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0154 Sino-Iranica : vol.1
Sino-Iranica : vol.1 / Page 154 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000248
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328   SING-IRANICA

make abundant use of tse-kun cosmetic, which is commonly called tse-kun. In general, all these substances may be used as remedies in

blood diseases.' Also the juice from the seeds of to 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-'6i in the T `un a of Cen Tsiao and by Ma Ci of the tenth century : this name originally referred to the cosmetic furnished by Butea frondosa or other trees on which the lac-insect lives,2—trees growing in Indo-China, the Archipelago, and India. This product, accordingly, was foreign, and hence styled "foreign cosmetic" or "cosmetic of the barbarians" (hu yen-ci) . 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-cen is that yen-'6i 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.3 It is obvious that the term yen-ci has no botanical value, and for many centuries has simply had the meaning "cosmetic."

Fan C`en-ta (1126-93), in his Kwei hai yü hen ci,4 mentions a yen-i

Jig   tree, strong and fine, with a color like yen-ci (that is, red), good
for making arrowheads, and growing in Yun cou, also in the caves of this department, and in the districts of Kwei-lin, in Kwan-si Province. A. HENRY5 gives for Yi-c`an in Se-c`wan a plant-name yen-ci ma

("cosmetic hemp"), identified with Patrinia villosa.

1 On account of the red color of the berries.

2 See p. 478.

3 STUART, Chinese Materia Medica, Q. 264; MATSUMURA, No. 2040; PERROT and HURRIER, Matière médicale et pharmacopée sino-annamites, p. 116, where lo-k`wei is erroneously given as Chinese name of the plant.

a Ed. of Ci pu tsu cai ts`un Su, p. 28 b.

6 Chinese Names of Plants, p. 239 (Journal China Branch Roy. As. Soc., Vol. XXII, 1887).