Abstract
The introduction and distribution of exotic aromatics in Medieval China has long caught the eye of historians. While the current scholarship is approached in terms of the international trade, religious ritual, social history as well as cultural communication, this study focuses on the formation of aromatics knowledge in Medieval China. In addition, the relationship between hexing (和香) and paozhi (炮炙) is taken into account to illuminate the impact of Chinese local knowledge to the usage of aromatics. Limited by the scarcity of records about the exotic aromatics before the Tang Dynasty, this study takes zhilu (志錄) as the primary sources of analysis. Written by people from Jiangzou (江左) who traveled all the way to Jiaozhou (交州) and Guangzhou (廣州) as ambassadors, officials or pilgrims, most of the zhilu came from the Six Dynasties (六朝), political regimes established in the south of Qinling (秦嶺) and Huaihe (淮河). It had to be admitted that the genuineness of those accounts could not be guaranteed due to their extremely diverse sources. However, the genuineness is not my concern here. Rather, the diversity of zhilu makes this genre suitable to contextualize the formation and construction of exotic aromatics knowlegde. While most of the zhilu had disappeared by the early Tang, efforts to gather information regarding exotic aromatics continued, as revealed in the Xinxiubenciao (新修本草) . Unlike zhilu, which were compiled by individual, the compilation of Xinxiubenciao was sponsored by the state as a result of the reunification of North and South, and thus revealed the extensive knowledge about exotic aromatics. Specifically speaking, Xinxiubenciao created a new paradigm in this genre. On the one hand, it included detailed descriptions concerning the origin of these medical plants. On the other hand, it managed to collect as many native and foreign plants as possible. Nevertheless, constrained by the geographical distance, some of the records on the exotic aromatics remained sketchy. Even though Chen Zang-Qi's (陳藏器) Benciaoshiyi (本草拾遺) added ten more aromatics beside records in the Xinbianbenciao, whose sources based on zhilu instead of personal investigation only reaffirmed the difficulties of taking field investigation of the exotic aromatics. Still, it is worth noting that Chen supplemented Benciaoshiyi with accounts of the efficacy and the prescription of these medicines, indicating the refined understanding held by the local users, experts and scholars in China toward the exotic aromatics through meticulous study on this subject. In addition, the technical development of pharmaceuticals also reflected the contemporary's extensive knowledge of exotic aromatics. For example, the making of hexiangfang (和香方), an aromatics mixed with honey and zaogao (棗膏) for incense, involved the technology of paozhi to produce xiangwan (香丸). Furthermore, the method of hexiang was perfected only through numerous trial-and-error. In conclusion, people in Medieval China studied not only the shape, essence and origin of the exotic aromatics, but also the nature and possible application.