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The (1406) ''Jiuhuang bencao'' (), written by the Ming dynasty prince Zhu Xiao/Su (朱橚), was the first illustrated botanical manual for famine foods—wild food plants suitable for survival during times of famine. ==Author== Prince Zhu Xiao/Su (朱橚), was born in 1361 as the fifth son of the Hongwu Emperor (1328-1398), the founder of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Sources differ whether the prince's given name was pronounced Xiao or Su. The uncommon Chinese character (橚) can be pronounced ''sù'' ("a tall tree"), ''xiāo'' ("flourishing vegetation"), or ''qiū'' as a phonetic loan character for ''qiū'' (楸, "Chinese catalpa"). Zhu received the title of Wuwang (吴王, "Prince of Wu") in 1370 and that of Zhouwang (周王, "Prince of Zhou") in 1378, and he was enfeofed with the district of Kaifeng, Henan in 1381. In 1399, prince Zhu was banished to Yunnan, where he died in 1425 and received the posthumous name Zhou Dingwang (周定王, "Prince Ding of Zhou"), which is often cited as author of the ''Jiuhuang bencao'' (Needham 1984: 331). Zhu Xiao was a talented scholar and wrote a collection of poetry called the ''Yuangong ci'' (元宮詞). He also wrote two compilations of medical prescriptions, the ''Shenzhenfang'' (神珍方, "Divine Authentic Prescriptions"), and the ''Puji fang'' (普濟方, "Prescriptions for Common Benefit"), which is frequently quoted in the ''Bencao gangmu'' (Unschuld 1986: 221). Zhu Xiao studied botany when he lived in Kaifeng, which is located on the flood plains or the Yellow River, and has historically suffered from natural disasters. Zhu Xiao wrote the ''Jiuhuang bencao'' from 1403 to 1406, after many years of careful research, presumably (Swingle 1935: 200), "in an effort to alleviate the sufferings and death that too frequently occur in China as a result of famine." According to tradition, Zhu Xiao researched and chose potential famine foods, had them planted in experimental gardens, which Christopher (1985) called "famine gardens," and commissioned scholars to observe and record the plants' developmental stages. For the woodblock-printed publication, Zhu had extremely true to life illustrations prepared to portray the respective famine plants. The German sinologist Emil Bretschneider (1895: 50) praised the ''Jiuhuang bencao'' woodcuts as "tolerably true to nature" and "certainly superior to some European wood-cuts of the 17th century". The American botanist Walter T. Swingle (1935: 194) says that in spite of their primitive technique, these woodcuts "are of high artistic quality." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jiuhuang Bencao」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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