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Chinese Literature
Lingnan lizhi pu 嶺南荔支譜 "Notes on Lychee from Southern China"


Lingnan lizhi pu 嶺南荔支譜 is is a book on lychee cultivation written by the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Wu Yingkui 吳應逵, courtesy name Wu Honglai 吳鴻來, style Yanshan 鴈山. He came from Heshan 鶴山, Guangdong, and obtained his jinshi degree in 1795. The 6 juan "scrolls" long book is divided into five chapters including an introduction (Zonglun 總論), basics of planting and raising (Zhongzhi 種植), treatment through the seasons (jiehou 節候), a classification (Pinlei 品類), and miscellaneous matters (Zashi 雜事). The book mostly quotes from older sources on lychee cultivation in Guangdong, and Wu Yingkui added his comments to these sources. The cultivation of this fruit originated in the southernmost part of China and during the Song period 宋 (960-1279) spread to the east, where the province of Fujian became the most famous place of lychee production. The oldest sources on lychee cultivation in Guangdong were an anonymous book from the Song period called Zengcheng lizhi pu 增城荔支譜, and Zheng Xiong's 鄭熊 book Guangzhong lizhi pu 廣中荔支譜 that is quoted in the agricultural encyclopaedia Guang qunfang pu 廣群芳譜. Both books are lost, so that Wu Yingkui's text is the only suriviving document on this topic. Cai Xiang's 蔡襄 book Lizhipu 荔枝譜 focuses on lychee cultivation in Fujian during the Song period. It is included in the reprint series Lingnan congshu 嶺南叢書 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成.

Source: Wang Yuhu 王毓瑚 (1964). Zhongguo nongxue shulu 中國農學書錄, Beijing: Nongye chubanshe, p. 243.

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January 11, 2014 © Ulrich Theobald · Mail