Júlù 橘錄
Records of Citrus by 韓彥直 (Hán Yànzhí, 撰)
About the work
The foundational Chinese monograph on citrus — the first systematic treatise on jú 橘 (mandarin orange, Citrus reticulata) and the related cultivars. Three juàn by Hán Yànzhí 韓彥直, the eldest son of the great Southern-Sòng general Hán Shìzhōng 韓世忠, composed during his magistracy at Wēnzhōu in Yǒngjiā 永嘉 during Chúnxī (probably 1178). The full title in the Sòngshǐ Yìwénzhì and Jiāo Hóng’s Guóshǐ jīngjí zhì is Yǒngjiā júlù 永嘉橘錄 (Yǒngjiā Citrus Records), reflecting the Wēnzhōu / Yǒngjiā setting of the survey.
The three juàn: juàn 1 covers eight gān (sweet-orange, Citrus sinensis) varieties and two chéng (citron / pomelo, Citrus aurantium) varieties; juàn 2 covers eighteen jú (mandarin) varieties, with Níshān rǔgān 泥山乳柑 (Mud-Mountain Milk-Orange) ranked first; juàn 3 covers cultivation, grafting, pest-control, harvest, and the júpí (orange-peel) medicinal-and-culinary uses.
Tiyao
The combined tíyào covering this work is in KR3i0038. The portion concerning Júlù (translated): We submit that the Júlù is in three juàn by Hán Yànzhí of the Sòng. Yànzhí, zì Zǐwēn, a man of Yánān, was the eldest son of Qí Zhōngwǔ Wáng (Hán) Shìzhōng; jìnshì of Shàoxīng 18 (1148); rose to Lóngtúgé xuéshì and tíjǔ Wànshòu guān*; retired with the title* Guānglù dàfū and was enfeoffed Qíchūn jùngōng*; his affairs are appended to the* Shìzhōng biography in the Sòngshǐ*. This treatise was made when Yànzhí was prefect of Wēnzhōu in Chúnxī. The* Sòngshǐ Yìwénzhì and Jiāo Hóng’s Guóshǐ jīngjí zhì both give it as Yǒngjiā júlù*, with* juàn*-count matching this recension; the* Wénxiàn tōngkǎo gives it as one juàn — apparently a character-error. Yànzhí had ability-and-strategy, and his literary-study was also excellent. He once compiled Sòng dynastic-affairs as the Shuǐxīn jìng in over 160 juàn — praised by Yóu Mào — today not transmitted. This Record likewise has system. The upper juàn records eight gān varieties and two chéng varieties; the middle juàn records eighteen jú varieties, with Níshān rǔgān placed first; the lower juàn speaks of planting methods — all detail-and-abundance worth-looking-at. Chén Jǐngyí making the Quánfāng beìzǔ cites Yànzhí’s Record and says: “he knows only that the rǔgān comes from Níshān, but does not know it also comes from Huángyán in Tiāntái — what comes from Níshān is indeed wonderful, but what comes from Huángyán is supreme under heaven.” This is because Jǐngyí’s family was originally Tiāntái’s, and he wished to flatter the local product. He does not realize that Yànzhí’s Record specifically records Yǒngjiā citrus, and should not borrow material from a foreign place. This is to be ignorant of the body of writing. Submitted Qiánlóng 46 month 4 (1781).
Abstract
The work is the foundational Chinese citrus-monograph and the most authoritative pre-modern Chinese treatment of the orange-and-mandarin family. Its taxonomic precision — distinguishing the gān (sweet orange), the chéng (citron / pomelo group), and the jú (mandarin orange) into a coherent three-category system — anticipates by some seven centuries the modern Western taxonomy of Citrus.
The 28 named cultivars (8 gān + 2 chéng + 18 jú) cover the principal Sòng-period Wēnzhōu / Yǒngjiā citrus production. Specific varieties of note: Rǔgān 乳柑 (Milk-Orange, the supreme variety, with smooth pulp and high juice content); Méngshān gān 蒙山柑 (Méng-Mountain Orange); Zǎohuáng 早黃 (Early Yellow); Hújú 胡橘 (Foreign Mandarin); Zhūjú 朱橘 (Vermilion Mandarin); the famous Bāyuè jú 八月橘 (Eighth-Month Mandarin — Wēnzhōu’s late-summer variety, harvested c. September). The Rǔgān’s primacy is documented also in Sū Shì’s poetry from his Hangzhou period.
The juàn 3 cultivation chapter is the principal Sòng source for citrus-horticulture: details on graft-stock selection (jiézhī on wild-citrus root-stock), winter protection (the elaborate Wēnzhōu jíjià covered-frame system), pest-control (against the yǐng (citrus-mite) and yān (whitefly)), harvest timing, and storage. Hán’s description of citrus grafting represents one of the earliest detailed records of the practice in Chinese.
The dating is Chúnxī, with internal evidence (the Chén Jǐngyí Quánfāng beìzǔ citation, dating to the 1240s, refers to the work as well-established) suggesting an early-Chún-xī date around 1178 (Chúnxī 5), consistent with Hán’s known prefectship at Wēnzhōu.
Translations and research
- Hagerty, Michael J. 1923. “Han Yen-chih’s Chu Lu (Monograph on the Oranges of Wên-Chou, Chekiang)“. T’oung Pao 22. The standard Western-language translation: Michael Hagerty’s full English translation with extensive scholarly apparatus, published in 1923 and still indispensable.
- Hsiao Wuhuang. 1973. The Citrus Industry: History, World Distribution, Botany and Varieties (Riverside, CA: U California Press). Treats Hán’s Jú-lù as foundational source.
- Reuther, W. et al. (eds.) 1967. The Citrus Industry, vol. 1. Berkeley: U California Div. Agricultural Sciences. The standard global citrus-industry reference; cites Hán Yànzhí.
Other points of interest
The work is the only major Sòng-period monograph by a member of the high military aristocracy (Hán Shìzhōng’s son), reflecting the diversification of literati-cultural production in the Southern Sòng. The work was reprinted by Daoist scholar Wáng Pī 王伾 in 1547 (Jiājìng-period) as part of the Cíyǎ yúpǔ 慈雅餘譜 compilation, and was the principal source for the Yuán-Míng-Qing citrus literature including Lǐ Shízhēn’s 李時珍 treatment in the Běncǎo gāngmù.
Links
- Chinese Text Project
- Wikipedia (Citrus reticulata)
- Wikidata Q11005543