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National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| Sino-Iranica : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
340 SING-IRANICA
cattle and horses. The hu run looks as if it were corroded by insects. A resin flows down and comes out of this tree, which is popularly called 'hu-t`un tears '. It can be used for soldering gold (or metal) and silver. In the colloquial language, they say also lü l instead of lei, which is faulty."'
The ran pen ts'ao2 is credited with this statement: "Hu run 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 t`u./ trees in the forests. The leaves resemble those of the run (Paulownia) . The resin which is like glue flows out of the roots."
The Lin piao lu i3 states positively that hu run lei is produced in Persia, being the sap of the hu run tree, and adds that there are also
"stone tears," H lei IX, which are collected from stones.
Su Kun, the reviser of the Pen tstao of the Tang, makes this observation:4 "Hu run lei is produced in the plains and marshes as well as in the mountains and valleys lying to the west of Su-sou
In its shape it resembles yellow vitriol (hwan fan s ),J but is far
more solid. The worm-eaten trees are styled hu run 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 t`un 1 i. It belongs to the family of mulberries, and is hence called hu t`un tree. Its wood is good for making implements."
Han Pao-sen nig H, who edited the . u pen ts'ao * "i about the middle of the tenth century, states, "The tree occurs west of Liafn-
6ou JH (in Kan-su). In the beginning it resembles a willow; when
it has grown, it resembles a mulberry and the run. Its sap sinks into the soil, and is similar to earth and stone. It is used as a dye like the ginger-stone (kian . i 1).6 It is extremely salty and bitter. It is dissolved by the application of water, and then becomes like alum shale or saltpetre. It is collected during the winter months."
Ta Min FA, who wrote a Pen ts`ao about A.D. 97o, 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
1 Cf. Gen lei pen ts`ao, Ch. 13, p. 33.
2 As quoted in the Gi wu min §i ru k'ao, Ch. 35, p. 8 b.
3 Ch. B, p. 7 a (see above, p. 268).
4 Gen lei pen ts`ao, l.c.
F. DE M ÉLY, Lapidaire chinois, p. 149.
6 A variety of stalactite (see F. DE MÉLY, Lapidaire chinois, p. 94; GEERTS, Produits, p. 343; Gen lei pen ts`ao, Ch. 5, p. 32).
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