The Vegetable Research On The Book Of Songs

The Book of Songs is an anthology of poetry in Zhou dynasty, the anthology contains a large number of valuable historical materials about the social life of Xi-zhou and Dong-zhou dynasty. “Book of Songs” has many records on the collection, cultivation and consumption of vegetables. However, these records have not attracted the attention of scholars. At present, the academic circles still lack a clear understanding of the type and quantity of vegetables in Book of Songs.Through careful analysis of the full text of the Book of Songs, I think the cultivation of vegetables in a total of 8 kinds in the Book of Songs. According to the classification of agricultural biology, the 8 kind of vegetables can be divided into the following types. Taproot vegetable:radish; Legume vegetable: soybean; Cucurbitaceous vegetable: melon and gourd; Allium vegetable: leek; Green leafy vegetable: malva; Other vegetable: hemp. The total of wild vegetable in the Book of Songs is 37 species. It can be divided into the following types. Aquatic wild vegetable: Nymphoides peltatum, clover fern, Algae, Lotus, Cattail, water shield, Polygonum hydropiper, Alisma, water celery. Algae wild vegetable: Nostoc commune vauch. Perennial wild vegetable: Plantago asiatica, Seleng wormwood, wormwood, Pteridium aquilinum var. latiusculum, common vetch, Metapress japonica, Rehmannia, Rumex acetosa L., Mallow, Anaphalis, Rumax japonicas, Calystegia sepium, bamboo, Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim, Lycium chincnse Mill., kudzu vine. Taproot wild vegetable: Brassica rapa, Raphanus raphanistrum. Green leafy wild vegetable: Sonchus oleraceus, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Cuscuta chinensis, Astragalus sinicus, Artemisia carvifolia, Chenopodium album, Descurainia, Ranunculus sceleratus.Although Zhou dynasty still maintains the structure of the vegetable which is mainly based on the wild vegetables, supplemented by the vegetables, but, compared with the previous generation, the vegetable cultivation industry has made certain progress. Firstly, government has established some special agencies to take charge of affairs associated with vegetables, such as the management of royal vegetable growing industry by Chang Ren. Secondly, the vegetable growing industry begins to separate from grain production and become a independent industry, the seeds of the vegetable commodity economy began to appear.Vegetables play an important role in the social life of Zhou dynasty. On the one hand, it is an indispensable part to nobility and ordinary people in daily diet. For the nobility, vegetables are indispensable condiment in daily life; For ordinary people, vegetables are important feed for life. On the other hand, Vegetables play an important role in the religious worship, it is an important part in the activities of sacrifice.