Classic works of plants

65438 BC+000 BC-200 BC (Han Dynasty), Shennong Herbal Classic recorded 365 kinds of medicinal plants, Wujin Herbal Classic in the third century, Shennong Herbal Classic in the sixth century recorded more than 730 kinds of medicinal plants, and there were other famous doctors. In the seventh century, Tang Xinxiu Herbal Classic (including 844 kinds of medicinal plants) appeared. There are important works on materia medica in later generations, such as Supplement to Materia Medica (400 kinds of medicinal plants were added on the basis of the newly revised materia medica in Tang Dynasty), Kaibao Materia Medica (983 kinds included), Jiayou Pictorial Materia Medica (1082 kinds) and Classic Materia Medica (certified materia medica) (65438). In the Compendium of Materia Medica compiled by Li Shizhen (15 18- 1593) in the 6th century, 1 195 kinds of medicinal plants were recorded, and their habits, origins and uses were detailed. Works such as Er Ya Yi Shu and Textual Research on Plant Names and Facts, which appeared in Qing Dynasty, are the crystallization of ancient plant classification knowledge system in China.

There are more descriptions and records about plants in numerous professional books and documents in ancient times. The book Erya, which appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period, mainly investigates the famous things in the Book of Songs. In the two chapters of Shuo Cao and Shuo Mu, the plants recorded in The Book of Songs are classified by analogy and their synonyms are sorted out. Mao Heng's Exegetical Biography of Mao Poems in the Western Han Dynasty, Xu Shen's Explaining Words in the Eastern Han Dynasty and Lu Ji's Mao Poems, Plants, Animals, Fish and Insects have all made outstanding contributions to the textual research and morphological description of plants. There were many books about plants in ancient China. During the Han and Jin Dynasties, the plants in tropical and subtropical areas in the south were called "foreign objects" because they didn't know much about them, and many books about "foreign objects" appeared, among which "foreign objects" written by Yang in the Eastern Han Dynasty was the first to record the endemic plants in Lingnan. By the time Han Ji wrote "Southern Vegetation" (AD 304) in the Jin Dynasty, the tropical and subtropical plants in the south were no longer regarded as weird, but were described and recorded normally. Based on the two categories of grass and wood in Erya, the classification system added two categories of fruit and bamboo, and recorded more than 80 species of plants. In Introduction to Insects and Plants (AD 1 150), the classification system of plants goes further and is divided into five categories: grass (including fungi, algae and ferns), vegetables, rice beams, trees and fruits. In Fang Quan North Ancestor (A.D. 1256), the classification system was increased to flowers, fruits, flowers, grasses, trees, agricultural mulberry (grasses, beans, mulberry and hemp), vegetables and medicinal materials. After that, the classification system of Qunfang Spectrum (162 1 year) and Guangqunfang Spectrum (1780 year) was basically established according to the application mode, and special maps were formed according to the categories, each map containing several fine categories; Some systematic monographs or monographs, such as Peony Spectrum, Herbs for Disaster Relief (recording 4 14 species of plants), Chrysanthemum Spectrum, Tung Spectrum, Litchi Spectrum, Orange Record, etc., also provide an understanding of ancient plants in China from different angles. A lot of knowledge about plants in ancient China is also preserved in various geographical records, such as Shan Hai Jing (written in 500-300 BC and recorded about 65,438+000 species of plants), Funan Ji, Jiaozhou Ji, Nanyue Ji, Guangzhou Ji, Luofushan Ji and Guihai Ji. In short, there are hundreds of books specially recorded in ancient China, covering plants, fruit trees, food and vegetables, flowers, bamboo tea, wild vegetables and so on. Among the books on common plants, Textual Research on Plant Names and Facts written by Wuqi in Qing Dynasty is the most comprehensive, which records 17 14 plants, and describes their ecology, habits, origins, characteristics and uses in detail, making it the first flora in China.