The Pomegranate 279 



Tu i U 35 ^ &, written by Li Yu ^ % (or Li Yuan X.) of the Tang 

 dynasty. Another formal testimony certifying to the acceptance of 

 this creed at that period comes from Fun Yen t^t $1 of the Tang in 

 his Fun H wen kien ki ItSfflli 12 , l who states that Can K'ien 

 obtained in the Western Countries the seeds of H-liu ?J f@ and alfalfa 

 (mu-su), and that at present these are to be found everywhere in 

 China. Under the Sung this tradition is repeated by Kao C'eh M *fc. 2 

 C'en Hao-tse, in his Hwa kin, 3 published in 1688, states it as a cold- 

 blooded fact that the seeds of the pomegranate came from the country 

 Nan-si or An-si (Parthia), and that Can K'ien brought them back. 

 There is nothing to this effect in Can K'ien's biography, nor is the 

 pomegranate mentioned in the Annals of the Han. 4 The exact time of 

 its introduction cannot be ascertained, but the tree is on record no earlier 

 than the third and fourth centuries a.d. 6 



Li Si-cen ascribes the term nan-H-liu to the Pie lu 3'J &, but he 

 cites no text from this ancient work, so that the case is not clear. 6 

 The earliest author whom he quotes regarding the subject is T'ao 

 Huri-kift (a.d. 452-536), who says, "The pomegranate, particularly as 

 regards its blossoms, is charming, hence the people plant the tree in 

 large numbers. It is also esteemed, because it comes from abroad. 

 There are two varieties, the sweet and the sour one, only the root of 

 the latter being used by physicians." According to the TsH min yao $u, 

 Ko Huh M $i of the fourth century, in his Pao p'u tse #3 ft -?*, speaks 

 of the occurrence of bitter liu ^f $3 on stony mountains. These, indeed, 



1 Ch. 7, p. 1 b (ed. of Ki fu ts'un Su). 



1 jft wu ki yuan ^ $J $6 W> (ed- of Si yin hiian ts'un Su), Ch. 10, p. 34 b. 



* Ch. 3, p. 37, edition of 1783; see above, p. 259. 



* The Can-K'ien legend is repeated without criticism by Bretschneider 

 (Bot. Sin., pt. 1, p. 25; pt. 3, No. 280), so that A. de Candolle (Origin of Cultivated 

 Plants, p. 238) was led to the erroneous statement that the pomegranate was intro- 

 duced into China from Samarkand by Can K'ien, a century and a half before the 

 Christian era. The same is asserted by F. P. Smith (Contributions towards the 

 Materia Medica of China, p. 176), G. A. Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 361), 

 and Hirth (Toung Pao, Vol. VI, 1895, p. 439). 



8 It is mentioned in the Kin kwei yao lio (Ch. c, p. 27) of the second century a.d., 

 "Pomegranates must not be eaten in large quantity, for they injure man's lungs." 

 As stated (p. 205), this may be an interpolation in the original text. 



* The Pie lu is not quoted to this effect in the Ceh lei pen ts'ao (Ch. 22, p. 39), 

 but the Ci wu min Si t'u k'ao (Ch. 15, p. 102; and 32, p. 36 b) gives two different 

 extracts from this work relating to our fruit. In one, its real or alleged medical prop- 

 erties are expounded; in the other, different varieties are enumerated, while not a 

 word is said about foreign origin. I am convinced that in this form these two texts 

 were not contained in the Pie lu. The question is of no consequence, as the work 

 itself is lost, and cannot be dated exactly. All that can be said with certainty is that 

 it existed prior to the time of T'ao Hun-kin. 



