It is Sanskrit
nalada, Tibetan span spos, Persian nard or sunbul, Armenian sumhul,
smbuly snbul, etc.^ It is believed that the nard found by Alexander's
soldiers in Gedrosia^ represents the same species, while others hold
that it was an Andropogon.^

The Sanskrit term nalada is found in the Fan yi min yi ts'p in the
form M M^ na-lo-fOy *na-la-da. It is accompanied by the fanciful
analysis nara-dhara ("held or carried by man")> because, it is said,
people carry the fragrant flower with them in their girdles. The word
nalada is of ancient date, for it appears in the Atharvaveda.^ Hebrew
nerdy Greek nardos,^ Persian nard and nard, are derived) therefrom.^°
Being used in the Bible, the word was carried to all European languages.

1 Ch. 83, p. 4 b.

2 This character is not listed in K'an-hi, but the phonetic element "y* leaves no
doubt that its phonetic value is kan, *kam.

3 Ch. 183, p. 4.

* Abu Mansur (Achundow's translation, pp. 82, 241) mentions sunbul-i-hindt,
the nard of India. Schlimmer (Terminologie, p. 36) identifies this name as Andro-
pogon nardoides or Nardus indica. On the other hand, he says (p. 555) that Nar-
dostachys or Valeriana jatamansi has not yet been found in Persia, but that it could
be replaced in therapeutics by Valeriana sisymbrifolia, found abundantly in the
mountains north of Teheran.

^ Arrian, Anabasis, VI. xxii, 5.

^ JORET, Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 648. See, further, Periplus, 48 ;
and PHny, xii, 28; Watt, Commercial Products of India, p. 792. Marco Polo
(ed. of Yule, Vol. I, pp. 115, 272, 284) mentions spikenard as a product of Bengal,
Java, and Sumatra. The Malayan word ndrdwastu, mentioned by Yule (ibid.^
p. 287), must be connected with Sanskrit nalada.

7 Ch. 8, p. 4 b.

8 MacDonell and Keith, Vedic Index, Vol. I, p. 437; H. Zimmer, Altindisches
Leben, p. 68.

^ First mentioned by Theophrastus, IX. viii, 2, 3.

^0 See above, p. 428.

455

45 6 Sino-Iranica

According to Stuart/ this plant is found in the province of Yun-
nan and on the western borders of Se-6'wan, but whether indigenous or
transplanted is uncertain. If it should not occur in other parts of
China, it is more likely that it came from India, especially as Yiin-nan
has of old been in contact with India and abounds in plants intro-
duced from there.

54. PhI 811^2 *a-sar(sat)-na {Sui ^u), MMM a-sie-na (Wei $u,
Ch. 102, p. 9), is not explained. There is no doubt that this word
represents the transcription of an Iranian, more specifically Sogdian,
name; but the Sogdian terms for aromatics are still unknown to us.
Hypothetical restorations of the name are *asarna, axsama, asna.

55. Storax, an aromatic substance (now obtained from Liquid-
amhar orientalis; in ancient times, however, from Styrax officinalis),
is first mentioned by Herodotus^ as imported into Hellas by the Phoe-
nicians. It is styled by the Chinese M ^ su-ho, *su-gap (giep), su-gab
(Japanese sugo), being mentioned both in the Wei lio and in the Han
Annals as a product of the Hellenistic Orient (Ta Ts'in).^ It is said
there, ''They mix a number of aromatic substances and extract from
them the sap by boiling, which is made into su-ho ^^ (^ # M W ]!lt
S fh i^ ^ M^ ^).^ It is notable that this clause opens and ends with
the same word ho ^; and it would thus not be impossible that the
explanation is merely the result of punning on the term su-ho , which
is doubtless the transcription of a foreign word. Aside from this sema-
siological interpretation, we have a geographical theory expressed in the
Kwan cij written prior to a.d. 527, as follows: ^^ Su-ho is produced in
the country Ta Ts'in; according to others, in the country Su-ho. The
natives of this country gather it and press the juice out of it to make
it into an aromatic, fatty substance. What is sold are the sediments

1 Chinese Materia Medica, p. 278.

2 This character is not in K'an-hi. It appears again on the same page" of the
Sui ^w ( 4 b) in the name of the river *Na-mit %^ ^ (Zarafsan) in the kingdom
Nan ^, and on p. 4 a in j^,]$ "fe ^ ^, the country Na-se-po (*Na-sek-pwa; accord-
ing to Chavannes, Documents sur les Tou-kiue, p. 146, NakhSab or Nasaf). On
pp. 6 b and 7 a the river Na-mit is written ^. Cf. also Chavannes and Pelliot,
Trait6 manich6en, pp. 58, 191.

^m, 107.

^ Hou Han su, Ch. 118, pp. 4 b — 5 a. E. H. Parker {China Review, Vol. XV,
p. 372) indicates in an anecdote relative to Cwah-tse that he preferred the dung-
beetle's dung-roll to a piece of storax, and infers that indirect intercourse with western
Asia must have begun as early as the fourth century B.C., when Cwan-tse flourished.
The source for this story is not stated, and it may very well be a product of later
times.

5 The Sii Han iu gives the same text with the variant, "call it su-ho.'*

I

Aromatics — Storax 457

of this product."^ Nothing is known, however, in Chinese records about
this alleged country Su-ho (*Su-gab); hence it is probable that this
explanation is fictitious, and merely inspired by the desire to account in
a seemingly plausible way for the mysterious foreign word.

In the Annals of the Liang Dynasty ,2 storax is enumerated among
the products of western India which are imported from Ta Ts'in and
An-si (Parthia). It is explained as "the blending of various aromatic
substances obtained by boiling their saps; it is not a product of nature."^
Then follows the same passage relating to the manufacture in Ta Ts'in
as in the Kwan ci; and the Lian ^u winds up by saying that the product
passes through the hands of many middlemen before reaching China,
and loses much of its fragrancy during this process.* It is likewise on
record in the same Annals that in a.d. 519 King Jayavarman of Fu-nan
(Camboja) sent among other gifts storax to the Chinese Court. ^

Finally, su-ho is entmierated among the products of Sasanian Persia.®
Judging from the commercial relations of Iran with the Hellenistic
Orient and from the nature of the product involved, we shall not
err in assuming that it was traded to Persia in the same manner
as to India.

The Chinese-Sanskrit dictionaries contain two identifications of
the name su-ho. In the third chapter of the Yii kHe H ti lun Sc ft ^
^ fi (Yogacaryabhumigastra) ,^ translated in a.d. 646-647 by Hiian
Tsafi, we find the name of an aromatic in the form ^ ^ ® ?M su-tu-
lu-kia, *sut-tu-lu-kyie; that is, Sanskrit *sturuka = storax.^ It is
identified by Yuan Yin with what was formerly styled 9G ^ ^ tou-lou-
p*o, *du-lyu-bwa.^ It is evident that the transcription su-tu-lu-kia is
based on a form corresponding to Greek styrak-Sj storak-s, styrdkion
of the Pap3ai (Syriac stir oca, astorac). This equation presents the

* Fan yi min yi tsi, Ch. 8, p. 9; T'ai pHn yii Ian, Ch. 982, p. i b.

2 Lian su, Ch. 54, p. 7 b.

3 The Fan yi min yi tsi, which reproduces this passage, has, "It is not a single
(or homogeneous) substance."

" Cf . HiRTH, China and the Roman Orient, p. 47.

5 Cf . Pelliot, Bull, de I'Ecole frangaise, Vol. Ill, p. 270.

^ Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 7 b; or Cou Su, Ch. 50, p. 6. It does not follow from these
texts, that, as assumed by Hirth (Chao Ju-kua, pp. 16, 262), su-ho or any other
product of Persia was imported thence to China. The texts are merely descriptive
in saying that these are products to be found in Persia.

^ BuNYiu Nanjio, Catalogue of the Chinese Tripitaka, No. 11 70.

^ Yi tsHe kin yin i, Ch. 22, p. 3 b (cf. Pelliot, T'oung Pao, 1912, pp. 478-479).
This text has been traced by me independently. I do not believe that this name is
connected with turuska.

^ Probably Sanskrit dUrvd (cf. Journal asiafique, 1918, II, pp. 21-22).

4S8 Sino-Iranica

strongest evidence for the fact that the su-ho of the Chinese designates
the storax of the ancients.^

The Fan yi min yi tsi {I.e.) identifies Sanskrit Pffi ® f& M tu-lu-se-
kieUj *tu-lu-s6t-kiam, answering to Sanskrit turuskam, with su-ho.
In some works this identification is even ascribed to the Kwan ci of the
sixth century (or probably earher). In the Pien tse lei pien,^ where the
latter work is credited with this Sanskrit word, we find the character
® kie, *g'ia5, in lieu of the second character lu. The term turuska
refers to real incense (olibanum).^ It is very unlikely that this aromatic
was ever understood by the word su-ho^ and it rather seems that some
ill-advised adjustment has taken place here.

T'ao Hufi-kifi (a.d. 451-536) relates a popular tradition that su-ho
should be lion's ordiure, adding that this is merely talk coming from
abroad, and untrue.^ C'en Ts'afi-k'i of the eighth century states,^
" Lion-ordvire is red or black in color; when burnt, it will dissipate the
breath of devils; when administered, it will break stagnant blood
and kill worms. The perfume su-hoy however, is yellow or white in
color: thus, while the two substances are similar, they are not identical.
People say that lion-ordure is the sap from the bark of a plant in the
western countries brought over by the Hu. In order to make people
prize this article, this name has been invented." This tradition as yet
unexplained is capable of explanation. In Sanskrit, rasamala means
"excrement," and this word has been adopted by the Javanese and
Malayans for the designation of storax.^ Thus this significance of the
word may have given the incentive for the formation of that trade-
trick, — examples of which are not lacking in oiu* own times.

Under the T*ang, su-ho was imported into China also from Malayan
regions, especially from K*un-ltm (in the Malayan area), described as

1 The most important pharmacological and historical investigation of the sub-
ject still remains the study of D. Hanbury (Science Papers, pp. 127-150), which
no one interested in this matter should fail to read.

2 Ch. 195, p. 8 b.

3 Cf . Language of the Yue-chi, p. 7.

* He certainly does not say, as Bretschneider (Bot. Sin., pt. Ill, p. 463) wrongly
translates, "but the foreigners assert that this is not true." Only the foreigners
could have brought this fiction to China, as is amply confirmed by C'en Ts'an-k'i.
Moreover, the T'an pen ^u ^ i^^^ says straight, "This is a falsehood of the Hu,"

5 Cen lei pen ts'ao, Ch. 12, p. 52 (ed. of 1587).

6 Bretschneider (/. c.) erroneously attributes to Garcia da Orta the statement
that Rocamalha should be the Chinese name for the storax, and Stuart (Chinese
Materia Medica, p. 243) naturally searched in vain for a confirmation of this name
in Chinese books. Garcia says in fact that liquid storax is here (that is, in India)
called Rocamalha (Markham, Colloquies, p. 63), and does not even mention China
in this connection.

Aromatics — Storax 459

purple-red of color, resembling the tse Van ^ IS (Pterocarpus santalinus,
likewise ascribed to K'un-lun), strong, solid, and very fragrant.^ This
is Liquidamhar altingiana or AUingia excelsa, sl lofty deciduous tree
growing in Java, Burma, and Assam, with a fragrant wood yielding a
scented resin which hardens upon exposiu-e to the air. The Arabs
imported liquid storax during the thirteenth century to Palembang on
Sumatra;^ and the T*ai pHn hwan yii ki states that su-ko oil is produced
in Annam, Palembang (San-fu-tsH), and in all barbarous countries, from
a tree-resin that is employed in medicine. The Mon ki pi fan discrimi-
nates between the solid storax of red color like a hard wood, and the
liquid storax of glue-like consistency which is in general use.^

The Chinese transcription su-ho^ *su-gap, has not yet been explained.
Hirth's* suggestion that the Greek arvpa^ should have been "muti-
lated" into su-ho is hardly satisfactory, for we have to start from the
ancient form *su-gab, which bears no resemblance to the Greek word
save the first element. In the Papyri no name of a resin has as yet been
discovered that could be compared to *su-gab.^ Nor is there any such
Semitic name (cf. Arabic lubnd). In view of this situation, the question
may be raised whether *su-gab would not rather represent an ancient
Iranian word. This supposition, however, cannot be proved, either, in
the present state of science. Storax appears in the Persian materia
medica of Abu Mansiu: under the Arabic name mVa,^ The storax called
rose-maloes is likewise known to the Persians, and is said to be derived

^ Cen lei pen ts*ao, I. c. This tree is mentioned in the Ku kin cu (Ch. c, p. i b,
as a product of Fu-nan, and by Cao Zu-kwa as a variety of sandal-wood (Hirth)
Chao Ju-kua, p. 208). Li Si-6en {Pen ts*ao kan mu, Ch. 34, p. 12) says that the
people of Yiin-nan call tse Van by a peculiar word, ]j^ ^en; this is pronounced sen
in Yiin-nan, and accordingly traceable to a dialectic variation of tandan, sandan^
sandal. The Japanese term is Htan (Matsumura, No. 2605).

2 Hirth, Chao Ju-kua, p. 61.

' Cf. Pien tse lei pien, Ch. 195, p. 8 b; Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. Ill,
p. 464. The Hian p'u quoted in the Pen ts'ao is the work of Ye T'in-kwei ^ ^ ^,
not the well-known work by Hun C'u, in which the passage in question does not
occur (see p. 2, ed. of T'an Sun ts'un su, where it is said that it is difficult to recognize
the genuine article). For further information on liquid storax, see Hirth, Chao
Ju-kua, p. 200.

* Chao Ju-kua, p. 200.

6 Muss-Arnolt (Transactions Am. Phil. Assoc, Vol. XXIII, p. 117) derives
the Greek word from Hebrew z'ri; the Greek should have assimilated the Semitic
loan-word to arvpa^ ("spike"). This is pure fantasy. The Hebrew word, moreover,
does not relate to storax, but, according to Gesenius, denotes a balsam or resin like
mastic (above, p. 252). The Hebrew word for Styrax officinalis is said to be natdf
(Exodus, xxx, 34), Septuaginta araKij, Vulgata stacte (E. Levesque in Diction-
naire de la Bible, Vol. V, col. 1869-70).

6 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 138.

46o Sino-Iranica

from a tree growing on the Island of Cabros in the Red Sea (near Kadez,
three days' journey from Suez), the product being obtained by boiling
the bark in salt water until it obtains the consistency of glue.^

56—57. The earliest notice of myrrh is contained in the Nan <^ou ki
'M 'M 12 of Sii Piao # ft (written before the fifth century a.d., but
only preserved in extracts of later works), if we may depend on the
Hat yao pen ts'aOj in which this extract is contained.^ Sii Piao is made
to say there that "the myrrh grows in the country Po-se, and is the
pine-tree resin of that locality. In appearance it is like %^ W ^en Man
('divine incense') and red-black in color. As to its taste, it is bitter and
warm." Li Si-5en annotates that he is ignorant of what the product
^en Man is. In the Pei H, m3nTh is ascribed to the country Ts'ao
(Jaguda) north of the Ts'ufi-lifi (identical with the Ki-pin of the Han),
while this product is omitted in the corresponding text of the Sui iw.
Myrrh, further, is ascribed to Ki-pin.^ The Ceh lei pen ts'ao gives a
crude illustration of the tree under the title mu yao of Kwan-cou (Kwan-
tufi), saying that the plant grows in Po-se and resembles ben join (nan-
si Man, p. 464), being traded in pieces of indefinite size and of black
color.

In regard to the subject, Li §i-6en* cites solely sources of the Sung
period. He quotes K'ou Tsufi-si, author of the Pen ts^ao yen i (a.d. i i 16),
to the effect that myrrh grows in Po-se, and comes in pieces of in-
definite size, black in color, resembling benjoin. In the text of this work,
as edited by Lu Sin-yiian,^ this passage is not contained, but merely
the medicinal properties of the drug are set forth.® Su Sufi observes
that "myrrh now occurs in the countries of the Southern Sea (Nan-hai)
and in Kwafi-2ou. Root and trunk of the tree are like those of Canarium
(kan-lan) . The leaves are green and dense. Only in the course of years
does the tree5deld a resin, which flows down into the soil, and hardens into
larger or smaller pieces resembling benjoin. They may be gathered at
any time."

A strange confusion occurs in the Yu yan tsa tsu^ where the myrtle
{Myrtus communis) is described under its Aramaic name asa (Arabic

^ ScHLiMMER, Terminologie, p. 495.

2 Cen lei pen ts'ao, Ch. 13, p. 39; Pen ts*ao kan mu, Ch. 34, p. 17.

' T'ai pHn hwan yii ki, Ch. 182, p. 12 b.

* Pen ts'ao kan mu, l. c.

5 Ch. 14, p. 4 b.

^ In all probability, there is an editorial error in the edition of the Pen ts*ao
quoted; in other editions the same text is ascribed to Ma Ci, one of the collaborators
in the K'ai pao pen ts'ao.

' Ch. 18, p. 12.

Aromatics — Myrrh 461

as)y while this section opens with the remark, "The habitat of the
myrrh tree S is in Po-se."^ It may be, however, that, as argued by
HiRTH, mu may be intended in this case to transcribe Middle and
New Persian murd, which means "myrtle" (not only in the Bundahisn,
but generally).^ Myrrh and myrtle have nothing to do with each
other, belonging not only to different families, but even to different
orders; nor does the myrtle yield a resin like myrrh. It therefore re-
mains doubtful whether myrrh was known to the Chinese during the
T'ang period; in this case, the passage cited above from the Nan ^ou
ki (like many another text from this work) must be regarded as an
anachronism. Cao Zu-kwa gives the correct information that myrrh
is produced on the Berbera coast of East Africa and on the Hadramaut
littoral of Arabia; he has also left a fairly correct description of how the
resin is obtained.^

Li Si-cen'^ thinks that the transcription S or ^ represents a Sanskrit
word. This, of course, is erroneous: myrrh is not an Indian product,
and is only imported into India from the Somali coast of Africa and from
Arabia. The former Chinese character answers to ancient *mut or
*mur; the latter, to *mwat, mwar, or mar. The former no doubt repre-
sents attempts at reproducing the Semito-Persian name, — Hebrew
mor^ Aramaic murd, Arabic murr, Persian mor (Greek aixhpa, aixvpov,
lihpov, Latin ntyrrha) .^

Whether the Chinese transcribed the Arabic or Persian form, re-
mains uncertain: if the transcription should really appear as late as
the age of the Sung, it is more probable that the Arabic 5delded the
prototype; but if it can be carried back to the T'ang or earlier, the
assumption is in favor of Iranian speech.

1 Cf. HiRTH, Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXX, p. 20. Owing to a curious mis-
conception, the article of the Yu yan tsa tsu has been placed under mi hiafi ^ §•
("gharu-wood") in the Pen ts'ao kan mu (Ch. 34, p. 10 b), for mu '^ Man is wrongly
supposed to be a synonyme of mi Man.

2 Another New-Persian word for this plant is anlhd or anlta. In late Avestan
it is muUeme^a (Bartholomae, Altiran. Wort., col. 1189). I do not believe that the
Persian word and Armenian murt are derived from Greek ixvpalvi) (Schrader in
Hehn, Kulturpflanzen, p. 238) or from Greek ixhpros (Noldeke, Persische Studien,

n, p. 43).

3 Hirth, Chau Ju-kua, p. 197.

* Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 34, p. 17.

^ Pliny, XII, 34-35; Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. Ill, p. 300; V. Loret,
Flore pharaonique, p. 95. The transcription *mwat appears to transcribe Javanese
and Bali madu ("myrrh"; Malayan manisan lebah). In an Uigur text translated
from Sogdian or Syriac appears the word zmurna or zmuran ("myrrh"), connected
with the Greek word (F. W. K. Muller, Uigurica, pp. 5-7).

462 Sino-Iranica

Theophrastus^ mentions in the country Aria a "thorn" on which
is found a gum resembling myrrh in appearance and odor, and this
drops when the sun shines on it. Strabo^ affirms that Gedrosia produced
aromatics, particularly nard and myrrh, in such quantity that Alex-
ander's army used them, on the march, for tent-coverings and beds,
and thus breathed an air fiill of odors and more salubrious. Modem
botanists, however, have failed to find these plants in Gedrosia or any
other region of Iran;^ and the Iranian myrrh of the ancients, in all
probability, represents a different species of Balsamodendron (perhaps
B. pubescens or B. mukul). According to W. Geiger,^ Balsamodendron
ntukul is called in Balu5i bod, bod, or boz, a word which simply means
"odor, aroma." It is a descendant of Avestan baoihi, which we find in
Pahlavi as bdd, boi, Sogdian fra^odan, ^oba, New Persian bol, bo (Ossetic
hiid, "incense").^

It is noteworthy also that the ancient Chinese accounts of Sasanian
Persia do not make mention of myrrh. The botanical evidence being
taken into due consideration, it appears more than doubtful that
the statement of the Nan <^ou ki, Yu yan tsa tsu, K'ai pao pen ts'ao, and
Cen lei pen ts*ao, that the myrrh-tree grows in Po-se, can be referred to
the Iranian Po-se. True it is, the tree does not occur, either, in the
Malayan area; but, since the product was evidently traded to China by
way of Malaysia, the opinion might gain ground among the Chinese
that the home of the article was the Malayan Po-se.

The Japanese style the myrrh mirura, which is merely a modern
transcription of "myrrha."®

58. TsHn mu Man W TfC §• ("dark- wood aromatic") is attributed
to Sasanian Persia.^ What this substance was, is not explained; and
merely from the fact that the name in question, as well as mu hian
TfC^- ("tree aromatic") and mi hian 3i ^, usually refer to costus
root or putchuck (also pachak), we may infer that the Persian aromatic
was of a similar character. Thus it is asstimed by Hirth;^ but the
matter remains somewhat hypothetical. The Chinese term, indeed, has

1 Hist, plant., IV. iv, 13. ^

' XV. II, 3.

» C. JoRET, Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. I, p. 48.
* Etymologic des Balu6i, p. 46.

^ In regard to the use of incense on the part of the Manichaeans, see Chavannes
and Pelliot, Traits manich^en, pp. 302-303, 311.

8 J. Matsumura, Shokubutsu mei-i. No. 458.

' Wei Im, Ch. 102, p. 5 b; Sui su, Ch. 83, p. 7 b.

^ Chau Ju-kua, p. 221. Putchuck is not the root of Aucklandia costus, but of
Saussurea lappa (see Watt, Commercial Products of India, p. 980).

ArOMATICS — PUTCHUCK 463

no botanical value, being merely a commercial label covering different
roots from most diverse regions. If Cao Zu-kwa compares the putchuck-
yielding plant with Lufa cylindrical a Cucurbitacea of southern China,
with which he compares also the cardamom, it is perfectly clear that he
does not visualize the genuine costus-root of Saussurea lappa^ a tall,
stout herb, indigenous to the moist, open slopes surrounding the valley
of Kashmir, at an elevation of eight or nine thousand feet. If he further
states that the product is found in Hadramaut and on the Somali coast,
it is, in my opinion, not logical to reject this as ** wrong," for a product
of the name mu hian was certainly known in the China of his time
from that region. And why not? Also Dioscorides mentions an Arabian
costus, which is white and odoriferous and of the best quality; besides,
he has an Indian costus, black and smooth, and a Syrian variety of wax
color, dusky, and of strong odor. It is obvious that these three articles
correspond to the roots of three distinct species, which have certain
properties in common; and it has justly been doubted that the modern
costus is the same thing as that of the ancients. The Arabs have
adopted the nomenclatiure of Dioscorides.^ The Sheikh Daud dis-
tinguishes an Indian species, white; a black one from China; and a red,
heavy one, adding that it is said to be a tree of the kind of Agallochum,
Nearly everywhere in Asia have been found aromatic roots which in
one way or another correspond to the properties of the Indian kustha.
Thus in Tibet and Mongolia the latter is adjusted with the genus Inula;
and the Tibetan word ru-rta, originally referring to an Inula, was
adopted by the Buddhist translators as a rendering of Sanskrit kustka?
In the same manner, the Chinese term mu hian formerly denoted an
indigenous plant of Yun-nan, which, according to the ancient work
Pie lu, grew in the motmtain-valleys of Yufi-c'an.^ The correctness of
this tradition is confirmed by the Man Jfw, which mentions a mountain-
range, three days' journey south of Yufi-S'afi, by name Ts'ifi-mu-hian
("Dark-Wood Aromatic"), and owing its name to the great abundance
of this root.'* The Man iw, further, extends its occurrence to the country

1 Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. Ill, pp. 85-86.

2 H. Laufer, Beitrage zur Kenntnis der tibetischen Medicin, p. 61.

' Also Wu K'i-tsun {Ci wu min H Vu k*ao, Ch. 25, p. 11) observes correctly that
this species is not the putchuck coming from the foreign barbarians. His three
illustrations, putchuck from Hai-2ou in Kiafi-su, from Kwan-tun, and from C'u-dou
in Nan-hwi, are reproduced from the T"u su tsi Ven (XX, Ch. 117), and represent
three distinct plants.

* The Tien hai yii hen U (Ch. 3, p. i; see above, p. 228) states that mu Man is
produced in the native district C'6-H !$ M i 3, formerly called C'an-H ^ M.
of Yun-nan.

464 Sino-Iranica

K'un-lun of the Southern Sea;^ and Su Kufi of the T'ang says that, of
the two kinds of mu-hian (known to him), that of K'un-lun is the best,
while that from the West Lake near Han-6ou is not good.^ In the time
of T'ao Hufi-kifi (a.d. 451-536) the root was no longer brought from
Yufi-5'an; but the bulk of it was imported on foreign ships, with the
report that it came from Ta Ts'in (the Hellenistic Orient),^ — hence
presumably the same article as the Arabian or Syrian costus of Dios-
corides. The Nan fan ts'ao mu cwan is cited by Cen Kwan of the seventh
century as saying that the root is produced in India, being the product
of an herbaceous plant and of the appearance of licorice. The same
text is ascribed to the Nan cou i wu ci of the third century in the T^ai
pHn yii lan,^ while the Kwan ci attributes the product to Kiao-6ou
(Tonking) and India. A different description of the plant is again given
by Su Sun. Thus it is no wonder that the specimens from China
submitted for identification have proved to be from different plants,
as Aplotaxis auriculata, Aristolockia kaempferi, Rosa banksia, etc.^ If,
accordingly, costus (to use this general term) was found not only in
India and Kashmir, but also in Arabia, Syria, Tibet, Mongolia, China,
and Malacca, it is equally possible also that Persia had a costus of her
own or imported it from Syria as well as from India.^ This is a question
which cannot be decided with certainty. The linguistic evidence is
inconclusive, for the New-Persian kust is an Arabic loan-word, the
latter, of cotirse, being traceable to Sanskrit ku^tha^ which has obtained
a world-wide propagation.'' Like so many other examples in the his-
tory of commerce, this case illustrates the unwillingness of the world
to tolerate monopolies for any length of time. The real costus was
peculiar (and still is) to Kashmir, but everywhere attempts were con-
stantly made to trace equivalents or substitutes. The trade-mark
remained the same, while the article was subjected to changes.

59. Under the term nan (or an) -si hian ^ ffi W the Chinese have

1 Pelliot, Bull, de I'Ecole frangaise, Vol. IV, p. 226.

2 The attribution of the root to K'un-lun is not fiction, for this tradition is
confirmed by Garcia da Orta, who localizes pucho on Malacca, whence it is exported
to China.

3 This text is doubtless authentic; it is already recorded in the T'ai pHn yii Ian
(Ch. 991, p. II).

4 Ch. 982, p. 3.

5 Hanbury, Science Papers, p. 257; Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 43.

^ In the sixteenth century, as we learn from Garcia (Markham, Colloquies,
p. 150), costus was shipped from India to Ormuz, and thence carried to Persia and
IChorasan; it was also brought into Persia and Arabia by way of Aden.

^ In Tokharian it is found in the fprm ka^^u (S. Ltvi, Journal asiatique, 191 1,
II, p. 138).

Aromatics — Styrax benjoin 465

combined two different aromatics, — an ancient product of Iranian
regions, as yet unidentified; and the benjoin yielded by the Styrax
benjoin, a small tree of the Malay Archipelago.^ It is necessary to dis-
criminate sharply between the two, and to understand that the ancient
term originally relating to an Iranian aromatic, when the Iranian im-
portation had ceased, was subsequently transferred to the Malayan
article, possibly on account of some outward resemblance of the two,
but that the two substances have no botanical and historical inter-
relation. The attempt of Cao Zu-kwa to establish a connection between
the two, and to conjecture that the name is derived from An-si (Parthia),
but that the article was imported by way of San-fo-ts*i (Palembang on
Simiatra),^ must be regarded as unfounded; for the question is not of
an importation from Parthia or Persia to Sumatra, but it is the native
product of 'a plant actually growing in Simiatra, in Borneo, and other
Malayan islands.^ The product is called in Malayan kaminan (Garcia:
cominham), Javanese menan, Sunda minan. The duplicity of the article
and the sameness of the term have naturally caused a great deal of
confusion among Chinese authors, and perhaps no less among European
writers. At least, the subject has not yet been presented clearly, ajid
least of all by Bretschneider.'*

According to Su Kufi, nan-si hian is produced among the Western
2un ffi 3fe (Si-2ufi), — a vague term, which may allude to Iranians
(p. 203). Li Siin, in his Hai yao pen ts'ao, written in the second half of
the eighth century, states that the plant grows in Nan-hai ("Southern
Sea"; that is, the Archipelago) and in the country Po-se. The co-
ordination with Nan-hai renders it probable that he hints at the
Malayan Po-se rather than at Persia, the more so, as Li Si-6en himself
states that the plant now occurs in Annam, Sumatra, and all foreign
countries.^ The reason why the term nan-si was applied to the Malayan

1 The word "benjoin" is a corruption of Arabic luhdnjdwl ("incense of Java";
that is, Sumatra of the Arabs). The Portuguese made of this benzawi, and further
beijoim, benjoim (in Vasco da Gama and Duarte Barbosa); Spanish benjui, menjui;
ItaHan belzuino, belguino; French benjoin. Cf. R. Dozy and W. H. Engelmann,
Glossaire des mots espagnols et portugais d^riv^s de I'arabe, p. 239; S. R. Dalgado,
Influ§ncia do vocabuldrio portugu^s, p. 27.

2 HiRTH, Chao Ju-kua, p. 201.

3 According to Garcia (C. Markham, Colloquies, p. 49), benjoin is only known
in Sumatra and Siam. According to F. Pyrard (Vol. II, p. 360, ed. of Hakluyt
Society), who travelled from 1601 to 16 10, it is chiefly produced in Malacca and
Sumatra.

* Bot. Sin., pt. Ill, No. 313.

5 As the Malayan product does not fall within the scope of the present in-
vestigation, this subject is not pursued further here (see Hirth, Chau Ju-kua,
pp. 201-202). In Bretschneider's translation of this matter, based on the unreliable

466 Sino-Iranica

product may be explained from the fact that to the south-west of
China, west of the Irawaddy, there was a city Nan-si ^ ®, mentioned
in the Itinerary of Kia Tan and in the Man ^u of the T'ang period.^
The exact location of this place is not ascertained. Perhaps this or
another locality of an identical name lent its name to the product; but
this remains for the present a mere hypothesis. The Tien hai yii hen li^
states that nan-si is produced in the native district Pa-po ta-tien
A'U%^±%, formerly called A "S Ji. Jf :^, of Yiin-nan.

The Yn yan tsa tsu^ contains the following account: "The tree
furnishing the nan-si aromatic is produced in the country Po-se.* In
Po-se it is termed pH-sie & M tree ('tree warding off evil influences').^
The tree grows to a height of thirty feet, and has a bark of a yellow-black
color. The leaves are oblong,^ and remain green throughout the winter.
It flowers in the second month. The blossoms are yellow. The heart
of the flower is somewhat greenish (or bluish). It does not form fruit.
On scraping the tree-bark, the gum appears like syrup, which is called
nan-si aromatic. In the sixth or seventh month, when this substance
hardens, it is fit for use as incense, which penetrates into the abode of
the spirits and dispels all evil." Although I am not a botanist, I hardly
believe that this description could be referred to Styrax benjoin. This
genus consists only of small trees, which never reach a height of thirty
feet; and its flowers are white, not yellow. Moreover, I am not con-
vinced that we face here any Persian plant, but I think that the Po-se
of the Yu yan tsa tsu, as in some other cases, hints at the Malayan
Po-se.^

text of the Pen ts*ao, occurs a curious misunderstanding. The sentence !^ ^^ "!§
^ Jil ^ ;^ M is rendered by him, "By burning the true an-si hiang incense
rats can be allured (?)." The interrogation-mark is his. In my opinion, this means,
"In burning it, that kind which attracts rodents is genuine."

1 Cf. Pelliot, Bull, de I'Ecole frangaise, Vol. IV, pp. 178, 371.

2 Ch. 3, p. I (see above, p. 228).

3 Ch. 18, p. 8 b.

4 Both Bretschneider (Bot. Sin., pt. Ill, p. 466) and Hirth (Chao Ju-kua,
p. 202) identify this Po-se with Persia, without endeavoring, however, to ascertain
what tree is meant; and Styrax benzoin does not occur in Persia. Garcia already
stated that benjuy (as he writes) is not found in Armenia, Syria, Africa, or Cyrene,
but only in Sumatra and Siam.

^ PH-sie is not the transcription of a foreign word; the ancient form *bik-dza
would lead to neither a Persian nor a Malayan word.

"5 Bretschneider, who was a botanist, translates this clause (^ ^ 0 ;Q),
"The leaves spread out into four corners (!)." Literally it means "the leaves have
four corners"; that is, they are rectangular or simply oblong. The phrase se left 29
5^ with reference to leaves signifies "four-pointed," the points being understood as
acute.

' See the following chapter on this subject.

Aromatics — Styrax benjoin 467

An identification of nan-si to which Pelliot^ first called attention
is given in the Chinese-Sanskrit dictionary Fan yi min yi tsi,^ where it is
equated with Sanskrit guggula. This term refers to the gum-resin ob-
tained from Boswellia serrata and the produce of Balsamodendron mukul,
or Commiphora roxburghii^ the hdellion of the Greeks.^ Perhaps also
other Balsamodendrons are involved; and it should be borne in mind
that Balsamodendron and Boswellia are two genera belonging to the
same family, Burseraceae or Amyrideae. Pelliot is qtiite right in assum-
ing that in this manner it is easier to comprehend the name nan-si hian,
which seems to be attached to the ancient Chinese name of the Persia
of the Arsacides. In fact, we meet on the rocks of Baluchistan two
incense-furnishing species, Balsamodendron pubescens and B, mukul^^
observed by the army of Alexander in the deserts of Gedrosia, and col-
lected in great quantity by the Phoenician merchants who accompanied
him.^

While it is thus possible that the term nan-si hian was originally
intended to convey the significance "Parthian aromatic," we must not
lose sight of the fact that it is not mentioned in the ancient historical
documents relative to Parthia (An-si) and Persia (Po-se) , — a singular
situation, which must furnish food for reflection. The article is pointed
out only as a product of Kuca in Turkistan and the Kingdom of Ts'ao
W (Jaguda) north of the Ts'ufi-lin.^

Aside from the geographical explanation, the Chinese have
attempted also a literal etymology of the term. According to Li Si-6en,
this aromatic "wards off evil and sets at rest ^ M> all demoniacal
influences ^ 3U; hence its name. Others, however, say that nan-si is
the name of a country." This word-for-word interpretation is decidedly
forced and fantastic.

1 T'oung Pao, 1912, p. 480.

2 Ch. 8, p. 10 b.

' Cf. T'oung Pao, 1914, p. 6.

* JORET, Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 48. The former species is called in
BaluSi bayi or bai.

5 Ibid., p. 649.

6 Sui Su, Ch. 83, pp. 5 b, 7 b.

THE MALAYAN PO-SE AND ITS PRODUCTS

On the preceding pages reference has repeatedly been made to the
fact that besides the Iranian Po-se S M, transcribing the ancient name
Parsa, the Chinese were also acquainted with another country and
people of the same name, and always written in like manner, the loca-
tion of which is referred to the Southern Ocean, and which, as will be
seen, must have belonged to the Malayan group. We have noted several
cases in which the two Po-se are confounded by Chinese writers; and
so it is no wonder that the confusion has been on a still larger scale
among European sinologues, most of whom, if the Malayan Po-se is
involved in Chinese records, have invariably mistaken it for Persia.
It is therefore a timely task to scrutinize more closely what is really
known about this mysterious Po-se of the Southern Sea. Unfortunately
the Chinese have never co-ordinated the scattered notices of the south-
ern Po-se; and none of their cyclopaedias, as far as I know, contains
a coherent account of the subject. Even the mere fact of the duplicity
of the name Po-se never seems to have dawned upon the minds of
Chinese writers; at least, I have as yet failed to trace any text insisting
on the existence of or contrasting the two Po-se. Groping my way
along through this matter, I can hardly hope that my study of source-
material is complete, and I feel sure that there are many other texts
relative to the subject which have either escaped me or are not acces-
sible.

The Malayan Po-se is mentioned in the Man ^w Sf # (p. 43 b),^
written about a.d. 860 by Fan Co ^ 1^, who says, ** As regards the
country P'iao ^ (Burma), it is situated seventy-five days' journey
(or two thousand li) south of the city of Yun-S'afi.^ ... It borders on
Po-se ^ M and P'o-lo-men ^ ^ PI (Brahmana) ;^ in the west, however,
on the city Se-li 'S' fl" It is clearly expressed in this document that
Po-se, as known under the T'ang, was a locality somewhere contermi-
nous with Burma, and on the mainland of Asia.

^ Regarding this work, see Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 40; and
Pelliot, Bull, de VEcolefratiQaise, Vol. II, p. 156; Vol. IV, p. 132.

2 In Yiin-nan. The T'ai pHn hwan yii ki gives the distance of P'iao from that
locality as 3000 li (cf. Pelliot, Bull, de I'Ecole frangaise, Vol. IV, p. 172). The text
of the Man Su is reproduced in the same manner in the Su kien of Kwo Yiin-fao
(Ch. 10, p. 10 b), written in 1236.

2 1 do not believe that this term relates to India in general, but take it as denot-
ing a specific country near the boundary of Burma.

468

The Malayan Po-Se — Historical Notes 469

In another passage of the Man Su (p. 29), the question is of a place
Ta-jdn-k'ufi i<.M^ (evidently a silver-mine), not well determined,
probably situated on the Gulf of Siam, to the south of which the people
of the country P*o-lo-men (Brahmana), Po-se, §e-p'o (Java), P'o-ni
(Borneo), and K'un-lun, flock together for barter. There are many
precious stones there, and gold and musk form their valuable goods.^
There is no doubt that the Malayan Po-se is understood here, and not
Persia, as has been proposed by Pelliot,^ A similar text is found in the
Nan i U S ^ iS ("Records of Southern Barbarians")? as quoted in the
T'ai pHn yil lan,^ "In Nan-Sao there are people from P'o-lo-men, Po-se,
Se-p'o (Java), P'o-ni (Borneo), K'un-lun, and of many other heretic
tribes, meeting at one trading-mart, where pearls and precious stones in
great number are exchanged for gold^ and musk." This text is identical
with that of the Man Su, save that the trading centre of this group of
five tribes is located in the kingdom of Nan-cao (in the present province
of Yun-nan). E. H. Parker^ has called attention to a mention of Po-se
in the T'ang Annals, without expressing, however, an opinion as to
what Po-se means in this connection. In the chapter on P'iao (Bur-
ma) it is there stated that near the capital of that country there are
hills of sand and a barren waste which borders on Po-se and P'o-lo-men,
— identical with the above passage of the Man ^u,^

In A.D. 742, a Buddhist priest from Yan-^ou on the Yangtse, Kien-
Cen ^ M by name, undertook a voyage to Japan, in the course of which
he also touched Canton in 748. In the brief abstract of his diary given
by the Japanese scholar J. Takakusu,^ we read, "Dans la riviere de
Canton, il y avait d'innombrables vaissaux appartenant aux brahmanes,
aux Persans, aux gens de Koun-loun (tribu malaise)." The text of the
work in question is not at my disposal, but there can be no doubt that
it contains the triad P'o-lo-men, Po-se, K'lm-lun, as mentioned in the
Man Su, and that the question is not of Brahmans, but of the country

1 In another passage (p. 34 b) Fan Co states that musk is obtained in all moun-
tains of Yun-6'an and Nan-2ao, and that the natives use it as a means of exchange.

2 Bull, de VEcole frangaise, Vol. IV, p. 287, note 2.
» Ch. 981, p. 5 b.

* The text has ^ :^. I do not know what Su ("to boil") could mean in this
connection. It is probably a wrong reading for 35. as we have it in the text of the
Man Su.

^ Burma with Special Reference to Her Relations with China, p. 14 (Rangoon,
1893).

8 This passage is not contained in the notice of P'iao in the Kiu T*a-A Su
(Ch. 197, p. 7 b).

' Premier Congr^s International des Etudes d'Extr^me-Orient, p. 58 (Hanoi,
1903) ; cf . G. Ferrand, Textes relatifs k I'Extr^me-Orient, Vol. II, p. 638.

47© Sino-Iranica

and people P'o-lo-men on the border of Btirma, the Po-se likewise on the
border of Burma, and the Malayan K'un-lun. In the first half of the
eighth century, accordingly, we find the Malayan Po-se as a seafaring
people trading with the Chinese at Canton. Consequently also the
alleged "Persian" settlement on the south coast of Hainan, struck by
the traveller, was a Malayan-Po-se colony. In view of Miis situation, the
further question may be raised whether the pilgrim Yi Tsiri in a.d. 671
sought passage at Canton on a Persian ship.^ This vessel was bound
for Palembang on Sumatra, and sailed the Malayan waters; again, in
my opinion, the Malayan Po-se, not the Persians, are here in question.

The Malayan Po-se were probably known far earlier than the T'ang
period, for they appear to have been mentioned in the Kwan U written
before a.d. 527. In the Hiaii p'u # "^ of Hufi C*u ^ M oi the Sung,^
this work is quoted as saying that ^w hian ?L # (a kind of incense)^ is
the sap of a pine-tree in the country Po-se in the Southern Sea. This
Po-se is well enough defined to exclude the Iranian Po-se, where, more-
over, no incense is produced.^

The same text is also preserved in the Hat yao pen ts*ao of Li Sun of
the eighth century,^ in a slightly different but substantially identical
wording: "Zu hian grows in Nan-hai [the countries of the Southern
Sea] : it is the sap of a pine-tree in Po-se. That kind which is red like
cherries and transparent ranks first." K'ou Tsufi-si, who wrote the
Pen ts'ao yen i in a.d. 1116, says that the incense of the Southern Bar-
barians (Nan Fan) is still better than that of southern India. The
Malayan Po-se belonged to the Southern Barbarians. The fact that
these, and not the Persians, are to be understood in the accounts relating
to incense, is brought out with perfect lucidity by C'en C'efi K ;^,
who wrote the Pen is'ao pie ^wo ^ ^ ^'J ^ in a.d. 1090, and who says,
''As regards the west, incense is produced in India (T*ien-cu); as re-

^ Chavannes, Religieux 6minents, p. 116; J. Takakusu, I-Tsing, p. xxviii.

2 Ed. of T'an Sun ts*uh Su, p. 5.

^ Not necessarily from Boswellia, nor identical with frankincense. The above
text says that ;§« Man is a kind of hiin-lu. The latter is simply a generic term for
incense, without referring to any particular species. I strictly concur with Pelliot
{T'oung Pao, 1912, p. 477) in regarding hiin-lu as a Chinese word, not as the tran-
scription of a foreign word, as has been proposed.

^ If hiin lu is enumerated in the Sui ^u among the products of Persia, this means
that incense was used there as an import-article, but it does not follow from this
that "it was brought to China on Persian ships" (Hirth, Chau Ju-kua, p. 196).
The "Persian ships," it seems, must be relegated to the realm of imagination.
Only from the Mohammedan period did really Persian ships appear in the far east.
The best instance to this effect is contained in the notes of Hwi Cao of the eighth
century (Hirth, Journal Am. Or. Soc, 1913, p. 205).

5 Pen ts*ao kan mu, Ch. 34, p. 16.

The Malayan Po-Se — Historical Notes 471

gards the south, it is produced in Po-se and other countries. That of
the west is yellow and white in color, that of the south is purple or
red." It follows from this text that the southern Po-se produced a kind
of incense of their own; and it may very well be, that, as stated in the
Kwan ci, a species of pine was the source of this product.

The Kwan ci contains another interesting reference to Po-se. It
states that the tree W koj *ka (Quercus cuspidata), grows in the moun-
tains and valleys of Kwafi-tun and Kwafi-si, and that Po-se people use
its timber for building boats.^ These again are Malayan Po-se. The
Kwan H was possibly written under the Tsin dynasty (a.d. 265-420),^
and the Iranian Po-se was then unknown to China. Its name first
reached the Chinese in a.d. 461, when an embassy from Persia arrived
at the Court of the Wei.^ It should be borne in mind also that Persia's
communications with China always took place overland by way of
Central Asia; while the Malayan Po-se had a double route for reaching
China, either by land to Yiin-nan or by sea to Canton. It would not
be impossible that the word *ka for this species of oak, and also its
synonyme /fC & mu-nu, *muk-nu, are of Malayan-Po-se origin.

The Km yii ci % ® iS, published by Wafi Ts'un iE # in a.d. 1080,
mentions that the inhabitants of Po-se wear a sort of cotton kerchief,
and make their sarong {tu-man ^ M) of yellow silk.^

In A.D. II 03, three countries, Burma, Po-se, and K'un-lun, presented
white elephants and perfumes to the King of Ta-li in Yiin-nan. Again,
this is not Persia, as translated by C. Sainson.^ Persia never had any
relations with Yiin-nan, and how the transportation of elephants from
Persia to Yun-nan coiild have been accomplished is difficult to realize.
We note that the commercial relations of these Po-se with Yiin-nan,
firmly established toward the end of the ninth century under the T'ang,
were continued in the twelfth century under the Sung.

In the History of the Sung Dynasty occurs an incidental mention of
Po-se.^ In A.D. 992 an embassy arrived in China from Java, and it is
said that the envoys were dressed in a way similar to those of Po-se, who

^ This passage is transmitted by Li Sun of the eighth century in his Hat yao
pen ts*ao {Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 35 b, p. 14), who, as will be seen, mentions several
plants and products of the Malayan Po-se.

2 Pelliot, Bull, de VEcole franqaise, Vol. IV, p. 412.

^ Cf. Dev£ria in Centenaire de I'Ecole des Langues Orientales, p. 306.

* E. H. Parker, who made this text known {China Review, Vol. XIX, 1890,
p. 191), remarked, "It seems probable that not Persia, but one of the Borneo or
Malacca states, such as P'o-li or P'o-lo, is meant."

^ Histoire du Nan-tchao, p. loi (translation of the Nan cao ye si, written by
Yan Sen in 1550).

« Sufi U, Ch. 489.

472 Sino-Iranica

had brought tribute before. The Javanese could hardly be expected
to have been dressed like Persians, as rashly assumed by Groeneveldt;^
but they were certainly dressed like their congeners, the Malayan Po-se.

Cou K'ii-fei, in his Lin wai tai ta,^ written in 1178, gives the following
description of the country Po-se: "In the South-Western Ocean there
is the country Po-se. The inhabitants have black skin and curly hair.
Both their arms are adorned with metal bracelets, and they wrap
around their bodies a piece of cotton-cloth with blue patterns. There
are no walled towns. Early in the morning, the king holds his court,
being seated cross-legged on a bench covered with a tiger-skin, while his
subjects standing beneath pay him homage. In going out he is carried
in a litter (^ ffi ^wan tou), or is astride an elephant. His retinue con-
sists of over a hundred men, who, carrying swords and shouting (to clear
the way), form his body-guard. They subsist on flour products, meat,
and rice, served in porcelain dishes, and eat with their fingers." The
same text has been reproduced by Cao Zu-kwa with a few slight changes.
His reading that Po-se is situated "above the countries of the south-
west" is hardly correct.^ At all events, the geographical definition of
the Sung authors is too vague to allow of a safe conclusion. The expres-
sion of the Lin wai tai ta does not necessarily mean that Po-se was lo-
cated on an island, and Hirth infers that we might expect to find it in
or near the Malay Peninstda. However vague the above description
may be, it leaves no doubt of the fact that the tribe in question is one of
Malayan or Negrito stock.

As far as I know, no mention is made of the Malayan Po-se in the
historical and geographical texts of the Ming, but the tradition regard-
ing that country was kept alive. In discussing the a-lo-p'o (Cassia
fistula) of C'en Ts'afi-k'i, as noted above (p. 420), Li Si-6en annotates
that Po-se is the name of a country of the barbarians of the south-west

There is some evidence extant that the language of Po-se belongs to
the Malayan family. Tsuboi Kumazo^ has called attention to the
nimierals of this language, as handed down in the Kodan^o (Memoirs
of Oye), a Japanese work from the beginning of the twelfth century.
These are given in Japanese transcription as follows: —

1 sasaa, sasaka 6 namu 20 toaro

2 toa 7 toku, tomu ' 30 akaro, akafuro

3 naka, maka 8 jembira, or gemmira 40 hiha-furo

4 namuha (nampa) 9 sa-i-bira, or sa-i-mi-ra lOO sasarato, sasaratu

5 rima {lima) 10 sararo, or Sararo 1000 sasaho, sasahu

^ Notes on the Malay Archipelago, p. 144.

2 Ch. 3, p. 6 b.

3 Ch. A, p. 33 b; Hirth's translation, p. 152.

* Actes du Douzi^me Congr^s des Orientalistes, Rome 1899, Vol. II, p. 121.

The Malayan Po-Se — Language 473

Florenz has correctly recognized in this series the numerals of a Malayan
language, though they cannot throughout be identified (and this could
hardly be expected) with the numerals of any known dialect. Various
Malayan languages must be recruited for identification, and some forms
even then remain obscure. The ntuneral i corresponds to Malayan sa,
satu; 2 to dua; 4 to ampat; 5 to lima; 6 to namu; 7 to tujoh; 9 to sembilan;
10 to sa-puloh. The nimieral 20 is composed of toa 2 and ro 10 (Malayan
puloh) ; 30 aka ( = nakaf 3) and ro or furo 10. The nimieral 100 is formed
of sasa I and rato = Malayan -ratus.

Two Po-se words are cited in the Yu yan tsa tsu,^ which, as formerly
pointed out by me, cannot be Persian, but betray a Malayan origin.^
There it is said that the Po-se designate ivory as S Pf pat-nan, and
rhinoceros-horn as M ® hei-nan. The former corresponds to ancient
*bak-am; the latter, to *hak-am or *het-am. The latter answers
exactly to Jarai hotam, Bisaya itom, Tagalog Uinij Javanese item,
Makasar etan, Cam hutam Qiatam or hutum), Malayan hltam, all mean-
ing "black."^ The former word is not related to the series putih, pUteh,
as I was previously inclined to assume, but to the group: Cam baun,
hon, or hhun; Senoi hiiig, other forms in the Sakei and Semang lan-
guages of Malakka hiok, biak, bieg, begidk, bekun, bekog;^ Alfur, Boloven,
Kon tu, Kaseng, Lave, and Niah bok, Sedeng robon, Stieng bok
("white '0; Bahnarfca^ (Mon bu).^ It almost seems, therefore, as if the
speech of Po-se bears some relationship to the languages of the tribes
of Malacca. The Po-se distinguished rhinoceros-horn and ivory as
*' black" and "white." However meagre the linguistic material may be,
it reveals, at any rate, Malayan affinities, and explodes Bretschneider^s
theory^ that the Po-se of the Archipelago, alleged to have been on
Sumatra, owes its origin to the fact that "the Persians carried on a
great trade with Simiatra, and probably had colonies there." This is an
unfounded speculation, justly rejected also by G. E. Gerini:^ these
Po-se were not Persians, but Malayans.

The Po-se question has been studied to some extent by G. E.
Gerini,^ who suggests its probable identity with the Vasu state located
by the Bhagavata Ptuana in Kugadvlpa, and who thinks it may be

1 Ch. 16, p. 14.

- Chinese Clay Figures, p. 145.

' Cf. Cabaton and Aymonier, Dictionnaire Cam-frangais, p. 503.
* P. Schmidt, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, Vol. VIII, 1901 ,
p. 420.

5 Ibid., p. 344.

^ Knowledge possessed by the Chinese of the Arabs, p. 16.
^ Researches on Ptolemy's Geography of Eastern Asia, p. 471.
8 Ibid., p. 682.

474 Sino-Iranica

Lambesi; i.e., Besi or Basi {lam meaning "village"), a petty state on
the west coast of Simiatra immediately below Acheh, upon which it
borders. This identification is impossible, first of all, for phonetic reasons :
Chinese po iSc was never possessed of an ancient labial sonant, but
solely of a labial surd (*pwa).^

TsuBOi KuMAZo^ regards Po-se as a transcription of Pasi, Pasei,
Pasay, Pazze, or Pacem, a port situated on northern Sumatra near the
Diamond Cape, which subsequently vied in wealth with Majapahit
and Malacca, and called Basma by Marco Polo.^

C. O. Blagden* remarks with reference to this Po-se, "One is very
much tempted to suppose that this stands for Pose (or Pasai) in north-
eastern Stimatra, but I have no evidence that the place existed as early
as 1 1 78." If this be the case, the proposed identification is rendered
still more difiicult; for, as we have seen, Po-se appears on the horizon
of the Chinese as early as from the seventh to the ninth century under the
T'ang, and probably even at an earlier date. The only text that gives
us an approximate clew to the geographical location of Po-se is the
Man ^u; and I shotild think that all we can do under the circumstances,
or until new soiu^ces come to light, is to adhere to this definition;
that is, as far as the T'ang period is concerned. Judging from the
movements of Malayan tribes, it would not be impossible that, in the
age of the Sung, the Po-se had extended their seats from the mainland
to the islands of the Archipelago, but I am not prepared for the present
either to accept or to reject the theory of their settlement on Simiatra
under the Sung.

Aside from the references in historical texts, we have another class
of documents in which the Malayan Po-se is prominent, the Pen-ts^ao
literature and other works dealing with plants and products. I propose
to review these notices in detail.

60. In regard to alum, F. P. Smith^ stated that apart from native
localities it is also mentioned as reaching China from Persia, K'un-lun,

1 On p. 471 Gerini identifies Po-se with the Basisi tribe in the more southern
parts of the Malay Peninsula. On the other hand, it is difficult to see why Gerini
searched for Po-se on Sumatra, as he quotes after Parker a Chinese source
under the date a.d. 802, to the effect that near the capital of Burma there were
hills of sand, and a barren waste which borders on Po-se and P'o-lo-men (see
above, p. 469).

2 Actes du Douzi^me Congr^s des Orientalistes, Rome 1899, Vol. II, p. 92.

' Of. Yule, Marco Polo, Vol. II, pp. 284-288. Regarding the kings of Pase,
see G. Ferrand, Textes relatifs h, I'Extr^me-Orient, Vol. II, pp. 666-669.

^ Journal Royal As. Soc.y 19 13, p. 168.

* Contributions towards the Materia Medica of China, p. 10.

The Malayan Po-Se — ^Alum 475

and Ta Ts'in. J. L. Soubeiran^ says, "L'alun, qui 6tait tir^ primitive-
merit de la Perse, est aujourd'hui importe de TOccident." P. de M^ly^
translates the term Pose is' e fan by "fan violet de Perse." All this is
wrong. HiRTH^ noted the difficiilty in the case, as alum is not produced
in Persia, but principally in Asia Minor. Pliny* mentions Spain,
Egypt, Armenia, Macedonia, Pontus, and Africa as alum-producing
countries. Hirth found in the P'ei wen yiin fu a passage from the Hai
yao pen ts'ao, according to which Pose fan ^M W^ ("Persian alum,"
as he translates) comes from Ta Ts'in. In his opinion, "Persian alum"
is a misnomer, Persia denoting in this case merely the emporium from
which the product was shipped to China. The text in question is not
peculiar to the Hai yao pen ts'ao of the eighth century, but occurs at a
much earlier date in the Kwan ^ou ki M ffl 12, an account of Kwan-
tun, written under the Tsin dynasty (a.d. 265-419), when the name of
Persia was hardly known in China. This work, as quoted in the Cen
lei pen ts*ao,^ states that kin sien :^ W^fan C'al-um with gold threads")
is produced ^ in the country Po-se, and in another paragraph that the
white alum of Po-se {Pose pai fan) comes from Ta Ts'in.^ The former
statement clearly alludes to the alum discolored by impurities, as still
found in several localities of India and Upper Burma.^ Accordingly
the Malayan Po-se (for this one only can come into question here)
produced an impvire kind of alum, and simultaneously was the transit
mart for the piure white alum brought from western Asia by way of
India to China. It is clear that, because the native alima of Po-se was
previously known, also the West-Asiatic variety was named for Po-se.
A parallel to the Pose fan is the K'un-lun fan, which looks like black
mud.^

61. The Wu lu ^ $1^, written by Can Po 3M ^ in the beginning of
the fourth century, contains the following text on the subject of "ant-
lac" {yi tsi Ji W) •? "In the district of Kii-fun M E (in Kiu-5en, Ton-

^ Etudes sur la mati^re m^dicale chinoise (Min6raux), p. 2 (reprint from
Journal de pharmacie et de chimie, 1866).

2 Lapidaire chinois, p. 260.

5 Chinesische Studien, p. 257.

* XXXV, 52.

5 Ch. 3, p. 40 b.

^ Also in the text of the Hai yao pen ts'ao, as reproduced in the Pen ts*ao kafi mu
(Ch. II, p. 15 b), two Po-se alums are distinguished.
' Watt, Commercial Products of India, p. 61.
8 Pen ts'ao kan mu, I. c.
» T^ai p'in hwan yii ki, Ch. 171, p. 5.

476 Sino-Iranica

king) ^ there are ants living on coarse creepers. The people, on examin-
ing the interior of the earth, can tell the presence of ants from the soil
being freshly broken up ; and they drive tree-branches into these spots,
on which the ants will crawl up, and produce a lac that hardens into a
solid mass." Aside from the absurd and fantastic notes of Aelian,^ this is
the earliest allusion to the lac-insect which is called in Annamese con
mdi, in Khmer kandter, in Cam mil, mur, or muor} The Chinese half-
legendary accounf* agrees strikingly with what Garcia reports as the
Oriental lore of this wonder of nature: "I was deceived for a long
time. For they said that in Pegu the channels of the rivers deposit mud
into which small sticks are driven. On them are engendered very large
ants with wings, and it is said that they deposit much lacre^ on the
sticks. I asked my informants whether they had seen this with their
own eyes. As they gained money by buying rubies and selling the cloths
of Paleam and Bengal, they replied that they had not been so idle as
that, but that they had heard it, and it was the common fame. After-
wards I conversed with a respectable man with an enquiring mind, who
told me that it was a large tree with leaves like those of a plum tree, and
that the large ants deposit the lacre on the small branches. The ants
are engendered in mud or elsewhere. They deposit the gum on the
tree, as a material thing, washing the branch as the bee makes honey;
and that is the truth. The branches are pulled off the tree and put in
the shade to dry. The gimi is then taken off and put into bamboo joints,
sometimes with the branch."*^

In the Yu yan tsa tsu' we read as follows: "The tse-kun tree ^ ^!/P^
W has its habitat in Camboja (Cen-la), where it is called W) 14 lo-k'ia,
*lak-ka (that is, lakka, lac).^ Further, it is produced in the country

^ Regarding this locality, cf. H. Maspero, Etudes d'histoire d'Annam, V, p. 19
{Bull, de VEcole frangaise, 1918, No. 3).

2 Nat. Anim., iv, 46. There is no other Greek or Latin notice of the matter.

^ Cf. Aymonier and Cabaton (Dictionnaire ^am-frangais, p. 393), who trans-
late the term "termite, pou de bois, fourmi blanche."

* Much more sensible, however, than that of Aelian.

5 The Portuguese word for "lac, lacquer," the latter being traceable to lacre.
The ending -re is unexplained.

8 C. Markham, Colloquies, p. 241.

' Ch. i8, p. 9.

8 The Pai-hai edition has erroneously the character ijp.

8 From Pali Idkha (Sanskrit Idk^a, laktaka) ; Cam laky IChmer lak; Siamese rak
(cf. Pallegoix, Description du royaume Thai, Vol. I, p. 144). We are thus en-
titled to trace the presence of this Indian word in the languages of Indo-China
to the age of the T'ang. The earliest and only classical occurrence of the word is in
the Periplus (Ch. 6: \ii.KKos). Cf. also Prakrit lakka; Kawi and Javanese Idka;
Tagalog lakha.

The Malayan Po-Se — ^Lac 477

Po-se ^ 9r. The tree grows to a height of ten feet, with branches dense
and luxuriant. Its leaves resemble those of the Citrus and wither
during the winter. In the third month it flowers, the blossoms being
white in color. It does not form fruit. When heavy fogs, dew, and
rain moisten the branches of this tree, they produce tse-kun. The en-
voys of the country Po-se, Wu-hai ^ M and Sa-li-§en ^ f [| 1^ by name,
agreed in their statement with the envoys from Camboja, who were
a ie Vun tu wei Jf ffi ?K ftf ^ and the gramana MWMWi% Si-sa-ni-
pa-t*o (figanibhadra?). These said, 'Ants transport earth into the
ends of this tree, digging nests in it; the ant-hills moistened by rain
and dew will harden and form tse-kun} That of the country K'un-lim
is the most excellent, while that of the country Po-se ranks next.' "^

* Title of a military officer.

2 "The gum-lac which comes from Pegu is the cheapest, though it is as good as
that of other countries; what causes it to be sold cheaper is that the ants, making
it there on the ground in heaps, which are sometimes of the size of a cask, mix with
it a quantity of dirt" (Tavernier, Travels in India, Vol. II, p. 22).

3 The story of lacca and the ants producing it was made known in England at
the end of the sixteenth century. John Gerarde (The Herball or Generall Historic
of Plantes, p. 1349, London, 1597, ist ed; or, enlarged and amended by Thomas
Johnson, p. 1533, London, 1633) tells it as follows: "The tree that bringeth forth
that excrementall substance, called Lacca, both in the shops of Europe and elsewhere,
is called of the Arabians, Persians and Turkes Loc Sumutri, as who should say Lacca
of Sumutra: some which have so termed it, have thought that the first plentie thereof
came from Sumutra, but herein they have erred; for the abundant store thereof
came from Pegu, where the inhabitants thereof do call it Lac, and others of the
same province Tree. The history of which tree, according to that famous Herbarist
Clusius is as followeth. There is in the countrey of Pegu and Malabar, a great tree,
whose leaves are like them of the Plum tree, having many small twiggie branches;
when the trunke or body of the tree waxeth olde, it rotteth in sundrie places, wherein
do breed certaine great ants or Pismires, which continually worke and labour in the
time of harvest and sommer, against the penurie of winter: such is the diligence
of these Ants, or such is the nature of the tree wherein they harbour, or both, that
they provide for their winter foode, a lumpe or masse of substance, which is of a
crimson colour, so beautifuU and so faire, as in the whole world the like cannot be
scene, which serveth not onely to phisicall uses, but is a perfect and costly colour for
Painters, called by us, Indian Lack. The Pismires (as I said) worke out this colour, by
sucking the substance or matter of Lacca from the tree, as Bees do make honie and
waxe, by sucking the matter thereof from all herbes, trees, and flowers, and the in-
habitants of that countrie, do as diligently search for this Lacca, as we in England
and other countries, seeke in the woods for honie; which Lacca after they have found,
they take from the tree, and drie it into a lumpe; among which sometimes there
come over some sticks and peeces of the tree with the wings of the Ants, which have
fallen amongst it, as we daily see. The tree which beareth Lacca groweth in Zeilan
and Malavar, and in other partes of the East Indies." The second edition of 1633
has the following addition, "The Indian Lacke or Lake which is the rich colour used
by Painters, is none of that which is used in shops, nor here figured or described by
Clusius, wherefore our Author was much mistaken in that he here confounds together
things so different; for this is of a resinous substance, and a faint red colour, and
wholly unfit for Painters, but used alone and in composition to make the best hard

478 Sino-Iranica

The question here is of gum-lac or stick-lac (Gummi lacca; French
laque en bdtons), also known as kino, produced by an insect, Coccus
or Tachardia lacca, which lives on a large number of widely different trees,^
called ^ ^W or S tse-kun or tse-ken. Under the latter name it is men-
tioned in the "Customs of Camboja" by Cou Ta-kwan;^ under the
former, in the Pen ts'ao yen i.^ At an earlier date it occurs as ^ Ifi in
the T'an hut yao,^ where it is said in the notice of P'iao (Burma), that
there the temple-halls are coated with it. In all probability, this word
represents a transcription: Li Si-cen assigns it to the Southern Bar-
barians.

The Po-se in the text of the Yu yan tsa tsu cannot be Persia, as is
sufficiently evidenced by the joint arrival of the Po-se and Camboja
envoys, and the opposition of Po-se to the Malayan K'un-lun. Without
any doubt we have reference here to the Malayan Po-se. The product
itself is not one of Persia, where the lac-insect is unknown.^ It should be
added that the Yu yan tsa tsu treats of this Po-se product along with the
plants of the Iranian Po-se discussed on the preceding pages; and there
is nothing to indicate that Twan C'efi-si, its author, made a distinction
between the two homophonous names.^

62. The Malayan Po-se, further, produced camphor (Dryobalanops
aromatica), as we likewise see from the Yu yan tsa tsu^'^ where the tree

sealing wax. The other seemes to be an artificiall thing, and is of an exquisite crim-
son colour, but of what it is, or how made, I have not as yet found any thing that
carries any probabilitie of truth." Gerarde's information goes back to Garcia,
whose fundamental work then was the only source for the plants and drugs
of India.

1 Watt, Commercial Products of India, p. 1053; not necessarily Erythrina, as
stated by Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 489). Sir C. Markham (Colloquies,
p. 241) says picturesquely that the resinous exudation is produced by the puncture
of the females of the lac-insect as their common nuptial and accouchement bed, the
seraglio of their multi-polygamous bacchabunding lord, the male Coccus lacca;
both the males and their colonies of females live only for the time they are cease-
lessly reproducing themselves, and as if only to dower the world with one of its
most useful resins, and most glorious dyes, the color "lake."

2 Pelliot, Bull, de t'Ecolefrangaise, Vol. II, p. 166.
' Ch. 14, p. 4 b (ed. of Lu Sin-yiian).

* Ch. 100, p. 18 b. Also Su Kun and Li Sun of the T'ang describe the product.

^ The word lak (Arabic) or rdngldk (Persian) is derived from Indian, and
denotes either the Indian product or the gum of Zizyphus lotus and other plants
(AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 265). In the seventeenth century the Dutch bought
gum-lac in India for exportation to Persia (Tavernier, /. c). Cf. also Leclerc,
Traits des simples. Vol. Ill, p. 241; and G. Ferrand, Textes relatifs h. I'Extr^me-
Orient, p. 340.

^ In regard to stick-lac in Tibet, see H. Laufer, Beitr^ge zur Kenntnis der
.tibetischen Medicin, pp. 63-64.

7 Ch. 18, p. 8 b.

The Malayan Po-Se — Lac, Camphor 479

is ascribed to Bali W^ M (P'o-li, *Bwa-li)i and to Po-se. Camphor is
not produced in Persia j^ and Hirth^ is not justified in here rendering
Po-se by Persia and commenting that camphor was brought to China
by Persian ships.

63 . The confusion as to the two Po-se has led Twan C*en-si* to ascribe
the jack-fruit tree (Artocarpus integrifolia) to Persia, as would follow
from the immediate mention of Fu-lin; but this tree grows neither in
Persia nor in western Asia. It is a native of India, Burma, and the
Archipelago. The mystery, however, remains as to how the author
obtained the alleged Fu-lin name.^

Pepper {Piper longum), according to Su Kun of the T'ang, is a prod-
uct of Po-se. This cannot be Persia, which does not produce pepper.^

In the chapter on the walnut we have noticed that the Pet hu lu,
written about a.d. 875 by Twan Kufi-lu, mentions a wild walnut as
growing in the country Can-pei (*Cambi, Jambi), and gathered and
eaten by the Po-se. The Lin piao lu i, written somewhat later (between
889 and 904), describes the same fruit ass growing in Can-pi (*Cambir,
Jambir) , and gathered by the Hu. This text is obviously based on the
older one of the Pei hu lu; and Liu Sun, author of the Lin piao lu i,
being under the impression that the Iranian Po-se is involved, appears
to have substituted the term Hu for Po-se. The Iranian Po-se, however,
is out of the question: the Persians did not consume wild walnuts;
and, for all we know about Can-pi, it must have been some Malayan
region.^ I have tentatively identified the plant in question with Juglans
caihayensis or, which is more probable, Canarium commune; possibly
another genus is intended. As regards the situation of Can-pi (or -pei)
and Po-se of the T*ang, much would depend on the botanical evidence.
I doubt that any wild walnut occurs on Sumatra.

The Hai yao pen ts'ao, written by Li Siin in the second half of the
eighth century, and as implied by the title, describing the drugs from

^ Its Bali name is given as |U ^ ^ ^ ku-pu-p^o-lii, *ku-put-bwa-lwut, which
appears to be based on a form related to the Malayan type kdpor-bdrus. Cf. also
the comments of Pelliot (T'oung Pao, 191 2, pp. 474-475).

2 ScHLiMMER (Terminologie, p. 98) observes, "Les auteurs indigenes persans
recommendent le camphre de Borneo comme le meilleur. Camphre de menthe,
provenant de la Chine, se trouve depuis peu dans le commerce en Perse." Camphor
was imported into Siraf (W. Ouseley, Oriental Geography of Ebn Haukal, p. 133;
G. Le Strange, Description of the Province of Fars, p. 42).

2 Chau Ju-kua, p. 194.

* Yu yan tsa tsu, Ch. 18, p. 10.

5 Cf. HiRTH, Chau Ju-kua, p. 213.

« See above, pp. 374, 375.

^ See the references given above on p. 268.

480 Sino-Iranica

the countries beyond the sea and south of China, has recorded several
products of Po-se, which, as we have seen, must be interpreted as the
Malayan region of this name. Such is the case with benjoin (p. 464)
and cummin (p. 383).

We noticed (p. 460) that the Nan i^ou ki and three subsequent works
attribute myrrh to Po-se, but that this can hardly be intended for
the Iranian Po-se, since myrrh does not occur in Persia. Here the
Malayan Po-se is visualized, inasmuch as the trade in myrrh took its
route from East Africa and the Hadramaut coast of Arabia by way of
the Malay Archipelago into China, and thus led the Chinese (errone-
ously) to the belief that the tree itself grew in Malaysia.

64. The case of aloes {Aloe vulgaris and other species) presents a
striking analogy to that of myrrh, inasmuch as this African plant
is also ascribed to Po-se, and a substitute for it was subsequently found
in the Archipelago. Again it is Li Siin of the T'ang period who for the
first time mentions its product under the name lu-wei Miff, stating
that it grows in the country Po-se, has the appearance of black con-
fectionery, and is the sap of a tree.^ Su Sun of the Sung dynasty
observes, "At present it is only shipped to Canton. This tree grows in
the mountain-wilderness, its sap running down like tears and coagulat-
ing. This substance is gathered regardless of the season or month."
Li Si-5en feels doubtful as to whether the product is that of a tree or of
an herb ^: he points out that, according to the Ta Min i Vun ci,
aloes, which belongs to the class of herbs, is a product of Java, Sumatra
(San-fu-ts*i), and other countries, and that this is contradictory to
the data of the T'ang and Sung Pen-ts'ao. It was unknown to him,
however, that the first author thus describing the product is Cao
Zu-kwa,2 who indeed classifies Aloe among herbs, and derives it from
the country Nu-fa ® -^, a dependency of the Arabs, and in another
passage from an island off the Somali coast, evidently hinting at Socotra.
This island is the home of the Aloe perryi, still imported into Bombay.^

The name lu-wei is traced by Hirth to Persian alwd. This theory is
difficult to accept for many reasons. Nowhere is it stated that lu-wei
is a Persian word. Li Si-6en, who had good sense in diagnosing foreign
words, remarks that lu-wei remains unexplained. The Chinese his-
torical texts relative to the Iranian Po-se do not attribute to it this
product, which, moreover, did not reach China by land, but exclusively

^ Pen ts*ao kan mu, Ch. 34, p. 21 b. The juice of Aloe abyssinica is sold in the
form of flat circular cakes, almost black in color.

2 Cufan U, Ch. b, p. 11 (cf. Hirth's translation, p. 225).

' Regarding the history of aloes, see especially Fluckiger and Hanbury,
Pharmacographia, p. 680.

The Malayan Po-Se — ^Aloes 481

over the maritime route to Canton. Aloes was only imported to Persia/
but it is not mentioned by Abu Manstir. The two names sehr zerd
and sebr sugutri ( = Sokotra), given by Schlimmer,^ are of Arabic and
comparatively modern origin; thus is likewise the alleged Persian word
alwd. The Persians adopted it from the Arabs; and the Arabs, on their
part, admit that their alua is a transcription of the Greek word oKbri}
We must not imagine, of course, that the Chinese, when they first re-
ceived this product during the T'ang period, imported it themselves
directly from the African coast or Arabia. It was traded to India, and
from there to the Malayan Archipelago; and, as intimated by Li Sun,
it was shipped by the Malayan Po-se to Canton. Another point over-
looked by Hirth is that Aloe vera has been completely naturalized in
India for a long time, although not originally a native of the country.^
Garcia da Orta even mentions the preparation of aloes in Cambay
and Bengal.^ Thus we find in India, as colloquial names for the drug,
such forms as alia, ilva, eilya^ elio, yalva, and aliva in Malayan, which
are all traceable to the Arabic-Greek alua, alwd. This name was picked
up by the Malayan Po-se and transmitted by them with the product to
the Chinese, who simply eliminated the initial a of the form aluwa
or aluwe and retained luwe.^ Besides lu-wei, occur also the transcriptions
& or pB # nu or no hwi, the former in the K'ai-pao pen ts'ao of the Sung,
perhaps suggested by the Nu-fa country or to be explained by the
phonetic interchange of / and n. It is not intelligible to me why
Hirth says that in the Ming dynasty lu-wei "was, as it is now,
catechu, a product of the Acacia catechu (Sanskrit khadtra).*^ No
authority for this theory is cited; but this is quite impossible, as
catechu or cutch was well known to the Chinese under the names
er-^'a or hai^r-^'aJ

65. A plant, US 5^ ^^ so-^a-mi, *suk-sa-m'it(m'ir), Japanese
iuku^amitsu {Amomum villosum or xanthioides) ,is^^t mentioned by Li
Sun as "growing in the countries of the Western Sea (Si-hai) as well as
in Si-2uri H 3ft and Po-se, much of it coming from the Nan-tun circuit

1 W. OusELEY, Oriental Geography of Ebn Haukal, p. 133.

2 Terminologie, p. 22.

' Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. II, p. 367.

* G. Watt, Commercial Products of India, p. 59.

5 C. Markham, Colloquies, p. 6.

^ Watters (Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 332), erroneously transcrib-
ing lu-hui, was inclined to trace the Chinese transcription directly to the Greek
aloe; this of course, for historical reasons, is out of the question.

' See Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 2; and my Loan- Words in Tibetan,
No. 107, where the history o^ these words is traced.

482 Sino-Iranica

^ ^ ?E."^ According to Ma Ci,it grows in southern China, and, accord-
ing to SuSurijin the marshes of Lifi-nan; thus it must have been intro-
duced between the T'ang and Sung dynasties. In regard to the name,
which is no doubt of foreign origin, Li Si-cen observes that its significance
is as yet unexplained. Certainly it is not Iranian, nor is it known to me
that Amomum occurs in Persia. On the contrary, the plant has been
discovered in Burma, Siam, Camboja, and Laos.^ Therefore Li Sun's
Po-se obviously relates again to the Malayan Po-se; yet his addition of
Si-hai and Si-zun is apt to raise a strong suspicion that he himself
confounded the two Po-se and in this case thought of Persia. I have
not yet succeeded in tracing the foreign word on which the Chinese
transcription is based, but feel sure that it is not Iranian. The present
colloquial name is ts'ao ia hn ^ ^ C^

66. There is a plant styled ^ .# # p"o-lo-te, *bwa-ra-tik, or ^ M
WJ p^o-lo-lo, *bwa-ra-lak(lok, lek), not yet identified. Again our
earliest source of information is due to Li Sun, who states, *'P'o-lo-te
grows in the countries of the Western Sea (Si-hai) and in Po-se. The
tree resembles the Chinese willow; and its seeds, those of the castor-oil
plant {pei-ma tse, Ricinus communis, above, p. 403) ; they are much used
by druggists."^ Li Si-6en regards the word as Sanskrit, and the elements
of the transcription hint indeed at a Sanskrit name. It is evidently
Sanskrit bhalldtaka, from which are derived Newari pdldla, Hindustani
belatak or bheld, Persian balddur, and Arabic belddur (Garcia: balador).
Other Sanskrit synonymes of this plant are aruska, bljapddapa^mravxksa,
visdsyd, and dahana. It is mentioned in several passages of the Bower
Manuscript.

This is the marking-nut tree {Semecarpus anacardium, family Ana-
cardiaceae), a genus of Indian trees found throughout the hotter parts
of India as far east as Assam, also distributed over the Archipelago as
far as the Philippines^ and North Australia. It does not occur in Burma
or Ceylon, nor in Persia or western Asia. The fleshy receptacle bear-
ing the fruit contains a bitter and astringent substance, which is uni-
versally used in India as a substitute for marking-ink. The Chinese

1 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 14, p. 13 b.

2 Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica, p. 38. Loureiro {so-xa-mi) mentions it
for Cochin-China (Perrot and Hurrier, Mat. m^d. et pharmacop6e sino-annamites,
p. 97).

3 Ci wu min H Vu k'ao, Ch. 25, p. 72.

4 Pen ts*ao kan mu, Ch. 35, p. 7; Cen lei pen ts*ao, Ch. 5, p. 14 b. In the latter
work Li Siin attributes the definition "Western Sea and Po-se" to Sii Piao, author
of the Nan cou ki.

^ M. Blanco, Flora de Filipinas, p. 216.

The Malayan Po-Se — Semecarpus, Psoralea 483

say expressly that it dyes hair and mustache black/ It gives to cotton
fabrics a black color, which is said to be insoluble in water, but soluble
in alcohol. The juice of the pericarp is mixed with lime water as a
mordant before it is used to mark cloth. In some parts of Bengal the
fruits are regularly used as a dye for cotton cloths.^ The fleshy cups on
which the fruit rests, roasted in ashes, and the kernels of the nuts, are
eaten as food. They are supposed to stimulate the mental powers,
especially the memory. The acrid juice of the pericarp is a powerful
vesicant, and the fruit is employed medicinally.

In regard to the Persian-Arabic halddufy Ibn al-Baitar states express-
ly that this is an Indian word,^ and there is no doubt that it is derived
from Sanskrit bhalldtaka. The term is also given by Abu Mansur, who
discusses the application of the remedy.^ The main point in this con-
nection is that p'o-lo-te is a typical Indian plant, and that the Po-se of
the above Chinese text cannot refer to Persia. Since the tree occurs in
the Malayan area, however, it is reasonable to conclude that again the
Malayan Po-se is intended. The case is analogous to the preceding
one, and the Malayan Po-se were the mediators. At any rate, the
transmission to China of an Indian product with a Sanskrit name by
way of the Malayan Po-se is far more probable than by way of Persia.
I am also led to the general conclusion that almost all Po-se products
mentioned in the Hai yao pen ts'ao of Li Sun have reference to the
Malayan Po-se exclusively.

67. A drug, by the name 19 # Ja pu-ku-U (*bu-kut-tsi), identified
with Psoralea corylifoliaj is first distinctly mentioned by Ma Ci ^ 1^,
collaborator in the K'ai pao pen ts'ao (a.d. 968-976) of the Sung period,
as growing in all districts of Lin-nan (Kwafi-tufi) and Kwafi-si, and
in the country Po-se. According to Ta Mifi i<, W, author of the Zi hwa
^u km pen ts'ao 0 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^, published about a.d. 970, the drug
would have been mentioned in the work Nan iou ki by Sii Piao
(prior to the fifth century),^ who determined it as iK MM ? /^w kiu4se,
the ^^ Allium odorum of the Hu." This, however, is plainly an anachro-
nism, as neither the plant, nor the drug yielded by it, is mentioned by
any T'ang writers, and for the first time looms up in the pharmacopoeia
of the Sung. Su Sun, in his T'u kin pen ts'aoj observes that the plant
now occurs abundantly on the mountain-slopes of southern China,

1 Cen lei pen ts'ao, Ch. 5, p. 14 b.

2 Cf. Watt, Dictionary, Vol. VI, pt. 2, p. 498.

' Leclerc, Trait6 des simples, Vol. I, pp. 162, 265.
* AcHUNDOw, Abu Mansur, p. 30.
^ See above, p. 247.

484 Sino-Iranica

also in H0-60U "^ ^M in Se-cS'wan, but that the native product does not
come up to the article imported on foreign ships. ^ Ta Mifi defines the
difference between the two by saying that the drug of the Southern
Barbarians is red in color, while that of Kwafi-tufi is green. Li Si-(Sen
annotates that the Hu name for the plant is 8 @ Ba p'o-ku-ci (*bwa-
ku-6i, baku6i), popularly but erroneously written ^^^ p^o-ku-U
(*pa-ku-5i), that it is the ^^ Allium odorum of the Hu," because the
seeds of the two plants are similar in appearance, but that in fact it is
not identical with the Allium growing in the land of the Hu. These
are all the historical documents available. Stuart ^ concludes that the
drug comes from Persia; but there is neither a Persian word bakuciy
nor is it known that the plant (Psoralea corylijolia) exists in Persia.
The evidence presented by the Chinese sources is not favorable, either,
to this conclusion, for those data point to the countries south of China,
associated in commerce with Kwafi-tufi. The isolated occurrence of
the plant in a single locality of Se-^'wan is easily explained from the
fact that a large number of immigrants from Kwan-tun have settled
there. In fact, the word *baku6i yielded by the Chinese transcription
is of Indian origin: it answers to Sanskrit vdkuct, which indeed designates
the same plant, Psoralea corylijolia} In Bengali and Hindustani it is
hakU^^ and hdvacl, Uriya bdkuct, Pan jab bdbcl, Bombay bawacly Marathi
bavacya or bavact, etc. According to Watt, it is a common herbaceous
weed found in the plains from the Himalaya through India to Ceylon.
According to Ainslie, this is a dark brown-colored seed, about the
size of a large pin-head, and somewhat oval-shaped; it has an aromatic,
yet unctuous taste, and a certain degree of bitterness. The species in
question is an annual plant, seldom rising higher than three feet; and is
common in southern India. It has at each joint one leaf about two inches
long, and one and a half broad; the flowers are of a pale flesh color,
being produced on long, slender, axillary peduncles. In Annam it is
known as hot-bo-kot-U and p'a-ko-U} It is therefore perfectly obvious

1 According to the Gazetteer of §en-si Province {Sen-si t'un U, Ch. 43, p. 31),
the plant occurs in the district §i-ts'uan ^ ;^ in the prefecture Hin-nan.

2 Chinese Materia Medica, p. 359; likewise F. P. Smith (Contributions, p. 179)
and Perrot and Hurrier (Mati^re m^dicale et pharmacop^e sino-annamites,
p. 150).

' W. Ainslie, Materia Indica, Vol. II, p. 141.

* This name is also given by W. Roxburgh (Flora Indica, p. 588). See, further,
Watt, Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Vol. VI, p. 354.

^ Perrot and Hurrier, Mat. m6d. et pharmacopde sino-annamites, p. 150.
According to these authors, the plant is found in the south and west of China as
well as in Siam. Wu K'i-tsiin says that physicians now utilize it to a large extent in
lieu of cinnamon {Ci wu mifi U t'u k'ao, Ch. 25, p. 65).

The Malayan Po-Se — ^Ebony 485

that the designation "Allium of the Hu" is a misnomer, and that the
plant in question has nothing to do with the Hu in the sense of Iranians,
nor with Persia. The Po-se of Ma Ci, referred to above, in fact repre-
sents the Malayan Po-se.

68. In the Pen ts*ao kan mw, a quotation is given from the Ku kin
hij which is not to be found in the accessible modern editions of this
work. The assertion is made there with reference to that work that
ebony j© ^ yfC is brought over on Po-se ships. It is out of the question
that Po-se in this case could denote Persia, as erroneously assumed by
Stuart,^ as Persia was hardly known under that name in the fourth
century, when the Ku kin ^u was written, or is supposed to have been
written, by Ts'ui Pao;^ and, further, ebony is not at all a product of
Persia.^ Since the same work refers ebony to Kiao-5ou (Tonldng), it
may be assumed that this Po-se is intended for the Malayan Po-se; but,
even in this case, the passage may be regarded as one of the many
interpolations from which the Ku kin i^u has suffered.

Chinese wu-men J^ W (*u-mon), "ebony" (timber of Diospyros
ebenum and D. melanoxylon) is not a transcription of Persian dbnus,
as proposed by Hirth.'* There is no phonetic coincidence whatever.
Nowhere is it stated that the Chinese word is Persian or a-foreign word
at all. There is, further, no evidence to the effect that ebony was ever
traded from Persia to China; on the contrary, according to Chinese
testimony, it came from Indo-China, the Archipelago, and India;
according to Li §i-6en, from Hai-nan, Yun-nan, and the Southern Bar-
barians.^ The speculation that the word had travelled east and west
with the article from "one of the Indo-Chinese districts," is untenable;
for the ebony of western Asia and Greece did not come from Indo-
China, but from Africa and India. The above Chinese term is not a
transcription at all : the second character men is simply a late substitu-
tion of the Sung period for the older 35C, as used in the Ku kin ^w, wu wen
meaning "black-streaked wood." In the Pen ts'ao kan mu^ it is said

^ Chinese Materia Medica, p. 253.

2 Persia under the name Po-se is first mentioned in a.d. 461, on the occasion of
an embassy sent from there to the Court of the Wei (compare above, p. 471).

' It was solely imported into Persia (W. Ouseley, Oriental Geography of Ebn
Haukal, p. 133).

< Chau Ju-kua, p. 216.

•^ The Ko ku yao lun (Ch. 8, p. 5 b; ed. of Si yin Man ts'un Su) gives Hai-nan,
Nan-fan ("Southern Barbarians"), and Yun-nan as places of provenience, and
adds that there is much counterfeit material, dyed artificially. The poles of the tent
of the king of Camboja were made of ebony (Sui Su, Ch. 82, p. 3).

6 Ch. 35 B, p. 13.

486 Sino-Iranica

that the character men should be pronounced in this case M maUi
that the name of the tree is 3^ >fC (thus written in the Nan fan ts'ao mu
i^wan), and that the southerners, because they articulate 3fc like 1^,
have substituted the latter. This is a perfectly satisfactory explanation.
The Ku kin m^ however, has preserved a transcription in the form
S ^ S *i-muk-i or ^ *bu (wu), which must have belonged to the
language of Kiao-Cou ^ ffl (Tonking), as the product hailed from there.
Compare Khmer mdk 'pen and Cam mokia ("ebony," Diospyros ehen-
aster)}

Ebony was known in ancient Babylonia, combs being wrought from
this material.^ It is mentioned in early Egyptian inscriptions as being
brought from the land of the Negroes on the upper Nile. Indeed, Africa
was the chief centre that supplied the ancients with this precious wood."*
From Ethiopia a hundred billets of ebony were sent every third year
as tribute to Darius, king of Persia. EzekieP alludes to the ebony of
Tyre. The Periplus (36) mentions the shipping of ebony from Barygaza
in India to Ommana in the Persian Gulf. Theophrastus,^ who is the
first to mention the ebony-tree of India, makes a distinction between two
kinds of Indian ebony, a rare and nobler one, and a common variety of
inferior wood. According to Pliny,^ it was Pompey who displayed
ebony in Rome at his triumph over Mithridates; and Solinus, who copies
this passage, adds that it came from India, and was then shown for the
first time. According to the same writer, ebony was solely sent from
India, and the images of Indian gods were sometimes carved from this
wood entirely, likewise drinking-cups.^ Thus the ancients were ac-
quainted with ebony as a product of Africa and India at a time when
Indo-China was still veiled to them, nor is any reference made to the
far east in any ancient western account of the subject. The word itself
is of Egyptian origin: under the name hebeny ebony formed an important
article with the country Punt. Hebrew hobmm is related to this word or
directly borrowed from it, and Greek k'^evos is derived from Semitic.
Arabic-Persian ^abnus is taken as a loan from the Greek, and Hindi
abanusa is the descendant of abnus.

1 Ch. c, p. I b. The product is described as coming from Kiao-6ou, being of
black color and veined, and also called "wood with black veins" {wu wen mu).

2 Aymonier and Cabaton, Dictionnaire ^am-frangais, p. 366.
» Handcock, Mesopotamian Archaeology, p. 349.

* Herodotus, iii, 97.

" XXVII, 15.

' Hist, plant., IV. iv, 6.

7 XII, 4, § 20.

8 Solinus, ed. Mommsen, pp. 193, 221.

/

The Malayan Po-Se and its Products 487

It is thus obvious that the term Po-se in Chinese records demands
great caution, and must not be blindly translated "Persia." Whenever
it is used with reference to the Archipelago, the chances are that Persia
is not in question. The Malayan Po-se has become a fact of historical
significance. He who is intent on identifying this locality and people
must not lose sight of the plants and products attributed to it. I dis-
agree entirely with the conclusion of Hirth and Rockhill^ that from
the end of the fourth to the beginning of the seventh centuries all the
products of Indo-China, Ceylon, India, and the east coast of Africa
were classed by the Chinese as "products of Persia (Po-se)," the coun-
try of the majority of the traders who brought these goods to China.
This is a rather grotesque generalization, inspired by a misconception
of the term Po-se and the Po-se texts of the Wei ^u and Sui ^u. The
latter, as already emphasized, do not speak at all of any importation of
Persian goods to China, but merely give a descriptive list of the arti-
cles to be found in Persia. Whenever the term Po-se is prefixed to the
name of a plant or a product, it means only one of two things, — Persia
or the Malayan Po-se, — but this attribute is never fictitious. Not a
single case is known to me where a specific product of Ceylon or India
is ever characterized by the addition Po-se,

* Chau Ju-kua, p. 7.

PERSIAN TEXTILES

69. Brocades, that is, textiles interwoven with gold or silver threads,
were manufactured in Iran at an early date. Gold rugs are mentioned
in the Avesta (zaranaene upasterene, Yast xv, 2). Xerxes is said to
have presented to citizens of Abdera a tiara interwoven with gold.^
The historians of Alexander give frequent examples of such cloth in
Persia.^ Pliny ,^ speaking of gold textiles of the Romans, traces this art
to the Attalic textures, and stamps it as an invention of the kings of
Asia (Attalicis vero iam pridem intexitur, invento regum Asiae).*
The accounts of the ancients are signally confirmed by the Chinese.

Persian brocades tfe S II are mentioned in the Annals of the Liang as
having been sent as tribute in a.d. 520 to the Emperor Wu from the
country Hwa ^i".^ The king of Persia wore a cloak of brocade, and bro-
cades were manufactured in the country.^ Textiles woven with gold
threads ^ ^ 8^ ^ are expressly mentioned;^ this term almost reads
like a translation of Persian zar-bqf (literally, "gold weaving")-^ Per-
sian brocades, together with cotton stuffs from An-si (Parthia) S B
6 #6, are further mentioned at the time of the Emperor Si Tsun "ffi: ^
(a.d. 954-958) of the Hou Cou dynasty, among tribute-gifts sent from
Kwa 60U JR. W in Kan-su.^ The Kirgiz received precious materials for
the dress of their women from An-si (Parthia), Pei-t'in At S (Bisbalik,
in Turkistan) , and the Ta-si i<. ^ (Tadjik, the Arabs) . The Arabs made
pieces of brocade of such size that the weight of each equalled that of
twenty camel-loads. Accordingly these large pieces were cut up into

1 Herodotus, viii, 120.

2 Yates, Textrinum Antiquorum, pp. 366-368.
» xxxm, 19, § 63.

* At the Court of the Persian kings there was a special atelier for the weaving
of silken, gold, and silver fabrics, — styled star bdf xdne (E. Kaempfer, Amoenitatum
exoticarum fasciculi V, p. 128, Lemgoviae, 1712).

^ Lian Su, Ch. 54, p. 13 b. Hwa is the name under which the Ephthalites first
appear in Chinese history (Chavannes, Documents sur les Tou-kiue occidentaux,
p. 222).

^ Kiu T*an Su, Ch. 198, p. 10 b (see also Lian Su, Ch. 54, p. 14 b; and Sui Su
Ch. 83, p. 7 b). Huan Tsan refers to brocade in his account of Persia {Ta T'an si
yU ki, Ch. II, p. 17 b, ed. of ^ou San ko ts'un su).

•^ Sui Su, L c; ^ H ^ ^ HiS ■? ® ^inLianSuJ.c,

8 Cf. Loan- Words in Tibetan, No. 118.

9 Wu tai H, Ch. 74, p. 3 b; Kiu Wu Tai Si, Ch. 138, p. i b.

488

Persian Textiles — ^Brocades 489

twenty smaller ones, so that they could be accommodated on twenty
camels, and were presented once in three years by the Arabs to the
Kirgiz. The two nations had a treaty of mutual alliance, shared also
by the Tibetans, and guaranteeing protection of their trade against the
brigandage of the Uigur.^ The term hu kin iM ® ("brocades of the Hu,"
that is, Iranians) is used in the Kwan yil ki M. ^ fS^ with reference to
Khotan.^ The Iranian word for these textiles, though not recognized
heretofore, is also recorded by the Chinese. This is S tiej anciently
*dziep, dziep, diep, dib,^ being the equivalent of a Middle-Persian form
*dib or *dep,^ corresponding to the New-Persian word dlha ("silk bro-
cade," a colored stufE in which warp and woof are both made of silk),
dlhak (" gold tissue ") , Arabicised dlhddl ("vest of brocade, cloth of gold ") .
The fabric as well as the name come from Sasanian Persia, and were
known to the Arabs at Mohammed's time.^ The Chinese term occurs
as a textile product of Persia in the Sui ^u (Ch. 83, p. 7^). At a much
earlier date it is cited in the Han Annals (Hou Han iw, Ch. 116, p. 8)
as a product of the country of the Ai-lao in Yun-nan. This is not
surprising in view of the fact that at that period Yun-nan, by way of
India, was in communication with Ta Ts'in: in a.d. 120 Yuri Yu Tiao
MAM, King of the coimtry T*an W, presented to the Chinese em-
peror musicians and jugglers, who stated that "they had come from
the Mediterranean M ffi, which is the same as Ta Ts'in, and that
south-west from the Kingdom of T'an there is communication with
Ta Ts'in." The commentator of the Han Annals refers to the Wat kwo
hjuan ^ B 1#^ as saying that the women of Cu-po ^ W (Java) make
white ^^V and ornamented cloth ffi #. The character S po ("silk"),
preceding the term tie in the Han Annals, represents a separate item, and

1 Tan Su, Ch. 217 b, p. 18; T'ai pHn hwan yil ki, Ch. 199, p. 14. Cf. Dev^ria,
in Centenaire de I'Ecole des Langues Orientales, p. 308.

2 Ch. 24, p. 7 b. Regarding the various editions of this work, see p. 251.

2 Likewise in the Sung Annals with reference to a tribute sent from IQiotan
in 961 (Chavannes and Pelliot, Traits manich6en, p. 274). Regarding Persian
brocades mentioned by mediaeval writers, see Francisque-Michel, Recherches sur
le commerce, la fabrication et I'usage des 6tofIes de soie d'or et d'argent, Vol. I,
pp. 315-317, Vol. II, pp. 57-58 (Paris, 1852, 1854).

^ According to the Yi ts'ie kin yin i (Ch. 19, p. 9 b), the pronunciation of the
character tie was anciently identical with that of §5 (see No. 70), and has the/a«
ts'ie ^ 1^; that is, tHap, *diab, d'ab. The T'an Iw H yin (Ch. 23, p. i b) indicates
the same fan ts'ie by means of ^ '^. The phonetic element ^ serves for the
transcription of Sanskrit dvipa (Pelliot, Bull, de rEcolefrangaise, Vol. IV, p. 357).

5 A Pahlavi form depak is indicated by West (Pahlavi Texts, Vol. I, p. 286) ;
hence Armenian dipak.

^ C. H. Becker, Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, p. 967.

' Cf. Journal asiatigue, 1918, II, p. 24.

490 Sino-Iranica

is not part of the transcription, any more than the word @ kiuj which
precedes it in the Sui Annals; but the combination of both po and kin
with tie indicates and confirms very well that the latter was a brocaded
silk. HiRTH^ joins po with tie into a compound in order to save the
term for his pets the Turks. "The name po-tie is certainly borrowed
from one of the Turki languages. The nearest equivalent seems to be
the Jagatai Turki word for cotton, pakhta.^' There are two fundamental
errors involved here. First, the Cantonese dialect, on which Hirth
habitually falls back in attempting to restore the ancient phonetic
condition of Chinese, does not in fact represent the ancient Chinese
language, but is merely a modern dialect in a far-advanced stage of
phonetic decadence. The sounds of ancient Chinese can be restored
solely on the indications of the Chinese phonetic dictionaries and on the
data of comparative Indo-Chinese philology. Even in Cantonese,
po-tie is pronounced pak-tip, and it is a prerequisite that the foreign
prototype of this word terminates in a final labial. The ancient pho-
netics of S ^ is not pak-ta, but *bak-dzip or *dip, and this bears no
relation to pakhta. Further, it is impossible to correlate a foreign
word that appears in China in the Han period with that of a com-
paratively recent Turkish dialect, especially as the Chinese data rela-
tive to the term do not lead anywhere to the Turks; and, for the rest,
the word pakhta is not Turkish, but Persian, in origin.^ Whether the
term tie has anything to do with cotton, as already stated by Cha-
VANNES,^ is uncertain; but, in view of the description of the plant as
given in the Nan U^ or Lian ^u,^ it may be granted that the term po-tie
was subsequently transferred to cotton.

The ancient pronunciation of po-tie being *bak-dib, it would not be
impossible that the element bak represents a reminiscence of Middle
Persian pambak ("cotton")? New Persian panpa (Ossetic bambag,
Armenian bambak). This assumption being granted, the Chinese term
/?o-^iV( = Middle Persian *bak-dib =^am6a^ dip) would mean "cotton
brocade" or "cotton stuff." Again, po-tie was a product of Iranian
regions: kin siu po tie :^ ^ 6 ^ is named as a product of K'afi (Sog-
diana) in the Sasanian era;^ and, as has been shown, po-tie from Parthia

1 Chao Ju-kua, p. 218.

2 Steingass, Persian-English Dictionary, p. 237.

« Documents sur les Tou-kiue occidentaux, p. 352.

< Ch. 79, p. 6 b.

^ Ch. 54, p. 13 b. Cf. Chavannes, ibid., p. 102; see also F. W. K. Muller,
Uigurica, II, pp. 70, 105.

• Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 4. Hence *bak-dlb may also have been a Sogdian word.

Persian textiles — ^Brocades 491

is specially named. Po-tie, further, appears in India ;^ and as early as
A.D. 430 Indian po-tie was sent to China from Ho-lo-tan P^ M ^ on Java.^
According to a passage of the Kiu T'an iw,^ the difference between ku-
pei (Sanskrit karpdsaY and po-tie was this, that the former was a coarse,

1 Nan U, Ch. 78, p. 7 a.

2 Sun Su, Ch. 97, p. 2 b.

» Ch. 197, p. I b, indicated by Pelliot (Bull, de VEcole frangaise, Vol. Ill,
p. 269).

* It is evident that the transcription ku-pei is not based directly on Sanskrit
karpdsa; but I do not believe with Watters (Essays on the Chinese Language,
p. 440) and HiRTH (Chau Ju-kua, p. 218) that Malayan kdpas is at the root of the
Chinese form, which, aside from the lack of the final s, shows a peculiar vocalism that
cannot be explained from Malayan. Of living languages, it is Bahnar kopaih ("cot-
ton") which presents the nearest approach to Chinese ku-pei or ku-pai. It is there-
fore my opinion that the Chinese received the word from a language of Indo-China.
The history of cotton in China is much in need of a revision. The following case
is apt to show what misunderstandings have occurred in treating this subject.
Ku-lun (*ku-dzun, *ku-dun) "fe ^ is the designation of a cotton-like plant grown
in the province of Kwei-6ou ^ jii ; the yam is dyed and made into pan pu^^.
This is contained in the Nan Yiie « ]^ @ jfe by Sen Hwai-yuan ^ U jS of the
fifth century {Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 36, p. 24). Schott (Altaische Studien, III,
Abh. Berl. Akad., 1867, pp. 137, 138; he merely refers to the source as "a descrip-
tion of southern China," without citing its title and date), although recognizing that
the question is of a local term, proposed, if it were permitted to read kutun instead
of kutun, to regard the word as an indubitable reproduction of Arabic qu{un, which
resulted in the colon, cotton, kattun, etc., of Europe. Mayers then gave a similar
opinion; and Hirth (Chau Ju-kua, p. 219), clinging to a Fu-6ou pronunciation
ku-tiin (also Watters, Essays, p. 440, transcribes ku-tun), accepted the alleged
derivation from the Arabic. This, of course, is erroneous, as in the fifth century
there was no Arabic influence on China, nor did the Arabs themselves then know
cotton. It would also be difficult to realize how a plant of Kwei-6ou coiild have
been baptized with an Arabic name at that or any later time. Moreover, ku-lwh
is not a general term for "cotton" in Chinese; the above work remains the only
on(p in which it has thus far been indicated. Ku-lun, as Li Si-5en points out, is a
tree-cotton ^ j§ (Bombax malaharicum) , which originated among the Southern
Barbarians (Nan Fan ^ ^), and which at the end of the Sung period was trans-
planted into Kian-nan. It is very likely that, as stated by Stuart (Chinese Materia
Medica, p. 197), the cotton-tree was known in China from very ancient times, and
that its product was used in the manufacture of cloth before the introduction of the
cotton-plant {Gossypium herbaceum). In fact, the same work Nan yiie U reports,
"None of the Man tribes in the kingdom Nan-2ao rear silkworms, but they merely
obtain the seeds of the so-lo (*sa-la) ^ ^ tree, the interior of which is white and
contains a floss that can be wrought like silk and spun into cloth; it bears the name
so-lo lun twan ^ M bI ©•" The Fan yii H S' H ife of Cu Mu )K ^ of the Sung
period alludes to the same tree, which is said to be from thirty to fifty feet in height.
The Ko ku yao lun (Ch. 8, p. 4 b; ed. of Si yin Man ts'un Su) speaks of cotton stuffs
5C jK ^ ( = 16; foM-/o = Sanskrit tUla) which come from the Southern Barbarians,
Tibet (Si-fan), and Yun-nan, being woven from the cotton in the seeds of the so-lo
tree, resembling velvet, five to six feet wide, good for making bedding and also clothes.
The Tien hi writes the word -^ ^ (G. SouLii:, Bull, de I'Ecole frangaise, Vol. VIII,
P- 343)- Sa-la is the indigenous name of the tree; sa-la is still the Lo-lo designation

492 Sino-Iranica

and the latter a fine textile. In the Glossary of the T'ang Annals the
word tie is explained as "fine hair" M ^ and "hair cloth" ^ ^; these
terms indeed refer to cotton stuffs, but simultaneously hint at the fact
that the real nature of cotton was not yet generally known to the Chinese
of the T'ang period. In the Kwan yU ki, po-tie is named as a product of
Turf an; the threads, it is said, are derived from wild silkworms, and
resemble fine hemp.

Russian altabds ("gold or silver brocade," "Persian brocade":
Dal'), Polish altembas, and French altobas, in my opinion, are nothing
but reproductions of Arabic-Persian al-dlhdd^y discussed above. The
explanation from Italian alto-basso is a jocular popular etymology; and
the derivation from Turkish altun ("gold") and b'az ("textile")^ is
likewise a failure. The fact that textiles of this description were subse-
quently manufactured in Europe has nothing to do, nor does it conflict,
with the derivation of the name which Inostrantsev wrongly seeks in
Europe.^ In the seventeenth century the Russians received altabds
from the Greeks; and Ibn Rosteh, who wrote about a.d. 903, speaks
then of Greek dlbdd^.^ According to Makkari, dtbdd^ were manufac-
tured by the Arabs in Almeria, Spain,* the centre of the Arabic silk
industry.^

70. §1^ Va-ten, *dap ( = ^)*-dan ( = :§), tap-tafi, woollen rugs.
The name of this textile occurs in the Wei lio of the third century a.d.
as a product of the anterior Orient (Ta Ts'in) ^ and in the Han Annals

for cotton (Vial, Dictionnaire frangais lo-lo, p. 97). Likewise it is sa-la in P'u-p'a,
s'd-lo in Co-ko {Bull, de I'Ecole frangaise, Vol. IX, p. 554). In the same manner I
believe that *ku-dzun was the name of the same or a similar tree in the language of
the aborigines of Kwei-5ou. Compare Lepcha ka-luk ki kun ("cotton- tree"), Sin-p'o
ga-dun ("cotton- tree"), given by J. F. Needham (Outline Grammar of the Singpho
Language, p. 90, Shillong, 1889), and Meo coa ("cotton"), indicated by M. L,
PiERLOT (Vocabulaire m6o, Actes du XIV* Congr^s int. des Orientalistes Alger
1905, pt. I, p. 150).

1 Proposed by Savel'ev in Erman's Archiv, Vol. VII, 1848, p. 228.

' K. Inostrantsev, Iz istorii starinnyx tkanei {Zapiski Oriental Section Russian
Archaeol. Soc, Vol. XIII, 1901, pp. 081-084).

' G. Jacob, Handelsartikel, p. 7; Waren beim arabisch-nordischen Verkehr,
p. 16.

< G. Migeon, Manuel d'art musulman, Vol. II, p. 420.

' Defremery, Journal asiatique, 1854, p. 168; Francisque-Michel, Recherches
sur le commerce, la fabrication et I'usage des ^toffes de soie, d'or et d'argent. Vol. I,
pp. 232, 284-290 (Paris, 1852).

8 The /an tsHe is ^ ^; that is, *du-kiap= d'iap {Yi tsHe kiiiyin i, Ch. 19, p. 9 b),
or *b S *du-hap = dap {Hou Han Su, Ch. 118, p. 5 b).

' F. HiRTH, China and the Roman Orient, pp. 71, 112, 113, 255. T'a-tefi of five
and nine colors are specified.

Persian Textiles — ^Rugs 493

as a product of India.^ In the Sui Annals it appears as a product of
Persia.^ Chavannes has justly rejected the fantastic explanation given
in the dictionary Si miiij which merely rests on an attempt at punning.
The term, in fact, represents a transcription that corresponds to a
Middle-Persian word connected with the root Vtab ("to spin")*
of. Persian tdjtan (''to twist, to spin"), tdhah ("he spins"), tdjta or tdfte
("garment woven of linen, kind of silken cloth, taffeta"). Greek rdTTTjs
and TairiiTiov (frequent in the Papyri; raTrtSy^ot, "rug-weavers") are
derived from Iranian.^ There is a later Attic form SdTrts. The Middle-
Persian form on which the Chinese transcription is based was perhaps
*taptan, tapetafi, -an being the termination of the plural. The Persian
word resulted in our taffeta (med. Latin tafata, Italian taffetd, Spanish
tafetan).

71. To the same type as the preceding one belongs another Chinese
transcription, IH S (^o{Vo)-pi, t5 Sf tso-pHj or tG i^" tso-pi, dance-
rugs sent to China in a.d. 718 and 719 from Maimargh and Bukhara
respectively.^ These forms correspond to an ancient *ta-bik (:S or ^)
or *ta-bi5 (i^O, and apparently go back to two Middle-Persian forms
*tabix and *tabe5 or *tabi5 (or possibly with medial p).^

72. More particularly we hear in the relations of China with
Persia about a class of textiles styled yUe no pu MW ^.^ As far as I
know, this term occurs for the first time in the Annals of the Sui Dy-
nasty (a.d. $90-617), in the notice on Po-se (Persia).^ This indicates
that the object in question, and the term denoting it, hailed from Sasa-
nian Persia.

1 E. Chavannes, Les Pays d'occident d'apr^s le Heou Han Chou (T'oung Pao,
1907, p. 193). Likewise jin the Nan H (Ch. 78, p. 5 b) and in Cao Zu-kwa (trans-
lation of HiRTH and Rockhill, p. iii).

2 Sui J?«, Ch. 83, p. 7 b.

'P. Horn, Grundriss iran. Phil., Vol. I, pt. 2, p. 137. N6ldeke's notion
(Persische Studien, II, p. 40) that Persian tanbasa ("rug, carpet") should be derived
from the Greek word, in my opinion, is erroneous.

* Chavannes, T*oung Pao, 1904, p. 34.

^ These two parallels possibly are apt to shed light on the Old High-German
duplicates teppih and teppld. The latter has been traced directly to Italian tappeto
(Latin tapete, tapetum), but the origin of the spirant x in teppih has not yet been
explained, and can hardly be derived from the final /. Wotdd derivation from an
Iranian source, direct or indirect, be possible?

^ According to Hirth (Chau Ju-kua, p. 220), "a light cotton gauze or muslin,
of two kinds, pure white, and spangled with gold"; but this is a doubtful explana-
tion.

' Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 7 b. This first citation of the term has escaped all previous
writers on the subject, — Hirth, Chavannes, and Pelliot. From the Sui Su the text
passed into the T'ai pHrt hwan yii ki (Ch. 185, p. 18 b).

494 Sino-Iranica

In the T'ang Annals we read that in the beginning of the period
K'ai-yiian (a.d. 713-741) the country of K'an (Sogdiana), an Iranian
region, sent as tribute to the Chinese Court coats-of-mail, cups of rock-
crystal, bottles of agate, ostrich-eggs, textiles styled yiie no^ dwarfs,
and dancing-girls of Hu-suan iS9 M. (Xwarism).^ In the Ts^efu yiian kwei
the date of this event is more accurately fixed in the year 718.^ The
Man §u, written by Fan Co of the T'ang period, about a.d. 860,^ men-
tions yiie no as a product of the Small P'o-lo-men /J^ ^ H P? (Brah-
mana) country, which was conterminous with P'iao ^ (Burma) and
Mi-5'en (*Mid2en) SI E.^ This case offers a parallel to the presence
of tie in the Ai-lao country in Yiin-nan.

The Annals of the Sung mention yiie no as exported by the Arabs
into China.^ The Lin wai tai ta,^ written by Cou K'ii-fei in 11 78, men-
tions white yiie-no stuffs in the countries of the Arabs, in Bagdad, and
yiie-no stuffs in the country Mi tS.

HiRTH^ was the first to reveal the term yae no in Cao 2u-kwa, who
attributes white stuffs of this name to Bagdad. His transcription yUt-
nokj made on the basis of Cantonese, has no value for the phonetic
restoration of the name, and his hypothetical identification with cut-
tanee must be rejected; but as to his collocation of the second element
with Marco Polo's nac, he was on the right trail. He was embarrassed,
however, by the first element yUe, "which can in no way be explained
from Chinese and yet forms part of the foreign term." Hence in his
complete translation of the work^ he admits that the term cannot as
yet be identified. His further statement, that in the passage of the
T'an ^u, quoted above, the question is possibly of a country yiie-no
(Bukhara), rests on a misunderstanding of the text, which speaks only
of a textile or textiles. The previous failures in explaining the term
simply result from the fact that no serious attempt was made to restore

^ Cf. Chavannes, Documents sur les Tou-kiue occidentaux, pp. 136, 378,
with the rectification of Pelliot {Bull, de I'Ecole frangaise, Vol. IV, 1904, p. 483).
Regarding the dances of Hu-suan, see Kin Si hwi yiian kiao k'an ki jj^ ^ "^ jt ^
S!f IS (p- 3). Critical Annotations on the Kin H hwi yuan by Li San-kiao ^ _h ^
of the Sung (in Kifu ts'un Su, t'ao 10).

2 Chavannes, T'oung Pao, 1904, p. 35.

' See above, p. 468.

* Man Su, p. 44 b (ed. of Yiin-nan pei cen ti). Regarding Mi-£'en, see Pelliot,
Bull, de I'Ecolefrangaise, Vol. IV, p. 171.

5 Sun Hj Ch. 490; and Bretschneider, Knowledge possessed by the Chinese
of the Arabs, p. 12. Bretschneider admitted that this product was unknown to him,

8 Ch. 3, pp. 2-3.

^ Lander des Islam, p. 42 (Leiden, 1894).

8 Chau Ju-kua, p. 220.

Persian Textiles — ^Yue No 495

it to its ancient phonetic condition.^ Moreover, it was not recognized
that yile no represents a combination of two Iranian words, and that
each of these elements denotes a particiilar Iranian textile.

(i) The ancient articulation of what is now sounded yiie @ was
*vat, va5, wiaS, or, with liquid final, *var or *val.2 Thus it may well
be inferred that the Chinese transcription answers to a Middle-Persian
form of a type *var or *val. There is a Persian word harnu or harnun
(** brocade"), void, which means "a kind of silken stuff, "^ and holds,
"a kind of fine, soft, thin armosin silk, an old piece of cloth, a kind of
coarse woollen stuff. "^

(2) V^ no corresponds to an ancient *nak,^ and is easily identified
with Persian nax (nakh), "a carpet beautiful on both sides, having a
long pile; a small carpet with a short pile; a raw thread of yam of any
sort,"^ but also "brocade." The early mention of the Chinese term,
especially in the Sui Annals, renders it quite certain that the word nak
or nax was even an element of the Middle-Persian language. Hither-
to it had been revealed only in mediaeval authors, the Yiian l^ao pi U,

^De Goeje's identification of yiie-no pu with djanndbi (in Hirth, Lander des Islam,
p. 61) is a complete failure: pu ("cloth") does not form part of the transcription,
which can only be read va8-nak, var-nak, or val-nak. Tsuboi Kumazo (Actes XII*
Congr^s international des Orientalistes Rome 1899, Vol. II, p. 112) has already
opposed this unfortunate suggestion.

•^ For examples, see Chavannes, M^moires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien,
Vol. IV, p. 559; and particularly cf. Pelliot, Journal asiatique, 1914, II, p. 392.

» Steingass, Persian-EngHsh Dictionary, p. 1453. Horn (Grundriss iran.
Phil., Vol. I, pt. 2, p. 29) translates the word "a fine stuff, " and regards it as a loan-
word from Greek ^rjXov ("veil"), first proposed, I believe, by NSldeke (Persische
Studien, II, p. 39). This etymology is not convincing to me. On the contrary,
vdla is a genuine Persian word, meaning "eminent, exalted, high, respectable, sub-
lime, noble"; and it is quite plausible that this attribute was transferred to a fine
textile. It was, further, the Persians who taught the Greeks lessons in textile art,
but not the reverse. F. JusTi (Iranisches Namenbuch, p. 516) attributes to vdld
also the meaning "banner of silk."

* Steingass, op. ciL, p. 150. The Iranian character of this word is indicated
by Waxi palds, Sariqoll palus ("coarse woollen cloth") of the Pamir languages.
Perhaps also Persian bat ("stuff of fine wool"), WaxI bot, Sariqoll bel (cf. W. Toma-
SCHEK, Pamirdialekte, Sitzber. Wiener Akad., 1880, p. 807) may be enHsted as possible
prototypes of Chinese *vat, val; but I do not believe with Tomaschek that this
series bears any relation to Sanskrit pa^a and Idta or Armenian lotik ("mantle").
The latter, in my opinion, is a loan-word from Greek XdiSt^ ("cover, rug"), that
appears in the Periplus (§ 24) and in the Greek Papyri of the first century a.d.
(T. Reil, Beitrage zur Kenntnis des Gewerbes im hellenistischen ^Egypten, p. 118).

^ See, for instance, T*oung Pao, 1914, p. 77, and 1915, p. 8, where the character
in question serves for transcribing Tibetan nag. It further corresponds to nak
in Annamese, Korean, and Japanese, as well as in the transcriptions of Sanskrit
words.

' Steingass, Persian-English Dictionary, p. 1391.

496 Sino-Iranica

Yiian H, Ibn Batuta, Rubruk, Marco Polo, Pegoletti, etc.^ W. Bang
has shown in a very interesting essay^ that also the Codex Cumanicus
contains the term nac (Cumanian), parallel with Persian nagh and Latin
nachus, in the sense of "gold brocades," and that the introitus natorum
et nascitorum of the books of tax-rates of Genoa about 1420 refers to
these textiles, and has nothing to do with the endowment of the new-
born, as had been translated. Bang points out also "ndchi, a kinde
of slight silke wouen stuff e" in Florio, "Queen Anna's New World of
Words" (London, 1611). In mediaeval literature the term naCj nak,
naque, or nachiz occurs as early as the eleventh century, and figures in
an inventory of the Cathedral of Canterbury of the year 13 15.

73. W^M hu-na, *7U-na, a textile product of Persia^ (or W: AB)."* An
ancient Iranian equivalent is not known to me, but must be supposed
to have been *7una or *guna. This word may be related to Sighnan
(Pamir language) ghdun ("coarse sack"), Kashmir gun, Sanskrit gont;^
Anglo-Indian gunny, gunny-hag, trading-name of the coarse sacking
and sacks made from the fibre of the jute.^

74. M Van, *dan, *tan, a textile product of Persia, likewise men-
tioned in the Sui Annals. This is doubtless the Middle-Persian des-
ignation of a textile connected with the root Vtan ("to spin"), of
which several Middle-Persian forms are preserved.^ Compare Avestan
tanva. Middle Persian tanand, Persian tamban, tanando ("spider"),
and, further, Persian tan-basa, tan-bisa ("small carpet, rug"); tantd
("a web"); tdnldan ("to twist, weave, spin").

75. ^ '^$0 sa-ha-la or ® ^^W so-ha-la, of green color, is men-

1 See E. Bretschneider, Notices of the Mediaeval Geography, p. 288, or Me-
diaeval Researches, Vol. II, p. 124; Yule, Cathay, new ed. by Cordier, Vol. Ill,
pp. 155-156, 169; Yule, Marco Polo, Vol. I, pp. 63, 65, 285; W. Heyd, Histoire
du commerce du levant au moyen S,ge, p. 698; and, above all, F.-Michel, Recherches
sur le commerce etc., des 6tofifes de sole, Vol. I, pp. 261-264. A. Houtum-Schindler
(Journal As. Soc. Bengal, Vol. VI, 1910, p. 265) states that nax occurs in a letter of
Ra§id-eddin.

2 Ueber den angeblichen "Introitus natorum et nascitorum" in den Genueser
Steuerbuchem, in Bull, de la Classe des Lettres de I'AcadSmie royale de Belgique,
No. I, 1912, pp. 27-32.

3 Sj^i lu, Ch. 83, p. 7 b.

^ T'ai pHn hwan yu ki, Ch. 185, p. 18 b.

5 W. ToMASCHEK, Pamirdialekte (Sitzber. Wiener Akad., 1880, p. 808) .

8 Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 403.

^Salemann, Grundriss iran. Phil., Vol. I, pt. i, p. 303.

8 This transcription is given in the C'an wu 6i ^ ^ "^ by Wen Cen-hen 35C
^ -^ of the Ming (Ch. 8, p. i b; ed. of Yiie ya fan ts'un ^u). He describes the
material as resembling sheep-wool, as thick as felt, coming from the Western
Regions, and very expensive.

Persian Textiles — ^Woollen Stuffs 497

tioned in the Ming history as having been sent as a present in 1392 from
Samarkand. The Ming Geography, as stated by Bretschneider,^
mentions this stuff as a manufacture of Bengal and So-li, saying that
it is woven from wool and is downy. There is a red and a green kind.
Bretschneider's view, that by sa-ha-la the Persian ia/ is intended, must
be rejected.^ In the Yin yai hn Ian of 141 6, sa-ha-la is enumerated
among the goods shipped from Malacca, being identified by Groene-
VELDT with Malayan saklat or sahalaO Sa-ha-la is further mentioned
for Ormuz and Aden.^

In the Ko ku yao lun ^ "fi H It, written by Ts'ao Cao W 03 in
1387, revised and enlarged in 1459 by Wan Tso S 'fe,^ we meet this
word in the transcription S ( = 85) i$ M sa-hai-la,^ which is said to
come from Tibet H # in pieces three feet in width, woven from wool,
strong and thick like felt, and highly esteemed by Tibetans. Under the
heading p^u-lo ^ iS ( = Tibetan p'rugY it is said in the same work that
this Tibetan woollen stuff resembles sa-hai-la.

Persian sakirldtj sagirldt, has been placed on a par with Chinese
sa-ha-la by T. Watters^ and A. Houtum-Schindler;^ it is not this
Persian word, however, that is at the root of Chinese sa-ha-la, but
saqaldt or saqalldt, also saqaldt, saqalldf ("scarlet cloth"). Dr. E. D,
Ross^° has been so fortunate as to discover in a Chinese-Persian vocabu-
lary of 1 549 the equation : Chinese sa-ha-la = Persian saqalat. This settles
the problem definitely. There is, fiirther, Persian saqldtun or saqldtln,
said to mean "a city in Rum where scarlet cloth is made, scarlet cloth
or dress made from it." The latter name is mentioned as early as
A.D. 1040 and 1 1 50 by Baihaki and Edrisi respectively. ^^ According to
Edrisi, it was a silk product of Almeria in Spain, which is doubtless
meant by the city of ROm. Yaqut tells of its manufacture in Tabriz,

1 Mediaeval Researches, Vol. II, p. 258.

2 Regarding the Chinese transcription of this Persian word, see Rockhill, T*oung
Pao, 19 1 5, p. 459.

3 Notes on the Malay Archipelago, p. 253.

* Rockhill, T'oung Pao, 191 5, pp. 444, 606, 608. It does not follow from the
text, however, that sa-ha-la was a kind of thin veiHng or gauze, as the following
term (or terms) {§ ^ is apparently a matter in itself.

' Ch. 8, p. 4 b (ed. of Si yin hiian ts*un Su).

^ This mode of writing is also given in the C'an wu ti, cited above.

' T'oung Pao, 1914, p. 91.

8 Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 342.

8 Journal As. Soc. Bengal, Vol. VI, 1910, p. 265.

^° Journal As. Soc. Bengal, Vol. IV, 1908, p. 403.

" Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 861.

498 Sino-Iranica

so that the Chinese reference to Samarkand becomes intelligible. The
Chinese reports of sa-ha-la in India, Ormuz, and Aden, however, evi-
dently refer to European broadcloth, as does also Tibetan sag-lad.^

The Ain-i Akbari speaks of sukldt (saqaldt) of Rum (Turkey),
Farangi (Europe), and Purtagali (Portugal); and the Persian word is
now applied to certain woollen stuffs, and particularly to European
broadcloth.

The Persian words sakirldt and saqaldt are not interrelated, as is
shown by two sets of European terms which are traced to the two
Persian types: sakirldt is regarded as the ancestor of "scarlet" (med.
Latin scarlatum, scarlata; Old French escarlate, New French ecarlate,
Middle English scarlat, etc.); saqldtun or siqldtun is made responsible
for Old French siglaton, Provengal sisclaton (twelfth century), English
obs. ciclatoun (as early as 1225), Middle High German cicldt or sigldt.
Whether the alleged derivations from the Persian are correct is a de-
batable point, which cannot be discussed here; the derivation of siglaton
from Greek kvk\6ls (cyclas), due to Du Cange, is still less plausible.*
Dr. Ross (I.e.) holds that "the origin of the word scarlet seems to be
wrapped in mystery, and there seems to be little in favor of the argu-
ment that the word can be traced to Arabic or Persian sources."

76. Toward the close of the reign of Kao Tsun iS ^, better known
as Wen C'en ^ J® (a.d. 452-465) of the Hou Wei dynasty (386-532),
the king of Su-le (Kashgar) sent an emissary to present a garment
(kdsdya) of fakyamuni Buddha, over twenty feet in length. On ex-
amination, Kao Tsufi satisfied himself that it was a Buddha robe. It
proved a miracle, for, in order to get at the real facts, the Emperor
had the cloth put to a test and exposed to a violent fire for a full day, but
it was not consumed by the flames. All spectators were startled and
spell-bound.^ This test has repeatedly been made everywhere with
asbestine cloth, of which many examples are given in my article
"Asbestos and Salamander."^ The Chinese themselves have recog-
nized without difficulty that this Buddha relic of Kashgar was made
of an asbestine material. In the Lu (^'an kun H kH,^ a modern work,

^See Loan-Words in Tibetan, No. 119.

2 Cf. also F.-MiCHEL, Recherches sur le commerce etc., des ^tofiFes de soie,
Vol. I, pp. 233-235. The Greek word in question does not refer to a stuff, but to a
robe (xuKXds, "round, circular," scil., eadr}^, "a woman's garment with a border all
round it "). Cycladatus in Suetonius (Caligula, Lii) denotes a tunic with a rich border.

3 Wei Su, Ch. 102, p. 4 b.

* Toung Pao, 1915, pp. 299-373.

^ Ed. of TsHn lao Van ts'un Su, p. 40 (see above, p. 346). On p. 41 b there is a
notice of fire-proof cloth, consisting of quotations from earlier works, which are
all contained in my article.

Persian Textiles — ^Asbestos 499

which contains a great nimiber of valuable annotations on subject-
matters mentioned in the Annals, the kdsdya of Kashgar is identified
with the fire-proof cloth of the Western Regions and Fu-nan (Camboja) ;
that is, asbestos.

During the K'ai-yuan and T'ien-pao periods (a.d. 713-755), Persia
sent ten embassies to China, offering among other things "embroideries
of fire-hair'^ {hwo mao siu K^l^} Chavannes^ translates this term
*'des broderies en laine couleur de feu." In my opinion, asbestos is
here in question. Thus the term was already conceived by Abel-
R^MUSAT.^ I have shown that asbestos was well known to the Persians
and Arabs, and that the mineral came from Badaxsan.^ An additional

1 Tan Su, Ch. 221 B, p. 7. In the T'afi hui yao (Ch. 100, p. 4) this event is
fixed in the year 750.

2 Documents sur les Tou-kiue, p. 173.

' Nouveaux melanges asiatiques, Vol. I, p. 253. The term hwo pu jK^ ("fire-
cloth") for asbestos appears in the Sun Su (Ch. 97, p. 10). The Chinese notions of
textiles made from an "ice silkworm," possibly connected with Persia (cf. H. Mas-
PERO, Bull, de I'Ecole frangaise, Vol. XV, No. 4, 1915, p. 46), in my opinion, must
be dissociated from asbestos; the Chinese sources (chiefly Wei Ho, Ch. 10, p. 2 b)
say nothing to the effect that this textile was of the nature of asbestos. Maspero's
argumentation {ibid., pp. 43-45) in regard to the alleged asbestos from tree-bark,
which according to him should be a real asbestine stuff, appears to me erroneous.
He thinks that I have been misled by an inexact translation of S. W. Williams.
First, this translation is not by Williams, but, as expressly stated by me (/. c,
p. 372), the question is of a French article of d'Hervey-St.-Denys, translated into
English by Williams. If an error there is (the case is trivial enough), it is not due to
Williams or myself, but solely to the French translator, who merits Maspero's criticism.
Second, Maspero is entirely mistaken in arguing that this translation should have
influenced my interpretation of the text on p. 338. This is out of the question, as all
this was written without knowledge of the article of St.-Denys and Williams, which
became accessible to me only after the completion and printing of the manuscript,
and was therefore relegated to the Addenda inserted in the proofs. Maspero's in-
terpretation leads to no tangible result, in fact, to nothing, as is plainly manifest
from his conclusion that one sort of asbestos should have been a textile, the other a
kind of felt. There is indeed no asbestos felt. How Maspero can deny that Malayan
bark-cloth underlies the Chinese traditions under notice, which refer to Malayan
regions, is not intelligible to me. Nothing can be plainer than the text of the
Liang Annals: "On Volcano Island there are trees which grow in the fire. The
people in the vicinity of the island peel off the bark, and spin and weave it into cloth
hardly a few feet in length. This they work into kerchiefs, which do not differ in
appearance from textiles made of palm and hemp fibres," etc. (pp. 346, 347). What
else is this but bark-cloth? And how could we assume a Malayan asbestine cloth
if asbestos has never been found and wrought anywhere in the Archipelago? I
trust that M. Maspero, for whose scholarship I have profound respect, will pardon
me for not accepting his opinion in this case, and for adhering to my own inter-
pretation. I m^y add here a curious notice from J. A. de Mandelslo's Voyages
into the East Indies (p. 133, London, 1669): "In the Moluccaes there is a certain
wood, which, laid in the fire, burns, sparkles, and flames, yet consumes not, and
yet a man may rub it to powder betwixt his fingers."

* Toung Poo, 1915, pp. 327-328.

500 Sino-Iranica

text to this effect may be noted here. Ibn al-Faqih, who wrote in
A.D. 902, has this account: "In Kirman there is wood that is not btimt
by fire, but comes out undamaged.^ A Christian^ wanted to commit
frauds with such wood by asserting that it was derived from the cross of
the Messiah. Christian folks were thus almost led into temptation. A
theologian, noting this man, brought them a piece of wood from Kir-
man, which was still more impervious to fire than his cross-wood."
According to P. Schwarz,^ to whom we owe the translation of this
passage, the question here is of fossilized forests. Most assuredly, how-
ever, asbestos is understood. The above text of the Wei Su is thus by
far the earliest allusion to asbestos from an Iranian region.

The following notes may serve as additional information to my
former contribution. Cou Mi Ml ^ (1230-13 20), in his Ci ya Van tsa
Z^ao iS Si ^ Hl^, mentions asbestine stuffs twice.^ In one passage
he relates that in his house there was a piece of fire-proof cloth {}iwo
hwan pu) over a foot long, which his maternal grandfather had once
obtained in Ts'uan ^ou M> J'W (Fu-kien Province).^ Visitors to his house
were entertained by the experiment of placing it on the fire of a brazier.
Subsequently Cao Mon-i S Si ^ borrowed it from him, but never
returned it. In the other text he quotes a certain Ho Ts'in-fu H ® ^
to the effect that fire-proof cloth is said to represent the fibres of the
mineral coal of northern China, burnt and woven, but not the hair of
the fire-rodent (salamander). This is accompanied by the comment
that coal cannot be wrought into fibres, but that now pu-hwei-mu
^ K ;^ (a kind of asbestos) is found in Pao-tifi (Ci-li).® A brief notice
of asbestos is inserted in the Ko ku yao lun^ where merely the old fables
are reiterated. Information on the asbestos of Ci-li Province will be

* Qazwini adds to this passage, "even if left in fire for several days."

2 Qazwini speaks in general of charlatans.

3 Iran im Mittelalter, p. 214.

^ Ch. A, p. 20 b; and Ch. b, p. 25 b (ed. of YUe ya Vaft is'urt Iw).

5 This locality renders it almost certain that this specimen belonged to those
imported by the Arabs into China during the middle ages (p. 331 of my article).
The asbestos of Mosul is already mentioned in the Lin wai tai ta (Ch. 3, p. 4).

^ The term pu-hwei-mu ("wood burning without ashes, incombustible wood")
appears as early as the Sung period in the Cen lei pen ts'ao (Ch. 5, p. 35): it comes
from San-tan (south-east portion of San-si and part of Ho-nan), and is now found
in the Tse-lu mountains '^ \^ ^J . It is a kind of stone, of green and white color,
looking like rotten wood, and cannot be consumed by fire. Some call it the root of
soapstone.

7 Ch. 8, p. 4 (ed. of Si yin Man ts'un lu). In Ch. 7, p. 17, there is a notice on
pu-hwei-mu stone, stated to be a product of Tse-6ou and Lu-nan in San-si, and em-
ployed for lamps.

Persian Textiles — ^Asbestos 501

found in the Kifu Vun U^ on asbestos of Se-6'wan in the Se c*wan Vun U}
In the eighteenth century the Chinese noticed asbestos among the
Portuguese of Macao, but the article was rarely to be found in the
market.^ Hanzo Miurakami discusses asbestos (^ Wt, "stone cotton")
as occurring in the proximity of Kin-Sou :^ #H in Sen-kin, Manchuria.'*

In regard to the salamander, Francisque-Michel^ refers to "Tradi-
tions t^ratologiques de Berger de Xivrey" (Paris, Imprimerie royale,
1836, pp. 457, 458, 460, 463) and to an article of Duchalais entitled
"L'ApoUon sauroctone" {Revue archeologiquey Vol. VI, 1850, pp. 87-90);
further to Mahudel in Mimoires de litterature tir^s des registres de
rAcadimie royale des inscriptions et belles-lettres, Vol. IV, pp. 634-647.
Quoting several examples of salamander stuff from mediaeval romances,
Francisque-Michel remarks, "Ces ^toffes en poil de salamandre, qui
vraisemblablement ^taient pass^es des fables des marchands dans celles
des pontes, venaient de loin, comme ceux qui avaient par 1^ beau jeu
pour mentir. On en faisait aussi des manteaux; du moins celui de
dame Jafite, du Roman de Gui le Gallois, en 6tait."

No one interested in this subject should fail to read chapter LII of
book III of Rabelais* Le Gargantua et Le Pantagruel, entitled "Comment
doibt estre prepare et mis en ceuvre le celebre Pantagruelion."

77. The word "drugget," spelled also droggitt, drogatt, druggit (Old French
droguet, Spanish droguete, Italian droghetto) is thus defined in the new Oxford English
Dictionary: "Ulterior origin unknown. Littr6 suggests derivation from drogue
drug as 'a stuff of little value'; some English writers have assumed a derivation
from Drogheda in Ireland, but this is mere wanton conjecture, without any histor-
ical basis. Formerly kind of stuff, all of wool, or mixed of wool and silk or wool and
linen, used for wearing apparel. Now, a coarse woollen stuff for floor-coverings,
table-cloths, etc." The Century Dictionary says, "There is nothing to show a con-
nection with drug."

Our lexicographers have overlooked the fact that the same word occurs also
in Slavic. F. Miklosich^ has indicated a Serbian doroc ("pallii genus") and Magyar
darocz ("a kind of coarse cloth"), but neglected to refer to the well-known Russian
word dorogi or dorogi, which apparently represents the source of the West-European
term. The latter has been dealt with by K. Inostrantsev' in a very interesting

1 Ch. 74, pp. 10 b, 13.

2 Ch. 74, p. 25.

3 Ao-men U Ho, Ch. b, p. 41.

* Journal Geol. Soc. Tokyo, Vol. XXIII, No. 276, 1916, pp. 333-336. The
same journal, Vol. XXV, No. 294, March, 191 8, contains an article on asbestos in
Japan and Korea by K. Okada.

5 Recherches sur le commerce, la fabrication et Tusage des ^toffes de soie, d'or
et d'argent, Vol. II, pp. 90, 462 (Paris, 1854).

' Fremdworter in den slavischen Sprachen, Denk. Wiener Akad., Vol. XV,
1867, p. 84.

' Iz istorii starinnix tkanei, Zapiski of the Russian Arch. Soc, Vol. XIII, 1902,
p. 084.

502 Sino-Iranica

study on the history of some ancient textiles. According to this author, the dorogi
of the Russians were striped silken fabrics, which came from Gilan, Ka§an, KizylbaS,
Tur, and Yas in Persia. Dal' says in his Russian Dictionary that this silk was some-
times interwoven with gold and silver. In 1844 Veltman proposed the identity of
Russian dorogi with the Anglo-French term. Berezin derived it from Persian
darddza ("kaftan"), which is rejected, and justly so, by Inostrantsev. On his part,
he connects the word with Persian ddrdi ("a red silken stuff "),i and invokes a
passage in Veselovski's "Monuments of Diplomatic and Commercial Relations of
Moscovite Rus with Persia," in which the Persian word ddrdi is translated by
Russian dorogi. This work is unfortunately not accessible to me, so I cannot judge
the merits of the translation; but the mere fact of rendering dorogi by ddrdi would
not yet prove the actual derivation of the former from the latter. For philological
reasons this theory seems to me improbable: it is difficult to realize that the Russians
should have made dorogi out of a Persian ddrdi. All European languages have con-
sistently preserved the medial g, and this cannot be explained from ddrdi.
Another prototype therefore, it seems to me, comes into question; and this probably
is Uigur torgu, Jagatai torka, Koibal torga, Mongol torga(n), all with the meaning
"silk. "2 It remains to search for the Turkish dialect which actually transmitted
the word to Slavic.

1 Mentioned, for instance, in the list of silks in the Ain-i Akbari (Blochmann's
translation, Vol. I, p. 94).

« Cf. T*oung Pao, 1916, p. 489.

IRANIAN MINERALS, METALS, AND PRECIOUS STONES

78. ^^ hu-lo, *xu-lak, perhaps also *fu-lak, *fu-rak, a product of
Persia,^ which is unexplained. In my opinion, this word may cor-
respond to a Middle Persian *furak = New Persian hurak, hura, Arme-
nian porag ("borax"). Although I am not positive about this identifica-
tion, I hope that the following notes on borax will be welcome. It is
well known that Persia and Tibet are the two great centres supplying
the world-market with borax. The ancient Chinese were familiar with
this fact, for in the article on Po-se (Persia) the T'ai pHn hwan yU ki^
states that *Hhe soil, has salty lakes, which serve the people as a substi-
tute for salt" (:^ ^ lit M A f^ S B^). Our own word "borax" (therjcis
due to Spanish, now written horraj) comes from Persian, having been
introduced into the Romanic languages about the ninth century by
the Arabs. Russian hurd was directly transmitted from Persia. Like-
wise our "tincal, tincar" (a crude borax found in lake-deposits of
Persia and Tibet) is derived from Persian tinkdr, tankaly^ or tangdr,
Sanskritized tankana, fanka, t<inga, tagara;^ Malayan tingkal; Kirgiz
ddndkdry Osmanli tdngar} Another Persian word that belongs to this
category, ^ora ("nitre, saltpetre "), has been adopted by the Tibetans
in the same form ^o-ra^ although they possess also designations of their
own, ze-ts^wa, ha-ts^wa ("cow's salt"), and ts^a-la. The Persian word is
Sanskritized into soraka, used in India for nitre, saltpetre, or potassium
nitrate.^

79. The relation of Chinese nao-^a ("sal ammoniac, chloride of
sodiimi")^ to Persian nu^ddtr or nau^ddir is rather perspicuous; never-
theless it has been asserted also that the Persian word is derived from

1 Sui Itt, Ch. 83, p. 7 b.

« Ch. 185, p. 19.

' It is not a Tibetan name, as supposed by Roediger and Pott (Z./. K. Morg.,
Vol. IV, p. 268).

* These various attempts at spelling show plainly that the term has the status
of a loan-word, and that the Sanskrit term has nothing to do with the name of the
people who may have supplied the product, the Tkyjavot. in the Himalaya of
Ptolemy (Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 923). How should borax be found in the
Himalaya !

5 Klaproth, M^moires relatifs h. I'Asie, Vol. IH, p. 347.

^ See, further, T'oung Pao, 1914, pp. 88-89.

' D. Hanbury, Science Papers, pp. 217, 276.

503

504 Sino-Iranica

the Chinese. F. de Mejly^ argues that nao-^a is written ideographically,
and that the text of the Pen ts^ao kan mu adds, "II vient de la province
de Chen-si; on le tire d'une montagne d'oti il sort continuellement des
vapeurs rouges et dangereuses et tr^s difficile k aborder par rapport k
ces m^mes vapeurs. II en vient aussi de la Tartaric, on le tire des
plaines oti il y a beaucoup de troupeaux, de la m^me fagon que le
salpetre de houssage; les Tartares et gens d'au del^ de la Chine salent
les viandes avec ce sel." Hence F. de Mely infers that the Persians, on
their part^ borrowed from the Chinese their nao-^a, to which they added
the ending dzer, as in the case of the bezoar styled in Persian hadzeher,^
The case, however, is entirely different. The term nao-Sa is written
phonetically, not ideographically, as shown by the ancient transcription
^ ^ in the Sui Annals (see below) and the variant $ft ^ (properly
nun-^a^ but indicated with the pronunciation nao-^a) f also the syno-
nymes ti yen Wi ^ ("salt of the barbarians") and Pei-Vin :^a ^b H ^
("ore of Pei-t'ifi," in Tiurkistan), which appear as early as the Sung
period in the T^u kin pen ts'ao of Su Sun, allude to the foreign origin of
the product. The term is thus plainly characterized as a foreign loan
in the Pen ts'ao kan mu. This, further, is brought out by the history of
the subject. The word is not found in any ancient Chinese records.
The Chinese learned about nao-^a in Sogdiana and Kuca for the first
time during the sixth century a.d. The Pen ts'ao of the T'ang period is
the earliest pharmacopoeia that mentions it. Su Kufi M #, the reviser
of this work, and the author of theCen lei pen ts^ao, know of but one
place of provenience, the country of the Western Zufi H 3ft (F. de
M%'s "Tartary "). It is only Su Sufi M^oi the Sung period, who
in his T^u kin pen ts^ao remarks, "At present it occurs also in Si-lian
and in the country Hia [Kan-su] as well as in Ho-tufi [San-si], Sen-si,
and in the districts of the adjoining regions" -^ffiJ^X^JlW^
K®i£S^ffl$#^;^ [note the additions of 4^ "at present" and
S^ "also"]. And he hastens to add, "However (^), the pieces coming
from the Western Zun are clear and bright, the largest having the size
of a fist and being from three to five ounces in weight, the smallest

1 L'Alchimie chez les Chinois {Journal asiatique, 1895, II, p. 338) and Lapidaire
chinois, p. Li.

2 All this is rather lack of criticism or poor philology. The Persian word in
question is pdzahr, literally meaning "antidote" (see below, p. 525). Neither this
word nor nu^adir has an ending like dzer, and there is no analogy between the two.

' According to the Pie pen cu ^'J ^ "^, cited in the Cen let pen ts'ao (Ch. 5,
p. 10, ed. of 1587), the transcription nun-sa should represent the pronunciation of
the Hu people; that is, Iranians. Apparently it was an Iranian dialectic variation
with a nasalized vowel u. It is indicated as a synonyme of nao-sa in the Bi yao er
ya of the T'ang period (see Beginnings of Porcelain, p. 115).

IranianIMinerals — Sal Ammoniac 505

reaching the size of a finger and being used for medical purposes."^
It is accordingly the old experience that the Chinese, as soon as they
became acquainted with a foreign product, searched for it on their own
soil, and either discovered it there, or found a convenient substitute.
In this case, Su Sun plainly indicates that^the domestic substitute was
of inferior quality; and there can be no doubt that this was not sal
ammoniac, which is in fact not found in China, but, as has been demon-
strated by D. Hanbury,^ chloride of sodium. As early as the eighteenth
century it was stated by M. Collas^ that no product labelled nao-^a
in Peking had any resemblance to our sal ammoniac.

H. E, Stapleton,^ author of a very interesting study on the employ-
ment of sal ammoniac in ancient chemistry, has hazarded an etymo-
logical speculation as to the term nao-^a. Persian nu^ddur appears to
him to be the Chinese word nau-^a, suffixed by the Persian word ddril
("medicine"),^ and the Sanskrit navasdra would also seem to be simply
the Chinese name in a slightly altered form. H. E. Stapleton is a
chemist, not a philologist; it therefore suffices to say that these specu-
lations, as well as his opinion "that the syllables nau-Sa appear to be
capable of complete analysis into Chinese roots,"^ are impossible.

The Hindustani name can by no means come into question as the
prototype of the Chinese term, as proposed by F. P. Smith^ and T.
Watters;^ for the Chinese transcription was framed as early as the
sixth century a.d., when Hindustani was not yet in existence. The
Hindustani is simply a Persian loan-word of recent date, as is
likewise Neo-Sanskrit naiqadala; while Sanskrit navasdra, navasddara,
or narasdra, the vacillating spelling of which betrays the character
of a loan-word, is traceable to a more ancient Iranian form (see
below).

In the Sui iw' we meet the term in the form ^ W nao-§a, stated to

^ See also Pen ts^ao yen i, Ch. 6, p. 4 b (ed. of Lu Sin-yiian).

2 Science Papers, pp. 217, 276.

' M6moires concemant les Chinois, Vol. XI, 1786, p. 330.

* Sal Ammoniac: a Study in Primitive Chemistry (Memoirs As. Soc. Bengal^
Vol. I, 1905, pp. 40-41).

5 He starts from the popular etymology nwl darU ("life-giving medicine"),
which, of course, is not to be taken seriously.

^ Even if this were the case, it would not tend to prove that the word is of
Chinese origin. As is now known to every one, there is nothing easier to the Chinese
than to transcribe a foreign word and to choose such characters as will convey a
certain meaning.

' Contributions toward the Materia Medica of China, p. 190.

8 Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 350.

9 Ch. 83, pp. 4 b and 5 b.

5o6 Sino-Iranica

be a product of K'afi (Sogdiana) and Kuca.^ The fact that this tran-
scription is identical with fi& we recognize from the parallel passage in
the Pei H,^ where it is thus written. The text of the Sm Annals with
reference to Iranian regions offers several such unusual modes of
writing, where the Pei H has the simple types subsequently adopted as
the standard. The variation of the Sui Annals, at all events, demon-
strates that the question is of reproducing a foreign word; and, since
it hails from Sogdiana, there can be no doubt that it was a word of the
Sogdian language of the type *navsa or *naf sa (cf . Sanskrit navasdra,
Armenian navt\ Greek va<j)da); Persian na^adir, nuSddiry nau^ddir,
nau^ddur, nd^dduTy being a later development. It resulted also
in Russian nu^atyr. In my opinion, the Sogdian word is related
to Persia neft ("naphta"), which may belong to Avestan napta

("moist").'

Tribute-gifts of nao-^a are not infrequently mentioned in the Chinese
Annals. In a.d. 932, Wan Zen-mei i C H, Khan of the Uigur, pre-
sented to the Court among other objects ta-p'en ia (" borax ")^ and sal
ammoniac {kan ^a).^ In a.d. 938 Li Sen- wen ^ ^ 35C, king of Khotan,
offered nao-^a and ta-p*en ia ("borax") to the Court; and in a.d. 959
jade and nao-^a were sent by the Uigur.^ The latter event is recorded
also in the Kiu Wu Tai H,' where the word is written tS ^, pho-
netically kan-^a, but apparently intended only as a graphic variant
for nao-^a.^ The same work ascribes sal ammoniac (written in the same
manner) to the T'u-fan (Tibetans) and the Tafi-hiafi (a Tibetan tribe
in the Kukunor region).® In the T'ang period the substance was well

1 According to Masadi (Barbier de Meynard, Les Prairies d'or, Vol. I, p. 347),
sal-ammoniac mines were situated in Soghd, and were passed by the Moham-
medan merchants travelhng from Khorasan into China. Ku2a still yields sal am-
moniac (A. N. KuROPATKiN, Kashgaria, pp. 27, 35, 76). This fact is also noted in
the Hui k'ian ci (Ch. 2), written about 1772 by two Manchu officials, Fusambd
and Surde, who locate the mine 45 li west of Ku6a in the Sartatsi Mountains, and
mention a red and white variety of sal ammoniac. Cf. also M. Reinaud, Relation
des voyages faits par les Arabes et les Persans dans I'lnde et h. la Chine, Vol. I,

p. CLXIII.

2 Ch. 97, p. 12.

3 Cf. p. Horn, Neupersische Etymologic, No. 1035; H. Hubschmann, Persische
Studien, p. loi, and Armen. Gram., p. 100.

* As I have shown on a former occasion (T'oung Pao, 1914, p. 88), Chinese
p*en (*bun) is a transcription of Tibetan buL

5 Ts'efu yiian kwei, Ch. 972, p. 19.

6 Wu Tai hui yao, Chs. 28, p. 10 b; and Ch. 29, p. 13 b (ed. of Wu yin Hen).

7 Ch. 138, p. 3.

8 The character kan is not listed in K'aA-hi's Dictionary.

9 Ch. 138, pp. I b, 3 a.

Iranian Minerals — Sal Ammoniac 507

known. The Si yao er yd^ gives a number of synonymes of Chinese
origin, as kin tsei # IS, ^V ia # 1?^ ("red gravel"), pai hai tsin Q M
^ (''essence of the white sea").

Sal ammoniac is found in Dimindan in the province of Kirman.
Yaqut (11 79-1 2 29) gives after Ibn al-Faqih (tenth century) a descrip-
tion of how nu^adir is obtained there, which in the translation of C.
Barbier de Meynard^ runs as follows: —

"Cette substance se trouve principalement dans une montagne
nommde Donbawend, dont la hauteur est dvalu^e k 3 farsakhs. Cette
montagne est k 7 farsakhs de la ville de Guwasir. On y voit une caverne
profonde d'oii s'^chappent des mugissements semblables k ceux des
vagues et une fumde ^paisse. Lorsque cette vapeur, qui est le principe
du sel ammoniac, s'est attach^e aux parois de I'orifice, et qu'une certaine
quantity s'est solidifiee, les habitants de la ville et des environs viennent
la recueillir, une fois par mois ou tous les deux mois. Le sulthan y envoie
des agents qui, la r^colte faite, en pr^l^vent le cinqui^me pour le tr^sor;
les habitants se partagent le reste par la voie du sort. Ce sel est celui
qu'on exp6die dans tous les pays."

Ibn Haukal describes the mines of SetruSteh thus:^ **The mines
of sal ammoniac are in the mountains, where there is a certain cavern,
from which a vapor issues, appearing by day like smoke, and by night
like fire. Over the spot whence the vapor issues, they have erected a
house, the doors and windows of which are kept so closely shut and
plastered over with clay that none of the vapor can escape. On the
upper part of this house the copperas rests. When the doors are to be
opened, a swiftly-running man is chosen, who, having his body covered
over with clay, opens the door; takes as much as he can of the copperas,
and runs off; if he should delay, he would be burnt. This vapor comes
forth in different places, from time to time; when it ceases to issue from
one place, they dig in another until it appears, and then they erect that
kind of house over it; if they did not erect this house, the vapor would
burn, or evaporate away."

Taxes are still paid in this district with sal ammoniac. Abu Mansur
sets forth its medicinal properties.'*

^ See Beginnings of Porcelain (this volume, p. 115).

2 Dictionnaire g^ographique de la Perse, p. 235 (Paris, 1861). Ibn al-Faqlh's
text is translated by P. Schwarz (Iran im Mittelalter, p. 252). According to Ibn
Haukal (W. Ouseley, Oriental Geography of Ebn Haukal, p. 233), sal-ammoniac
mines were located in Maweralnahr (Transoxania).

3 W. Ouseley, op. cit., p. 264.

^AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 144. — Abel-R]&musat (Melanges asiatiques,
Vol. I, p. 209, 1825), translating from the Japanese edition of the cyclopaedia San
ts'ai t'u hui, gave the following interesting account: "Le sel nomm6 (en chinois)

5o8 Sino-Iranica

The Tibetans appear to have received sal ammoniac from India, as
shown at least by their term rgya ts'wa ("Indian salt"), literally trans-
lated into Mongol Anatkak dabusu, Mongol Anatkdk is a reproduction
of Chinese *In-duk-kwok (''country of India"). The informants of
M. CoLLAS^ stated that the nao-^a of the Peking shops came from Tibet
or adjacent places. Lockhart received in Peking the information that
it is brought from certain volcanic springs in Se-5'wan and in Tibet.*

80. S? K IB" mi-fo-sen, *m'it(m'ir)-da-safi, and ^&, ^ ^ mu-to-
seriy *mut(mur)-ta-san, litharge, dross of lead, is an exact reproduction
of Persian mirdasang or murddsang of the same meaning.^ Both tran-
scriptions are found in the Pen ts^ao of the T'ang dynasty, written
about the middle of the seventh century.* Therefore we are entitled to
extend the Persian word into the period of Middle Persian. Su Kun,
the reviser of the T'an pen ts^ao, states expressly that both mi-fo and
mu-io are words from the language of the Hu or Iranians (^ "a -&),
and that the substance comes from or is produced in Persia, being in
shape like the teeth of the yellow dragon, but stronger and heavier;
there is also some of white color with veins as in Yun-nan marble. Su
Suri of the Sung period says that then ("at present") it was also found

nao-cha (en persan nouchader) et aussi sel de Tartaric, sel volatil, se tire de deux
montagnes volcaniques de la Tartaric centrale; Tune est le volcan de Tourfan, qui
a donn^ h cette ville (ou pour mieux dire h uqe ville qui est situ^e h trois lieues de
Tourfan, du c6t6 de Test) le nom de Ho-tcheou, ville de feu; I'autre est la montagne
Blanche, dans le pays de Bisch-balildi; ces deux montagnes jettent continuellement
des flammes et de la fum6e. II y a des cavit^s dans lesquelles se ramasse un liquide
verd^tre. Expos6 k I'air, ce liquide se change en un sel, qui est le nao-cha. Les
gens du pays le recueillent pour s'en servir dans la preparation des cuirs. Quant h
la montagne de Tourfan, on en voit continuellement sortir une colonne de fum6e;
cette fum6e est remplac^e le soir par une flamme semblable b. celle d'un flambeau.
Les oiseaux et les autres animaux, qui en sont ^clair^s, paraissent de couleur rouge.
On appelle cette montagne le Mont-de-Feu. Pour aller chercher le nao-cha, on met
des sabots, car des semelles de cuir seraient trop vite briil^es. Les gens du pays
recueillent aussi les eaux-m^res qu'ils font bouillir dans des chaudi^res, et ils en
retirent le sel ammoniac, sous la forme de pains semblables k ceux du sel commun.
Le nao-cha le plus blanc est r^put^ le meilleur; la nature de ce sel est trfes-p^n^trante.
On le tient suspendu dans une poMe au-dessus du feu pour le rendre bien sec; on y
ajoute du gingembre pour le conserver. Expos6 au froid ou h I'humidit^, il tombe en
deliquescence, et se perd." Wan Yen-te, who in a.d. 981 was sent by the Chinese
emperor to the ruler of Kao-5*an, was the first to give an account of the sal-ammoniac
mountain of Turkistan (Bretschneider, Mediaeval Researches, Vol. II, p. 190).
See also F. de M£ly, Lapidaire chinois, p. 140; W. Schott, Zur Uigurenfrage, II,
p. 45 (Abh. Berl. Akad., 1875) and Ueber ein chinesisches Mengwerk {ibid., 1880,
p. 6) ; Geerts, Produits, p. 322.

1 M6moires concernant les Chinois, Vol. XI, p. 331.

2 D. Hanbury, Science Papers, p. 277.

« Cf. HuBSCHMANN, Armcn. Gram., p. 270.

*• Cen lei pen ts*ao, Ch. 4, p. 31; and Pen ts'ao kaH mu, Ch. 8, p. 8 b.

Iranian Minerals — Litharge, Gold 509

in the silver and copper foundries of Kwan-tun and Fu-kien. It is
further mentioned briefly in the Pen ts'ao yen i of 1116/ which maintains
that the kind with a color like gold is the best.

According to Yaqat, mines of antimony, known under the name
razij htharge, lead, and vitriol, were in the environs of Donbawend or
Demawend in the province of Kirman.^ In the Persian pharmacopoeia
of Abu Mansur, the medicinal properties of litharge are described under
the Arabicized name murddsanj , to which he adds the synonymous term
murtak.^ Pegoletti, in the fourteenth century, gives the word with a
popular etymology as morda sangtie.^ The Dictionary of Four Lan-
guages^ correlates Chinese mi-Vo-sen with Tibetan gser-zil (literally,
"gold brightness"),^ Manchu Urcan, and Mongol jildunur?

81. Palladius^ offers a term ^ S ^ tse-mo kin with the meaning
"gold from Persia," no source for it being cited. In the Pen ts'ao kan
mu,^ the tse-mo kin of Po-se (Persia) is given as the first in a series of
five kinds of gold of foreign countries, ^"^ without further explanation.
The term occurs also in Buddhist literature: Chavannes^^ has found it
in the text of a Jataka, where he proposes as hypothetical translation,
"un amas d'or raffing rouge." It therefore seems to be unknown what
the term signifies, although a special kind of gold or an alloy of gold is
apparently intended. The Swi kin ^w >JC M S^^ says that the first
quality of gold, according to Chinese custom, is styled tse-mo kin
(written as above); according to the custom of the barbarians, how-
ever, yan-mai ISI S. From this it would appear that tse-mo is a Chinese
term, not a foreign one.

1 Ch. 5, p. 6 b (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan).

2 Barbier de Meynard, op. cit., p. 237.

' AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 139. This form goes back to Middle Persian
tnurtak or martak.

* Yule, Cathay, new ed., Vol. Ill, p. 167.

5 Ch. 22, p. 71.

5 Jaeschke, in his Tibetan Dictionary, was unable to explain this term.

^ Kovalevski, in his Mongol Dictionary, explains this word wrongly by
"mica."

8 Chinese-Russian Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 203.

9 Ch. 8, p. I b.

^° The four others are, the dark gold of the eastern regions, the red gold of
Lin-yi, the gold of the Si-zun, and the gold of Can-6'en (Camboja). The five kinds
of foreign gold are mentioned as early as the tenth century in the Pao ts'an lun
M. Wt mi'

^1 Fables et contes de I'lnde, in Actes du XIV* Congr^s des Orientalistes,
Vol. I, 1905, p. 103.

12 Ch. 36, p. 18 b (ed. Wu-6'afi, 1877). See p. 622.

5IO Sino-Iranica

The Ko ku yao lun^ has a notice of tse kin ^ ^ (''purple gold")
as follows: ''The ancients say that the pan-lian ^ M money^ is tse
kin. The people of the present time make it by mixing copper with
gold, but our contemporaries have not yet seen genuine tse kin."
The same alloy is mentioned as a product of Ma-k'o-se-li in the
Too i U lio, written in 1349 by Wan Ta-yuan.^ I am not sure, of
course, that this tse kin is identical with tse-mo kin.

In the same manner as the Chinese speak of foreign gold, they also
offer a series of foreign silver. There are four kinds; namely, silver of
Sin-ra (in Korea), silver of Po-se (Persia), silver of Lin-yi, and silver
of Yiin-nan. Both gold and silver are enumerated among the products
of Sasanian Persia. The Hai yao pen ts'ao cites the Nan yiie ci of the
fifth century to the effect that the country Po-se possesses a natural
silver-dust ^ M , employed as a remedy, and that remedies are tested
by means of finger-rings.'* Whether Persia is to be understood here
seems doubtful to me. Gold-dust is especially credited to the country
of the Arabs.^

82. S^ yen-lU ("the green of salt," various compositions with
copper-oxide) is mentioned as a product of Sasanian Persia^ and of
KuCa.^ Su Kufi of the T'ang (seventh centiury) points it out as a product
of Karasar (Yen-^ M ^), found in the water on the lower surface of
stones. Li Sun, who wrote in the second half of the eighth century,
states that "it is produced in the country Po-se (Persia) adhering to
stones, and that the kind imported on ships is called H-lu ^ ^('the
green of the stone ') ; its color is resistant for a long time without chang-
ing; the imitation made in China from copper and vinegar must not
be employed in the pharmacopoeia, nor does it retain its color long."
Li Si-5en employs the term "green salt of Po-se."^ The substance was
employed as a remedy in eye-diseases.

This is Persian zingdr (Arabic zinjar), described in the stone-book
of Pseudo- Aristotle as a stone extracted from copper or brass by means

1 Ch. 6, p. 12 b.

2 See Beginnings of Porcelain, p. 83.

3 RocKHiLL, T'oung Pao, 191 5, p. 622.
* Cen lei pen ts'ao, Ch. 4, p. 23.

^ Ibid., Ch. 4, p. 21 b.

« Sui su, Ch. 83, p. 7 b.

^ Cou Su, Ch. 50, p. 5; Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 5 b.

8 Cf. also Geerts, Produits, p. 634; F. de M£ly, Lapidaire chinois, pp. 134,
243. According to Geerts, the term is applied in Japan to acetate of copper, formerly
imported, but now prepared in the country.

Iranian Minerals — Copper-Oxides, Salt, Zinc 511

of vinegar, and employed as an ingredient in many remedies for eye-
diseases.i

83. The Emperor Yan (a.d. 605-616) of the Sui dynasty, after
his succession to the throne, despatched Tu Hafi-man fil ff ^ to the
Western Countries. He reached the kingdom of Nan ^ (Bukhara),
obtained manicolored salt (wu se yen)j and returned.^ Istaxri relates
that in the district of Darabejird there are mountains of white, yellow,
green, black, and red salts; the salt in other regions originates from the
interior of the earth or from water which forms crystals; this, however,
is salt from mountains which are above the ground. Ibn Haukal adds
that this salt occurs in all possible colors.*

The Pei hu lu^ distinguishes red, purple, black, blue, and yellow
salts. CH yen # ^ ("red salt ") like vermilion, and white salt like jade,
are attributed to Kao-c'afi (Turfan) .^ Black salt Qiei yen) was a product
of the country Ts*ao (Jaguda) north of the Ts'ufi-lifi.^ It is likewise
attributed to southern India.^ These colored salts may have been im-
pure salt or minerals of a different origin.

84. i^ ^ Vou-H is mentioned as a metallic product of Sasanian
Persia (enumerated with gold, silver, copper, pin^ iron, and tin) in the
Sui ^u} It is further cited as a product of Nii kwo, the Women's Realm
south of the Ts*ufi-lin;» of A-lo-yi-lo K ^ ^ ^ in the north of Ud(Ji-
yana,^° and of the Arabs (Ta-si).^^ Hiian Tsafi's Memoirs contain the
term three times, once as a product found in the soil of northern India
(together with gold, silver, copper, and iron), and twice as a material
from which Buddhist statues were made.^^ According to the Kin ^'w

^ J. RusKA, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 182; and Steinbuch des QazwinI,
p. 25.

a Sui Im, Ch. 83, p. 4 b.

» P. ScHWARZ, Iran, p. 95.

^ Ch. 2, p. II (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan).

5 Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 3 b. In the T'ai pHn hwan yu ki (Ch. 180, p. 11 b) the same
products are assigned to Ku-§i ^L BS (Turfan).

« Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 8.

7 rati Su, Ch. 221 A, p. 10 b. ''

? Ch. 83, p. 7 b.

^ T'ai pHn hwan yii ki, Ch. 186, p. 9.

10 Ihid., p. 12 b.

" Ihid., p. 15 b.

^2 Cf. S. JuLiEN, M6moIres sur les contr^es occidentales, Vol. I, pp. 37, 189,
354. JuHen is quite right in translating the term by laiton ("brass"). Palladius
(Chinese-Russian Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 16) explains it as "brass with admixture of
lead, possessing attractive power." The definition of Giles ("rich ore brought
from Persia supposed to be an ore of gold and copper, or bronze") is inexact. T'ow-

512 Sino-Iranica

swi H H ?fll >^ ^ © IB, written in the sixth century, the needles used
by women on the festival of the seventh day of the seventh month^
were made of gold, silver, or Vou-H} Under the T'ang, Vou-H was an
officially adopted alloy, being employed, for instance, for the girdles of
the officials of the eighth and ninth grades.^ It was sent as tribute
from Iranian regions; for instance, in a.d. 718, from Maimargh (north-
west of Samarkand).*

The Ko ku yao lun states, " T^ou-H is the essence of natural copper.
At present zinc-bloom is smelted to make counterfeit fou. According to
Ts*ui Fan -S ^i, one catty of copper and one catty of zinc-bloom wiU
jdeld Vou-H, The genuine Vou is produced in Persia. It looks like gold,
and, when fired, assumes a red color which will never turn black."
This is clearly a description of brass which is mainly composed of copper
and zinc. Li Si-Cen^ identifies Vou-H with the modern term hwan fun
("yellow copper"); that is, brass. According to T*an Ts*ui,^ fou-H is
found in the C'6-li Jp M t*u-se of Yun-nan.

The Chinese accounts of Vou or Vou-H agree with what the Persians
and Arabs report about tutiya. It was in Persia that zinc was first mined,
and utilized for a new copper alloy, brass. Ibn al-Faqlh, who wrote
about A.D. 902, has left a description of the zinc-mines situated in a
mountain Dunbawand in the province of Kirman. The ore was (and
still is) a government monopoly.^ Jawbari, who wrote about 1225, has
described the process of smelting.^ The earliest mention of the term
occurs in the Arabic stone-book of Pseudo- Aristotle (ninth century),®
where the stone tutiya is explained as belonging to the stones found in
mines, with numerous varieties which are white, yellow, and green;

H is only said to resemble gold, and the notion that brass resembles gold turns up in
all Oriental writers. See also Beal, Records of the Western Worid, Vol. I, p. 51;
and Chavannes {T'oung Pao, 1904, p. 34), who likewise accepts the only admissible
interpretation, ' * brass. ' '

1 Cf. W. Grube, Zur Pekinger Volkskunde, p. 76; J. Przyluski, T'oung Pao,
1914, p. 215.

2 P^ei wen yun fu, Ch. 100 a, p. 25.

' Jade, p. 286; cf. also Ta T'an leu tien, Ch. 8, p. 22.

* Chavannes, T'oung Pao, 1904, p. 34.

5 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 8, pp. 3 and 4. Cf. also Geerts, Produits, p. 575.

^ Tien hat yu hen U, Ch. 2, p. 3 b.

^ P. ScHWARZ, Iran im Mittelalter, p. 252.

8 G. Ferrand, Textes relatifs h. I'Extr^me-Orient, p. 610 (cf. also pp. 225, 228;
and Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. I, p. 322).

0 J. RusKA, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 175. J. Beckmann (Beytrage zur
Geschichte der Erfindungen, Vol. Ill, p. 388) states that the word first occurs in
Avicenna of the eleventh century.

Iranian Minerals — ^Zmc 513

the quarries are located on the shores of Hind and Sind. This is prob-
ably intended for vitriol or sulphate of copper.^

In Chinese Vou-H, the second element H ("stone") does not form
part of the transcription; the term means simply ^H'ou stone," and Vou
(*tu) reproduces the first syllable of Persian tutiya^ which, on the basis
of the Sui Annals, we are obliged to assign also to the Middle-Persian
language. To derive the Chinese word from Turkish tuj, as proposed
by Watters,^ and accepted without criticism by Hirth,^ is utterly im-
possible. The alleged Turkish word occurs only in Osmanli and other
modem dialects, where it is plainly a Persian loan-word, but not in
Uigur, as wrongly asserted by Hirth. This theory seems to imply that
the element H should form part of the transcription; this certainly is
out of the question, as ^ represents ancient *sek or *sak, *zak, and
could not reproduce a palatal. For the rest, the Chinese records point
to Iran, not to the Turks, who had no concern whatever with the
whole business."* Two variations of the Persian word have penetrated
into the languages of Europe. The Arabs carried their tutiyd into
Spain, where it appears as atutia with the Arabic article; in Portuguese
we have tutia, in French tutie, in Italian tuzia, in English tuity, A final
palatal occurs in the series Osmanli tuj or tun^, Neo-Greek tovvt^i,
Albanian tu^^ Serbian and Bulgarian tu^, Rumanian tuciu. Whether
Sanskrit tutiha, as has been assumed, is to be connected with the Per-
sian word, remains doubtful to me: the Sanskrit word refers only to
green or blue vitriol.^ It is noteworthy that Persian birinj ("brass"), a
more recent variant of pirin (Kurd pirinjok, Armenian plinj),^ has not
migrated into any foreign language, for I am far from being convinced
that our word "bronze" should be traceable to this type.^

The Japanese pronunciation of ^ 5 is (^ilsekt. The Japanese used

1 A curious error occurs in Feldhaus' Technik (col. 1367), where it is asserted,
"Qazwinl says about 600 that zinc is known in China, and could also be made
flexible there." QazwInI wrote his cyclopaedia in 1134, and says nothing about
zinc in China (cf. Ruska, Steinbuch des Qazwinl, p. 11); but he mentions a tutiyct
mine in Spain (G. Jacob, Studien in arabischen Geographen, p. 13).

^ Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 359.

' Chau Ju-kua, p. 81. T'ou-H does not mean "white copper" in the passage
tmder notice, but means "brass." "White copper" is a Chinese and quite different
alloy (see below, p. 555).

* It is likewise odd to connect Italian iausia (properly taunia) and German
tauschieren with this word. This is just as well as to derive German tusche from
an alleged Chinese fuse (Hirth, Chines. Studien, p. 226).

6 P. C. Ray, History of Hindu Chemistry, 2d ed.. Vol. II, p. 25.

« HuBSCHMANN, Persische Studien, p. 27.

' 0. ScHRADER, Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichte, Vol. II, p. 73.

514 Sino-Iranica

to import the alloy from China, and their HonzO (Pen ts*ao) give for-
mulas for its preparation.^ The Koreans read the same word not or
not-si. The French missionaries explain it as "composition de differents
m^taux qui sert k faire les cuilleres, etc. Airain, cuivre jaune (premiere
qualite). Cuivre rouge et plomb."^

The history of zinc in the East is still somewhat obscure; at least,
it so appears from what the historians of the metal have written about
the subject. I quote from W. R. Ingalls:^ "It is unknown to whom is
due the honor of the isolation of zinc as a metal, but it is probable that
the discovery was first made in the East. In the sixteenth century zinc
was brought to Europe from China and the East Indies under the name
of tutanego (whence the English term tutenegue), and it is likely that
knowledge of it was obtained from that source at an earlier date. . . .
The production of zinc on an industrial scale was first begun in England;
it is said that the method applied was Chinese, having been introduced
by Dr. Isaac Lawson, who went to China expressly to study it. In 1740
John Champion erected works at Bristol and actually began the manu-
facture of spelter, but the production was small, and the greater part
used continued to come from India and China." The fact that in the
eighteenth centtu-y the bulk of zinc which came to Europe was shipped
from India is also emphasized by J. Beckmann,^ who, writing in 1792,
regretted that it was then unknown where, how, and when this metal
was obtained in India, and in what year it had first been brought over
to Europe. According to the few notices of the subject, he continues, it
originates from China, from Bengal, from Malakka, and from Malabar,
whence also copper and brass are obtained. On the other hand, W.
AiNSLiE** states that by far the greater part of zinc which is met with
in India is brought from Cochin-China or China, where both the cala-
mine and blende are common. Again, S. Julien^ informs us that zinc
is not mentioned in ancient books, and appears to have been known in
China only from the beginning of the seventeenth century.

W. HoMMEL^ pleaded for the origin of zinc-production in India,
whence it was obtained by the Chinese. He does not know, of course,
that there is no evidence for such a theory in Chinese sources. The

' Geerts, Produits, p. 641; F. de M:6ly, Lapidaire chinois, p. 42.

2 Dictionnaire cor6en-frangais, p. 291.

' Production and Properties of Zinc, pp. 2-3 (New York and London, 1902).

* Op. ciL, Vol. Ill, p. 408.

5 Materia Indica, Vol. I, p. 573.

^ Industries de I'empire chinois, p. 46.

' Chemiker-Zeitung, 1912, p. 905.

Iranian Minerals — Zinc, Steel 515

Indian hypothesis, I believe, has been accepted by others. In my opin-
ion, the art of zinc-smelting originated neither in India nor in China, but
in Persia. We noted from Ibn al-Faqih that the zinc-mines of Kirman
were wrought in the tenth century; and the early Chinese references to
fou-H would warrant the conclusion that this industry was prominent
under the Sasanians, and goes back at least to the sixth century.

Li Si-cen^ states that the green copper of Persia can be wrought into
mirrors. I have no other information on this metal.

85. -^ or 1^ ^ pin Vie, pin iron, is mentioned as a product of Sa-
sanian Persia,^ also ascribed to Ki-pin (Kashmir).^ Mediaeval authors
like C'afi Te mention it also for India and Hami.^ The Ko ku yao lun^
says that pin Vie is produced by the Western Barbarians (Si Fan), and
that its surface exhibits patterns like the winding lines of a conch or
like sesame-seeds and snow. Swords and other implements made from
this metal are polished by means of gold threads, and then these pat-
terns become visible; the price of this metal exceeds that of silver. This
clearly refers to a steel like that of Damascus, on which fine dark lines
are produced by means of etching acids.^

Li Si-cen^ states that pin Vie is produced by the Western Barbarians
(Si Fan), and cites the Pao ts^an lun Sf IK Ife, by Hien Yuan-§u
W ffi ^ of the tenth century, to the effect that there are five kinds of
iron, one of these being pin Vie^ which is so hard and sharp that it can
cut metal and hard stone. K'afi-hi's Dictionary states that pin is
wrought into sharp swords. Previous investigators have overlooked the
fact that this metal is first mentioned for Sasanian Persia, and have
merely pointed to the late mediaeval mention in the Sung Annals.^

The word pin has not yet been explained. Even the Pan-Turks have
not yet discovered it in Turkish. It is connected with Iranian *spaina,
Pamir languages spin^ Afghan ospnna or dspana, Ossetic afsdn.^ The

^ Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 8, p. 3 b.

2 Cou su, Ch. 50, p. 6; Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 7 b.

^ T*ai p'in hwan yii ki, Ch. 182, p. 12 b.

* Bretschneider, Mediaeval Researches, Vol. I, p. 146; Kwari yii ki, Ch. 24,
p. 5 b.

5 Ch. 6, p. 14 b (ed. of Si yin Man ts^un Su).

' A reference to pin Vie occurs also in the San ku sin hwa [Ij ® Sf IS* written
by Yan Yu ^ J^ in 1360 (p. 19, ed. of ^i pu tsu tai ts'un su).

' Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 8, p. 11 b.

8 Bretschneider, On the Knowledge possessed by the Chinese of the Arabs,
p. 12, and China Review, Vol. V, p. 21; W. F. Mayers, China Review, Vol. IV,
p. 175.

" HuBSCHMANN, Pcrsische Studien, p. 10.

5i6 * Sino-Iranica

character pin has been formed ad hoc, and, as already remarked by-
Mayers, is written also without the classifier; that is, in a purely pho-
netic way.

86. M^ se-se, *sit-sit (Japanese Htsu-Htsu), hypothetical restora-
tion *sirsir, a precious stone of Sasanian Persia, which I have discussed
at some length in my "Notes on Turquois in the East" (pp. 25-35,
45-55, 67-68). For this reason only a brief summary is here given, with
some additional information and corrections. I no longer believe that
se-se might be connected with Shignan (p. 47) or Arabic jaza (p. 52), but
am now convinced that se-se represents the transcription of an Iranian
(most probably Sogdian) word, the original of which, however, has not
yet been traced. Chinese records leave us in the dark as to the character
of the Iranian se-se. It is simply enumerated in a list of precious stones
of Persia and Sogdiana (K'afi).^ The T'ang Annals locate the se-se mines
to the south-east of the Yaxartes in Sogdiana j^ and the stones were
traded to China by way of Khotan.^ Possibly the Nestorians were
active in bringing to China these stones which were utilized for the
decoration of their churches. The same history ascribes columns of
se-se to the palaces of Fu-lin (Syria) f in this case the question is of a
building-stone. In ancient Tibet, se-se formed part of the official costume,
being worn by officials of the highest rank in strings suspended from
the shoulder. The materials ranking next to this stone were gold,
plated silver, silver, and copper,*^ — a clear index of the fact that se-se
was regarded in Tibet as a precious stone of great value, and surpassing
gold. The Tibetan women used to wear beads of this stone in their
tresses, and a single bead is said to have represented the equivalent of
a noble horse. ^ Hence arose the term ma kia ^w ^ ffl % ("pearl or bead
equalling a horse in price"). These beads are treated in the Ko ku yao
lun' as a separate item, and distinct from turquois.^

In the T'ang period, se-se stones were also used as ornaments by the

1 Pei U, Ch. 97, pp. 7 b, 12; Cou lu, Ch. 50, p. 6; Sui Su, Ch. 83, p. 7 b; Wei Su,
Ch. 102, pp. 5 a, 9 b.

2 T'an Su, Ch. 221 B, p. 2 b.
' Van Su, Ch. 221 A, p. 10 b.

* Kiu T'an ^w, Ch. 198, p. 11 b; T'a^ Jw, Ch. 221 b, p. 7 b.
" Van su, Ch. 216 A, p. i b (not in Kiu Van l«).
« Sin Wu Tai H, Ch. 74, p. 4 b.
7Ch. 6, p. 5 b.

8 As justly said by Geerts (Produits de la nature japonaise et chinoise, p. 481),
it is possible that ma kia lu (Japanese baka^u) is merely a synonyme of the emerald.
Also in the Pen ts'ao kan mu (Ch. 8, p. 17 b) a distinction is made between the two
articles, tien-tse J£ ^ being characterized as pij^, ma kia tu as ts'ui ^.

Iranian Precious Stones — Se-se 517

women of the Nan Man (the aboriginal tribes of southern China), being
fastened in their hair;^ and were known in the kingdom of Nan-cao.^
Likewise the women of Wei-2ou M M in Se-c'wan wore strung se-se
in their hair.^ Further, we hear at the same time of se-se utiHzed by the
Chinese and even mined in Chinese soil. In some cases it seems that
a building-stone is involved; in others it appears as a transparent
precious stone, strung and used for curtains and screens, highly valued,
and on a par with genuine pearls and precious metals.^ Under the year
786, the T'ang Annals state, "The Kwan-6'a-si Sl^ffi^ of San-cou
K ffl (in Ho-nan), Li Pi $ ® by name, reported to the throne that the
foundries of Mount Lu-si M. ft produce se-se, and requested that it
should be prohibited to accept these stones in the place of taxes; where-
upon the Emperor (Te Tsufi) replied, that, if there are se-se not pro-
duced by the soil, they should be turned over to the people, who are
permitted to gather them for themselves." The question seems to be
in this text of a by-product of metallic origin; and this agrees with what
Kao Se-sun remarks in his Wei lio, that the se-se of his time (Sung period)
were made of molten stone.

1 have given two examples of the employment of se-se in objects of
art from the K^ao ku Vu and Ku yii Vu p*u (p. 31). Meanwhile I have
found two instances of the use of the word se-se in the Po ku Vu lu,
pubHshed by Wan Fu in 11 07-11. In one passage of this work,^ the
patina of a tin iffi, attributed to the Cou period, is compared with the
color of se-se: since patinas occur in green, blue, and many other hues,
this does not afford conclusive evidence as to the color of se-se. In
another case^ a small tin dated in the Han period is described as being
decorated with inlaid gold and silver, and decorated with the seven
jewels (saptaratna) and se-se of very brilliant appearance. This is
striking, as se-se are not known to be on record under the Han, but first
appear in the accounts of Sasanian Persia: either the bronze vessel in
question was not of the Han, but of the T'ang; or, if it was of the Han,
the stone thus diagnosed by the Sung author cannot have been identical
with what was known by this name under the T'ang. I already had
occasion to state (p. 33) that the Sung writers knew no longer what the

' Paw su, Ch. 222 A, p. 2.

2 Man su, p. 48.

' T*ai pHn hwan yii hi, Ch. 78, p. 9 b.

* Min hwan tsa lu, Ch. B, p. 4; Wei Ho, Ch. 5, p. 3; Tu yaH tsa pien, Ch. A, pp. 3,
8; Ch. c, pp. 5, 9 b, 14 b.

^ Official designation of a Tao-t'ai.

6 Ch. 3, p. 15 b.

7 Ch. 5, p. 46 b.

5i8 Sino-Iranica

se-se of the T*ang really were, that the T*ang se-se were apparently
lost in the age of the Sung, and that substitutes merely designated by
that name were then in vogue.

Under the Yuan or Mongol dynasty the word se-se was revived.
C'ari Te, the envoy who visited Bagdad in 1259, reported se-se among
the precious stones of the Caliph, together with pearls, lapis lazuli, and
diamonds. A stone of small or no value, found in Kin-cou (in Sen-kin,
Manchuria), was styled se-se ;'^ and under the reign of the Emperor
C*efi-tsun (i 295-1307) we hear that two thousand five hundred catties
of se-se were palmed off on officials in lieu of cash payraents, a practice
which was soon stopped by imperial command.^ Under the Ming, se-se
was merely a word vaguely conveying the notion of a precious stone of
the past, and transferred to artifacts like beads of colored glass or
clay.^

The Chinese notices of se-se form a striking analogy to the accounts
of the ancients regarding the emerald (smaragdos), which on the one
hand is described as a precious stone, chiefly used for rings, on the
other hand as a building-stone. Theophrastus^ states, "The emerald
is good for the eyes, and is worn as a ring-stone to be looked at. It is
rare, however, and not large. Yet it is said in the histories of the
Egyptian kings that a Babylonian king once sent as a gift an emerald
of four cubits in length and three cubits in width ; there is in the temple
of Jupiter an obelisk composed of four emeralds, forty cubits high, four
cubits wide, and two cubits thick. The false emerald occurs in well-
known places, particularly in the copper-mines of Cyprus, where it
fills lodes crossing one another in many ways, but only seldom is it
large enough for rings." H. O. Lenz^ is inclined to understand by the
latter kind malachite. Perhaps the se-se of Iran and Tibet was the
emerald; the se-se used for pillars in Fu-lin, malachite. No Chinese
definition of what se-se was has as yet come to light, and we have to
await further information before venturing exact and positive identifi-
cations.

In Buddhist literature the emerald appears in the transcription
mo-lo-k'ie-Vo 0 M^ IS,^ corresponding to Sanskrit marakata. In the
transcription S& /}C M cu-mu-la^ in the seventeenth century written
JiH. # ^ isu-mu-lu, the emerald appears to be first mentioned in the

1 Yiian H, Ch. 24, p. 2 b.

^ Ibid., Ch. 21, p. 7 b.

' Cf. Notes on Turquois, p. 34.

* De lapidibus, 42.

5 Mineralogie der Griechen uiid R6mer, p. 20.

•* Fan yi min yi tsi, Ch. 8, p. 14 b.

Iranian Precious Stones— Emerald, Turquois 519

Co ken lu, written in 1366.^ The Dictionary in Four Languages^ writes
this word tsie-mu-lu S3. 1^ ^. This is a transcription of Persian
zumurrud.

The word itself is of Semitic origin. In Assyrian it has been traced
in the form barraktu in a Babylonian text dated in the thirty-fifth year
of Artaxerxes I (464-424 b.c.).^ In Hebrew it is bdreket or bdrkat, in
Syriac borko, in Arabic zummurud, in Armenian zemruxt; in Russian
izumrud. The Greek maragdos or smaragdos is borrowed from Semitic;
and Sanskrit marakata is derived from Greek, Tibetan mar-gad from
Sanskrit.^ The Arabic-Persian zummurud appears to be based directly
on the Greek form with initial sibilant.

87. In regard to turquois I shall be brief. The Persian turquois,
both 'that of Ni§apur and Kirman, is first mentioned under the name
tien-tse "fej ? in the Co ken lu of 1366. This does not mean that the
Chinese were not acquainted with the Persian turquois at a somewhat
earlier date. It is even possible that the Kitan were already acquainted
with turquois.^ I do not believe that pi-lu S S^ represents a transcrip-
tion of Persian yjrw0a ("turquois"), as proposed by Watters^ without
indicating any source for the alleged Chinese word, which, if it exists,
may be restricted to the modem colloquial language. I have not yet
traced it in literature.^ As early as 1290 turquoises were mined in Hui-
6'wan, Yun-nan.^ The Geography of the Ming dynasty indicates a
turquois-mine in Nan-nifi ^ou ^ ^ :W in the prefecture of Yun-nan,

^ Ch. 7, p. 5 b; Wu li siao H, Ch. 7, p. 14. The author of this work cites the
writing of the Yuan work as the correct one, adding tsu-mu-lii, which he says is at
present in vogue, as an erroneous form. It is due to an adjustment suggested by-
popular etymology, the character lii ("green") referring to the green color of the
stone, whose common designation is lii pao sij^f^^ ("green precious stone");
see Geerts, Produits, p. 481.

2 Ch. 22, p. 66.

3 C. FossEY, Etudes assyriennes {Journal asiatique, 1917, I, p. 473).

* Cf. Notes on Turquois, p. 55; T'oung Pao, 1916, p. 465. Muss-Arnolt
{Transactions Am. Phil. Assoc, Vol. XXIII, 1892, p. 139) states erroneously that
both the Greek and the Semitic words are independently derived from Sanskrit.
In the attempt to trace the history of loan-words it is first of all necessary to ascer-
tain the history of the objects.

^ As intimated by me in American Anthropologist, 19 16, p. 589. Tien-tse as the
product of Pan-ta-li are mentioned in the Tao i ci Ho, written in 1349 by Wan Ta-
yuan (Rockhill, T'oung Pao, 191 5, p. 464).

^ Essays on the Chinese Language, p. 352.

^ In the Pen ts'ao kan mu (Ch. 8, p. 17 b) is mentioned a stone pHao pi lii ^
^ M» explained as a precious stone (pao H) of pi ^ color. This is possibly the
foundation of Watters' statement.

8 Yiian si, Ch. 16, p. 10 b. See, further, Notes on Turquois, pp. 58-59.

520 . Sino-Iranica

Yun-nan Province.^ In this text, the term pi fien-tse § ■^R ? is em-
ployed. T'an Ts'ui^ says that turquoises {pi Vien) are produced in the
Mofi-yafi t'u-se :^ # ih "3 of Yiin-nan. In the Hin-nan fu ci R ^
M iS,^ the gazetteer of the prefecture of Hifi-fian in southern Sen-si,
it is said that pi Vien (written i%) were formerly a product of this lo-
cality, and mined under the T'ang and Sung, the mines being closed in
the beginning of the Ming. This notice is suspicious, as we hear of
pi-tien or tien-tse neither under the T'ang nor the Sung; the term comes
into existence under the Yiian.^

88. :^ 1^ kin tsin ("essence of gold") appears to have been the term
for lapis lazuli during the T'ang period. The stone came from the
famous mines of Badaxsan.^

At the time of the Yuan or Mongol dynasty a new word for lapis
lazuli springs up in the form lan-cH 10 #. The Chinese traveller C'an
Te, who was despatched in 1259 as envoy by the Mongol Emperor
Mangu to his brother Hulagu, King of Persia, and whose diary, the
Si H kiy was edited by Liu Yu in 1263, reports that a stone of that name
is found. on the rocks of the moimtains in the south-western countries
of Persia. The word lan-^H is written with two characters meaning
"orchid" and "red," which yields no sense; and Bretschneider^ is
therefore right in concluding that the two elements represent the tran-
scription of a foreign name. He is inclined to think that "it is the same
as landshiwer, the Arabic name for lapis lazuli." In New Persian it is
Idhard or Idjvard (Arabic Idzvard), Another Arabic word is Imej, by
which the cyanos of Dioscorides is translated.^ An Arabic form lanjiver
is not known to me.

"There is also in the same country [Badashan] another mountain,
in which azure is found; 'tis the finest in the world, and is got in a vein
like silver. There are also other mountains which contain a great
amount of silver ore, so that the country is a very rich one." Thus runs

1 Ta Min i Vun ci, Ch. 86, p. 8.

2 Tien hai yii hefi Si, 1799, Ch. i, p. 6 b (ed. of Wen yin lou yii ti ts'un Su). See
above, p. 228. T'u-se are districts under a native chieftain, who himself is subject to
Chinese authority.

3 Ch. II, p. II b (ed. of 1788).

* The turquois has not been recognized in a text of the Wei si wen kien ki of
1769 by G. S0UL16 {Bull, de I'Ecole frangaise. Vol. VIII, p. 372), where the question
is of coral and turquois used by the Ku-tsun (a Tibetan tribe) women as ornaments;
instead of yiian-song, as there transcribed, read lii sun si ^ ^ ^.

5 Chavannes, Documents sur les Tou-kiue, p. 159; and T'oung Pao, 1904,
p. 66.

8 Chinese Recorder, Vol. VI, p. 16; or Mediaeval Researches, Vol. I, p. 151.

7 Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. Ill, p. 254.

Iranian Precious Stones — Lapis Lazuli 521

Marco Polo's account.^ Yule comments as follows: "The mines of
Ldjwurd (whence I'Azur and Lazuli) have been, like the ruby mines,
celebrated for ages. They lie in the upper valley of the Kokcha, called
Koran, within the tract called Yamgan, of which the popular etymology
is Hamah-Kan, or 'All-Mines,' and were visited by Wood in 1838.2
The produce now is said to be of very inferior quality, and in quantity
from thirty to sixty pud (thirty-six lbs. each) annually. The best
quality sells at Bokhara at thirty to sixty tillas, or 12 /. to 24 Z. the pud
(Manphdl)."^ In the Dictionary of Four Languages,^ lapis lazuli is
styled tsHn kin H ff :^ ^; in Tibetan mu-mefij Mongol and Manchu
nomtn.

The diamond is likewise attributed by the Chinese to Sasanian
Persia, and I have formerly shown that several Iranian tribes were
acquainted with this precious stone in the beginning of our era.^ Dia-
mond-points were imported from Persia into China under the T'ang
dynasty.^

89. The first mention of amber in Chinese records is the reference
to amber in Ki-pin (Kashmir) .^ Then we receive notice of the occurrence
of amber in Ta Ts'in (the Hellenistic Orient)^ and in Sasanian Persia.^
The correctness of the latter account is confirmed by the Bundahi§n, in
which the Pahlavi term for amber, kahrupdl, is transmitted. ^° This word
corresponds to New Persian kdhrubd, a compound formed with kdh
("straw") and rubd ("to lift, to attract ")«^^ The Arabs derived their
kahrubd (first in Ibn el- Abbas) from the Persians; and between the

1 Yule's edition, Vol. I, p. 157.

2 This refers to Wood, Journey to the Oxus, p. 263.
' See, further, M. Bauer, Precious Stones, p. 442.

4 Ch. 22, p. 65.

5 The Diamond, p. 53.

6 Ta Tan leu Hen, Ch. 22, p. 8.
'' TsHen Han Su, Ch. 96 A, p. 5.

8 In the Wei Ho and Hou Han su (of. Chavannes, T'oung Pao, 1907, p. 182).

9 Nan H, Ch. 79, p. 8; Wei Su, Ch. 102, p. 5 a; Sui Im, Ch. 83, p. 7 b. The Sui
Su has altered the name hu-p'o into Sou-p'o Wi W* i^ order to observe the tabu
of the name Hu in Li Hu ^ ^, the father of the founder of the T'ang dynasty.
Amber (also coral and silver) is attributed to Mount Ni J1S jll in the country Fu-lu-ni
'K S JS to the north of Persia, also to the country Hu-se-mi I^ f£[ ^ (Wei l«,
Ch. 102, p. 6 b).

10 West, Pahlavi Texts, Vol. I, p. 273.

" Analogies occur in all languages: Chinese U-kiai fp' ^f ("attracting mustard-
seeds"); Sanskrit irinagrdhin ("attracting straw"); Tibetan shur len or shur Ion,
of the same meaning : French (obsolete) Hre-paille. Another Persian word for amber
is sahbari.

522 Sino-Iranica

ninth and the tenth century, the word penetrated from the Arabic into
Syriac.^ In Armenian it is kahribd and kahribar. The same word
migrated westward: Spanish carabe, Portuguese carabe or charabe,
Italian carabe ^ French carabe; Byzantine Kepa^l] Cumanian charabar.
Under the Ming, amber is Hsted as a product of Herat, Khotan, and
Samarkand.^ A peculiar variety styled "gold amber" (kin p'o ^ ffi)
is assigned to Arabia (T'ien-fafi).^

The question arises, From what sources did the Persians derive their
amber? G. Jacob ,^ from a study of Arabic sources, has reached the
conclusion that the Arabs obtained amber from the Baltic. The great
importance of Baltic amber in the history of trade is well known, but,
in my estimation, has been somewhat exaggerated by the specialists,
whereas the fact is easily overlooked that amber is found in many parts
of the world. I do not deny that a great deal of amber secured by the
Arabs may be credited to the Baltic sources of supply, but I fail to see
that this theory (for it is no more) follows directly from the data of
Arabic writers. These refer merely to the countries of the Rus and Bul-
gar as the places of provenience, but who will guarantee that the amber
of the Russians hailed exclusively from the Baltic? We know surely
enough that amber occiurs in southern Russia and in Rumania. Again,
Ibn al-Baitar knows nothing about Rus and Bulgar in this connection,
but, with reference to al-Jafiki, speaks of two kinds of amber, one
coming from Greece and the Orient, the other being found on the littoral
and underground in the western portion of Spain.^ Pliny informs us
that, according to Philemon, amber is a fossil substance, and that
it is found in Scythia in two localities, one white and of waxen color,
styled electrum; while in the other place it is red, and is called suali-
ternicum.^ This Scythian or South-Russian amber may have been traded
by the Iranian Scythians to Iran. In order to settle definitely the
question of the provenience of ancient Persian and Arabic amber, it
would be necessary, first of all, to obtain a certain number of authentic,
ancient Persian and Arabic ambers, and to subject them to a chemical
analysis. We know also that several ancient amber supplies were

1 Cf. E. Seidel, Mechithar, p. 146; and G. Jacob, ZDMG, Vol. XLIII, 1889,
p. 359-

2 Ta Min i t'un U, Ch. 89, pp. 23, 24 b, 25 (ed. of 1461).
^ lUd., Ch. 91, p. 20.

^ L. c, and Arabische Handelsartikel, p. 63.

5 Leclerc, Trait6 des simples, Vol. Ill, p. 209.

^ Philemon fossile esse et in Scythia erui duobus locis, candidum atque cerei
coloris quod vocaretur electrum, in alio fulvum quod appellaretur sualiternicum
(xxxvn, II, § 33).

Iranian Minerals — ^Amber 523

exhausted long ago. Thus Pliny and the ancient Chinese agree on the
fact that amber was a product of India, while no amber-mines are
known there at present.^ Amber was formerly found in the
district of Yufi-c'an in Yiin-nan, and even on the sacred Hwa-san in
Sen-si.^

G. Jacob^ has called attention to the fact that the supposition of a
derivation of the Chinese word from Pahlavi kahrupdl is confronted
with unsurmountable difficulties of a chronological character. The
phonetic difficulties are still more aggravating; for Chinese hu-p^o % ffl
was anciently *gu-bak, and any alleged resemblance between the two
words vanishes. Still less can Greek harpax^ come into question as the
foundation of the Chinese word, which, in my opinion, comes from an
ancient San or T'ai language of Yun-nan, whence the Chinese received
a kind of amber as early at least as the first century a.d. Of the same
origin, I am inclined to think, is the word tun-mou ® ^ for amber,
first and exclusively used by the philosopher Wan C'ufi.^

Uigur kubik is not the original of the Chinese word, as assumed by
Klaproth; but the Uigur, on the contrary (like Korean xobag), is a
transcription of the Chinese word. Mongol xuba and Manchu xdba
are likewise so, except that these forms were borrowed at a later period,
when the final consonant of Chinese bak or bek was silent.^

90. Coral is a substance of animal origin; but, as it has always been
conceived in the Orient as a precious stone,^ a brief notice of it, as far
as Sino-Persian relations are concerned, may be added here. The

1 Cf. Ts'ien Han Su, Ch. 96 a, p. 5 (amber of Kashmir); Nan H, Ch. 78, p. 7.

2 Cf. Hwa yoH^W^ jg. Ch. 3, p. i (ed. of 1831).

3 L. c, p. 355.

* Proposed by Hirth, China and the Roman Orient, p. 245. This was merely
a local Syriac name, derived from Greek ApTrdfoj (In Syria quoque feminas verticillos
inde facere et vocare harpaga, quia folia paleasque et vestium fimbrias rapiat. —
Pliny, XXXVII, 11, § 37).

5 Cf. A. FoRKE, Lun-heng, pt. II, p. 350. This is not the place for a discussion
of this problem, which I have taken up in a study entitled "Ancient Remains from
the Languages of the Nan Man."

^ For further information on amber, the reader may be referred to my Historical
Jottings on Amber in Asia {Memoirs Am. Anthr. Assoc, Vol. I, pt. 3). I hope to come
back to this subject in greater detail in the course of my Sino-Hellenistic studies,
where it will be shown that the Chinese tradition regarding the origin and properties
of amber is largely influenced by the theories of the ancients.

^ The proof of the animal character of coral is a recent achievement of our
science. Peyssonel was the first to demonstrate in 1727 that the alleged coral-
flowers are real animals; Pallas then described the coral as Isis nohilis; and Lamarck
formed a special genus under the name Cor allium rubrum (cf. Lacaze-Duthiers,
Histoire naturelle du corail, Paris, 1864; Guibourt, Histoire naturelle des drogues,
Vol. IV, p. 378). The common notion in Asia was that coral is a marine tree.

524 Sino-Iranica

Chinese learned of the genuine coral through their intercourse with
the Hellenistic Orient: as we are informed by the Wei lio and the Han
Annals,^ Ta Ts'in produced coral; and the substance was so common,
that the inhabitants used it for making the king-posts of their habita-
tions. The T'ang Annals^ then describe how the marine product is fished
in the coral islands by men seated in large craft and using nets of iron
wire. When the corals begin to grow on the rocks, they are white like
mushrooms; after a year they turn yellow, and when three years have
elapsed, they change into red. Their branches then begin to intertwine,
and grow to a height of three or four feet.^ Hirth may be right in
supposing that this fishing took place in the Red Sea, and that the
"Coral Sea" of the Nestorian inscription and the "sea producing
corals and genuine pearls'' of the Wei lio are apparently identical with
the latter.^ But it may have been the Persian Gulf as well, or even the
Mediterranean. Pliny^ is not very enthusiastic about the Red-Sea
coral; and the Periplus speaks of the importation of coral into India,
which W. H. ScHOFF® seems to me to identify correctly with the Medi-
terranean coral. Moreover, the Chinese themselves correlate the above
account of coral-fishing with Persia, for the Yi wu ^z S ^ Jfe is cited
in the Cen lei pen ts'ao"^ as saying that coral is produced in Persia, being
considered by the people there as their most precious jewel; and the
Pen ts'ao yen i speaks of a coral-island in the sea of Persia,^ going on to
tell the same story regarding coral-fishing as the T'ang Annals with
reference to Fu-lin (Syria). Su Kuri of the T'ang states that coral grows
in the Southern Sea, but likewise comes from Persia and Ceylon, the
latter statement being repeated by the T^u kin pen ts*ao of the Sung.
It is interesting that the Pen ts'ao of the T'ang insists on the holes in
coral, a characteristic which in the Orient is still regarded (and justly
so) as a mark of authenticity. Under the T'ang, coral was first intro-
duced into the materia medica. In the Annals, coral is ascribed to

1 Hirth, China and the Roman Orient, pp. 41, 73.

2 Ibid., p. 44.
» Ibid., p. 59.

* Ibid., p. 246.

sxxxn, II.

8 The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, p. 128.

' ch. 4, p. 37.

8 Ch. 5, p. 7 (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan). The coral island where the coral-tree grows
is also mentioned by an Arabic author, who wrote about a.d. iooo (G. Ferrand,
Textes relatifs a I'Extr^me-Orient, Vol. I, p. 147). See, further, E. Wiedemann,
Zur Mineralogie im Islam, p. 244.

Iranian Minerals — Coral, Bezoar 525

Sasanian Persia;^ and it is stated in the T'ang Annals that Persia pro-
duces coral not higher than three feet.^ There is no doubt that Persian
corals have found their way all over Asia; and many of them may still
be preserved by Tibetans, who prize above all coral, amber, and tur-
quois. The coral encountered by the Chinese in Ki-pin (Kashmir)^
may also have been of Persian origin. Unfortunately we have no
information on the subject from ancient Iranian sources, nor do we
know an ancient Iranian name for coral. Solinus informs us that
Zoroaster attributed to coral a certain power and salubrious effects;^
and what Pliny says about coral endowed with sacred properties and
being a preservative against all dangers, sounds very much like an
idea emanating from Persia. Persian infants still wear a piece of coral
on the abdomen as a talisman to ward off harm;^ and, according to
Pliny, this was the practice at his time, only that the branches of coral
were hung at the infant's neck.

The Chinese word for coral, M M San-hUy *san-gu (Japanese
san-go), possibly is of foreign origin, but possibly it is not.° For the
present there is no word in any West-Asiatic or Iranian language with
which it could be correlated. In Hebrew it is ra 'mof, which the Seventy
transcribes pafiod or translates fieTecji)pa. The common word in New
Persian is marjdn (hence Russian mar^an); other designations are
birbdl, xuruhak or xurohak, bussad or hissad (Arabic hessed or bussad).
In Armenian it is bust J

91. The identification of Chinese ^ ^ p*o-so (*bwa-sa) with Persian
pdzahr or pddxahr^ ("bezoar," literally, 'antidote"), first proposed by
HiRTH,^ in my opinion, is not tenable, although it has been indorsed

^ Cou 3?M, Ch. 50, p. 6; Sui l«, Ch. 83, p. 7 b; regarding coral in Fu-lu-ni, see
above, p. 521 , note 9.

2 T'an Su, Ch. 221 B, p. 6 b. The Liafi Su (Ch. 54, p. 14 b) attributes to Persia
coral-trees one or two feet high.

' Ts'ien Han ^w, Ch. 96 a, p. 5. This passage (not Hou Han Iw, Ch. 1 18, as stated
by HiRTH, Chau Ju-kua, p. 226, after Bretschneider) contains the earliest mention
of the word San-hu,

* Habet enim, ut Zoroastres ait, materia haec quandam potestatem, ac propterea
quidquid inde sit, ducitur inter salutaria (11, 39, § 42).

5 ScHLiMMER, Terminologie, p. 166.

^ According to Bretschneider {Chinese Recorder, Vol. VI, p. 16), "it seems not
to be a Chinese name."

7 Cf . Patkanov, The Precious Stones according to the Notions of the Armenians
(in Russian), p. 52.

8 Pazand padazahar (see Hubschmann, Persische Studien, p. 193). Steingass
gives also pdnzahr. The derivation from bad "wind" (H. Fuhner, Janus, Vol. VI,
1901, p. 317) is not correct.

^ Lander des Islam, p. 45.

526 Sino-Iranica

by Pelliot.i Pelliot, however, noticed well that what the Chinese
describe as p'o-so or mo-so # ^ is not bezoar, and that the tran-
scription is anomalous.^ This being the case, it is preferable to reject
the identification, and there are other weighty reasons prompting us
to do so. There is no Chinese account that tells us that Persia had
bezoars or traded bezoars to China. The Chinese were (and are) well
acquainted with the bezoar^ (I gathered several in China myself), and
bezoars are easy to determine. Now, if p^o-so or mo-so were to repre-
sent Persian pdzahr and a Persian bezoar, the Chinese would not for
a moment fail to inform us that p^o-so is the Pose niu-hwan or Persian
bezoar; but they say nothing to this effect. On the contrary, the texts
cited under this heading in the Pen ts*ao kan mu^ do not make any
mention of Persia, but agree in pointing to the Malay Archipelago as
the provenience of the p'o-so stone. Ma Ci of the Sung assigns it to
the Southern Sea (Nan Hai). Li Si-^en points to the Ken sin yil ts^e
R ^ ;^ #, written about 1430, as saying that the stone comes from
San-fu-ts'i (Palembang on Sumatra).^ F. de M^ly designates it only
as a "pierre d'epreuve," and refers to an identification with aventurine,
proposed by R^musat.^ Bezoar is a calculus concretion found in the
stomachs of a number of mammals, and Oriental literatures abound in
stories regarding such stones extracted from animals. Not only do the
Chinese not say that the p'o-so stone is of animal origin, but, on the con-
trary, they state explicitly that it is of mineral origin. The Ken sin yii ts*e
relates how mariners passing by a certain mountain on Sumatra break
this stone with axes out of the rock, and that the stone when burnt
emits a sulphurous odor. Ma Ci describes this stone as being green
in color and without speckles; those with gold stars, and when rubbed
yielding a milky juice, are the best. All this does not fit the bezoar.
Also the description in the Pen ts'ao yen i"^ refers only to a stone of
mineral origin.

^ T'oung Pao, 1912, p. 438.

2 The initial of the Persian word would require a labial surd in Chinese. Whether
the p'o-sa ^ @| of the Pet hu lu belongs here is doubtful to me; it is not explained
what this stone is. As admitted in the Pen ts'ao yen i (Ch. 4, p. 4 b), the form mo-so
is secondary.

2 It is first mentioned in the ancient work Pie lu, then in the Wu U pen ts*ao
of the third century, and by T'ao Hun-kin.

4 Ch. 10, p. 10 b.

5 This text is cited in the same manner in the Tun si yan k*ao oi 161 8 (Ch. 3,
p. 10). Cf. F. DE M^LY, Lapidaire chinois, p. 120.

^ Ibid., pp. LXiv, 260.

7 Ch. 4, p. 4 b (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan).

Iranian Minerals — Bezoar 527

Even as early as the T*ang period, the term p^o-so merely denotes
a stone. It is mentioned in a colophon to the PHn ts'iian $an kii ts'ao mu
ki^^lUM^^tlby Li Te-yii ^MM (a.d. 787-849) as a curious
stone preserved in the P*o-so Pavilion south of the C'afi-tien fi K in
Ho-nan.

Yada or jada, as justly said by Pelliot, is a bezoar; but what at-
tracted the Chinese to this Turkish-Mongol word was not its char-
acter as a bezoar, but its r61e in magic as a rain-producing stone. Li
Si-^en^ has devoted a separate article to it under the name i¥ S- ca-ta,
and has recognized it as a kind of bezoar; in fact, it follows immediately
his article on the Chinese bezoar (niu-hwan) .^

The Persian word was brought to China as late as the seventeenth
century by the Jesuits. Pantoja and Aleni, in their geography of the
world, entitled Cifan wai H,^ and published in 1623, mention an animal
of Borneo resembling a sheep and a deer, called pa-tsaW ffi H B/ in
the abdomen of which grows a stone capable of curing all diseases, and
highly prized by the Westerners. The Chinese recognized that this was
a bezoar.^ Bezoars are obtained on Borneo, but chiefly from a monkey
{Simla longumanis, Dayak huhi) and hedgehog. The Malayan name
for bezoar is gullga; and, as far as I know, the Persian word is not used
by the Malayans.® The Chinese Gazetteer of Macao mentions "an
animal like a sheep or goat, in whose belly is produced a stone capable

^ Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 50 B, p. 15 b.

2 There is an extensive literature on the subject of the rain-stone. The earliest
Chinese source known to me, and not mentioned by Pelliot, is the K'ai yuan Vien
pao i U ^ jt % ^ ^^^ hy Wan Zen-yu ^ t IS of the T'ang (p. 20 b).
Cf. also the Sii KHen Su j^ |^ #, written by Can Cu 5M vS^ in 1805 (Ch. 6, p. 8,
ed. of Yiie ya Van ts'un Su). The Yakut know this stone as sata (Boehtlingk, Jakut.
Worterbuch, p. 153); Pallas gives a Kalmuk form sadan. See, further, W. W. Rock-
hill, Rubruck, p. 195; F. v. Erdmann, Temudschin, p. 94; G. Oppert, Presbyter
Johannes, p. 102; J. Ruska, Steinbuch des QazwinI, p. 19, and Der Islam, Vol. IV,
1913, pp. 26-30 (it is of especial interest that, according to the Persian mineralogical
treatise of Mohammed Ben Mansur, the rain-stone comes from mines on the frontier
of China, or is taken from the nest of a large water-bird, called surxab, on the frontier
of China; thus, after all, the Turks may have obtained their bezoars from China);
Vamb^ry, Primitive Cultur, p. 249; Potanin, Tangutsko-Tibetskaya Okraina
Kitaya, Vol. II, p. 352, where further literature is cited.

' Ch. I, p. II (see above, p. 433).

* This form comes very near to the pajar of Barbosa in 15 16. \

^ Cf. the Lu can kun Si k'i (above, p. 346), p. 48.

8 Regarding the Malayan beUefs in bezoars, see, for instance, L. Bouchal in
Mitt. Anthr. Ges. Wien, 1900, pp. 179-180; Beccari, Wanderings in the Great
Forests of Borneo, p. 327; Kreemer in Bijdr. taal- land- en volkenkunde, 1914,
p. 38; etc.

528 Sino-Iranica

of curing any disease, and called pa-tsaW^^ (written as above) ;^ of.
Portuguese bazar, hazodr, bezoar.

On the other hand, bezoars became universal in the early middle
ages, and the Arabs also list bezoars from China and India.^ From the
Persian word fddaj\ explained as "a stone from China, bezoar," it
appears also that Chinese bezoars were traded to Persia. In Persia, as
is well known, bezoars are highly prized as remedies and talismans.^

1 Ao-men H lio, Ch. b, p. 37.

2 J. RusKA, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 148.

' C. AcosTA (Tractado de las drogas, pp. 153-160, Burgos, 1578), E. Kaempfer
(Amoenitates exoticae, pp. 402-403), Guibourt (Histoire naturelle des drogues
simples. Vol. IV, pp. 106 et seq.), and G. F. Kunz (Magic of Jewels and Charms,
pp. 203-220) give a great deal of interesting information on the subject. See also
Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 90; E. Wiedemann, Zur Mineralogie im Islam, p. 228;
D. Hooper, Journal As. Soc, Bengal, Vol. VI, 1910, p. 519.

TITLES OF THE SASANIAN GOVERNMENT

92. MS sa-paoj *sa5(sar)-pav. Title of the official in charge of
the affairs of the Persian religion in Si-nan, an office dating back to the
time when temples of the celestial god of fire were erected there, about
A.D. 621. In an excellent article Pelliot has assembled all texts relative
to this function.^ I do not believe, however, that we are justified in
accepting Dev6ria's theory that the Chinese transcription should render
Syriac sdbd ("old man"). This plainly conflicts with the laws of tran-
scription so rigorously expounded and upheld by Pelliot himself: it is
necessary to account for the final dental or liqmd in the character sa,
which- regularly appears in the T'ang transcriptions. It would be
strange also if the Persians should have applied a Syriac word to a
sacred institution of their own. It is evident that the Chinese tran-
scription corresponds to a Middle-Persian form traceable to Old Persian
x^adra-pdvan {x^gpava, x^agapdvd) , which resulted in Assyrian a:j;ia(iar-
apdn or ax^adrapdn, Hebrew axaMarfnintj^ Greek (raTpairrjs (Armenian
^ahapand, Sanskrit k^atrapa). The Middle-Persian form from which the
Chinese transcription was very exactly made must have been *§a0-pav
or *xsa^-pav. The character sa renders also Middle and New Persian
sar ("head, chief").^

93. 0 M ^0 K'u-sa-ho, *Ku-sa5(r)-7wa, was the title ? of the
kings of Parsa (Persia).'* This transcription appears to be based on an
Iranian x^adva or xSarva, corresponding to Old Iranian *xsdyavan-,
*xsaivan, Sogdian x^evan (" king ") .^ It is notable that the initial spirant
x is plainly and aptly expressed in Chinese by the element k'u,^ while
in the preceding transcription it is suppressed. The differentiation in
time may possibly account for this phenomenon: the transcription
sa-pao comes down from about a.d. 621; while K^u-sa-ho, being con-

1 Le Sa-pao, Bull, de VEcolefranqaise, Vol. Ill, pp. 665-671.

2 H. PoGNON, Journal asiatique, 1917, I, p. 395.

3 R. Gauthiot, Journal asiatique, 191 1, II, p. 60.

4 Sui ^u, Ch. 83, p. 7 b.

^ R. Gauthiot, Essai sur le vocalisme du sogdien, p. 97. See also the note of
Andreas in A. Christensen, L'Empire des Sassanides, p. 113. I am unable to see
how the Chinese trandcription could correspond to the name Khosrou, as proposed
by several scholars (Chavannes, Documents sur les Tou-kiue occidentaux, p. 171;
and HiRTH, Journal Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXXIII, 1913, p. 197).

^ In the Manichasan transcriptions it is expressed by I^ *xu (hu) ; see Cha-
vannes and Pelliot, Traits manicheen, p. 25.

529

530 Sino-Iranica

tained in the Sui Annals, belongs to the latter part of the sixth century.
According to Salemann,^ Iranian initial xS- develops into Middle-
Persian i-; solely the most ancient Armenian loan-words show a^x- for
x^-j otherwise i appears regularly save that ^x takes the place of inter-
vocalic xL^ In view of our Sino-Iranian form, this rule should perhaps
be reconsidered, but this must remain for the discussion of Iranian
scholars.

94. W Iff ^a~ye, *sat(§a5)-ya. Title of the sons of the king of
Persia {Wei ^u, Ch. 102, p. 6; T'ai pHh hwan yii ki, Ch. 185, p. 17).
It corresponds to Avestan x^adrya ("lord, ruler ")-^ The princes of
the Sasanian empire were styled sa^raSaran.'* According to Sasanian
custom, the sons of kings ruled provinces as "kings."^ Regarding ^
in transcriptions of Iranian names, cf . the name of the river Yaxartes
MM (Sui ^u, Ch. 83, p. 4b) Yao-sa, that is *Yak-§a5(sar). As the
Middle-Persian name is Xsart or Asart (Pazend A sard) ,^ we are bound
to assume that the prototype of the Chinese transcription was *Ax§art
or *Yax§art.

95. W ^8 i-tsan, but, as the fan-tsHe of the last character is indicated
by ^ SI, the proper reading is i-ts'at, *i-d2a5, i-dza5, designation of the
king of Parsa (0 A ^ or IB EE 0 W Pg: Wei iw, Ch. 102, p. 6; Tat
pHn hwan yii kiy Ch. 185, p. 17). The Chinese name apparently repre-
sents a transcription of Ix§e5, the Ixsidh of al-Beruni, title of the
kings of Sogd and Fergana, a dialectic form of Old Persian x^dyadiya?
IxseS is the Avestan x^aeta (''brilliant"), a later form being ^edah.
It must be borne in mind that Sogdian was the lingua franca and
international language of Central Asia, and even the vehicle of civiliza-

1 Grundriss der iran. Phil., Vol. I, pt. i, p. 262.

2 Cf. also Gauthiot, op. cit., p. 54, § 61.

' K. Hori's identification with New Persian Mh (Spiegel Memorial Volume,
p. 248) must be rejected. The time of the Wei ^u plainly refers to Sasanian Persia;
that is, to the Middle-Persian language.

*A. Christensen, op. cit., p. 20, Cf. Old Persian xsgm, xsagam ("royalty,
kingdom"), Avestan x^adrem, Sanskrit ksatram (A. Meillet, Grammaire du vieux
perse, p. 143); xsadrya corresponds to Sanskrit k^atriya.

5 NoLDEKE, Tabari, p. 49; Grundriss, Vol. II, p. 171. I think that H. Pognon
(Journal asiatique, 1917, I, p. 397) is right in assuming that "satrap" was a purely
honorific title granted by the king not only to the governors of the provinces, but
also to many high functionaries.

6 West, Pahlavi Texts, Vol. I, p. 80.

7 See Sachau, Chronology of Ancient Nations, p. 109; F. Justi, Iranisches
Namenbuch, p. 141; A. Meillet, Grammaire du vieux perse, pp. 77, 167 (xsdyaBiya
pdrsaiy, "king in Persia"); F. W. K. Muller, Ein Doppelblatt aus einem mani-
chaischen Hymnenbuch, p. 31.

Titles of the Sasanian Government 531

tion.i The suggestion offered by K. Hori,^ that the Chinese transcrip-
tion should represent the Persian word izad (''god"), is not acceptable:
first, New Persian cannot come into question, but only Middle Persian;
second, it is not proved that izad was ever a title of the kings of Persia.
On the contrary, as stated by Noldeke,^ the Sasanians applied to them-
selves the word bag C'god"), but not yazddn, which was the proper word
for "god" even at that time.

96. W^^ fan-pu-^waiy *pwafi-bu-zwi5, designation of the queen
of Parsa {Wei iw, Ch. 102, p. 6; T'ai pHn hwan yii ki, Ch. 185, p. 17).
The foundation of this transcription is presented by Middle Persian
bdnbu^n, bdnbi^n (Armenian bambi^n), "consort of the king of Persia."^
The Iranian prototype of the Chinese transcription seems to have been
*banbuzwi5. The latter element may bear some relation to Sogdian
wd8u or wybyHh ("consort").^

97. ^ SS JK mo-hu-fan, *mak-ku(mag-gu)-dan. Officials of
Persia in charge of the judicial department ^ H |^ ^ ^ {Wei ^u,
Ch. 102, p. 6). K. HoRi^ has overlooked the fact that the element
fan forms part of the transcription, and has simply equalized mo-hu with
Avestan moyu. The transcription *mak-ku (mag-gu) is obviously found-
ed on Middle Persian magu, and therefore is perfectly exact. The later
transcription ffi M *muk-gu {mu-hu) is based on New Persian muy,
moy? The ending dan reminds one of such formations as herbebdn
("judge") and mobeddn mobeb ("chief of the Magi"), the latter being
Old Persian magupati, Armenian mogpet, Pahlavi maupat. New Persian
mubid (which, according to the Persian Dictionary of Steingass, means
also "one who administers justice, judge"). Above all, compare the
Armenian loan-word movpetan (also movpetj mogpet, mog)} Hence it

1 R. Gauthiot, Essai sur le vocalisme du sogdien, p. x; P. Pelliot, Les in-
fluences iraniennes en Asie centrale et en Extreme-Orient, p. 11.

2 Spiegel Memorial Volume, p. 248.
' Tabari, p. 452.

^HiJBscHMANN, Armen. Gram., p. 116. In his opinion, the form hdribuSn,
judging from the Armenian, is wrong; but its authenticity is fully confirmed by the
Chinese transcription.

5 R. Gauthiot, Essai sur le vocalisme du sogdien, pp. 59, 112. The three afore-
mentioned titles had already been indicated by Abel-R£musat (Nouvelles melanges
asiatiques. Vol. I, p. 249) after Ma Twan-lin, but partially in wrong transcription:
"Le roi a le titre de Yi-thso; la reine, celui de Tchi-sou, et les fils du roi, celui de
Cha-ye."

^ Spiegel Memorial Volume, p. 248.

'' Chavannes and Pelliot, Traits manich^en, p. 170. Accordingly this example
cannot be invoked as proving that muk might transcribe also mak, as formerly
assumed by Pelliot {Bull, de VEcole frangaise, Vol. IV, p. 312).

8 Horn, Neupersische Etymologic, No. 984; and Hubschmann, Persische
Studien, p. 123.

532 Sino-Iranica

may justly be inferred that there was a Middle-Persian form *ma-
gutan or *magudan, from which the Chinese transcription was exactly
made.

98. tl2 ^ fP ni-hu-han^ *ni-hwut-7an. Officials of Persia who have
charge of the Treasury (Wei ^u, Ch. 102, p. 6). The word, in fact, is a
family-name or title written by the Greek authors Naxopayav, l^axoepyav,
"EapvaxopyavTjs (prefixed by the word sar^ "head, upper"). Firdausi
mentions repeatedly under the reign of Khosrau II a Naxwara, and
the treasurer of this king is styled "son of Naxwara."^ The treasury
is named for him al-Naxirajan. The Chinese transcription is made
after the Pahlavi model *Nixur7an or Nexuryan; and, indeed, the
form Nixorakan is also found.^

99. :^ $• ^ ti-pei-p'Oy *di-pi-bwi5(bir, wir). Officials of Persia
who have charge of official documents and all affairs (Cou ^u, Ch. 50,
p. 5b). In the parallel passage of the Wei ^u (Ch. 102, p. 6), the second
character is misprinted ■?- tsaOj^ *tsaw; *di-tsaw would not correspond
to any Iranian word. From the definition of the term it becomes
obvious that the above transcription *di-pi answers to dipi ("writing,
inscription"),^ Middle Persian diplr or daptTy New Persian diblr or dabir
(Armenian dpir); and that *di-pi-bwi6 corresponds to Middle Persian
diplvar, from *dipi-bara, the suffix -var (anciently hara) meaning "carry-
ing, bearing."^ The forms diplr and diUr are contractions from dipivar.
This word, as follows from the definition, appears to have comprised
also what was understood by devdn, the administrative chanceries of
the Sasanian empire.

100. i§ M M ^ no-lo-hO'ti, *at(ar)-la-ha-di. Officials of Persia
who superintended the inner affairs of the king (or the affairs of the
royal household — Wei iw, Ch. 102, p. 6). Theophylactus Simocatta^
gives the following information on the hereditary functions among
the seven high families in the Sasanian empire: "The family called
Artabides possesses the royal dignity, and has also the office of placing

1 NoLDEKE, Tabari, pp. 152-153, 439.

2 JusTi, Iran. Namenbuch, p. 219. In Naxuraqan or Naxirajan q and j represent
Pahlavi g. The reconstructions attempted by Modi (Spiegel Memorial Volume,
p. Lix) of this and other Sino-Iranian words on the basis of the modem Chinese
pronunciation do not call for any discussion.

^ This misprint is not peculiar to the modem editions, but occurs in an edition
of this work printed in 1596, so that in all probability it was extant in the original
issue. It is easy to see how the two characters were confounded.

^ In the Old-Persian inscriptions, where it occurs in the accusative form dipim
and in the locative dipiyd (A. Meillet, Grammaire du vieux perse, pp. 147, 183).

^ C. Saleman, Gmndriss iran. Phil., Vol. I, pt. i, pp. 272, 282.

6 m, 8.

Titles of the Sasanian Government 533

the crown on the king's head. Another family presides over military
affairs, another superintends civil affairs, another settles the litigations
of those who have a dispute and desire an arbiter. The fifth family com-
mands the cavalry, the sixth collects the taxes and supervises the
royal treasures, and the seventh takes care of armament and military
equipment." Artabides Qkpra^ibrjs), as observed by Noldeke,^ should
be read Argabides ('Apya^idrjs), the equivalent of ArgabeS. There
is also a form apyaweTrjs in correspondence with Pahlavi arkpat. This
title originally designated the commandant of a castle (arg, "citadel"),
and subsequently a very high military rank.^ In later Hebrew we find
this title in the forms alkqfta, arkafta, or arkabta.^ The above tran-
scription is apparently based on the form *Argade ('Apyadr)) =Argabe5.
loi. Ml&^ ste-po-p'Oj *sit-pwa-bwi5. Officials of Persia in
charge of the army (infantry and cavalry, pai7an and aswaran), of the
four quarters, the four pdtkos (pat, "province''; kos, "guarding")
^m:^^^: Wei W, Ch. 102, p. 6. The Cou lu (Ch. 50, p. 5b)
has M *sat, sar, in the place of the first character. The word corresponds
to Middle Persian spdhbed ("general"); Pahlavi pat. New Persian -bad,
-hud ("master"). Eranspahbe5 was the title of the generalissimo of
the army of the Sasanian empire up to the time of Khusrau I. The
Pahlavi form is given as spdhpat;* the Chinese transcription, however,
corresponds better to New Persian sipahbad, so that also a Middle-
Persian form *spahba5 (-be5 or -bu5) may be inferred.

102. 3l iSl 3^ nu-se-ta, *u-se-da5, used in the Chinese inscription dated 1489
of the Jews of K'ai-fon fu in Ho-nan, in connection with the preceding name ^ij ^
Lie-wei (Levi).^ As justly recognized by G. Dev^ria, this transcription represents
Persian ustad,lwhich means "teacher, master."^ The Persian Jews availed them-
selves of this term for the rendering of the Hebrew title Rab (Rabbi), although
in Persian the name follows the title. The Chinese Jews simply adopted the Chinese
mode of expression, in which the family-name precedes the title, Ustad Lie-wei
meaning as much as "Rabbi Levi." The transcription itself appears to be of much
older date than the Ming, and was doubtless recorded at a time when the final
consonant of ia was still articulated. In a former article I have shown from the
data of the Jewish inscriptions that the Chinese Jews emigrated from Persia and
appeared in China not earlier than in the era of the Sung. This historical proof is
signally confirmed by a piece of linguistic evidence. In the Annals of the Yuan
Dynasty (Yiian U, Ch. 33, p. 7 b; 43, p. 11 b) the Jews are styled Su-hu (Ju-hud)

1 Tabari, p. 5.

2 Christensen, op. ciU, p. 27; NSldeke, op. cit., p. 437; HtJbschmann, Per-
sische Studien, pp. 239, 240.

« M. Jastrow, Dictionary of the Targumim, p. 73.

< HtJBscHMANN, Armcu. Gram., p. 240.

5 J. ToBAR, Inscriptions juives de K'ai-fong-fou, p. 44.

« Regarding this word, see chiefly H. Hubschmann, Persische Studien, p. 14.

534 Sino-Iranica

TIl ^ or Cu-wu ^ TC- This form can have been transcribed only on the basis of
New Persian JuhQS or JahQS with initial palatal sonant. As is well known, the
change of initial y into j is peculiar to New Persian.'- In Pahlavi we have YahQt,
as in Hebrew Yehadi and in Arabic Yahad. A Middle-Persian Yahut would have
been very easy for the Chinese to transcribe. The very form of their transcription
shows, however, that it was modelled on the New-Persian type, and that it cannot
be much older than the tenth century or the age of the Sung.

1 Cf. Horn, Grundr. iran. Phil., Vol. I, pt. 2, p. 73.

IRANO-SINICA

After dealing with the cultural elements derived by the Chinese
from the Iranians, it will be only just to look also at the reverse of the
medal and consider what the Iranians owe to the Chinese.

I. Some products of China had reached Iranian peoples long before
any Chinese set their foot on Iranian soil. When Can K'ien in 128 B.C.
reached Ta-hia (Bactria), he was amazed to see there staves or walking-
sticks made from bamboo of Kiun -^5 11* ft^ and cloth of Su (Se-c^Van)
^ ^. What this textile exactly was is not known.^ Both these articles
hailed from what is now Se-6'wan, Kiun being situated in Zufi ^ou H ^
in the prefecture of Kia-tin, in the southern part of the province. When
the Chinese envoy inquired from the people of Ta-hia how they had
obtained these objects of his own country, they replied that they pur-
chased them in India. Hence Can K'ien concluded that India could
not be so far distant from Se-6'wan. It is well known how this new
geographical notion subsequently led the Chinese to the discovery of
Yiin-nan. There was accordingly an ancient trade-route running from
Se-5'wan through Yiin-nan into north-eastern India; and, as India on
her north-west frontier was in connection with Iranian territory, Chinese
merchandise could thus reach Iran. The bamboo of Kiun, also called
©, has been identified by the Chinese with the so-called square bamboo
(Bamhusa or Phyllostachys quadrangularis) } The cylindrical form is so
universal a feature in bamboo, that the report of the existence in China
and Japan of a bamboo with four-angled stems was first considered in
Europe a myth, or a pathological abnormity. It is now well assured
that it represents a regular and normal species, which grows wild in
the north-eastern portion of Yiin-nan, and is cultivated chiefly as an
ornament in gardens and in temple-courts, the longer stems being used

^ He certainly did not see "a stick of bamboo," as understood by Hirth {Journal
Am. Or. Soc, Vol. XXXVII, 1917, p. 98), but it was a finished product imported
in a larger quantity.

2 Assuredly it was not silk, as arbitrarily inferred by F. V. Richthofen (China,
Vol. I, p. 465). The word pu never refers to silk materials.

3 For an interesting article on this subject, see D. J. Macgowan, Chinese Record-
er, Vol. XVI, 1885, pp. 141-142; further, the same journal, 1886, pp. 140-141. E.
Satow, Cultivation of Bamboos in Japan, p. 92 (Tokyo, 1899). The square bamboo
(Japanese sikaku-dake) is said to have been introduced into Japan from Liukiu.
Forbes and Hemsley, Journal Linnean Soc, Vol. XXXVI, p. 443.

535

536 Sino-Iranica

for staves, the smaller ones for tobacco-pipes. The shoots of this species
are prized above all other bamboo-shoots as an esculent.

The Pel hu lu^ has the following notice on staves of the square
bamboo: "C'efi (5ou S iH (in Kwafi-si) produces the square bamboo.
Its trunk is as sharp as a knife, and is very strong. It can be made into
staves which will never break. These are the staves from the bamboo
of K'iufi ^, mentioned by Can K'ien. Such are produced also in Yun
(Sou ^ M,^ the largest of these reaching several tens of feet in height.
According to the Cen hn tsi jE ^ ^, there are in the southern ter-
ritory square bamboo staves on which the white cicadas chirp, and
which C'en Cefi-tsie 1^ ^ IB has extolled. Moreover, Hai-yen fS 5^
produces rushes {lu M., Phragmites communis) capable of being made
into staves for support. P*an Sou M iW^ produces thousand-years ferns
^ MM. and walking-sticks which are small and resemble the palmyra
palm K ^ {Borassus fflabelliformis) . There is, further, the su-tsie
bamboo 0 SB il', from which staves are abundantly made for the
Buddhist and Taoist clergy, — all singular objects. According to the
Hui tsui # ft, the Vun jlS bamboo from the Cen River i^ Jl| is straight,
without knots in its upper parts, and hollow.''

The Ko ku yao lun^ states that the square bamboo is produced in
western Se-c'wan, and also grows on the mountain Fei-lai-fufi M^^
on the West Lake in Ce-kiafi; the knots of this bamboo are prickly,
hence it is styled in Se-6'wan tse (^u M It ("prickly bamboo").

According to the Min siao ki K /h IS,® written by Cou Liafi-kufi
Ml i^ X in the latter part of the seventeenth century, square bamboo
and staves made from it are produced in the district of Yun-tin ;^ %
in the prefecture of T*in-Sou and in the district of T'ai-nifi ^ ^ in the
prefecture of Sao-wu, both in Fu-kien Province.'^

^ Ch. 3, p. 10 b (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan); see above, p. 268.

2 In the prefecture of Liu-£ou, Kwan-si.

* Explained in the commentary as the name of a locality, but its situation is
not indicated and is unknown to me.

^ The present Mou-min hien, forming the pref ectural city of Kao-6ou f u, Kwan-tun.

5 Ch. 8, p. 9 (ed. of Si yin Man ts'un Su).

^ Ed. of ^wo lin, p. 17.

^The San hai kin mentions the "narrow bamboo (hia cu ^ Ij*) growing in
abundance on the Tortoise Mountain"; and Kwo P'o (a.d. 276-324), in his com-
mentary to this work, identifies with it the bamboo of Kiun. According to the
Kwan ci, the Kiun bamboo occurred in the districts of Nan-kwan ^ ^ (at present
Nan-k'i ^ §|) and Kiun-tu in Se-6'wan. The Memoirs of Mount Lo-fou (Lo-fou
San ki) in Kwan-tun state that the Kiun bamboo was originally produced on Mount
Kiun, being identical with that noticed by Can K'ien in Ta-hia, and that village-
elders use it as a staff. A treatise on bamboo therefore calls it the "bamboo support-
ing the old" ^ :^ i^. These texts are cited in the T'ai pHn yii Ian (Ch. 963, p. 3).

Irano-Sinica — ^The Square Bamboo, Silk 537

It is said to occur also in the prefecture of Tefi-cou ^ jHi, San-tun
Province, where it is likewise made into walking-sticks.^ The latter
being much in demand by Buddhist monks, the bamboo has received
the epithet "Lo-han bamboo" (bamboo of the Arhat).^

It is perfectly manifest that what was exported from Se-6'wan by
way of Yiin-nan into India, and thence forwarded to Bactria, was the
square bamboo in the form of walking-canes. India is immensely rich
in bamboos; and only a peculiar variety, which did not exist in India,
could have compensated for the trouble and cost which this long and
wearisome trade-route must have caused in those days. For years, I
must confess, it has been a source of wonder to me why Se-6'wan bamboo
should have been carried as far as Bactria, until I encountered the text
of the Pei hu lu, which gives a satisfactory solution of the problem.^

2. The most important article by which the Chinese became
famously known in ancient times, of course, was silk. This subject is so
extensive, and has so frequently been treated in special monographs,
that it does not require recapittdation in this place. I shall only recall
the fact that the Chinese silk materials, after traversing Central Asia,
reached the Iranian Parthians, who acted as mediators in this trade
with the anterior Orient.'* It is assumed that the introduction of seri-
culture into Persia, especially into Gilan, where it still flourishes, falls
in the latter part of the Sasanian epoch. It is very probable that the
acquaintance of the Khotanese with the rearing of silkworms, introduced
by a Chinese princess in a.d. 419, gave the impetus to a further growth
of this new industry in a western direction, gradually spreading to
Yarkand, Fergana, and Persia.^ Chinese brocade (dibd-i Un) is fre-
quently mentioned by Firdausi as pla5dng a prominent part in Persian
decorations.^ He also speaks of a very fine and decorated Chinese silk
under the name parniydn, corresponding to Middle Persian parnlkdnJ
Iranian has a peculiar word for "silk," not yet satisfactorily explained:
Pahlavi *apresum, *aparesum; New Persian abre^unty abreSam (Arme-

^ San tun Vun ci, Ch. g, p. 6.

2 See KHen $u j^ ^, Ch. 4, p. 7 b (in Yiie ya Van ts'un Su, t'ao 24) and Sic KHen
hi, Ch. 7, p. 2 b (ibid.). Cf. also Cu p"u sian /m ij* j§ |^ ^, written by Li K'an
^ flj in 1299 (Ch. 4, p. I b; ed. of Ci pu tsu tai ts'un su).

- The speculations of J. Marquart (Eran§ahr, pp. 319-320) in regard to this
bamboo necessarily fall to the ground. There is no misunderstanding on the part
of Can K'ien, and the account of the Si ki is perfectly correct and clear.

^ HiRTH, Chinesische Studien, p. 10.

^ Spiegel, Eranische Altertumskunde, Vol. I, p. 256.

•^ J. J. Modi, Asiatic Papers, p. 254 (Bombay, 1905).

' HuBSCHMANN, Persischc Studien, p. 242.

538 Sino-Iranica

nian, loan-word from Persian, apri^um); hence Arabic iharlsam or
ihrlsam; Pamir dialects war^um, war^ilm, Sugni wrelom, etc.; Afghan
wre^am} Certain it is that we have here a type not related to any-
Chinese word for "silk." In this connection I wish to register my utter
disbelief in the traditional opinion, inaugurated by Klaproth, that
Greek ser (" silk- worm " ; hence Seres, Serica) shoiild be connected with
Mongol Hrgek and Manchu sirge C'silk"), the latter with Chinese se
M} My reasons for rejecting this theory may be stated as briefly as
possible. I do not see how a Greek word can be explained from Mongol
or Manchu, — languages which we merely know in their most recent
forms, Mongol from the thirteenth and Manchu from the sixteenth
century. Neither the Greek nor the Mongol-Manchu word can be
correlated with Chinese se. The latter was never provided with a final
consonant. Klaproth resorted to the hypothesis that in ancient dialects
of China along the borders of the empire a final r might {peut-ttre) have
existed. This, however, was assuredly not the case. We know that the
termination V ^, so frequently associated with nouns in Pekingese, is
of comparatively recent origin, and not older than the Yuan period
(thirteenth century) ; the beginnings of this usage may go back to the
end of the twelfth or even to the ninth century.^ At any rate, it did not
exist in ancient times when the Greek ser came into being. Moreover,
this suffix V is not used arbitrarily: it joins certain words, while others
take the suffix tse •?, and others again do not allow any suffix. The
word se, however, has never been amalgamated with V. In all probabil-
ity, its ancient phonetic value was *si, sa. It is thus phonetically im-
possible to derive from it the Mongol-Manchu word or Korean sir,
added by Abel-R^musat. I do not deny that this series may have its
root in a Chinese word, but its parentage cannot be traced to se, I do

1 HtJBscHMANN, Arm. Gram., p. 107; Horn, Neupers. Etymologic, No. 65.
The derivation from Sanskrit k?auma is surely wrong. Bulgar ibriHm, Rumanian
ibrisin, are likewise connected with the Iranian series.

"^ Cf. Klaproth, Conjecture sur I'origine du nom de la soie chez les anciens
(Journal asiatique, Vol. I, 1822, pp. 243-245, with additions by Abel-R£musat,
245-247); Asia polyglotta, p. 341; and M^moires relatifs ^ I'Asie, Vol. Ill, p. 264.
Klaproth's opinion has been generally, but thoughtlessly, accepted (Hirth, op.
cit., p. 217; F. V. RiCHTHOFEN, China, Vol. I, p. 443; Schrader, Reallexikon, p. 757).
Pelliot {T'oung Pao, 1912, p. 741), I believe, was the first to point out that Chinese
se was never possessed of a final consonant.

' See my note in T^oung Pao, 191 6, p. 77; and H. Maspero, Sur quelques textes
anciens de chinois parl^, p. 12. Maspero encountered the word mao'r (" cat ") in a text
of the ninth century. It hardly makes any great difference whether we conceive V
as a diminutive or as a suffix. Originally it may have had the force of a diminutive,
and have gradually developed into a pure suffix. Cf. also P. Schmidt, K istorii
kitaiskago razgovornago yazyka, in Sbornik stat'ei professorov, p. 19 (Vladivostok,
1917).

I RANO-SiNiCA — Silk, Peach and Apricot 539

not believe, either, that Russian Mk ("silk"), as is usually stated (even
by Dal'), is derived from Mongol Hrgek: first of all, the alleged phonetic
coincidence is conspicuous by its absence; and, secondly, an ancient
Russian word cannot be directly associated with Mongol; it would be
necessary to trace the same or a similar word in Turkish, but there it
does not exist; "silk" in Turkish is ipak^ torgu, torka, etc. It is more
probable that the Russian word (Old Slavic Mk, Lithuanian szilkat)^
in the same manner as oiu* silkj is traceable to sericum. There is no
reason to assume that the Greek words ser, Sera, Seres, etc., have
their origin in Chinese. This series was first propagated by
Iranians, and, in my opinion, is of Iranian origin (cf. New Persian
sarah, "silk"; hence Arabic sarak),

Persian kimxdw or kamxdh, kamxd, kimxd (Arabic ktmxdw, Hin-
dustani kamxdb), designating a "gold brocade," as I formerly ex-
plained,^ may be derived from Chinese IS ffi kin-hwa, *kim-xwa.

3-4. Of fruits, the West is chiefly indebted to China for the peach
(Amygdalus persica) and the apricot (Prunus armeniaca). It is not
impossible that these two gifts were transmitted by the silk-dealers,
first to Iran (in the second or first century B.C.), and thence to Armenia,
Greece, and Rome (in the first century a.d.) . In Rome the two trees appear
as late as the first century of the Imperiimi, being mentioned as Persica
and Armeniaca arbor by Pliny^ and Colimiella. Neither tree is men-
tioned by Theophrastus, which is to say that they were not noted
in Asia by the staff of Alexander's expedition.^ De Candolle has ably
pleaded for China as the home of the peach and apricot, and Engler*
holds the same opinion. The zone of the wild apricot may well extend
from Russian Turldstan to Sungaria, south-eastern Mongolia, and the
Himalaya; but the historical fact remains that the Chinese have been
the first to cultivate this fruit from ancient times. Previous authors
have justly connected the westward migration of peach and apricot
with the lively intercourse of China and western Asia following Can
K'ien's mission.^ Persian has only descriptive names for these fruits,
the peach being termed ^aft-dlu ("large plum"), the apricot zard-dlu

1 T^oung Pao, 1916, p. 477; Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 484.

2XV, II, 13.

' De Candolle (Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 222) is mistaken in crediting
Theophrastus with the knowledge of the peach. Joret (Plantes dans I'antiquit^,
p. 79) has already pointed out this error, and it is here restated for the benefit of
those botanists who still depend on de Candolle's book.

^ In Hehn, Kulturpflanzen, p. 433.

5 Joret, op. cit., p. 81; Schrader in Hehn, p. 434.

540 Sino-Iranica

("yellow pliim")-^ Both fruits are referred to in Pahlavi literature
(above, pp. 192, 193).

As to the transplantation of the Chinese peach into India, we have
an interesting bit of information in the memoirs of the Chinese pilgrim
Huan Tsafi.2 At the time of the great Indo-Scythian king Kaniska,
whose fame spread all over the neighboring countries, the tribes west of
the Yellow River (Ho-si in Kan-su) dreaded his power, and sent hostages
to him. Kaniska treated them with marked attention, and assigned to
them special mansions and guards of honor. The country where the
hostages resided in the winter received the name Cmabhiikti ("China
allotment," in the eastern Panjab). In this kingdom and throughout
India there existed neither pear nor peach. These were planted by the
hostages. The peach therefore was called cmanl ("Chinese fruit");
and the pear, cmardjaputra ("crown-prince of China"). These names
are still prevalent.^ Although Huan Tsah recorded in a.d. 630 an oral
tradition overheard by him in India, and relative to a time lying back
over half a millennium, his well-tested trustworthiness cannot be
doubted in this case: the story thus existed in India, and may indeed
be traceable to an event that took place under the reign of Kaniska,
the exact date of which is still controversial.* There are mainly two rea-
sons which prompt me to accept Hiian Tsafi's account. From a botani-
cal point of view, the peach is not a native of India. It occurs there only

1 In the Pamir languages we meet a common name for the apricot, Minjan
leri, Wax! tiwan or loan (but Sariqoll no^, Signi na^). The same type occurs in the
Dardu languages {jui or ji for the tree, jarote or jorote for the fruit, and juru for
the ripe fruit) and in Kagmlrl {tser, tser-kul) ; further, in West-Tibetan cu-li or lo-li^
Balti su-riy Kanaurl lul (other Tibetan words for "apricot" are k'am-bu, a-^u, and
Sa-rag, the last-named being dried apricots with little pulp and almost as hard as
a stone). Klaproth {Journal asiatique, Vol. II, 1823, p. 159) has recorded in Bu-
khara a word for the apricot in the form tserduli. It is not easy to determine how this
type has migrated. Tomaschek (Pamir-Dialekte, p. 791) is inclined to think that
originally it might have been Tibetan, as Baltistan furnishes the best apricots.
For my part, I have derived the Tibetan from the Pamir languages {T'oung Pao,
1916, p. 82). The word is decidedly not Tibetan; and as to its origin, I should
hesitate only between the Pamir and Dardu languages.

2 Ta Tafi Si yii ki, Ch. 4, p. 5.

'There are a few other Indian names of products formed with "China":
clnapi^ta ("minium"), ctnaka ("Panicum miliaceum, fennel, a kind of camphor"),
clnakarpura ("a kind of camphor"), cmavanga ("lead").

* Cf. V. A. Smith, Early History of India, 3d ed., p. 263 (I do not believe with
Smith that "the territory of the ruler to whose family the hostages belonged seems
to have been not very distant from Kashgar"; the Chinese term Ho-si, at the time
of the Han, comprised the present province of Kan-su from Lan-5ou to An-si);
T. Watters, On Yuan Chwang's Travels, Vol. I, pp. 292-293 (his comments on
the story of the peach miss the mark, and his notes on the name Cina are erroneous;
see also Pelliot, Bull, de V Ecole fratiQaise, Vol. V, p. 457).

Irano-Sinica — Peach, Cinnamon 541

in a cultivated state, and does not even succeed well, the fruit being
mediocre and acid.^ There is no ancient Sanskrit name for the tree; nor
does it play any r61e in the folk-lore of India, as it does in China. Fur-
ther, as regards the time of the introduction, whether the reign of
Kaniska be placed in the first century before or after our era, it is
singularly synchronous with the transplantation of the tree into western
Asia.

5. As indicated by the Persian name ddr-<^mt or dar-Un ("Chinese
wood" or "bark"; Arabic ddr ^ml)y cinnamon was obtained by the
Persians and Arabs from China. ^ Ibn Khordadzbeh, who wrote between
A.D. 844 and 848, is the first Arabic author who enumerates cinnamon
among the products exported from China.^ The Chinese export cannot
have asstmied large dimensions: it is not alluded to in Chinese records,
Cao Zu-kwa is reticent about it.* Ceylon was always the main seat of
cinnamon production, and the tree {Cinnamomum zeylanicum) is a native
of the Ceylon forests.^ The bark of this tree is also called dar-clm. It
is well known that cassia and cinnamon are mentioned by classical
authors, and have given rise to many sensational speculations as to the
origin of the cinnamon of the ancients. Herodotus^ places cinnamon in
Arabia, and tells a wondrous story as to how it is gathered. Theo-
phrastus^ seeks the home of cassia and cinnamomum, together with
frankincense and myrrh, in the Arabian peninsula about Saba, Had-
ramyt, Kitibaina, and Mamali. Strabo^ locates it in the land of the
Sabaeans, in Arabia, also in Ethiopia and southern India; finally he has
a "cinnamon-bearing country" at the end of the habitable countries
of the south, on the shore of the Indian ocean.^ Pliny ^° has cinnamomimi
or cinnamum grow in the country of the Ethiopians, and it is carried
over sea on rafts by the Troglod3rtae.

1 C. JORET, Plantes dans I'antiquit^, Vol. II, p. 281.

2 Leclerc, Trait6 des simples, Vol. II, pp. 68, 272. The loan-word daritenik
in Armenian proves that the word was known in Middle Persian (*dar-i 6enik) ; cf .
HtJBSCHMANN, Armen. Gram., p. 137.

« G. Ferrand, Textes relatifs h. TExtrdme-Orient, p. 31.

* ScHOFF (Periplus, p. 83) asserts that between the third and sixth centuries
there was an active sea-trade in this article in Chinese ships from China to Persia.
No reference is given. I wonder from what source this is derived.

5 De Candolle, Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 146; Watt, Commercial Prod-
ucts of India, p. 313.

«m, 107, III.

7 Hist, plant., IX. iv, 2.

8 XV. IV, 19; XVI. IV, 25; XV. I, 22.
' I. IV, 2.

1° XII, 42.

542 Sino-Iranica

The descriptions given of cinnamon and cassia by Theophrastus^
show that the ancients did not exactly agree on the identity of these
plants, and Theophrastus himself speaks from hearsay ("In regard to
cinnamon and cassia they say the following: both are shrubs, it is said,
and not of large size. . . . Such is the account given by some. Others
say that cinnamon is shrubby or rather like an under-brush, and that
there are two kinds, one black, the other white")- The difference be-
tween cinnamon and cassia seems to have been that the latter possessed
stouter branches, was very fibrous, and difficult to strip off the bark.
This bark was used; it was bitter, and had a pungent odor.^

Certain it is that the two words are of Semitic origin.^ The fact that
there is no cinnamon in Arabia and Ethiopia was already known to
Garcia da Orta."* An unfortunate attempt has been made to trace
the cinnamon of the ancients to the Chinese.^ This theory has thus
been formulated by Muss-Arnolt:^ "This spice was imported by
Phoenician merchants from Egypt, where it is called khisi-t. The
Egyptians, again, brought it from the land of Punt, to which it was
imported from Japan, where we have it under the form kei-chi ('branch
of the cinnamon-tree'), or better kei-shin ('heart of the cinnamon')
[read sin^ *sim]. The Japanese itself is again borrowed from the Chinese
kei-H [?]. The -/ in the Egyptian represents the feminine suffix." As
may be seen from O. Schrader,^ this strange hypothesis was first put
forward in 1883 by C, Schumann. Schrader himself feels somewhat
sceptic about it, and regards the appearance of Chinese merchandise on
the markets of Egypt at such an early date as hardly probable. From a
sinological viewpoint, this speculation must be wholly rejected, both
in its linguistic and its historical bearings. Japan was not in existence
in 1500 B.C., when cinnamon-wood of the country Punt is spoken of in
the Egyptian inscriptions; and China was then a small agrarian inland
community restricted to the northern part of the present empire, and

1 Hist, plant., IX. v, 1-3.

2 Theophrastus, IX. V, 3.

3 Greek Kaala is derived from Hebrew qe^Vd, perhaps related to Assyrian kasu,
kasiya (Pognon, Journal asiatigue, 1917, I, p. 400). Greek kinnamomon is traced
to Hebrew qinnamon (Exodus, xxx, 23).

^ Markham, Colloquies, pp. 1 19-120.

^ Thus also Fluckiger and Hanbury (Pharmacographia, p. 520), whose
argumentation is not sound, as it lacks all sense of chronology. The Persian term
dar-clnl, for instance, is strictly of mediaeval origin, and cannot be invoked as evidence
for the supposition that cinnamon was exported from China many centuries before
Christ.

6 Transactions Am. Phil. Assoc, Vol. XXIII, 1892, p. 115.
' Reallexikon, p. 989.

Irano-Sinica — Cinnamon 543

not acquainted with any Cassia trees of the south. Certainly there was
no Chinese navigation and sea-trade at that time. The Chinese word
kwei S (*kwai, kwi) occurs at an early date, but it is a generic term for
Lauraceae; and there are about thirteen species of Cassia y and about
sixteen species of Cinnamomum, in China. The essential point is that the
ancient texts maintain silence as to cinnamon; that is, the product from
the bark of the tree. Cinnamomum cassia is a native of Kwafi-si, Kwari-
turi, and Indo-China; and the Chinese made its first acquaintance under
the Han, when they began to colonize and to absorb southern China.
The first description of this species is contained in the Nan fan ts*ao
mu ^wan of the third centiury.^ This work speaks of large forests of this
tree covering the mountains of Kwafi-tufi, and of its ctdtivation in
gardens of Kiao-Si (Tonking). It was not the Chinese, but non-Chinese
peoples of Indo-China, who first brought the tree into cultivation, which,
like all other southern cultivations, was simply adopted by the con-
quering Chinese. The medicinal emplojmient of the bark (kwei pH
8 &) is first mentioned by T'ao Hun-kifi (a.d. 451-536), and probably
was not known much earlier. It must be positively denied, however,
that the Chinese or any nation of Indo-China had any share in the
trade which brought cinnamon to the Semites, Egyptians, or Greeks
at the time of Herodotus or earlier. The earliest date we may assume
for any navigation from the coasts of Indo-China into the Indian Ocean
is the second century b.c.^ The solution of the cinnamon problem of
the ancients seems simpler to me than to my predecessors. First, there
is no valid reason to assume that what our modem botany understands
by Cassia and Cinnamomum must be strictly identical with the products
so named by the ancients. Several different species are evidently in-
volved. It is perfectly conceivable that in ancient times there was a
fragrant bark supplied by a certain tree of Ethiopia or Arabia or both,
which is either extinct or imknown to us, or, as F^e inclines to think,
a species of Amyris. It is further legitimate to conclude, without forc-
ing the evidence, that the greater part of the cinnamon supply came from
Ceylon and India,^ India being expressly included by Strabo. This, at
least,' is infinitely more reasonable than acquiescing in the wild fantasies
of a Schimiann or Muss-Amolt, who lack the most elementary knowl-
edge of East-Asiatic history.

6. The word " China " in the names of Persian and Arabic products,

^ The more important texts relative to the subject are accessible in Bret-
SCHNEIDER, Bot. Sin., pt. Ill, No. 303.

2 Cf. Pelliot, T'oung Pao, 1912, pp. 457-461.

2 Th^ Malabar cinnamon is mentioned by Marco Polo (Yule's ed., Vol. II,
p. 389) and others.

544 Sino-Iranica

or the attribution of certain products to China, is not always to be
understood literally. Sometimes it merely refers to a far-eastern
product, sometimes even to an Indian product,^ and sometimes to
products handled and traded by the Chinese, regardless of their pro-
venience. Such cases, however, are exceptions. As a rule, these Persian-
Arabic terms apply to actual products of China.

Schlimmer2 mentions under the name Killingea monocephala the
zedoary of China: according to Piddington's Index Plantarum, it should
be the plant furnishing the famous root known in Persia as jadwdre
xitdi ("Chinese jadvar"); genuine specimens are regarded as a divine
panacea, and often paid at the fourfold price of fine gold. The identifica-
tion, however, is hardly correct, for K. monocephala is kin niu ts^ao
^ 4^ ^ in Chinese,^ which hardly holds an important place in the
Chinese pharmacopoeia. The plant which Schlimmer had in mind
doubtless is Curcuma zedoaria, a native of Bengal and perhaps of China
and various other parts of Asia.^ It is called in Sanskrit nirvisd ("poison-
less") or ^ida, in Ku5a or Tokharian B viralom or wiralom^^ Persian jad-
vdr, Arabic zadvdr (hence oiu- zedoary, French zedoaire), Abu Mansur
describes it as zarvdr, calling it an Indian remedy similar to Costus and
a good antidote.^ In the middle ages it was a much-desired article of
trade bought by European merchants in the Levant, where it was sold
as a product of the farthest east 7 Persian zarumbddj Arabic zeronbdd,
designating an aromatic root similar to zedoary, restilted in our zer-
umbet.^ While it is not certain that Curcuma zedoaria occurs in China
(a Chinese name is not known to me), it is noteworthy that the Persians,
as indicated above, ascribe to the root a Chinese origin: thus also
kaMr (from Sanskrit karcura) is explained in the Persian Dictionary of

1 Such an example I have given in T'oung Pao, 1915, p. 319: bis, an edible
aconite, does not occur in China, as stated by Damlrl, but in India. In regard to
cubebs, however, Garcia da Orta (C. Markham, Colloquies, p. 169) was mis-
taken in denying that they were grown in China, and in asserting that they are
called kabdb-clnl only because they are brought by the Chinese. As I have
shown (ibid., pp. 282-288), cubebs were cultivated in China from the Sung period
onward.

2 Terminologie, p. 335.

' Also this identification is doubtful (Stuart, Chinese Materia Medica,
p. 228).

■^W. Roxburgh, 'Flora Indica, p. 8; Watt, Commercial Products of India,
p. 444, and Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 669.

5 S. L£vi, Journal asiatique, 191 1, II, pp. 123, 138.

8 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 79. See also Leclerc, Trait6 des simples, Vol. I,
p. 347-

^ W. Heyd, Histoire du commerce du levant. Vol. II, p. 676.

8 Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 979.

Irano-Sinica — ^Zedoary, Ginger 545

Steingass as "zedoary, a Chinese root." Further, we read under mdh-
parwdr or parwtn, ^'zedoaxy, a Chinese root like ginger, but perfumed."

7, Abu Mansur distinguishes under the Arabic name zanjabll three
kinds of ginger (product of Amomum zingiber, or Zingiber officinale), —
Chinese, Zanzibar, and Melinawi or Zurunbaj, the best being the
Chinese.^ According to Steingass,^ Persian anqala denotes "a kind
of China ginger."^ The Persian word (likewise in Arabic) demonstrates
that the product was received from India: compare Prakrit singabera,
Sanskrit gr^gavera (of recent origin),^ Old Arabic zangabtl, Pahlavi
^angavlr, New Persian ^ankalll, Arabic-Persian zanjabll, Armenia,n
snrvel or snkrvil (from *singivel), Greek ^lyyl^epis, Latin zingiberi;
Madagasy ^akavtru (Indian loan-word).^

The word galangal, denoting the aromatic rhizome of Alpinia
galanga, is not of Chinese origin, as first supposed by D. Hanbury,^
and after him by Hirth^ and Giles. ^ The error was mainly provoked
by the fact that the Arabic word from which the European name is
derived was wrongly written by Hanbury khalanjdn, while in fact it is
khulanjdn (xUlandi^dn) , Persian xdwalinjdn. The fact that Ibn Khor-
dadzbeh, who wrote about a.d. 844-848, mentions khulanjdn as one of
the products of China,^ does not prove that the Arabs received this
word from China; for this rhizome is not a product peculiar to China,
but is intensively grown in India, and there the Arabs made the first
acquaintance of it. Ibn al-Baitar^'^ states expressly that khulanjdn
comes from India; and, as was recognized long ago, the Arabic word
is derived from Sanskrit kulanja,^^ which denotes Alpinia galanga.
The European forms with ng {galangan, galgan, etc.) were suggested by
the older Arabic pronunciation khUlangdnP In Middle Greek we have

1 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 76.

^ Persian Dictionary, p. 113.

' Concerning ginger among the Arabs, cf. Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. II,
p. 217; and regarding its preparation, see G. Ferrand, Textes relatifs ^ I'Extr^me-
Orient, p. 609.

< Cf. the discussion of E. Hultzsch and P. W. Thomas in Journal Roy. As. Soc,
1912, pp. 475, 1093. See also Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 374.

^ The curious word for "ginger" in Ku6a or Tokharian B, tvdnkaro (S. L£vi,
Journal asiatique, 191 1, II, pp. 124, 137), is not yet explained.

^ Science Papers, p. 373.

^ Chinesische Studien, p. 219.

8 Glossary of Reference, p. 102.

8 G. Ferrand, Textes relatifs h. rExtrSme-Orient, p. 31.

^0 Ibid., p. 259. Cf. also Achundow, Abu Mansur, p. 60.

" Roediger and Pott, Z. K. d. MorgenL, Vol. VII, 1850, p. 128.

12 E. Wiedemann {Sitzher. Phys.-Med. Soz. Erl., Vol. XLV, 1913, p. 44) gives
as Arabic forms also xaulangdd and xalangdn.

546 Sino-Iranica

KokovT^ia, xctuXtfei^, and yakayya) in Russian, kalgdn. The whole group
has nothing to do with Chinese kao-lian-kian} Moreover, the latter
refers to a different species, Alpinia officinarum; while Alpinia galanga
does not occur in China, but is a native of Bengal, Assam, Burma,
Ceylon, and the Konkan. Garcia da Orta was already well posted on
the differences between the two.^

8. Abu Mansur mentions the medical properties of mdmlran.^
According to Achundow,^ a rhizome originating from China, and
called in Turkistan momiran, is described by Dragendorff , and is re-
garded by him as identical with the so-called mishmee (from Coptis
teeta Wall.), which is said to be styled mamiracin in the Caucasus. He
further correlates the same drug with Ranunculus ficaria {xe\id6vLov
rb iJLLKp6v)y subsequently described by the Arabs under the name
mamirun. Al-Jafiki is quoted by Ibn al-Baitar as saying that the
mdmlrdn comes from China, and that its properties come near to
those of Curcuma;^ these roots, however, are also a product of Spain,
the Berber country, and Greece.^ The Sheikh DaQd says that the best
which comes from India is blackish, while that of China is yellowish.
Ibn Batata^ mentions the importation of mdmlrdn from China, saying
that it has the same properties as kurkum. Hajji Mahomed, in his
accoimt of Cathay {ca, 1550), speaks of a little root growing in the
mountains of Succuir (Su-Sou in Kan-su), where the rhubarb grows,
and which they call Mambroni Cini (mdmtrdn-i Clnt, "mamiran of
China"). "This is extremely dear, and is used in most of their ail-
ments, but especially where the eyes are affected. They grind it on
a stone with rose-water, and anoint the eyes with it. The result is
wonderfully beneficial."^ In 1583 Leonhart Rauwolf^ mentions

^ Needless to say that the vivisections of Hirth, who did not know the Sanskrit
term, lack philological method.

2 Markham, Colloquies, p. 208, Garcia gives lavandou as the name used in
China; this is apparently a corrupted Malayan form (cf. Javanese laos). In Java, he
says, there is another larger kind, called lancuaz; in India both are styled lancuaz. This
is Malayan /e»^wtya5, Makasar lankuwasa, Cam lakuah or lakuak, Tagalog lankuas.
The Arabic names are written by Garcia calvegiam, chamligiam, and galungem; the
author's Portuguese spelling, of course, must be taken into consideration.

3 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 138.

4 Ibid., p. 268.

5 Leclerc, Traits des simples. Vol. II, p. 441. Dioscorides remarks that the
sap of this plant has the color of saffron.

8 In Byzantine Greek it is naii-qpk or nenripkv, derived from the Persian- Arabic
word.

7 Ed. of Defr^mery and Sanguinetti, Vol. II, p. 186.

8 Yule, Cathay, new ed.. Vol. I, p. 292.

^ Beschreibung der Raiss inn die Morgenl^nder, p. 126.

Irano-Sinica — Mamiran, Rhubarb 547

the drug mamirani tckini for eye-diseases, being yellowish like Curcuma,

Bernier mentions mamiran as one of the products brought by the
caravans from Tibet. Also according to a modem Mohammedan source,
mamiran and rhubarb are exported from Tibet.^

Mamira is a reputed drug for eye-diseases, applied to bitter roots
of kindred properties but of dijfferent origin. By some it is regarded as
the rhizome of Coptis teeta {tlta being the name of the drug in the Mishmi
country); by others, from Thalictrum foliosum, a tall plant common
throughout the temperate Himalaya and in the Kasia Hills.^ In another
passage, however, Yule^ suggests that this root might be the ginseng
of the Chinese, which is highly improbable.

It is most likely that by mamira is understood in general the root of
Coptis teeta. This is a ranunculaceous plant, and the root has some-
times the appearance of a bird's claw. It is shipped in large quantities
from China (Chinese hwan-lien S 31) via Singapore to India. The
Chinese regard it as a panacea for a great many ills; among others, for
clearing inflamed eyes.

9. Abu Mansur discriminates between two kinds of rhubarb, — the
Chinese (rlwand-i slm) and that of Khorasan, adding that the former
is most employed.* Accordingly a species of rhubarb (probably Rheum
ribes) must have been indigenous to Persia. Yaqut says that the finest
kind grew in the soil of Nisapur.^ According to E. Boissier,® Rheum
ribes occurs near Van and in Agerowdagh in Armenia, on Mount Pir
Omar Gudrun in Kurdistan, in the Daena Mountain of eastern Persia,
near Persepolis, in the province Aderbeijan in northern Persia, and in
the mountains of Baluchistan. There is a general Iranian name for
"rhubarb": Middle Persian rewas, New Persian rewds, rewand, rlwand
(hence Armenian erevant), Kurd rtwds, rlbds; Balu6i ravaS; Afghan
rawdL'' The Persian name has penetrated in the same form into Arabic

1 Ch. Schefer, Histoire de I'Asie centrale par Mir Abdoul Kerim Boukhary,
p. 239. Cf. also R. Dozy, Supplement aux dictionnaires arabes, Vol. II, p. 565.

2 Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 548.

3 Cathay, Vol. I, p. 292.

* AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 74. Chinese rhubarb is also called simply tint
("Chinese") in Persian, pnl in Arabic.

5 Barbier de Meynard, Diet. g6ogr. de la Perse, p. 579.

^ Flora Orientalis, Vol. IV, p. 1004. Rheum ribes does not occur in China or
Central Asia.

^ The Afghan word in particular refers to Rheum spiciforme, which grows wild
and abundantly in many parts of Afghanistan. When green, the leaf-stalks are
called rawds; and when blanched by heaping up stones and gravel around them,
lukri; when fresh, they are eaten either raw or cooked (Watt, Dictionary, Vol.VI,
p. 487). The species under notice occurs also in Kan-su, China: Forbes and

548 Sino-Iranica

and Turkish, likewise into Russian as reven' and into Serbian as reved.
It is assumed also that Greek prjov (from *rewon) and pd are derived from
Iranian, and it is more than likely that Iran furnished the rhubarb
known to the ancients. The two Greek names first appear in Dios-
corides,^ who states that the plant grows in the regions beyond the
Bosporus, for which reason it was subsequently styled rha ponticum
or rha barbarum (hence our rhubarb, Spanish ruibarbo, Italian rabarbaro,
French rhubarbe), — an interesting case analogous to that of the Hu
plants of the Chinese. In the fourth centiury, Ammianus Marcellinus^
states that the plant receives its name from the River Rha ('Pa, Finnish
Rau, Rawa), on the banks of which it grows. This is the Volga, but the
plant does not occtir there. It is clear that Ammianus' opinion is
erroneous, being merely elicited by the homophony of the names of
the plant and the river. Pliny^ describes a root termed rhacoma, which
when pounded yields a color like that of wine but inclining to safiEron,
and which was brought from beyond the Pontus. Certain it is that
this drug represents some species of Rheum, in my opinion identical
with that of Iran.'* There is no reason to speculate, as has been done by
some authors, that the rhubarb of the ancients came from China; for
the Chinese did not know rhubarb, as formerly assumed, from time
immemorial. This is shown at the outset by the composite name ta
hwan :k, M C'the great yellow one") or hwan Hah "M ^(''the yellow
good one'O, merely descriptive attributes, while for all genuinely ancient
plants there is a root-word of a single syllable. The alleged mention of
rhubarb in the Pen kin or Pen ^5'ao, attributed to the mythical Emperor
Sen-nufi, proves nothing; that work is entirely spurious, and the text
in which we have it at present is a reconstruction based on quotations
in the preserved Pen-ts'ao literature, and teems with interpolations and
anachronisms.^ All that is certain is that rhubarb was known to the

Hemsley, Journal Linnean Soc, Vol. XXVI, p. 355. There is accordingly no rea-
son to seek for an outside origin of the Iranian word (cf. Schrader, Reallexikon,
p. 685). The Iranian word originally designated an indigenous Iranian species,
and was applied to Rheum officinale and palmatum from the tenth century onward,
when the roots of these species were imported from China.

1 III, 2. Theophrastus is not acquainted with this genus.

2 XXII. vm, 28.
5 XXVII, 105.

^ Fluckiger and Hanbury (Pharmacographia, p. 493) state, "Whether pro-
duced in the regions of the Euxine (Pontus), or merely received thence from remoter
countries, is a question that cannot be solved." The authors are not acquainted
with the Iranian species, and their scepticism is not justified.

5 It is suspicious that, according to Wu P'u of the third century. Sen Nun and
Lei Kun ascribed poisonous properties to ta hwan, while this in fact is not true.
The Pen kin (according to others, the Pie lu) states that it is non-poisonous.

Irano-Sinica — ^Rhubarb 549

Chinese in the age of the Han, for the name ta hwan occurs on one of
the wooden tablets of that period discovered in Turkistan by Sir A.
Stein and deciphered by Chavannes.i

Abu Mansur, as cited above, is the first Persian author who speaks
of Chinese rhubarb. He is followed by a number of Arabic writers.
It is therefore reasonable to infer that only in the course of the tenth
century did rhubarb develop into an article of trade from China to
western Asia. In 11 54 Edrisi mentions rhubarb as a product of China
growing in the mountains of Buthihk (perhaps north-eastern Tibet) .^
Ibn Sa'id, who wrote in the thirteenth century, speaks of the abundance
of rhubarb in China.^ Ibn al-Baitar treats at great length of rawend,
by which he understands Persian and Chinese rhubarb,^ and of rlbds,
"very common in Syria and the northern countries," identified by
Leclerc with Rheum rihes}

Marco Polo relates that rhubarb is found in great abundance over
aU mountains of the province of Sukchur (Su-Cou in Kan-su), and that
merchants go there to buy it, and carry it thence all over the
world.* In another passage he attributes rhubarb also to the moimtains
around the city of Su-6ou in Kian-su,^ which, Yule says, is believed by
the most competent authorities to be quite erroneous. True it is that
rhubarb has never been found in that province or anywhere in middle
China; neither is there an allusion to this in Chinese accounts, which
restrict the area of the plant to Sen-si, Kan-su, Se-6'wan, and Tibet.
Nevertheless it would not be impossible that at Polo's time a sporadic
attempt was made to cultivate rhubarb in the environs of Su-6ou. Friar
Odoric mentions rhubarb for the province Kansan (Kan-su), growing
in such abimdance that you may load an ass with it for less than six
groats.^

Chinese records tell us very little about the export-trade in this
article. Cao Zu-kwa alone mentions rhubarb among the imports of

^ Documents chinois d^couverts dans les sables du Turkestan oriental, p. 115,
No. 527.

2 W. Heyd, Histoire du commerce du levant, Vol. II, p. 665. See also FLtJcEGER
and Hanbury, Pharmacographia, pp. 493-494.

' G. Ferrand, Textes relatifs h. TExtr^me-Orient, p. 350.

* Leclerc, Traits des simples. Vol. II, pp. 155-164.

5 Ihid., p. 190. This passage was unknown to me when I identified above the
Persian term rlwand with this species, arriving at this conclusion simply by consult-
ing Boissier's Flora.

6 Yule, Marco Polo, Vol. I, p. 217.

7 Ibid., Vol. II, p. 181.

8 Yule, Cathay, Vol. II, p. 247.

550 Sino-Iranica

San-fu-ts'i (Palembang) and Malabar.^ In vain also should we look in
Chinese books for anything on the subject that would correspond to the
importance attached to it in the West.

Garcia da Orta (1562) held it for certain that "all the rhubarb
that comes from Ormuz to India first comes from China to Ormuz by
the province of Uzbeg which is part of Tartary. The fame is that it
comes from China by land, but some say that it grows in the same
province, at a city called f amarcander (Samarkand) } But this is very
bad and of little weight. Horses are purged with it in Persia, and I
have also seen it so used in Balagate. It seems to me that this is the
rhubarb which in Europe we called ravam turquino, not because it is
of Turkey but from there." He emphasizes the point that there is no
other rhubarb than that from China, and that the rhubarb coming to
Persia or Uzbeg goes thence to Venice and to Spain; some goes to
Venice by way of Alexandria, a good deal by Aleppo and Syrian Tripoli,
all these routes being partly by sea, but chiefly by land;^ the rhubarb
is not so much powdered, for it is more rubbed in a month at sea than in
a year going by land.^ As early as the thirteenth century at least, as we
see from Ibn al-Baitar, what was known to the Arabs as "rhubarb of
the Turks or the Persians," in fact hailed from China. In the same
manner, it was at a later time that in Etu"ope "Russian, Turkey, and
China rhubarb" were distinguished, these names being merely in-
dicative of the various routes by which the drug was conveyed to
Europe from China.^ Also Christoval Acosta notes the corruption
of rhubarb at sea and its overland transportation to Persia, Arabia,
and Alexandria. ^^

1 HiRTH, Chau Ju-kua, pp. 61, 88.

2 Probably Rheum ribes, mentioned above.

' Leonhart Rauwolf (Beschreibung der Raiss inn die Morgenlander, 1583,
p. 461) reports that large quantities of rhubarb are shipped from India to Aleppo
both by sea and by land.

* Cf. Markham, Colloquies, pp. 390-392.

^ In regard to the Russian trade in rhubarb see G. Cahen, Le livre de comptes
de la caravane russe k P6kin, p. 108 (Paris, 191 1).

^ Reobarbaro (medicina singular, y digna de ser de todo el linage humano ve-
nerada) se halla solamente dentro de la China, de donde lo traen a vender a Cataon
(que es el puerto de mas comercio de la China, donde estan los Portugueses) y de
alii viene por mar a la India: y deste que viene por mar no se haze mucho caso, por
venir, por. la mayor parte corropido (por quanto el Reobarbaro se corrope co mucha
facilidad enla mar) y dela misma tierra d^tro de la China, lo lleuan a la Tartaria,
y por la prouincia de Vzbeque lo Ueua a Ormuz, y a toda la Persia, Arabia, y Alex-
adria: de dode se distribuye por toda la Europa (Tractado de las drogas, y medicinas
de las Indias Orientales, p. 287, Burgos, 1576). Cf. also Linschoten (Vol. II,
p. 10 1, ed. of Hakluyt Society), who, as in most of his notices of Indian products,
exploits Garcia.

Irano-Sinica — Rhubarb, Various Plants 551

John Gerarde^ illustrates the rhubarb-plant and annotates, "It
is brought out of the countrie of Sina (commonly called China) which
is towarde the east in the upper part of India, and that India which is
without the river Ganges: and not at all Ex Scenitarum provincia,
(as many do unadvisedly thinke) which is in Arabia the happie, and far
from China," etc. **The best rubarbe is that which is brought from
China fresh and newe," etc.

Watt^ gives a Persian term revande-hindi (''Indian rhubarb") for
Rheum emodi. Curiously, in Hindustani this is called Hindi-revand
^ml (''Chinese rhubarb of India"), and in Bengali Bangla-revan cml
("Chinese rhubarb of Bengal"), indicating that the Chinese product
was preeminently in the minds of the people, and that the Himalayan
rhubarbs were only secondary substitutes.

10. Abu Mansur^ mentions under the Arabic name ratta a fruit
called "Indian hazel-nut" (bunduq-i hindl), also Chinese Salsola kali.
It is the size of a small plum, contains a small blackish stone, and
is brought from China. It is useful in chronic diseases and in cases of
poisoning, and is hot and dry in the second degree. This is Sapindus
mukorossi, in Chinese wu (or mu)-hwan-tse ^ (or /fC) S ? (with a
number of synonymes), the seeds being roasted and eaten.

11. Arabic suk, a drug composed of several ingredients, according
to Ibn Sina, was originally a secret Chinese remedy formed with amlaj
(Sanskrit dmalaka, Phyllanthus emblica, the emblic myrobalan) .•* It
is the ^MW) an-mo-lo, *an-mwa-lak, of the Chinese.^ In Persian it
is amala or amula.

12. Persian guli xaira (xatru) is explained as Chinese and Persian
hollyhock (Althcea rosea). ^ This is the ^u k'wei ^ # ("mallow of Se-
S'wan") of the Chinese, also called ^un k'wei ("mallow of the Zufi").
It is the common hollyhock, which Stuart^ thinks may have been
originally introduced into China from some western country.

13. Ibn al-Baitar^ speaks of a "rose of China" {ward slni), usually
called nisrln. According to Leclerc, this is a malvaceous plant. In
Persian we find gul-clnl ("rose of China"), the identification of which,

1 The Herball or Generall Historic of Plantes, p. 317 (London, 1597).

2 Dictionary, Vol. VI, p. 486.

3 AcHUNDOW, Abu Mansur, p. 74.

4 E. Seidel, Mechithar, p. 215.

^ Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 30, p. 5 b; Fan yi min yi tsi, Ch. 8, p. i. Stuart (Chinese
Materia Medica, p. 421) wrongly identifies the name with Spondias amara.
•^ Steingass, Persian Dictionary, p. 1092.
^ Chinese Materia Medica, p. 33.
8 Leclerc, Traits des simples. Vol. Ill, pp. 369, 409.

552 Sino-Iranica

judging from what Steingass says, is not exactly known. The Arabic
author, further, has a ^ah-slnl ("Chinese king"), described as a drug
in the shape of small, thin, and black tabloids prepared from the sap
of a plant. It is useful as a refrigeraat for feverish headache and in-
flamed tumors. It is reduced to a powder and aprplied to the diseased
spot.^ Leclerc annotates that, according to the Persian treatises, this
plant originating from China, as indicated by its name, is serviceable
for headache in general. Dimaski, who wrote about 1325, ascribes
^dh-'6lnl to the island of Cankhay in the Malayan Archipelago, saying
that its leaves are known under the name "betel."^ Steingass, in
his Persian Dictionary, explains the term as "the expressed juice of
a plant brought from China, good for headaches." I do not know what
plant is understood here.

14. According to Ibn al-Baitar, the mango (Arabic anhd) is
found only in India and China.^ This is Mangifera indica (family
Anacardiaceae) , a native of India, and the queen of the Indian fruits,
counting several hundreds of varieties. Its Sanskrit name is dmraj
known to the Chinese in the transcription ^ M an-lo, *am-la(ra).
Persian amba and Arabic anbd are derived from the same word. During
the T'ang period the fruit was grown in Fergana."* Malayan manga
(like our mango) is based on Tamil mangas, and is the foundation of the
Chinese transcription mun S . The an-lo tree is first mentioned for
Cen-la (Camboja) in the Sui Annals,' where its leaves are compared
with those of the jujube (Zizyphus vulgaris), and its fruits with those
of a plum {Prunus tri flora),

15. Isak Ibn AmrSn says, "Sandal is a wood that comes to us from
China. "^ Santalum album is grown in Kwari-tufi to some extent, but it
is more probable that the sandal-wood used in western Asia came from
India (cf. Persian Randan, Randal, Armenian Randan, Arabic vandal,
from Sanskrit candana) .

16. Antaki notes the xalen tree ("birch") in India and China; and
Ibn al-Kebir remarks that it is particiilarly large in China, in the
country of the Rus (Russians) and Btilgar, where are made from it
vessels and plates which are exported to distant places; the arrows
made of this wood are unsurpassed. According to Qazwini and Ibn

1 Ibid., p. 314.

2 G. Ferrand, Textes relatifs k rExtrSme-Orient, p. 381.

» Leclerc, Trait6 des simples, Vol. II, p. 471. Cf. Ibn Batata, ed. of De-
FR^MERY and Sanguinetti, Vol. Ill, p. 127; Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 553.
* T*ai pHn hwan yu ki, Ch. 181, p. 13 b.
8 Sui Su, Ch. 82, p. 3 b.
« Leclerc, op. cit., p. 383.

Irano-Sinica — Mango, Birch, Tea 553

Fadlan, the tree occurred in Tabaristan, whence its wood reached the
comb-makers of Rei.^ The Arabic xalen, Persian xadan or xadanj,
is of Altaic origin: Uigur qadan, Koibal, Soyot and Karagas kaden,
Cuwai xoran, Yakut xatyn, Mordwinian ktlen^ all referring to the birch
(Betula alba). It is a common tree in the mountains of northern China
{hwa JH ), first described by C'en Ts'an-k*i of the eighth century. ^ The
bark was used by the Chinese for making torches and candles filled with
wax, as a padding or lining of underclothes and boots, for knife-hilts
and the decoration of bows, the latter being styled ''birch-bark bows."'
The universal use of birch-bark among all tribes of Siberia for pails,
baskets, and dishes, and as a roof -covering, is well known.

17. It wotild be very desirable to have more exact data as to
when and how the consumption of Chinese tea {Camellia theifera)
spread among Mohammedan peoples. The Arabic merchant Soleiman,
who wrote about a.d. 851, appears to be the first outsider who gives an
accurate notice of the use of tea-leaves as a beverage on the part of the
Chinese, availing himself of the curious name sax.* It is strange that
the following Arabic authors who wrote on Chinese affairs have nothing
to say on the subject. In the splendid collection of Arabic texts relative
to the East, so ably gathered and interpreted by G. Ferrand, tea
is not even mentioned. It is likewise absent in the Persian pharmacology
of Abu Mansur and in the vast compilation of Ibn al-Baitar. On the
other hand, Chinese mediaeval authors like Cou K'ii-fei and Cao Zu-
kwa do not note tea as an article of export from China. As far as
we can judge at present, it seems that the habit of tea-drinking spread
to western Asia not earlier than the thirteenth century, and that it
was perhaps the Mongols who assumed the r61e of propagators. In
Mongol, Turkish, Persian, Indian, Portuguese, Neo-Greek, and Rus-
sian, we equally find the word ^aiy based on North-Chinese ^'a.^ Ramu-

1 G. Jacob, Handelsartikel der Araber, p. 60.

2 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 35 B, p. 13.

3 Ko ku yao lun, Ch. 8, p. 8 b. Cf. also O. Franke, Beschreibung des Jehol-
Gebietes, p. 77.

"* Reinaud, Relation des voyages, Vol. I, p. 40 (cf. Yule, Cathay, new ed.,
Vol. I, p. 131). Modern Chinese I'a was articulated *ja (dza) in the T'ang period;
but, judging from the Korean and Japanese form sa, a variant sa may be supposed
also for some Chinese dialects. As the word, however, was never possessed of a
final consonant in Chinese, the final spirant in Soleiman's sax is a peculiar Arabic
affair (provided the reading of the manuscript be correct).

5 The Tibetans claim a peculiar position in the history of tea. They still have
the Chinese word in the ancient form ja (d^a), and, as shown by me in T'oung Pao
(1916, p. 505), have imported and consumed tea from the days of the T'ang. In
fact, tea was the dominant economic factor and the key-note in the political rela-
tions of China and Tibet.

554 Sino-Iranica

sio, in the posthumous introduction to his edition of Marco Polo pub-
lished in 1545, mentions having learned of the tea beverage from a
Persian merchant, Hajji Muhammed.^ A. de Mandelslo,^ in 1662,
still reports that the Persians, instead of Thd, drink their Kahwa (coffee).
In the fifteenth century, A-lo-tifi, an envoy from T'ien-fafi (Arabia),
in presenting his tribute to an emperor of the Ming, solicited tea-
leaves.^

The Kew Bulletin for 1896 (p. 157) contains the following inter-
esting information on "White Tea of Persia:" —

"In the Consular Report on the trade of Ispahan and Yezd (Foreign Office,
Annual Series, 1896, No. 1662) the following particulars are given of the tea trade
in Persia: 'Black or Calcutta tea for Persian consumption continues to arrive in
steady quantities, 2,000,000 pounds representing last year's supply. White tea from
China, or more particularly from Tongking, is consumed only in Yezd, and, there-
fore, the supply is limited.' Through the courtesy of Mr. John R. Preece, Her
Majesty's Consul at Ispahan, Kew received a small quantity of the 'White tea'
above mentioned for the Museum of Economic Botany. The tea proved to be very
similar to that described in the Kew Bulletin under the name of P'u-erh tea (Kew
Bulletin, 1889, pp. 118 and 139). The finest of this tea is said to be reserved for the
Court of Peking. The sample from Yezd was composed of the undeveloped leaf
buds so thickly coated with fine hairs as to give them a silvery appearance. Owing
to the shaking in transit some of the hairs had been rubbed off and had formed small
yellow pellets about ^ inch diameter. Although the hairs are much more
abundant than usual there is little doubt that the leaves have been derived from
the Assam tea plant (Camellia theifera, Griff.) found wild in some parts of Assam
and Burma but now largely cultivated in Burma, Tongking, etc. The same species
has been shown to yield Lao tea (Kew Bulletin, 1892, p. 219), and Leppett tea (Kew
Bulletin, 1896, p. 10). The liquor from the Persian white tea was of a pale straw
colour with the delicate flavour of good China tea. It is not unknown but now little
appreciated in the EngHsh market."

18. The Arabic stone-book sailing under the false flag of Aristotle
distinguishes several kinds of onyx ijiza'), which come from two places,
China and the country of the west, the latter being the finest. Qazwini
gives Yemen and China as localities, telling an anecdote that the
Chinese disdain to quarry the stone and leave this to specially privileged
slaves, who have no other means of livelihood and sell the stone only
outside of China. ^ As formerly stated,^ this may be the pi yii^ '^ oi
the Chinese.

19. Qazwini also mentions a stone under the name husyat ihlls
C' devil's testicles ") which should occur in China. Whoever carries it is

1 Yule, Cathay, new ed., Vol. I, p. 292; or Hobson-Jobson, p. 906.

2 Travels, p. 15.

3 Bretschneider, Mediaeval Researches, Vol. II, p. 300.

* J. RusKA, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 145; and Steinbuch des Qazwini,
p. 12; Leclerc, Trait6 des simples, Vol. I, p. 354.
^ Notes on Turquois, p. 52.

Irano-Sinica — Minerals, Metals 555

not held up by bandits; also his baggage in which the stone is hidden is
safe from attack, and its wearer rises in the esteem of his fellow-mates.^
I do not know what Chinese stone is understood here.

20. It is well known that the Chinese have a peculiar alloy of copper
consisting of copper 40.4, zinc 25.4, nickel 31.6, iron 2.6, and occa-
sionally some silver and arsenic. It looks white or silver-like in the
finish, and is hence called pai-Vun (''white copper")- In Anglo-Indian
it is tootnague (Tamil tutundgum, Portuguese tutanaga)} It is also
known to foreigners in the East under the Cantonese name paktung.
It is mentioned as early as a.d. 265 in the dictionary Kwan ya M 51,^
where the definition occurs that pai-Vun is called wu % .

This alloy was adopted by the Persians under the name xdr-clnl
(Arabic xdr-slnl).^ The Persians say that the Chinese make this alloy
into mirrors and arrowheads, a wound from which is mortal.^ Vullers
cites a passage from the poet Abu al Ma'am, "One who rejects and
spurns his friend pierces his heart with xdr-slnl.''^ Qazwini speaks of
very efficient lance-heads and harpoons of this metal. The Persians
have further the term isfldruj, which means "white copper," and which
accordingly represents a literal rendering of Chinese pai-Vun. More-
over, there is Persian septdmi (Arabic isbiaddri, isbaddrih); that is,
"whitish in appearance." English spelter (German spiauter, speauter^
spialter, Russian spiauter), a designation of zinc, is derived from this
word.^ Dimasqi, who wrote about 1325, explains xdr-slnl as a metal
from China, the yellow color of copper being mixed with black and
white; the mirrors imported from China, caUed "mirrors of distortion, "
are made from this alloy. It is an artificial product, hard, and fragile;
it is injured by fire, after being wrought. Qazwini adds that no other
metal yields a ring equalling that of this alloy, and that none is so suit-
able for the manufacture of large and small bells.^

21. In the thirteenth century the Arabs became acquainted with
saltpetre, which they received from China; for they designate it as

iRusKA, ibid., p. 21.

2 Cf. Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 932. This, of course, is a misnomer, as the
Indian word, connected with Persian tutiya (above, p. 512), in fact refers to zinc.

3 Ch. 8 A, p. 16 (ed. of Kifu ts'un su).

* Literally, "stone of China." Spanish kazini is derived from the Arabic word.
5 Steingass, Persian Dictionary, p. 438.

^ It seems also that the Persian word is the source of the curious Japanese term
sabari or sahari, which denotes the white copper of the Chinese. The foreign char-
acter of this product is also indicated by the writing i^ S in •

7Cf. E. Wiedemann, Sitzber. Phys.-Med. Soz. ErL, Vols. XXXVII, 1905,
pp. 403-404; and XLV, 1913, p. 46; R. Dozy, Supplement, Vol. I, p. 857.

556 Sino-Iranica

thelg as-sln ("Chinese snow"), and the rocket as sahm xatdl ("Chinese
arrow ").^

22. Ibn al-Faqih extols the art-industries of the Chinese, par-
ticularly pottery, lamps, and other such durable implements, which are
admirable as to their art and permanent in their execution.^ Kaolin is
known to the Persians as xdk-i cml ("Chinese earth"). In excellent
quality it is found in Kermanshah, but the art of making porcelain
there is now lost.^ The Persian term for porcelain is fag furl or fagfur4
i^lnl.^ Fagfur (Sogdian va7Vfir, "Son of Heaven"), as far as I know, is
the only sinicism to be found in Iranian, being a literal rendering of
Chinese Vien-tse % ■?.

23,. Persian (^ubi Um ("China root"), Neo-Sanskrit cobacml or
copacml (kub-Bm in the bazars of India), is the root of Smilax pseudo-
china, so-called Chinese sarsaparilla {Vu-fu-lin ihK^), a famous
remedy for the treatment of Morbus americanus, first introduced into
Europe by the returning sailors of Columbus, and into India by the
sailors of Vasco da Gama (Sanskrit phirangaroga, "disease of the
Franks"). It is first mentioned, together with the Chinese remedy, in
Indian writings of the sixteenth century, notably the Bhavaprakaga.^
Good information on this subject is given by Garcia da Orta, who
says, "As all these lands and China and Japan have this morbo napo-
litanOf it pleased a merciful God to provide this root as a remedy with
which good doctors can cure it, although the majority fall into error.
As it is cured with this medicine, the root was traced to the Chinese,
when there was a cure with it in the year 1535."^ Garcia gives a detailed
description of the shrub which he says is called lampatam by the Chi-
nese J This transcription corresponds to Chinese len-fan-fwan ?p ffi ®
(literally, "cold rice ball"), a synonyme of fu-fu-Un; pronounced at

1 G. Jacob, Oriental Elements of Culture in the Occident {Smithsonian Report
for 1902, p. 520). See also Leclerc, Trait6 des simples, Vol. I, pp. 71, 333; and
QuATREM^RE, Joumal asiatique, 1850, I, p. 222.

2 E. Wiedemann, Zur Technik bei den Arabem, Sitzber. Phys.-Med. Soz. ErL,

Vol. XXXVIII, 1906, p. 355.

' ScHLiMMER, Terminologie, p. 334.

* See Beginnings of Porcelain, p. 126.

6 J. Jolly, Indische Medicin, p. 106.

6 C. Markham, Colloquies, p. 379. Cf. also Fluckiger and Hanbury, Phar-
macographia, p. 712. F. Pyrard (Vol. I, p. 182; ed. of Hakluyt Society), who trav-
elled in India from 1601 to 1610, observes, "Venereal disease is not so common,
albeit it is found, and is cured with China-wood, without sweating or anything
else. This disease they call farangui baescour (Arabic bdsUr, 'piles'), from its coming
to them from Europe." A long description of the remedy is given by Linschoten
(Vol. II, pp. 107-112, ed. of Hakluyt Society).

^ C. AcosTA (Tractado de las drogas, p. 80) writes this word lampatan.

Irano-Sinica — China Root, Paper 557

Canton lan-fan-fun, at Amoy lin-hoan-toan. It must be borne in mind
that final Portuguese m is not intended for the labial nasal, but indicates
the nasalization of the preceding vowel, am and a being alternately
used. The frequent final guttural nasal n of Chinese has always been
reproduced by the Portuguese by a nasalized vowel or diphthong; for
instance, tufao (*' typhoon")* given by Femao Pinto as a Chinese
term, where /ao corresponds to Chinese fun ("wind"); tutaOf repro-
ducing Chinese iu-Vun ?P ft ("Lieutenant-General"). Thus the tran-
scription lampatam moves along the same line. The Portuguese designa-
tion of the root is raiz da China ("root of China").

There is an overland trade in this root from China by way of Turkis-
tan to Ladakh, and probably also to Persia.^ The plant has been known
to the Chinese from ancient times, being described by T'ao Hufi-kin.^
The employment of the root in the treatment of Morbus americanus
(yan met tu hjuan ^ tS # JS) is described at length by Li Si-6en, who
quotes this text from Wafi Ki 6e ^, a celebrated physician, who lived
during the Kia-tsifi period (1522-66), and author of the Pen ts'ao hui
pien ^ ^ # li. This is an excellent confirmation of the synchronous
account of Garcia.' Li Si-Cen states expressly, "The yan-mei ulcers
are not mentioned in the ancient recipes, neither were there any people
afiiicted with this disease. Only recently did it arise in Kwari-tun,
whence it spread to all parts of China."

24. Of Chinese loan-words in Persian, Horn^ enumerates only
^di ("tea"), ^addn ("teapot"), ^du ("paper money"), and perhaps also
kdgab or kdgib ("paper"). As will be seen, there are many more Chinese
loans in Persian; but the word for **paper" is not one of them, although the
Persians received the knowledge of paper from the Chinese. This theory
was first set forth by Hirth,^ who asserts, "The Arabic word
kdghid for paper, derived from the Persian,^ can without great difficulty
be traced to a term ku-chih WL IK (ancient pronunciation kok-dz'),
which means 'paper from the bark of the mulberry-tree,' and was
already used in times of antiquity." This view has been accepted by

1 T'oung Pao, 1916, p. 477.

2 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 8 B, p. 2; also Ch. 4 b, p. 6 b; Bretschneider, Bot.
Sin., pt. Ill, p. 320.

^ I have sufficient material to enable me to publish at some later date a detailed
history of the disease from Chinese sources.

^ Grundriss der iran. Phil., Vol. I, pt. 2, p. 7.

5 T'oung Pao, Vol. I, 1890, p. 12; or Chines. Studien, p. 269.

^ In my opinion, the word is of Uigur origin {kagat, kagas), and was subsequently
adopted by the Persians, and from the Persians by the Arabs. In Persian we havfe
the forms kdyad, kdyid, kdyaz, and kdgiz (Baluci kdgad). Aside from this vacillating
mode of spelling, the word is decidedly non-Persian. See, further, below, p. 558.

558 Sino-Iranica

Karabacek and Hoernle.^ Let us assume for a moment that the prem-
ises on which this speculation is based are correct : how could the Uigur,
Persians, and Arabs make kdga5 out of a Chinese kok-ci (or dzi)?
How may we account for the vocalization a, which persists wherever the
word has taken root (Hindi kdgad, Urdu kdgaz, Tamil kdgidam, Mala-
yalam kdyitantj Kannada kdgada) P^ The Uigur and Persians, according
to their phonetic system, were indeed capable of reproducing the
Chinese word correctly if they so intended; in fact, Chinese loan-words
in the two languages are self-evident without torturing the evidence.
For myself, I am unable to see any coincidence between kok-ci and
kdgad. But this alleged kok-ci, in fact, does not exist. The word ku,
as written by Hirth, is known to every one as meaning "grain, cereals; "
and none of our dictionaries assigns to it the significance ''mulberry."
It is simply a character substituted for kou 18 (anciently *ku, without
a final consonant), which refers exclusively to the paper-mulberry
{Broussonetia papyrifera), expressed also (and this is the most common
word) by c'u ^. The Pen ts'ao kan mu^ gives the character ku ^ on
the same footing with ^'u, quoting the former from the ancient dic-
tionary Si min,^ and adding expressly that it has the phonetic value of
f^, and is written also ^ . The character ku, accordingly, to be read
kou, is merely a graphic variant, and has nothing to do with the word
ku (*kuk), meaning ''cereals."

According to Li Si-6en, this word kou (*ku) originates from the
language of C'u ®, in which it had the significance ''milk" (]^u ?L);
and, as the bark of this tree contained a milk-like sap, this word was
transferred to the tree. It is noteworthy in this connection that Ts'ai
Lun, the inventor of paper in a.d. 105, was a native of C*u. The
dialectic origin of the word kou shows well how we have two root-words
for exactly the same species of tree. This is advisedly stated by Li
§i-5en, who rejects as an error the opinion that the two words should
refer to two different trees; he also repudiates expressly the view that
the word kou bears any relation to the word ku in the sense of cereals or
rice. According to T*ao Hufi-kifi, the term kou U was used by the
people of the south, who, however, said also i'u ci; the latter word,

1 Journal Roy. As. Soc, 1903, p. 671.

2 According to Buhler (Indische Palaographie, p. 91), paper was introduced
into India by the Mohammedans after the twelfth century. The alleged Sanskrit
word for "paper," kdyagata, ferreted out by Hoernle (Journal Roy. As. Soc, 191 1,
p. 476), rests on a misunderstanding of a Sanskrit text, as has been shown by Lieut.-
Col. Waddell on the basis of the Tibetan translation of this text ({ibid., 1914,
pp. 136-137).

3 Ch. 36, p. 4.

^ See above, p. 201.

Irano-Sinica — Paper 559

indeed, has always been more common. Hirth's supposition of a former
pronunciation kok cannot be accepted; but, even did this alleged kok
exist, I should continue to disbelieve in the proposed etymology of the
Persian-Arabic word. There is no reason to assume that, because
paper was adopted by the Arabs and Persians from the Chinese, their
designation of it should hail from the same quarter. I do not know
of a foreign language that was willing to adopt from the Chinese
any designation for paper. Our word comes from the Greek-Latin
papyrus; Russian humaga originally means ''cotton," being ultimately
traceable to Middle Persian pambak.^ The Tibetans learned the tech-
nique of paper-making from the Chinese, but have a word of their own
to designate paper (^og-bu). So have the Japanese (kami) and the
Koreans (muntsi). The Mongols call paper tsagasun (Buryat tsdrasOy
sdrahan), a purely Mongol word, meaning ''the white one." Among
the Golde on the Amur I recorded the word xausal. The Lolo have
fo-i, the Annamese bia, the Cam baa^ baar, or biar, the Khmer credas,
which, like Malayan kertas, is borrowed from Arabic kirtas (Greek
xapT7]s).^ As stated, the Persian- Arabic word is borrowed from a
Turkish language: Uigur kagat or kagas; Tuba, Lebed, Kumandu,
Comanian kagat; Kirgiz, Karakirgiz, Taranci, and Kazan kagaz. The
origin of this word can be explained from Turkish; for in Lebed, Ku-
mandu, and Sor, we have kaga^ with the significance "tree-bark."

I need not repeat here the oft-told story of how the manufacture of
paper was introduced into Samarkand by Chinese captives in a.d. 751.
Prior to this date, as has been established by Karabacek, Chinese
paper was imported to Samarkand as early as 650—1, again in 707.^
Under the Sasanians, Chinese paper was known in Persia; but it was a
very rare article, and reserved for royal state documents.^

25. Another form in which paper reached the Persians was paper
money. It is well known that the Chinese were the originators of

1 See above, p. 490.

2 S. Fraenkel, Die aramaischen Fremdworter im Arabischen, p. 245.

^ Cf. HoERNLE, Journal Roy. As. Sac, 1903, p. 670. I regret being unable to
accept his general restilt that the Arabs or Samarkandis should be credited with the
invention of pure rag-paper (p. 674). This had already been accomplished in China,
and indeed was the work of Ts'ai Lun. I expect to come back to this problem on
another occasion. With all respect for the researches of Karabacek, Wiesner, and
Hoernle, I am not convinced that the far-reaching conclusions of these scholars are
all justified. We are in need of more investigations (and less theorizing), especially
of ancient papers made in China. There are numerous accounts of many sorts of
paper, hitherto unnoticed, in Chinese records, which should be closely studied.

^According to Masudi (B. de Meynard, Les Prairies d'or. Vol. II, p. 202);
see also E. Drouin, M6moire sur les Huns Ephthalites, p. 53 (reprint from Le
MusSon, 1895).

560 Sino-Iranica

paper bank-notes.^ The Mongol rulers introduced them into Persia,
first in 1294. The notes were direct copies of Kubilai's, even the Chinese
characters being imitated as part of the device upon them, and the
Chinese word c'ao ^ being employed. This word was then adopted
by the Persians as i^du or ^dv.^ The most interesting point about this
affair is that in that year (1294) the Chinese process of block-printing
was for the first time practised in Tabriz in connection with the printing
of these bank-notes.

In his graphic account describing the utilization of paper money
by the Great Khan, Marco Polo^ makes the following statement:
"He makes them take of the bark of a certain tree, in fact of the miil-
berry tree, the leaves of which are the food of the silkworms, — these
trees being so numerous that whole districts are full of them. What
they take is a certain fine white bast or skin which lies between the wood
of the tree and the thick outer bark, and this they make into something
resembling sheets of paper, but black. When these sheets have been
prepared they are cut up into pieces of different sizes.'* In the third
edition of Yule's memorable work, the editor, Henri Cordier,^ has
added the following annotation: "Dr. Bretschneider (History of
Botanical Discoveries, Vol. I, p. 4) makes the remark: 'Polo states
that the Great Khan causeth the bark of great mulberry trees, made
into something Hke paper, to pass for money.' He seems to be mistaken.
Paper in China is not made from mulberry-trees, but from the Brous-
sonetia papyrifera, which latter tree belongs to the same order of
Moraceae, The same fibres are used also in some parts of China for
making cloth, and Marco Polo alludes probably to the same tree when
stating that 4n the province of Cuiju (Kuei-chou) they manufacture
stuff of the bark of certain trees, which form very fine summer clothing.' "

This is a singular error of Bretschneider. Marco Polo is perfectly
correct: not only did the Chinese actually manufacture paper from
the bark of the mulberry-tree {Morus alha)^ but also it was this paper
which was preferred for the making of paper money. Bretschneider
is certainly right in saying that paper is made from the Broussonetia, but

1 Klaproth, Sur Torigine du papier-monnaie (in his Memoires relatifs k I'Asie,
Vol. I, pp. 375-388); Yule, Marco Polo, Vol. I, pp. 426-430; Anonymus, Paper
Money among the Chinese {Chin. Repository, Vol. XX, 1851, pp. 289-296); S. Sa-
BURO, The Origin of the Paper Currency {Journal Peking Or. Soc, Vol. II, 1889^
pp. 265-307); S. W. BusHELL, Specimens of Ancient Chinese Paper Money {ibid.,
pp. 308-316); H. B. Morse, Currency in China {Journal China Branch Roy. As. Soc.y
Vol. XXXVIII, 1907, pp. 17-31); etc.

2 For details consult Yule, /. c.

3 H. Yule, The Book of Ser Marco Polo, Vol. I, p. 423.

4 Ibid., p. 430.

Irano-Sinica — Paper Money 561

he is assuredly wrong in the assertion that paper is not made in China
from mulberry-trees. This fact he could have easily ascertained from
S. JuLiEN,^ who alludes to mulberry-tree paper twice, first, as "papier
de racines et d'^corce de miirier;" and, second, in speaking of the bark
paper from Broussonetiaj — "On emploie aussi pour le mtoe usage
I'ecorce 6! Hibiscus Rosa sinensis et de mllrier; ce dernier papier sert
encore k recueillir les graines de vers k soie." What is understood by
the latter process may be seen from plate i in Julien's earlier work on
sericulture,^ where the paper from the bark of the mulberry-tree is like-
wise mentioned.

The Ci p'u IK IS, a treatise on paper, written by Su Yi-kien Ji^ ^ IB
toward the close of the tenth century, enumerates, among the various
sorts of paper manufactured during his lifetime, paper from the bark
of the mulberry-tree (san pH ^ ^) made by the people of the north.^

Chinese paper money of mulberry-bark was known in the Islamic
world in the beginning of the fourteenth century; that is, during the
Mongol period. Accordingly it must have been manufactured in China
during the Yuan dynasty. Ahmed Sibab Eddin, who died in Cairo
in 1338 at the age of ninety-three, and left an important geographical
work in thirty volumes, containing interesting information on China
gathered from the lips of eye-witnesses, makes the following comment
on paper money, in the translation of Ch. Schefer:^ "On emploie
dans le Khita, en guise de monnaie, des morceaux d^un papier de forme
allong^e fabriqu^ avec des filaments de miiriers sur lequel est imprim^
le nom de Tempereur. Lorsqu'un de ces papiers est use, on le porte
aux officiers du prince et, moyennant une perte minime, on revolt un
autre billet en ^change, ainsi que cela a lieu dans nos h6tels des mon-
naies, pour les mati^res d'or et d'argent que Ton y porte potir toe
converties en pieces monnay^es."

And in another passage: "La monnaie des Chinois est faite de
billets fabriqu^s avec I'^corce du miirier. II y en a de grands et de

1 Industries anciennes et modernes de Tempire chinois, pp. 145, 149 (Paris
1869).

2 R6sum6 des principaux trait6s chinois sur la culture des miiriers et I'^ducation
des vers k soie, p. 98 (Paris, 1837). According to the notions of the Chinese, Julien
remarks, everything made from hemp, like cord and weavings, is banished from the
establishments where silkworms are reared, and our European paper would be
very harmful to the latter. There seems to be a sympathetic relation between the
silkworm feeding on the leaves of the mulberry and the mulberry paper on which
the cocoons of the females are placed.

2 Ko ci kin yiian, Ch. 37, p. 6.

* Relations des Musulmans avec les Chinois (Centenaire de I'Ecole des langues
orientales vivantes, Paris, 1895, p. 17).

562 Sino-Iranica

petits. ... On les fabrique avec des filaments tendres du m^irier et,
apres y avoir appose un sceau au nom de Tempereur, on les met en
circtilation."^

The bank-notes of the Ming dynasty were likewise made of mul-
berry-pulp, in rectangular sheets one foot long and six inches wide, the
material being of a greenish color, as stated in the Annals of the Dy-
nasty .^ It is clear that the Ming emperors, like many other institutions,
adopted this practice from their predecessors, the Mongols. Klaproth^
is wrong in saying that the assignats of the Sung, Kin, and Mongols
were all made from the bark of the tree cu (Broussonetia) , and those of
the Ming from all sorts of plants.^

In the Hui kian U 0 M IS, an interesting description of Turkistan
by two Manchu officials Surde and Fusambd, published in 1772,^ the
following note, headed "Mohammedan Paper" 0 -? ft, occurs: "There
are two sorts of Turkistan paper, black and white, made from mulberry-
bark, cotton ffl ^, and silk-refuse equally mixed, resulting in a coarse,
thick, strong, and tough material. It is cut into small Tolls fully a foot
long, which are burnished by means of stones, and are then fit for
writing.'*

Sir AuREL Stein^ reports that paper is still manufactured from mul-
berry-trees in Khotan. Also J. Wiesner,^ the meritorious investigator

^ Ihid., p. 20.

^ Min si, ch. ^1,^.1 (J^^«:®MS®J:ir^-KRA-+Kfffe).

The same text is found on a bill issued in 1375, reproduced and translated by
W. VissERiNG (On Chinese Currency, see plate at end of volume), the minister of
finance being expressly ordered to use the fibres of the mulberry-tree in the com-
position of these bills.

' M^moires relatifs h I'Asie, Vol. I, p. 387.

^ This is repeated by Rockhill (Rubruck, p. 201). I do not deny, of course,
that paper money was made from Broussonetia. The Chinese numismatists, in their
description of the ancient paper notes, as far as I know, make no reference to the
material (cf., for instance, Ts'iian pu Vun '^i ^^ W* ^> Ch. 5, p. 42; 6 A, p. 2;
6 B, p. 44). The Yiian H (Ch. 97, p. 3) does not state, either, the character of the
paper employed in the Mongol notes. My point is, that the Mongols, while they
enlisted Broussonetia paper for this purpose, used mulberry-bark paper as well,
and that the latter was exclusively utilized by the Ming.

^ A. Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 64. The John Crerar Library of
Chicago owns an old manuscript of this work, clearly written, in 4 vols, and chapters,
illustrated by nine ink-sketches of types of Mohammedans and a map. The volumes
are not paged.

^ Ancient Khotan, Vol. I, p. 134.

^ Mikroskopische Untersuchung alter ostturkestanischer Papiere, p. 9 (Vienna,
1902). I cannot pass over in silence a curious error of this scholar when he says
(p. 8) that it is not proved that Cannabis sativa (called by him "genuine hemp")
is cultivated in China, and that the so-called Chinese hemp paper should be intended
for China grass. Every tyro in things Chinese knows that hemp {Cannabis sativa)

Irano-Sinica — Paper Money, Parchment 563

of ancient papers, has included the fibre of Morus alba and M, nigra
among the materials to which his researches extended.

Mulberry-bark paper is ascribed to Bengal in the Si yan ^'ao kun
tien Zw ® # 19 S :tt ii by Hwari Sin-ts'efi ^ ^ #, published in 1520.1
Such paper is still made in Corea also, and is thicker and more solid
than that of China.^ The bark of a species of mulberry is utilized by
the Shan for the same purpose.^

As the mulberry-tree is eagerly cultivated in Persia in connection
with the silk-industry, it is possible also that the Persian paper in the
bank-notes of the Mongols was a product of the mulberry.^ At any
rate, good Marco Polo is cleared, and his veracity and exactness have
been established again.

Before the introduction of rag-paper the Persians availed them-
selves of parchment as writing-material. It is supposed by Herzfeld
that Darius Hystaspes introduced the use of leather into the royal
archives, but this interpretation has been contested.^ A fragment of
Ctesias preserved by Diodorus^ mentions the employment of parchment
(8L<j)depa) in the royal archives of Persia. The practice seems to be of
Semitic, probably Syrian, origin. In the business life of the Romans,
parchment (membrana) superseded wooden tablets in the first century
A.D.^ The Avesta and Zend written on prepared cow-skins with gold ink
is mentioned in the Artai-viraf-namak (i, 7). The Iranian word post
("skin") resulted in Sanskrit pusta or pustaka ("volume, book"),^
from which Tibetan po-ti is derived.^ On the other hand, the Persians
have borrowed from the Greek di,(f)depa ("skin, parchment") their
word daftar or defter ("book," Arabic daftar, diftar), which likewise

belongs to the oldest cultivated plants of the Chinese (see above, p. 293), and that
hemp paper is already hsted among the papers invented by Ts'ai Lun in a.d. 105
(of. Chavannes, Les Livres chinois avant I'invention du papier, Journal asiatique,
1905* P- 6 of the reprint).

1 Ch. B., p. 10 b (ed. of Pie Ma tai ts*un Su).

2 C. Dallet, Histoire de I'^gHse de Cor^e, Vol. I, p. CLXXxni.

' J. G. Scott and J. P. Hardiman, Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan
States, pt. I, Vol. II, p. 411.

^ The Persian word for the mulberry, tild, is supposed to be a loan-word from
Aramaic (Horn, Grundriss iran. Phil., Vol. I, pt. 2, p. 6); but this is erroneous
(see below, p. 582).

5 Cf. V. Gardthausen, Buchwesen im Altertum, p. 91.

^ II, 32.

' K. DziATZKO, Ausgewahlte Kapitel des antiken Buchwesens, p. 131.

8 R. Gauthiot in Memoir es Soc. de Linguistigue, Vol. XIX, 1915, p. 130.

* T*oung Pao, 1916, p. 452.

564 Sino-Iranica

spread to Central Asia (Tibetan deb-Ver, Mongol dehter, Manchu
dehtelin)}

The use of parchment on the part of the people of Parthia (An-si) has
already been noted by the mission of Can K'ien, who placed it on record
that "they make signs on leather, from side to side, by way of literary
records." It is accordingly certain that parchment was utilized in
Iran as early as the second century B.C. There are also later references
to this practice; for instance, in the Nan H,^ where it is said that the
Hu (Iranians) use sheep-skin ^ S as paper. The Chinese have hardly
ever made use of parchment for writing-purposes, but they prepare
parchment (from the skins of sheep, donkeys, or oxen) for the making
of shadow-play figures. The only parchment manuscripts ever found
in China were the Scriptures of the Jews of K'ai-fon, which are also
mentioned in their inscriptions.^

26. Most of the Chinese loan-words in Persian were imported by
the Mongol rulers in the thirteenth century (the so-called Il-IChans,
1 265-133 5), being chiefly terms relative to official and administrative
institutions. The best known of these is pdizdh, being a reproduction of
Chinese p*ai-tse ft? ?, an official warrant or badge containing imperial
commands, letters of safe-conduct, permits of requisition, according to
the rank of the bearer, made of silver, brass, iron, etc. They were
taken over by the Mongols from the Liao and Kin,"* and are mentioned
by Rubruck, Marco Polo,^ and Ra§id-eddin.

27. Titles like wan ^ ("king, prince"), Vat wan A ^ ("great
prince"), kao wan 1^ 3E ("great general"), Vai hu ::k M ("empress"),
fu Sen (Persian fu^tn) ^ A (title for women of rank), and kun (^u
& ^ ("princess") were likewise adopted in Mongol Persia.^ Persian
jinksdnak, title of a Mongol prefect or governor, transcribes Chinese
^V« Stan ^ ^ ("minister of state ").^

28. From Turkish tribes the Persians have adopted the word toy

^ T'oung Pao, 19 16, p. 481.

a Ch. 79, p. 7.

3 Cf. J. ToBAR, Inscriptions juives de K*ai-fong-fou, pp. 78, 86, 96 (note 2).

* Chavannes, Journal asiatique, 1898, I, p. 396.

5 Yule's edition, Vol. I, p. 351, which consult for a history of the p*ai-ise; see,
further, Laufer, Keleti Szemle, 1907, pp. 195-196; Zamtsarano, Paiza among the
Mongols at the Present Time (Zapiski Oriental Section Russian Archceol. Soc,
Vol. XXII, 1914, pp. 155-159).

* E. Blochet, Introduction h I'histoire des Mongols de Rashid Ed-din, p. 183;
and Djami el-T6varikh, p. 473. Regarding the title wari, see also J. J. Modi, Asiatic
Papers, p. 251.

' Cf. my notes in T'oung Pao, 1916, p. 528.

Irano-Sinica— Chinese Loan-Words in Persian 565

(togh) or tuy,^ which designates the tassels of horse-hair attached to the
points of a standard or to the helmet of a Pasha (in the latter case a
sign of rank). Among the Turks of Central Asia, the standard of a
high military officer is formed by a yak's tail fastened at the top of a
pole. This is said also to mark the graves of saintly personages.^ In
the language of the Uigur, the word is tuk.^ As correctly recognized by
Abel-R^musat,'^ who had recourse only to Osmanli, the Turkish word
is derived from Chinese m tu, anciently *duk, that occurs at an early
date in the Cou li and TsHen Han iw. Originally it denoted a banner
carried in funeral processions; imder the Han, it was the standard of the
commander-in-chief of the army, which, according to Ts'ai Yun W: i
(a.d. 133-192), was made of yak-tails.^ Yak-tails (Sanskrit cdmara,
Anglo-Indian chowry) were anciently used in India and Central Asia as
insignia of royalty or rank.^

29. The Cou ^v? states that in respect to the five cereals and the
fauna Persia agrees with China, save that rice and millet are lacking
in Persia. The term "millet" is expressed by the compound ^u ^u
S J1l; that is, the glutinous variety of Panicum miliaceum and the
glutinous variety of the spiked millet (Setarta italica glutinosa). Now,
we find in Persian a word ^u^u in the sense of "millet." It remains
to study the history of this word, in order to ascertain whether it might
be a Chinese loan-word.

ScHLiMMER^ notes erzen as Persian word for Panicum miliaceum,

30. Persian (also Osmanli) idnk ("a harp or guitar, particularly
played by women") is probably derived from Chinese l^en ^ ("a
harpsichord with twelve brass strings").

31. One of the most interesting Chinese loan-words in Persian is
xutu (khutu)j from Chinese ku-tu (written in various ways), principally
denoting the ivory tooth of the walrus. This subject has been dis-

1 In Sugnan, a Pamir language, it occurs as tux (Salemann, in Vosto6nye Za-
m'atki, p. 286).

2 Shaw, Turkl Language, Vol. II, p. 76.

3 Radloff, Wort, der Turk-Dial., Vol. Ill, col. 1425.
* Recherches sur les langues tatares, p. 303.

^ See K'an-hi sub ^.

^YtTLE, Hobson-Jobson, p. 214. Under the Emirs of the Khanat Bukhara
there was the title toksaba: he who received this title had the privilege of having a
tug carried before him; hence the origin of the word toksaba (V^liaminof-Zernof,
Melanges asiatigues, Vol. VIII, p. 576). Cf. also a brief note by Parker {China
Review, Vol. XVII, p. 300).

7 Ch. 50, p. 6.

8 Terminologie, p. 420.

566 Sino-Iranica

cussed by me in two articles.^ Vullers^ gives no less than seven
definitions of the Persian word: (i) comu bovis cuiusdam Sinensis;
(2) secundum alios comu rhinocerotis; (3) secundum alios comu avis
cuiusdam peraiagnae in regno vastato, quod inter Chinam et Aethiopiam
situm est, degentis, e quo conficiunt anulos osseos et manubria cultri
et quo res venenatae dignosci possunt; (4) secundum alios comu ser-
pentis, quod mille annos natus profert; (5) secundum alios cornu
viperae; (6) secundum alios comu piscis annosi; (7) secundum alios
dentes animalis cuiusdam. Of these explanations, No. 3 is that of
al-Akfani, and the bird in question is the buceros. No. 4 is a reproduc-
tion of the definition of ku-tu-si in the Liao Annals (''the horn of a
thousand-years-old snake")- How the Persians and Arabs arrived at
the other definitions will be easily understood from my former dis-
cussion of the subject. In the Ethiopic version of the Alexander Ro-
mance are mentioned, among the gifts sent to Alexander by the king of
China, twenty (in the Syriac version, ten) snakes' horns, each a cubit
long.^

Meanwhile I have succeeded in tracing a new Chinese definition
of ku-tu. Cou Mi JS ^ (i 230-1320), in his Ci ya fan tsa c'ao,^ states,
"According to Po-ki f6 M,^ what is now styled ku-tu si ^ M M is
a horn of the earth {ti kio :^ :ft, *a horn found underground'?)." He
refers again to its property of neutralizing poison and to knife-hilts
made of the substance.

In the edition of the Ko ku yao lun,^ the text regarding ku-tu-si is
somewhat different from that quoted by me in T^oung Pao (1913, p. 325).
Ku-tu-si is not identified there with pi-si^ as appears from the text of
the P^ei wen yiinfu and Pen ts'ao kan mu, but pi-si is a variety of ku-tu-si
of particularly high value.

1 Arabic and Chinese Trade in Walrus and Narwhal Ivory (T'oung Pao, 1913,
pp. 315-364, with Addenda by P. Pelliot, pp. 365-370); and Supplementary
Notes on Walrus and Narwhal Ivory (ibid., 1916, pp. 348-389). Regarding objects
of walrus ivory in Persia, see pp. 365-366.

2 Lexicon Persico-Latinum, Vol. I, p. 659.

' E. A. W. Budge, Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great, p. 180; likewise
his translation of the Syriac version, p. 112 (Syriac edition, p. 200). In the Syriac
occurs another gift from China, "a thousand talents of mai-k&sV (literally, "waters
of cups"). Budge leaves this problem unsolved. Apparently we face the tran-
scription of a Chinese word, which I presume is *mak, mag '^ (at present mo),
"China ink." In Mongol and Manchu we find this word as hexe, in Kalmuk as heke.

* Ch. A, p. 29 b (ed. of Yiie ya Van ts*un su).

^ Surname of Sien-yu C'u jl^ -f :jg, calligraphist and poet at the end of the
thirteenth century (see Pelliot, T'oung Pao, 1913, p. 368).

' Ch. 6, p. 9 b (ed. of Si yin Man ts'un ^u).

Irano-Sinica— Walrus Ivory 567

The Chinese Gazetteer of Macao^ contains the following notice of
the walrus (hat ma): "Its tooth is hard, of a pure bright white with
veins as fine as silk threads or hair. It can be utilized for the carving of
ivory beads and other objects."

Finally I have found another document in which the fish-teeth of
the Russians are identified with the tusks of the walrus (morse). This
is contained in the work of G. Fletcher, "The Russe Common Wealth,"
published in London, 1591,^ and runs as follows: "Besides these (which
are aU good and substantial! commodities) they have divers other of
smaller account, that are natural and proper to that coimtry: as the
fishe tooth (which they cal rihazuha), which is used both among them-
selves and the Persians and Bougharians, that fetcht it from thence
for beads, knives, and sword hafts of noblemen and gentlemen, and
for divers other uses. Some use the powder of it against poyson, as
the unicomes home. The fish that weareth it is called a morse, and is
caught about Pechora. These fishe teeth, some of them are almost two
foot of length, and weigh eleven or twelve pound apiece."^

1 Ao-men U Ho, Ch. b, p. 37.

* Ed. of E. A. Bond, p. 13 (Hakluyt Society, 1856).

' The following case is interesting as showing how narwhal ivory could reach
India straight from the Arctics. Pietro della Valle (Vol. I, p. 4, Hakluyt Soc. ed.),
travelling on a ship from the Persian Gulf to India in 1623, tells this story: "On
Monday, the Sea being calm, the Captain, and I, were standing upon the deck of
our Ship, discoursing of sundry matters, and he took occasion to show me a piece
of Horn, which he told me himself had found in the yar 161 1 in a Northern Country,
whither he then sail'd, which they call Greenland, lying in the latitude of seventy-
six degrees. He related how he found this horn in the earth, being probably the horn
of some Animal dead there, and that, when it was intire, it was between five and
six feet long, and seven inches in circumference at the root, where it was thickest.
The piece which I saw (for the horn was broken, and sold by pieces in several places)
was something more than half a span long, and little less than five inches thick;
the color of it was white, inclining to yellow, like that of Ivory when it is old; it was
hollow and smooth within, but wreath'd on the outside. The Captain saw not the
Animal, nor knew whether it were of the land or the sea, for, according to the place
where he found it, it might be as well one as the other; but he believed for certain,
that it was of a Unicom, both because the experience of its being good against poyson
argu'd so much, and for that the signes attributed by Authors to the Unicorn's
horn agreed also to this, as he conceiv'd. But herein I dissent from him, inasmuch as,
if I remember aright, the horn of the Unicom, whom the Greeks call'd Monoceros,
is, by Pliny, describ'd black, and not white. The Captain added that it was a report,
that Unicorns are found in certain Northern parts of America, not far from that
Country of Greenland; and so not unlikely but that there might be some also in
Greenland, a neighbouring Country, and not yet known whether it be Continent
or Island; and that they might sometimes come thither from the contiguous lands
of America, in case it be no Island. . . . The Company of the Greenland Merchants
of England had the horn, which he found, because Captains of ships are their stipen-
diaries, and, besides their salary, must make no other profit of their Voyages; but
whatever they gain or find, in case it be known, and they conceal it not, all accrues

568 Sino-Iranica

The term pi-si has been the subject of brief discussions on the part
of Pelliot^ and myself.^ The Ko ku yao lun, as far as is known at
present, appears to be the earHest work in which the expression occurs.
Hitherto it had only been known as a modem colloquialism, and Pelliot
urged tracing it in the texts. I am now in a position to comply with
this demand. T'an Ts'ui W. ¥, in his Tien hai yii hen U^ published in
1799, gives an excellent account of Yiin-nan Province, its mineral re-
sources, fauna, flora, and aboriginal population, and states that pi-hia-si
^ R S or pi-hia-pi § tt ^Jt or pi-si ® Sfe are all of the class of precious
stones which are produced in the Mofi-mi t'u-se ffi &' ih "^ of Yiin-
nan.^ It is obvious that these words are merely transcriptions of a
non-Chinese term; and, if we were positive that it took its starting-
point from Yun-nan, it would not be unreasonable to infer that it hails
from one of the native T'ai or Shan languages. T'an Ts'ui adds that
the best pi-si axe deep red in color; that those in which purple, yellow,
and green are combined, and the white ones, take the second place;
while those half white and half black are of the third grade. We are
accordingly confronted with a certain class of precious stones which
remain to be determined mineralogically.

32. The Persian name for China is Cin, Cinistan, or Cinastan.
In Middle Persian we meet Saini in the Farvardin Yast and Sini in the
Bundahisn,^ besides Cen and Cenastan.^ The form with initial palatal
is confirmed, on the one hand, by Armenian Cen-k*, Cenastan, Cen-
bakur ("emperor of China"), ^enazneay ("originating from China"),
cenik ("Chinese"), and, on the other hand, by Sogdian Cynstn (Cina-

to the Company that employes them. When the Horn was intire it was sent to
Constantinople to be sold, where two thousand pounds sterling was offer'd for it:
But the English Company, hoping to get a greater rate, sold it not at Constantinople,
but sent it into Muscovy, where much about the same price was bidden for it, which,
being refus'd, it was carry'd back into Turkey, and fell of its value, a much less sum
being now proffer'd than before. Hereupon the Company conceiv'd that it would
sell more easily in pieces then intire, because few could be found who would purchase
it at so great a rate. Accordingly they broke it, and it was sold by pieces in sundry
places; yet, for all this, the whole proceed amounted onely to about twelve hundred
pounds sterling. And of these pieces they gave one to the Captain who ionn^ it,
and this was it which he shew'd me."

1 T'oung Pao, 1913, p. 365.

2 Ibid., 1916, p. 375.

3 Ch. I, p. 6 (ed. of Wen yin lou yii ti ts'un lu). Title and treatment of the
subject are in imitation of the Kwei hai yii hen ci of Fan C'en-ta of the twelfth century .

^ T'u-se are districts under the jurisdiction of a native chieftain, who himself
is more or less subject to the authority of the Chinese.

5 Cf. J. J. Modi, References to China in the Ancient Books of the Parsees,
reprinted in his Asiatic Papers, pp. 241 et seq.

6 HuBSCHMANN, Armen. Gram., p. 49.

Irano-Sinica — The Name China 569

stan).^ The parallelism of initial I and s corresponds exactly to the
Greek doublet 'Zlvo.i and Gl^at ( = Cinai), and the Iranian forms
with c meet their counterpart in Sanskrit Cina (Cina). This state of
affairs renders probable the supposition that the Indian, Iranian, and
Greek designations for China have issued from a common source, and
that this prototype may be sought for in China itself. I am now inclined
to think that there is some degree of probability in the old theory that
the name "China" should be traceable to that of the dynasty Ts'in.
I formerly rejected this theory, simply for the reason that no one had
as yet presented a convincing demonstration of the case;^ nor did I
become converted by the demonstration in favor of Ts'in then attempted
by Pelliot.^ Pelliot has cited several examples from which it appears
that even under the Han the Chinese were still designated as "men of
the Ts'in" in Central Asia. This fact in itself is interesting, but does
not go to prove that the foreign names Cina, Cen, etc., are based on
the name Ts'in. It must be shown phonetically that such a derivation
is possible, and this is what Pelliot failed to demonstrate: he does
not even dwell for a moment on the question of the ancient pronuncia-
tion of the character tsHn ^. If in ancient times it should have had the
same articulation as at present, the alleged phonetic coincidence with
the foreign designations would amount to nothing. The ancient pho-
netic value of ^ was *din, *dzin, *dzin (jin), *dz'in, with initial dental
or palatal sonant;^ and it is possible, and in harmony with phonetic

1 R. Gauthiot, T'oung Pao, 1913, p. 428.

- T'oung Pao, 1912, pp. 719-726.

^ Ibid., pp. 727-742. The mention of the name Cina in the Arthagastra of
Ca^akya or Kautilya, and Jacobi's opinion on the question, did not at all prompt me
to my view, as represented by Pelliot. I had held this view for at least ten years
previously, and Jacobi's article simply offered the occasion which led me to express
my view. Pelliot's commotion over the date of the Sanskrit work was superfluous.
I shall point only to the judgment of V. A. Smith (Early History of India, 3d ed.,
1914, p. 153), who says that "the Arthagastra is a genuine ancient work of Maurya
age, and presumably attributed rightly to Canakya or Kautilya; this verdict, of
course, does not exclude the possibility, or probability,, that the existing text may
contain minor interpolations of later date, but the bulk of the book certainly dates
from the Mauiya period," and to the statement of A. B. Keith {Journal Roy.
As. Soc, 1916, p. 137), "It is perfectly possible that the Arthagastra is an early
work, and that it may be assigned to the first century B.C., while its matter very
probably is older by a good deal than that." The doubts as to the Ts'in etymology
of the name "China" came from many quarters. Thus J. J. Modi (Asiatic Papers,
p. 247), on the supposition that the Farvardin Yast may have been written prior
to the fourth or fifth century B.C., argued, "If so, the fact that the name of China
as Saini occurs in this old document, throws a doubt on the belief that it was the
Ts'in dynasty of the third century B.C. that gave its name to China. It appears,
therefore, that the name was older than the third century B.C."

* In the dialect of Shanghai it is still pronounced dzin.

570 Sino-Iranica

laws, that a Chinese initial d^ was reproduced in Iranian by the palatal
surd c. It is this phonetic agreement on the one hand, and the coin-
cidence of the Sanskrit, Iranian, and Greek names for China on the other,
which induce me to admit the Ts'in etymology as a possible theory; that
the derivation has really been thus, no one can assert positively. The
presence of the designation Ts'in for Chinese during the Han is an histor-
ical accessory, but it does not form a fundamental link in the evidence.

33. The preceding notes should be considered only as an outHne
of a series of studies which should be further developed by the co-
operation of Persian scholars and Arabists famihar with the Arabic
sources on the history and geography of Iran. A comprehensive study
of all Persian sources relating to China would also be very welcome.
Another interesting task to be pursued in this connection would be
an attempt to trace the development of the idealized portrait which
the Persian and Arabic poets have sketched of the Chinese. It is known
that in the Oriental versions of the Alexander Romance the Chinese
make their appearance as one of the numerous nations visited by
Alexander the Great (Iskandar). In Firdausi's (935-1025) version he
travels to China as his own ambassador, and is honorably received by
the Fagfur (Son of Heaven), to whom he delivers a letter confirming
his possessions and dignities, provided he will acknowledge Iskandar as
his lord and pay tribute of all fruits of his country; to this the Fagfur
consents. In Nizami's (1141-1203) Iskandarndme ("Book of Alex-
ander")? Iskandar betakes himself from India by way of Tibet to China,
where a contest between the Greek and Chinese painters takes place,
the former ultimately carrying the day.^ In the Ethiopic version of
the Alexander story, "the king of China commanded that they should
spread out costly stuffs upon a couch, and the couch was made of gold
ornamented with jewels and inlaid with a design in gold; and he sat in
his hall, and his princes and nobles were round about him, and when
he spake they made answer unto him and spake submissively. Then he
commanded the captain to bring in Alexander the ambassador. Now
when I Alexander had come in with the captain, he made me to stand
before the King, and the men stood up dressed in raiment of gold and
silver; and I stood there a long time and none spake unto me."^ The
Kowtow (k'o-Vou) question was evidently not raised. It is still more
amusing to read farther on that the king of China made the ambassador
sit by his side upon the couch, — an impossible situation. The Fagfur
sent to Alexander garments of finely woven stuff, one hundred pounds

1 Cf. F. Spiegel, Die Alexandersage bei den Orientalen, pp. 31, 46.

2 E. A. W. Budge, Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great, p. 173.

Irano-Sinica — The Chinese in the Alexander Romance 571

in weight, two hundred tents, men-servants and maid-servants, two
hundred shields of elephant-hide, as many Indian swords mounted in
gold and ornamented with gold and precious stones of great value,
as many horses suitable for kings, and one thousand loads of the finest
gold and silver, for in this country are situated the mountains where-
from they dig gold. The wall of that city is built of gold ore, and like-
wise the habitations of the people; and from this place Solomon, the
son of David, brought the gold with which he built the sanctuary, and
he made the vessels and the shields of the gold of the land of China.^
In the history of Alexander the Great contained in the "Universal His-
tory" of al-Makin, who died at Damascus in 1273—74, a distinction is
made between the kings of Nearer China and Farther China.^

The most naive version of Alexander's adventures in China is con-
tained in the legendary "History of the Kings of Persia," written in
Arabic by al-Ta'alibi (961-1038).^ Here, the king of China is taken
aback, and loses his sleep when Alexander with his army enters China.
Under cover of night he visits Alexander, offering his submission in order
to prevent bloodshed. Alexander first demands the revenue of his
kingdom for five years, but gradually condescends to accept one third
for one year. The following day a huge force of Chinese troops surrounds
the army of Alexander, who believes his end has come, when the king
of China appears, descending from his horse and kissing the soil (1).
Alexander charges him with perfidy, which the king of China denies.
"What, then, does this army mean?" — "I wanted to show thee," the
king of China replied, "that I did not submit from weakness or owing
to the small number of my forces. I had observed that the superior
world favored thee and allowed thee to triumph over more powerful
kings than thou. Whoever combats the superior world will be van-
quished. For this reason I wanted to submit to the superior world
by submitting to thee, and humbly to obey it by obeying thee and
complying with thy orders." Alexaxider rejoined, "No demand should
be made of a man like thee. I never met any one more qualified as a
sage. Now I abandon all my claims upon thee and depart." The king
of China responded, "Thou wilt lose nothing by this arrangement."
He then despatched rich presents to him, like a thousand pieces of silk,
painted silk, brocade, silver, sable-skins, etc., and pledged himself to
pay an annual tribute. Although the whole story, of course, is pure
invention, Chinese methods of overcoming an enemy by superior
diplomacy are not badly characterized.

1 Ibid., p. 179.

2 Ibid., pp. 369, 394.

2 H. ZoTENBERG, Histoire des rois des Perses, pp. 436-440.

Appendix I
IRANIAN ELEMENTS IN MONGOL

On the preceding pages, as well as in my "Loan-Words in Tibetan,"
I had occasion to point out a number of Mongol words traceable to
Iranian; and, as this subject has evoked some interest since the dis-
coveries made in Turkistan, I deem it useful to treat it here in a coherent
notice and to sum up our present knowledge of the matter.

1. Certain relations of the Mongol language to Iranian were known
about a century ago to I. J. Schmidt,^ the real founder of Mongol phil-
ology. It was Schmidt who, as far back as 1824, first recognized in the
Mongol name Xormusda (Khormusda) the Iranian Ormuzd or Ahura-
mazdah of the Avesta. Even Schmidt's adversary, J. Klaproth, was
obliged to admit that this theory was justified.^ R^musat's objections
were refuted by Schmidt himself.^ At present we know that the name
in question was propagated over_Central Asia by the Sogdians in the
forms Xtirmazta (Wurmazt) and Oharmizd.^ What we are still ignorant
of is how the transformation of the supreme Iranian god into the
supreme Indian god was effected; for in the Buddhist literature of the
Mongols the name Xormusda strictly refers to the god Indra. Also
in the polyglot Buddhist dictionaries the corresponding terms of
Chinese, Tibetan, etc., relate to Indra.

2. Esroa, Esrua, or Esrun, is in the Buddhist literature of the
Mongols the designation of the Indian god Brahma. The Iranian
origin of this word has been advocated by A. Schiefner.^ Although
taken for a corruption of Sanskrit Iqvara ("lord")? it seems, according
to Schiefner, to be in closer relation to Avestan qraosha (srao^a) or
gravanh. Certain it is that the Mongol word is derived from the Uigur

1 Forschungen im Gebiete der Bildungsgeschichte der Volker Mittel-Asiens,
p. 148.

2"Cette hypoth^se m^rite d'etre soigneusement examinee et nous invitons
M. Schmidt h recueillir d'autres faits propres k lui donner plus de certitude" (Nou-
veau Journal asiatigue, Vol. VII, 1831, p. 180).

3 Geschichte der Ost-Mongolen, p. 353.

^F. W. K. MuLLER, Die "persischen" Kalenderausdrucke, pp. 6, 7; Hand-
schriftenreste, II, pp. 20, 94.

^ In his introduction to W. Radloff's Proben der Volkslitteratur der turki-
schen Stamme, Vol. II, p. xi. Schiefner derives also Kurbustu of the Soyon from
Ormuzd.

572

Iranian Elements in Mongol 573

Azrua, which in the Manichean texts of the Uigur appears as the name
of an Iranian deity. C. Salemann^ has promised a discussion of this
word, but I have not yet seen this article. Meanwhile Gauthiot^ has
solved this problem on the basis of the Sogdian form ^zrw^ { = azrwa),
which appears as the equivalent of Brahma in the Sogdian Buddhist
texts. The Sogdian word, according to him, is the equivalent of
Avestan zrvan.

3. Mongol suburgan, tope, Stupa, is derived from Uigur supurgan.
The latter may be of Iranian origin, and, as suggested by Gauthiot,^
go back to spur-xdn ("house of perfection"). #

4. Mongol titinij diadem, crown (corresponding in meanihg to and
rendering Sanskrit mukuta). This word is traceable to Sogdian di8im.^
The prototype is Greek habTiixa (whence our "diadem"), which has
been preserved in Iran since Macedonian times. ^ In New Persian it is
ddhlm or dehlm, developed from an older *de6em. Mongol titim,
accordingly, cannot be derived from New Persian, but represents an
older form of Iranian speech, which is justly correlated with the Sogdian
form.

5. Mongol HmnuSj a class of demons (in Buddhist texts, translation
of Sanskrit Mara, "the Evil One"), is doubtless derived from Uigur
^mnu, the latter from Sogdian ^mnu.^ Cf. also Altaic and Teleutic
^ulumys ("evil spirit").

6. In view of the Sogdian loan-words in Mongol, it is not impossible
that, as suggested by F. W. K. Muller,^ the termination -ntsa {-nia)
in Hhagantsa, Uhagantsa, or Hmnantsa ("bhiksuni, nun;" Manchti
iihahanU) should be traceable to the Sogdian feminine suffix -n^ (pre-
sumably from ifii^f "woman"). The same ending occurs in Uigur
upasanc (Sanskrit updsikd, "Buddhist lay- woman") and Mongol
ubasantsa. R. Gauthiot^ is certainly right in observing that it is im-

1 Bull, de VAcad. de St.-Pet., 1909, p. 12 18.

2 In Chavannes and Pelliot, Traitd manich^en, p. 47.
' Ibid., p. 132.

* MuLLER, Uigurica, p. 47.

5 NoLDEKE, Persische Studien, II, p. 35; cf. also Hubschmann, Persische
Studien, p. 199.

•^ F. W. K. MuLLER, Uigurica, p. 58; Soghdische Texte, I, pp. 11, 27. In Sog-
dian Christian literature, the word serves for the rendering of "Satan." According
to MtJLLER (SPAW, 1909, p. 847), also Mongol niSan ("seal") and badman (not
explained) should be Middle Persian, and have found their way into Mongol through
the medium of the Uigur.

' Uigurica, p. 47.

8 Essai sur le vocalisme du sogdien, p. 112.

574 Sino-Iranica

possible to prove this interdependence; yet it is probable to a high
degree and seems altogether plausible.

7. Textiles made from cotton are designated in Mongol hiis (Kalmtik
bos), in Jurci Queen or Niuci) husu, in Manchu hoso. This series, first
of all, is traceable to Uigur hoz} The entire group is manifestly con-
nected, as already recognized by Schott,^ with Greek ^vcraos (byssos),
which itself goes back to Semitic (Hebrew bu^, Assyrian bilsu). But
how the Semitic word advanced to Central Asia is still obscure; its
presence in Uigur might point to Iranian mediation, but it has not yet
been traced in any Iranian language. Perhaps it was transmitted to
the Uigur directly by Nestorian missionaries. The case would then be
analogous to Mongol nom (Manchu nomun), from Uigur wow, num
("a sacred book, law")? which Abel-Rj^musat' traced through Semitic
to Greek vbiios.

Cotton itself is styled in Mongol kUben or kiibiin, in Manchu kubun,
ScHOTT (I.e.) was inclined to derive this word from Chinese ku-pei, but
this is impossible in view of the labial surd. Nevertheless it may be
that the Mongol term is connected with a vernacular form based on
Sanskrit karpdsaj to which also Chinese ku-pei is indirectly traceable
(above, p. 491). This form must be sought for in Iranian; true it
is, in Persian we have kirpds (correspondingly in Armenian kerpas)
and in Arabic kirbds. In Vaxi, a Pamir dialect, however, we
find kui}as,^ which, save the final s, agrees with the Mongol form.
The final nasals in the Mongol and Manchu words remain to be
explained.

8. Mongol anarj pomegranate, is doubtless derived from Persian
andr (above, p. 285). In the Chinese-Uigur Dictionary we meet the
form nara} In this case, accordingly, Uigur cannot be held responsible
as the mediator between Persian and Mongol. In all probability, the
fruit was directly transmitted by Iranians to the Mongols, who thus
adopted also the name for it.

9. Mongol turmay radish, is derived from Persian turma (also turuby
turb, iurf).^

1 F. W. K. MuLLER, Uigurica, II, p. 70.

2 Altaisches Sprachengeschlecht, p. 5; and Abh. Berl. Akad., 1867, p. 138.
5 Recherches sur les langues tartares, p. 137.

* HjULER, The Pamir Languages, p. 38.

5 Klaproth, Sprache und Schrift der Uiguren, p. 14; and Radloff, Turk.
W6rt., Vol. Ill, col. 648.

^ Cf. T'oung Pao, 1916, p. 84. The derivation from Persian escaped Munkacsi
and GoMBOCZ {Mem. Soc. finno-ougrienne, Vol. XXX, p. 131), who erroneously
seek the foundation of the word in Turkish.

Iranian Elements in Mongol 575

10. Mongol xasinif asafoetida, from Persian kasnl ("product of
Ghazni"). Cf. above, p. 361.

11. Mongol bodsOj an alcoholic beverage made from barley-meal
or milk, is connected by Kovalevski in his Mongol Dictionary with
Persian boza, a beverage made from rice, millet, or barley.

12. Mongol bolot, steel, is derived from New Persian pilldd, whether
directly or through the medium of Turkish languages is not certain.
The Persian word is widely diffused, and occurs in Tibetan, Armenian,
Ossetic, Grusinian, Turkish, and Russian.^

13. Mongol bdgddr, coat-of-mail, armor, goes back to Persian
bagtar (Jagatai baktaty Tibetan beg-tse),

14. Mongol sagari and sarisu, shagreen.* From Persian sagrl. In
Tibetan it is sag-ri;^ in Manchu sarin (while Manchu hmpi is a tran-
scription of Chinese sie-pH ^ S).*

15. Mongol kukufj kuguTj sulphur. From Persian gugurd, Afghan
kokurt (Arabic kibnt, Hebrew gqfrit, Modem Syriac kugurd).

16. Other Persian loan-words in Mongol have come from Tibetan,
thus: Mongol nalj spinel, balas ruby. From Tibetan nal; Persian Idl
(Notes on Turqois, p. 48). Mongol ziraj cimimin. From Tibetan zt-ra;
Persian zira, lira (above, p. 383).

17. In some cases the relation of Mongol to Persian is not entirely
clear. In these instances we have corresponding words in Turkish, and
it cannot be decided with certainty whether the Mongol word is trace-
able to Turkish or Persian.

Thus Mongol boriyd^ trumpet (cf. Manchu buren and buleri), Turk-
ish boru, Uigur borgil,^ Persian burl.

18. Mongol dsdrdn (dsdgdrdn), a species of antelope {Procapra
subgutturosa) ; Altaic jdrdn, wild goat of the steppe; Jagatai jireUy
gazelle; ^Rersian jlrdn, gazelle.

19. Mongol ids (written tagus^ togos, to indicate the length of the
vowel), peacock. From Persian tdwus (Turki to* us).

20. Mongol toti, parrot. From Persian toil (Uigur and Tiurki toil),

21. Mongol bag, garden. This word occtirs in a Mongol-Chinese
inscription of the year 13 14, where the corresponding Chinese term
signifies "garden," and, as recognized by H. C. v. d. Gabelentz,^
doubtless represents Persian bay ("garden").

1 Cf. T'oung Pao, 1916, pp. 82, 479.

2 K'ien-lun's Polyglot Dictionary, Ch. 24, pp. 38, 39.
2 T'oung Pao, 1916, p. 478.

* This term is not noted in the Dictionary of Giles.
^ Pelliot, T'oung Pao, 1915, p. 22.
« Z. K. d. Morg., Vol. II, 1839, p. 12.

576 Sino-Iranica

22. Mongol ^ikdry Hkir, sugar. From Persian ^dkar,

23. Mongol Htara, Kalmuk ^atar, chess. From Persian Satranj.
E. Blochet's derivation of Mongol bogda from Persian bokhta is a

pseudo-Iranicum. The Mongol term is not a loan-word, but indigenous.^
BoEHTLiNGK, in his Yakut Dictionary, has justly compared it with
Yakut bogdo.

1 Cf. T'oung Pao, 1916, p. 495.

Appendix II
CHINESE ELEMENTS IN TURKI

On the preceding pages I had occasion to make reference in more
than one instance to words of the Tiirki language spoken in Chinese
Turkistan. A. v. Le Coq^ has appended an excellent TtirkI vocabulary
to a collection of texts recorded by him in the territory of Turfan. This
list contains a certain percentage of Chinese loan-words which I wish
briefly to discuss here.

In general, these have been correctly recognized and indicated by
Le Coq, though not identified with their Chinese equivalents. But
several pointed out as such are not Chinese; while there are others
which are Chinese, but are not so designated; and a certain ntmiber
of words put down as Chinese are left in doubt by the addition of an
interrogation-mark. To the first class belongs yan-za ("tobacco-pipe"),
alleged to be Chinese; on the contrary, this is a thoroughly Altaic word,
no trace of which is to be discovered in Chinese.^ It is khamsa or xamsa
in Yakut, already indicated by Boehtlingk.^ It is gangsa or gantsa
in Mongol;^ gansa in the Buryat dialect of Selengin.^ The word has
further invaded the Ugrian territory: Wogul qansa, Ostyak xonsa, and
Samoyed xansa.^ It is noteworthy that the term has also found its way
into Tibetan, where its status as a loan-word has not yet been recog-
nized. It is written in the form gan-zag (pronounced gan-za; Kovalevski
writes it gansa, and Ramsay gives it as kanzak for West-Tibetan);
this spelling is due to popular assimilation of the word with Tibetan
gan-zag ("man, person").

In jil-xai gul ("narcissus") I am unable, as suggested by the author,
to recognize a Chinese-Turkish formation. The narcissus is styled in

1 Sprichworter und Lieder aus der Gegend von Turfan, Baessler-Archiv, Beiheft
I, 1910.

2 The Chinese word for a tobacco-pipe, (yen-) tai, is found as dai in Golde and
other Tungusian languages, because the Tungusian tribes receive their pipes from
China.

3 Jakutisches W6rterbuch, p. 79.

4 Kovalevski, Dictionnaire mongol, pp. 980, 982.

^ Castr£n, Burjatische Sprachlehre, p. 130.

6 A. Ahlquist (Journal de la Societe finno-ougrienne, Vol. VIII, 1890, p. 9),
who regards the Ugrian words as loans from Turkish.

577

578 Sino-Iranica

Chinese ^wi-hien ^ Till (" water-fairy ").i Gut, of course, is Persian gul
("flower")- Jusai C' garlic") is not Chinese either. Mdjdza ("chair")
is hardly Chinese, as suggested.

To the second class belong ton ("cold, frozen"), which is apparently
identical with Chinese tun ^ of the same meaning, and tung ("wooden
bucket"), which is the equivalent of Chinese Vun IB ("tub, barrel").
There are, further, pan ("board"), from Chinese pan Wi\ yangza ("sort,
kind"), from yah-tse ^ ■?; qawd ("gourd"), from kwa jE..

The word ton-kai ("donkey's knuckle-bones employed in a game")
is tentatively marked Chinese. This term is mentioned, with a brief
description of the game, in the Manchu Polyglot Dictionary^ as Chinese
(colloquial) tan cenW kun'r 5? ^ S @ ^ and Tibetan fe-k'ei-gan; the
latter is not Tibetan, and without any doubt represents a transcription.
The Chinese term, however, may be so likewise. In Manchu, the word
toxai denotes the smooth side of the knuckle-bone, and is apparently
related to Turki tonkai.

The Chinese origin of Id-zd ("red pepper, pimento") is not to be
questioned. It is Chinese la-tse M ^.^ Still less can the Chinese charac-
ter of 'ir-Un ("two men," that is, descendant of a Chinese and a Turkish
woman) be called into doubt; this, of course, is er ^en ^ A.

The following Chinese words indicated by Le Coq may be identified,
only those of special interest being selected:

dan, inn, bungalow, from tien JS- This word has been carried by the Chinese
t all over Central Asia. It has also been traced in Sogdian in the form ^w».*

go-st, official placards posted in a public place, from kao-Si ^ ^.
sai-pun, tailor, from ts'ai-fun ^ ji^.
maupan, miller, mill, from mo-fan (cu) ^ ^ ^.
yan-xo, match, from yan hwo p^ jK'
tunci bdk, interpreter; the first element from t*un-Si ^ ^ (see Loan-Words in

Tibetan, No. 310; and Journal Am. Or. Soc, 1917, p. 200).
£an, money, from 6Hen ^.

tt-za, banknotes issued by the Governor of Urum6i, hom^Vi-tse J^ ■?•.
jozd, table (Le Coq erroneously "chair"), from io-tse j^if-,
tan, bed, from Iwan ^.

da-dlr, kind of horse-bean, perhaps from ta-tou ^ "§[.
dan-za, notebook, from can-tse ^^ -J*.

Sum-po, title of the Chinese governor, from siin fu ^ J||(?).
la-tdi, candlestick, from la t'ai $^ ^.
min-lan-zd, door-curtain, from men-lin-tse P5 ® ■?•
yan-yo, potato, from yan yao p^ ^.

1 See, further, above, p. 427.

2 Cf. K. HiMLY, T'oung Pao, Vol. VI, 1895, p. 280.
2 Cf . Loan-Words in Tibetan, No. 237.

4 F. W. K. MtJLLER, Soghdische Texte, I, p. 104.

Chinese Elements in Turki 579

In the Turki collectanea of G. Raquette^ I note the following
Chinese words:

Unsay, celery, from Vin ts*ai ^ ^.

manto, meat-dumpling, from man-Vou |§ ®.

Uzd, a Chinese foot (measure), from Vi-tse J^ -J.

lobo, a long turnip, from lo-po ^ ^.

jin, a Chinese pound, from cin /p.

A few other remarks on Turki words recorded by Le Coq may
follow here:

ndhdl ("ruby") is apparently Persian Idl (above, p. 575).

zummurdt ("emerald") is not Arabic-Turkish, but Persian (above, p. 519).

There is no reason to question the Persian origin of palas ("cloth, sail"); it

is identical with Persian bdlds (above, p. 495).
dowd ("hill") is identical with Turkish deve, teve ("camel"); cf. T^oung Pao,

1915, p. 21.
yilpis ("snow-leopard") is identical with Mongol irbis ("panther").

1 Eastern Turki Grammar, Mitt. Sem. Or, Spr., 1914, II, pp. 170-232.

Appendix III

THE INDIAN ELEMENTS IN THE PERSIAN PHARMA-
COLOGY OF ABU MANSUR MUWAFFAQ

On the preceding pages reference has repeatedly been made to the
work of Abu Mansur as proving that the Persians were acquainted
with certain plants and products, or as demonstrating the inter-
relations of Persia and India, or of Persia and China. Abu Mansur's
"Principles of Pharmacology" is a book of fundamental importance,
in that it is the first to reveal what Persian- Arabic medicine and pharma-
cology owe to India, and how Indian drugs were further conveyed to
Europe. The author himself informs us that he had been travelling
in India, where he became acquainted with her medical literature. It
therefore seems to me a useful task to collect here what is found of
Indian elements in his work, and thus present a complete summary of
the influence exerted by India on the Persia of the tenth century. It is
not my object to trace merely Indian loan-words in Persian, although
several not hitherto recognized (as, for instance, haladur^ turunj, dand,
pupal, etc.) have been identified by me; but I wish to draw up a list of
all Indian drugs or products occurring in Abu Mansur, regardless of
their designations, and to identify them with their Indian equivalents.
Abu Mansur gives the names in Arabic; the Persian names are supplied
from Achtmdow's commentary or other sources. The numbers in
parentheses refer to those in Achundow's translation.

J. Jolly has added to the publication of Achundow a few observations
on Indian words occurring in the work of Abu Mansur; but the real
Indian plants and drugs are not noticed by him at all, while his alleged
identifications are mere guesswork. Thus he proposes for armdk or
armal Skr. amlaka, amlikd, and antra, three entirely different plants,
none of which corresponds to the description of armak, which is a bark
very similar to kurfa (Wtnterania canella), the best being brought from
Yemen; it is accordingly an Arabic, not an Indian plant. Harhuwand
(No. 576) is described as a grain smaller than pepper, somewhat yellow-
ish, and smelling like Aloexylon agallochum; according to Jolly, this
should be derived from Skr. kharva-vindhyd (''small cardamom"),
but the question is not of cardamoms, and there is no phonetic coin-
cidence of the words. The text says that kader (No. 500) is a wholesome
remedy to soften the pustules of small-pox. Jolly proposes no less

580

Indian Elements in Persian Pharmacology 581

than fotir Sanskrit plant-names, — kadara^ kadala, kandara, and kandata,
while the Tohfat states that kader is called kawi in India, being a tree
similar to the date-palm, the flower being known as kaburah (p. 197);
kader, accordingly, is an Arabic word, while kawi is the supposed Indian
equivalent and may correspond to Sanskrit kapi (Emblica officinalis,
Pongamia glabra, or Olibanum). These examples suffice: the twenty-one
identifications proposed by Jolly are not convincing. Many of these
have also been rejected by Achundow.

The Indian loan-words in Persian should occasionally be made the
subject of an exhaustive study. A few of these are enumerated by
P. HoRN.i Kurkum ("saffron"), however, is not of Indian origin, as
stated by him (cf. above, p. 321). Skr. surd, mentioned above, occurs in
Persian as sur ("rice-wine"). Middle Persian kaplk, Persian kabt
("monkey"), is derived from Skr. kapi.^

1(1). aruz, P. birinj, rice {Oryza sativa), Cf. above, p. 373-

2(5). utruj, P. turunj, citron (Citrus medico). From Skr. mdtulunga
(above, p. 301), also mdtulanga, -Idnga, and -linga,

3(11). ihlilaj, P. hallla, myrobalan {Terminalia chebula). Skr. harUakl
(above, p. 378).

4(76). halllaj, P. hallla, Terminalia belerica, Skr. vibhliaka (cf. T'oung
Pao, 1915, p. 27s).

5(12). amlaj, P. amlla (amela, amula), Emblica officinalis or PhyU
lanthus emblica, Skr. amala (also dhdtrl), provided the botanical identi-
fication is correct; phonetically, P. dmila would rather point to Skr.
dmla or amlikd (Tamarindus indica), Chinese transcription ^ ?^ S
an-mi-lo, *am-mi-la. Abu Mansur states that "there is a variety
slr-amlaj; some physicians erroneously read this name Hr-amlaj, be-
lieving that it was administered in milk {Hr) ; but this is a gross error,
for it is sir, and this is an Indian word, and amlaj signifies 'without
stone.' I was there where amlaj grows, and have seen it with my own
eyes." The et5anology given is fantastic, but may have been com-
municated to the author in India.

6(33). atmat, Nelumbium speciosum or Nelumbo nucifera (p. 205).
"It is a kernel like an Indian hazel-nut. Its effect is like that of Orchis
morio. It is the seed of Nymphcea alba indica, and is as round as the
Indian hazel-nut." Both the botanical identification and the trans-
lation appear to me somewhat questionable. Cf. No. 47.

7(36). dzddraxt, dzddiraxt, Melia azadiracta. Abu Manstir adds
HUdn as the Arabic name of the plant. Ibn al-Baitar (Leclerc, Vol. I,

1 Grundr. iran. Philol., Vol. I, pt. 2, p. 7.

2 HtJBSCHMANN, Pers. Studien, p. 87.

582 Sino-Iranica

p. 54) explains the Persian word as "free tree," and Leclerc accordingly
derives it from azad-diraxt. Skr. nimha, nimbaka, mahdnimba.

8(40). u^ndn,'Herba alkali, chiefly species of Salsola. "There are
four kinds of alkali herb, a white, yellow, green, and an Indian kind
which occurs as Indian hazel-nut (funduq-i hindl), also called xurs-i
sml ('Chinese xurs^) and rutta.^' Cf. T'oung Pao, 1916, p. 93;
above, p. 551.

9(54). bitix ul-hindt, P. hindewdney water-melon (above, p. 443).

10(73). belddur, balddur, the marking-nut tree {Semecarpus anacar-
dium). Cf. above, p. 482.

11(77). birinj-i kdbilly "rice of Kabul*' {Embelia ribes), Skr. vidanga
(cf. T'oung Pao, 1915, pp. 282-288; 1916, p. 69).

12(78). bang, henbane (Hyoscyamus) , a narcotic prepared from
hemp-seeds. The seed was used as a substitute for opium (Abu Mansiir,
No. 59). Skr. bhangd, hemp {Cannabis sativa). The Persian word is
also traced to Avestan banha, "a narcotic," but it seems to me preferable
to assume direct derivation from Skr. in historical times. Arabic banj,
Portuguese bango, French bangue, P. ^ablbi, "a narcotic root; also the
inebriating hemp-seed."

13(85). bl$, halahil, aconite {Aconitum). Hindi bl^, Skr. visd {Aconi-
turn ferox), from visa, "poison;" Skr. hdldhala, a species of aconite and
a strong poison prepared from it. Cf. T'oung Pao, 1915, pp. 319-320,
note.

14(87). tut, miilberry {Morus alba), a native of China. The opinion
of NoLDEKE (Pers. Studien, II, p. 43), that the Persian word is traceable
to Semitic, is entirely erroneous, as this species spread from the far
east and India to Iran and Europe, and began to be cultivated in the
Mediterranean area only from the twelfth century. Skr. tUda and tUla,
Bengali and Hindustani tul, tUt, Morus alba or indica (Roxburgh, Flora
Indica, p. 658); cf. Schrader in Hehn, Kulturpfianzen, p. 393. Morus
nigra, the black mulberry, is a native of Persia.

15(90). tamr ul-hindl, P. tamar-i hindl, tamarind {Tamarindus
indica), cultivated throughout India and Burma. Skr. tintida, tintidika,
tintilikd, etc., jhdbuka, amllkd.

16(94). tanbul, P. pdn, barge-tanbol, betel {Piper betle). Skr. tdmbula,
ndgavallikd.

17(111). jUz-i huwwd, P. jHz-i bUya, nutmeg {Myristica moschata,
officinalis, ox fragrans). Skr. jdti, jdtikoqa, jdtisdra, jdtiphala.

18(112). juz-i mdtil, P. tdtUra, ddtUra, Datura metel. Skr. mdtula,
dhatUra. Cf. T'oung Pao, 191 7, p. 23.

19(142). habb ul-qilqil {qulqul), seeds of Cassia tor a (the foetid cassia).
Skr. prapundda, prapundta, prapumndla, tubariqimba; Singhalese peti-

Indian Elements in Persian Pharmacology 583

tora (also ciiltivated in Indo-China, China, and Japan: Perrot and
HuRRiER, p. 146; Stuart, p. 96; Japanese ehisu-gusa).

20(248). dukn ul-amlaj, oil of myrobalan {oleum embltcae). Cf.

No. 5.

21(251). duhn ul-sunbulj Indian nard-oil (oleum Valerianae jata-
mansi). Cf. No. 32.

22(253). ddr-slnl, P. ddr-Hnl, cinnamon (Laurus cinnamomum, Cin-
namomum tamala). Arabic also saddj. Skr. tvaca.

23(254). ddr-filfil, P. pipal, pilpil, long pepper (Piper longum).
Skr. pippall.

24(260). dandy dend, dund, Croton tiglium. From Skr. dantt, Croton
polyandrus (also called Baliospermum montanum). Abu Mansur adds
that this plant is called in Indian hipal. This is Skr. jayapdla, Croton
jamalgota (the latter from Hindustani jamdlgdta), styled also sdraka,
Arabic also dend slnl (Low, Aram. Pflanzennamen, p. 170). Cf. above,
p. 448. In Tibetan we have dan-da and dan-rog.

25(261). P. divddr, devddr, Pinus or Cedrus devdara, deodar a , or
deodora. Skr. devaddru ("tree of the gods"). In Persian also sanobar-i
kindly naHar; Arabic ^ajratud-devddr j sanobarul-hind.

26(272). zartra, sweet flag (Acorus calamus). Achundow (p. 192)
identifies Arabic zartra with an alleged Indian word dhsarirah, indicated
by Berendes; I cannot trace such an Indian word. Zartra appears to
be identical with Arabic dirira (Garcia) or darira ("aroma"); cf. also
Low, I.e. J p. 342. Skr. vacdy conveyed to Persian and Arabic as vdj
(Garcia: Guzerat vazy Deccan bachey Malabar vazabUy Concan vaicam,
employed by Abu Manstir in No. 564, where Achundow identifies it
with Iris pseudacorusy and on p. 272 also with Acorus calamus) y ugra-
gandha, and sadgranihd.

27(281). rattay P. bunduq-i hindl ("Indian hazel-nut"), Sapindus
mukorossi and trifoliatus (not in Watt); Achundow's identification is
apparently erroneous. The question evidently is of Guilandina bondux:
(cf. Leclerc, Vol. I, p. 276), also called Ccesalpinia bonducella, the
fever-nut or physic-nut, Skr. kuberdksl ("eye of Kubera"), latdkaranja;
P. xdyahe-i iblls; Arabic akitmakit, kitmakit.

28(288). ^angalU (Middle Persian ^angavlr)y Arabic-Persian zanjablly
ginger (Zingiber officinale). Three kinds — Chinese, Zanzibar, and
Melinawi or zurunbdj — are distinguished. The word is based on an
Indian vernacular form *s(s)angavira, corresponding to Pali singivera,
Skr. qrngavera; drdraka (the fresh root).

29(292). zurunbddy P. zarambddy Curcuma zedoaria. Cf. Yule,
Hobson-Jobson, p. 979.

'30(304). zarwdr, Curcuma aromatica or zedoaria. "This is an Indian

S84 Sino-Iranica

remedy.'' Achundow (p. 193) suspects a clerical error for zadwdr
(also jadwdr). Skr. nirvisa, vanaharidrd. Cf. above, p. 544.

31(311). sukkar, P. ^akar, ^akkar, sugar-cane, sugar {Saccharum
officinarum). Prakrit and Pali sakkhard, Skr. qarkard.

32(315). sunhuly P. sunbul-i kindly Valeriana jatamansi. Skr.
jatdmdmsl.

33(316). salixa, Laurus cassia, Skr. tvaca Cf. No. 22.

34(324). saqmUniyd, Convolvulus scammonia. ''There are three
kinds, an Indian, that from Carmgan, and that from Antiochia; the
latter being the best, the Indian ranking next. The Indian kind is the
gum of Convolvulus (or Ipomoea) turpeihumJ^ The latter is Skr. triputa,
or trivft; hence Hindustani tarbud, P. turbid, Arabic turhund. C. scam-
monia is a native of Syria, Asia Minor, and Greece, and is cultivated in
some parts of India.

35(333). sdiil, "It is an Indian remedy which resembles a Tuher
terrae (fungus), and purges the corrupted humours.'' It is also called
^dtil and in Persian ro^anak,

36(361). $al {M)y "Indian quince (Cydonia indica).*' In the com-
mentary (p. 245), Achundow cites also a Persian bih-i hindl ("Indian
quince"), and adds that Schlimmer mentions merely a Cydonia vulgaris.
What this Cydonia indica is supposed to be is a mystery: neither Rox-
burgh nor Watt knows such an Indian species. A. de CandoUe already
knew that there is no Sanskrit name for the quince. The Persian quince
is mentioned by Abu Mansur (No. 309) as safarjal (P. bih or beh, and dbl),

37(368). sandal (Arabic), Randan, Randal (Persian), sandal- wood
(Lignum santalinum). Red (from Pterocarpus santalinus) and white
(from Santalum album) are distinguished. Skr. candana.

38(386). tdllsfar, alleged to be Myristica moschata; on p. 247, how-
ever, Achundow withdraws this interpretation. According to Daud, it
is the bark of the mulberry coming from the Dekkan. The word, at all
events, appears to be Indian: cf. Skr. tdltgapattray "leaf of Flacourtia
cataphractaJ*

39(422). /wZ/wZ, alsofilfily black pepper (Piper nigrum). Skr. pippali,
marica.

40(434). fafal, P. pupaly areca-nut palm (Areca catechu). Skr,
pUgaphala; Singhalese puvak.

41(450). gusty P. kust, Costus amarus or speciosus (cf. also p. 254).
Skr. kusthay idem and Saussurea lappa.

42(456). qdqulay P. hll-i buzurg, grains of paradise seeds, greater seeds
of cardamom (Amomum granum paradisi, or melegueta).

43(457). qaranfuly P. mexaky cloves (Caryophyllus aromaticus). Skr.
lavanga.

Indian Elements in Persian Pharmacology 585

44(459). quldni, a kind of barley brought from India. Jolly (p. 196) ,
without giving an Indian name, regards this as Glycine lahialis (Rox-
burgh, Flora Indica, p. 565); Watt does not give this species for India.
Cf. No. 572, where it is described imder the name hdl.

45(480). kundur, incense (Boswellia thurifera). Skr. kunduru,
kundura, kundu, kunduruka. Achundow does not mention a Persian
form kunduru, as asserted by Hubschmann (Armen. Gram., p. 172).
Pahlavi *kundurak and Armenian kndruk are directly traceable to Skr.
kunduruka.

46(483). kdfur (Arabic and Persian), camphor {Laurus camphor a).
The same word appears already in Middle Persian. Skr. karpura,

47(512). Idk, rangldk, lac (Gummt laccae). Cf. above, p. 476.

48(517). mai, mungo bean {Phaseolus mungo). Skr. mdsa {Phaseolus
radiatus). This Indian word is widely diffused over Asia: Tibetan
ma-^a, Mongol ma^a, Turki md^ ("a small kind of bean*')> Taran^i
ma^ C'bean'O, Sart ma^ (''lentil"), Osmanli maL

49(525). mu^ktirdmuHr, mu^ktirdmH, Origanum dictamnus. "The
best is that of India." The name is said to come from the Syriac (p. 267).
Ainslee (Materia Indica, Vol. I, p. 112) calls it dittany of Crete, and
says that he has never seen it in India. Indeed it does not occur there,
hence the Indian variety of Abu Mansur must be 0. marjorana, the
sweet marjoran, Skr. phanijjhakay Arabic mardaku^ or mizunjuL

50(550). nargil (Arabic ndrjtl), coco-nut {Cocos nuciferd), Avicenna:
juz hindl ("Indian nut"). Skr. ndrikela, ndrikera, etc.

51(552). nllufar, P. nllUpar, Nymphosa alba, N, lotus, etc. Skr,
nUdtpala (Nymphcea lotus); also kumuda, kamala, etc. Cf. Loew, I.e.,

52(557). w^^, l^lci, indigo (Indigofera tinctoria), Skr. nlla (above,
p. 370).

53(572). hdl, P. hll-i xurde, lesser cardamom (Cardamomum minus or
malaharicum, or Elettaria cardamomum). Skr. eld.

54(583). yabrUh, mandrake (Atropa mandragora). ^'Two kinds are
distinguished, an Indian, called yabrUh ul-sanam, and a Nabathaean."
As the genus Atropa does not occiu: in India, with the exception of
A. belladonna, which, however, is restricted to the territory stretching
from Simla to Kashmir, it is obvious that a species of Datura is to be
understood by the Indian mandrake of Abu Mansur. This case is
interesting, in that it shows again the identical employment of the
mandrake and the datura (cf. Laueer, La Mandragore, T'oung Pao,
1917, pp. 1-30).

Appendix IV
THE BASIL

I propose to treat here briefly of the history of a genus of plants
which has not yet been discussed by historians, — Ocimum^ an extensive
genus of the order Ldbiatae. I do not share the common opinion of
most commentators of Theophrastus and Pliny, that their &kliiov or
ocimum is identical with the Ocimum hasilicum of Linnd. Theophrastus
touches on okimon in several passages; but what he describes is a shrub,
not an herb, nor does he emphasize any of the characteristic properties
of Ocimum hasilicum. FI:e justly comments on Pliny (xx, 48) that
this species is not understood by him, it being originally from India
(or rather, as will be seen, from Iran), and never found in a wild state.
From what Varro says, he infers that Pliny's ocimum must be sought
among the leguminous plants, the genus Hedysarum, LathyruSy or
Medicago} Positive evidence of this conclusion comes from Ibn al-
Baitar, whose vast compilation is principally based on the work of
Dioscorides, with the addition of annotations of Arabic authors. Ibn
al-Baitar, in his discussion of the plant which we call Ocimum^ does
not fall back on the okimon of Dioscorides (11, 171), and, in fact, does
not cite him at all.^ He merely reproduces the data of Arabic writers:
this is decisive, and leads us to reject any connection between the
ocimum of the ancients and the species coming from the Orient and
known to oiir science of botany as Ocimum}

There is good reason to asstmie that at least one species, if not
several, is a native of Persia, and was diffused from there to India
and China, probably also to the West. This is Ocimum hasilicum^ the
sweet or common basil. The name ^aaCkiKov ("royal") as the designa-
tion of an Ocimum first occurs in Byzantine literature, in Aetius (sixth
centiu-y) and Symeon Seth; and, since the king of Persia was known to
the Greeks simply as "the king" (/Sao-tXeiis), it is more than probable
that the Greek term is reproduced after the model of Persian iak-
siparam (spram) or $dh-i sfaram, which means as much as "fragrant

1 Cf . BosTOCK and Riley, Natural History of Pliny, Vol. IV, p. 249.

2 Cf. Leclerc, Trait6 des simples, Vol. II, p. 186; Vol. Ill, p. 191.

' Leclerc upholds the opposite opinion, although Sprengel, F6e, and Littr6 argue
in the same manner as here proposed.

586

The Basil 587

leaf of the king," and denotes the basil.^ The plant is esteemed for its
leaves, which serve for culinary purposes to season soups or other dishes,
and which have a flavor somewhat like cloves. The juice of the leaves
is employed medicinally.

Indeed, as shown by our word ''basil," it was under this Middle-
Greek name, which did not exist in the period of classical antiquity,
that the plant became known to the herbalists of Europe. Thus the
celebrated John Gerarde^ says, "The latter Grecians have called it
hasilikon: in shops likewise Basilicum, and Regium: in Spanish Alha-
haca-} in French Basilic: in English Basill, Garden Basill, the greater
Basill royall, the lesser Basill gentle, and Bush Basill." D. Rembert
DoDOENS^ speaks of the basill royall or great basill, and says, "In this
countrey the Herboristes do plante it in their gardens." There is much
in favor of Sickenberger's supposition that the introduction of the basil
into Europe may be due to the returning crusaders,^ while the Arabic
name adopted in Spain and Portugal suggests a Moorish transplantation
into western Europe.

Two varieties are common throughout Persia and Russian Turkistan,
— one with green and another with dark-red leaves.^ According to
Avicenna, it grows in the mountains of Ispahan.^ Abu Mansur sets
forth its medicinal properties.^ It is further cultivated throughout
India, Malaya, and China.^

W. Roxburgh^" states that Ocimum basilicum is a native of Persia,
and was thence sent to the Botanic Garden at Calcutta under the
Persian names deban-Sah and deban-macwassi. According to W.

1 Pott, Z. f. K. Morg., Vol. VII, 1850, p. 145. OsmauM fesligen or fesliyen is
likewise based on the Greek word. According to the Century Dictionary, the word
basil is of unknown origin. The Oxford Dictionary cites from Prior, "perhaps
because the herb was used in some royal unguent, bath, or medicine," — a baseless
speculation, as in fact it was never used in this way.

2 The Herball or Generall Historic of Plantes, p. 547 (London, 1597)-

'Also alfabega, alhabega, alabega, Portuguese alf abaca (FTench fabr^gue) , from
Arabic al-habak (nxdni); the latter occurs in Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. I,
p. 404.

* Niewe Herball, translation of Henry Lyte, p. 239 (London, 1578).

^ Cited in Achundow, Abu Mansur, p. 211.

^ KoRziNSKi, 06erki rastitelnosti Turkestana, p. 51. Schlimmer mentions the
two species Ocimum album and basilicum as occurring in Persia.

' Leclerc, Traits des simples, Vol. Ill, p. 191.

8 Achundow, Abu Mansur, pp. 66, 90, 103.

9 Forbes and Hemsley, Journ. Linn. Soc, Vol. XXVI, p. 266; King and
Gamble, Materials for a Flora of the Malayan Peninsula, p. 702 (Perak, Penang,
Malacca, perhaps only cultivated).

" Flora Indica, p. 464.

588 Sino-Iranica

Ainslie/ the plant was brought to India from Persia, where it is
common, by Sir John Malcolm. This is quite possible; but the fact
cannot be doubted that the basil was known in India at a much earlier
date, for we have a variety of Sanskrit names for it. Also G. Watt^
holds that the herb is indigenous in Persia and Sind. It is now culti-
vated throughout tropical India from the Panjab to Burma.

The Chinese name of Ocimum hasilicum is lo-lo ^ f& (*la-lak).
It is first described in the TsH min yao Su of the sixth century, where it
is said that Si Lo (273-333) tabooed the name (on account of the
identity of the second character with that in his own name, cf . above,
p. 298) and changed it into Ian hian SB #; but T'ao Hufi-kifi (451-536)
''mentions it again as lo-lo j and gives as popular designation Si-wah-mu
ts'ai'U'i.'^M ('' vegetable of the goddess Si-wafi-mu"). The TsH
min yao ^u cites an older work Wei hunfu 5W $ 51 W ^ ("Preface to
the Poems of Wei Hufi") to the effect that the plant lo-lo grows on the
hills of the K'un-lun and comes from the primitive culture of the
Western Barbarians (ffi ® ^ ;^ f&). This appears to be an allusion to
foreign origin; nevertheless an introduction from abroad is not hinted
at in any of the subsequent herbals. Of these, the Pen ts'ao of the Kia-yu
period (1056-64) is the first which speaks of the basil as introduced
into the materia medica. The name lo-lo has no meaning in Chinese,
and at first sight conveys the impression of a foreign word. Each of the
two elements is most frequent in transcriptions from the Sanskrit. In
fact, one of the Sanskrit names of the basil is kardlaka (or kardla), and
Chinese *la-lak (*ra-lak) corresponds exactly; the first syllable ka- is
sometimes dropped in the Indian vernaculars.^ If this coincidence is
fortuitous, the accident is extraordinary; but it is hardly possible to
believe in an accident of this kind.

There is, further, a plant & M M W^Jou-lan-lo-lo, *fu (bu)-lan-la-lak,
solely mentioned by C'en Ts'afi-k'i of the eighth century as growing in
Sogdiana (K'afi) and resembling the hou-p'o 9^ ^h (Magnolia hypoleuca),
Japanese ho-no-ki^ The Pen ts'ao kan mu has therefore placed this
notice as an appendix to hou-p^o. This Sogdian plant and its name
remain unidentified. At the outset it is most improbable that a Mag-
nolia is involved; this is a typical genus of the far east, which to my
knowledge has not yet been traced in any Iranian region. Boissier's

1 Materia Indica, Vol. II, p. 424.

2 Dictionary, Vol. V, p. 441.

* Cf. for instance kakinduka {" Diospyros tomentosa'') — Uriya kendhu, Bengal,
kend.

* Cen lei pen ts'ao, Ch. 12, p. 56 b; Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 35 A, p. 4; StuartI
Chinese Materia Medica, p. 255.

The Basil 589

"Flora Orientalis" does not contain any Magnolia. The foreign name
is apparently a compound, the second element of which, lo-lo, is iden-
tical with the Indian-Chinese name of the basil, so that it is justifiable
to suppose that the entire name denotes an Iranian variety of the basil
or another member of the genus Ocimum,

The basil is styled in Middle Persian palangamu^k, in New Persian
palanmi^k, Arabic-Persian falanjmu^ky Jaranjmu^ky Abu Mansur:
faranjamu^k (Armenian p^alangamu^k),^ the second element mu^k or
mi^k meaning "musk," and the first component denoting an5rthing of
a motley color, like a panther or giraffe. The significance of the word,
accordingly, is "spotted and musky." This definition is quite plausible,
for the leaves of some basils are spotted. John Parkinson,^ discussing
the various names of the basil, remarks, "The first is usually called
Ocimum vulgare, or vulgatius, and Ocimum Citratum. In English, Com-
mon or Garden Basill. The other is called Ocimum minimum, or Garich
phyllatumj Clove Basill, or Bush Basill. The last eyther of his place, or
forme of his leaves, being spotted and curled, or all, is called Ocimum
Indicum maculatum, latifolium and crispum. In English according to the
Latine, Indian Basill, broade leafed Basill, spotted or curled Basill,
which you please."^ The Arabic forms are phonetically developed from
Persian palan; and it is somewhat surprising that R. Dozy^ explains
Arabic faranjmu^k as "musk of the Franks," although he refers to the
variants haranj and falanj.

While there is a certain resemblance between the Middle-Persian
name and our Chinese transcription, I do not believe that the two
can be identified. The Chinese calls for an initial sonant and a w-vowel;
whereas the Iranian form, as positively corroborated by the Armenian
loan-word, is possessed of an initial surd with following a. I am rather
inclined to regard *bu-lan as a Sogdian word, and to derive it from
Sogdian hoba, hoban ("perfume").^ The name *bu-lan ra-lak would
accordingly signify "aromatic basil" (corresponding to our "sweet
basil"), the peculiar aroma being the prominent characteristic of the

1 HuBSCHMANN, Armen. Gram., p. 254. According to others, this word would
refer to Ocimum gratissimum, the shrubby basil, but practically this makes no
difference, as the properties and employment of the herbs are the same.

2 Paradisi in sole paradisus terrestris, p. 450 (London, 1629). The technical
term of the botanists in describing the leaves is suhtus punctata (G. Bentham,
Labiatarum genera, p. 5; de Candolle, Prodromus, pars XII, p. 32).

' LiNNE (Species plantarum. Vol. I, p. 597, Holmiae, 1753) has Ocymum latifo-
lium maculatum sive crispum.

* Supplement aux dictionnaires arabes. Vol. II, p. 262.

^ R. Gauthiot, Essai sur le vocalisme du sogdien, pp. 45, loi, 102; F. W. K.
MtJLLER, Handschriften-Reste in Estrangelo-Schrift, II, p. 35.

590 Sino-Iranica

herb. As it is localized in Sogdiana, it is perfectly justifiable to regard
the term as Sogdian; it may be, however, that the second component did
not form part of the Sogdian word, and is an addition of C'en Ts'afi-k'i ;
it is also possible that the term applies to another species of Ocimum or
to a peculiar variety of Ocimum hasilicumy differentiated by cultiva-
tion. It is well known that the New-Persian word hdi^ ho ("scent, per-
fume") enters into composition with a number of aromatics;^ and
Persian ndz-ho is indeed a designation of the basil, and means "having
an agreeable odor." In the same manner we have Sanskrit gandhapatra
("fragrant leaf, basil").

From India one or more species of Ocimum (basilicum, sanctum,
and gratissimum) spread into the Malayan Archipelago. The Sanskrit
temi surasl or surasd has been adopted by Malayan sulasi, Javanese
selasih or sulasih^ Sunda salasik. Javanese has likewise received tulasih
or telasih from Sanskrit tulasl.^ The two surasd, the white and black
varieties of the Tulsi-plant, appear in the Bower Manuscript.^ In the
folk-lore of India the plant plays an extensive rdle.^ Odoric of Por-
DENONE relates, "In this country every man hath before his house a
plant of twigs as thick as a pillar would be here, and this never withers
as long as it gets water." Yule^ justly comments that this plant is the
sacred tulasi {Ocimum sanctum). It is widely employed in the pharma-
copoeia of the Persians and Arabs.^ Arabic terms are: badruj, xauk,
rixdn, keblr, aqm, xamdxim.

^HuBSCHMANN, Armen. Gram., p. 123. Cf. also above, p. 462; and Horn,
Neupers. Etymol., No. 240.

2 Cf. H. Kern, Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde, 1880, p. 564.

3 Hoernle's edition, p. 22. There are also the forms suravalU, surasagra^l,
and surasdgraja, the two last-named relating to the white variety.

* Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 931.
^ Cathay, new ed. by Cordier, Vol. II, p. 116.

^ Leclerc, Traits des simples. Vol. I, pp. 92, 367, 403, 404, 456, 474; Vol. II,
pp. 100, 104, 191, 375, 390.

Appendix V
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON LOAN-WORDS IN TIBETAN

In my "Loan- Words in Tibetan" (T'oung Pao, 191 6, pp. 403-552)
I was obliged to deal succinctly with some of the problems which are
discussed at greater length in this volimie. The brief notes given there
on saffron, cummin, almond, alfalfa, coriander, etc., are now super-
seded by the contributions here inserted. A detailed history of Guinea
pepper (No. 237) is now ready in manuscript, and will appear as a chapter
in my "History of the Cultivated Plants of America.'* The ntmibers
of the following additions refer to those of the former article.

Note the termination -e in the loan-words derived from the Indian
vernaculars: bram-ze, neu-le, ma-he, sen-ge, ban-de, bhah-ge. This -e
appears to be identical with the nominative -e of Magadhi.

49. ga-bur, camphor. Sir George A. Grierson (see below) observes,
"The softening of initial ^ to g is, I think, certainly not Indian." The
Tibetan form has always been a mystery to me: it is not only the initial
g, but also the labial sonant 6, which are striking as compared with the
surds in Skr. karpura. As is well known, this word has migrated west-
ward, the initial k being retained everywhere: Persian-Arabic kafur
(Garcia: capur and cafur) j Spanish, alcanf or (Acost a: canjora). These
forms share the loss of the medial r with Tibetan. This phenomenon
pre-existed in Indian; for in Hindustani we have kapur, in Singhalese
kapuru, in Javanese and Malayan kdpur. The Mongols have adopted
from the Tibetans the same word as gabur; but, according to Kovalev-
SKi (p. 2431), there is also a Tibeto-Mongol spelling gad-pu-ra: this
can only be a transcription of the Chinese type P8 ^ ^ kie-pu-lOj
anciently *g'ia5-bu-la, based on an Indian original *garpura, or
*garbura. Tibetan ga-bur, of course, cannot be based on the Chinese
form; but the latter doubtless demonstrates that, within the sphere of
Indian speech, there must have been a dialectic variant of the word with
initial sonant.

54. The Pol. D. (27, p. 31) gives nali^am (printed ali^am) as a
Mongol word; assuredly it is not Tibetan. The corresponding Manchu
word is xalxdri.

58. Regarding Hn-kun, see above, p. 362.

60. With respect to the Chinese transcription su-ki-mi-lo-si, Pelliot
(T'oung Pao, 191 2, p. 455) had pointed out that the last element si

591

592 Sino-Iranica

does not form part of the transcription. This is most likely, but the
Sino-Indian word is thus recorded in the Pen ts^ao kan mu.

64. Add: Skr. also bildla, hirdla.

65. Sikkim noiUy Dhimal nyul, Bodo nyiilai ("ichnetimon") .

74. han-de, as suggested by my friend W. E. Clark of the Univer-
sity of Chicago, is connected with Pali and Jaina Prakrit bhante, Skr.
bhadanta ("reverend").

79. I have traced Tibetan sendha-pa to Sanskrit sindhuja. This, as
a matter of fact, is correct, but from a philological viewpoint the Tibetan
form is based on Sanskrit saindhava with the same meaning ("relating
to the sea, relating to or coming from the Indus, a horse from the Indus
country, rock-salt from the Indus region"). The same word we find in
Chinese garb as 3fc ^ ^ sien-fo-p'o, *sian-da-bwa, explained as "rock-
salt" {Fan yi min yi tsi, section 25). Tokharian has adopted it in the
form sindhdp or sintdp (S. Lfevi, Journal asiatiquej 1911, II, pp. 124, 139).

158. The recent discussion opened in the Journal of the Royal
Asiatic Society (19 17, p. 834) by Mr. H. Beveridge in regard to the
title tarxan {tarkkan, originally tarkan)^ then taken up by Dr. F. W.
Thomas {ibid., 1918, p. 122 ), and resumed by Beveridge (1918, p. 314),
induces me to enlarge my previous notes on this subject, and to trace
the early history of this ctirious term as accurately as in the present state
of science is possible.

The word tarkan is of Old-Turkish, not of Mongol, origin. It is first
recorded during the T'ang dynasty (a.d. 618-906) as the designation of
a dignity, usually preceded by a proper name, both in the Old-Turkish
inscriptions of the Orkhon (for instance, Apa Tarkan) and in the Chinese
Annals of the T'ang (cf. Thomsen, Inscriptions de I'Orkhon, pp. 59,
131, 185; Radloff, Altturk. Inschriften, p. 369, and Worterb. Turk-
Dialecte, Vol. Ill, col. 851; Marquart, Chronologic d. altturk. In-
schriften, p. 43; HiRTH, Nachworte ztir Inschrift des Tonjukuk,
pp. 55-56). An old Chinese gloss relative to the significance of the
title does not seem to exist, or has not yet been traced. According to
Hirth, the title was connected with the high command over the troops.
The modem Chinese interpretation is "ennobled:" the title is be-
stowed only on those who have gained merit in war (Watters, Essays,
p. 372). The Tibetan gloss indicated by me, "endowed with great
power, or empowered with authority," inspires confidence. The subse-
quent explanation, "exempt from taxes," seems to be a mere make-
shift and to take too narrow a view of the matter. A lengthy disserta-
tion on the meaning of the title is inserted in the Ain-i Akbari of 1597
(translation of Blochmann, p. 364) ; but it must not be forgotten that
what holds good for the Mongol and Mogul periods is not necessarily

I

Loan-Words in Tibetan 593

valid for the Turkish epoch under the T'ang. According to the T'ang
Annals {Van Su, Ch. 217 b, p. 8), the officials of the Kirgiz were divided
into six classes, the sixth being called tarkan. The other offices are
designated by purely Chinese names, and refer to civil and military
grades. Among the Kirgiz, therefore, tarkan denoted a high military
rank and function.

The title has been traced by E. Chavannes and Sylvain L^vi in
the Itinerary of Wu K'un (751-790). The Chinese author relates that
the kingdom of Ki-pin (Gandhara and territory adjoining in the west)
sent in 750, as envoy to the court of China, the great director Sa-po ta-kan
S S^ ^ ^ (or ^), anciently *Sat or Sar-pa dar-kan (cf. Journal
astatique, 1895, II, p. 345). Chavannes and L^vi have recognized a
Turkish dynasty in the then reigning house of Ki-pin, and have regarded
the title ta-kan also as Ttirkish, without, however, identif3dng it (ibid.,
p. 379). In 1903 Chavannes noted the identity of the Chinese tran-
scription with Turkish tarkan (Doomients sur les Tou-kiue occidentaux,
p. 239). The Chinese transcription *dar-kan does not allow us to pre-
suppose a Turkish model darkan; but the Old-Turkish form was indeed
tarkan, as is also confirmed by New Persian tarxdn and Armenian
Varxan (Hubschmann, Armen. Gram., p. 266). Tarsa, the Persian
designation of the Christians, is transcribed in Chinese by the same
character, M ^ ta-so, anciently *dar-sa. The complex phonetic phe-
nomenon which is here involved will be discussed by me in another
place. Wherever the Chinese mention the title, it regularly refers to
Turkish personages: thus the pilgrim Huan Tsafi is accompanied by an
officer Mo-tu tarkan, assigned to him by the Turkish Kagan (Watters,
On Yuan Chwang's Travels, Vol. I, pp. 75, 77); for examples in the
Chinese Annals, see Hirth, l.c.

In the Vita S. dementis (XVI), a Bori-tarkdnos appears as com-
mander of Belgrad; this may be Turkish hUri ("wolf")- Among the
Bulgars, Bulias tarkdnos (Old Turkish hoila tarkan) was one of the
titles of the oldest two princes (cf. Marquart, I.e., pp. 41, 42). As a
Hunnic title, tarxan occurs in the Armenian History of Albania by Moses
Kalankatvaci (Hubschmann, I.e., p. 516). The word has survived in
the name of the Russian city Astrakhan, originally Haj or Hajji Tar-
khan, as it was still called by Ibn Batuta (ed. DEERfeMERY, Vol. II,
pp. 410, 458), who adds that tarkhan among the Turks designates a
place exempt from any taxation. Pegoletti calls the city Gintarchan
(Yule, Cathay, Vol. Ill, p. 146). Our word does not occur in Marco
Polo, as supposed by H. Beveridge, nor do the Mongols know it in the
form tarkan, but they have only darkan or darxan (Kovalevski,
p. 1676), which has two different meanings, — "workman, artist," and

594 Sino-Iranica

"exempt from taxes." Golstunski, in his Mongol-Russian Dictionary
(Vol. Ill, p. 63), defines it as "smith, master; exempt from taxes and
obligations." There is no association between these two meanings, as
wrongly deduced by E. Blochet (Djami el-T6varikh, Vol. II, p. 58).
In Karakirgiz we have darkan in the sense of "smith, artist," while the
same word in Kirgiz means "favorite of the Khan" and "liberty."
Perhaps darkan was an independent Mongol-Turkish word, which was
subsequently amalgamated with Old Turkish tarkan.

The Tibetan forms dar-k^a-(^'e and dar-rgan lead to Uigur darkaU
{-U being a suffix) and dargan or darkan. Tibetan tradition itself assigns
these words to the Uigur language; thus it is legitimate to conclude that
Mongol, on its part, derived the words from the Uigur, and that the
initial dental sonant is peculiar or due to the latter. The Tibetan
transcriptions, fiirther, are decisive in reconstructing the Uigur forms;
for an Uigur (or Mongol) tarkan would have been transcribed by the
Tibetans only Var-k'an. Among the Mongols, the title never had an
extensive application; it does not occur in the chronicle of Sanan
Setsen. Also the fact that the Manchu and other Tungusian languages
did not adopt it from the Mongols is apt to show that it is of com-
paratively recent date among the Mongols. Neither was it the Mongols
who conveyed the word to Persia, as is evidenced by the Persian form
tarxan. The form dargan paves the way to daruga, which, although a
different word, that has assumed a development of its own, in its founda-
tion is doubtless related to darkan, tarkan. Both words start with the
common significance "official, governor, commander, high authority,"
and gradually depreciate in value, daruga simply becoming a chief,
mayor, superintendent, manager, and tarkan a favorite of the Khan.

There is no evidence of the existence of the title on Asiatic soil
prior to the seventh or eighth century a.d. The Chinese do not ascribe
it to the Hiun-nu or any of the numerous early Turkish tribes with
which they came in contact, while they have preserved many titles and
offices in their languages. We have no right to assume an unlimited
antiquity for any historical or linguistic phenomenon; nor can it be
argued with Mr. Beveridge that "the antiquity of the name is evidenced
by the fact that its etymology is unknown, and that Oriental writers are
obliged to make absurd guesses on the subject." There are a great many
ancient words the et3miology of which is perfectly known, and there are
many words of recent origin the etymology of which is shrouded in
mystery or dubious. I have no judgment on the point raised by Mr.
Beveridge, that the names Tarchon, Tarquin, and Tarkhan may be
identical ; but for chronological and ethnographical reasons this theory
does not seem very probable. At any rate, both detailed phonetic and

LoAN-WoRDS IN Tibetan 595

historical investigations are necessary in order to establish such an iden-
tity; a merely apparent coincidence of words proves little or nothing.

170. The Turkish origin of tupak is also maintained by W. Geiger
(Lautlehre des Baluci, p. 66) : Baluci tupak, tupan, tufan, topak; Yidga
tujuk.

171. The word cakii occtirs also in Kurd (^aku, (^axo, etc. (J, de
Morgan, Mission en Perse, Vol. V, p. 140).

183. The word se-mo-do occurs in the Tibetan translation of the
Amarakosa (p. 166).

198. pir-Vi ("quick-match") is also connected with Turki piltd
(Le Coq, p. 86 b).

207. Another Sanskrit term for Panicum miliaceum is clndka
("Chinese") and cinna,

279. k^ra-rtse, pronounced t'ar-tse, is perhaps merely a bad spelling
of Persian tarazu (No. 128).

299. Vai rje is possibly connected with Mongol taiji (cf. O. Franke,
Jehol, p. 30).

On p. 421 it is stated that the animal kun-ta is not yet traced to its
Sanskrit original. Boehtlingk's Dictionary, however, has Sanskrit
kunta with the meaning "a small animal, a worm"; but this entry
may be simply based on the Tibetan mDzans-hlun. The Chinese tran-
scription calls for a prototype *kunda.

To the Persian loan-words add ^o-ra (above, p. 503).

To the Arabic loan-words add §eg ("chieftain, elder"), from Arabic
§aix.

To the Turki loan-words add gan-zag (above, p. 577).

Sir George A. Grierson, editor of the "Linguistic Survey of India,*'
has done me the honor to look over my Loan-Words in Tibetan, and to
favor me with the following observations, which are herewith published
with his kind permission:

The Kashmiri for ^^egg" (p. 405) is ^w/.

15. I cannot think that *andafiil is a possible Apabhramga (using
the word in its technical sense) word. The presence of n seems to
point to Kashmiri, in which ni has a tendency to change to ni. The
Ksh. equivalent of Skr. nlla- is nllu, pronounced nyul, and it is a com-
mon-place that ny and n in that language have the same sound. In fact,
original medial ny is written ft (e.g. dana, from Skr. dhdnya-, "paddy"),
in this following Paigaci Prakrit.

17. 'Arya-pa-lo. This is typical Pigaca, which changes ry to
r(i)y and v{b) to p. In all Indian Prakrits, drya would become ajja-,
with short initial a.

596 Sino-Iranica

1 8. pot'l is the common word for "book" all over North India.
The Ksh. form is pufi.

21. sendura- is the regular Prakrit form of Skr. sindura-.

28. I do not see how ha-dan can represent pataka. The change
of initial p to h is, I think, impossible in any Prakrit or modem
Indian language. Of cotirse, the change might have occurred in
Tibetan.1

29. sdccha, with a long a, is impossible in Prakrit. Compare Hindo-
stani sacd ("a mould").

30. In true Apabhramga, medial k often becomes g (Hemacandra,
iv, 396). This accounts for the g in mu-tig. But the Ap. form would
be *mu(6)ttiga-, not mukt- or mut-.

45. Is not Tibetan ^'a-ra = HindostanI khaf, "coarse sugar?" I
should be inclined to derive the Tibetan word ^a-ka-ra from the Persian
word ^akar, not from Skr. ^arkard. If the Tibetan word came from
India, it would be sa-ka-ra. In regular Prakrit, and in all the modem
Indo-Aryan vemaciilars except Bengali, Sanskrit Hq) becomes s. The
Persian word is in regular use in Kashmiri ^akar, and could thus have
got into Tibet.

68. The regular Prakrit form is vidduma-, which is quite common.
See, e.g., the index to the Setuhandha, I have never met any form such
as *viruma-, or the like.

113. Although ddr-cinl is the dictionary word, ddl-clnl is universal
all over North India.

118. I have not come across cob-clnl in Kashmiri, but in that
language other compounds with coh are common, to indicate the roots of
various plants. This leads me to think that the word probably got into
Tibetan through Kashmir.

122. The word tsddar, a shawl, is pure Kashmiri. It came into that
language from India.

143. Araq is, of course, common all over North India. It is even
used by Hindus, and appears in Hinc^. In Kashnuri, arak means "sweat."
It is the same word.

143-156. I think it is certain that all these Arabic words came via
India. They are all in common use in North India and Kashmir. The
only exception is No. 148. I do not remember coming across this cor-
ruption of masjid anywhere in India proper. But, curiously enough,

1 It should be borne in mind that the derivation of la-dan from pataka is proposed
by the Tibetan grammarians; whether this is objectively correct, is another ques-
tion. At any rate, ha-dan is not a Tibetan word, and the object which it denotes
came from India with Buddhism. — [B.L.]

Loan-Words in Tibetan 597

maslt occurs in the Ormuri language spoken in Afghanistan. Of course,
the form bagHs with g (No. 145) does not occur in India.^
173. Argon occurs in Kashmiri in the same sense.

1 The final g (pronounced k) is a purely graphic, not a phonetic phenomenon;
Tibetan writing has no final Jfe.— [B.L.]

GENERAL INDEX

The Index contains also additional information.

A-lo-yi-lo, 378 note 2, 511.

Abel-Remusat, see R6musat.

Abu Dulaf, 351.

Abu Mansur, 194, 209, 298, 301, 306,
307, 315, 320, 332, 350, 354, 364, 366,
369, 370, 373, 380, 383, 396, 399, 405,
425, 443, 446, 449, 453, 455, 459, 481,

483, 507, 509, 544-547, 549, 55i, 553,
587, 589; Indian elements in pharma-
cology of, 580-585.

Abulfeda, 351.

Achundow, A. C, 194, 209, 253, 298,
301, 304, 306, 307, 315, 320, 327, 332,
350, 354, 364, 366, 367, 370, 373, 380,
383, 396, 399, 402, 405, 425, 443, 446,
449, 453-455, 459, 478, 483, 507, 509,
544-547, 551, 580, 583-585, 587.

Aconite, 582.

Acorn, in Persia, 246.

Acosta, C, 356, 528, 550, 556, 591.

Aden, almonds of, 405.

Aeschylus, 320.

Aetius, 586.

Africa, aloes of, 480; date-palm intro-
duced into eastern, 389 note i ; ebony
from, 485, 486; home of Ricinus, 404;
home of sesame cultivation, 290;
home of water-melon, 438; myrrh
from East, 461.

Ahlquist, A., 577.

Ahmed Sibab Eddin, 561.

Ai-lao, 489.

Ain-i Akbari, 222, 282, 319, 502, 592.

Ainslie, W., 241, 254, 266, 364, 367, 453,

484, 514, 585, 588.
Aitchison, 343.

Akbar, promoter of viticulture, 240.

al-Akfani, 566.

Albertus Magnus, 395 note 6, 411.

Alcohol, Chinese allusion to, 237.

Aleni, Giulio, S. J., 433, 527.

Alexander Romance, Chinese in, 570-
571; Ethiopic version of, 566.

Alexandria, 550.

Alfalfa, cultivation of, in Fergana, 210;
history of, 208-219; wild species of, in
China, 217-218. — Alfalfa is culti-
vated in Arabia, being styled gadhub
on the South- Arabian coast. The
Arabs also received the plant from
Persia. In Egypt it became only
known during the nineteenth century
under the name "Arabian clover"

(berslm hegiasi); cf. G. Schweinfurth,

Z. Ethn., 1 89 1, p. 658.
Almeria, 492, 497.
Almond, 193, 405-409.
Altabas, altobas, term for brocades,

derivation of, 492.
Alum, 336, 474-475-
Amber, 521-523; of Samarkand, 251.
Ammianus Marcellinus, 355, 548.
Amomum, 481-482.
An-si, Chinese name of the dynasty of

the Arsacides or Parthia, 187, 221,

457; cotton stuffs of, 488.
Anabasis, 223, 224.
Andamans, Memecylon on, 315.
Anderson, J., 266, 286.
Andreas, 529.
Anglo-Saxons, cultivation of carrot by,

451, 452; cultivation of coriander by,

299.
Annam, pepper of, 375; Psoralea of, 484;

styled Yavana, 212; Styrax benjoin

of, 465.
Antimony, 509.
Ao-men 6i lio, 434, 501.
Apricot, in India, 240, 408; transmitted

from China to the west, 539.
Arabia, alleged home of fig-culture, 411 ;

amber from, 522; costus of, 463;

manna of, 346 note 3; myrrh from,

461; saffron from, 310; turmeric ex-
ported from India to, 314.
Arabs, activity in sugar-industry of,

377; date of, 390; gold-dust of, 510;

grapes of, 223; grape- wine of, 239;

importers of asbestos into China, 500;

nux- vomica of, 449; rape-turnip of,

381; symbolism of pomegranate

among, 287; trading brocades with

Kirgiz, 488-489; viticulture of, 241;

yiie no textiles of, 494.
Areca palm, 584.
Argentine, alfalfa in, 219.
Aristobulus, 239, 372.
Aristophanes, 208.
Aristotle, 411, 512.
Armenia, alfalfa in, 218; grape- wine in,

220; peach and apricot in, 539; rhu-
barb of, 547.
Armenian apple, Greek term for apricot,

203, 209.
Aromatics, 455-467.
Arrian, 455.

599

6oo

General Index

Arsak, Chinese transcription of, 284.

Arthagastra, 569.

Asafoetida, 353-362.

Asbestos, 498-501.

Assyria, fig in, 411.

Atharva Veda, 290, 455.

Athenaeus, 223, 224.

Attalic textures, 488.

Aurousseau, L., 263, 330.

Avesta, 185, 187, 277, 372, 488, 563, 573.

Avicenna, 383, 587.

al-Awwam, 395.

Aymonier,^E., 286, 473, 476, 486.

Baber, 452.

Babylonia, ebony of, 486; figs of, 412.
Babylonians, ebony used by, 486; se-
same oil used by, 290.
Backgammon, a Persian game (nard),

known in China in the sixth century

A.D.,335.
Bactria, bamboo of Se-£'wan traded to,

535; pistachio of, 246; visited by

Can K'ien, 211.
Badaxgan, asbestos of, 499.
Bagdad, yue no of, 494.
Bailey, T. G., 260.
al-Baitar, Ibn, 298, 314, 316, 332, 351,

360, 396, 422, 432, 443, 448, 483. 523,

545, 546, 549, 550-553, 581, 586.
Baku, saffron exported from, 320.
Balas ruby, 575.
Bali, camphor of, 479.
Balm of Gilead, 429-434.
Balsam-poplar, 339-342.
Baltistan, saffron of, 318.
Baluchistan, alfalfa in, 209, 216; Bal-

samodendron of, 467; caraway of,

383 note 11; date of, 390; fig of, 412;

Lawsonia alba in, 337; olive of, 415;

pistachio in, 246; pomegranate in,

276; rhubarb of, 547.
Bamboo, the square, 535-537.
Bang, W., 496.
Barberry, 314.
Bartholomae, C, 461.
Basil, 193, 194, 586-590.
Batata, Ibn, 282, 418, 442, 496, 546,

593.
Bauer, M., 521.
Beal, S., 282, 304, 512.
Beccari, 527.
Becker, C. H., 489.
Beckmann, J., 321, 512, 514.
Bellew, H. W., 397, 444.
Belon du Mons, P., 346, 433.
Bentham, G., 589.
B6guinot, A., 218.
Berbera coast, myrrh from, 461.
Berezin, 502.
Bergaigne, A., 212.
Bemier, 547.
Berosus, 290.

Betel, 582.

Beveridge, A. S., 278, 452.

Beveridge, H., 592-594-

Bezoar, 525-528. To the bibliography
on p. 528 add the new edition of
Barbosa by M. L. Dames, Vol. I,
p. 235 (Hakluyt Society, 191 8).

Bhoja, see Fu-Si.

Biddulph, D., 254.

Billiard, R., 220.

Biot, E., 322.

Birch, 552-553-

Bird wood, G., 451.

Blagden, C. O., 474.

Blanco, M., 482.

Blasdale, W. C, 408, 418.

Blochet, E., 564, 576, 594.

Blochmann, H., 222, 282, 319, 503, 592.

Blumner, H., 294, 367.

Bod, Chinese transcription of, 198 note 6.

Boehtlingk, O., 452, 527, 576, 577. 595-

Boissier, E., 547, 549, 588.

Bokhara, Bukhara, rugs from, 493; salt
of, 511; seedless grape of, 231.

Bonavia, E., 390, 411.

Bontius, J., 361.

Borax, 503.

Borneo, 469; bezoar of, 527; tabashir of,
352.

Borooah, A., 397, 425.

Borszczow, E., 353, 354, 362, 364-366.

Bostock, 586.

Bouchal, L., 527.

Bouvet, J., S. J., 238.

Bower Manuscript, 248, 254, 283, 314,
404, 482.

Brandstetter, R., 443.

Brass, 51 1-5 15.

Brassica, 380-382.

Bretschneider, E., 190, 191, 195, 201,
204, 206, 207, 213, 214, 216, 226, 230,
236, 238, 252, 254, 257-260, 263-265,
268, 278-280, 284-286, 288, 289, 293,
295, 297, 300, 302, 305-308, 311, 313--
315, 324-326, 329, 330, 332, 335, 341.
346, 348, 351, 355, 358, 371, 385, 387-
389, 392, 395, 400, 401, 403, 406-408,
413, 421, 436, 437, 439, 440, 442, 446,
458, 459, 465, 466, 473, 494, 496, 497,
508, 515, 520, 525. 543, 554, 557, 56o.

Bretzl, H., 355.

Briangon, manna of, 346.

Brocades, Chinese, in Persia, 537; Per-
sian, 488-492.

Brown, E., 211.

Browne, E. G., 194.

Budge, E. A. W., 566, 570.

Buhler, G., 558.

BandahiSn, disquisition on plants, con-
tained in the, 192-194.

Burma, Alpinia galganga in, 546; lac
employed in, 478; mentioned in the
Man Su, 468, 494; mentioned in the

General Index

60 1

T'ang Annals, 469; nux-vomica of,
449; trade of, with Yun-nan, 471;
transit-mart in the trade of asafoetida
from Siam to Yun-nan, 360 note 2.

Buschan, G., 276, 277, 451.

Bushell, S. W., 560.

Buxtorf, J., 429.

Cabaton, A., 286, 473, 476, 486.

Cahen, G., 550.

Cairo, balsam of, 433; men from, teach-
ing sugar-refining in China, 377.

Camboja, 477; gold of, 509 note 10;
mango in, 552; pomegranate of, 282;
saffron exported from India to, 318.

Cambyses, 224, 372.

Camphor, 478-479. 585. 59i.

Canakya, 569.

Candolle, A. de, 190, 205-208, 214, 316,
219, 220, 246, 257, 258, 276, 279, 288,
290, 294, 300, 301, 304, 307, 320, 324,
387. 391. 395. 397, 400, 401, 404, 407.
413, 416, 425, 438-440, 445. 447. 452,
453. 539. 541. 584. 589.

Cange, Du, 353, 395, 498.

Canton, former cultivation of date in,
386.

Caraway, 383.

Cardamom, in Pahlavi literature, 193.

Carmania, 223.

Carob, 424-425.

Carrot, 451-454.

Cassia pods, 420-426.

Castr6n, 577.

Celery, 402.

Chalybonian wine, 224.

Chardin, 320.

Chavannes, E., 186, 195. 202, 211, 221,
222, 262, 264, 303. 318, 341. 344. 357,
379. 438, 439. 456, 462, 470, 488-490,
493-495. 499. 509. 512, 520, 521, 529,
531, 549. 563. 564. 573. 593.

Chess, 576.

Chestnut, in Pahlavi literature, 193.

China, etymology of the name, 568-570.

China Root, 556-557-

Chive, 302.

Chloride of sodium, 505.

Chowry, 565.

Christensen, A., 529, 530, 533.

Chrysanthemum, in Pahlavi literature,

^.^93.

Cmnamon, 541-543, 583.

Citron, 581.

Clark, W. E., 592.

Clement-Mullet, 395.

Coccus lacca, 478.

Coccus mannifer, 348.

Cockscomb, 193.

Coco-nut, Arabic-Persian designation of,
derived from Indian, 585; mentioned
in Pahlavi Hterature, 193; wine, 240.

Collas, M., 505, 508.

Copper, green, attributed to Persia, 515.

Copper-oxide, 510.

Coral, 523-525; of Samarkand, 251.

Cordier, H., 206, 236, 252, 346, ,352, 496,
560.

Coriander, 192, 205, 297-299. To the
Persian names add sauniz; Persian
karinj, kiranj, or kurinj, and juljul&n,
mean ' ' coriander-seed ' ' (juljul&n
means also "sesame-seed").

Cosmas, 240.

Cosmetic, of white lead, 201.

da Costa, see Acosta.

Costus root, 462-464.

Cotton, 490, 491, 574.

Couling, S., 293.

Courteille, Pavet de, 370.

Crab-apple, in India, 240.

Crawfurd, J., 269, 278, 283, 404, 443.

Croton, 583.

Cucumber, 300-301.

Cucurbitaceous plants, history of, 440
note 2.

Cummin, 383-384. 575-

Curtel, G., 220.

Cynips quercus folii, 367.

Cyropaedia, 223, 224.

Cyrus, 223, 412.

Can-pei, or Can-pi, a Malayan country,
268.

CaA Cm, 527 note 2.

Ca6 Cufi-kiA, or C&ix Ki, 205, 262.

Can HuA-mao, 232.

Caii Hwa, 258, 259, 278, 310, 324.

Cafi K'ien, Chinese general of the second
century b. c, iiatroduced alfalfa and
grape-vine into China, 190, 210, 221;
chive not introduced by, 302; cori-
amder not introduced by, 297; cucum-
ber not introduced by, 300; fig not
introduced by, 413; introduction of
safflower wrongly connected with, 310,
324; introduction of sesame wrongly
ascribed to, 288-289; Memoirs of his
journey, 242; pomegranate not due
to, 278-279; walnut not introduced
by, 257-259; see, further, 372, 535,
536, 539. 564.

Cafi K'ien 5*u kwan 2i, 242.

Cafi Yi, 285, 306.

Can Yu-si, 446.

Cafi Yue, 233, 344.

Cao Hio-min, 229, 252.

Cao 2u-kwa, 344, 355, 360, 368, 459,
461, 463, 465. 472, 480, 493. 541. 549,
553.

Cen 2u ^'wan, 442.

Cen Kwan, 464.

CeA Ho, 390.

Cefi Kaii-auA, 336.

602

General Index

Cen K'ien, 268, 326.

Cen lei pen ts'ao, 201, 204, 211, 233, 250,
258, 279, 280, 288, 302, 340, 351, 367,
380, 384, 392, 399. 420, 422-424, 448,
458-460, 462, 475, 483, 500, 504, 508,
510, 524, 588.

Cen su wen, 399, 409.

Ceil §en tsi, 536.

Cen Tsiao, 196, 289, 323, 328, 348, 392.

Ci fan wai ki, 433, 527.

Ci p'u, 561.

Ci wu min §i f u k'ao, 196, 197, 204, 218,
247, 258, 264, 267, 279, 296, 300,
306-308, 312, 340, 368, 388, 393, 394,
410, 411, 413, 443, 463, 482, 484-

Ci ya fan tsa 6'ao, 447, 500, 566.

Co ken lu, 386, 388, 448, 519.

Cou Kin §i Lii §an Id, 281.

Cou K'u-fei, 270, 344, 472, 494, 553.

Cou li, 314, 322, 565-

Cou Lian-kun, 536.

Cou Mi, 336, 447, 500, 566.

Cou §u, 201, 320, 372, 374, 375, 378, 379,

^ 457. 510, 515. 516, 525. 532, 533, 565.

Cou Ta-kwan, 282, 478.

Cu fan 6i, 480.

Cu Mu, 491.

Cu p'u sian lu, 537.

Cu Yi-6un, 234.

Cun hwa ku kin 2u, 327.

Cun §u §u, 392, 440.

C'an Te, 332, 515, 520.

C'an wu 6i, 496, 497.

C'en C'efi, 358, 359, 470.

C'en Hao-tse, 259, 267, 279.

C'en Ki-zu, 442.

C'en Lin-kii, 281.

C*en §i-lian, 198.

C'en Ts'an-k'i, 195-198, 200, 228, 233,
247, 297, 306, 307, 313, 318, 343, 345,
365. 380, 384. 386, 402, 420, 423, 424,
458,472, 553.588,590.

C'en fu t'un hwi, 429.

C'en-ts'an, walnuts of, 264, 274.

C'u hu kwo fan, 204.

C'un ts'ao fan tsi, 409, 427.

Dal', 502.

Dalgado, S. R., 465.

Dallet, C, 563.

Damascus, wine of, 224.

Darius, 208, 223, 320.

Darwin, C, 261, 267.

Date, in Pahlavi literature, 193.

Date-palm, 385-391.

Datura, 582, 585.

Daad, 369, 546, 584.

Daur, Tungusian tribe, cultivators of
walnuts, 267.

Dautremer, J., 244.

Davis, J. F., 232.

Defr^mery, 282, 492.

Department of Agriculture, Washing-
ton, 208, 219.

Deva, a Buddhist monk from Magadha,
359.

Dev^ria, G., 471, 489, 529, 533-

Diamond, 518, 521.

Diels, H., 350.

Dilock, Prince of Siam, 242.

Dimasql, 555.

Diodorus, 372, 563.

Dioscorides, 208, 246, 252, 255, 286, 364,
366, 367, 427, 428, 432, 447, 453, 463,
464, 546, 548, 586.

Diratzsuyan, P. N., 218.

Distillation, practised by Chinese from
the Mongol period, 238.

Dodoens, D. R., 396, 587.

Dog-rose, 193.

Dor6, H., 287.

Doughty, C. M., 287.

Dozy, R., 389, 465, 547, 555, 589.

Dragendorff, 546.

Drouin, E., 559.

Drugget, 501-502.

Dudgeon, J., 236, 238.

Dujardin-Beaumetz, 415.

Dziatzko, K., 563.

Ebony, 485-486.

Eden, 261 note 8.

Edkins, J., 211, 238.

Edrlsl, 320, 354, 389, 549.

Egasse, 415.

Egypt, balsam in, 432, 433; carrot in,
453; Cassia fistula in, 422; coriander
of, 299; cucumber of, 301; cummin
from Iran to, 383; ebony of, 486;
grape-vine in, 220; manna of, 346
note 3; pomegranate of , 278; safflower
of, 324; tabashir shipped from India
to, 350; vetch in, 307; water-melon
in, 438.

Egyptians, ricinus-oil used by, 403.

Eisen, G., 412, 413.

Eitel, E. J., 291, 309, 335-

Elderkin, G. W., 223.

Elephants, white, sent from Burma,
Po-se, and K'un-lun to Yun-nan, 471.

EHas, 278.

Elliott, H. M., 278, 319.

Emblic myrobalan, 551, 581.

Emerald, 518-519.

Engler, A., 206, 207, 255, 258, 272, 276,
290, 300, 311, 355, 389. 415, 416, 418,
438, 539.

Ephthalites, Persian brocades sent to
China by, 488.

Er ya i, 212, 326, 436, 442.

General Index

603

Erdmann, F. v., 527.
Esposito, M., 433.
Ezekiel, 486.

Fa Hien, 282.

Fadlan, 553.

Falaha nabatlya, 396.

Falconer, 362.

Fan C'en-ta, 197, 328, 408, 426.

Fan Co, 468, 469, 494.

Fan l-6i, 260.

Fan yi mm yi tsi, 215, 216, 254, 283, 290,
308, 318, 323, 404, 411, 455, 457, 458,
466, 518, 55i» 592.

Fan yii 6i, 413, 491.

al-Faqih, Ibn, 500, 507, 512, 515, 556.

Farvardin Yast, 569.

F^e, 543, 586.

Fei siie lu, 197.

Feldhaus, 513.

Fenugreek, 446-447.

Fergana, carrot in, 454; centre from
which viticulture spread to China,
221; Chinese words from language of,
212-213, 225; coriander in, 298; indigo
in, 370; Iranian language spoken in,
212; mango in, 552; rice in, 372; se-
same attributed by Chinese to, 288;
sesame cultivated in, 291; visited by
Can K'ien, 210; walnut in, 255.

Ferrand, G., 320, 351, 378, 419, 469,
474, 478, 512, 524. 541, 545, 549, 552,
553-

Fig, 410-414.

Filbert, in Pahlavi literature, 193.

Firdausi, 532, 570.

Fish-teeth = walrus ivory, 567.

Flax, 293-296.

Fletcher, G., 567.

Fliickiger, F. A., 299, 311, 316, 320, 346,
347, 349, 357, 364, 366, 405, 447, 449,
480, 542, 548, 549, 556.

Forbes, F. B., 217, 266, 289, 296, 311,
341, 408, 426, 439, 535, 547, 587.

Ford, C, 196, 449.

Forke, A., 523.

Formosa, pea of, 306.

Fossey, C, 519.

Fraenkel, S., 415, 559.

France, manna of, 346; walnut oil manu-
factured in, 266 note 4.

Francisque-Michel, 489, 492, 496, 498,
501.

Franke, O., 231, 284, 409, 553, 595.

Frankincense, in Pahlavi literature, 193.

Fryer, John, 253, 347, 357, 447, 454.

Fu Hou, 302, 327.

Fu-kien, square bamboo of, 536.

Fu K'ien, 381.

Fu kwo ki, 282.

Fu-li Palace, 263.

Fu-lin (Syria), balm of Gilead of, 429;
cassia pods of, 420; fig of, 411, 412;

galbanum of, 363; grape- wine in, 223;
jasmine of, 330; language of, 408, 411,
415, 420, 423, 427, 429, 435-437, 479;
olive of, 415; se-se of, 516; transcrip-
tion of the name in Chinese, 436-437 ;
words from, transmitted to China in
latter half of the ninth century, 424.

Fu-lu-ni, amber and coral of, 521 note 9.

Fu-nan (Camboja), pomegranate of,
282; Pterocarpus of, 459 note i;
saffron from, 318; storax from, 457.

Fu-§i, on Sumatra, cassia pods of, 420;
cummin of, 384.

Fu-tse, 379,

Fiihner, H., 525.

Fukuba, Y., 244.

Fun §i wen kien ki, 232, 279, 304, 379,

Fun Yen, 279.

Gabelentz, H. C. v. d., 416, 439, 575.

Galangal, name not derived from Chi-
nese, 545.

Galbanum, 363-366.

Galenus, 246, 366, 369.

Gandhara, vegetable from, 402.

Garcia da Orta, 314, 346, 347, 351, 353,
355, 356, 360, 361, 370, 421, 422, 443,
458, 464-466, 476, 481, 482, 542, 544,
546, 550, 556, 583, 591.

Gardthausen, V., 563.

Garver, 218.

Gauthiot, R., 186, 212, 285, 529, 530,

531, 563, 569, 573, 589-

Gazna, asafoetida of, 359, 361.

Gedrosia, Balsamodendron of, 467;
myrrh of, 462; nard of, 455.

Geerts, A. J. C, 201, 340, 508, 510, 512,
514, 516, 519.

Geiger, W., 462, 595.

Gerarde, John, 393, 396, 477, 551, 587.

Gerini, G. E., 269, 473, 474.

Gesar romance, 235, 236, 437 note i.

Gilyak, acquainted with wild walnut,
266.

Ginger, dried, 201, 583.

Goeje de, 389, 495.

Gold, in Tibet, 516; of Persia, 509;
traded in Yiin-nan, 469.

"Gold Peach," 379.

Golde, on the Amur, acquainted with
wild walnut, 266.

Golstunski, 361, 594.

Gombocz, Z., 294, 574.

Gourd, native of China, 197.

Grape-vine, 220-245.

Grape-wine, at the court of the Mongols,
234; in Fergana and Sogdiana, 221;
in Ku6a, 222; in Persia, 223-225; in
Syria, 223, 224; introduced into China,
231; method of making, introduced
into China, 232; of India, 239-242; of
Qara-EIhoja, 236; of Tibet, 236; pro-

6o4

General Index

duced in T'ai-yuan fu, 236; recipe for
making, 234.

Grapes, introduced into China in 128
B.C., 221; method of preserving and
storing, 230; rare in southern China,
232; varieties of, in China, 228-230.

Gray, A., 338, 440.

Greek, alleged loan-words from the, in
Chinese, 225, 445; Iranian loan-words
in, 285, 427 note 8; not known in
Fergana, 226.

Greeks, influence of, on Orient in tech-
nical culture superficial, 294; water-
melon unknown to ancient, 445.

Grierson, Sir George A., 591, 595.

Groeneveldt, W. P., 269, 390, 472,

Groot de, 303.
Grube, W., 266, 512.
Grvim-GrBmailo, 266, 439.
Gruppy, H. B., 238.
Guibourt, 523, 528.
Guillon, J. M., 220.
GundeSapQr, 377.

Hadramaut, myrrh from, 461.

Hai-nan, 286, 375, 470, 485.

Hai yao pen ts'ao, 247, 248, 359, 384,

460, 465, 470, 471, 475, 479, 483, 510.
Hajji Mahomed, 546.
Halde Du, 425, 426.
Hal^yy, J., 208.
Hami, balsam-poplar of, 341; raisins of,

231; varieties of grape introduced

from, 229.
Han Pao-§eft, 340, 380.
Han Wu ti nei 6wan, 232.
Hanbury, D., 198, 299, 316, 321, 343,

346, 347, 349, 357, 364, 366, 405,

447, 449, 458, 464, 480, 503, 505, 508,

542, 545, 548. 549. 556.
Handcock, P. S. P., 415, 486.
Hanlfa, Abu, 316, 354.
Hansen, N. E., 219.
HanzO Murakami, 501.
Hardiman, J. P., 563.
Hauer, 409.

Haukal, Ibn, 255, 374, 377, 507, 511.
Hehn, V., 206, 208, 220, 243, 247, 258,

272, 276, 277, 300, 320, 321, 369, 373,

386, 438, 539.
Hei Ta §i lio, 234.
Heldreich, Th. v., 267, 299.
Hemp, brought to Europe by Scythians,

294; mentioned in Pahlavi literature,

193; typical textile of the ancient

Chinese, 293.
Hemsley, W. B., 218, 266, 289, 296, 311,

341, 408, 426, 439, 535, 548, 587.
Henna, 332, 334-338.
Henry, A., 295, 328, 375.
Herat, almonds exported from, 409;

almonds of, 406 note 4; amber from,

522; asafoetida of, 354; Chinese and
Iranian names of, 187; manna of, 347
note 4.

Herbelot d', 277, 361, 430, 433.

Herodotus, 223, 224, 290, 291, 348, 372,
390, 403, 412, 456, 486, 488.

Hervey St.-Denys d', 499.

Herzfeld, 563.

Heyd, W., 321, 496, 544, 549.

Hi, country and tribe of Korea, 198.

Hian p'u, 459, 470.

Hiafi tsu pi ki, 409.

Hickory, discovered in China by F. N.
Meyer, 271.

Hien lu ki, 438, 441.

Hien Yuan-§u, 515.

Himly, K., 578.

HiA-fian fu 6i, 520.

Hio pu tsa Su, 308.

Hippocrates, 447.

Hirth, F., 186, 187, 190, 191, 202, 211,
213, 223, 226, 227, 230, 239, 242, 257,
269, 279, 282, 283, 286, 288, 297, 302,
319, 321, 324, 329, 330, 334, 344, 355,
359» 360, 363, 368, 369, 371, 373, 374,
385, 389. 408, 410, 411, 415, 424, 428.
429, 435-437. 445, 457. 459. 461, 462,
465, 466, 470, 472, 475, 479-481. 485,
487, 490-495, 513. 523-525. 529. 535,
537, 538, 545. 546, 550. 558, 559. 592,
593.

Hjuler, A., 574.

Ho K'iao-yuan, 394.

Ho-lo-tan, on Java, 491.

Ho-nan, pomegranates of, 380; walnuts
of, 265.

Ho Se-hwi, 236, 252, 406.

Ho Yi-hifi, 399, 409.

Hoang, P., 325.

Hoemle, A. F. R., 348, 254, 335, 558, 559,
590.

Hollyhock, 551.

Hommel, W., 514.

Hon6o gokukan, 244.

HonzO komoku keimO, 204, 243, 250
260, 273, 293.

HonzO-wamyO, 243.

Hooker, J. D., 260, 261.

Hooper, D., 338, 343, 348, 528.

Hoops, J., 221, 255, 451, 452.

Hori, K., 530, 531.

Horn, P., 225, 321, 343, 373, 493, 495,
506, 531. 538, 557. 563. 581, 590.

Horses, of Iran, conveyed to China, 210.

Hort, A., 355, 364, 431.

Hou Han Su, 187, 221, 374, 456, 489, 492,

521, 525.

Houtum-Schindler, A., 496, 497.

Hu, alluding to India, 374; iron of the,
202; language of the, 508; meaning of
term, 194 (cf. also the discussion of
S. L^vi, Bull, de VEcole Jr., Vol. IV,
PP' 559-563); prefixed to plant-names,

General Index

60s

194-202; salt of the, 201; with refer-
ence to MongoHa, 381.

Hu Hia, 381.

Hu Kiao, 438-442.

Hu-nan, pomegranates of, 280.

Hu-pei, flax in, 295.

Hu pen ts'ao, 204, 268, 282, 326, 327.

Hu-pi-lie, 252.

Hu-se-mi, amber and coral of, 521 note

9-

Hu-suan, dancing-girls of, 494.

Huan Tsan, 240, 282, 304, 317, 359, 361,

457, 540.
Huan Yift, 240.
Hubschmann, C, 248, 256, 301, 321,

331, 361, 373, 385, 415, 427, 429, 436,
506, 508, 513, 515, 525, 531. 533, 537,

538, 54i» 568, 573, 581. 585. 589, 590,

593.
Hui k'iafi 6i, 230, 299, 341, 442, 443, 506,

562.
Hui tsui, 536.
Hujler, A., 261.
Hultzsch, E., 545.
Hun C'u, 459, 470.
Hun Hao, watermelon introduced into

China by, 440, 441.
Hurrier, P., 312, 319, 328, 361, 404, 407,

417, 449, 482, 484, 583.
Hwa i hwa mu k'ao, 429.
Hwa kift, 259, 267, 279, 324, 330, 336.
Hwa-lin Park, 263.
Hwa mu siao 6i, 409, 427.
Hwa p'u, 204.
Hwa yo 6i, 523.
Hwai-nan-tse, 292.
Hwafi SiA-ts'eA, 563^
Hwei^i, 359.

Hwi Cao, 373, 470- , . , ^, ,
Hyaena, transcription of word, m Chi-
nese, 436.

Ili, 201.

Imbault-Huart, C, 268.

Incense, 585; produced in the Malayan
Po-se, 470.

India, alfalfa cultivation of recent date
in, 209; black salt of, 511; brass of,
511; Brassica rapa in, 381; consump-
tion of asafoetida in, 354, 359; cori-
ander in, 298; costus of, 464; cucum-
ber in, 301; Curcvmia in, 314; ebony
from, 485, 486; fenugreek in, 447; fig
of, 412; flax introduced from Iran into,
294; ginger of, 201; grape and grape-
wine of, 239-242; Lawsonia alba in,
338; manna in, 346 note 3, 349-350;
nux- vomica of, 449; pepper of, 201,
374; pomegranate of, 282; rugs of,
493; sesame of, 290; textiles of, 491;
walnuts of, 254.

Indigo, 370-371, 585.

Indo-China, nux-vomica of, 449.

Indo-Europeans, relation of, to viticul-
ture, 220-221.

Indo-Scythians, see Yue-6i.

Ingalls, W. R., 514.

Inostrantsev, K., 492, 501, 502.

Interpolations, in the Kin kwei yao lio,
205; in the Ku kin 6u, 485; in the Nan
fan ts'ao mu 6wan, 263, 330, 331, 334;
in the Ts'i min yao 2u, 191.

Iranian, geographical and tribal names
in Chinese transcription, 186.

Irano-Sinica, 535-571.

Iron, of the Hu, 202.

Iskandamame, 570.

Ispahan, wine of, 241.

Istaxrl, 255, 320, 332, 354, 511.

ISak Ibn Amran, 316, 442, 552.

Jaba, A., 250.

Jack-fruit, 479.

Jackson, A. V. W., 225, 277.

Jacob, G., 239, 316, 337, 492, 513, 522,

523, 553, 556.
Jacobi, 569.
al-Jafiki, 546.
Jaguda, aconite of, 379; black salt of,

511; indigo of, 370; myrrh in, 460;

rice in, 372; saffron of, 317, 318;

styrax benjoin of, 467; sugar in, 376.
Jahangir, on saffron cultivation, 319.
Japan, alfalfa in, 218; fig introduced

into, 414; wild vine in, 226.
Jaschke, H. A., 235, 260, 509.
Jasmine, 192, 193, 329-333-
Jastrow, M., 533.
Jaubert, A., 320.
Java, 469; aloes from, 480; a-wei

ascribed to, 360 note 2; Canarium

in, 270; textiles of, 489.
Jawbarl, 512.
Jehol, grapes of, 231.
Jews, Chinese designation of, 533;

parchment manuscripts of- Chinese,

564.
Jolly, J., 556, 580, 581, 585.
Joly, H. L., 392.
Joret, C, 206, 208, 223, 239, 246, 255,

277, 290, 291, 295, 301, 337, 338, 349,

360, 383, 390, 404, 405, 412, 444, 453,

455, 462, 467, 539, 541.
Josephus, Flavins, 430.
Joshi, T. R., 260.
Julien, S., 240, 254, 304, 317, 359, 418,

511, 514, 561.
Justi, F., 495, 530, 532.

Kabul, jasmine of, 332; myrobalan of,

378.
Kaempfer, E., 249, 250, 285, 353, 354,

360, 414, 488, 528.
Kafiristan, pomegranate of, 278.
Kaibara Ekken, 204, 272.
Kalila wa Dimna, 370.

6o6

General Index

Kan-su, vine growing in, 226.

Kao-6'an, grape of, 232; manna of, 343,
344.

Kao C'en, 279, 292, 441.

Kao vSe-sun, 332, 517.

Kao §i-ki, 411.

Kao Tsun, 498.

Kaolin, known in Persia, 556.

Karabacek, J., 558, 559.

Kara§ar, copper-oxide of, 510; wine in,
222.

Kashgar, asbestos garment from, 498;
rice in, 372; sugar-cane of, 376 note 2.

Kashmir, alfalfa found in, 209, 216;
amber of, 521 ; carrot of, 452; coral of,
525; famed for grapes, 222 note 6;
fenugreek of, 447; grape- wine of, 240;
jasmine of, 332; saffron of, 310, 315-
321; vine of, 222.

Keith, A. B., 240, 308, 391, 455, 569.

Ken sin yii ts'e, 526.

Kermanshah, kaolin of, 556.

Kern, H., 212, 590.

Khojand, pomegranate of, 286.

Khonsar, manna of, 348.

Khorasan, manna of, 347 note 4; pis-
tachio in, 246; rhubarb of, 547; saf-
fron of, 320.

Khordadzbeh, 541, 545.

Khosrau I, 209, 370, 372 note 4, 391.

Khosrau II, 532.

Khotan, amber from, 522 ; asafoetida of,
359; borax and sal ammoniac from,
506; rice of, 372.

Ki fu t'un 6i, 501.

Ki Han, 263, 329, 330, 332.

Kia-p'i, in India, 317.

Kia Se-niu, 247, 263, 278.

Kia Tan, 466.

Kia yu lu, 393.

Kia yvL pen ts'ao, 394.

Kia yu pu 6vl pen ts'ao, 392.

Kiao-^i, 375, 376, 485.

Kiao 60U ki, 263.

Kidney bean, 307.

Kie-li-pie, name of a pass in Persia, 187.

Kien-6en, Buddhist priest, 469.

Kin kwei yao Ho, 205, 262, 279, 297,
302.

Kin lou tse, 222, 417.

Kin 5'u swi Si ki, 511, 512.

Kink'ou ki, 281.

Kin Si, 281.

Kin §i hwi yuan, 494.

King, F. H., 230, 445.

Kingsmill, T. W., 213, 225, 226.

Kirgiz, recipients of Parthian textiles,
488; trading with Arabs, 489.

Kirkpatrick, 261.

Kirman, antimony in, 509; asbestos in,
500; cummin of, 383; sal ammoniac
of, 507; turquois of, 519; zinc-mines
of, 512.

Kitab el-falaha, 395.

Kitan, water-melon obtained from the

Uigur by, 438, 441; words from the

language of, in Chinese transcription,

439 note 2.
Kiu 6'i ki, 217.

Kiu hwan pen ts'ao, 197, 307, 335.
Kiu T'an su, 318, 469, 488, 491, 516.
Kiu Wu tai §i, 439, 488, 506.
Kiu yu 6i, 471,
Kiu Yiin-nan t'un 2i, 308.
Klaproth, 236, 503, 523, 538, 540, 560,

562, 572, 574.
Ko 6i kin yuan, 259, 264, 265, 270, 561.
Ko Hun, 279.
Ko ku yao lun, 485, 491, 497, 500, 510,

512, 515, 516, 536, 553, 566, 568.
Kobert, R., 194.
Kodango, 472.
Kojiki, 243.
Korea, Corydalis of, 198; mint of, 198;

variety of walnut from, introduced

into Japan, 273; walnut introduced

from China into, 275.
Korzinski, S., 211, 246, 255, 291, 294,

298, 344, 454, 587.
K'ou Tsun-§i, 204, 217, 265, 313, 402,

460, 470.
Kovals^ski, O., 235, 295, 361, 509, 575,

577, 591, 593.
Krauss, S., 415, 429, 435-
Kremer, A. v., 337, 527.
Ku kin 6u, 242, 280, 283, 302, 303, 305,

324-327, 459, 485, 486.
Kii-lan, 370.
Ku-§i, 341, 343.
Ku yu t'u p'u, 517.
Ku6a, cosmetic of, 201; grape- wine in,

222 ; rice in, 372 ; sal ammoniac of, 504,

506; styrax benjoin in, 467; yen-lu of,

Kumarajlva, 303.

Kuner, N. V., 262.

Kunos, I., 214.

Kunz, G. F., 350, 528.

Kurdistan, almond in, 405; pomegranate

in, 276.
Kuropatkin, A. N., 506.
Kurz, S., 261.
Kwa, alleged name of a country, 401,

402.
Kwa su su, 394.
Kwan 6i, 228, 250, 264, 268, 281, 305,

358, 359, 456-458, 464, 470, 471, 536.
Kwan ^ou ki, 384, 475.
Kwan 60U t'u kin, 333.
Kwan k'iin fan p'u, 204, 259, 270, 305,

307, 330, 331, 394, 440, 443, 448, 451-
Kwan-sii Sun t'ien fu 6i, 410.
Kwan-tun, fenugreek in, 446; myrrh of,

460, 475.
Kwan wu hin ki, 264.
Kwan ya, 285, 306.

General Index

607

Kwan yu ki, 201, 251, 341, 345, 489, 492,

515.
Kwei hai yii hen ci, 197, 328, 408, 426,

568.
Kwei ki san fu 6\i, 199.
Kwei sin tsa si, 335, 447.
Kwo P'o, 212, 536.
Kwo su, 256, 265.
Kwo Yi-kun, 264, 281.
Kwo Yun-t'ao, 468.

K'ai-pao pen ts'ao, 258, 265, 303, 350,
351, 384, 417, 418, 460, 462, 481, 483.

K'ai yuan t'ien pao i §i, 527.

K'an miu cen su, 227.

K'an-hi, the Emperor, new varieties of
grape introduced by, 228, 229; pre-
sented with foreign wine, 238.

K'ao ku t'u, 517.

K'i-lien Mountain, 326.

K'ian, forefathers of Tibetans, connected
with plant-names, 199; salt of the,
201 ; walnut named for, 257, 259.

K'ien su, 537.

K'ii Yiian, 195.

K'lin fan p'u, 336.

K'un-lun, a Malayan country, alum
from, 475; a-wei (kind of asafoetida)
in, 358-360; costus root of, 464; lac
from, 477; storax from, 458; trade of,
with Yiin-nan, 469-471.

Lac, 475-478.

Lacaze-Duthiers, 523.

Lamarck, 523.

Land-tax, of lOiosrau I, 209, 391.

Lao-p'o-sa, 389.

Lapis lazuli, 518, 520.

Laufer, H., 463.

Leclerc, L., 209, 298, 304, 314, 316, 321,
332, 333, 337, 347, 35i, 354, 355, 360,
363, 367, 370, 383, 390, 395, 396, 399,
402, 404, 422, 425, 427, 428, 430, 432,
445, 446, 448, 449, 453, 461, 463, 478,
483, 512, 520, 522, 541, 544, 545, 546,
549, 551, 552, 554, 556, 581-583, 586,
587, 590.

LeCoq, A. v., 214, 230, 345, 577-579,
595.

Lei Hiao, 197, 292.

Lei Kun, 548.

Leitner, W., 284.

Lentil, 193.

Lenz, H. O., 518.

Lettuce, 400-402.

Levesque, E., 411, 430, 459.

L6vi, Sylvain, 222, 317, 358, 359, 398,
404, 464, 544, 545, 592, 593.

Levy, J., 429, 430.
Li Cuh, 311.
Li Hiao-po, 201.
Li ki, 216.
Li K'an, 537.

Li Po, 232.

Li Sao, 195.

Li sao ts'ao mu su, 195.

Li Siin, 248, 327, 358, 359, 384, 465,
470, 471, 478-483, 510.

Li San-kiao, 494.

Li Si, 401.

Li Si-2en, 198-200, 204, 214, 215, 217,
225, 226, 228, 231, 237, 238, 242, 252,
279, 284, 289, 293, 297, 300, 302, 305-
307, 310-313, 317, 318, 323, 327, 328,
331, 336, 341, 345, 358, 360, 365, 371,
374, 375. 380, 381, 384-388, 392,
399-401, 403, 406, 407, 409-411, 413,
417, 418, 420, 426, 427, 441, 442, 451,
459-461, 465, 467, 472, 478, 480, 482
484, 485, 491, 510, 512, 515, 526, 527
557, 558.

Li Tao, 191.

Li Tao-yiian, 264, 322.

Li Te-yu, 282, 527.

Li wei kuh pie tsi, 282.

Li-yi, production of grapes in, 221.

Li Yu, 279

Li Yuan, 279.

Liafi se kun tse ki, 233, 344.

Lian §u, 286, 316, 412, 457, 488, 490,
525-

Lily, 193.

Lin hai ^i, 351.

Lin piao lu i, 196, 268-270, 340, 386,

417, 479.
Lin wai tai ta, 269, 270, 319, 344, 472,

494, 500.
Lindley, J., 412.
Linn^, 586, 589.
Linschoten, 550, 556.
Lippmann, E. O. v., 238, 376, 377.
Litharge, 508-509.
Littr^, 353.
Liu Hi, 201.
Liu Hin-k'i, 263.
Liu Siin, 268, 386, 387, 417, 479.
Liu §i-luh, 268.
Liu Tsi, 197.
Liu Yii-si, 393.
Lo-fou §an ki, 536.
Lo yan k'ie Ian ki, 217.
Lo Yuan, 212, 326.
Localities, plant-names derived from,

381, 401, 402, 456, 457.
Lockhart, 508.
Lo-lo, of Yiin-nan, acquainted with

pomegranate, 286 note i; acquainted

with tree-cotton, 491, 492 note;

acquainted with wild walnut, 267;

familiar with almond, 407 note 3;

familiar with Ricinus, 404.
Loan-words, Arabic, in Tibetan, 596;

Chinese, in Persian, 557, 564, 565, 568;

Chinese, in Turki, 577-579; from

ancient languages of Indo-China, in

6o8

General Index

Chinese, 268 note 2, 376 note 5, 486,
491; Greek, in Syriac, 436; Indian, in
Arabic, 545; Indian, in Malayan, 283;
Indian, in Persian, 332; Iranian, in
Greek, 427 note 8; Iranian, in Mongol,
572-576; Iranian, in Sanskrit, 240,
283 note 3, 286, 367, 407, 411, 503;
Malayan-Pose (Pasa), in Chinese, 471;
Man, in Chinese, 197; Persian in
Hindi, 452; Persian, in Hindustani,
505; Persian, in Tibetan, 503; ^vic,
in West-European, 501.
Loew, I., 365, 390, 423, 428, 429, 583,

585.
Lorenzetti, I. B., 219.
Loret, v., 220, 277, 285, 286, 290, 299,

301, 307, 337, 386, 403, 422, 453, 461.
Lotus, 585.
Loureiro, J. de, 265, 266, 313, 401, 407,

482.
Lu 6'afi kufi §i k'i, 346, 498, 527.
Lu Hui, 280.
Lu Ki, 278, 297.
Lu Kia, 330.

Lu Kwan, conqueror of Ku2a, 222.
Lu Mountain, 281.
Lu-nan 6i, 266.
Lu Sin-yuan, 460.
Lu 5an ki, 281.
Lu §an siao 5i, 281,
Lu Tien, 323.
Lu Yifi-yaii, 251.
Luft-kan, pomegranate of, 281.
Lyte, H., 396, 587.

Ma Ci, 265, 313, 328, 370, 378, 417. 418,
482, 483, 485, 526.

Ma-k'o-se-li, 345, 510.

Ma-ku Mountains, 271.

Ma-ku §an 6i, 271.

Ma Twan-lin, 389, 436.

Macao, 501, 567.

MacCrindle, 309.

Macdonell, A. A., 240, 308, 391, 455.

Macgowan, J., 237, 535.

Madhyantika, 321.

Magadha, pepper of, 374; sugar-indus-
try of, 377.

Magadhi, influence of, on Tibetan, 591.

Magnolia, 588.

Maimargh, 512.

Mainwaring, G., 261.

Maitre, H., 450.

al-Makin, 571.

Makkari, 492.

Malayan Po-se, see Po-se.

Malindi, 389.

Man §u, 420, 463, 466, 468, 469, 474,

, 494. 517-

Manchuria, asbestos in, 501; se-se m,

518; wild walnut in, 266.
Mandelslo, J. A. de, 352, 357, 499, 554.
Mandrake, 447, 585.

Mango, 552.

Manna, 343-350.

Manna-ash, 343.

Manu, Institutes of, 290, 404.

Margiana, 223.

Marigold, 193.

Marjoran, 585.

Markham, C, 314. 346, 352, 353, 355,
360, 370, 444, 458, 464, 465, 476, 478,
542, 544, 546, 550, 556.

Marking-nut tree, 482-483.

Marquart, J., 537, 592, 593.

Marsden, W., 404.

Maspero, H., 186, 417, 476, 499, 538.

Massagetae, 224.

Masudi, 370, 506.

Matsuda, S., 216.

Matsumura, 196, 218, 243, 244, 250, 251,
269, 273, 274, 295, 296, 314. 328, 342,
406, 417, 422, 426, 459, 462.

Mayers, W. P., 491, 515, 516.

Media, products of, 208.

Medic apple, Greek term for citron, 202,
209.

Medikg, the Medic grass, Greek term
for alfalfa, 202, 208.

Megasthenes, 290.

Megenberg, K. v., 364, 433.

Meillet, A., 186, 187, 437, 530, 532.

Melinawi, ginger of, 583.

M61y, F. de, 340, 475, 504, 508, 510, 514,
526.

Merw, Chinese names of, 187.

Mesopotamia, early cultivation of grape-
vine in, 220; fenugreek in, 447; olive
in, 415.

Methodology, in the history of culti-
vated plants, 242-243, 271-272, 422.

Meyer, P. N., 267, 271, 408, 410.

Meynard, Barbier de, 320, 370, 373, 425,
506, 507, 509, 547, 559-

Miao tribes, familiar with Ricinus, 404.

Migeon, G., 492.

Miklosich, F., 501.

Miller, W., 256, 415.

Millet, in Persia and China, 565.

Min siao ki, 536.

Min §u, 394, 396.

Miii hiafi p'u, 363.

Min hwaA tsa lu, 517.

Min gi, 264, 390, 562.

MiA wu di, 256 note 6.

Mint, 193, 194, 198.

Mirrors, with grape-designs, 226 note I.

Mo k'o hui si, 401.

Mo-lin, 389.

Mo-lu, country in Arabia, 381, 399, 402.

Modi, J. J., 372, 437, 532, 537, 564, 568,

569.
Mohammedan bean, 197.
Moldenke, Ch. E., 277.
Mon K'an, 339.
Mon k'i pi fan, 289, 459.

General Index

609

MoA-ku 2i, 295.

Mon liaft lu, 229, 282.

Mon Sen, 233, 238, 265, 292, 297, 303,

376.
Mon-tse, 216.
Monardes, N. de, 342.
Mongol dynasty, cultivation of alfalfa,

encouraged by, 217.
Mongol, Iranian Elements in, 572-576.
Mongolia, Brassica rapa in, 381; flax

in, 295.
Morange, M., 449, 450.
Morbus americanus, 556.
Morga, A. de, 283.

Morgan, J. de, 343, 369, 435, 444, 595.
Morse, H. B., 560.
Moses of Khorene, Armenian historian,

310 note I, 369, 377.
Mosul, manna of, 344.
Mu-ku-lan, Mekrftn, 355.
Mu-lu, Chinese name of a city on the

eastern frontier of Parthia, 187.
Mukerji, N. G., 261, 397, 452.
Mulberry, 339, 582.
Muller, F. W. K., 267, 290, 417, 461, 490

530, 572-574. 578, 589-
Mu6 ts'uan tsa yen, 227, 229.
Mungo bean, 585.
Munkacsi, B., 345, 574.
Muqaddasi, 255, 377, 425.
Musil, A., 287.
Musk, of China, 310 note i; traded in

Yun-nan, 469.
Musk flower, 193.
Muss-Arnolt, 226, 285, 459, 519, 542,

543.
Myrobalan, 378, 583.
Myrrh, 460-462.
Myrtle, 461.

Nagasaki, figs introduced into, 414.
Nan-Cao, 469; cotton in, 491; peculiar

variety of pomegranate in, 286; se-se

in, 517; wild walnut in, 270.
Nan £ao ye Si, 413, 471.
Nan 60U i wu 6i, 317, 417, 464.
Nan 60U ki, 247, 248, 250, 460-462, 480,

482, 483.
Nan Fan, Southern Barbarians, 358,

375. 491-
Nan fan ts'ao mu 6wan, 263, 329, 330-

332, 334, 375, 376, 388, 417, 464, 486,

543-
Nan hai yao p'u, 327.
Nan i 6i, 469.
Nan Man, se-se among women of the,

517.
Nan §i, 490, 491, 493, 521, 523, 564.
Nan-tou, vine in, 222.
Nan Ts'i §u, 282, 376.
Nan Yue 6i, 491, 510.
Nan yue hin ki, 330.
Nanjio, Bunyiu, 254, 303, 457.

Narcissus, 427-428; mentioned in Pah-

lavi literature, 192.
Needhapi, J. F., 492.
Needles, of gold, silver, and brass, 512.
Nepal, spinach introduced into China

from, 393.
Nicolaus of Damaskus, 247.
Nizami, 570.
Ndldeke, T., 209, 390, 39i, 4^7, 461, 493,

495. 530-533. 573. 582.
Nonsuch, 218.
Numerals of Malayan-Pose (Pasa)

language, 472-473.
Nun 6en ts'uan §u, 336.
NuA §u, 307.
Nux-vomica, 448-450.

Oak-galls, 367-369.

Oak manna, 349.

Oakley, 218.

Odoric of Pordenone, 346, 352, 549,
590.

Oil, from walnuts, 266.

Okada, K., 501.

Olearius, A., 277, 337.

Olive, 415-419; absent in Bactria, 223;
in India, 239; in Pahlavi literature,
193. — No other text regarding the
oHve is known than that of the Yu yaH
tsa tsU. Li §i-6en {Pen ts'ao kan mu,
Ch. 31, p. lob) cites this single text
only, and is at a loss as to what to
make of this plant. He has added this
note as an appendix to the article on
tno-t'u (*mwa-dzu), saying that the
ts'i-tun fruit is of the same kind.
G. Ferrand {Journal asiatigue, 1916,
II, p 523) has identified the term
mo-Vu with Javanese maja, the fruit
of the Aegle marmelos.

Ono Ranzan, 204, 250, 260, 273, 293.

Onyx, 554.

Oppert, G., 527.

Oranges, method of storing, 231.

Ormuz, 346.

Osbeck, P., 238.

Ouseley, W., 372, 374, 479, 485, 507-

Pa-lai, locality in southern India, 240.

Pai piA faA, 381.

Palaka, Palakka, name of country, 397,

398.
Palembang, 470; p*o-so stone of, 526;

storax-oil of, 459.
Palestine, coriander in, 299.
Palladius, 315, 436, 509, 511.
Pallas, P. S., 523, 527.
Pallegoix, 299, 323, 332, 443, 476.
Pandanus, 192.
Pantoja, S. J., 433, 527.
Pao di lun, 197.
Pao p'u tse, 279.
Pao ts'an lun, 509, 515.

6io

General Index

Paper, 557-559. To the series of Indian
words (p. 558) add Kagmiri kdkaz.
The Uigur-Persian word has further
migrated into some Indo-Chinese (or,
as I now prefer to say, Sinic) lan-
guages,— Siamese kadat and Kanauri
kagli. All Sinic palatals are evolved
from dentals: thus Chinese ci
("paper") is evolved from an older
*di. The ancient dental sonant is still
preserved in Miao nddii ("paper'')
and in Pa-ten (a T'ai dialect) do; it
is changed into the dental surd or
aspirate in the Lo-lo dialects (Lo-lo-
p'o ta-vi, Nyi t'o-i, A-hi Vil-yi, P'u-p'a
t'o-zo) and in T'ai (White T'o t% Man
Ta-pan t'oi. White Meo tad). All these
forms represent ancient loan-words
based on Old Chinese *di, while Ahom
^i was apparently derived from Chi-
nese H at a more recent date.

Paper money, 559^563-

Parchment, as writing-material in Persia,

563-564.
Parker, E. H., 187, 204, 456, 469, 471,

565.
Parkinson, John, 353, 396, 589.
Parrenin, D., S. J., 238.
Parthia, 187, 210, 284, 372, 457, 488,

564.

Patkanov, K. P., 525.

Pauthier, G., 218.

Pea, 305-307.

Peach, in India, 240, 540; variety of,
introduced into China from Sogdiana,
379; transmitted from China to the
west, 539.

Pear, in India, 240; wild, in Persia, 246.

Pegoletti, 252, 496, 509, 593.

Pei hu lu, 196, 264, 268-270, 282, 324-
327. 330, 334» 335. 385, 393, 400, 479,
511,526,536,537.

Pei pien pei tui, 326.

Pei §an tsiu kin, 234.

Pei §i, 286, 322, 343, 345, 460, 506, 516.

Pei-t'in, 488.

Pelliot, P., 185, 186, 191, 195, 198, 211,
214, 222, 230, 235, 236, 248, 264, 268,
269, 282, 303, 306, 318, 322, 330, 344,
357, 376, 423, 428, 436, 437, 443, 456,
457, 462, 464, 466-471, 478, 479, 489,
491, 494, 495, 526, 527, 529, 531, 538,
540, 543, 566, 568, 569, 575, 59r.

Pemberton, 261.

Pen kin, 401, 548.

Pen kin fun yuan, 229.

Pen ts'ao hui pien, 557.

Pen ts'ao kari mu, 196, 198, 200, 201,
204, 206, 214, 217, 226, 228, 229, 233,
236, 237, 242, 254, 256-258, 265, 270,
273, 288, 295, 297, 298, 300, 302, 303,
305, 310, 312, 317, 330, 335, 336, 341,
344, 348, 351, 358, 359, 361, 363, 365,

371, 374, 378, 380, 381, 385, 387, 392,

393, 399, 400, 402, 403, 407, 410, 420,

422, 423, 426, 427, 433, 439-441, 448,

459-461, 470, 471, 475, 482, 485, 491,

504, 508, 509, 512, 515, 516, 519, 526,

527, 551, 553, 557, 558, 566, 588, 592.
Pen ts'ao kah mu §i i, 229, 236, 242, 252,

263,311,312,394,429,434.
Pen ts'ao kin, 307.
Pen ts'ao pie swo, 359, 360, 470.
Pen ts'ao si i, 197, 233, 247, 248, 280, 297,

298, 300, 306, 386, 402, 420, 423.
Pen ts'ao yen i, 204, 217, 223, 232, 233,

265, 280, 288, 313, 351, 402, 446, 460,

470, 478, 505, 509, 524, 526.
Pepper, 201, 374-375, 435, 479, 583, 584.
Periplus, 486, 524.
Perrot, E., 312, 319, 328, 361, 404, 407,

417, 449, 482, 583.
Persepolis, inscription of, 210, 383.
Persian Pharmacology, Indian elements

in, 580-585.
P6tillon, C, 216.
Peyssonel, 523.

Philippines, Semecarpus in, 482.
Phillott, D. C, 253.
Philostratus, 390.
Pi 6'en, 229.
Pie lu, 196, 201, 211, 227, 279, 291, 335,

381, 401, 463, 526, 548.
Pie pen 6u, 504 note 3.
Pien tse lei pien, 439, 458, 459.
Pierlot, M. L., 492.
Pilau, 372.

Pistachio, 193, 246-253.
Pliny, 208, 246, 281, 290, 294, 299, 309,

317, 339, 353, 355, 364, 366, 367, 376,

403, 404, 411, 416, 424, 432, 447, 453,

455, 461, 475, 486, 488, 522-525, 541,

548, 586.
Po-ki, 566.

Po ku t'u lu, 226, 517.
Po-lin, name of a country, 393.
Po-se, Chinese name of Parsa, Persia,

203.
Po-se, Pa-sa, a Malayan country and

people, 203, 269, 375, 384, 424, 460,

462, 465, 466, 468-487.
Po wu 61, 258, 259, 263, 278, 282, 284,

297, 302, 310, 324.
Pognon, H., 529, 530, 542.
Polo, Marco, 236, 247, 319, 380, 455,

474, 496, 521, 543, 549, 56o, 563, 564,

593; new identification of his saffron of

Fu-kien, 311.
Polyaenus, 247.

Pomegranate, 193, 205, 276-287, 574,
Pompey, 432, 486.

Pondicherry, French viticulture at, 241.
Portuguese, asbestos of Macao, 501;

fig introduced into Japan by, 414.
Posidonius, 224, 246.
Potanin, 527.

General Index

6ii

Pott, F. A., 249, 370, 421, 503, 545, 587.

Powder, of white lead, 201.

Poyarkov, 267.

Procopius, 224.

Przyluski, J., 321, 512.

Psoralea, 483-485.

Ptolemy, 473.

Putchuck, 462-464.

Pyrard, F., 338, 370, 421, 465, 556.

P'an §an, 271.
P'an san 2i, 259, 271.
P'an Yo, 280, 285.
P'ei wen 2ai kwafi k'un fan p'u, 259.
P'ei wen yun fu, 475, 512, 566.
P'eri C'eii, 401.
P'i ya, 323.

P'in ts'iian §an ku ts'ao mu ki, 527.
P'o-lo-men, country along the frontier
of Burma, 46 8-470, 494.

Qara-Khoja, asafoetida of, 358; manna

of, 346; wine of, 236.
Qazwini, 552, 554.
Quatrem^re, 556.

Rabelais, 203.

Radlofif, W., 256, 565, 572, 574, 592.

Raisins, 231.

Ramsay, H., 362, 577.

Rape- turnip, 381.

Raquette, G., 579.

Ra§id-eddin, 564.

Rauwolf, L., 546, 550.

Ray, P. C, 513.

Reil, T., 428, 495.

Reinach, L. de, 408.

Reinaud, M., 232, 248, 282, 407, 413,

506, 553-
R^musat, Abel, 499, 508, 526, 531, 538,

565, 572, 574-
Rhubarb, 547-551.
Rice, 372-373.
Ricinus, 403-404; 482.
Richthofen, F. v., 190, 535, 538.
Riley, 586.

Risley, H. H., 235, 261.
Ritter, C, 377.
Rock-crystal, cups of, from Sogdiana,

494.
Rockhill, W. W., 202, 260, 262, 269, 317,

345, 355, 390, 405, 487, 493, 497, 5io,

519, 527, 562.
Roediger, R., 249, 370, 421, 503, 545.
Rom, Rim, transcription of, in Chinese,

437.
Rose, in the Lo-yu gardens, 217; in

Pahlavi literature, 194.
"Rose of China," 551.
Ross, Sir E. D., 199, 278, 497, 498.
Rosteh, Ibn, 492.
Roxburgh, W., 261, 381, 397, 405, 421,

452, 484, 544, 582, 584, 585, 587.

Rubruck, 496, 564,

Rugs, with gold threads, 488; woollen,

492-493.
ROm, in plant-names, 384, 497, 498.
Rumphius, 290.

Ruska, J., 511-513, 527, 528, 554, 555-
Russia, alfalfa in, 219.
Russian Turkistan, pistachio in, 246;

sesame in, 291.

Sa-la, Lo-lo word for tree-cotton, re-
corded by Chinese in the fifth century,
491.

Saba, Queen of, 430, 431.

Saburo, S., 560.

Sachau, E., 530.

Sacy, Silvestre de, 432.

Safflower, 324-328; confounded by Chi-
nese with saffron, 310; saffron adul-
terated with, 309.

Saffron, 193, 309-323.

Sainson, C., 413, 471.

Sakharov, 416.

Sal ammoniac, 503-508.

Salamander, 500, 501.

Salemann, C, 496, 530, 532, 565, 573.

Saltpetre, 503, 555.

Salts, of various colors, 511.

Samarkand, amber from, 522; jasmine
of, 332; manna of, 345, rhubarb of,
550.

San fu hwan t'u, 263, 334, 417.

San kwo 6i, 313.

San ts'ai t'u hui, 507.

San K'in, 322.

"Sand-pot," peculiar kind of pottery,

234.

Sandal- wood, exported from India, 318,
374, 552, 584. See the recent discus-
sion of S. L6vi, Journal asiatique, 1918,
I, pp. 104-111.

Sanguinetti, 282, 552.

Sanskrit, no word for "alfalfa" known
in, 214; method of treating plant-
names in Chinese dictionaries of
215-216.

Sapan-wood, in Pahlavi literature, 193.

Sargent, C. S., 266, 271.

Sarkar, B. K., 240.

Sasanian Government, titles of, 529-534.

Satow, E., 535.

Savel'ev, 492.

Savina, F. M., 404.

Scarlet, 498.

Schefer, Ch., 547, 561.

Scherzer, K. v., 408.

Schiefner, A., 260, 321, 572.

Schiltberger, J., 373.

Schlegel, G., 199, 408.

Schlimmer, J. L., 200, 206, 209, 249, 251,
298, 304, 306, 308, 320, 337, 344, 347-
349, 363, 365, 369, 370, 381, 383, 391.
402, 405, 416, 425, 428, 447, 449, 454,

6l2

General Index

455, 460, 479, 481, 525, 544, 556, 565,
587.

Schmidt, I. J., 235, 572.

Schmidt, P., 473.

Schmidt, P., 538.

Schmidt, R., 352.

Schoff, W. H., 524, 541.

Schott, W., 251, 252, 257, 341, 344, 491,
508, 574-

Schrader, O., 208, 220, 240, 249, 274,
285, 369, 386, 395, 411, 461, 513, 538,
542, 548, 582.

Schrenck, L. v., 267.

Schumann, C, 542, 543.

Schwarz, P., 255, 332, 377, 425, 500, 507,
511,512.

Schweinfurth, G., 337, 453.

Scott, J. G., 563.

Scythians, hemp brought from Asia to
Europe by, 294.

Se-5'wan, aconite of, 379; brassica of,
380; flax in, 295; kidney bean in, 308;
Psoralea in, 484; species of Curcuma
in. 313; square bamboo of, 536; sugar
imported into, 376; walnut in, 266;
wild pepper of, 375.

Se 6'wan t'ufi 61, 501.

Seals, made from walnut shells, 268.

Seidel, E., 320, 347, 349, 368, 369, 402.
443, 446, 522, 551.

Seligmann, R., 194.

Seres, name not connected with a
Chinese word for "silk," 538. I have
meanwhile found what I believe is
the correct derivation of the word, on
which I hope to report in the near
future.

Sesame, in Chinese records, 288-293; in
Pahlavi literature, 193.

Seth, Symeon, 586.

Shagreen, 575.

Shah, acorn of, 369; basil named for, 586;
cummin of, 384.

Shahrokia, 355, 358.

Shallot, 303-304-

Shaw, R. B., 213, 214, 256, 261, 565.

Shiratori, 326.

Shiraz, galbanum of, 366; fenugreek of,
447; jasmine oil of, 332; wine of, 241.

Si-fan, 200, 201, 310.

Si Fan, Western Barbarians (not Tibe-
tans), 341, 344.

Si ho kiu §i, 326.

Si kiA tsa la, 217, 262.

Si Si ki, 520.

Si Ts'o-6*i, 325, 326.

Si Wail Mu, 232.

Si yafi 6'ao kun tien lu, 563.

Si yu ki, 355.

Si yu lu, 286.

Si ^u wen kien lu, 341.

Si-zun, in names of Iranian plants,
synonymous with Hu, 203.

Si 2uft, 313, 339, 367. 374-376, 380, 465,
481, 482, 504, 509 note 10. See also

Siam, a-wei ascribed to, 360 note 2;
coriander in, 299; dye-stuff of, 316;
nux- vomica of, 449; Psoralea in, 484
note 5; wine from sugar in, 376 note

5.
Siaii kwo ki, 281.
Siao Tse-hien, 282.
Siberia, alfalfa in, 219; Conioselinum in,

200.
Sickenberger, 587.
Sie Lifi-Ci, 216.
Sie lo yu yuan, 268.
Silk, 537-539.
Silphion, 208, 355.
Sin-ra, in Korea, mint of, 198; pine of,

269; silver of, 510.
Sin Wu Tai §i, 516.
Sina, Ibn, 551.
Siraf , 374, 377 note 2.
Skattschkoff, C. de, 218.
Smith, A. H., 234.
Smith, F. P., 201, 279, 304, 310, 336, 365,

395, 426, 436, 474, 484, 505.
Smith, V. A., 540, 569.
Socotra, Punica protopunica of, 277.
Sogdiana, 494; basil of, 588; peach of,

379; pistachio in, 246; sal ammoniac

of, 504, 506; se-se of, 516; visited by

Cafi K'ien, 211; viticulture in, 221.
Soleiman, 231, 232, 282, 407, 413, 553.
Solinus, 486, 525.
Soltania, Archbishop of, 419.
Soubeiran, J. L., 475.
Souli6, G., 491, 520.
Spain, basil brought by Arabs to, 587;

spinach cultivated from end of

eleventh century in, 395.
Spelter, 555.
Spiegel, F., 240, 254, 277, 416, 443, 537,

570.
Spinach, 392-398.
Spinden, H. J., 440.
Spinel, 575.
Sprengling, M., 435.
Square bamboo, 535-537-
Stachelberg, R. v., 209.
Stalactites, 21.
Stapleton, H. E., 505.
Steel, 515, 575.

Stein, Sir M. A., 214, 230, 255, 549, 562.
Steingass, F., 249, 299, 490, 495, 525,

531, 545, 551. 552, 555.
Storax, 456-460.
Storbeck, 389.
Strabo, 208, 212, 222-225, 239, 246, 290,

355, 372, 390, 405, 412, 431, 462, 541.
Strange, G. le, 277, 294, 332, 374, 390,

428, 479.
Strychnine tree, 448.

General Index

613

216, 236,
292, 298,
324. 328,
351. 358,
388, 393,
418, 421,
458, 464,
551, 583,

Stuart, G. A., 195-197, 200,
251, 258, 260, 269, 279, 288,
300, 303-305, 310, 312-314.
331, 334-336, 343, 344, 348,
360, 361, 365, 379, 382-384,
394, 399-401, 403, 406, 410,
426, 428, 439, 446, 448, 456,

478, 482, 484, 485, 491, 544,
588.

Stuhlmann, F., 353.
Sttimmer, A., 220.
Stumpf, B. K., S. J., 238.
Sty rax benjoin, 464-467.
Su ^ou fu 6i, 228.
Su Han §u, 456.
Su Kun, 200, 201, 228, 313, 340,
374-376, 380, 400, 403, 464,

479, 504, 508, 510, 524,
Su K'ien 2u, 527, 537.
Su Kwan-k'i, 336.
Su-le, 376 note 2, 498.

Su Piao, 247, 460, 482, 483.

Su po wu 6i, 242, 401.

Su Sun, 195-198, 200, 228, 257-

265, 280, 288, 313, 341, 358,

403, 446, 460, 464, 480, 482,

505, 508.
Su T'in, 234.
Su Yi-kien, 561.
Suarez, J., S. J., 238.
Sugar, 376-377. 576, 584, 596.
Sugar beet, 399-400.
Sui §u, 186, 201, 221, 306, 320,

372, 374. 376, 378, 379. 385.

460, 462, 467, 470, 485, 487-

496, 503. 505, 510, 511. 515.

525. 529, 530, 552.
Sulphur, 575.
Sumatra, aloes from, 480; cassia

420; p'o-so stone of, 526;

benjoin of, 465.
Sun Mien, 297.
Sun Se-miao, 198, 303, 306.
Sun mo ki wen, 440.
Sun §i, 311, 360, 408, 471, 494.
Sufi §u, 280, 281, 491, 499.
Swallow of the Hu, 199.
Swingle, W. T., 195, 620.
Syria, wine of, 224. See Fu-lin.

§a-li-Sen, envoy from the Malayan Po-se,
477.

Sahnameh, 224.

San hai kin, 536.

San hwa hien 6i, 410, 451.

San ku sin hwa, 515.

San-si, flax of, 295; grape- wine of, 236-
237; raisins produced in, 231.

San-tun, square bamboo in, 537; wal-
nuts of, 266, 267.

San tun fuA 6i, 266, 537.

Saft &)u tsufi £i, 266.

358, 359,
465, 478,

■259, 264,
359. 384.
483. 504.

343. 370,
455-457.
490, 493.
516, 521,

pods of,
Styrax

San-se ^ou, grapes of, 232 note 2.

San-se ^ou 6i, 409, 418.

Sen Hwai-yuan, 491.

Sen Kwa, 289.

Sen Nun, 548.

Sen-si, alfalfa abundant in, 217; walnuts

of, 265.
Sen-si t'un 6i, 484.
Si Hu, 280, 306.
Si i lu, 300.

Si ki, 191, 194, 221, 231, 326, 537.
Si kin, 216.

Si leu kwo 2'un ts'iu, 232.
Si liao pen ts'ao, 233, 265, 273, 292, 297,

303,376.
Si Lo, taboo placed on plant-names by,

298, 588.
Si min, 201, 493, 558.
Si sin pen ts'ao, 198.
Si wu ki yuan, 279, 292, 298, 300, 441.
Si yao er ya, 504, 507.
Su i ki, 217.
Su kien, 468.
Su pen ts'ao, 340.

Swi kin 6n, 264, 322, 323, 341, 509.
Swo wen, 322, 323, 376.

al-Ta'alibi, 571.

Ta-ho, explanation of name, 186.

Ta Min, 201, 313, 340, 483, 484.

Ta Min i t'un 6i, 201, 251, 275, 323, 345,
368, 406, 480, 520, 522.

Ta T'an leu tien, 512, 521.

Ta T'an si yu ki, 240, 282, 304, 412, 488,
540.

Ta Ts'in, the Hellenistic Orient, alum
from, 475; amber of, 521^ coral of,
524; costus of, 464; jasmine and henna
from, 329-330, 334; musicians and
jugglers from, 489; rugs of, 492;
storax of, 456; yu-kin, growing in, 318.

Ta ye §i i lu, 300.

Ta Yue-^i, see Yue-2i.

Tabashir, 350-352.

Taboo, in the word hu-p'o (amber), 521
note 9; plant-names changed in con-
sequence of, 198, 298, 300, 306, 588.

Tacitus, 432.

Takakusu, 317, 359, 379, 382, 469,
470.

Tamannd, 582.

Tamarisk, 339, 348, 367.

Tamarisk manna, 348.

Tan k'ien tsun lu, 331, 441.

Tanaka, T., 207; note on fei za.ii by, 260
note 2; notice on grape-vine trans-
lated from Japanese by, 243-245;
notice on walnut translated from Japa-
nese by, 272-275.

Tao i ei lio, 344, 510, 519.

6i4

General Index

Tashkend, pulse of, 306; rice in, 372;
wine in, 221.

Tavernier, 241, 242, 406, 477, 478.

Tea, 553-554. — The request of an envoy
from Arabia for tea-leaves (p. 554)
meets its counterpart in a similar docu-
ment recently translated by Sir E. D.
Ross {New China Review, Vol. I, p. 40),
who observes, "It is curious to note
from these memorials that tea, which
was first brought to Europe toward the
end of the sixteenth century, appears
to have been in demand in Arabia
long before that period." The ancient
Chinese form of the word for "tea"
was *da, which, like all initial dental
sonants, could pass into the palatal
series (hence mediaeval Chinese *dza
and dialect of Wu dzo), or could be
changed into the dental surd (hence
dialect of Fu-kien ta, the source of
our word "tea"; Korean ta, An-
namese tra).

Tenasserim, Memecylon of, 315; wine
of, 286.

Terebinthus, 246, 431.

Textiles, Persian, 488-502.

Theophrastus, 208, 239, 246, 281, 355,
364. 367, 390, 403, 427, 428, 430-432,
447, 453, 455, 462, 486, 518, 539, 54i.
542, 548, 586.

Theophylactus Simocatta, 532.

Thiers, 438.

Thomas, F. W., 545, 592.

Thomsen, V., 592.

Ti li fun su ki, 322.

Tibet, alfalfa unknown in, 218; almond
in, 405; borax and tincal of, 503;
Brassica of, 381; rhubarb of, 549;
saffron imported into China from, 310;
saffron not cultivated in, 312; sal
ammoniac of, 506; salt of, 201 ; se-se of,
516; woollen stuffs of, 497.

Tien hai yu hen 6i, 228, 266, 315, 360,
463, 466, 512, 520, 568.

Tien hi, 491.

Tigris, 186.

Tincal, 503.

Tobar, J.. S. J., 533, 564.

Tomaschek, W., 212-214, 225, 226, 248,
261, 495, 496, 540.

Tonking, ebony of, 485.

Tootnague, 555.

Tou Kin, 378.

Trigonella, in Pahlavi literature, 194.

Tse yiian, 298 note i.

Tsen tin kwan yu Id, 251.

Tsi yun, 199.

Tsin kun ko min, 263.

Tsin Lun nan k'i ku 6u, 280.

Tsin §u, 221, 259, 260.

Tsiu-mo, vine in, 222.

Tsiu p'u, 378.

Tso Se, 280.

Tsuboi, K., 472, 474, 495.

Tsun kin yin nie lun, 291.

Tu i ci, 279.

Tu Pao, 300.

Tu yan tsa pien, 517.

Tu Yu, 339.

Tulip, 192.

Tun-hwan, grape- wine of, 232; vine

growing in, 226.
Tun si yah k'ao, 360, 526.
Tun-sun, 286.

Turfan, 232, 511; cotton-stuffs of, 492.
Turkistan, grapes of, 229-230; originally

inhabited by Iranian tribes, from the

end of the fourth century settled by

Turks, 233.
Turmeric, 309-323.
Turner, W., 261, 396.
Turquois, 519-520.
Twan C'en-gi, 247, 335, 364, 407, 423,

424, 430, 478, 479.
Twan Kuh-lu, 264, 334, 335, 479.

T'ai p'in hwan yu ki, 187, 222, 223, 265,
269, 306, 339, 343, 358, 370, 372, 376,
378, 379, 381, 389, 390, 399, 402, 438,
455, 459, 460, 468, 475, 489, 493, 496,
503, 511, 515, 517, 530, 531, 552.

T*ai p'in yu Ian, 195, 217, 222, 228, 231-
233, 258-260, 264, 270, 280, 281, 292,
395, 307, 393. 457,. 464, 469, 536.

T'ai Tsun, emperor, instrumental in the
introduction of foreign vegetables into
China, 303, 394, 400; method of mak-
ing grape- wine introduced under reign
of, 232; promoting sugar-industry,
377; spinach introduced from Nepal
under reign of, 393; variety of
peach introduced under reign of, 379.

T'ai-yuan fu, production of wine in, 236.

T'an, country, 489.

T'an hui yao, 232, 304, 317, 377, 379,
393, 400, 402, 478, 499.

T'an lei han, 285.

T'an pen hi, 367, 458.

T'an pen ts'ao, 227, 233, 289, 340, 367,
375, 376, 403, 508.

T'an §en-wei, 204, 250, 258, 380, 392.

T'an §i, 306.

T'an §u, 221, 222, 318, 385, 393, 402,
489, 494, 499, 511, 516, 517, 525, 593.

T'an §u §i yin, 489.

T'an Sun pai k'uh leu t'ie, 259, 260, 265.

T'an Ts'ui, 228, 360, 512, 520, 568.

T'an yiin, 297, 302.

T'ao Huh-kifi, 200, 211, 227, 279, 281,
288, 289, 292, 302, 325, 335, 400, 442,
458, 543, 557, 558, 588.

T'ao huh kin hi, 442.

T'ao Ku, 401.

T'ien lu gi yu, 411.

Ts'ai Fan-pin, 251.

General Index

6iS

Ts'ai Lun, 563.

Ts'ai Yin, 281 note 7.

Ts'ai Yun, 565/

Ts'ao Cao, 497.

Ts'ao mu tse, 237, 442.

Ts'e fu yiian kwei, 304, 379, 393, 400,

402, 494, 506.
Ts'i min yao su, 191, 211, 230, 247, 258,

263, 268, 278-281, 288, 297, 300, 311,
324, 442, 588.

Ts'ien Han §u, 187, 216, 222, 326, 339,

521, 523, 525, 565.
Ts'ien kin fan, 198, 306.
Ts'ien liafi lu, 232.
Ts'in i lu, 401, 402.
Ts'in wen pu hui, 416.
Ts'iian pu t'un ci, 562.
Ts'ui Fail, 512.

Ts'ui Pao, 242, 280, 302, 325, 485.
T'u kin pen ts'ao, 195, 196, 198, 257,

264, 288, 341, 446, 483, 504, 524.
T'un 6i, 196, 199, 289, 323, 327, 348, 392.
T'un su wen, 381.

T'un tien, 339.
T'un ya, 260.

Uigur, borax and sal ammoniac sent by,
506; coriander cultivated by, 298; pea
attributed to, 306; taught the Chinese
the process of making grape-wine,
232-233; viticiilture of, 223; water-
melon cultivated by, 438, 439.

Uzbeg, 346.

Valle, Pietro della, 567.

Vdmbery, H., 214, 233, 345, 444, 527.

Varro, 586.

Vegetables, five, of strong odor, 298, 303.

V^liaminof-Zernof, 565.

Veltman, 502.

Venice, rhubarb traded to, 550.

Verbiest, F., S. J., 434.

Veselovski, 502.

Vespasian, 432.

Vetch, 307.

Vial, P., 226, 404, 492.

Vigne, G. T., 216.

Vigouroux, 346.

Vinegar, made from grapes, 233.

Violet, mentioned in Pahlavi literature,

192.
Vissering, W., 562.
Viticulture, of uniform origin, 220.
Vullers, J. A., 249, 301, 304, 566.

Waddell, L. A., Lieut.-Col., 262, 299,

558.
Wai kwo 6wan, 489.
Walnut, history of, 254-275; in Pahlavi

literature, 193; mentioned by Can Ki,

205.
Walrus, referred to in Chinese Gazetteer

of Macao, 567.

Walrus ivory, 565-568.

WamyO-ruijuso, 244.

Wan, a monk from Fu-lin, 359, 424.

Wan Cen, 317.

Wan sou sen tien, 238.

Wan Cen, 307.

Wan C'un, 523.

Wan Fu, 517.

Wan Hao-ku, 198.

Wan Ki, 557.

Wan §i-mou, 256, 265, 308, 394.

Wan Su-ho, 205.

Wan Ta-yiian, 344, 510, 519.

Wan Tso, 497.

Wan Ts'un, 471.

Wan Yen-te, 344, 508 note.

Wan 2en-yu, 527.

Water-lily, 193.

Water-melon, 438-445.

Watt, G., 200, 209, 214, 222, 246, 249,
253, 261, 291, 294, 301, 309, 311, 3i5»
321, 338, 342, 347, 349, 350, 357, 365-

367, 371 » 375, 380, 383, 391, 405, 425,
426, 445, 451, 452, 455, 462, 475, 478,
483, 484, 541, 544, 547, 551, 583-585,
588.

Watters, T., 213, 285, 304, 311, 326, 329,

368, 374, 383, 395, 406-408, 410, 434,
491, 497, 505, 513, 519, 540, 592, 593.

Weber, A., 447.

Wei hun fu sii, 588.

Wei Ho, 332, 456, 492, 499, 517, 521, 524-

Wei si wen kien ki, 520 note 4.

Wei §u, 201, 239, 320, 322, 343, 372,

374, 385, 456, 462, 487, 498, 500, 516,

521. 530, 531-533.
Wen Cen-hen, 496 note 8.
Wen hien t'un k'ao, 191.
Wen yu kien p'in, 394.
West, E. W., 192, 255, 307, 489, 521, 530.
Westgate, J. M., 208.
Wheat, staple food of ancient Persians,

372.
Wiedemann, E., 309, 431, 524, 528, 545.

555, 556.
Wieger, L., 231, 236, 260, 280, 306.
Wiesner, J., 559, 562.
Williams, S. W., 361, 425, 426, 499.
Wilson, 266.
Wine, from flowers, 378; from palms,

290; from pomegranate juice, 286; see

grape-wine.
Woenig, F., 299, 337, 400, 453-
Wood, 521.
Woodville, W., 317.
Wu, emperor of Han dynasty, 210.
Wu, mint of, 198.
Wu-hai, envoy from the Malayan Po-se,

477.
Wu Kun, 217, 262, 263.
Wu K'i-tsun, 197, 218, 306, 307, 388,

413, 463, 484.
Wu li siao §i, 519.

6i6

General Index

Wu lu ti li 6i, 268.
Wu P'u, 548.

Wu §i pen ts'ao, 200, 292, 526.
Wu §i wai kwo 6i, 264.
Wu-sun, horses of the, 210.
Wu Tai hui yao, 506.
Wu Tai 2i, 298, 439, 445, 488.
Wu tsa tsu, 229, 230, 252.
Wu Tse-mu, 229, 282.
Wu ^en-kie, 195.
Wu 2ui, 441.

Wylie, A., 205, 234, 251, 254, 262, 265,
281, 306, 325, 339, 341, 434, 468, 562.

Xenophon, 223, 224.

Xerxes, 412, 488.

Xwarism, dancing-girls of, 494.

YamanaSi, principal vine-district of
Japan, 244.

Yamato honzO, 204, 316, 399, 414, 445.

Yah Huan-6i, 217.

Yah-sa-lo, 389.

Yah Sen, 413, 441, 471.

Yah Yu, 515.

Yao Mih-hwi, 295.

Yao Se-lien, 316.

Yao sih lun, 280.

Yaqat, 320, 373. 377. 389. 425. 497, 507,
509, 547.

Yarkand, 231.

Yarkhoto, 343.

Yates, 488.

Yavana, Indian designation of Greeks
and other foreigners, Chinese tran-
scription of, 211 (cf. also Pelliot, Bull,
de I'Ecole frangaise, Vol. Ill, p. 341);
wine of, 241.

Yaxartes, 516; transcription of name in
Chinese, 530.

Ye, in Ho-nan, pomegrante of, 280, 281.

Ye 6uh ki, 280, 306.

Ye-lu C'u-ts'ai, 278, 286.

Ye T'ih-kwei, 363, 459.

Ye Tse-k'i, 237, 265, 442.

Yemen, nux-vomica of, 449.

Yen-6i Mountain, 326.

Yen §i-ku, 211, 227, 339.

Yezd, pistachio of, 249; wine of, 241.

Yi ts'ie kin yin i, 240, 258, 297, 315, 457,
489, 492.

Yi Tsui, 317, 359, 379, 380, 382.

Yi wu 2i, 524.

Yin-p'ih, walnuts of, 264, 268.

Yin gan 6eh yao, 236, 252, 303, 305, 361,
406.

Yin Sao, 322.

Yin yai §eh Ian, 405, 443, 497,

Yo Si, 265.
Yu k'ie §i ti lun, 457.
Yu-lin district, 322.
Yu sie gi 6uh §u, 326.
Yu ti yun §u, 278.
Yu-wen Tih, 229.

Yu yah tsa tsu, 204, 228, 242, 247, 248,
264, 265, 270, 278, 283, 330-332, 334»

345, 349, 358, 363, 365, 367-369, 374.
385, 386, 399, 400, 407, 410, 412, 413,
415, 417, 418, 420, 421, 423, 427-429,
432, 433, 435, 461, 462, 466, 473, 476,
478, 479.

Yu yen wah §u, 326.

Yu-yue, not a transcription of Yavana,

211.
Yuan, Emperor, 222, 417.
Yuan 6'ao pi Si, 495.
Yuan kien lei han, 280-282.
Yuan §i, 217, 496, 518, 519, 533, 562.
Yuan tien 6ah, 236.
Yuan Wen, 394.
Yuan Yin, 258.
Yue-Si, 211; wine of, 222.
Yule, H., 236, 252, 310, 311, 319, 324,

346, 352, 377. 419, 442, 455, 474, 496,
497, 503, 509, 521, 528, 539, 544-546,
549, 552-555, 560, 564. 565, 583, 590,
593-

Yiin lio, 298 note i.

Yun-nan, Ai-lao of, 489; amber of , 523;
ancient trade-route to India, 535;
asafcetida in, 359, 360 note 2; cassia
of, 425; costus root of, 463; cotton of,
491; ebony of, 485; fig of, 413-414; in
communication with Ta Ts'in by way
of India, 489; pepper of, 375; pome-
granate of, 286; precious stones of,
568; silver of, 510; spikenard of, 456;
square bamboo of, 535; Styrax ben-
join of, 466; t'ou-§i of, 512; turquois-
mines of, 519, 520; walnut in, 266;
wild walnut in, 267, 270.

Yun-nan ki, 231.

Zanzibar, ginger of, 545, 583.
Zedoary, 544.
Zimmer, H., 455.
Zinc, 511-515,555.
Zoroaster, 525.
Zotenberg, H., 571.

^amtsarano, 564.

Zen Fan, 217.

Zi hwa £u kia pen ts'ao, 483.

Zi yuh pen ts'ao, 441.

^uh, 200, 201, 305, 306, 313, 367.

BOTANICAL INDEX

Abrus precatorius 215

Acacia catechu 481

Aconitum ferox 582

Aconitum fischeri 379

Acorns calamus 583

Actea spicata 400

Agallochum 463

Aleurites triloba 263, 408

Alhagi camelorum 346, 347

Alhagi maurorum 347

Allium ascalonicum 304

Allium fistulosum 303

Allium odorum 483, 484

Alliimi porrum 304

Allium sativum 302, 427

Allium scorodoprasum 205, 259, 302

Aloe abyssinica 480

Aloe perryi 480

Aloe vulgaris 480

AloSxylon agallochimi 580

Alpinia galanga 545, 546

Alpinia globosum 242

Alpinia ofl&cinarum 546

Althaea rosea 551

Altingia excelsa 459

Amarantus 195

Amomum 482

Amomum granum paradisi 584

Amomum melegueta 584

Amomum villosum 481

Amomum xanthioides 481

Amomum zingiber 545

Amygdalus cochinchinensis 407

Amygdalus communis 405, 406

Amygdalus coparia 405

Amygdalus persica 539

Amyris 543

Amyris gileadensis 429, 430

Andropogon nardoides 455

Angelica anomala 358

Angelica decursiva 196

Antiaris 450

Apium graveolens 401 , 402

Apium petroselinum 102

Aplotaxis auriculata 464

Apocynum syriacum 349

Areca catechu 584

Aristolochia kaempferi 464

Artocarpus integrifolia 479

Astragalus adscendens 348

Astragalus florulentus 348

Atraphaxis spinosa 347

Atriplex L. 397

Atropa belladonna 585

Atropa mandragora 585

Aucklandia costus 462

Averrhoa carambola 415

Baliospermum montanum 583
Balsamodendron giliadense 429
Balsamodendron mukul 462, 467
Balsamodendron pubescens 462, 467
Bambusa arundinacea 350
Bambusa quadrangularis 535
Barkhausia 200
Barkhausia repens 199
Basella rubra 324-328, 336
Benincasa cerifera 439, 443, 445
Beta bengalensis 397
Beta maritima 397
Beta vulgaris 399, 400
Betula^alba 553
Bombax malabaricum 491
Borassus flabelliformis 536
Boswellia 470
Boswellia serrata 467
Boswellia thurifera 585
Brassica capitata 381
Brassica caulozapa 381
Brassica cypria 380
Brassica marina 380
Brassica napus 381
Brassica rapa 199, 381
Brassica rapa-depressa 381, 429
Brassica silvestris 380
Broussonetia papyrifera 558, 560
Brunella vulgaris 200
Bupleurum falcatum 196
Butea frondosa 328

Caesalpinia bonducella 583

Camellia oleifera 251

CameUia theifera 553, 554

Canarium albtmi 417

Canarium commune 269, 479

Canarium pimela 417

Canavallia ensiformis 426

Cannabis sativa 289, 291, 403, 562, 582

Capsella bursa-pastoris 427

Cardamomum malabaricum 585

Cardamomum minus 585

Carthamus tinctorius 309, 310, 312, 318,

324, 325, 327, 393
Carum bulbocastanum 383
Carum carui 383, 384
Carya cathayensis 271
Caryophyllus aromaticus 222, 584
Cassia fistula 421-426, 472
Cassia tora 582
Castanea vulgaris 369
Catalpa bungei 271
Cathartocarpus 425

617

6i8

Botanical Index

Cathartocarpus fistula 421

Cedrus deodara 583

Ceratonia siliqua 424

Chamaerops excelsa 387

Chavica betel 375 _

Chavica roxburghii 375

Chenopodiiun botrys 226

Cichorium 400-402

Cichorium endivia 401

Cinnamomum cassia 323, 543

Cinnamomum tamala 583

Cinnamomum zeylanicum 54 1

CitruUus vulgaris 438

Citrus chirocarpus 260

Citrus grandis 195, 280, 415

Citrus medica 301, 420, 581

Cnidium monnieri 329

Cocos nucifera 585

Commiphora opobalsamum 429

Commiphora roxburghii 467

Conioselinum univittatum 200

Convolvulus reptans 395

Convolvulus scammonia 584

Convolvulus turpethimi 584

Coptis teeta 199, 546, 547

Coralliimi rubriim 523

Coriandrum sativum 297

Corydalis ambigua 197

Corylus heterophylla 247

Costus amarus 584

Costus speciosus 584

Cotoneaster nummularia 347

Crocus sativus 309-312, 314, 316

Crocus tibetanus (alleged name, this

species does not exist) 312
Croton jamalgota 583
Croton polyandrus 583
Croton tiglium 448, 583
Cucumis melo 440, 443
Cucumis sativus 300
Cucurbita citrullus 438
Cucurbitacea 301, 440, 463
Cuminum cyminum 383
Curcuma aromatica 583
Curcuma leucorrhiza 312, 313
Curcuma longa 312-314, 318
Curcuma pallida 313
Curcuma petiolata 313
Curcuma zedoaria 313, 544, 583
Cycas revoluta 386, 388
Cydonia indica (doubtful name) 584
Cydonia vulgaris 584

Datura 585
Datura metel 582
Daucus carota 451-453
Daucus maximus 453
Diospyros ebenaster 486
Diospyros ebenum 485
Diospyros embryopteris 215
Diospyros kaki 215, 234
Diospyros lotus 435
Diospyros melanoxylon 485

Diospyros tomentosa 588
Dorema anchezi 365
Dryobalanops aromatica 478

Elaeagnus longipes 197
Elaeagnus pungens 197
Elettaria cardamomum 585
Embelia ribes 582
Emblica officinalis 581
Eriobotrya japonica 311
Eryngium campestre 454
Erythrina 478
Euryangiiim 315

Faba sativa 307
Faba vulgaris 307
Ferula alliacea 353, 357
Ferula erubescens 365
Ferula foetida 353
Ferula galbaniflua 365
Ferula narthex 353, 362
Fenila persica 353, 366
Ferula rubricaulis 365
Ferula schair 366
Ferula scorodosma 353
Ferula sumbul 315
Ficus carica 410, 412, 413
Ficus glomerata 412
Ficus johannis 412
Ficus retusa 435
Flacourtia cataphracta 584
Flemingia congesta 316
Foeniculum vulgare 383
Fraxinus ornus 343

Gardenia florida 311
Gariophyllatum 589
Gelsemium elegans 196
Gleditschia sinensis 403, 420, 426
Glycine hispida 305
Glycine labialis 585
Gossypium herbaceum 491
Guilandina bonduc 583
Gymnocladus sinensis 420, 426

Hedysarum 586
Hedysarum alhagi 343
Hedysarum semenowi 344
Hibiscus mutabilis 311, 316, 317
Hibiscus Rosa sinensis 561
Hyoscyamus 582

Impatiens balsamina 335, 336
Indigofera linifolia 370
Indigofera tinctoria 370, 371, 585
Inula britannica 335
Inula chinensis 334, 335
Ipomoea aquatica 196
Ipomoea turpethum 584
Iris pseudacorus 583
Isis nobilis 523

Jasminum grandiflorum 332, 334

Botanical Index

619

Jasminum officinale 329, 332

Jasminum sambac 329, 332

Juglans camirium 266

Juglans catappa 266

Juglans cathayensis 266, 269, 479

Juglans cordiformis 274

Juglans mandshurica Dode 266, 267

Juglans plerococca Roxb. 261

Juglans pterocarpa 255

Juglans regia 254, 255, 260, 261, 263,

265, 266, 272, 273
Juglans sieboldiana 273

Kaempferia galanga 427
Kaempferia pundurata 313
Killingea monocephala 544

Lactuca sativa 401, 402

Lagenaria vulgaris 197, 440

Lampsana apogonoides 297

Lathy rus 586

Laurus camphora 368, 585

Laurus cassica 584

Laurus cinnamomum 583

Lawsonia alba 329, 332, 334, 338

Lawsonia inemiis 334

Lindera glauca 375

Linum nutans 296

Linum perenne 296

Linum possarioides 296

Linum sativum 296

Linum stelleroides 296

Linum usitatissimimi 289, 294, 295

Liquidambar altingiana 459

Liquidambar orientalis 365, 456

Luffa cylindrica 463

Magnolia 589

Mallotus philippinensis 316

Mangifera indica 552

Medicago agrestis 218

Medicago arborea 431

Medicago denticulata 217, 218

Medicago falcata 218, 219

Medicago lupulina 218, 219

Medicago minima 218

Medicago platycarpa 219

Medicago sativa 208-210, 213, 215, 216,
218, 219

Melia azadiracta 581

Memecylon capitellatum 315

Memecylon edule 315

Memecylon tinctorium 309, 314-316

Mentha arvensis (aquatica) 198

Michelia champaca 290

Mirabilis jalapa 328. It is not surprising
that this species is not mentioned in
the Pen ts'ao, for it is a plant of
American origin, and was not known
in China during the sixteenth century.
Its history will be dealt with in my
Cultivated Plants of America.

Momordica cochinchinensis 448

Morus alba 339, 560, 563, 582

Moms indica 582
Morus nigra 563, 582
Mucuna capitata 305
Mulgedium sibiriacum 292
Myristica fragrans 582
Myristica moschata 582, 584
Myristica officinalis 582
Myrtus communis 460

Narcissus tazetta 427, 428
Nardostachys jatamansi 215, 455
Nardus indica 455
Nasturcium aquaticum 433
Nelumbium speciosum 317, 581
Nelumbo nucifera 581
Nigella indica 215
Nyctanthes arbor tristis 331
Nymphaea alba 585
Nymphaea lotus 585

Ocimum album 587

Ocimum basilicum 300, 586-588, 590

Ocimum gratissimum 589, 590

Ocimum sanctum 590

Ocimum vulgare 589

Olea europaea 415, 416

OHbanum 581

Ophiopogon spicatus 317

Origanum dictamnus 585

Origanum marjorana 585

Orithia eduHs 439

Ornus europaea 345

Oryza sativa 581

Osmanthus fragrans 336

Pachyrhizus angulatus 351
Pachyrhizus thunbergianus 242, 311
Panicum miliaceum 540, 565, 595
Patrinia villosa 328
Paulownia imperialis 339
Peucedanum decursivum 199
Phaseolus mungo 308, 585
Phaseolus radiatus 585
Phoenix dactylifera 385, 391
Phoenix sylvestris 391
Phragmites communis 536
Phyllanthus embUca 378, 551, 581
Phyllostachys quadrangularis 535
Pimpinella anisum 196, 200
Pinus bungeana 365
Pinus deodara 583
Pinus gerardiana 260
Pinus koraiensis 269
Pinus larix 346
Piper betle 582
Piper longum 375, 479, 583
Piper nigrum 374, 429, 584
Pistacia acuminata 246, 249
Pistacia chinensis 250
Pistacia lentiscus 252
Pistacia mutica 250
Pistacia sylvestris 249

620

Botanical Index

Pistacia terebinthus 246, 250

Pistacia vera 246, 250, 251

Pisum sativum 305

Polygonum tinctorium 325, 371

Poly podium fortunei 195

Poncirus trifoliata 227. It is the trifoliate
orange common in northern China
and Japan, and usually called Citrus
trifoliata. The name Poncirus has
been re-introduoed by W. T. Swingle
(in Sargent, Plantae Wilsonianae,
Vol. II, pp. 135-137)-

Pongamia glabra 581

Populus balsamifera 339, 342

Populus euphratica 341

Prunus amygdalus 405, 406

Prunus arraeniaca 539

Prunus davidiana 408

Prunus domestica 216

Prunus persica 408

Prunus trifiora 552

Psoralea corylifolia 483, 484

Pterocarpus santalinus 459, 584

Punica granatum 276

Punica protopunica 277

Quercus cuspidata 471 _

Quercus lusitanica var. infectoria 367

Quercus persica 349

Quercus vallonea Kotschy 349

Ranunculus ficaria 546
Raphanus 381
Raphanus sativus 446
Rehmannia glutinosa 195
Rheum emodi 551
Rheum officinale 548
Rheum palmatum 548
Rheum ribes 547, 549, 550.
Rheum spiciforme 547
Rhus toxicodendron 196
Rhus vcmificera 274
Ricinus communis 403, 482
Rosa banksia 464
Rosa rugosa 217

Saccharum officinarum 376, 584
Sago rumphii 385
Salisburia adiantifolia 251, 388
Santalum album 552, 584
Sapindus mukorossi 551, 583
Sapindus trifoliatus 583
Saussurea lappa 462, 463, 584
Schizandra chmensis 229
Scorodosma foetidum 353-355
Sedum erythrostictum 400
Semecarpus anacardivun 482, 58a

Sesamum indicum 289-292, 295
Sesamum orientale 288
Setaria italica glutinosa 565
Setaria viridis 339
Sinapis alba 380
Sinapis juncea 380
Smilax pseudochina 556
Sonchus 400, 401
Sophora 426
Spanachea 396
Spinacia oleracea 392
Spinacia tetandra 397
Spondias amara 551
Sterculia platanifolia 242, 339
Strychnos nux- vomica 448, 449
Sty rax japonica 417
Sty rax officinalis 456, 459

Tamarindus indica 426, 581, 582
Tamarix chinensis 339
Tamarix gallica 348
Taraxacum officinalis 325
Terminalia belerica 378, 581
Terminalia chebula 378, 581
Thalictrum foliosum 547
Thapsia garganica 355
Torreya nucifera 251
Tribulus terrestris 393
Trifolium giganteum 215
Trigonella foenum graecum 216, 446
Tulipa gesneriana 314

Ulmus campestris 334, 439
Ulmus macrocarpa 439
Ulmus montana 439
Ulmus suberosa 439

Valeriana jatamansi 455, 584

Valeriana sisymbrifolia 455

Vicia faba 307

Viola pinnata 196

Vitis bryoniaefolia 227

Vitis coignetiae 244, 245

Vitis filifolia 243

Vitis flexuosa 245

Vitis labrusca 227

Vitis saccharifera 245

Vitis thunbergii 243, 245

Vitis vinifera 220, 221, 227, 243, 244

Winterania canella 580

Zanthoxyltim 252, 374
Zanthoxylum setosum 375
Zingiber officinale 545, 583
Zizyphus lotus 478
Zizyphus vulgaris 385, 552

/^

INDEX OF WORDS

Iranian, Indian, Mongol and other words reconstructed on the basis of Chinese transcriptions are

provided with an asterisk.

Alphabetical Index of Languages

Afghan 629
Arabic 625
Aramaic 626
Armenian 629
BaluCi 639
Chinese 621
Ferganian 627
Fu-Iin 626
Greek 630
Hebrew 626
Hindustani 627
Japanese 623
Javanese 624
Kurd 629
Malayan 624

Chinese
a-lo-p'o 420, 421
a-sa-na hian 455, 456
a-t'i-mu-to-k'ie 290
a-wei 358, 361
a-yu-tsie 359, 361
a-yue 247, 248
a-yiie-hiin 247, 248
a-2i 410
an-lo 552

£a-ta 527
i^en-t'ou-kia 215
6i ma 293
6o-pi 493
6u-c6 376
5u-mu-la 518

C'a-ku-mo 318
6'a mu 250
C'ui-hu-ken 196

fan mu-pie 448
fafi-pu-§wai 531
fei-zafi 260
fou-lan-lo-lo 588
fu lo-po 451 note 3
fu-t'u ts'ai 402

hai liu 284 note 2
hai-na 336
han-hue 210
hei-fi.an 473
hian ts'ai 298
hin-ku 361
hiun-k'iuf? 200
ho-li-lo 378
ho t'ao, hu t'ao 256
hu fen 201

Manchu 623

Middle Persian 637

Mongol 623

New Persian 628

Old Iranian 627

Pamir 629

Portuguese 630

Russian 630

Sanskrit 626

Sogdian 628

Spanish 630

Syriac 626

Tibetan 624

Turkish 624

Uigur 624

hu hien 195

hwan-p'o-nai 197

hu hwafi lien 199

hwo mao siu 499

hu kan kian 201

hwo-5i-k'o pa-tu 448

hu kiai 380

hwo-§i-la 448

hu k'iafi Si 6e 199

hu k'in 196, 400

i-lan 404

hu kiu-tse 483

i-muk-i 486

hu kwa 300

i-ts'at 530

hu-lo 503

hu lo-po 451

kan hiafi 455

hu-lu-pa 202, 446

kan-lan 417, 460

hu ma 288, 290-292 kan-sun hian 215, 428

hu-man 196

ken ta ts'ai 399

hu-man 385

kiaA-hwan 313

hu mien man 195

kiao ma 300 note 4

hu-na 496

kin-hwa 539

hu pa-ho 198

kin tsifi 520

hu-§a 305

ko47i

hu §en 195

ku-Cun 491

hu-swi 202, 297, 298 ku-pei 491

hu tou 197, 305, 307 ku-pu-p'o-lu 479 note I

hu ts'ai 199, 202, ;

381 ku-sui-pu 195

hu ts'uA 303

ku-tu 565

hu t'ui-tse 197

ku-lifi-kia 216

hu t'uii lei 202, 339 ku-§efi 290-292

hu wafi gi 6e 199

kun-t'a 399

hu-ye-yen-mo 420,

423 kwo tou 306

hu yen 201

hu yen-6i 327, 328

k'iafi hwo 199

hui-hu tou 305

k'iafi t'ao 259

hui-hui tou 197, 307 k'iafi ts'ifi 199

hui-hui ts'un 303

k'ie-p'o-lo 343

hun 248

k'u-lu-ma 385

hun-t'i 303, 304

' k'u-man 385

hun-t'o ts'ai 304

k'u-mi-C'e 215

hun hwa 310

K'u-sa-ho 529

hun-kii 358

k'u 2i pa tou 448

hwan kwa 300

hwaA-Uen 547

lan-6'i 520

621

622

Index of Words

len-fan-t'wan 556

li tou 305

liu tou 306

lo-k'ia 476

lo-wan-tse 426

lu-tu-tse, plant-name de-
rived from a language
of the Man, 197

lu-wei 480, 481

ma kia 6u 516

ma-k'in 196

ma lei 305

ma-se-ta-ki 252

ma-§u 313

ma ts'ien-tse 448

ma zu p'u-t'ao 228, 232

man hu t'ao 270

man hwa 332

mi hian 462

mi-li-ye 241

mi-to-sen, mu-to-seA 508

mo-hu-t'an 531

mo-li 329, 330

mo-lo-k'ie-t'o 518

mo-so 526

mo-t'o 241

mo-tsei 368

mu hian 462 \

mu-nu 471

mu-su 212

na-ho tou 197 note 3, 307

nai-k'i 427

nan tou 308

nao-§a 503

ni-hu-han 532

niu k'in 196

nu hwi 481

nan-si hian 464-467
nan gi liu 278, 284
no-lo-ho-ti 532
nu-se-ta 533

pa-lan 408
pa-lu 368, 369
pai-fian 473
pan-han-c'un 197
pan-mi 376
Pei-t'iii §a 504
pi-lu 519
pi-po 375
pi-se-tan 251
pi-si 568
pin 515
po-ho 198
po-lin 392, 397
po-lo-§i 254
Po-se fan 475
Po-se kan-lan 418
Po-se tsao 203, 385
Po-se ts'ai 394

po-tie 489-492
po ts'ai 394
pu-hwei-mu 500
pu-ku-6i 483

p'i-li-lo 378

p'i-§i-§a 330, 334, 335

p'l-ts'i 363

p'ien ho t'ao 268

p'o-lo-pa-tsao 393 note 4

p'o-lo-te 482

p'o-so 525

p'o-tan 406

p'u-lo 497

p'u-t'ao 225

p'u-t'ui-tse 197

sa-fa-lan 311

sa-ha-la, so-ha-la 496

sa-pao 529

sai-pi-li-k'ie 214

san-lo tsian 378

se kio (botanical term),
pointed, oblong (of
leaves), 466 note 6.

se-se5i6

si kwa 438, 439, 445

sie-po-p'o 533

so-lo 491

so-§a-mi 481

so-so 229

su-ho 456

su-lo 240

su-tu-lu-kia 457

Sa kwo 234 note 2

ga-mu-lu 368

§a p'en 234

§a-ye 530

§an-hu 525

gan hu t'ao 267

§an-hu ts'ai 394

§e-mo-k'ie 200 note 6

§i hu t'ao 270

§i liu 279, 284

§i-lo 383

§i-lu 510

§i-mi 376

§ou-ti 200

Su-hu-lan 196

§wi tsin p'u-t'ao 228

ta ken ts'ai 399
ta-lan-ku-pin 345
ta pien fen 409
ta-p'eh sa 506
tan-zo 283
ti-pei-p'o 532
ti yen 504
tou-lou-p'o 457
tu hwo 199
tu-lu-se-kien 458
tun-mou 523

t'a-ten 492

fan 496

t'ien-cu hwan 350

t'ien ma 210

t'o-te 378

t'ou-si5ii, 513

t'u huh hwa 311 note i

t'u-lin 282

tsa-fu-lan 311
tse-kuh 327, 476-478
tse-mo kin 509
tse p'u-t'ao 228
tse-t'an 459
tsiu-pei-t'eh 242
tso-pi(p'i) 493
tsu-mu-lii 518

ts'an tou 307
ts'ao lun 5u 228
ts'e-hu 196
ts'e-mou-lo 384
ts'i-t'un 415
ts'ien-hu 196
ts'ien nien tsao 385
ts'ih mu hian 462
ts'ih tai 370, 371
ts'ih zah 292
ts'iu p'i 271
ts'o ts'ai 400

wo-kii 401, 402
wu hwa kwo 411
wu-kia 308
wu-lou 386
wu-men 485
wu mih mu 247
wu pa-ho 198
wu-t'uh kien 339

ya ma 295

ya-pu-lu 447

yah-kwei 361

yah-mai 509. This word
is derived from the
language of the Cham,
and is identified with
the term tse-mo kin in
theNanTs'iSu, Ch.58,
p. 3 b.

yah ts'e 343

ye-si-mi 330, 331

ye-si-mih 329-331

yen-6i 324-328

yen hu su 197

yen-lii 510

yi tien ts'ao 399

yih-wu ts'ai 394

yih-yii 227

yih-zi 410

yu ma 289

yii-kin 312, 314, 316, 317,
explanation of term,
321-323

Index of Words

623

jm-kin hian 314, 317
yu liu 282
yu-t'an-po 411
3rue no 493-496

Japanese

agetsu-konSi 250
aka-goma 296
ama 295
ama-dzuru 245

banzai-§i 273
budo 225, 243

6insO-gurumi 274
5osen-kurimi 273
dosen-matsu 269 note I
^Qsen-modama-raboSi 426
6Qseki 513

ebi-dzuru 243, 245
ebi-kadzura 243, 244
ego-no-ki 417

fusudasu, fusudasiu 250,
251

goma 295
gonroku-gurumi 274

hime-gunimi 273, 274
hO-no-ki 588

i6ijiku 411, 414
iCinen-ama 295
ingu 361
inu-ebi 243

kami 559

karasu-gurumi 274
kariroku 378
koroha 446
kosO 374
koto 273, 339

matsuba-nade§iko 296
matsuba-ninjin 296
me-gurumi 274
minira 462

namban-saika^i 422
ninjin 451
nume-goma 296

ogurumi 274
okkoromi 274
oni-gurumi 272, 273
oreifu 417

safuran 311
sakuboku 250

sankaku-dzuru 245
sankakuto 273
soramame 307
sugO 456

§itan 459 note I
§Qkai 274
§uku§amitsu 481

teu6i-gurumi 274
tO-kurimi 273
tsuta-uru§i 196 note 8

yama-budo 245
yama-gurumi 273
yebikadzura 243

zakuro 285

Manchu

ar^an 235

boso 574

buleri, buren 575

2ibahan6i 573

dirCan 509

debtelin 564

dungga(n) 441

farsa 198 note i

kubun 574

kulun, related to Hiufi-nu

k'i-lien, 326 note 8
kuru 235
mase 267
monggo Sibin 199
morxo 218
nomin 521
nomun 574
sarin 575
sirge 538
gempi 575
toxai 578
ulusun 416, 417
xalx6ri 591
xengke 441
x6ba 523
x6sixa 266
x6walama usixa 267

Mongol

anar 574
aradsa 235
araki 235-237

bag 575
bagdar 575
bodso 575
bogda 576
bolot 575
bor 235
boradsa 235

boriya 575
bus 574

^itun jimin 416

darkan, darxan 593
debter 564
dsaran 575

Esroa 572

gad-pu-ra, gabur 591
gangsa 577

irbis 579

jildunur 509
jimkba 198 note i
kuben 574
kugur, kukur 575

marba 235
ma§a 585
mirba 235

nal 575
naligam 591
nom 574
nomin 521

sagari, sarisu 575
suburgan 573

gibagantsa 573
gikar 576
§imnus 573
§ingun 362
giradsa 235
girgek 538

takpa 235
tarbus 444
tikpa 235
titim 573
torga(n) 502
tos 575
toti 575
tsagasun 559
turma 574

ubasantsa 573

*yin2an 362

♦xasini 361, 575
xatun xariyatsai 199
xoradsa 235
Xormusda 572
xuba 523
xurut 235
xusiga 266

zira 575

624

Index of Words

Uigur

badam 407

bdrgu 575

b6z 574

dargan 594

darkaSi 594

kagas, kagat 559

karpuz 444

kavyn, kogun, kaiin 443

kubik 523

mur6 374 note 8

nara 285, 574

nom, num 574

ozum 233

qadan 553

sakparan 312 note i

supurgan 573

Smnu 573

torgu 502

toti 575

tuk565

upasan6 573

zmuran, zmuma 461 note

Turkish

bida, beda 214
bom 575

2an 578
can 578
iin-say 579
Ciza 579

da-dir 578
dan 578
dafi-za 578
d6wa 579
fistiq 252
gO-sl 578
"yanza 576
harbuz 444
ipak 539
JiA 579
jOza 578
ja-xai gOl 577
jusai 578

kaden 553
kagat, kagaz 559
kandir 294
karpuz 444
kiSmiS 231, 241, 299
koz 256

la-tai 578
la-za 578
lobo 579

manto 579
ma§ 585
maupafi 578

miii-lafi-za 578

nahal 579

palas 579
pan 578
pilta 595

qalmaq qarlogaC 199
qarpuz 444
qawa 578
qawa(q) 443

sai-pufi 578
sOzuq saivl 230
§um-pO 578

tarbuz 444
tarxan 592-594
tl-za 578
toil 578
tofi-kai 578
torgu, torka 502, 539
tung 578
tuftdi bak 578
tupak 595

xoz 256

yada 527
yantaq 345
yafi-xo 578
yafi-yO 578
yangza 578
yilpis579
yondze 209
yulgun 348 note 7
*yufimasu 299

zummurat 579

Tibetan

kun-ta 595
kur-ktun 321
skyer-pa 314
k*a-ra 596
k'ra-rtse 595
ga-bur 591
gafi-zag 577 '

gur-kum 312, 321
go-byi-la 449
gyi-gyi k'ug-rta 199
rgya ts'wa 508
Cu-li 540 note i
£*i-tun siu 416
tarbuz 444
star-ka 260
t'ai rje 595
t'e-k'ei-gan 578
dan-da, dan-rog 583
dar-k'a-C'e, dar-rgan 594
dar-sga 260

deb-t'er 564
dri-bzafi 312
pir-fi 595
spail spos 455
spo ts'od 398
p'a-tin 407 note 3
p'o-lo-lift 198 note i
p'rug 497
ba-dan 596
ba-dam 407
ba-ts'wa 503
ban-de 592
bal-poi seu §i6 286
beg-tse 575
bug-sug 212
byi-rug-pa 198 note I
sbur len 521 note 11
ma-§a 585
mu-men 521
mon sran rdeu 308
ts'a-la 503
zi-ra 575
ze-ts'wa 503
u-su 299
0I218
yuA-ba 314
yxi£is-kar 380
ru-rta 463
§a-ka-ma 312, 318
§ifi-kun 362, 591
2eg 595
go-ra 503
2og-bu 559
sag-ri 575
sag-lad 498
sip, sup 362
se-mo-do 595
sendha-pa 592
gser-zil 509
hifi 362
'a-ru-ra 378

Javanese

item 473
jarak 404
kenari 269
kurma 386
laka 476 note 9
lefia 290 note 9
madu 461 note 5
mefian 465
sulasih 590
tulasih 590

Malayan

angu 361
dellma 283
gullga 527
hitam 473
inei 337

Index of Words

625

jarak 404
kalgdn 546
kamifian 465
kanari 269
kapas 491

kapor-banis 479 note i
kertas 559
korma 386
lena 290 note 9
sulasi 590
tingkal 503

Arabic

abruh 447
afs 367

akitmakit 583
amlaj 581
anba 552
aqln 590
araq 237, 596
aruz 581
atmat 581
azadiraxt 581

badraj 590
baladur 582
balllaj 581
bang 582
banj 582
beladur 482
birinj-i kabill 582
bl5 582

bitlx ul-hindl 582
bussad 525

dar-6lnl 583
dar-filfil 583
dar §lnl 541, 583
dauku 453
dibadz 489, 492
duhn az-zanbaq 332
duhn ul-amlaj 583
duhn ul-sunbul 583

falanjmuSk 589
filfil, fulfill 374 note 3
fi§fi§a 209
fistaq, fustaq 252
fafal 584
ftilful, filfil 584

habb nl-qilqil 582
hal585
halahil 582
halllaj 378
hinduba 402
hinna 336
hulba 446
husyat iblls 554

ibarlsam 538

ihlilaj 581
isbiadari 555
isfenah 395
isfist 209

jauz ul-qei 449
jiza' 555
jOz 256
julbar 306
iOz-i buwwa 582
jQz-i matil 582

kafQr 585, 591
kahruba 521
kamman 383
kamab 380
keblr 590
kibnt 575
kirbas 574
kundur 585
knrkum 321

lak 478 note 5

lak 585

lauz, lewze 405

lazvard 520

llnej 520

luban jawi 465 note i

mamirun 546
mann 343
mardaku§ 585
mastaki 252
ma§ 585
mi'a 459
murdasanj 509
murr 461
muSktiramuSlr 585

na-ho tou 307
nakhl 386
narjll 585
nehsel 453
nil, llla 585
nllej 370
nllofar 585
nisrin 551

pazahr 525

qanbit 381
qaqula 584
qaranftil 584
quinna 364
qitta 301
qalani 585
qurtum 327
qust 584
qutun 491

ranej 240 note 7
ratba 209
ratta 551, 583

nxan 590
rumman 285
rutta 582

sabahia 453
sadaj 583
safarjal 584
saidalani 425
sakblnaj 366
salixa 584
sandal 552, 584
saqmaniya 584
sarak 539
satil 584
sax 553
sefanariya 453
suk 551 J

sukkar 584 '

sunbul 584

gabuni 425
gali-§lnl 552
gal 584
galjam 381
gigian 581

§InI 547 note 4

tabaSir 351
talisfar 584
tamr 386
tamr ul-hindl 582
tanbal 582
terenjobln 345
tin, tima 41 1
turbund 584
tat 582
tatiya 513

uSnan 582
utnij 581

vaj 583
wars 315, 316

xalen 552

xamaxim 590

xar-§inl ("stone of
China"), Arabic term
for Chinese tootnague,
555. The designation
"stone" corresponds to
the t'ou-§i ("tou stone"
of *the Chinese, which
denotes the zinc ?and
brass of the Persians.

xamub, xarrab 424

xarnub hindi 422

xarva 404

xauk 590

626

Index of Words

xiyar Sanbar 422
xfilandzan 545
xurs-i sini 582

yabmh 447, 585 '
yasmin 331

zadvar 544, 584

zafaran 311, 320

zait 415

zanbaq 332

zangabll, zanjabll 545, 583

zarira 583

zarwar 583

zeronbad 544

zinjar 510

zummurud 519

zurunbad 583

Hebrew

alkafta 533
asis 286

axa§darfnim 529
bareket 519
basam 430
ba§ 574

egOz 248, 254, 256
gafrit 575
karkOm 321
kopher 337
man 343
mor 461

nataf 459 note 5
nerd 428, 455
rimmOn 285
tamar 386
ti'nu 41 1
xelbenah 363
zayie 415

Aramaic (Syriac)

afursama 429

*arigbada 423

asa 460

aspesta 209

astorac 457

borko 519

filfol 435

gauza 256

kusbar(ta) 299

mura 461

narkim 427

pespesta 209

mmono 285

stiraca 457

tena, tenta, ts'lnta 411

xaraba 424

xelbanita 363

zaita 415

Fu-lin

a-li, a-li-fa 423
a-li-ho-t'o 435
a-li-k'ii-fa 420, 423
a-p'o-ts'an 429
han-p'o-li-t*a 363
hien 436
k'un-han 435
pa-lan 408
ti-£en, ti-ni 411
ts'i-t'i 415

Sanskrit

ak§5ta 248, 254
an j Ira 411
adhimuktaka 290
amala 581
amlika 582
aragbadha, aragvadha

421
aru?ka 482

akhota 248, 254*
adraka 583
amalaka 378, 551
arevata 423

ugragandha 583
udambara4ii

era^(Ja 404
ela 585

kapi 581
karalaka 588
karcara 544
karpasa 491, 574
karpara 585, 591
kavera 309
kaverl 309
kalinga 445
kunkuma 321
kunduru 585
kunkuma 309
kunci, kuncika 215
kupilu 449
kuberak§l 583
kulanja 545
ku§tha 463, 464, 584
kusumbha 327
kustumburu 298, 299
k§atrapa 529

khadira 481
kharjura 391

gandhamamsl 216
gandharva 404
garjara 452
gandhan 346 note 3
guggula 467

*gunda 304
go^I 496

candana 552, 584
camara 565
cinaka 595
cinani 540
cinarajaputra 540
cobacini 556

jatamamsl 584
jati 582

jatuka 361 note 4
jayapala 583
*jaguma 318
jira 383
jlraka 384

jhabuka 582

tanka 503

tarambuja 444
tavak(tvak)-k§Ira 350
tambala 582
tallgapattra 584
tinti^a 582
tinduka 215
tila 290
tuttha 513
tubarlgimba 582
turu?ka 458
tulasi 590
tQda, tala 582
tQla 491

triputa, trivrt 584
tvaca 583, 584

danti 583

dacjima, dalima 283, 286
devadaru 583
drak§a 239, 240

dhanika, dhanyaka 284

nalada 428, 455
navasara 505, 506
nagavallika 582
natamra 445
narikela 193, 585
nimba 582
nirvi§a 584
nirvi§a 544
nila 370
nllotpala 585
naigadala 505

*parasl 254. Compare
parasika, a Persian
horse; paraslka-taila,
naphta; paraslya-yava-
nl, a remedy imported
from Persia.

palanka 397
pippala 435
pippall 374 note 3, 375,

583 ^
pitakanda 452
pugaphala 584
prapunScJa 582

phanijjhaka 585

badama 407

bhanga 294
bhanga 582
bhadanta 592
bhallataka 482

madhu 241

marakata 518

marica 374

mallika 331, 332

magadha 374 note 6

majuphala 367

matula 582

matulunga 301 note 6, 581

masa 585

mudga 308

mendhi 338

maireya 241

mleccha-kanda 304

yavana 452

rasamala 458
rajataru 421
rubQgaka 404
ruviika 404

latakarafija 583
lavanga 584
lak§a 476 note 9

vak§a5ia 404
vaca 583
vanaharidra 584
vakuci 484
vatama 407
vahlika 320
vicjanga 582
vibhitaka 378, 581
vigalada 346 note 3
*visesa 335
vi§a 582

vyaghrapuccha 404
vrlhi 373

garkara 584
gaka-vfika 215
grngavera 583

saraka 583
sumana 332
surasl 590

Index of Words

sura 240, 581
soraka 503
saindhava 592
*sturuka 457

haridra 309, 314
harltakl 378, 581
halahala 582
hingu 358, 359, 361
*htinda 304

Hindustani

akrOt, axrQt 248, 254
bavaci 484
belatak, bhela 482
darim 283 note 2
haka5 484
Hindi-revand 551
kamxab 539
kapar 591
kucla 448
khajtir 391
palak, palan 397
tarbud 584
tarbaza 444
tal, tQt 582
xarbQza 444
xlra 301

Old Iranian, Ferganian

*agoz-van 250
agOza, arigOza 248, 254
aspo-asti 209
a§i 301
bangha 294
budawa 225
*buksuk, buxsux 213
dipi 532
*go§wi 298
haSanaepata 277
*koswi 298
maSa 241
maSav 225
magupati 531
*pistaka 251
spaina 515
tanva 496
x§a0ra-pavan 529
xsa^rya 530
x§aeta 530
x§aya0iya 530

Middle Persian

*aju 410
anargil 193

*anguzad, *angu, *angwa
361

627

arkpat 533
Aram 437
aspast, aspist 209

batak 225

*ballu, *barru, 368

*balu, bulu 369

banbiSn, banbuSn 531

birzai 363

bod 193

dapir, diplr 532
depak 489
devan 532
diplvar 532

funduk 193

gandena 304
go§niz 298

harbojina 444

kahrupai 521
kaplk 581
kundur 193
kundurok 585
*kurman (*gurman) 385
kulkem 321

*madzak, *maxzak, *mu-

zak 368
magu 531

*magutan, magudan 532
mai 241

martak, murtak 509
maupat 531
mtird 461

*nargi 427
naz-bo 590

pag 307

palangamu§k 589
pambak 490
pamikan 537
*pistak 251

rewas 547

siparam 192
*spahba5, spahpat 533
spahbeS 533

*§a0pav 529

§ah balut 193, 369

gangavlr 545, 583

*tabix, *tabi5 493
tanand 496
*tapetan 493
tin 411
tatiya 513

628

Index of Words

vadam 406
ven 249

yasmin 193
*yasmlr 331

*xar-burra, *7ar-burra

343
xarbQzak 444
*xaryad2ambax 423
*xurman 385

2lra, zira 383

Sogdian

*asama, *asna, *ax§ama
456

bakdib 490 note 6
•^*bulan(ralak) 589

/S05a 462

Cynstn 568

8i5im 573

fra/305an 462

7ara 187 note

kurkmnba 321 (see J.
Bloch, La Formation de
la langue marathe,

p. 97.)
nar5k(a) 285
*nav§a 506
gmnu 573
tlm578
va7var 556
waSu, wySygth 531
x§evan 529
'zrw' 573

New Persian

abnas 485, 486
abre§iim 537
alwa 480, 481
amala, amila 551, 581
amba 552
amola 378
anar 285, 574
angur 227
anguyan 354 ^
angOza, anguzad 361
aniba, anita 461 note 2
anjir 411

aspanah, aspanaj 395
aspust, aspist 209
azaragi 449

bada, badye 225'
badam 405, 406
h&y 575

bagela 308

bagtar 575

badrafi 301

baladur 482

balas 495

balila 378, 581

balut; 368

ban 249

banak 249

baqila 307

barge-tanbol 582

bama 495

barzad 364

battix indi 443

baznid, berzed 363 note 4

beda 214

bedanjir 404

bih, beh 584

bih-i hindl 584

birinj 373, 513, 581

blrzai 363

bo, bOl 462

boza 575

budenk 198 note I

baghunj 299 note i

bunduq-i hindi 583

barak 503

ban 575

6ai, 6adan 557

Candan, 6andal 552, 584

2au, Cav 557, 560

^ank 565

iJinl 547 note 4

i^ugundur 399

dablr, diblr 532
dahim 573
dana 284
danak 283
dand 583
danga 284
dar-6ln 541
darai 502
darzard 314
datara 582
diba 489
diba-i-6ln 537
divdar 583

erzen 565

fadaj 528
fagfari Cinl 556
firaza 519

gSndana 304
gatel el-kelbe 449
gawdzlla 327
gaz, gazm 348 note 7
gaz-alefi 348
gaz-khonsar 348
gazar 453

gergem 306
gOz 248, 254,
gugurd 575
gul-^lnl 551
gurinj 373

256

hallla 378, 587
hll-i buzurg 584
hll-i xurde 585
hindewane 443, 582
hulbat, hulya 446

isfldruj 555

fabrah 447
jadvar 544
jazar 453
jlran 575
jOz-i bQya 582

kabi 581

kafflr 585, 591

kagaS 557

kahruba 521

kahu 402

kalam gomri 381

kalam pl5 381

kamxab 539

karaf s 402

karkam, kurkum 321

kasnl, kisnl 361, 365, 575

kawanda 301

kazQr 544

kimxaw 539

kirpas 574

kiSnlz 299

kOz 248, 254, 256

ku61a, ku^ula 448

kunjut 291

kundurak 252

kuSnIz 299

kust 584, 464

lazvard 520
lelekl 425
llla 370

marjan 525
masdax 253
maza 367
mei 241
mexak 584
mor 461
mabid 531
mu7, mOy 531
mOrd 461

nard, nard 428, 455
nargil 193
nargis 427
naugadir 503, 506
nax 495
neft 506

Index op Words

629

ml 370

nllapar 585

nujQd 306

nugadir 503, 505, 506

padzahr 525
palanmiSk 589
pan 582
pandu 404
panpa 490
parniyan 537
pipal, pilpil 583
pilpil 374 note 3
pistan 252
pudina 198 note I
polad 575
papal 584

qaqtdah 193

ranglak 478 note 5
revande-hindi 551
rewas, rewand, rlwand

547
rO§anak 584

sagrl 575
sakblna 366
sakirlat 497
saman, suman 332
saqalat 497
sarah 539
sebr sugutri 481
sebr zerd 481
sepldrQi 555
sipahbaS 533
sunbiil 455
sunbul-i hlndl 584
sur 581

Sablbl 582
§ah siparam 586
§ah-zire 384
Sanballd 447
Sakar 576, 584
gamllz 447
Sankalll 545
gatranj 576
Sawandar 454
Selgem 381
§lr-xe§t 347 note I
Somln, §QmIn 397
gora 503
Sanlz 299
SuSu 565

tabaSir 350 note 5
tar-angubin 345
tan-basa 496
tanlSan 496
tankal, tangar 503
tarsa 593
tarxan 593

tatara 582

tinkar 503

toti 575

turbid 584. The cor-
responding Tibetan
form is dur-byid; the
initial sonant is strik-
ing: cf. the analogous
case of ga-bur, 591

turma, turub 574

turunj 301 note 6, 581

tfltiya 512, 513

tawus 575

ustad 533

vaj 583
vala 495

wan 249

weSa 363 note 4

xadaft, xadanj 553
xak-i Clnl 556
xar-6lnl 555
xar-i-buzi 343
xar-i-Sutur 343, 345
xamab, xumQb, xarrab

424
xawalinjan 545
xawu§ 301
xayahe-i iblls 583
xiyar 301
xiyar-^ambar 422
xogkenjubln 347
xullar 306
xurma 385
xutu 565

yasamin, yasmin 331

zar-baf 488
zarambad 583
zardak 452, 454
zarumbad 544
zeitun 415
zingar 510
zird-6flbe 314
zumurrud 519

Pamir (and other Iranian
dialects)

baso 212

ghdun 496
kubas 574
spin 515
vurj, wux 213
warSam 538
wujerk 213

Afghan

badraA 301
hindwana 443
intsir 411
kokurt 575
Ospana, Osplna 515
palak 397
rawaS 547
ri§ka 215
spastu 209
turanj 301
vrize 373
wreSam 538
xarbuja, tarbuja 444

Baluci

ban 249
bod, bOz 462
ravaS 547
trunj 301
tapak 595
wana 249

Kurd

alat 435

badem 406

barru, berru 369

6aku 595

dariben 249

egylz 256

ezir 410

fystiq 252

hezir 410

kasu-van, kazu-van 250

kezvan, kizvan 250

mstekki 253

pirinjok 513

punk 198 note 3

rlwas, ribas 547

Urum437

Armenian

ankuzad, anguzat 361
aprasam, aprsam 429
aprigum 538
armav 385 note 4
asbanax 396
bambak 490
bambiSn 531
brinj 373
bust 525
Randan 552
dabaSir 350 note 5
dipak 489
dpir 532
dzet 415

630

Index of Words

engoiz 248, 256
erevant 547
fesdux, fstoul 252
halile 378
hraman 437
Hrom, Hrom 436
hulba 446 note 5
jet 415
kahriba 522
kask 369
kerpas 574
kndmk 585
mogpet 531
movpetan 531
narges 427
navt' 506
Plinj 513
porag 503
snrvel 545
spanax 396
§ahapand 529
§irixi§d 347 note I
gomin 397
t'arxan 593
xarpzag 444 note 2
xiar-§amb 423
zavhran 312 note i
zeit 415
zemruxt 519
zomin 397

Greek

aloe 481

balsamon 429, 430
bistakion 251
bukeras 447
byssos 574
datikon, daukos 453
diadema 573
ebenos 486
harpaks 523

hyaina, Chinese tran-
scription of, 436

kasia 542 note 3

kastanon 369

kinnamomon 542 note 3

kusbaras 299

maragdos 519

naphtha 506

nardos 455

narkissos 427

narkission 428

pistakion, psistakion 251

rha 548

rheon 548

rhoa 285

rhydia 285 note 2

satrapes 529

ser 538

sinapi 380

smyra 461

staphylinos 453

storaks, styraks 457

tabasis 350

tapes 493

terebinthos, terminthos

249

Russian

altabds, derivation of

word 492
arbuz 444
bumaga 559
burd 503

burkun, burun^ik 219
dorogi 501
fistagka 252
indzani 411
izumrud 519
kisnets 299
I'utsema 219
marzan 525
medunka 219
morkov' 451 note i
nugatyr 506
reven' 548
Rim 437

Solk 539
gpiauter 555

Spanish

alazor 312 note i
albahaca, alfabega 587
alcanfor 591
algarrobo 425
almdciga 252 note 7
anil 370
atutia 513
azafran 312 note i
azafranillo 312 note i
benjui, menjui 465 note I
borraj 503
carabe 522
dauco 453
droguete 501
espinaca 396
mdsticis 252 note 7
ruibarbo 548
tafetan 493
tereniabin 345

Portuguese

agafroa 312
alfabaca 587 note 3
anil 370

azafrao 312 note i
bdlsamo, Chinese tran-
scription of, 434
bango 582
bazar, bazodr 528
benzawi, benjoim 465 no. i
carabe 522

espinafre, espinacio 396
lacre 476
lampatam 556
roma, romeira 285 note 3
tufao 557
tutanaga 555
tutao 557
tutia 513

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