摘要
十七、十八世紀，人參成為東亞醫學實踐中廣受追捧的補藥與全球貿易網絡中的重要商品，中、日、歐等地的醫家、本草學家與博物學家對其展開了不同角度的探索，而圖像則構成了知識生產與流通中的關鍵要素。本文以圖像為中心，嘗試考察人參知識在全球流傳過程中被表現、修改與固定的歷史過程。中國本草從宋代流傳的四幅本草圖中脫胎出兩種繪圖模式：一種以潞州人參圖為參照對象，輔以細節的修訂；一種以商品為描繪對象，呈現市場中的知識。江戶時代早期，日本本草學家主要通過中國本草書籍瞭解人參的植物形態；享保改革後，由於人參引種的需求，學者開始通過實地觀察經驗來繪製人參圖，但中國本草書中「三椏五葉」的記載仍廣泛影響了人參品種的確認與圖像呈現方式。歐洲博物學家則通過中文本草書和在日本的實地調查獲取了多種人參圖，在紛繁歧互的訊息中探尋人參的典型形態。在這一複雜的歷史過程中，圖像不僅是知識傳播的載體，更是知識生產的媒介。相較於歐洲對於圖像典範性和細節描繪的追求，東亞的人參繪圖更關注椏葉、根形與蘆頭等代表性的特點。這一製圖策略的差異也體現了近世東西方在認知層面的分流。在知識與圖像的全球傳播過程中，人參的名實也產生了重要變化。多種原本歸於「人參」、ginseng或ninzin之下的植物品類被逐步排除出該品名之外，最終在全球知識互動之中五加科的Panax ginseng C.A.Mey. 被固定為東亞唯一的真品人參。
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, ginseng emerged as a highly sought-after tonic in East Asian medical practices and a significant commodity in global trade. Physicians, herbalists, and naturalists from China, Japan, and Europe explored ginseng from various perspectives, with images playing a crucial role in the production and circulation of knowledge. By focusing on these images, the present article explores the historical processes through which knowledge of ginseng was represented, modified, and codified during its global circulation. In China, two distinct iconographic conventions developed from four herbal illustrations originating in the official pharmacopeia of the Song dynasty: one referenced the illustration of Luzhou 潞州 ginseng, complemented by detailed revisions; the other focused on the depiction of ginseng as a commodity, reflecting knowledge in the marketplace. In early Edo Japan, scholars primarily learned about the plant morphology of ginseng through Chinese works of materia medica. However, after the Kyōhō reforms, the demand for ginseng domestication led scholars to begin depicting ginseng through firsthand observations. Nevertheless, the textual descriptions of “three branches and five leaves” 三椏五葉 from Chinese materia medica continued to influence both the identification of ginseng varieties and the ways in which they were illustrated. European naturalists obtained various ginseng images through both Chinese materia medica and field investigations in Japan, seeking to uncover the typical forms of ginseng amidst an overwhelming array of conflicting information. Within this complex historical process, images served not only as vehicles for knowledge transmission but also as agents for knowledge production. While images in European natural history developed a realistic style that represented the typical form of plants by detailing all necessary traits, ginseng images in East Asia tended to foreground several representative characteristics, such as branch-leaf arrangement, root shape, and the rhizome head. This difference in pictorial strategies reveals an epistemic divergence in the natural history between East and West. As knowledge and images spread globally, significant changes occurred in the identification and understanding of ginseng. Various plant species originally classified under the names “renshen” 人參, “ginseng,” or “ninzin” were gradually excluded from these designations, with Panax ginseng C.A.Mey. of the Araliaceae family eventually being established as the sole, true ginseng in East Asia.
關鍵詞
人參 圖像 三椏五葉 知識生產 全球史
ginseng; image; three branches and five leaves; knowledge production; global history