SAFFRON AND TURMERIC 323
favored by the .two wen.' Both explanations are reasonable, but only one of the two can be correct.' My own opinion is this: yü is an ancient Chinese name for an indigenous Chinese aromatic plant; whether Curcuma or another genus, can no longer be decided with certainty.3 The term yü-kin means literally " gold of the yü plant," "gold" referring to the yellow rhizome,' yü to the total plant-character; the concrete significance, accordingly, is "yü-rhizome" or "yü-root." I do not believe, however, that yü-kin is derived from the district or clan of Yü; for this is impossible to assume, since yü as the name of a plant existed prior to the name of that district. This is clearly evidenced by the text of the , wi kin cu: for it was only in I B.C. that the name Yü-lin (" Grove of the Yü 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 district which named the plant. As in so many cases, the Chinese confound cause and effect. The reason why the name of this district was altered into Yü-lin is now also obvious. It must have been renowned under the Han for the wealth of its yü-kin plants, which was less conspicuous under the Ts`in, when the cassia predominated there. At any rate, yü-kin is a perfectly authentic and legitimate constituent of the Chinese language, and not a foreign word. It denotes an indigenous Curcuma; while under the Tang, as we have seen, additional species of this genus may have been introduced from abroad. The word yü-kin then underwent a psychological treatment similar to yen-a: as yen-&, "safflower," was transformed to any cosmetic or rouge, so yü-kin "turmeric," was grafted on any dyes producing similar tinges of yellow. Thus it was applied to the saffron of Kashmir and Persia.
1 The early edition of this work did not contain the form yü-kin, but merely the plain, ancient yü. Solely the Fan yi min yi tsi (Ch. 8, p. 1 o b) attributes (I believe, erroneously) the term yü-kin to the .S~wo wen.
2 Li i-ben says that the district Yü-lin of the Han period comprises the territory
of the present cou I4 of San ( , Liu NI, Yun A , and Pin of Kwain-si and Kwei-
6ou, and that, according to the Ta Min i t'un ci, only the district of Lo-6`en in Liu-hou fu (Kwan-si) produces yü-kin hian, which is that here spoken of (that is, Crocus), while in fact Curcuma must be understood.
s There is also the opinion that the ancient yü must be a plant similar to lan j, an orchidaceous plant (see the Pli ya of Lu Tien and the T`un ci of Ceti Tsiao).
4 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."
IIIF Color HighRes
