PLANTS MENTIONED IN CLASSICAL WORKS. 223 
Lu xt:—The p‘in belongs to the plants on the surface of 
the water which we call fou p‘ing, floating p‘ing. The 
smaller kind is called 3§ p‘ing. In the middle of spring it 
begins to grow. It is eaten cooked with soup. It is also 
_ steeped in bitter wine. 
— B. XTX, 21, $§ pin, also PY HE 3 Sz‘ ye ts‘ai, four-leaved 
vegetable, AE 3 fou ts‘ai and fy 4 B plant (with leaves 
disposed) like the character fj. Ch., XVILL, 6, depicts, 
under p‘in, a water-plant with leaves disposed in a cross, 
evidently a Mursilea, probably MW. quadrifolia, L. 
The Phon zo [XXXIV, 3] represents under $§, also 7K 
(water-turtle), Hydrocharis morsus rane, L., a small floating 
aquatic plant with stalked, kidney-shaped leaves and flowers 
with three delicate petals. The same Japanese work figures 
{l. c.| under the Chinese name a MA #, Marsilea quadrifolia. 
It seems that the Chinese also confound these two plants 
under the same names, for some of the ancient authors quoted 
in P. say that the p'in has white flowers. This does 
not agree with Mursilea, which is an aquatic pseudofern, 
and has no flowers. Besides this, Ch. XVII, 36, figures 
under FB ix HE ma niao hua or 36 HE fou ts‘ai [v. supra, 
P., synonym of prin) Hydrocharis morsus rane. 
As to the }3§ or ZE p‘ing, which the RA ya calls the smaller 
kind, this is mentioned in the Ritual Classics. Leece 
translates correctly duck-weed. 
In the Chou U [II, 380] we have the # K& pring shi. 
Priéposé aux plantes flottantes. Commentator B. (CHENG 
Hiiay) :—Il reeueille les plantes o flottent, telles que les 
lentilles d’ eau. 
Li ki, ¥, 262 [ Yue ling’ :—Last aah of spring, duck- 
_ weed (p‘ing) begins to grow. 
7 2, X1X,.18, & YE shut p‘ing or RP FE fou pring (floating 
Ping), same as the ping of the Classics. The plant repre- 
