A note on the Syriac and Persian sources of the pharmacological section of the Yŏuyang zazŭ

Abstract

This article deals with the Syriac and Persian words recorded in Chinese transcription in the botanical section of the Yŏuyáng zázŭ and the sources of Duàn Chéngshì’s informants. A Fúlín (= Sogdian Frōm = Ῥῶμη) monk cited by Duàn could be the informant or one of the informants on Persian and Syriac (“Fúlín name”) plant names. His sources probably were Greek-Syriac-Arabic-Persian vocabularies used in Central Asia such as those described by Al-Bīrūnī in his Book on Pharmacy. For the first time is presented a complete list of all the Syriac words recorded in the botanical section with Middle Chinese transcription and bibliographical notes.