博物传统下的分类:《八闽通志》中的鱼类多样性与鉴别方式

Classification Efforts under the Tradition of Natural History:Fish Diversity and Identification Methods in Ba Bin Tong Zhi

本文分析了福建省现存最早的省志《八闽通志》中的58个鱼类条目,研究了其中蕴含的鱼类分类知识体系及其后续发展状况。结果表明古人对鱼类有一定的鉴别模式。该模式主要集中于关注鱼类形态、结构和人类感官等方面,即有形,有色,还有味,兼具实用性和趣味性。形态方面,古人关注鱼类的体形和鱼鳞等多个特征;结构方面,古人关注鲠的多寡或者"耳石"等特征;感官方面,主要关注人类的味觉和视觉体会。形态和结构方面的关注已经涉及鱼类性状的遗传稳定性和鱼类生态学知识。最重要的是,该分类体系亦为后来的水产专著《闽中海错疏》中的分类方法打下了坚实的基础。

This article focuses on the knowledge system of fish taxonomy and its development by analyzing 58 items of fish in “Ba Min Tong Zhi”,which is regarded as the earliest comprehensive record of history on Fujian Province.The results show that the ancients had their own identification pattern,mainly focusing on the aspects of morphology,structure and human senses,etc.This classification is both practical and interesting.Morphologically,the ancients concerned about the fish shape and fish scales and other features;in terms of structure,the ancients concerned about the amount of intramuscular bone or " otolith" and other characteristics;in human senses,the main concern is about taste and visual experience.These findings support the view that people in Ming Dynasty had already started to focus on genetically stable traits and fish ecology in their effort to classify fish.Most importantly,these methods provided the groundwork for the monograph “Min Zhong Hai Cuo Shu”.