Science and civilisation in China. Vol. 6, Biology and biological technology. Part 1, Botany

749 Pages·1986·69.741 MB·English

by  coll.

THE PICTURE OF THE TAOIST GENII PRINTED ON THE COVER
of this book is part of a painted temple scroll, recent but traditional, given to
Mr Brim Harland in Szechuan province (1946). Concerning these four divinities,
of respectable rank in the Taoist bureaucracy, the following particulars have been
handed down. The title of the first of the four signifies 'Heavenly Prince', that
of the other three 'Mysterious Commander'.
At the top, on the left, is Liu T h C hfin, Comptroller-General of Crops and
Weather. Before his deification (so it was said) he was a rain-making magician
+
and weather forecaster named Liu Chh, born in the Chin dynasty about 340.
Among his attributes may be seen the sun and moon, and a measuring-rod or
carpenter's square. The two great luminaries imply the making of the calendar, so
important for a primarily agricultural society, the efforts, ever renewed, to reconcile
celestial periodicities. The carpenter's square is no ordinary tool, but the gnomon
for measuring the lengths of the sun's solstitial shadows. The Comptroller-General
also carries a bell because in ancient and medieval times there was thought to be
a close connection between calendrical calculations and the arithmetical acoustics
of bells and pitch-pipes.
At the top, on the right, is W& Ywn Shuai, Intendant of the Spiritual Officials
of the Sacred Mountain, Thai Shan. He was taken to be an incarnation of one of
the Hour-Presidents (Chia Shen), i.e. tutelary deities of the twelve cyclical characters
(see p. 262). During his earthly pilgrimage his name was Hum Tzu-Yii and he was
+
a scholar and astronomer in the Later Han (b. 142). He is seen holding an
armillary ring.
Below, on the left, is Kou Yuan Shuai, Assistant Secretary of State in the Ministry
of Thunder. He is therefore a late emanation of a very ancient god, Lei Kung.
Before he became deified he was Hsin Hsing, a poor woodcutter, but no doubt an
incarnation of the spirit of the constellation Kou-Chhen (the Angular Arranger),
part of the group of stars which we know as Ursa Minor. He is equipped with
hammer and chisel.
Below, on the right, is Pi Ywn SM, Commander of the Lightning, with his
flashing sword, a deity with distinct alchemical and cosmological interests. According
to tradition, in his earthly life he was a countryman whose name was Thien Hua.
Together with the colleague on his right, he controlled the Spirits of the Five
Directions.
Such is the legendary folklore of common men canonised by popular acclamation.
An interesting scroll, of no great artistic merit, destined to decorate a temple wall,
to be looked upon by humble people, it symbolises something which this book has
to say. Chinese art and literature have been so profuse, Chinese mythological
imagery so fertile, that the West has often missed other aspects, perhaps more
important, of Chinese civilisation. Here the graduated scale of Liu Chiin, at first
sight unexpected in this setting, reminds us of the ever-present theme of quanti-
tative measurement in Chinese culture; there were rain-gauges already in the Sung
(+1 2th century) and sliding calipers in the Han (+ 1st). The armillary ring of
Hum Tzu-Yii bears witness that Naburiannu and Hipparchus, al-NaqqHs and
Tycho, had worthy counterparts in China. The tools of Hsin Hsing symbolise that
great empirical tradition which informed the work of Chinese artisans and technicians
all through the ages.
S C I E N C E AND C I V I L I S A T I O N
I N C H I N A
Every blade ofgrass and every tree possesses its own pattern-principle, and should
+
be examined. Chu Hsi & Lii Tsu-Chhien, I I 75
(Chin Ssu Lu, 111, 12, tr. Chhen Jung-Chieh (I I),p . 93)
I am in a position to assure you [said Plutarch] that Hegesander of Delphi
nowhere mentions the citron, for I read through the whole of his 'Memorials' with
+
the express purpose of finding out. Athenaeus of Naucratis, 228,
Dtipnosophktae, 111, 25-9
In a treatise on Chinese music, by the late Mr Tradescant Lay, that gentleman
has remarked: 'It has been asserted that the Chinese have no science; but of a
surety, if we advance in the free and scholar-like spirit of antiquarian research, we
shall be obliged to set our feet upon the head of this assertion at every step of our
progress.' W. H. Medhunt, in the preface to his
translation of the Shu Ching, 1846, p. vi.
I know that the stationary state which it is claimed that Chinese science and
civilisation show, has often been attributed to their script; but this opinion, which
is getting less and less convincing every day, derives from a time when people
judged the Chinese as well as their sciences and their writing just by hearsay.
The ideographic and pictographic script seems on the contrary to have been
marvellously appropriate for the study of natural history . . .
J. P. Abel Rkmusat, in his 'Discours sur
1'Etat des Sciences Naturelles chez
les Peuples de 1'Asie Orientale'
in Mtlangcs Posthumcs (I 3), p. 2 I I.
Just as the Western countries have certainly never heard of the teaching of the
Sages of the Central Country, so we too have never heard tell of the books of their
ancient Saints and Scholars which they are circulating in China. But now both
enlighten and benefit each other. In this way the whole world is becoming a single
family, and minds are mutually comprehending each other, so that there will no
longer be misunderstandings between the people of the far-flung East and West.
From the preface of FCng Ying-Ching
to Matteo Ricci's fourth world map,
+
1603, tr. d'Elia (15),p . 134.
Thus more and more the science and learning of the Sages of East and West will
fuse into one.
From Giulio Aleni's Hsi Hsiieh Fan,
tr. d'Elia (g).

S C I E N C E A N D
C I V I L I S A T I O N I N
C H I N A
BY
JOSEPH NEEDHAM, F.R.s., F.B.A.
SOMETIME MASTER OF GONVILLE AND CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDOE
FOREIGN MEMBER OF ACADEMIA SINICA
With the collaboration of
LU GWEI-DJEN, PH.D.
FELLOW EMERITUS OF ROBINSON COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
and a special contribution by
HUANG HSING-TSUNG,
D.PHIL.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
WASHINGTON, D.C.
VOLUME 6
BIOLOGY AND BIOLOGICAL
TECHNOLOGY
PART I: BOTANY
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CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE
NEW YORK PORT CHESTER
MELBOURNE SYDNEY
Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge C B I~R P
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY IOOI I, USA
ro Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia
0
Cambridge Univenity Press I 986
First published 1986
Reprinted 1989
Printed in Great Britain at the
Univenity Press, Cambridge
Library of Congrus catalogue card number: 54-4723
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Dah
Needham, Joseph
Science and Civilisation in China.
V01 6: Biology and biological technology
Pt. I: Botany
I. Science-China-History 2. Technology
-China-History
I. Title 11. Lu Gwei-Djen, Huang Hsing-Tsung
509 .5' QI27,C5
To the memory of
SHIH SH~NG-HAN
Professor of Botany and Mycology
National North- West Agricultural College
Wukung, Shan'
in gratitude for much inspiration and blithe discourse,
and recalling Homomycetes that rainy day at Chiating,
and of
wu SU-HSUAN
Director of the Department of Cytology
Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Peking
in gratitude for so sympathetic a welcome, at the United
Universities (Lien Ho Ta Hsiieh) in war-time Kunming,
and recalling theyang mei at the Anning Hot Springs,
this volume is dedicated.
CONTENTS
List o f Illustrations . . page xii
. .
List o f Tables xvii
List o f Abbr&tions . . . . xviii
Acknowledgements . . xxi
. .
Author's Notc xxii
38 BOTANY
(a) Introduction, p. I
(b) The setting; China's plant geography, p. 23
(I) Floristic regions, p. 25
(2) Geo-botany in statu nascendi, p. 47
(i) Oecology and phyto-geography in the Kuan Tzu
book, p. 48
(ii) China and the science of soils, p. 56
(iii) Pedology in the Kuan Tzu and the Shu Ching (Yii
Kung), P . 77
(3) The case of the chii and the chih, p. 103
(c) Botanical linguistics, p. I I 7
(I) Plant terminology, p. I I 7
(i) Botanical radicals, p. I I 7
(ii) The phytographic language, p. I 26
(2) Plant nomenclature, p. I 42
(i) Names common and learned; binomes and
multinomes, p. I 42
(ii) The taxonomic language, p. 149
(iii) Derivate complexes and coding redundancies, p. 169
(iv) Taxonomy and ideography, p. I 78
(d) The literature and its content, p. 182
( I) Lexicographic and encyclopaedic texts, p. I 82
(i) The oldest encyclopaedias, p. I 86
(ii) Handy primers, p. I g4
(iii) Imperial florilegia, p. 200
(iv) Classified compendia, p. 207
(v) Dictionaries of origins, technic and scientific, p. 2 I 2
(vi) Dictionaries based on script, sound or phrase, p. 2 16
(2) The pandects of natural history (P& Tshao); a great
tradition, p. 220
CONTENTS
(i) Origins of the name, p. 23 I
(ii) The Heavenly Husbandman, p. 235
(iii) The Famous Physicians, p. 248
(iv) Botanical writings from Chou to Chhen (-6th
+
to 6th century), p. 253
(v) Pharmaceutical natural history in Sui and
+
Thang (+6th to 10th century), p. 264
(vi) Natural history and printing in Sung, Yuan and
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Ming (+1 0th to 16th century), p. 278
(vii) The Prince of Pharmacists, p. 308
(viii) Last phases of the autochthonous development, p. 32 I
(3) Studies on wild (emergency) food plants; the esculentist
movement, p. 328
(4) Botanical monographs and tractates, p. 355
(i) Citrous fruits, p. 363
P.
(ii) Bamboos7 377
(iii) Peonies, p. 394
(iv) Chrysanthemums, p. 409
(v) Orchids, p. 41 7
(vi) Rosaceae, p. 4 I g
(vii) Other ornamentals, p. 427
(5) Exotic and historical botany, p. 440
(i) The exploration of the borderlands, p. 443
(ii) The elucidation of the ancient, p. 463
(c) Plants and insects in man's service (by Huang Hsing-Tsung).
P. 471
(I) Natural plant pesticides, p. 47 I
(i) The earliest plant pesticides, p. 472
(ii) Legacy of the Heavenly Husbandman, p. 478
P.
(iii) Gifts of the medieval pharmacists, 494
(iv) Meeting of East and West, p. 509
(2) Biological pest control, p. 5 I g
(i) Insect pests and natural enemies, p. 520
P.
(ii) The citrus ant story, 53 I
(iii) Other insects, p. 544
(iv) Vertebrates, p. 547
. -
BIBLIOGRAPHIES 555
Abbreviations, p. 556
A. Chinese and Japanese books before I 800, p. 56 I
P.
B. Chinese and Japanese books and journal articles since I 800, 594
C. Books and journal articles in Western languages, p. 616
CONTENTS xi
GENERAL INDEX. . 663
-
Table o f Chinese Dymties . 709
. .
Romantsation Conversion Table 710
The following subsections, by Georges MCtailiC, are not yet ready for publication
(f) Treatises on traditional botany, and the development of claisification
(g) The development of plant description and illustration
(h) Chinese knowledge of the life of plants
(I) Plant physiology
(2) Sexuality in plants
(3) Parasitism and the epiphytic condition
(4) Phycology (the algae)
(5) Plant pathology
(6) Mycology (the fungi)
(i) Horticulture and its techniques
(I) Treatises on horticulture
(2) Gardens and botanic gardens
(3) Fruit production and preservation
(4) Grafting and vegetative propagation
(J] The influence of Chinese flora and botany on modern plant science
(I) Ancient and medieval plant transmissions
(2) The influence of Chinese gardens on Europe
(k) Conclusions
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Graph of the number of plant forms known in the Western world
from Theophrastus to the German Fathers of Botany . - !'%V5
Ptytolacca acinosa (shang lu), a drawing by a Chinese artist . . page 2 I
Citm sarcoductylus (fo shou kan), a drawing by a Chinese artist . page 2 I
Map of the world showing the distribution of vegetation . . page 26
Map of the world showing the floristic regions . . page 26
Map showing the distribution of Berberis (continuous line) and
. -
Mahonia (broken line) we31
General map of the floristic regions of China . Page 36
The principal floral regions of China. . Page 40
Gathering the fruits of the sand-date tree (sha kao; <;Ziphus
.
sfinosus). M 4 1
A Chinese banyan tree (jung shu; Fim retusa) sheltering a field-god
shrine (thu ti miao) on the path to Peiphei, north of Chungking. puge 41
Phyto-geographic regions of China . page 43
.
Map showing the world distribution of the Magnolieae Page 46
Oecological altitude zones described in the Kuan Tzu book . page 52
Oecological humidity zones described in the Kuan Tzu book . page 56
The soil and its environment (omitting the nitrogen and oxygen
.
cycles) W 5 8
.
The soil-forming factors W 5 9
Diagrammatic map of China (after Lo Kai-Fu) to show the con-
tinental character of the amphitheatres facing the Pacific Ocean
.
to the east, and backed by the Tibetan massif to the west. page 60
Rainfall distribution and zones of differing effective moistures in
. .
China page 61
. .
Schematic map of China's phyto-geographical areas page 62
.
Effects of topography on soil formation past 63
.
Patterns of movement of soil water Page 64
Agricultural hillside terracing . Page 74
.
Soil map of China pages 78-79
Diagrammatical cross-section of the Wei Valley. . . page 80
Map of the Nine Provinces of the Yii Kung chapter of the Shu
.
China Me84
Modern drawing of the lotus Nelumbo nuciitra . page134
The orchid Gastrodia elatu (chhih chim) depicted in the Cm Ln' Pin
Tsho . Page139
25b A modem drawing of the same plant. . /'age I39
xii