SAFFRON AND TURMERIC 323 



favored by the Swo wen. 1 Both explanations are reasonable, but only 

 one of the two can be correct. 2 My own opinion is this: yii is an ancient 

 Chinese name for an indigenous Chinese aromatic plant; whether 

 Curcuma or another genus, can no longer be decided with certainty. 3 

 The term yu-kin means literally "gold of the yu plant," "gold" re- 

 ferring to the yellow rhizome, 4 yu to the total plant-character; the con- 

 crete significance, accordingly, is "yw-rhizome" or "yu-root." I do not 

 believe, however, that yu-kin is derived from the district or clan of Yu; 

 for this is impossible to assume, since yu as the name of a plant existed 

 prior to the name of that district. This is clearly evidenced by the 

 text of the Swi kin Zu: for it was only in in B.C. that the name Yii-lin 

 ("Grove of the Yu Plant") came into existence, being then substituted 

 for the earlier Kwei-lin ("Grove of Cinnamomum cassia"). It is the 

 plant, consequently, which lent its name to the district, not the dis- 

 trict which named the plant. As in so many cases, the Chinese con- 

 found cause and effect. The reason why the name of this district was 

 altered into Yii-lin is now also obvious. It must have been renowned 

 under the Hail for the wealth of its yu-kin plants, which was less con- 

 spicuous under the Ts'in, when the cassia predominated there. At 

 any rate, yu-kin is a perfectly authentic and legitimate constituent 

 of the Chinese language, and not a foreign word. It denotes an indig- 

 enous Curcuma; while under the T'ang, as we have seen, additional 

 species of this genus may have been introduced from abroad. The word 

 yu-kin then underwent a psychological treatment similar to yen-U: 

 as yen-ci, "safflower," was transformed to any cosmetic or rouge, so yu-kin 

 ' 'turmeric," was grafted on any dyes producing similar tinges of yellow. 

 Thus it was applied to the saffron of Kashmir and Persia. 



1 The early edition of this work did not contain the form yu-kin, but merely the 

 plain, ancient yu. Solely the Fan yi min yi tsi (Ch. 8, p. 10 b) attributes ( I believe, 

 erroneously) the term yu-kin to the Swo wen. 



2 Li i-<5en says that the district Yu-lin of the Han period comprises the territory 

 of the present cou >ft\ of Sim Vf|, Liu $P, Yun f , and Pin jj| of Kwan-si and Kwei- 

 6ou, and that, according to the Ta Min i Vun ci, only the district of Lo-c'en it ^ 

 in Liu-cou fu (Kwan-si) produces yu-kin hian, which is that here spoken of (that is, 

 Crocus), while in fact Curcuma must be understood. 



3 There is also the opinion that the ancient yu must be a plant similar to Ian 

 H5, an orchidaceous plant (see the P*i ya of Lu Tien and the T*un ci of Cen Tsiao). 



4 PALLEGOIX (Description du royaume Thai ou Siam, Vol. I, p. 126) says, "Le 

 curcurfia est une racine bulbeuse et charnue, d'un beau jaune d'or." 



