The Water-Melon 439 



tun kwa %- Jtt. (Benincasa cerifera) 1 and of sweet taste." 2 The water- 

 melon is here pointed out as a novelty discovered by a Chinese among 

 the Kitan, who then occupied northern China, and who professed to 

 have received it from the Turkish tribe of the Uigur. It is not stated 

 in this text that Hu Kiao took seeds of the fruit along or introduced it 

 into China proper. This should be emphasized, in view of the con- 

 clusion of the Pen ts'ao kan mu (see below), and upheld by Bretschneider 

 and A. de Candolle, that the water-melon was in China from the tenth 

 century. At that time it was only in the portion of China held by the 

 Kitan, but still unknown in the China of the Chinese. 3 



1 "Cultivated in China, Japan, India and Africa, and often met with in a wild 

 state: but it is uncertain whether it is indigenous" (Forbes and Hemsley, Journal 

 Linnean Society, Vol. XXIII, p. 315). 



2 Hu Kiao was a good observer of the flora of the northern regions, and his 

 notes have a certain interest for botanical geography. Following his above refer- 

 ence to the water-melon, he continues, "Going still farther east, we arrived at Niao- 

 t'an, where for the first time willows [Jurci suxei] are encountered, also water-grass, 

 luxuriant and fine; the finest of this kind is the grass si-ki Jj, f?| with large blades. 

 Ten of these are sufficient to satisfy the appetite of a horse. From Niao-t'an we 

 advanced into high mountains which it took us ten days' journey to cross. Then we 

 passed a large forest, two or three /*' long, composed entirely of elms, wu-i $jfe ^ 

 ( Ulmus macrocarpa) , the branches and leaves of which are set with thorns like arrow- 

 feathers. The soil is devoid of grass." Si-ki apparently represents the transcription 

 of a Kitan word. Three species of elm occur in the Amur region, — Ulmus montana, 

 U. campestris, and U. suberosa (Grum-Grzimailo, Opisanie Amurskoi Oblasti, 

 p. 316). In regard to the locality T'an-6'eh-tien, Hu Kiao reports, "The climat 

 there is very mild, so that the Kitan, when they suffer from great cold, go there to 

 warm up. The wells are pure and cool; the grass is soft like down, and makes a 

 good sleeping-couch. There are many peculiar flowers to be found, of which two 

 species may be mentioned, — one styled han-kin ^ ^, the size of the palm of a 

 hand, of gold color so brilliant that it dazzles man; the other, termed ts'in Zan 

 "fff j|£ like the kin t'en & $£ (Orithia edulis) of China, resembling in color an 

 Indigofera (Ian ^§f) and very pleasing." The term han-kin appears to be the tran- 

 scription of a Kitan word; so is perhaps also ts'in £an, although, according to Stuart 

 (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 404), the leaves of Sesamum are so called; this plant, 

 however, cannot come here into question. 



* The Pien tse lei pien cites the Wu tai Si to th$ effect that Siao Han |§f tjfo, 

 after the subjugation of the Uigur, obtained the seeds of water-melons and brought 

 them back, and that the fruit as a product of the Western Countries (Si yu, that is, 

 Central Asia) was called "western melon" (si kwa). I regret not having been able to 

 trace this text in the Wu tai Si. The biography of Siao Han inserted in the Kiu 

 Wu tai Si (Ch. 98, pp. 6 b-7 a) contains nothing of the kind. The statement itself 

 is suspicious for two reasons. Siao Han, married to A-pu-li, sister of the Emperor 

 Wu-yu, in a.d. 948 was involved in a high-treason plot, and condemned to death in 

 the ensuing year (cf. H. C. v. D. Gabelentz, Geschichte der grossen Liao, p. 65; 

 and Chavannes, op. cit., p. 392). Hu Kiao was secretary to Siao Han, and in this 

 capacity accompanied him to the Kitan. After his master's death, Hu Kiao was 

 without support, and remained among the Kitan for seven years (up to the year 953). 

 It was in the course of these peregrinations that, as related above, he was first 

 introduced to water-melons. Now, if Siao Han had really introduced this fruit into 



