唐代鬱金考述

A Study of“Yujin”鬱金(Crocus sativus) in the Tang Dynasty

唐代外來的香藥中，「鬱金」占了相當重要的地位，這反映在兩方面：一是現存唐代文獻中，各國進貢的香藥以「鬱金」的紀錄最多；二是《新唐書》〈地理志〉所記西域諸國的香藥，以「鬱金」產地的記載最詳。但由於唐代的「鬱金」只能取自異域，非常罕見，價格亦相當昂貴，故中國文獻的紀錄不多，而且還存有不清晰甚至衝突，致使論者較難梳理各項記載的差異。
本文先通過比對現今《植物志》與傳統文獻有關「鬱金」的表述，提出唐人於「鬱金」的表述所以異於舊有的文獻，乃在於唐人對「鬱金」有了更準確的認識；本文復通過整理波斯、阿拉伯等地醫藥典籍對「鬱金」的記載，進一步解 「鬱金」在唐代出現的場域和相關的用例。

“Yujin” 鬱金 (Crocus sativus) was considerably important among the foreign aromatic medicines seen in the Tang dynasty, a fact which can be justified in two respects: looking at extant Tang classical literature, “yujin” is the most recorded of all medicines given as tribute by various states; secondly, among the foreign aromatic medicines recorded in the New Book of Tang 新唐書, the origins of “yujin” is most detailed. During the Tang dynasty, however, “yujin” could only be obtained through foreign import, making it a rare and expensive good, and therefore, only a few works of Chinese literature concern the plant. Those which in fact mention “yujin” are often obscure, or even in contradiction with one another, resulting in difficulties for posterity to compare and organize them.
By comparing expressions regarding “yujin” between extant classical literature and present-day information, the present paper is dedicated to establishing an account for the divergence in descriptions of “yujin” between texts originating from the Tang and those from earlier times. The primary reason for this divergence is that people in the Tang dynasty largely had better and more accurate knowledge of the plant. Furthermore, through the organization of records of “yujin” found in ancient Persian and Arabic medical texts, we can further advance our understanding of the domains in which “yujin” usually appears and their related examples.