HISTORICAL NOTK. 7 



into Kiiro]>c:tn languages. This shows that the Arabs did not cease 

 during iliis interval to visit China. Information in regard to the medical qualities 

 of the Poppy would be originally furnished to the Chinese by the Arabs; it is 

 on this account that in the /'-'n-ts'ao of the K'AI PAO period (A.D. 968 to 976) the 

 Poppy is introduced as a healing plant. 



5. 

 In the year 973 tin- F.mperor SUNCJ T'AI-TSU gave an order that Liu HAN The Po ppy enters 



the Chinese Phar- 



(ffl <&> and a Ta<>i-i. M \ ('inn t .Hj *), with others, nine in all. should prepare the " 

 medical work known as fPfti-pao-ptn-ts'aO (M H x 3$L\ In this the Poppy is called 

 .'/''</ 9 ? 3R), and it is stated that " Its seeds have healing powers. When 



have h King the stone* that confers immortality, feel it powerfully 



operating, and cannot eat with appetite, they may be benefited by mixing these seeds 

 with bamboo juice l>oiled into gruel and taking this." 



The name >/ing-su here used, and previously by the earliest T'AXG dynasty 

 authors on this point, means "jar millet," from the resemblance of the Poppy head 

 to the kind of jar which the Chinese call ying. 



Ani'Hi^ tl ie poets of this period were two brothers named Su ; one was the Poemof SuTusc- 

 i-ated St TfMi-r'o (H $ &). In a poem of his occurs the following passage : 

 " The Taoist advises you strongly to partake of the drink called chi-su-shui (19 H ?JC). 

 The li>y may prepare for you the broth of the ying-su." 



The brother, named Su CH (fi (ft), wrote a poem which he called A Poem on Poem of Su 

 tl,i' < 'njtiniti',,, of the Medical Plant " Ying-su," or Poppy : 



" I built a house on the west of the city. The ground in the centre was laid 

 out in rectangular divisions. Where the windows and doors left a space, firs and 

 bamWis helped to fill up the vacancy. The thorny bushes were pulled up, and a 

 pmlen made to grow good vegetables and other plants. The gardener came to me 

 to say, 'The ying-su (Poppy) is a good plant to have.' It is called ying localise, 

 though small, it is shaped like a ying (jar); it is called su because the seeds are 



-tdtemont shows that at that time there prevailed an extensive use of mercury, taken under the idea 

 that it would prolong life, and that the effects were found to be very injurious. 



