White ash is a material used in medical, industrial, living and other fields, the most common example is the candle in life. As a unique traditional export commodity in China, ash also has a high reputation in the international market.
In the long-term production practice of China's working people, two kinds of insect wax have been found, namely yellow wax produced by bees and white wax produced by ash worms, of which white wax is the secretion of wax worms (also known as ash worms). Detailed accounts of ash cultivation and ash production were first mentioned in a notebook monograph 800 years ago. This monograph is the masterpiece of the late years of the Southern Song Dynasty...
White wax (network diagram)
The old man who never quits working
It is said that after the Southern Song Dynasty widow came to Hangzhou, he resolutely did not act as an official, but only regarded himself as a widow and wrote a book to send his anger. After he diligently completed the notebook monograph "Qi Dongye Language", he worked tirelessly and thought about writing another notebook monograph.
The Qi Dongye Yu mainly records anecdotes from the two Song Dynasties, including a small number of anecdotes from the Yuan Dynasty; for safety reasons, the ideas are relatively obscure; and there are not many scientific records in the book. In addition to recording anecdotes between the Song and Yuan dynasties, the canonical system, the victory of the capital city and other materials, and expressing their own thoughts and feelings, the new book also needs to increase the record of natural science.
The reason for this is that it is carefully felt that people are not paying attention to their own poetry and song, but to inspiring note-taking articles. The writing method of notes is flexible and changeable, and there are few constraints, and the content contained is extensive, the high talk above the temple, the discussion in the streets and alleys, the scientific knowledge that is beneficial to the lives of the people, the words and paintings on the tablets, and even the contents of folk customs, clan genealogies, sons and hundreds of families, astronomical geography, etc., can be "loaded" into it and flowed to future generations.
This idea was felt from the time when he was a careful official, and it was only after he settled in Hangzhou that he gradually began to realize it.
In his middle age, Zhou Mi served as the Commander of Yiwu County in the Southern Song Dynasty (in present-day Zhejiang). During his five-year tenure, he often gathered with literary friends, wrote poems and filled in words and painted, and compiled China's first anthology of broken pronouns- "Wonderful Good Words", and his life was colorful. At the same time, he loved books and built two library buildings in Wuxing (in present-day Zhejiang), "Book Species" and "Zhiya", with a collection of more than 40,000 books.
The first excerpt of pronouns "Wonderful Good Words" (network map)
In his spare time, He also compiled notes and works in a brisk tone such as "Zhiya Dang Miscellaneous Notes" and "Past Events of Wulin", recording some historical anecdotes, anecdotes of xinglin, folk customs, etc. He is ready to write a more informative monograph on notes in the future.
However, all this came to an abrupt end with the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty. After the destruction of the country and the death of the family, the family had to move to Hangzhou, living in Yanxin Street, living a life of half seclusion and half books. After the completion of the "Qi Dong Ye Language", he sorted out the manuscripts while going deep into the folk, or searching for ancient books, or asking the field for advice, or observing local folk customs to prepare for the writing of the book. It also made his later life more fulfilling.
Who knows if this is ten years. Around 1296 (the third year of the reign of Emperor Yuanzhen), an 180,000-word notebook masterpiece, the Miscellaneous Knowledge of Decay, was finally completed.
A rich and informative tome
"Decxin" is a place of residence in Hangzhou, and "miscellaneous knowledge" is an encyclopedia. As the name suggests, "Miscellaneous Knowledge of Decoction" is a miscellaneous note he wrote in Hangzhou.
Photocopy of "Miscellaneous Knowledge of Decoction" (Confucius Old Book Network)
As one of the many volumes of similar notes of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the content of the "Miscellaneous Knowledge of Decoction" is divided into four parts: before, after, continuing and other, with a total of 481 notes. This book is quite distinctive in terms of historical gaps. First, the time period in which the anecdote collection occurred was concentrated at the turn of the Song and Yuan dynasties, and there were fewer stories in the Northern Song Dynasty, only about the Song Huizong Xiu Gengyue and a few others. Second, the anecdote region expanded to foreign countries, including the Western Regions, Japan, Goryeo and other countries. Third, many anecdotes have strong historical value, such as the article "Thirty-six Praises of the Song River" included in the article, which is an important material for the study of the Song River uprising and provides an important reference for the study of "Water Margin". "Thirty-six Praises of Song Jiang" is originally a Chinese painting made by the Southern Song Dynasty painter Gong Kai (Zi Shenghe), which is accompanied by an evaluation of Song Jiang, Wu Yong and other thirty-six people. The "Miscellaneous Knowledge of Decay" not only includes this text in its entirety, but also details the circulation of song jiang stories in the folk. As an early research material of "Water Margin", this part is extremely valuable.
"Song Jiang Thirty-Six Praises" picture (network map)
The popular science value of "Decoction Miscellaneous Knowledge" is mainly reflected in many articles on natural sciences such as medicine, geography, astronomy, and biology. In terms of medicine, the medical historical materials, health knowledge, medical cases of various disciplines recorded in this book, especially the prescriptions on the spot, are carefully collected and personally verified, which are true and credible. In terms of geographical astronomy, the "Shiting Moss Plum", "Benefits of the West Lake", "Wuxing Garden" and so on contained in the book can provide materials for the regional geography of local history, while "Tengu Fall" and "Comet Reform" can be used as an important reference for astronomical research between the Song and Yuan dynasties.
In terms of biology, although the word "white wax" appears in the "Catalogue of Famous Doctors" compiled by the Wei and Jin people in the 3rd century AD, the relevant records of ash insect breeding and white wax production are the earliest in the world. The book not only introduces in detail the specific methods of stocking ash worms in Sichuan, Zhejiang and other places, but also records the biological habits of female and male ash worms for the first time. The text records, "In the land of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, there was no white ash in the past, and for more than ten years, there were Daoist people who brought white wax insects from Huaihuai to sell, like small mustard, and the price was measured in liters." Its method is to potted trees, leaves of the leaves, raw water, can be lived, three years into a big tree... Its profits are very broad, comparable to the benefits of silkworm breeding, and the price of white wax is several times higher than that of yellow wax. It can also be seen that the language of this book is simple, and the general public can read and understand, which has a high promotion value.
Ash worm (web network)
It is worth mentioning that since the advent of "Decoction Miscellaneous Knowledge", ash worm stocking began to be popular, reaching its peak during the Ming Dynasty, and was cultivated in Sichuan, Zhejiang, Hubei and other places, which lasted for a long time. Through long-term observation and practice, people have finally figured out the biological properties of ash worms. Ash worms are commonly known as wax worms, and are male and female. Among them, the male insect has a pair of wings, which is not easy to find in the wild, and secretes a large amount of wax powder; the female insect mainly reproduces offspring and secretes very little wax powder. Wax powder can be processed into white wax (also known as insect white wax). Because it is mainly produced in China, white wax is also known as "Chinese wax". In the middle of the 19th century, Chinese wax was introduced to Europe and became popular for a while, becoming a special product in Sino-European trade. Entering the modern era, with the rise of petroleum wax, the white wax market has shrunk, and insect wax harvesting has gradually been neglected. In this regard, the Miscellaneous Knowledge of Decoction has also made certain contributions to the world's natural sciences.
postscript
The book "Miscellaneous Knowledge of Decoction", which was completed in his later years, was very popular among the widows at that time, and some people considered this book to be the most successful in the notes series. After the Yuan Dynasty, this book was highly regarded by literati and scholars of various dynasties: Mao Jin of the Ming Dynasty compiled the "Secretary of Jin" (a series of notes and miscellaneous records), which was included in full; when the imperial court compiled the "Four Libraries of the Whole Book" in the early Qing Dynasty, the editor-in-chief Ji Yun made a key recommendation...
Tracing back to the source, one of the main reasons for the popularity of "Decoction Miscellaneous Knowledge" is the careful choice of the genre of notes. According to the general knowledge of historians, the contents of the notes are generally studied and have a high degree of credibility. The articles in the notes either summarize the methods of governing the country, or interpret and analyze the works of art, or describe the wonderful fantasies of the world, or systematically introduce scientific phenomena... In other words, notes are both a way to express one's feelings and the author's truest record of what he is familiar with.
The rise and fall of the sea, the pearls of the vicissitudes, and the "Miscellaneous Knowledge of Decay" have been preserved intact. Entering the 21st century, after the Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House organized the publication of the book "The Grand View of The Novels of the Past Dynasties: Miscellaneous Knowledge of Decoction", this notebook monograph that first recorded the cultivation of ash worms will surely play a greater role in the natural sciences and social sciences.
"Notes on the Past Dynasties, Novel Grand View" series of books (part, Confucius Old Book Network)
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【References】
1. Literature "Notes on the Literature and History of the Song Dynasty", by Zheng Xianchun, Hunan University Press, 2004 edition.
2. The paper "A Review of research on the > of < Decoction Miscellaneous Knowledge", by He Juan, Literary and Art Life, No. 6, 2011.
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