46 BOTANICON SINICUM, 
shu (Panicum miliaceum), and #% shu (Soja bean). The same are 
also mentioned in the Classics. 
It is known that at the time of the vernal equinox the ceremony 
of ploughing the soil and sowing the five kinds of corn is per- 
formed by the Emperor, assisted by the Imperial Princes and the 
Presidents of the Boards. According to the in @ th B fl 
Ta Ts‘ing hui tien shi li, the great work on the institutes of the 
government, book 250. 1, where this ceremonial is described, 
the same cereals are mentioned in connection with it. The Em- 
peror sows the rice, the Princes and the Presidents of the Boards 
sow the remaining cereals. 
Shen nung’s son #£ Chu held the office of #8 JF, Minister of 
Husbandry. More than 400 years later $€ A‘i, a son of the Em- 
peror Az, filled a similar office. The Emperor Yao, B. C.2356, made 
him §% ip, Director of Husbandry. He is more generally known 
under the name of J #§ Hou tsi, Sovereign Millet. The house 
of the Princes of Chou traced their lineage to him. After his 
decease he became worshipped like Chu as patron of Agriculture 
(Mayers’ Chin. Read. Man. p. 223). 
An interesting sketch of the state of ancient Chinese agriculture 
during the Chou dynasty has been drawn up by E. Biot from the 
scattered references to the subject found in the Book of Odes. 
An English translation of this article is found in Dr. Legge’s 
Sha king, proleg. p. 149. 
As in China agriculture has always been held in the highest 
estimation, Chinese literature relating to husbandry is represented 
by a great number of general treatises and monographs on the 
subject, composed at various times, 
THE #§ #fi @ CHUNG CHI sHU. 
This seems to be one of the earliest treatises of this class. The 
author of it was jp ff 2 Fan Sheng chi. In the biographical 
Section of the T’s‘ien Han shu, book 30 (husbandry), will be found 
a short notice regarding the author. Liu Hiang, the librarian of 
the Imperial library (first century B. C.) reports that Fan Sheng 
chi held successively several offices during the reign of Ch‘eng Ti, 
B. C. 32—6, and that the Emperor appointed him to teach hus- 
