释唐代“芝田”

An Interpretation on the“Zhitian”in the Tang Dynasty

有人根据新旧《唐书》中著录的《种芝经》和唐诗中的"芝田",认为唐代已有灵芝栽培技术。《种芝经》内容虽已不存,但从性质和年代相近的文献《种芝草法》和《太上灵宝芝草品》来看,文中不认为《种芝经》可以被视作唐代的灵芝栽培专著。而唐诗中的"芝田"一词实际上典出曹植的《洛神赋》,本义为仙人种芝草处,在唐诗中有时指虚渺的仙人种灵芝之田,有时指现实生活中的农家良田,但并无人工栽培灵芝之田的意思。加之唐代发展出的三种栽培大型真菌的技术均与灵芝无关,因此实际上唐代并未发展出人工栽培灵芝的技术。

Based on the book A Classic of Cultivating Zhi which is recorded in the new and old History of the Tang Dynasty and the term＂Zhitian＂which is frequently mentioned in the poems of the Tang dynasty,someone considered that the method of cultivating Lingzhi had been developed in the Tang dynasty.The content of A Classic of Cultivating Zhi is lost,but in terms of two similar works in type and date： The Method of Cultivating Zhi and A Treatise of Zhi of the Supreme Numinous Treasure,I do not think it can be regarded as a monograph of the Tang dynasty on the cultivation of Lingzhi.Besides,the term＂Zhitian＂in the poems of the Tang dynasty actually originates from Cao Zhi’s The Fu of Luoshen,which originally means the place for celestial beings to cultivate Zhi.In the poems of the Tang Dynasty,＂Zhitian＂doesn’t mean the real field of artificially cultivated Zhi.It sometimes refers to the unreal place for celestial beings to cultivate Zhi,sometimes refers to the real field cultivated by common people.Furthermore,the three methods of cultivating macrofungi developed in the Tang Dynasty have no relationship with Lingzhi;therefore the method of cultivating Lingzhi did not occurr in the Tang Dynasty.