or 4th century) the renowned garden flower 
of the Chinese ^ Mo-li is first spoken 
■of. In the same work another garden flower 
% H or ffl # it ! s 
described (P. XIV^ 6fi. Ch. W. XXX.) It is 
said that both were introduced from the 
countries of the Hu-jeu (Western Asia) and 
from the Southern sea. These Chinese names 
refer the mo-li to Jti,sminuv) Sambac (a native 
of India and Western Asia), the Ye-si-min to 
Jasminum ojficihalc. Its native country is 
said to be India; the Persian or Arabian name 
of the plant is Ya-semin. The Chinese name 
■ino-li seems to be of Indian origin. In the 
ancient work of Bushing, Ostindien (II. p. 757) 
the Indian names of several kinds of Nyctanthes 
(Jasminum) are given and these names sound 
almost the same as modi. F. i. Nyctanthes auri- 
culata Mullei. — N. Sambac Kudamalligei. — 
N. undulata, Malligei. * 
These data which I have brought together 
from the Pen-ts‘ao and other Chinese works, 
are intended only to show, that the study of 
Chinese botanical works is not without interest, - 
as regards the decision of some botanical 
questions, especially of the native countries of 
cultivated plants. I have in the foregoing 
notices treated only of such plants, as are 
generally known and about which there can be 
no doubt as regards the identification of the 
Chinese names with the scientific ones. Now 
I will treat shortly of the difficulties, which 
the student of Chinese botanical works must 
overcome, in order to understand clearly the 
meaning of these writings. 
time the quoted authors wrote. It would be 
clear from the foregoing relations, that after 
having found the description of the plant in 
the Pen-ts'ao, the principal questions for 
solution are its native country and at what 
time it Was first mentioned by the Chinese 
authors. The exact answer to these questions 
requires often the most extensive knowledge 
of the whole of Chinese science. Li-shi-chen 
has compiled the Pen-ts‘ao from more than 
800 ancient and more recent works, not only 
botanical, but also historical, geographical, 
philosophical, poetical &c. In quoting these 
works he never gives the whole title, hut only 
one character of the author’s name or one or 
more character of the name of the book. For 
instance, the character (properly denoting 
song,) which is met very often in consulting 
the Pen-ts‘ao denotes the |§| 
written by in the 11th century. It 
is almost in vain, that you ask your native 
teacher about such works. In the first chapter 
of the Pen-ts‘ao, there is a list of most of the 
works quoted by Li-shi-chen, hut only of 20 
of them is the date of their issue given, with 
a short critique. The useful work of Mr. 
Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, 1867, 
although the best European work extant of 
Chinese Bibliography, is insufficient for our pur- 
poses. But few of the authors quoted in the 
Pen-ts‘ao can there be found. The great cata- 
logue of the Imperial library j/lj Jfp[ # 
§ (1790) may contain information about 
If you take a Chinese botanical work in 
order to be informed about any plant, the first 
difficulty, that arises, is, to find out, where 
this plant is described. This is very often 
impossible, for the Chinese botanical works 
note from fOOO to 6000 names of plants, the 
synonyms of each plant being for the most 
part numerous. I have already stated, that 
the Chinese have nothing similar to the 
alphabetical index of our comprehensive works 
I have therefore been obliged in my studies 
to compose such an alphabetical index of all 
names of plants and synonyms, according to 
the sounds of the Chinese characters, not only 
of the Pen-ts‘ao, hut also of the drawings in 
the Chi-wu-ming See. In this manner the 
description of the desired plant can be found 
in the shortest time. 
It can not be said, that the style in the 
Pen-ts‘ao presents difficulties. In describing 
the plants, the authors use for the most part 
always the same terms. The difficulties consist 
in the right interpretation of geographical 
names, which occur and in finding out at what 
* The Mo-li-hua (Jasminum Sambac) is a favoured 
flower of the Chinese. In Peking there are special 
gardeners, who cultivate exclusively the Mo-li-hua. 
Every day in summer, the flower -buds are gathered 
before sun rise (without branches or leaves) and sold 
for the purpose of perfuming tea and snuff, and to 
-adorn the head-dress of Chinese ladies.— The Ye-si- 
ming is not cultivated in Peking. 
all these works, hut it is not easy to seek it in a 
Chinese work of 200 volumes. Therefore it is 
easily understood, that European savants, who 
translate articles from the Pen-ts‘ao, as regards 
the quoted works, restrict themselves to the 
term: “a Chinese author says.” 
But, in addition it is necessary also to know 
at what time the quoted author wrote, for 
otherwise the native country of the plant can 
with difficulty be determined. At all times 
the Chinese endeavoured to complicate their 
science, so that they themselves do not find 
their way easily. They seem to place the 
value of their sciences in these complications. 
It is known, that from ancient times each of 
the Chinese Emperors bore, besides his dynastic 
name, a name for his reign, and this latter, was 
often changed. There are Emperors, who are 
registered in their Annals with from 10 to 15 
names, each composed at least of two characters. 
The Chinese authors, in citing dates, refer only 
to these reign-names of the Emperors, which 
correspond to our ciphers to designate the 
date. In the same manner the Chinese liked 
at all times to change the names of their 
provinces, cities, & c. Almost every dynasty, 
after having succeeded to the throne, changed 
the names of most of the cities and also of the 
provinces of China. In this manner every city 
bore different names at different times. But 
as the number of the characters, used to 
