MATERIA MEDICA OF THE ANCIENT CHINESE. 855 
The p‘in or larger shui p‘ing has a special article in the 
7 AIX, 21, 
Li ki [Lrace], I, p. 432 (10) :—Marriage ceremony : 
the young lady offers a sacrifice to the ancestors, using fish 
for the victim, and soups made of duckweed and pondweed, 
ZY i HB. 
Wu P'u [8rd cent.]:—The #4 p‘in or shui pting, also 
called 7k }ffé shui lien, floats wpon the surface of the water. 
The leaves are round and small. Each stalk bears one leaf. 
The roots are at the bottom of the water, in the mud. 
The plant produces a white flower in the 5th month. It is 
gathered in the 3rd month and dried in the sun. 
Cu‘en Ts‘ana-K'‘t [8th cent.]:—The leaves of the p‘in 
are round, and about one inch in diameter. Beneath the leaves 
there is a speck-like foam. It is also called 3 ZR fou ts‘ai. 
It is dried in the sun and used as a medicine. The smaller 
sort, the stao p‘ing, grows in ditches and canals [LZemna, 
v. supra]. 
Cuane Yi-ar [11th cent.] quotes the Rh ya [114], and 
says that the p‘in is little used in medicine, the small sort 
(Lemna) being preferred for medical use. 
Lr Sui-cnen:—The p'‘in is the PY BE 2B sz ye ts‘ai 
(four-leaved vegetable) which floats on the surface of the 
water. The root is at the bottom of the water. The stalks 
(petioles) are more slender than those of the shun [ see 
the newt] and the hang [Limnanthemum, v. supra]. The leaf 
is as large as a finger-nail, green on the upper side, purple 
underneath and finely veined, somewhat resembling the leaflets 
of the ma t% hue ming [Cassia. See 110]. Properly its 
leaf consists of four leaves (leaflets) united to form a cross. 
It is therefore also called HH *# EX ten tsz‘ ts‘ao [plant the 
leaves of which resemble the character fq]. In summer 
