Chau Ju-Kua - University of Oregon Libraries

222 PEPPEK. 11,26-27
Note.
The pai-tou-k'm is the Amomum cardamomum, Linn., the 'round' or 'cluster carda-
mom', a native plant of Kamhoja, Siam and Java. The Javanese name MpuJaga, appears to be
the only one in use in the Indian Archipelago. Crawfurd, Hist. Indian Archipelago, I, 514.
The earliest mention of the pai-tm-h'oti or awMte t6u-h'6u» in CShinese works occurs in 5
the eighth century. Ch'on Ts'ang-ki (supra, p. 210, line 36) says that it was a product of
K."i6-ku-lo (^ i W possibly Kia Tan's Ko-ku-lo, east coast Malay Peninsula) and is there
called to-Jcu (0, »^). In another passage (supra, p. 210) the same author gives the native
name of the nutmeg as Ja-M-Zo, which Bretscbneider points out is probably MJcula, the
Arabic name for cardamom. Yu-yang-tsa-tsu, 18,io reproduces this phrase from Ch'6nTs'ang-k'i. 10
It says: «Pai-t6u-h'6u comes from K'ie-ku-lo, where it is called to-Jcu. In shape it is like the
banana (tree). The leaves are like those of the tu-jo (;^ ^) eight or nine feet long; they do
not wither in winter or summer. The flowers are light yellow. The seeds form clusters like grapes.
When the seeds first appear they are light green, when ripe they turn white; they are gathered
in the seventh moon.a
Already in the eleventh century, the cardamom was grown in Kuang-tung and Kuang-si,
but it was inferior in quality to that brought from abroad. Bretscbneider, Bot. Sinic, III,
120—123.
Ling-wai-tai-ta, 8,18'', says that the joai-tdu-h'du comes from the foreigners of the South,
while the herbaceous (^^) or ts'au-tou-k'ou comes from the mountainous districts of Yung- 20
ch6u ( S >|>M the present Nan-ning-fu in Kuang-si). «There is also the flower of the tm-k'ou
which is very much prized The people of the South pick the flowers, steep them in plum
juice and dry them. They are very tasty » The flower of the tou-h'ou is described in Nan-
fang -ts'au-mu chuang, l,2^ It is there said that it stops flatulency and dispels phlegm, it has
also the property of increasing the strength of wine. In A. D. 281 a basket of these flowers was 25
brought the Emperor from Tongking. He found out by experimenting with them that they
really possessed the properties attributed to them. Tung-si-yang-k'au, 3,5^ mentions red (^r)
pai-tou-k'ou among the products of Hia-kiang in Java.
27.
PEPPER (1^ #1).
Hu-tsiau conies from the following places in Sho-p'o: Su-ki-tan, Ta-pan,
Pai-hua-yiian, Ma-tung, and Jung-ya-lu; but the pepper coming from Sin-t'o
iMx ^) 's the best; the Ta-pan variety takes the second place.
Pepper grows in the uncultivated wilds, and the villages in the country
the Chinese grape. The natives grow it on frames made of bamboo 35
or other wood the flower opens, and in the fourth moon the fruit
forms\
The flower resembles a fong-wei (^ ^ or a «phoemx-tail»), and is
blue (and) red in colour. The grains are gathered in the fifth moon, dried
in the sun, and stored in godowns, whence they are withdrawn in the 40
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