Safflower 325 



boards of the capital, the prefects of Sun-t'ien and Mukden, and all 

 provincial governors. 1 Under the name lo k'wei $& ^ it is mentioned 

 by T'ao Hun-kin (a.d. 451-536), who refers to its cultivation, to the 

 employment of the leaves as a condiment, and to the use of the berries 

 as a cosmetic. 2 This probably came into use after the introduction of 

 safflower. The Ku kin lu* written by Ts'ui Pao in the middle of the 

 fourth century, states, "The leaves of yen-li fS ;£ resemble those of 

 the thistle (ki X5) and the p'u-kun ffl & (Taraxacum officinalis). Its 

 habitat is in the Western Countries ® 32f , where the natives avail them- 

 selves of the plant for dyeing, and designate it yen-li & ;£, while the 

 Chinese call it hun-lan (%£. IE 'red indigo/ Carthamus tinctorius) ; 

 and the powder obtained from it, and used for painting the face, is 

 styled yen-li Jen $h [At present, because people value a deep-red 

 color $$, they speak of the yen-li flower which dyes; the yen-li flower, 

 however, is not the dye-plant yen-li, but has its own name, hun-lan 

 (Carthamus tinctorius). Of old, the color intermediate between IH f$ 

 and white is termed hun ifct, and this is what is now styled hun-lan.]" 4 

 It would follow from this text that Basella was at an early date con- 

 founded with Carthamus, but that originally the term yen-li related to 

 Carthamus only. 



The Pei hu lu 5 contains the following information in regard to the 

 yen-li flower: "There is a wild flower growing abundantly in the 

 rugged mountains of Twan-cou m 'Hi. 6 Its leaves resemble those of the 

 Ian ^ (Indigofera) ; its flowers, those of the liao H (Polygonum, prob- 

 ably P. tinctorium). The blossoms Ht, when pulled out, are from two 

 to three inches long, and yield a green-white pigment. It blooms in 

 the first month. The natives gather the bursting seeds while still in 

 their shells, in order to sell them. They are utilized in the preparation 

 of a cosmetic %& ;£ %&, and particularly also for dyeing pongee and 

 other silks. Its red is not inferior to that of the Ian flower. Si Ts'o-c'i 



1 P. Hoang, Melanges stir l'administration, pp. 80-81. 



* Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. II, No. 148; pt. Ill, No. 258. 



3 Ch. c, p. 5 (ed. of Han Wei ts'un Su). In regard to the historicity of this work, 

 the critical remarks of the Imperial Catalogue (cf. Wylie, Notes on Chinese Litera- 

 ture, p. 159) must be kept in mind. Cf. also above, p. 242. 



4 The passage enclosed in brackets, though now incorporated in the text of the 

 Ku kin lu, is without any doubt later commentatorial wisdom. This is formally 

 corroborated by the Pei hu lu (Ch. 3, p. 12), which omits all this in quoting the 

 relevant text of the Ku kin lu. 



6 Ch. 3, p. 11 (see above, p. 268). 



6 Name of the prefecture of Cao-k'in Ql fg£ in Kwan-tun Province. This 

 wild flower is Basella rubra. 



