Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Orang Iran di Tiongkok" in Indonesian language version.
Probably by the 7th century Persians had joined with Arabs to create the foreign emporium on the Grand Canal at Yangchou mentioned by the New T'ang History. The same source records a disturbance there in 760 in which a thousand of the merchants were killed.. . .Some Persian families residing at the Chinese capital had adopted the surname Li. Their riches were proverbial, so that the idea of a "poor Persian" could be listed as a paradox.. .As late as the 10th century Li Hsien, the descendant of a Persian family which had settled in China under the Sui, composed a "Pharmacopoeia of foreign drugs" (Hai yao pen ts'ao) and was known as a Taoist adept with special skill in arsenical medicines.
The Haiyao bencao [Bencao of overseas drugs], compiled by Li Xun (fl. 923), survives only in reconstructions from later texts in which it was cited. Li Xun's compendium was apparently devoted entirely to drugs imported from India and Persia, a focus that is reflected in the few surviving drug descriptions from the texts. Li Xun's Persian ancestry and the fact that his family ran a business selling aromatic drugs probably stirred his interest in foreign materia medica. The text itself is notable not simply for its treatments of the medicinal uses of exotica.
One of the sources of such names, widely cited in the discussion of animals because many of the shellfish in the Bencao hailed from the "South Seas" and other foreign contexts, was Li Xun, the Chinese-born Persian discussed earlier whose family made a living by selling fragrant herbs. His Haiyao bencao recorded many drugs of foreign origin. These objects were of particular import to Li Shizhen, as drugs from remote regions were considered especially valuable in the Ming medical marketplace.
In the Former Shu State, in the capital of Chhengtu, between the years +919 and +925, one could have met at the court of the reigning house of Wang a remarkable girl named Li Shun-Hsien3, ornamenting the age by her poetic talent no less than her beauty. Together with her two brothers, the younger Li Hsien4 and the elder Li Hsiin5, she came of a family of Persian origin which had settled in West China about + 88o,b acquiring wealth and renown as ship-owners and merchants in the spice trade. c Li Hsien was a student of perfumes and their distilled attars as well as a merchant,d but he also worked on Taoist alchemy and investigated the actions of inorganic medicaments. e The one who took up the brush was Li Hsiin, for about +923 he produced his Hai Tao Pen Tshao6 (Materia Medico of the Countries beyond the Seas )/ study of 12 1 plants and animals and their products, nearly all foreign, with at least 15 completely new introductions.8 His work as a naturalist was highly regarded by subsequent scholars, and often quoted in the later pandects.11 Li Hsiin was interested in all 'overseas' drugs, whether of the Arabic and Persian culture-areas or of East Indian and Malayo-Indonesian origin.
The family was fleeing from the rebellion of Huang Chhao in +878, cf. Vol. i, p. 216. Their grandfather may well have been the Persian incense merchant Li Su-Sha', whose dates would be between +820 and +840.
The best biography of Li Hsiin and his brother and sister is that by Lo Hsiang- Lin (4, 5). From some of the entries in his book, one can see that Li Hsiin, although by origin a Nestorian Christian, acquired a very Taoist belief in medicines which would promote longevity and material immortality. He wrote much poetry in the Northern Sung style. His brother, Li Hsien, was even more Taoist, and had much regard as an adept, engaging in the preparation of chhiu shih (秋石) (steroid sex hormones from urine, cf. Vol. 5, pt 5, pp. 311 ff.).
The drug and herb traders consisted mainly of Persian merchants. One of them was a naturalized Chinese merchant of Persian origin called Li Susha, who was known for his wealth and his offering of the valuable aromatic drug chen xiang ting zi to Emperor Jingzong of the Tang Dynasty in 824. Later, in the turbulent era of the Five Dynasties, more people became known for their dealings in drugs or
At least from the tenth to the twelfth century, Persian women were to be found in Canton, in the former period observed among the inmates of the harem of Liu Ch'ang, Emperor of Southern Han,'2 and in the latter seen as typically wearing great numbers of earrings and cursed with quarrelsome dispositions.
At least from the tenth to the twelfth century, Persian women were to be found in Canton, in the former period observed among the inmates of the harem of Liu Ch'ang, Emperor of Southern Han,'2 and in the latter seen as typically wearing great numbers of earrings and cursed with quarrelsome dispositions.
17) Concerning the Po-sm-fu $L $f M, ie. the Persian women, Chttang Ch'o 3£$# towards the beginning of the South Sung, in his Chi-lei-pien WM, says: "The Po- ssu-fu at Kuang-chou make holes all round their ears. There are some who wear more than twenty ear-rings." M jW Hfc Sf £w. ... The ear-rings were much in fashion among the Persians in the reign of Sasan ( Spiegee, Erani^e/ie Alterthumskunde, Bd. Ill, s. 659), and after the conquest of the Saracens, the Moslem ladies had a still stronger passion for them (Hughes, Dictionary of Islam, p. 102).Original from the University of Michigan.
and did not came out to see governmental business." [IF1] §§71#il5i$S£$l?;£c 3£ (2L« jfe3B,«/S+ a, SiaitB:*). In the Ch'ing-i-lu m »»(ed. of ttl&fFSSO attributed to T'AO Ku ft ft towards the beginning of the North Sung era, we have a minute description of Liu Chang's licentious conduct with the Po-ssu woman, but decency would forbid as to give quotations from the book.Original from the University of Michigan.
During his reign the number of castrati at the palace increased to about 5 000. Great power was also given to a palace beauty named Liu Ch'iung- hsien JäP) 3^ iA*, and especially to a female shaman Fan Hu-tzu ^ fcfi 3~, who claimed to. . .But Liu was free to spend his days with the Persian girls in his harem, and to oversee the decoration of his splendid new palaces with costly substances. It is said that he used 3 000 taels of silver in making a single column of the ceremonial hall named Wan-cheng tien
63 At the foreign quarter, there lived of course many foreign women, and they were called by the Chinese Po-ssu-fu 波斯婦 (lit. Persian women),1'3 perhaps because most of them came from near the Persian Gulf.18) During the Five Dynasties 五代 (907-959), Liu Chang 劉鋹, king of the Nan-han 南漢, had in his harem a young Persian woman, whom he doted upon so muchOriginal from the University of Michigan
L'expression trouvait son origine sous le règne de Liu Chang (958-971), ultime souverain des Han du sud (917-971), un des États apparus dans la Chine du nord après la chute des Tang, avant que les Song ne réalisent pour leur propre... Liu Chang se rallia au nouveau pouvoir qui lui conféra le titre de Marquis de la Bienveillante Amnistie 17. Son règne a laissé le souvenir de ses nombreuses dépravations. S'en remettant aux eunuques pour gouverner, il prenait plaisir à assister aux ébats de jeunes personnes entièrement dévêtues. Il avait pour favorite une Persane de seize ans, à la peau mate et aux formes opulentes, d'une extrême sensualité qu'il avait lui-même surnommée « Meizhu » (« Jolie Truie »). Il déambulait en sa compagnie parmi les couples s'ébattant dans les jardins du palais, spectacle baptisé « corps en duo », on rapporte qu'il aimait voir la Persanne livrée à d'autres partenaires 18.Original from the University of Michigan
Liu Chang, originally named Jixing, had been invested Prince of Wei. . .Because court affairs were monopolized by Gong Chengshu and cohort, Liu Chang in the inner palace could play his debauched games with female attendants, including a Persian. He never again emerged to inquire of state affairs
22) In the Wu-tai-shih-cM 2.^ jfc,12, we read, "Liu Chang then with his court- ladies and Po-ssu woman, indulged in amorous affiurs in the harem The names of Po-li i£ >f Il ( = P'o-li JSiflJ) andOriginal from the University of Michigan
泉福二州婦人轎子則用金漆雇婦人以荷福州以為肩擎至他男子則不肻肩也廣州波斯婦繞耳皆穿穴帶環有二十餘枚者家家以篾為門人食㯽榔唾地如血北人嘲之曰人人皆唾血家家盡篾門又婦人㐫悍喜鬬訟雖遭刑責而不畏恥寢陋尤甚豈秀美之氣中於緑珠而已邪
廣州波斯婦繞耳皆穿穴𢃄環有二十餘枚者家家以篾為門人食梹榔唾地如血北人嘲之曰人人皆吐血家家盡篾門又婦女凶悍喜闘訟雖SKchar刑責而不畏恥寢陋尤甚豈秀美之氣鍾於緑珠而已耶
泉福二州婦人轎子則用金漆雇婦人以荷福州以為肩擎至他男子則不肻肩也廣州波斯婦繞耳皆穿穴帶環有二十餘枚者家家以篾為門人食㯽榔唾地如血北人嘲之曰人人皆唾血家家盡篾門又婦人㐫悍喜鬬訟雖遭刑責而不畏恥寢陋尤甚豈秀美之氣中於緑珠而已邪
廣州雜俗，婦人強，男子弱。婦人十八九，戴烏絲髻，衣皂半臂，謂之「遊街背子」。樂府有「菩薩蠻」，不知何物，在廣中見呼蕃婦為「菩薩蠻」，因識之。
The best biography of Li Hsiin and his brother and sister is that by Lo Hsiang- Lin (4, 5). From some of the entries in his book, one can see that Li Hsiin, although by origin a Nestorian Christian, acquired a very Taoist belief in medicines which would promote longevity and material immortality. He wrote much poetry in the Northern Sung style. His brother, Li Hsien, was even more Taoist, and had much regard as an adept, engaging in the preparation of chhiu shih (秋石) (steroid sex hormones from urine, cf. Vol. 5, pt 5, pp. 311 ff.).
