THE BOOK OF THE PEONY 



remembrance after separation. These customs 

 are referred to in a Chinese song : 



" If anyone will give his friend a present 

 He hands a gift ' most beautiful ' of all." 



In 536, A.D., the herbaceous peony was fairly 

 well distributed over the country and was used 

 for medicinal purposes and in a number of places 

 even for food for human beings. The apprecia- 

 tion of its dietary value was another instance of 

 the advanced character of the civilisation of China, 

 for the peony as a source of nourishment was 

 surely but the prototype of some of our modem 

 breakfast foods. Hung King writing at this time, 

 distinguished two sorts, the red and the white, 

 which is the first mention we find anywhere of a 

 white peony. 



In 968, Mas Ze, an author on natural his- 

 tory and natural philosophy, discoursed learnedly 

 at considerable length on the herbaceous peony. 

 In the early part of the Eleventh Century, ac- 

 cording to another Chinese historian of the period, 

 the herbaceous peony was grown in all parts of 

 China but the most valuable roots came from 

 the district of Huni Gan Foo — wherever that was. 



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