156     GROWTH  AND  PREPARATION  OF  RHUBARB  IN  CHINA. 
being  taken  off,  it  is  cut  in  horizontal  slices,  and  dried  by  means 
of  artificial  heat.  The  Si-chwan  rhubarb  is  cut  perpendicularly, 
which  makes  the  slices  resemble  the  tongue  of  an  ox,  and,  hence 
it  is  called  the  ox-tongue  rhubarb.*  The  uses  and  value  of  these 
two  kinds  of  rhubarb  is  the  same.  Hwai-ngan-fu,  in  the  province 
of  Kiang-su,  produces  what  is  called  Tu-ta-kwang,  local  rhubarb. f 
The  flower  opens  in  the  second  month. 
tSung-Jci,  who  prepared  some  diagrams  illustrative  of  the  pro- 
ductions of  Yih-chau,  in  Si-chwan,  says  that  the  rhubarb  plant 
grows  everywhere  among  the  high  mountains  of  Si-chwan.  Its 
stalk  is  red ;  the  leaf  is  large  ;  and  the  root  is  so  large  that  it  is 
used  for  a  pillow  in  the  medicine  markets.  He  also  states  that 
the  Lung-si  rhubarb,  in  Shen-si,  was  considered  best  in  his 
time.  He  lived  in  the  Sung  dynasty,  between  1000  A.  D.  and 
1270  a.  d. 
It  seems  that  the  Yang-ti  plant  has  been  mistaken  by  some  for 
the  rhubarb  on  account  of  its  resemblance  to  it.  Li-shi-chen 
affirms  that  it  is  quite  a  distinct  species. 
The  foregoing  account,  as  Mr.  John  observes  in  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Lockhart,  is  far  from  satisfactory.  The  information  is 
meagre  and  somewhat  contradictory  ;  nevertheless,  it  appears  to 
me  to  add  something  to  our  former  knowledge,  and  to  throw  a 
little  light  on  the  species,  as  it  certainly  does  on  the  localities  of 
the  rhubarb  plant.  It  is  probably  by  collecting  and  comparing 
such  information  that  we  shall  ultimately  get  at  the  truth. 
Avoiding  repetitions,  the  above-mentioned  statements  may  be 
arranged  as  follows  : — 
Localities. — The  rhubarb  plant  grows  in  the  provinces  of 
Shan-si  and  Shen-si,  which  are  situated  respectively  east  and 
west  of  the  Yellow  river,  in  the  upper  part  of  its  course,  before 
it  turns  eastward  towards  the  Yellow  sea.  Lung-si,  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Shen-si,  is  one  of  its  best  localities.  It  also  grows  in 
Chil-li  and  other  places  further  north,  in  Kan-suh,  which  borders 
*  I  believe  what  is  intended  is  a  thin  diagonal  slice,  common  in  the 
shops,  and  which  I  used  to  buy.  It  might,  by  a  lively  imagination,  be 
likened  to  an  ox  tongue.    The  others  are  transverse  slices. — L. 
f  The  best  rhubarb  is  Sz-chuen.  The  others,  and  especially  that  of 
Kiang-su,  are  called  local,  which  implies  inferiority. — L. 
