91 



As to the places where they are found, the Ming i pieh luh ' 

 says : « They come from (lift, are produced in) the valleys of Tsin 

 land (Shansi province) and from spots where dead dragons are 

 lying in caverns on the steep water banks in T'ai Shan. They are 

 gathered at indefinite times" \ "Nowadays", says the same author, 

 "many bones are exported from the centre of Liang, Tih and 

 Pa (Sz'-chVen province)". ^ 



Lei Hiao* remarks: "Those from .Yen cheu, Ts'^ang cheu and 

 T'ai yuen are the best. Among these bones. those which are thin 

 and have broad veins are of female dragons, those which are 

 coarse and have narrow veins belong to male ones. Those which 

 have five colours are the best, the white and the yellow ones 

 belong to the middle kind, and the black ones are of the most 

 inferior quality. As a rule those with veins lengthwise running 

 are not pure, and those which have been gathered by women 

 are useless." 



In Wu P'u's ^ opinion the blue and white ones are good, and 

 Su Kung" says: *At the present day all (the bones) come from 

 Tsin land. Th e fresh and hard ones are not good; those bearing 

 five col ours ^are^ good. _The b lue, vellowr~rea7 wliiLe an d:151ae£ 

 -^ ^es-atsD" according to tEmr~ coloim~correspo ud wiL iT'tEe'vi^cera, 

 as the five chih (felicitous plantsJ7~the five cty&tals'Xshih ying) 

 and the five kinds of mineral bole {shih chi)". The meaning of 

 the lasts entence is the following. The five colour's (blue, whitgL. 

 red, black and yellow) correspond to the~tive viscera" (liver, lungs, 



* ^ ^ ^Ij ^ ' written by T'ao Hung-kikg, ^ ^1^ ^ ('iSl - 536). Cf. De 

 Gboot, Rel. Syst., Vol. I, p. 274; Bretschneider, 1.)., p. 42; Giles, Bibliogr. Diet., 

 p. 718,^ s. V. : "one of the most celebrated adepts in the mysteries of Taoism". Quoted 

 in the Pen-ts'ao kang-muh, 1.1., p. 16. 



3 Pen-U'ao kang-muh, ibidem: -^^^UJ^^CfII*^, 



4 H" ffij^, the author of the Pae chi lun, J;-^ ^ f^^ who lived A. D. 420—477. 

 Cf Bretschneider, 1.1., p. 41, nr 6': "A treatise in 3 books, explaining the medical 

 virtues of 300 drugs and giving directions for the preparation of medicines". Quoted 

 in the Pen-ts'ao kang-muh, 1.1. 



5 ,©. ^- , the author of the Wu shi Pen-ts'^ao, J©. Rf 2b ^M. 1 written in the 

 first half of the third century. Quoted ibidem. Cf Bretschneider, 1. 1., p. 40, nr 5. 



6 ^H| ^ , who with 23 other scholars in the middle of the seventh century A. D. 

 revised and completed the T'^ang Pen-ts'^ao, ^ 2JS ^., thence called the T'^ang Sin 

 Pen-ts^ao, j^ ^Jx '^'M.' "New Pen-ts'ao of the T'ang". Cf Bretschneider, 1.1., p. 

 44, nr 11. Quoted in the Pen-ts'ao kang-muh, ibidem. 



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