Brassica 381 



(qanbit) and Syrian from Mosul. He further mentions Brassica rapa 

 under the name Mgetn (Arabic Sal jam). 1 



33. One of the synonymes of yiin-Vai Wt ^ {Brassica rapa) is hu 

 ts'ai #J 3£ ("vegetable of the Hu"). According to Li Si-cen, 2 this term 

 was first applied to this vegetable by Fu K'ien ffii J^ of the second 

 century A.D.in his T'un su wen il f& 3$C. If this information were correct, 

 this would be the earliest example of the occurrence of the term Hu in 

 connection with a cultivated plant; but this Hu does not relate to 

 Iranians, for Hu Hia ffll ?o , in his Pai pin fan If JfN j!j, a medical 

 work of the Sui period (a.d. 589-618), styles the plant sai ts'ai ^^, 

 which, according to Li Si-cen, has the same significance as hu ts'ai, and 

 refers to IH #• Sai-wai, the Country beyond the Passes, Mongolia. 

 Some even believe that Yun-t'ai is a place-name in Mongolia, where 

 this plant thrives, and that it received therefrom its name. Such 

 localities abstracted from plant-names are usually afterthoughts and 

 fictitious. 3 The term yiin-Vai occurs in the early work Pie lu. 



Schlimmer 4 mentions Brassica capitata (Persian kalam pit), B. 

 caulozapa (kalam gomri), and B. napus or rapa (Mgem). I have already 

 pointed out that the Persians were active in disseminating species of 

 Brassica and Raphanus to Tibet, the Turks, and Mongolia. 5 Reference 

 has been made above (p. 199) to the fact that Brassica rapa (yiin-Vai) 

 was introduced into China from Turkish tribes of Mongolia under the 

 Later Han dynasty, and it would be reasonable to conclude that these 

 had previously received the cultivation from Iranians. 6 Brassica rapa 

 is very generally cultivated in Persia^ and most parts of India during 

 the dry season, from October until March. 7 Yiin-Vai is enumerated 

 among the choice vegetables of the country ^ fafc Mo-lu, *Mar-luk, in 

 Arabia. 8 



The country of the Arabs produced the rape-turnip (man-tsin 

 H H, Brassica rapa-depressa) with roots the size of a peck Pr t round, 

 and of very sweet flavor. 9 



Yi Tsih, the Buddhist pilgrim of the seventh century, makes some 

 commen>t on the difference between Indian and Chinese Brassica by saying, 



1 Achundow, Abu Mansur, p. 87. 



2 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 26, p. 9 b. 

 * Compare p. 401. 



4 Terminologie, p. 93. 



5 T'oung Pao, 191 5, pp. 84, 87. 



8 The case would then be analogous to the history of the water-melon. 



7 W. Roxburgh, Flora Indica, p. 497. 



8 T'ai p'in hwan yu ki, Ch. 186, p. 16 b. 

 » Ibid., Ch. 186, p. 15 b. 



