秦汉时期匈奴族提取植物色素技术考略

A BRIEF RESEARCH ON THE TECHNIQUE OF EXTRACTING PLANT PIGMENT BY THE HUNS DURING THE QIN-HAN PERIOD

本文依据中国史籍记载下来的一首匈奴歌谣,结合当时的民族习俗和有关的历史文献进行考辨,论证了在两千多年前的秦汉时期,中国北方和西北方的少数民族,尤其是匈奴族,已经掌握了提取植物色素的技术。该项技术使用了物理和化学方法,并包含了初步的酸碱知识。经过文化交流,曾对中原地区的染色业产生过巨大的促进作用。

Based on a Hun folk song preserved in Chinese historical records and in the light of the custom of the Hun nationality and relevant historical documents, this article expounds and proves that over 2,000 years ago during the Qin-Han period the minority nationalities in the north and northwest of China, the Huns in particular, already grasped the technique of extracting plant pigment. The technique in question made use of physical and chemical methods and involved a preliminary knowledge of acid-base. Through cultural exchange, it played the important role of greatly promoting the dyeing industry of the Central Plains.