Bǎijú jípǔ 百菊集譜
Compendium of One Hundred Chrysanthemum Treatises by 史鑄 (Shǐ Zhù, 撰)
About the work
A six-juàn + one-juàn supplement late-Southern-Sòng comprehensive synthesis of the entire pre-existing Chinese chrysanthemum-treatise tradition. By Shǐ Zhù 史鑄 zì Yánfǔ 顏甫, hào Yúzhāi 愚齋, of Shānyīn / Kuàijī (Shàoxīng). Compiled over 1234–1250: the original five-juàn form was completed in Chúnyòu rényín (1242), four years later (bǐngwǔ / 1246) Shǐ obtained Hú Róng 胡融’s Júpǔ and added it as a new juàn 5 (displacing the original juàn 5 to juàn 6); four more years later (gēngxū / 1250) Shǐ produced a supplementary Bǔyí in one juàn. By the time of the Bǔyí, Shǐ had renamed the work Júshǐ 菊史 (Chrysanthemum History), but the printed text retained the original title.
The work lists 131 named chrysanthemum varieties plus 32 alternate-name annotations (= 163 named entries), with detailed origin-localities. Includes the foundational Sòng júpǔ of Liú Méng KR3i0031, Shǐ Zhèngzhì KR3i0032, Fàn Chéngdà KR3i0034, plus the lost Luòyáng huāmù jì of Zhōu Shīhòu 周師厚 and the lost Wúzhōng júpǔ of Shěn Jìng 沈競 — making this the principal route by which the entire Sòng chrysanthemum-treatise tradition is transmitted.
Tiyao
We submit that the Bǎijú jípǔ in six juàn with the Júshǐ bǔyí in one juàn is by Shǐ Zhù of the Sòng. Zhù, zì Yánfǔ, hào Yúzhāi, was a man of Shānyīn. His book was completed in Chúnyòu rényín (1242), originally in five juàn. After four years, in bǐngwǔ (1246), he further obtained Chìchéng Hú Róng’s [Chrysanthemum] Pǔ, and accordingly moved his original fifth juàn to be the sixth, and inserted Hú’s Pǔ as the fifth. Four more years later, in gēngxū (1250), he made one more juàn of Bǔyí (Supplement). Observing his self-inscription on the time of writing the Bǔyí: he had already changed the title to Júshǐ. But this [recension] still bears the title Bǎijú jípǔ — perhaps the printing-blocks had already been cut and could not be changed.
At the head are listed the names of various chrysanthemum varieties: 131 species; with attached annotations, 32; plus one-flower-four-names and one-flower-five-names entries of 2; placed at the head of the volume, not entering the juàn-numbering. The first juàn contains the treatises of Zhōu Shīhòu 周師厚, Liú Méng 劉蒙, Shǐ Zhèngzhì 史正志, and Fàn Chéngdà 范成大 (four families). The second juàn contains Shěn Jìng’s 沈競 treatise and Shǐ’s own new treatise. The third juàn covers planting, classical-anecdotes, miscellaneous-discussions, methods, doubtful-questions, and ancient-and-modern poetic-talk. The fourth juàn contains literary writings and poetic fù. The fifth juàn is the added Hú Róng’s Pǔ with planting facts, with appended one item from Zhāng Shì’s [Zhāng Nánxuān’s] chrysanthemum-fù and Dù Fǔ’s poetic-talk. The sixth juàn is Shǐ’s own chrysanthemum-poetry and jíjù (anthology) poems. The Bǔyí one juàn miscellaneously collects what came later. The book was not completed at one time, hence its arrangement has rather no system. However, its searching-and-gathering may be called extensive. Submitted Qiánlóng 43 month 6 (1778).
Abstract
The Bǎijú jípǔ is the most comprehensive Chinese pre-modern compendium on the chrysanthemum and one of the most important pǔlù compilations of the entire genre. It functions both as a synthesis of earlier treatises (preserving the otherwise-lost Sòng júpǔ of Zhōu Shīhòu, Shěn Jìng, and Hú Róng) and as an independent treatise — Shǐ Zhù’s own contribution forms a substantial part of juàn 2.
The work also contains a major huàxué (botanical-classification) preliminary list of 131+32 = 163 named varieties (with the foundational list at the head documenting 14 categories: huáng yellow, bái white, fěnhóng pink-red, zǐ purple, qīngxīn green-heart, bì dark-green, dān cinnabar-red, plus mixed and miscellaneous types). The geographical scope is the full Southern Sòng: Luòyáng (Zhōu Shīhòu), Guózhōu (Liú Méng), Wú (Shǐ Zhèngzhì), Shíhú (Fàn Chéngdà), Yuèzhōng (Shǐ Zhù himself, native of Shàoxīng/Kuàijī), with later additions of Chìchéng (Hú Róng) and other locations.
The work also incorporates the Sòng júhuà (chrysanthemum-and-painting) tradition: poetry collections by named authors, the jíjù (anthology-poems) tradition where each line is borrowed from earlier poets, and prose anthologies.
The compilation is uniquely documented in the author’s series of self-prefaces and self-postfaces from 1242 (initial completion), 1246 (Hú Róng addition), and 1250 (Bǔyí) — making its compositional history more fully traceable than virtually any other Sòng pǔlù.
Translations and research
- Liú Yīnghuá 劉穎華. 2008. Zhōng-guó jú-huā wén-huà-shǐ 中國菊花文化史. Shàng-hǎi: Wén-huà chū-bǎn-shè. Uses Bǎi-jú jí-pǔ extensively.
- Wáng Lìpíng 王利平. 2010. Sòng-dài huā-pǔ wén-xiàn yán-jiū 宋代花譜文獻研究. Shàng-hǎi gǔjí chū-bǎn-shè.
- Zhōu Wǔzhōng 周武忠. 2003. Zhōng-guó huā-wén-huà-shǐ 中國花文化史. Běijīng: Zhōng-guó kē-xué chū-bǎn-shè.
Other points of interest
The work’s preservation of Hú Róng’s 胡融 lost Júpǔ is a major scholarly contribution: Hú Róng, an active mid-Southern-Sòng (Chúnxī to Chúnyòu) writer of Chìchéng (Tāizhōu, Zhèjiāng), composed his treatise probably in the 1170s–1180s, but it was already rare in Shǐ Zhù’s day and is not separately preserved. The Hú Róng portion of juàn 5 is therefore the unique witness to this lost Sòng chrysanthemum-treatise.
The work’s documentation of the Jiǔhuá jú 九華菊 (Nine-Splendour Chrysanthemum, the variety associated with Táo Yuānmíng 陶淵明’s reclusion at Lúshān) — placed first in the varietal list “in honor of antiquity” — preserves the foundational Chinese chrysanthemum-cultural link to Táo Yuānmíng, the iconic chrysanthemum-poet of all Chinese tradition.