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0105 Sino-Iranica : vol.1
Sino-Iranica : vol.1 / Page 105 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000248
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THE POMEGRANATE   279

Tu i    A :, written by Li Yu 1 t (or Li Yûan 7G) of the Tang

dynasty. Another formal testimony certifying to the acceptance of this creed at that period comes from Fun Yen 14 a of the Tang in his Fun i wen kien ki Î IQ RH 51 pZ ,1 who states that Can Kien obtained in the Western Countries the seeds of .i-liu fErd and alfalfa (mu-su), and that at present these are to be found everywhere in China. Under the Sung this tradition is repeated by Kao CV' iw 410

2

C`en Hao-tse, in his Hwa kin,3 published 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 Kien 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-den ascribes the term nan-§i-liu to the Pie lu Nil 0, but he cites no text from this ancient work, so that the case is not clear.6 The earliest author whom he quotes regarding the subject is Tao Hun-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 Ts`i min yao u, Ko Hun I A of the fourth century, in his Pao p`u tse *F 3-, speaks

of the occurrence of bitter liu   on stony mountains. These, indeed,

1 Ch. 7, p. I b (ed. of Ki fu ts'un Su).

2 .3`i wu ki yüan    V. (ed. of Si yin hüan ts'un Su), Ch. bo, P. 34 b.

a Ch. 3, p. 37, edition of 1783; see above, p. 259.

4 The can-K`ien legend is repeated without criticism by BRETSCHNEIDER (Bot. Sin., pt. 1, p. 25; pt. 3, No. 28o), so that A. DE CANDOLLE (Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 238) was led to the erroneous statement that the pomegranate was introduced 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).

b It is mentioned in the Kin kwei yao lio (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.

6 The Pie lu is not quoted to this effect in the Gen lei pen ts`ao (Ch. 22, p. 39), but the Ci wu min Si t'u 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 properties 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-kill.