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The (304 CE) Nanfang caomu zhuang (南方草木狀 "Plants of the Southern Regions"), attributed to the Western Jin dynasty scholar and botanist Ji Han (嵇含, 263-307), is a Flora describing the plants of Nanyue and Jiaozhi, present-day South China and northern Vietnam. The ''Nanfang caomu zhuang'' is the oldest work extant in any language on subtropical botany. The book contains the first descriptions of several economic plants, such as jasmine and black pepper, as well as the earliest accounts of agricultural techniques such as biological pest control (using weaver ants to protect citrus crops), and the cultivation of vegetables on floating raft-gardens (centuries before the earliest recorded Mesoamerican chinampa). Since the late Song dynasty (960–1279), the ''Nanfang caomu zhuang'' was frequently quoted by Chinese authors, both in literature and technical books on horticulture, agriculture, and Chinese herbology. Since the 19th century (e.g., Hirth 1865 and Bretschneider 1870), many Western sinologists, botanists, and historians of plant cultivation have studied it. ==Ji Han== The ''Nanfang caomu zhuang'' author Ji Han was "one of the greatest of all Chinese botanists" (Needham, Ho, and Lu 1976: 80). The primary source of information about Ji Han's life is the ''Book of Jin'' biography of his uncle Ji Shao (嵇紹), who was the son of the poet-musician Ji Kang (23–262), one of the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove. Ji Han was born in 263 in Zhixian (銍縣, in present Anhui province). His courtesy name was Jun Dao (君道 "Gentleman's Way"), and his pen name Boqiuzi (亳丘子 "Master of Boqiu") refers to his residence at Boqiu (in present-day Henan) near the capital Luoyang. He served as a scholar-administrator and poet on the staff of several princes. In 300, during the War of the Eight Princes, Ji Han was a military commander under the future Emperor Huai of Jin (r. 307-313), whose army suffered a defeat at Tangyin (蕩陰), in which his uncle Ji Shao was killed protecting the emperor. Ji Han was made prefect of Xiangcheng in 304, but when it was conquered, he had to escape south to Xiangyang (in present Hebei), and at the recommendation of the official Liu Heng (劉弘), he was appointed governor of Guangdong in 306. However, before he could leave, Ji Han was assassinated at Xiangyang in 307 after the death of Liu Hung. When Ji Han was made Governor, he appointed his friend Ge Hong, the alchemist and author of the ''Shenxian zhuan'' and ''Baopuzi'', as aide-de-camp. Ge Hong went to Guangdong ahead of Ji, and remained there afterwards for several years, probably because he was interested in the exotic plants and unusual mineral substances of the south (Needham, Ho, and Lu 1976: 80). In addition to writing the ''Nanfang caomu zhuang'', the "first botanical treatise of all time", Ji Han was a prolific poet, particularly ''fu'' "rhapsody; poetic exposition", and deeply interested in botany (Li 1979: 10-11). While most of his ten-volume collected works have been lost, later texts quote the prefaces to Ji's poetical ''fu'' essays on the daylily, hibiscus, fragrant ''huai'' tree (櫰), evergreen trees, and sweet melons. Ji Han also wrote a ''fu'' on the fashionable Cold-Food Powder mixture of mineral and plant drugs, which says "it cured his ailing son when other treatments had failed" (Lagerwey and Lü 2010:358). 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「Nanfang Caomu Zhuang」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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