Wuqi _( 1789— 1847), with the word "Longzhai" and alias "Jilan" and "Yanloulong". Wuqi _ is different from ordinary officials in Qing Dynasty. He has profound attainments in botany and mineralogy. He has written many books, such as Textual Research on Plant Names and Facts, Textual Research on Plant Names and Facts, Sketch of Plants Collected in Southern Yunnan, Travel Notes of Yunnan, etc., which have high academic value.
Chinese name: Wu
Alias: Wu Qi _
Place of Birth: Gushi County, Henan Province
Date of birth: 1789
Date of death: 1847
Occupation: botanist, mineralogist
Faith: Taoism
Representative Works: Textual Research on Plant Names and Facts
brief introduction
Botanists in Qing Dynasty (1789- 1847). The word "Longzhai" is also called "Ji Shen" and "Jilan". People from Gushi County, Henan Province. The champion in the twenty-second year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty. He has been edited by the Hanlin Academy, studied politics in Jiangxi and Hubei, served as assistant minister of the Ministry of War, and served as governor or governor of Hunan, Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou, Fujian, Shanxi and other provinces. Officials travel all over the country and love plants very much. Everywhere he went, he collected specimens, drew charts and cultivated wild plants in the yard. After seven years, he wrote a book, Textual Research on Plant Names and Facts, with 38 volumes, including 17 14 species and more than 800 drawings. There are many places in the book to correct the mistakes of predecessors, which also plays an important role in the development of ancient Chinese materia medica in China. Before writing this book, it has collected plant herbs from various books it has read, and some of them have been drawn into graphics, which have become a compilation of a long list of plant names and real pictures. These two books occupy an important position in the history of botany development in China. Chinese and foreign scholars attach great importance to it.
_ Pinyin Jùn, homonym in the same county. The word "_" is often simplified to "Jun". Wuqi has a cousin named Wu, who is often confused by later generations.
Wu Qi _ often calls himself "a farmer on the first floor" in his writing and writing, but according to scholars' research, this is not his name, but a modest word.
Wu Qi _, born in a bureaucratic family. His father, Wu _, and his brother, Wu Qiyan, once served as Hanlin, Assistant Minister, Shuntianfu (now Beijing) and other official positions. His father died in the first year of Daoguang (182 1) and his mother died in Daoguang for five years (1825). His family name is Gong Baodi. Wu was one of the "four big families" in Gushi County of Qing Dynasty.
Chi WU _ Eager to learn since childhood. 2/kloc-0 won the first prize at the age of 0 (18 10) and the first prize at the age of 28 (18 17). He has served as editor of the Hanlin Academy, minister of rites, assistant minister of the Ministry of War, etc. Later, he served as the governor of Hubei, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Gansu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Yunnan, Guizhou, Fujian, Shanxi and other provinces, and also served as a senior official such as salt administration, so he was "the official for most of the day."
Wuqi _ is different from ordinary officials in Qing Dynasty. He has profound attainments in botany and mineralogy. He has written many works, such as Textual Research on Plant Names, Textual Research on Plant Names, Sketch of Plants Collected in South Yunnan, and Journey to Yunnan, which have high academic value.
Botanical achievements
The first book he compiled was Textual Research on Plant Names and Facts, with 22 volumes. About 890 thousand words. A total of 838 species of plants were recorded. There are many kinds of cereals, vegetables, mountain grass, stone bark, wet grass, creeping weed, aquatic plants, poisonous weeds, bookworms, wood, etc. 10, each of which has many kinds of plants. Wu Qi _ focused on the morphology, origin and origin of various plants when collecting information about plants in ancient books. Medicinal properties and uses, etc. The book records or extracts some special flower and fruit tree spectra, such as peony spectrum, tung spectrum, chrysanthemum spectrum, jujube spectrum, silkworm book, tea classics, peony spectrum and so on. More than 60 kinds of fruit trees imported from the south and north of China, including foreign countries, were also collected. A large number of botanical documents have been preserved, surpassing any herbaceous works in the past dynasties. It is an important document in botany and pharmacognosy research.
On the basis of completing the textual research on plant names, Wu Qi _ made an in-depth investigation, extensively collected plant specimens, made maps, and wrote the famous Textual Research on Plant Names (1848) in combination with relevant documents of past dynasties. This book was published by Lu Yinggu, governor of Shanxi Province, one year after his death. The book has 38 volumes and records 17 14 kinds of plants, including cereals, vegetables, grasses, grasses (including mosses), aquatic plants (including algae), creeping weeds, aromatic grasses, poisonous weeds, square groups (including basidiomycetes parasitic on some wood), fruits and wood. This is a botanical monograph that records plants and reflects their biological characteristics. This is an important research achievement of Wu Qi in botany.
Most of the plants recorded in Textual Research on Plant Names were observed and visited by Wu Qi, so these descriptions can reflect the morphology and ecological habits of plants, so that readers can identify plant species. For example, he wrote in "Under the Nine Lions Grass": "Nine Lions Grass is produced between the steep slope in Hunan and Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi. Clusters, dozens are two clusters. Attached to the stem opposite to the leaves, such as impatiens, the leaves are slightly wider, dark green and toothless. The stem is as knotted as Achyranthes bidentata. Fine roots and long whiskers. In autumn, two green buds appear between the first sections of the big branches, which are as big as elm money and as big as nails and densely clustered together. Spin out two pink flowers from the bud, take off their stems and insert them into life. " This paper accurately describes the nine-lion grass with slender roots, dark green stems, swollen nodes, opposite leaves, flowers in axillary branches, mostly cymes and red and purple flowers, as well as its habits and propagation methods. He also pointed out that wild sesame is covered with four edges of square stems, which has the characteristics of nodal leaves, flowering around nodes (whorls) and lip-shaped corolla, and has the image description of flower buds and stamens. Textual Research on Plant Names recorded the sporangium of the reproductive organs of ferns for the first time, such as the Sixteen Stone Grass, and recorded that Jian Dan's leaves were "pale and pale, with Venus as dominoes". Venus (sporangium) is a common feature of ferns. The sporangia of ferns such as Venus grass, Jinjiao lotus, flying sword and equisetum fern are also vividly described. Moreover, its drawings are all painted with "Venus". It shows that the morphology of fern sporangium has been deeply observed and understood. Due to Wu Qi's careful observation, textual research and analysis, mistakes in records related to herbal works or plant documents are found, and there are often confusions between foreign objects with the same name and different names with the same thing. And gave corrections and supplements. For example, in Compendium of Materia Medica, Li Shizhen confused Araliaceae and Akebia manshurica as creeping weed, while Wuqi _ separated Akebia manshurica from creeping weed and classified it as mountain grass, which corrected Li Shizhen's mistake. He also criticized Li Shizhen's mistake of moving the winter sunflower, which people didn't like at that time, from the vegetable department to the grass department, pointing out that winter sunflower was the master of all kinds of vegetables, and it was still cultivated and eaten in Jiangxi and Hunan provinces until the Qing Dynasty. Hunan called it cold winter dish and Jiangxi called it leek, so he included winter sunflower in the vegetable department. The above examples show that Wuqi _ broke through the description of herbs in previous dynasties and was limited to the use of sexual taste. It focuses on the description of plant morphology, ecological habits, origin and reproduction mode, which greatly enriches the content of botany.
More than 65,438+0,800 pictures with textual research on plant names and facts are more accurate than previous herbal works. There are pictures in Compendium of Chinese Materia Medica, which began in the fourth year of Tang Xianqing (AD 659), and the original book was lost in the Northern Song Dynasty. In the 15th year of Guangxu (1889), Fu Yunlong copied the remaining "examination papers" of the Tang Dynasty in Japan. Later, Su Song's Materia Medica no longer exists today. The earliest extant "Illustration of Materia Medica" is the "Reconstructing Materia Medica with Political and Historical Evidence" collated by Song Zhu and Cao Cao (collected by Jintai Jiazi (1204) Huimingxuan). Su Song's Illustration of Materia Medica was presented to the imperial court by all walks of life, states, governments, prisons and counties in China. The drawings were written by people, which means that they were compiled by Su Song. Sometimes, medicinal plants with the same name are confused with foreign bodies. Tang Shenwei's "Certificate of Materia Medica" draws pictures of "Illustration of Materia Medica" without checking the real thing. So Su Song's mistake has not been corrected. In the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica also had more than110 pictures, but Li Shizhen's footprints were only in Beijing, Hunan, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui and other places, which could not be compared with Wu Qi's situation in Yu Sheng. Most of the pictures in the textual research of plant names are drawn according to the fresh state of plants, and many of them can reflect the characteristics of plants. For example, twenty-four volumes of poisonous weeds, Araceae is Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae, Araceae. Wuqi _ not only clarified the difference between the two in words; At the same time, seven illustrations are used to draw the similarities and differences of roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits of various plants. These pictures vividly depict the characteristics of Araceae, that is, the spatula around the spicule, which is easy for people to identify. Due to the accuracy of the drawings in Textual Research on Plant Names, the omissions and fallacies in herbal works were supplemented and corrected. For example, the pictures of Pogostemon rugosa highlight the morphological characteristics of opposite leaves, oval or triangular leaves, round base, long tip, serrated edge and terminal inflorescence, while the pictures drawn in Compendium of Materia Medica are quite different and difficult to identify. In Compendium of Materia Medica, it is recorded that cactus grass is wind-tailed grass, but its drawings are not accurate, unlike Pteris multifida. However, the sketch of the wind tail drawn in Textual Research on Plant Names is clear and consistent with the text. Some pictures in the book are drawn according to the natural state of plants when they grow. For example, there are two pictures of Pinellia ternata, one is non-flowering and the other is flowering, which is drawn by observation. Wu Qi _ attaches importance to the important role of graphics in plant species identification. Therefore, the map drawn is fine and accurate, which is of great scientific value to the study of plant species identification.
Textual Research on Plant Names and Facts by Wuqi is a large-scale regional flora after Southern Vegetation. The book contains 17 14 plants, which is more than 1600 plants in Southern Vegetation, and also exceeds previous herbal works. It is a book that records the largest number of plant species in history. It involves a wide range of medicinal plants, such as Artemisia annua, Rehmannia glutinosa, Ophiopogon japonicus, Smilax China, Polygonum multiflorum, Bupleurum, Scrophularia and so on. Linseed, rice, sorghum, millet, soybean, millet and other food crops; Fruit trees and wood plants, such as forest, citrus, coconut, fig, citrus, plum, persimmon, cypress, camphor, poplar, birch, etc. From the perspective of plant ecology, there are aquatic, terrestrial, terrestrial, rocky and other plants. Geographically, these plants are distributed in 19 provinces, especially in Jiangxi, Hunan, Yunnan, Shanxi and Guizhou provinces. The plant resources in remote areas such as Yunnan were recorded for the first time, including about 400 species in Jiangxi, 370 species in Yunnan and 280 species in Hunan.
Judging from the development of botany, it can be divided into several stages. Generally speaking, its approach is mainly from practical to pure science. The first stage is the practical stage with a long history, which can be said to belong to this stage from ancient times to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Botanical knowledge is mainly found in the works of materia medica, agronomy, horticulture and vegetable sparseness in past dynasties. With people's more and more profound understanding of various plants, the Ming and Qing Dynasties began to develop into the second stage, that is, scientific research. The appearance of Wu Qi's Textual Research on Plant Names and Facts marks the beginning of this important stage, that is, the stage from subordination of materia medica to independence, thus occupying an important position in the history of botany in China.
The value of the work
superiority
The first edition of Textual Research on Plant Names was published by Lu Yinggu, the governor of Shanxi Province, the year after the death of Wuqi _ in the 28th year of Qing Daoguang (1848). The later editions were reprinted by Shanxi County Document Bureau in Guangxu 6th year (1880), Yunnan Library 19 15, Shanxi Official Book Company 19 19, and Commercial Press19.
The publication of Textual Research on Plant Names has promoted the research and development of botany and materia medica. The academic circles speak highly of this book. German E. Brelschneider said in the China Botanical Review (1870) that its drawings are "exquisitely carved" and "can accurately identify families and orders", and some can also identify "species". Botanists in Europe and America must look at the textual research of plant names and facts when studying botany in China. Therefore, Bi Schneider also selected eight pictures, such as corn, beam wood, potato, abutilon, Phytolacca acinosa, bergamot, iron fruit tree and coconut, to be re-carved, printed on historical paper and attached to the end of China Botanical Literature Review. The roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits are described with reference to fresh plants, so that people can clearly observe the morphological characteristics of plants. After Meiji Restoration, although Japan advocated learning western science, it still attached great importance to the textual research of plant names and facts with scientific value. In the seventeenth year of Meiji (1884), Japan reprinted it for the first time. Keisuke Ito commented that "it is well-founded to discuss the essence, summarize ancient and modern opinions, analyze similarities and differences, and correct mistakes." The drawings are also well prepared, and those that are suspected to be difficult to distinguish are particularly detailed and accurate. " Japanese Matsumura Renzo compiled Flora Collection, and when Aso Muye wrote Flora Illustrated in Japan, the middle names of most plants were based on the book Textual Research on Plant Names. 19 19, when the Commercial Press printed Textual Research on Plant Names, western European scholars competed for it. The works of B. Laufer, F. D. Merrill and E. H. Walker in the United States also cite and emphasize the textual research on plant names and facts. Many national libraries in the world collect this book. The above is enough to explain the influence of textual research on plant names on the world academic circles. In China, it not only lays a foundation for the research of medicinal plants and pharmacognosy, but also has great significance for the research of plant taxonomy in China. Many modern plant taxonomists often refer to it when considering the middle name of plants. For example, botanists Pei Jian and Zhou Taiyan cited more than 70 kinds of plants in the textual research of plant names when compiling the Flora of Chinese Medicinal Plants. In addition to determining the names of families, genera and even species of some plants according to the drawings in this book, many Chinese names of plants are also based on this book. At present, there are many family names and genus names in the research of plant classification in China. Such as Acanthaceae (a 1 angioceae), Polypodiaceae, Daturaceae, Hedyotis, Panicum (mo 1 UGI naceae) and Celastrus. And Orozylonvent. Tung Jatropha, Eragrostis, Prunus mume, Dianthus, Begonia. And so on.
deficient
There are also some shortcomings and defects in the textual research of plant names and facts. Due to the limitation of the times, Wu Qi's thought did not break away from the feudal literati class, which was reflected in his works. When he describes the shape, taste and use of plants, he often adds some platitudes to give play to his political views and the truth of self-cultivation, which have nothing to do with the plants themselves. There are also some mistakes in understanding some plants, such as mistaking tripterygium wilfordii of Celastraceae for weeds of Magnoliaceae; Mistaken Tiger Claw of Polygonaceae as Dioscorea zingiberensis of Ranunculaceae. Others are plants, but he divides them into two categories; Even if it is a project with the same name, it is repeated before and after. Although plants can be identified according to most of the pictures in this book, some pictures are transferred from books such as Zheng Ben Cao, Disaster Relief Ben Cao and Compendium of Materia Medica, and have not been verified. In terms of plant species, there are also some common plant species, such as bamboo leaves, roots, curved grass, apples, etc., which are not included in the book. This is related to the limited scientific level at that time, the early death of the author and the publication of the school magazine by people who don't know botany. However, the shortcomings do not hide that the achievements in botany are still major. Wu Qi _ "Textual Research on Plant Names and Facts" is a monograph with world influence.
Mineralogical achievements
brief introduction
In addition to his contribution to botany, Wu Qi _ also conducted in-depth investigation and research on minerals and wrote a mining monograph, Brief Introduction to Mining Plants in Southern Yunnan. This book was compiled by him and by Xu Jinsheng (Dongchuan magistrate). According to the preface of Yan's Examination of Copper Administration in Yunnan in Qing Dynasty, this book was written in the 24th to 25th year of Daoguang (1844- 1845). This paper mainly introduces a book about Dongchuan copper mine and other minerals in Yunnan. This book is divided into two volumes. The first volume is Tool Sketch of Yunnan Mining Factory. Including 20 tool drawings, Yunnan mine brief table, the first drawing, the second hole, the third hole, the fourth mine, the fifth furnace, the sixth furnace, the seventh cover and the eighth use. Attached to the back of the book are Song Dynasty's Heavenly Creations (excerpted from Volume 14 of Hardware), Wang Song's Mining and Refining Records of Mining Plants, Ni Shenshu's Mining and Refining Records of Copper Mines, and Copper Policy Quanshu's Consultation of Various Plants. The next volume is called "Brief Table of Mining Plants in South Yunnan", which contains the map of the whole province 1 sheet and the map of the government and state government departments/sheet 2 1 sheet. The second volume is a brief table of Yunnan mining industry, and the second volume is divided into various minerals and transportation.
Before Wuqi (1799) in the fourth year of Jiaqing, Tan Cui wrote eight books about Yunnan mining plants and eight volumes of notes about copper policy. 100 years later, there are Yan's Textual Research on Yunnan Copper and Yan's Textual Research on Yunnan Copper. Tan Cui and Zhou Zhongyue's works only record copper mines. Although Tancui involves other minerals, it is very brief. The scientific names of minerals and minerals recorded in the newly revised Yunnan Tongzhi Draft are not consistent with the local appellations at that time. Therefore, the origin, occurrence, tools used in prospecting, mining, ore washing, tunnel excavation and main equipment in Yunnan's copper, silver, gold, tin, lead, iron and other minerals from Kangxi to Daoguang years in the Qing Dynasty are recorded in detail, among which Wu Qi's "Brief Map of Mines in South Yunnan" is the most comprehensive. Of course, it mainly introduces copper mines. Wu Qi recorded the distribution of copper mines in Yunnan, the situation of copper mines and the prospecting and mining technology in detail in the Map of Southern Yunnan Mines.
Regarding the distribution of copper mines, there are 33 factories from Wanbao Factory in Yimen County to Qinglong Factory in Yuanjiang County. Among them, Tangdan, Zi Long and Ningtai are the largest copper factories with the highest output. Tangdan Factory was mined in the Ming Dynasty, and the most copper production was at the beginning of Qianlong. There are Kowloon Green Factory, Guanyinshan Factory and Jubaoshan Factory. Yunnan Dongchuan Copper Mine, one of the six major copper mines being mined in China, is still taking the old cave in Tangdan as the center for deep mining. Dull Copper Factory, located in the west of Huize County, is located in the snow-capped mountains and is also under the jurisdiction of Dongchuan Magistrate. It once belonged to Sichuan and was mined when it was changed to Yunnan in the fourth year of Yongzheng (1726). There are Longbaoshan Factory, Xinglong Factory and Duobao Factory.
Factory. At that time, the copper from Tangdan Factory and Dulong Factory was shipped to Beijing. Ningtai Factory, located 520 miles northeast of Shunning, was originally a small factory, followed by Xiao Xie Factory, Lutang Factory and Baotai Mountain in Yu Yongchang. It is rich in mineral resources and is still called Ningtai Factory. During the Qianlong period (1736- 1795), the annual output of the above three copper factories, Tangdan, Gulong and Ningtai, was above 1795, which was beyond the reach of other factories at that time. Yunnan produces not only copper, but also silver, gold, tin, lead, iron and other minerals. Most of the gold and silver mines in Yunnan were mined after four years of Qianlong (1739), and a few mines discovered gold and silver while mining copper. These are not found in other books or are very brief, but there are detailed records in the Map of Southern Yunnan Mines, including Jinchang No.4 Factory, Tin No.1 Factory, Lead No.4 Factory and Silver No.25 Factory.
Engineering state
About the characteristics of copper deposits, Yunnan copper recorded in the "South Yunnan Mining Factory Map". It belongs to the "Kangdian Axis" copper mine area, with wide distribution, large scale and many types of copper deposits. Yunnan Dongchuan copper deposit is a layered copper deposit, usually called "Dongchuan type", which is related to marine deposits. According to the book, Tangdan Copper Mine was an old mine with factories in Ming Dynasty, and it flourished during the Qianlong period. Tangdan copper deposit is characterized by lentil-shaped ore body, which is 4000 meters long. The thickest part is 450 meters; Small ones are tens of meters long and several meters thick. The surrounding rock of Tangdan mining area is generally broken, the whole lentil body is completely mineralized, and the maximum thickness of large ore body exceeds 100 m, which is what Ni Shenshu and Wu Daya call "Tangkuang" or "Tangkuang". The ore structure is dominated by reticular veinlets, and massive porphyrite (that is, Zijin tin foil) appears.
The ore composition of Dongchuan copper mine is mainly chalcocite (green tin tin), bornite (purple tin) and chalcopyrite (_ stone, gold foil). Because of the low content of pyrite, it is generally not easy to produce strong oxidation. In addition, the surrounding rock is carbonate rock, and copper sulfate chloride solution is easy to react with carbonate to produce malachite (green ore) and azurite (Zeng Qing), which is an unfavorable factor for secondary enrichment. Nevertheless, after a long geological period, Dongchuan copper mine formed a secondary sulfide zone with deep depth and poor enrichment. Tangdan copper mine is characterized by extremely favorable oxidation structural conditions and serious surrounding rock crushing. As a result, an oxidation zone as deep as 600 meters was formed. The ore grade in the oxidation enrichment zone or secondary sulfide enrichment zone in copper deposits is very high. Has important industrial value. For example, the enrichment degree of oxidation zone and secondary sulfide enrichment zone in Dongchuan copper mine is not high, but some are as deep as hundreds of meters. In ancient times, a large number of high-grade ores, such as dark green (malachite, etc. ) and tin (sub-bright copper ore and secondary porphyry ore, etc. ), which occur in the oxidation zone and the secondary sulfide enrichment zone respectively, is the main reason why Dongchuan-type copper mine once flourished in the mining development history of China.
There are records about Yunnan copper mines in the Map of Southern Yunnan Mines. For example, the best ore is called "Zilai Copper", which is a natural metal copper with ten slip components (copper content 100%). The second is the ore to be refined. The top grade is what Yunnan people call "penetrating ore", that is, "clean ore", which is also called "gunpowder crisp". It is dark black in color and crisp in texture, and its composition can reach more than 90% (including more than 90% copper). This is a rare ore. There are many kinds of ores belonging to "tin _", among which "silver _" and "purple tin _" have higher copper content. The book also records minerals with low copper content, such as oil tin, blue tin and rotten tin. The minerals belonging to "green mine" have many names such as "dark green", "yellow fat green" and "bean green green", and the copper content is also very high. It basically reflects the actual situation of ore classification and occurrence of some large copper mines in Yunnan.
The Mining Technology of Yunnan Copper Mine in Qing Dynasty is recorded in the Map of Southern Yunnan Mining Factory. Minerals in the shallow crust can be mined in the open pit; For deep ore, it is necessary to dig tunnels and carry out systematic mountain engineering. Wu Qi _ cited Ni Shenshu's "Copper Mining and Copper Smelting" said that if you shovel grass and dig a few feet deep, you will get a piece of ore called "turf mine" (also called chicken claw mine). Another kind of mine is called "Jiwo Mine", which is as easy to be mined as turf. The ore forms nests, and each pit is only a few liters. "Turf Mine" and "Jiwo Mine" are both weathered residual mines and can be mined in the open air. The book also said: The layman on the riverside is called "Benjiang Mine", and the inside is called "Jinshan Mine". Where the winding folk art is located, its downward trend is called "Mopan Mine", which is recoverable, but floods will occur in a few years. The above-mentioned Benjiang mine, Jinshan mine and Mopan mine are all deep-buried copper bodies, but they are given different names according to their shapes and spatial positions. It is necessary to dig a tunnel before mining ore. The tools used for digging tunnels and washing include awnings, seats, bellows, wind cabinets, swing ladders, silver stove covers, ventilation stoves, axes, rattan handles, chisels, rough wood, wooden handles, rough iron, lamps, bamboo dragons, small bellows, doorsills, dustpans, clips, wooden poles, irons, iron bumpers, etc. All drawings are attached. The main equipment, such as lighting and ventilation, in the mining merger in jiaozi has not made obvious progress compared with the previous generation.
Scientific thoughts and research methods
Wu Qi's scientific thought is mainly reflected in his scientific research methods. If we analyze his thinking method of reading and studying, it is not difficult to see that Wu Qi _' s great achievements are by no means accidental.
Attach importance to practice
Chi WU attaches great importance to practice. For example, in the process of sorting out plant names and factual research, he made full use of the conditions of going to various places to observe various plants on the spot, collect specimens, draw maps and describe their morphology and growth. Sometimes because of the season, a specimen can't come at last, and after many years, I'm still worried. For example, he said, "I've been cooking in the field in winter, and I haven't gained much after searching." Volume 22 It is difficult to record that Wuqi _ did not come from central Hunan, but was later found in Yunnan. Wuqi _ also transplanted some wild herbs into flowerpots to observe their morphology and living habits. His serious attitude of proceeding from reality was rare among scholars at that time. Wu Qi _ fully realized the source of scientific knowledge through practice, and also realized the role of working people at the bottom of society in scientific practice, such as "herding", "old nursery", "old farmer" and "sharing the same stage" (officials). His masterpiece "Textual Research on Plant Names and Facts" records many working people's experiences and rich plant knowledge. For example, he learned from Mu Shu that there are two kinds of "asylum": strong and weak. Fruity beans are edible, but fruity stems and leaves are inedible; Turnip and radish belong to Cruciferae, and they are classified into one category in Bielu of Famous Doctors. Later, some people took root in Ye Qiang. Wuqi _ said, I don't know his mistakes in Shu Ming, why not ask Old Nursery?
Attach importance to past experience
Wu Qi _ also attaches great importance to the experience of predecessors and is good at learning from books. After he was admitted as a scholar from 18 17, he read a lot of books because he held various official positions. In the textual research of plant names and facts, more than 800 kinds of documents about plants in books from ancient times to that time were cited. On the other hand, he was cautious when absorbing the knowledge of his predecessors. First, it is reflected in attaching importance to the textual research and identification of documents, and not blindly trusting; The second is to pay attention to the research methods of field investigation, and correct and supplement the shortcomings in ancient books through our own investigation and research, so as to integrate book knowledge with practice. For example, in "Licorice Stripes", he pointed out the mistake recorded by Guo Jingchun in his note "Erya", that is, licorice was covered with leaves and turned yellow. He also said that its grass doesn't crawl, unlike lotus and rehmannia. Related mistakes are all rumors or biographical mistakes.
For the problems that are still unclear after on-the-spot observation, interview and research according to the literature records, we must never make subjective guesses and jump to conclusions. Therefore, in the textual research of plant names and facts, there are pictures without words or names, or only pictures without words. Or many objects are not annotated. This is also the embodiment of his thought of "believing in doubt" and not thinking. In addition, when quoting documents, the author does not separate the meaning of the original, but is faithful to the original of ancient documents. Record it all and indicate the source. All these reflect the rigor of Wu Qi's research methods. In a word, Wuqi _ has made great achievements in botany and mining, which is inseparable from his scientific attitude. Wuqi _ deserves to be a famous scientist in19th century.