对《南方草木状》著者及若干有关问题的探索

AN EXPLORATION OF THE AUTHORSHIP OF NAN FANG CAO MU ZHUANG AND SOME RELEVANT PROBLEMS

《南方草木状》是我国记述热带亚热带植物较早、较多、较系统的著作,自传钞流布以后,历来受到人们的重视。但从晚清文廷式(1856—1904)开始,近百年来,一些学者对其成书时间和撰者才提出怀疑。本文就怀疑论者提出的若干问题进行了探索,从多方面列述了大量史料,论证了《南方草木状》为西晋嵇含所撰是可信的,书中的伪、误、脱、衍现象,是辗转传钞过程中产生的,不足以否定其著者不是西晋嵇含。

Nan Fang Cao Mu Zhuang (Vegetation in South China), a rather early, detailed and systematic work recording and describing the plants of China's torrid and semitropic zones, has been receiving great attention since the making and circulation of its private copies. However, Wen Tingshi (1856-1904) in the late Qing Dynasty, and especially scholars during the last hundred years raised doubts as regards its date of completion and authorship. Inquiring into the problems posed by the sceptics and citing from various aspects a large number of historical materials, this paper shows that Ji Han of the Western Jin Dynasty must be its author, and that the forgery, mistakes, missing characters and redundancy in the work, caused by the repeated making of private copies, cannot be used to deny him of its authorship.