中国古代有关生物学的知识发展到两宋时期,逐渐从原来的知识门类中分离形成“鸟兽草木”之学。这与知识的分化与书籍的增多有关,其中一个重要体现就是以花卉谱录为代表的植物学专著大量涌现。梳理宋代的“草木”专书,至少可以得到41种这一领域的专著,并能从中发现欧阳修、陆游等士人在促进“草木”之学发展中起到了重要作用,其追求博物知识的方式为后人留下了宝贵的历史资料。

撰谱录 创体例

  最早的谱录与谱牒、家谱的记载密切相关,后来人们也开始利用这种体例来记载不同类别的事物。为植物修谱撰记并不是宋人首创,早在魏晋南北朝时就有植物学专著出现(《竹谱》《魏王花木志》《南方草木状》等),唐五代时期也有花卉类专谱现世(《百花谱》《花经》等)。但若从数量和质量来看,宋代的植物学专著却远迈前代,尤以花谱为最。自二十世纪六十年代以来,王毓瑚、天野元之助等学者对包括宋代花卉谱录在内的中国古农书做过深入研究,整理出涉及牡丹、菊花、芍药、兰花、梅花、海棠、玉蕊花等七大类四十一种花卉专著。这些花谱的作者多半出于士人群体,其中不乏像欧阳修(《洛阳牡丹记》)、陆游(《天彭牡丹谱》)、范成大(《范村梅谱》《范村菊谱》)、周必大(《唐昌玉蕊辩证》)这样名震四方的士大夫领袖。他们共襄盛事、薪火相传,将宋时花卉的繁盛记录其中,使后人可以一睹1000多年前花卉争奇斗艳的胜景。

  Of course, when Ouyang Xiu, Lu You and other scholars wrote flower catalogues, they no longer only focused on the poems that their predecessors admired flowers, but recorded the changes of planting techniques and varieties, which made the literary color of the catalogue become lighter, and the scientific and practical color became stronger. For example, Ouyang Xiu's "Luoyang Peony" is a detailed account of planting and irrigation, listing peony flowers in detail and explaining the origin of flower names one by one.

This writing style has become the formula for writing flower monographs.

Lu You's "Tianpeng Peony Spectrum" is "completely imitating the European record".

Wang Guan's "Yangzhou Peony Spectrum" is also similar to Ou Ji's style and has a similar style - Ouyang Xiu's "Luoyang Peony Record" detailed the matter of planting and irrigation, Wang Guan's "Yangzhou Peony Spectrum" on the cultivation and transplantation of peony There are also many techniques in writing; Ouyang Xiu listed 24 kinds of peony flowers in detail, and Wang Guan also listed 31 kinds of peony flowers in order.

In addition, Wang Guan also mentioned in the spectrum that "the details of Luoyang's local customs have been found in the records of Duke Ouyang today, and this is not to be discussed again".

It shows that Wang Shi had read "Luoyang Peony Ji" before writing the spectrum, and he was probably under the influence of Ou Shi's writing style to write the spectrum of peony.

record variety record changes

  The scholars focused on recording the variety changes of some flowers in the flower catalogue. From this, it can be seen that thanks to the relatively systematic cultivation technology, the artificial planting of flowers in the Song Dynasty achieved remarkable results.

For example, judging from the peony varieties recorded in Ouyang Xiu's "Luoyang Peony" and Zhou Shihou's "Luoyang Peony", the peonies in Luoyang, Henan increased from 24 species in 1031 AD (Ouyang Xiu's "Luoyang Peony") to 1081 AD. 109 kinds (Zhou Shihou's "Luoyang Flowers and Trees"), the variety has more than quadrupled in the past 50 years, and the fine products continue to emerge.

In addition to Luoyang, other areas in Henan are also rich in peonies.

In "The Story of Chenzhou Peony", Zhang Bangji recorded that the excellent varieties of peony in Chenzhou area are constantly being produced, and the "golden streak" of one product alone attracted everyone to stop and watch.

To a certain extent, this shows that the technology of cultivating peonies in Henan in the Northern Song Dynasty became increasingly sophisticated.

Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions are also the main producing areas of peony, and the first peony album in my country (Zhongxiu's "Peony Flowers in Vietnam and China") was born here.

According to this record, there were 32 varieties of peonies in the area at the beginning of the Song Dynasty.

In the Qingli period, the peony monograph "Qingli Flowers" was also born in this place, "to describe the forty-two items of Shengfan in Wuzhong".

Extending westward from the Jiangnan area, the peony in the Sichuan area was also prosperous in the Song Dynasty.

Judging from the peony species (66 species) recorded in Lu You's "Tianpeng Peony Spectrum", the peony in the Tianpeng area of ​​Sichuan is comparable to Luoyang in the Northern Song Dynasty.

  The Henan area in the Northern Song Dynasty was also the place where chrysanthemums were produced. Shi Zhu described the varieties of chrysanthemums in Henan with the title of "Guodi Category" in "The Collection of Hundred Jujubes".

In the Luoyang area of ​​Henan at that time, flower farmers cultivated a variety of chrysanthemum varieties.

The "Liu's Chrysanthemum Spectrum" written in the late Northern Song Dynasty (1104) can be said to be the first of its kind in my country. 26 kinds), there are 9 more.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, as the political center moved to the south, the chrysanthemum in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was fully developed.

Judging from the varieties of chrysanthemums recorded in the handed down special manuals ("Shi's Chrysanthemum", "Fancun Chrysanthemum" and "Hundred Chrysanthemum Collection"), the chrysanthemums in Jiangsu and Zhejiang during the Southern Song Dynasty were a beautiful scene of a hundred chrysanthemums.

  Compared with peony and chrysanthemum, which could form planting areas in the north and south, peony flowers were mainly concentrated in the Yangzhou area at that time.

Liu Ban's "Peony Spectrum" divided 31 kinds of peony in Yangzhou into seven grades, while the 33 kinds of peony flowers recorded in Kong Wuzhong's "Peony Spectrum" were obtained from the author's field investigation and interview. List the name of the product and explain its color, shape, etc. in detail.

On the basis of the second spectrum, Wang Guan's "Yangzhou Shaoyao Specimen" added eight new grades (39 species), which was the most at that time.

In the spectrum, according to a more scientific classification method, Wang started from the two aspects of flower color and flower shape, and listed his new 8 kinds of flowers in detail.

Describe the customs and customs

  Scholars also recorded some customs and customs in the flower catalogue, through which we can get a glimpse of the folk customs and social culture of the society in the Song Dynasty.

In the Song Dynasty, flower viewing became a mass cultural activity, which was loved by women, children and children of all ages.

The popular love of the masses stimulated the planting of flowers and brought them into a prosperous period, forming an independent planting industry across the country. The area is also expanding.

Zhang Bangji has directly described the planting area of ​​peony in "The Story of Chenzhou Peony".

Lu You also recorded the grand occasion of the "Lianyuan" of flower households in Tianpeng area in "Peony Spectrum of Tianpeng".

The number of flowers is increasing, and the varieties are becoming more and more exotic, making the hairpin flower a common folk activity in the Song Dynasty.

Ouyang Xiu recorded in "Luoyang Peony", "Luoyang's customs are generally good for flowers. In spring, there is no noble or lowly in the city to arrange flowers, although the burden is also the same."

Wang Guan's "Yangzhou Shaoyao Specimen" also said, "The people of Yang are no different from Xiluo, no matter the noble or the lowly, they like to wear flowers."

Judging from the time recorded in the two albums, in Luoyang and Yangzhou in the early Northern Song Dynasty, one north and one south, hairpin flowers had become commonplace in Song Dynasty cities.

There are also flowers in the folk custom of Song Dynasty.

In the Song Dynasty, the behavior of offering flowers to the officials was mostly for the people, and Hu Yuanzhi recorded it in "Peony Records".

Once the flowers are presented by local officials to the superiors or the royal family, they become tribute flowers. Hu Yuanzhi said, "The Duke (Song Jingwen) was in Shu for four years, and every time he took flowers according to their names, Pengzhou sent flowers, and it became a story."

This kind of tribute also allowed the "wax-sealed peony" invented in the Sui Dynasty to be used on tribute flowers. Ouyang Xiu recorded the specific method of "wax-sealed peony" in "Luoyang Peony" to preserve freshness and fragrance.

  Whether it is Foucault's "Archaeology of Knowledge" or Peter Burke's "Social History of Knowledge", the purpose of writing books is to convey a message to readers that the texts or books that carry knowledge are formed through continuous construction.

When readers read these texts or books, they should not only know "what" is in the text or book, but also know "why" that "this" text or book was formed at that time.

This should be the research significance of knowledge history with "knowledge" as the object of investigation.

The monograph on flowers is a concentrated summary of the long-term experience and knowledge of Chinese ancestors in viewing and using flowers, reflecting the basic situation of the Song Dynasty society's understanding, development and utilization of ornamental plants represented by flowers.

The scholars were among them, some of them as local rulers, and they must also be the direct planners and participants of this cultural feast. They wrote this cultural phenomenon into a special book so that future generations can see the flourishing scene of flowers in the Song Dynasty.

  另一方面,记录菊花、牡丹等花卉专著所呈现的知识演进,是宋代博物学转变的一个侧面,也是精神文化史变迁的一个注脚。博物学是古代先民精神信仰与文化学术的知识基础。从植物学专著内容来看,欧阳修、陆游等儒者士子有了更加自觉的博物意识,追求知识的方式也不断变化。正如南宋人郑樵所言,“大抵儒生家多不识田野之物,农圃人又不识《诗》《书》之旨,二者无由参合,遂使鸟兽草木之学不传”。在郑氏看来,鸟兽草木之学属于田野之物,其知识的获得方式一方面是求证于田野农圃的自然世界,另一方面是参合《诗》《书》等经典文献。《史氏菊谱》的作者史正志便从参合文献与注重实践两方面为“菊是否有落英”做出公允的判断。类似的例子还有周必大,他的《唐昌玉蕊辩证》虽通篇还多是参合前人的文献,但也有作者的实际考察,“予自招隐寺远植一本,蔓如荼蘼,冬凋春荣……其中别抽一英,出众须上,散为十余蕊,犹刻玉然,花名玉蕊在于此”。从史正志、周必大等人探求植物知识的方式或可说明,宋朝随着宋学兴起,其探寻形而上义理的精神与方法大大提升了儒者的思考深度,也改变了他们追求博物知识的方式,使他们感到有责任去探索奇异植物或古人提到过的有疑问的植物。而这种探求博物知识的方式和西方自然科学家为了了解自然物种的性质而进行研究、总结自然规律的目的明显不同。

(作者:郭幼为 单位:仲恺农业工程学院马克思主义学院)