方回《治圃雜書（其七）》“Notes on gardening (No. 7)” by Fang Hui (1227-1305)

花有如罌粟，There are flowers such as poppies,

能同橘不遷。Like tangerines, [they] will not move.

茄藤宜硬地，Aubergine vines are better in hard ground;

豆莢惡肥田。Bean pods loathe rich fields.

元勰齊民術，Yuan Xie’s Techniques for the Welfare of the People [1]

夷吾土物篇。And Yiwu’s chapter on soil and produce [2] —

園丁初未讀，What gardeners never read

口訣自相傳。Has been passed down through oral verse.

罌粟移即不活，茄須於硬地穴以種，羊角諸豆必瘦地乃結，園丁見告如此，它尙多。

[Author’s note:] Poppies cannot survive transplanting; aubergines must be sown in holes made in hard ground; beans like the “ram horn” need to grow in lean soil to bare pods. Gardeners told me these, among many other things.

* From Fang Hui (1227-1305), Tongjiang xuji 桐江續集, Yingyin Wenyuange Siku quanshu 景印文淵閣四庫全書 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1987) edition, vol. 1193, 19.12b.

[1] Qimin shu stands for the agricultural work Qimin yaoshu 齊民要術 (Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People) by Jia Sixie 賈思勰 (fl. 530–544). Yuan Xie (d. 508) was a Northern Wei prince whom Jia Sixie used to serve.

[2] Yiwu was the given name of Guan Zhong 管仲 (c. 720-645 BCE), chancellor of the State of Qi during the Spring and Autumn period. Tuwu pian refers to the “Diyuan” 地員 chapter in his work Guanzi, in which different types of soil and suitable crops are discussed.

Album leaf by Huang Yue 黃鉞 (1750-1841)

Image credit: National Palace Museum, Taipei

清黃鉞畫樂郊慶歲　冊　老圃黃花。國立故宮博物院，台北，CC BY 4.0 @ www.npm.gov.tw