The Pistachio 251 



G. A. Stuart 1 has identified a-yiie hun-tse 1 with Pistacia vera, and 

 this is confirmed by Matsumura. 



The Japanese name fusudasiu or fusudasu is doubtless connected 

 with Persian pista, from Old Iranian *pistaka, Middle Persian *pistak, 8 

 from which is derived Greek /SicrdKiov, ^ittclkiov, TnaraKiov or ^iotcucioj', 

 Latin psittacium, and our pistacia or pistachio. It is not known to me, 

 however, to what date the Japanese word goes back, or through what 

 channels it was received. In all likelihood it is of modern origin, the 

 introduction into Japan being due to Europeans. 



In Chinese literature, the Persian word appears in the Geography 

 of the Ming Dynasty, 4 in the transcription [ki-] pi-se-tan [f5] $$> J8 fit, 

 stated to be a product of Samarkand, the leaves of the tree resembling 

 those of the San l x a tfj & {Camellia oleifera), and its fruit that of the 

 yin hin IB ^ {Salisburia adiantijolia) . 



The Persian word, further, occurs in the new edition of the Kwan yii 

 ki, entitled Tseh tin kwan yii ki *£ IT J^ H IE. The original, the Kwan 

 yii ki, was written by Lu Yin-yan |££ M ^, 5 and published during the 

 Wan-li period in 1600. The revised and enlarged edition was prepared 

 by Ts'ai Fan-pin W: fS Jfi (hao Kiu-hia % it) in 1686; a reprint of 

 this text was issued in 1744 by the publishing-house Se-mei fan 0H^. 

 Both this edition and the original are before me. The latter 6 mentions 

 only three products under the heading "Samarkand"; namely, coral, 

 amber, and ornamented cloth {hwa hii pujk$& ^). The new edition, 

 however, has fifteen additional items, the first of these being [ki-] 

 pi-se-t'an, written as above, 7 stated to be a tree growing in the region 

 of Samarkand. "The leaves of the tree," it is said, "resemble those 

 of the San Pa {Cornelia oleifera) ; the fruits have the appearance of the 

 nut-like seeds of the yin hin {Salisburia adiantijolia), but are smaller." 

 The word pi-se-Van doubtless represents the transcription of Persian 



ferent plant, — Torreya nucifera. A revival on the part of the Chinese, of the good, 

 old terms of their own language, would be very desirable, not only in this case, but 

 likewise in many others. 



1 Chinese Materia Medica, p. 334. 



s Wrongly transcribed by him o-yiieh-chiin-tzu. 



3 These reconstructions logically result from the phonetic history of Iranian, 

 and are necessitated by the existence of the Greek loan-word. Cf., further, Byzantine 

 pustux and fustox, Comanian pistac, and the forms given below (p. 252). Persian 

 pista is identified with Pistacia vera by Schlimmer (Terminologie, p. 465). 



4 Ta Min i t'un U, Ch. 89, p. 23. 



5 Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 59. 



• Ch. 24, p. 6 b. 



7 The addition of ki surely rests on an error (Schott also reads pi-se-t'an, which 

 he presumably found in his text; see the following note). 



