BOTANICON SINICUM. 37 
all probability he utilized previous commentaries for his explana- 
tions. Chinese writers on botany place absolute confidence in the 
identifications given by Kuo P‘o. But a closer investigation of 
the subject has convinced me that in this respect he proceeded as 
arbitrarily as the swarms of other Chinese commentators of the 
classics, and that his statements must be accepted with caution. 
I have the same mistrust with regard to Chinese identifications of 
the archaic names of plants as found in the Shi king and other 
classical writings. 
Another commentary of the Rh ya was published with the 
title of Rf HE TE 9E Rh ya chengi by FR 38 Sun Yen, styled 
also FR $l ZR Sun Shu yen, a contemporary of Kuo P‘o, Comp. 
Biograph. Dict. Shang yu lu. 
Subsequently to the time of Kuo P‘o the Rh ya was commented 
upon by Ff} py Hing Ping A. D. 932-1010, and by BR #E Cheng 
Tsao, A. D. 1108-1162. Compare Sz’ k‘u ts‘iian shu ming mu 
lu TV, 16. Mayers’ Chin. Read. Man. p. 52. 
In the 11th century a work on the plan of the Rh ya, an ap- 
pendix to it, with the title f{& Jff P% ya, in 20 books, was com- 
posed by fx fj Lu Zien, A. D. 1042-1102. Comp. Sz’ k‘u ete. 
IV, 17. Mayers 1. c. p. 140. 
A similar appendix appeared a century later with the name of 
Wd HE 3 Lh ya i, in 82 books. The author of it was # Bi 
Lo Yiian, styled also ## J Tuan liang and Ff He Ts‘un ts4. 
He lived in the 12th century. Sung shi 380.—Sz’ k‘u ete. IV, 17. 
I may finally mention here the yj fg $ Shan hai king, Classic 
of the Mountains and Seas. It is an ancient geographical des- 
cription of China of a somewhat fabulous and mythical character. 
The authorship is generally ascribed to the Emperor Yi, B.C.2200. 
According to Mr. Wylie (Notes on Chin. lit. p. 35) it is at least 
as old as the Chou dynasty and probably of a date even anterior 
to that period. We meet in it with a profusion of names of 
mountains and rivers unknown now-a-days, and the position of 
which is indicated only in a general way. Many plants and : 
animals are likewise mentioned in it, but in many cases we can 
make nothing of these names. - 
The Shan hai king in 13 books is noticed i in the Uttogrphiat ae 
