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Longyanpu 龍眼譜

Feb 28, 2022 © Ulrich Theobald

Longyanpu 龍眼譜 is a book on the cultivation of longan trees (Dimocarpus longan) written by Zhao Gunong 趙古農 (fl. 1825), original name Fengyi 鳳宜, courtesy name Shengyi 聖伊 or Chao'a 巢阿, from Panyu 番禺 (today part of Guangzhou, Guangdong).

The brief text was finished in 1825. It explains different names and cultivars of longan trees, as they are known in the Pearl River Delta. Zhao describes how to propagate the plants and how to preserve and consume their fruits. He also quotes from ancient sources and literature, but the arrangement of the text is not consistent. The last part of the book consists of Zhao's own poems and that of his colleagues on the longan fruit.

The Longyanpu was printed in 1829 by the Changguang Shanfang Studio 廠廣山房, together with two other books of Zhao, namely Yanjing 菸經 (on tobacco), and Binlangpu 檳榔譜 (on the betel nut palm, Areca catechu).

Source:
Yang Binlin 楊寶霖 (1995). "Longyanpu 龍眼譜", in Zhongguo nongye baike quanshu 中國農業百科全書, Vol. Nongye lishi 農業歷史卷 (Beijing: Nongye chubanshe), 193.