Records of orchids in pre-Qin literature

What is published here is the pre-Qin literature that the author collected while researching what plant the ancient "lan" was, recorded here for the reference of researchers. This collection was also arduous; sometimes a whole book could not be finished in a month. However, without first-hand materials, to assert what the ancient "lan" was based merely on those few documents that are now copied back and forth would be an irresponsible attitude. When speaking, one must rely on evidence; when judging a case, one must also rely on evidence, not on whoever has the loudest voice, citing Zhu Xi on the left and Li Shizhen on the right, yet never actually looking at what pre-Qin people said; then one cannot avoid having one's view blocked by a single leaf.

1. "Guanzi, Qingzhong Jia" 1 occurrence, see:

"Guanzi replied: 'In the past, Yao's five officials, the five offices had nothing to eat. May the ruler establish the sacrifice of the five li, sacrifice to Yao's five officials. In spring offer lan, in autumn collect luo yuan. Fish are made into dried meat, salamanders are made into minced meat; if this is done, then the tax on marsh fish will be ten times that of other days, and there will be no registration of house millet and state cloth. This is what is meant by establishing it to pray for good fortune, extending it through ritual and righteousness. In this way they will be self-sufficient; why seek from the people?'"

2. "Zhouyi" 1 occurrence, see:

"Xici": "Words of one heart are as fragrant as lan."

3. "Liji, Neize" 1 occurrence, see:

"In general, when a wife has not been ordered to go to her private chamber, she does not dare retire. When a wife has affairs, whether great or small, she must always ask her parents-in-law. A son's wife has no private goods, no private livestock, no private vessels; she does not dare lend privately, and does not dare give privately. If a wife is granted food and drink, clothes, cloth and silk, pendant handkerchiefs, chai and lan, then she receives them and presents them to her parents-in-law. If her parents-in-law receive them, she is pleased, as if newly receiving a grant. If they give them back to her, she declines; if she cannot obtain their command, it is as if receiving a grant again; she stores them to await scarcity."

4. "Liezi" 3 occurrences:

① "Tangwen": "Bathing in the divine fen, fragrant as pepper and lan, the fragrance does not cease until ten days have passed." (The divine fen is a legendary name of water; its water is more fragrant than lan and pepper, and its flavor surpasses that of sweet wine.)

② "Yang Zhu": "Guan Yiwu said: Let the ear indulge what it desires to hear, let the eye indulge what it desires to see, let the nose indulge what it desires to inhale, let the mouth indulge what it desires to say, let the body indulge what it desires to rest in, let the mind indulge what it desires to write. Now what the ear desires to hear is sound, and if it cannot hear it, this is called blocking the ear; what the nose desires to face is dried pepper and lan, and if it cannot smell it, this is called blocking the nostrils. What the mouth desires to speak of is right and wrong, and if it cannot speak it, this is called blocking wisdom; ..."

③ "Yang Zhu": "When the muscles are coarse and thick, and the sinews and joints are tense and tight, if one day he is placed amid soft fur and fine curtains, and served with fine grain, meat, lan, and oranges, his heart will be troubled and his body vexed, and internal heat will generate illness."

5. "Kongzi Jiayu" 4 occurrences:

① "Zai E": "As for meeting or not meeting with opportunity, that is a matter of time; as for being worthy or unworthy, that is a matter of ability. There are many gentlemen who are broadly learned and deeply planning yet do not meet with opportunity; why only Qiu? The zhi-lan grows in the deep forest, and does not cease to be fragrant because no one is there; the gentleman cultivates the Way and establishes virtue, and does not change his integrity because of hardship and poverty." ("Guodian Chu Slips, Qiongda Yishi" has a damaged slip with the record: "Action is not for the sake of success, therefore though poor, one does not ... for fame, therefore though no one knows one, one does not regret. ... smell it but it is not fragrant." Based on the meaning of the text and the number and position of the missing characters, Professor Li Ling of Peking University believes this passage is similar to lines in "Xunzi, Youzuo" and "Hanshi Waizhuan" volume 7. The 10 missing characters after "does not regret" are suspected to read "The zhi-lan grows in the hidden valley, not because no one..." Professor Li Ling's research has already been recognized by the academic world as correct. The excavated text "Qiongda Yishi" can corroborate that the wording in "Kongzi Jiayu" about "The zhi-lan grows in the deep forest, and does not cease to be fragrant because no one is there" has a pre-Qin Confucian saying as its basis. In addition, the 10 characters supplied by Professor Liang Tao in "Guodian Bamboo Slips and the Si-Meng School" are "Zhi-lan grows in the forest, not for people's regard," which read together as "Zhi-lan grows in the forest, and does not cease to be fragrant because no one smells it." This is another strong piece of evidence that "Kongzi Jiayu" recording "The zhi-lan grows in the forest, and does not cease to be fragrant because no one is there" is not a Han dynasty fabrication.)

② "Liuben": "Confucius said: 'After my death, Shang will daily improve, and Ci will daily decline.' Zengzi said: 'What does that mean?' The Master said: 'Shang likes to associate with those who are better than himself; Ci likes to speak with those who are not as good as himself. If you do not know a son, look at his father; if you do not know a person, look at his friends; if you do not know a ruler, look at whom he employs; if you do not know a place, look at its plants and trees. Therefore it is said: To dwell with good people is like entering a room of zhi-lan; after a long time you no longer smell its fragrance, for you have transformed with it.'"

③ "Liuben": "Now the root of lan, after three years, is steeped in deer pickle; once it is done and tasted, it can be exchanged for a horse. This is not the original nature of lan; what it is steeped in is excellent."

6. "Xunzi" 5 occurrences:

① "Youzuo": "Confucius went south to Chu and was trapped between Chen and Cai, for seven days without cooked food... Confucius said: 'There are many gentlemen who are broadly learned and deeply planning yet do not meet with opportunity; why only Qiu?' Moreover, the zhi-lan grows in the forest, and does not cease to be fragrant because no one is there. The gentleman's learning is not for the sake of success, but so that though poor he is not distressed, though worried his resolve does not decline, and knowing the beginning and end of calamity and fortune, his heart is not confused."

② "Wangzhi": "The people love me as joyfully as parents; they like me as fragrantly as zhi-lan."

③ "Yibing": "Moreover, as for the ruler of a violent state, with whom will he come? Those with whom he comes must be his people. But if his people love me as joyfully as parents, and like me as fragrantly as pepper and lan, then when they look back at their superiors, it is like being branded and tattooed, like facing an enemy."

④ "Lilun": "Therefore ritual is nourishment. Grass-fed and grain-fed animals, rice and millet, the five flavors blended and fragrant, are what nourish the mouth; pepper and lan, fragrant and rich, are what nourish the nose; carving, engraving, embroidery, and patterned ornament are what nourish the eye; bells, drums, pipes, chimes, qin, se, yu, and sheng are what nourish the ear; spacious rooms, fine mats, upper mats, bed and couch, armrests and banquet mats are what nourish the body."

⑤ "Dalue": "Lan, chai, and gao-ben, steeped in honey and sweet wine, can be exchanged for one pendant. A upright ruler steeped in fragrant wine can be obtained through slander. What the gentleman is steeped in, one must not fail to be careful about."

7. "Wangdu Ji" 1 occurrence:

"The Son of Heaven uses chang, the feudal lords use xun, the grand officers use lan-zhi, the scholars use xiao, and the common people use ai." (According to Liu Xiang's research, "Wangdu Ji" "seems to be what Chunyu Kun and others spoke in the time of King Xuan of Qi," but it has already been lost. The text here is quoted from the Han dynasty Zheng Xuan's commentary and the Tang dynasty Jia Gongyan's subcommentary in "Zhouli Zhushu." In addition, "Baihutong Delun, Kaochu" also has this record, with some individual characters differing.)

8. "Wenzi, Shangde" 3 occurrences:

① "When clear, it becomes bright; a cup of water can reveal the pupil of the eye. When turbid, it becomes harmful; the river water cannot reveal Mount Tai. Lan and zhi do not cease to be fragrant because no one wears them; a boat floating on rivers and seas does not sink because no one rides it; the gentleman practices the Way and is not resentful because no one knows him. This is inherent in nature."

② "What is tilted is easily overturned; what leans is easily toppled; what is small is easily helped; what is damp is easily rained upon. Lan and zhi, because of their fragrance, cannot see frost. A toad smeared on weapons, its lifespan lies at the full moon of the fifth month. What leaks essence is easily damaged in the center; flowers out of season cannot be eaten."

③ "The sun and moon desire to be bright, but muddy clouds cover them; river water desires to be clear, but sand and earth defile it; clustered lan desires to grow tall, but autumn wind ruins it; human nature desires to be calm, but cravings harm it. Covered in dust yet wishing not to be blinded, one cannot obtain purity."

9. "Dadai Liji, Zengzi Jibing" 1 occurrence:

Zengzi said: "To associate with a gentleman is fragrant like entering a room of lan and zhi; after a long time one no longer smells it, and so one transforms with it. To associate with a petty person is like entering a shop of salted fish; after a long time one transforms with it. Therefore the gentleman is careful about what he leaves and approaches."

10. "Zuozhuan" 6 occurrences:

"Duke Xuan, Third Year": "In winter, Duke Mu of Zheng died. At first, Duke Wen of Zheng had a low-born concubine named Yan Ji. She dreamed that a heavenly messenger gave her lan, saying, 'I am Bo Tiao; I am your ancestor. Take this as your son. Because lan has a national fragrance, people wear and love it in this way.' Afterward Duke Wen saw her, gave her lan, and lay with her. She declined, saying, 'Your handmaid is untalented; if by fortune she has a son, and you will not believe it, may I dare ask for lan as a token?' The duke said, 'Agreed.' She bore Duke Mu... Duke Mu had an illness, saying, 'If lan dies, shall I die? For it is by reason of it that I was born.' When the lan was cut, he died."

11. "Chunqiu Guliang Zhuan, Duke Zhao, Eighth Year" 1 occurrence:

"Through the hunt one practices the use of military affairs; this is a great matter of ritual. Cut lan to make the defense line, set up banners to make the camp gate, cover the target with kudzu to make the target stand. The flowing side is a handbreadth; charioteers who collide may not enter."

12. "Yanzi, Zengzi Was About to Travel and Yanzi Sent Him Off with Good Words" 2 occurrences:

"Now the root of lan is completed in three years. Steeped in bitter wine, then the gentleman does not approach it and the common people do not wear it; steeped in mi pickle, then it can be sold for a horse. It is not that the root of lan is beautiful; what it is steeped in makes it so. I hope you will surely seek what you are steeped in. I have heard that when a gentleman dwells, he must choose his neighborhood, and when he travels, he must approach scholars. Choosing a dwelling is how one seeks scholars; seeking scholars is how one avoids trouble. I have heard that habitual influence changes substance, and custom changes nature; one must not fail to be careful."

13. "Shanhaijing, Zhongshan Jing" 1 occurrence:

"Twenty li further east is called Kushan. There is a beast there, named Shangao; its shape is like a boar, red as cinnabar fire, and it is good at cursing. On the mountain there is a tree, named Huangji, with yellow blossoms and round leaves; its fruit is like lan, and eating it prevents childbearing. There is a grass there, with round leaves and no stem, red blossoms and no fruit, named Wutiao; eating it prevents goiter."

14. "Han Feizi, Neichushuo Xia" 1 occurrence:

"The man of Yan, Li Ji, liked to go far away. His wife had a private affair with a scholar. Ji suddenly arrived, and the scholar was inside. His wife was troubled by this. The women of the household said: 'Let the young gentleman go naked, loose his hair, and walk straight out the door; we will pretend not to see him.' Thereupon the young gentleman followed the plan and hurried out the door. Ji said: 'What person was that?' All the household said: 'There was no one.' Ji said: 'Do I see ghosts?' The woman said: 'Yes.' 'What should be done about it?' She said: 'Take the excrement of the five surnames and bathe in it.' Ji said: 'Agreed.' So he bathed in excrement. One version says he bathed in lan water."

15. Qu Yuan's poems and fu, 18 occurrences:

"Lisao" has 8 occurrences in total: "String autumn lan to make a pendant"; "I have already cultivated nine wan of lan, and again planted a hundred mu of hui"; "Walk my horse by the lan marsh"; "Lan and zhi change and are no longer fragrant, quan and hui transform into thatch"; "Bind the hidden lan and stand long waiting"; "Households wear ai to fill their waists, and say the hidden lan cannot be worn"; "I thought lan could be relied upon, yet it had no fruit and only a fair appearance"; "Seeing pepper and lan are like this, how much more so jieche and jiangli";

"Donghuang Taiyi" 1 occurrence: "Hui dishes are steamed and laid on lan";

"Yunzhong Jun" 1 occurrence: "Bathe in lan water and wash in fragrance";

"Xiang Jun" 1 occurrence: "Sun oar and lan banner";

"Xiang Furen" 1 occurrence: "The Yuan has zhi, the Li has lan";

"Lihun" 1 occurrence: "Spring lan and autumn chrysanthemum";

"Bei Huifeng" 1 occurrence: "Lan and zhi are hidden and fragrant alone";

"Shao Siming" 2 occurrences: "Autumn lan and miwu"; "Autumn lan is green and lush";

"Shao Siming" 1 occurrence: "Green leaves and plain blossoms (one version says plain branches), fragrant and abundant, assailing me."

"Dazhao" 1 occurrence: "Zhi, lan, and cassia trees, richly (one version says fragrant, one version says luxuriant) filling the road."

In addition, the "lan" in "Cassia oar and lan sweep" ("Xiang Jun") and "Cassia ridge and lan rafters" ("Xiang Furen") should be an abbreviation of "mulan" and is not among the "grass lan."

    16. "Hui" is a character created by Qu Yuan; in his poems, hui appears 13 times in total:

"Lisao" 7 occurrences: "How could it be only stringing hui and chai"; "Raise jun-cassia to string hui"; "And again plant a hundred mu of hui"; "Raise jun-cassia to string hui"; "Since I was replaced because of hui ribbons"; "Grasp soft hui to wipe my tears"; "Quan and hui transform into thatch";

"Jiuge" 4 occurrences: "Hui dishes are steamed and laid on lan"; "Bili screen and hui silk"; "Split hui door-hanging and already spread"; "Lotus clothes and hui belt";

"Jiuzhang" 2 occurrences: "Beat mulan to straighten hui"; "Grieve that the whirlwind shakes hui";

17. Song Yu's poems and prose, "lan" appears 10 times in total:

"Zhaohun" 6 occurrences in total: "Bright wind turns hui, flooding the high lan." "Lan fat bright candle, splendid appearance is complete"; "Lan fat bright candle, flowered lamp inlaid"; "Lan thickets planted at the door, fine trees as fencing"; "Weaving and composing utmost thoughts, lan fragrance is borrowed." "Gao lan spreads across the path." ("Zhaohun" is debated as being by Qu Yuan or Song Yu, but it can certainly be said to be a late Chu work. The author includes it in the statistics of Song Yu's works.)

"Shennü Fu" 2 occurrences: "Bathe in lan moisture, hold as if fragrant. ... declining and speaking in reply, she exhales fragrance like lan."

"Gaotang Fu" 1 occurrence: "Autumn lan, chai, and hui, jiangli carries luxuriance."

"Feng Fu" 1 occurrence: "The woman wished to place me, but the hall above was too high and the hall below too low, so she instead moved me into a room of the lan chamber and stopped me there. In it there was a sounding qin; I took it up and played it, performing the tunes 'Youlan' and 'Baixue.'"

18. "Hui" 4 occurrences in total:

"Zhaohun" 1 occurrence in total: "Bright wind turns hui, flooding the high lan";

"Jiubian" 1 occurrence: "I secretly grieve that the flower of hui has already spread";

"Feng Fu" 1 occurrence: "This is only the wind of the great king; how can the common people share it? ... Hunting hui grass, parting Qin heng, leveling new yi ... This is called the female wind of the common people."

"Gaotang Fu" 1 occurrence: Autumn lan, chai, and hui, jiangli carries luxuriance.

19. "Huangdi Neijing, Qibing Lun" 1 occurrence:

"The Emperor said: If one has a sweet taste in the mouth, what is the disease called, and how is it contracted? Qibo said: This is the overflow of the five qi; it is called spleen dan. Now when the five flavors enter the mouth, they are stored in the stomach, and the spleen moves their essential qi for them; the fluids are in the spleen, so it causes the mouth to be sweet. This is what is generated by rich and delicious food; this person must frequently eat sweet and fine things and much fat. Fat causes internal heat in people; sweetness causes fullness in people, so their qi overflows upward and turns into wasting-thirst. Treat it with lan, to remove the stale qi."

20. Mawangdui excavated text "Xiangma Jing, Daguang Pozhang" 1 occurrence: "The moon rises above it, half bright but not yet fully bright. Above there is the Jun Terrace, below there is fen fragrance. To the side there is accumulated softness, urgent its curtain is strong. The lan sinew already gallops, the di sinew is dark and clear; moving slowly from time to time, half covering its brightness. The surrounding grass is already hidden, not seen at the side; the seasonal wind emerges from the root, the running horse uses it as aid."

   21. "Shanhaijing" has 4 occurrences of the character hui:

① "Xishan Jing": "Three hundred and twenty li further west is called Fanzhong Mountain. The Han River emerges there and flows southeast into the Mian; the Ao River emerges there and flows north into the Tang River. On it there are many peach branches and gouduan; among beasts there are many rhinoceros, wild oxen, bears, and brown bears; among birds there are many white pheasants and red golden pheasants. There is a grass there, whose leaves are like hui and whose root is like platycodon, with black blossoms and no fruit, named Gurong. Eating it makes people childless."

② "Xishan Jing": "Three hundred and fifty li further west is called Tiandi Mountain. There are many palm trees and cinnabar; below there are many jian and hui."

③ "Xishan Jing": "Zhonghuang Mountain, on it there is much gold, below it there is much hui and tang."

④ "Zhongci Wu Shan" records: "Sheng Mountain, its trees are many gou, zuo, and ji; its grasses are many zhuyu, hui, and many koutuo."

22. "Zheng Shi" 1 occurrence:

"The Zhen and the Wei, how they flow and flow; the men and women, how they hold jian. Merry and joyful, only the men and women, they jest with one another."

23. Confucius's "Yilan Cao" 1 occurrence.

Whether or not "Yilan Cao" was composed by Confucius does not affect the historical position of this piece as pre-Qin music. This is because there is documentary corroboration from Yang Xiong of the early Han in "Xianzhi Juan": "The qin piece 'Yilan' uses the six characters yu, ye, suo, chu, zhe, and lao as rhymes, and also places 'lao' in the fifth group." However, the attached saying of Confucius in "Yilan Cao," "Lan should be the fragrance of kings," lacks pre-Qin documentary corroboration, so when discussing the content of Confucius's statements on lan, it is not included in the pre-Qin discussion. But as for "yilan" in "Yilan Cao," because Song Yu has the record of "performing the tunes 'Youlan' and 'Baixue,'" the term "yilan" should be included in the analysis of pre-Qin people's statements on lan.

24. "Xia Xiaozheng" 1 occurrence: "On the fifth day they gather, at the full moon they hide. Open and irrigate the blue and liao. The dove becomes a hawk. The tang cicada sings. At early dusk the great fire is at the center. Boil plums. Store lan. Beans and gruel."

Compilation notes:

In "Zuozhuan, Duke Xuan, Third Year," the plant lan appears 6 times, but because it is the same passage and all the same content, it is counted as only 1 occurrence.

In "Yanzi, Zengzi Was About to Travel and Yanzi Sent Him Off with Good Words," the plant lan appears twice, but both are in the same passage, so it is also counted as only 1 occurrence.

Because the sayings of Confucius and Zengzi recorded in "Kongzi Jiayu" and "Dadai Liji" have corresponding pre-Qin documentary references, although these two books are documents compiled in the Han dynasty, the author still classifies the content reflected in these documents as pre-Qin analysis.

For "Shanhaijing," only one place where an early version already uses "lan" is counted. According to the time when the character "lan" appeared, although this example appears in "Shanhaijing," because that calculation belongs to the Han dynasty, when actually counting pre-Qin literature this example is not counted. As for the remaining places written as "jian" or "jian," because it is difficult to distinguish whether what is recorded is the plant lan, the text in "Shanhaijing" that may record lan as "jian" or "jian" is also not included in the study of pre-Qin literature.

    The exact time of the completion of "Huangdi Neijing" is very difficult to determine. The academic world generally believes it came from the hands of many people between the Warring States period and the Qin and Han dynasties, and it may also have been compiled and transmitted by some Han dynasty physician under the pretext of Shennong's name. Therefore, in the author's statistics, the examples from "Huangdi Neijing" are included for consideration as pre-Qin literature.