Many kinds of citrus fruits originate from the foothills of the Himalayas, which is why most of them only became known in Europe within the last millennium. It is therefore not surprising that the first specialist literature on oranges also appeared in China: the Julu (Description of the Oranges of Wenzhou) by Han Yanzhi 韓彥直 (1131–1194). It was translated as part of a project by the US Department of Agriculture and published in 1923. Since then, orange harvesting has become an important factor in the US economy.
This monograph formed the basis for a number of further treatises on this subject, many of which were quoted in two major anthologies, on which the translations in this volume are based, namely the Gujin tushu jicheng 古今圖書集成 ”Complete collection of pictures and books of old and modern times,” the largest encyclopedia published in pre-modern China. It comprises 10,000 chapters and was compiled between the years 1701 and 1706 by imperial order. In 1722, Emperor Yongzheng (reigned 1722–1735) commissioned Jiang Tingxi to revise the draft. The revised version was printed between 1726 and 1728 (using movable copper type). The second encyclopedic work (from which the chapter on the ju-oranges is translated) is the Qun fang pu ”Notes on All Herbs”, which deals with commonly cultivated and medicinal plants, compiled by Wang Xiangjin 王象晉 (1561–1653) during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). A new expanded and revised edition in 100 chapters, titled Guang Qunfangpu 廣群芳 was used for the translations. With indices and two contributions by the noted pharmacologist Bernard E. Read.