The ocean of story, being C.H. Tawney's translation of Somadeva's ...

APPENDIX II ROMANCE OF BETEL-CHEWING 303
Betel-chewing
Southern China
has been known in Southern China from
a very early date, and in all probability owes its existence to
the introduction of Buddhism.
One of the early references is to be found in Nan shih, the
biography of Liu Mu-chih (ob. 417), which was compiled in
the seventh century.
In c. 15, fol. 2 v we read 1 :
" Mu-chih used to go to his wife's brothers' house to
sponge on them for meals. His wife was ashamed of this,
but could not stop it. Mu-chih still went, and after the meal
asked for areca-nut (pin-lang). Mu-chih [wifej's brothers
'
laughed at him and said : Areca-nut makes food vanish
[i.e. accelerates digestion], that is why you are always
hungry.' "
l
In T ang shu, the history of T'ang, a.d. 600-900, is a
description of the country of P'an-p'an in the Southern
Sea, where " at all weddings they make presents of arecanut."
We get further information from Ling-wai-tai-ta, in which
the author's preface is dated 16th November 1178. In a
"
The fruit
paragraph on pin-lang (c. 8, fol. 3) he says :
grows on the leaves, fastened to them in clusters, as on willow
twigs. When gathered in the spring it is called juan-pinlang
(or soft areca-nuts), and is commonly known as pinlang-sien
(or fresh areca-nuts) ; it is then good to chew.
When gathered in the summer or the autumn and dried it is
called mi-pin-lang (or rice areca-nuts). Preserved in salt it
is called yen-pin-lang (or salted areca-nuts). Small and
pointed nuts are called M-sin-pin-lang (or
chicken heart
areca-nuts), large and flat ones ta-fu-tzi (or big bellies)."
The above passage was repeated verbatim by Chau Ju-
Kua in his Chu-fan-chi, 2 who describes the pin-lang as coming
" from several foreign countries, 3 also from the four dis-
tricts of Hai-nan ; it is likewise found in Kiau-chi. The tree
resembles the coir palm. . . . When chewed, these nuts have
1 I am indebted to the Rev. A. C. Moule for this translation, and also for
the two following references.
2 Translated and annotated by Hirth and Rockhill, pp. 213-214.
3 In a report on the trade of Canton in 1834 (p. 451) it is stated that
most of the "betel" imported into China came from Java, Malacca and
Penang.