Xiang Cheng, Volume 06: Incense Grades Six · Agastache · Nardostachys
Agastache · Nardostachys — Original text included (compiled and edited), with vernacular translation and annotations.
Volume 06 · Incense Grades Six · Agastache · Nardostachys
Original Text (Compiled and Edited)
"Bencao": Agastache tastes sweet and warm; it treats cholera and heart pain, dispels foul qi, and comes from Jiaozhi and Jiuzhen. Nardostachys comes from Liangzhou and Mount Min; it tastes sweet and warm, treats foul qi and sudden abdominal pain, and its decoction perfumes the body when bathing.
Vernacular Translation and Annotation
Agastache tastes sweet and warm, comes from Jiaozhi, treats cholera and dispels foul qi; nardostachys comes from Liangzhou, treats foul qi and abdominal pain, and can be decocted for bathing the body to make it fragrant. Both are examples of the shared origin of incense and medicine.
Annotations
- Jiaozhi: present-day northern Vietnam
- Liangzhou: present-day Wuwei, Gansu
- Perfume the body when bathing: decoct for bathing to produce fragrance
Editorial Notes · Editions and Compilation Notes
Edition basis:The extant transmission of Xiang Cheng traces back to the Ming Chongzhen-era printed edition; currently known are the Wenyuan Pavilion Siku Quanshu edition, the Siku Huiyao edition, and various Qing manuscript copies. This compilation uses the commonly circulated modern collated edition as its base text, with reference to the Siku edition.
Collation for this volume:Records huoxiang (patchouli), gansong (nardostachys), chuanxiong, etc.; gansong is also called "gansong xiang," and the common designation is followed here.
Photocopy comparison:The "original text" on this page is a collated compilation (punctuated and paragraphed according to modern conventions), not a photocopy of the original book; for character-by-character collation, please consult authoritative public-domain editions:Wikisource full text of the Siku Quanshu edition of Xiang Cheng (twenty-eight volumes)、Wikimedia Commons photocopy scans of Xiang Cheng (PDFs including the National Library of China copy). This site does not fabricate ancient book layouts, and therefore substitutes links to authoritative public-domain photocopies.