博物志 (3 世纪)

《博物志》是晋朝张华所著的一部奇书，共十卷。内容包罗万象，有山川地理知识，有历史人物传说，有奇异草木虫鱼、飞禽走兽，也有神仙方术，可谓集神话、古史、博物、杂说于一炉。

据王嘉《拾遗记》载：最初版本的《博物志》有四百卷之多，张华把它呈给晋武帝司马炎，司马炎阅后认为张华的才识可以跟伏羲、孔子相比，但指出《博物志》书中“多浮妄”，“惊所未闻，异所未见，将恐惑乱于后生”，指示张华将此书删减为十卷。

《博物志》前三卷记地理动植物；第四、五卷是方术家言；第六卷是杂考。第七至十卷是异闻、史补和杂说。《博物志》里记载了“浮槎”这种不明飞行物体，有人认为这就是幽浮。书中也说明了守宫砂的制作方法，以验证女人们的贞操，不过一般以为此说不足为信。

宋李石著《续博物志》、明游潜《博物志补》、董斯张《广博物志》等皆仿此而作。

Bowuzhi (Chinese: 博物志; trans. "Records of Diverse Matters") by Zhang Hua (c. 290 CE) was a compendium of Chinese stories about natural wonders and marvelous phenomena. It quotes from many early Chinese classics, and diversely includes subject matter from Chinese mythology, history, geography, and folklore. The Bowuzhi, which is one of the first works in the literary genre of zhiguai "tales of anomalies; supernatural stories", records the earliest versions of several myths, such as the white yenü 野女 "wild women" living south of China in a society without men. Scholars have described the Bowuzhi as "a miscellany of scientific interest" and "an important minor classic".

Author

The Bowuzhi author Zhang Hua (232-300) was a Western Jin dynasty (266-316) scholar, poet, and protoscientist. His biography in the (644) Book of Jin depicts Zhang Hua as a fangshi "master of esoterica" who was especially skilled at numerological arts, and a voracious collector of books, especially ones "strange, secret, and rarely seen". Many anecdotes in Six Dynasties period books portray him as a "learned arbitrator of 'scientific' knowledge". The (early 5th century) Yiyuan 異苑 "Garden of Marvels", by Liu Jingshu 劉敬叔, provides two examples. First, Zhang recognized dragon meat that was served by the author Lu Ji (261-303), who "once invited Zhang Hua to dinner and served minced fish. At the time the dining chamber was full of guests. When Hua lifted off the lid of the dish, he said, 'This is dragon's flesh!' None of the assembled guests believed him, so Hua said, 'Test it by steeping it in vinegar; something strange will happen.' When this was done a rainbow appeared above it." In a second anecdote, Zhang Hua demonstrated the cosmological principle of ganying "sympathetic resonance".

During the Jin, there was a man who owned a large copper basin. Every morning and evening it would ring out just as if someone was striking it. When Zhang Hua was asked about this, he replied "This basin has a sympathetic affinity with the bell in the Luoyang bell-tower. The bell is struck every dawn and every dusk, and thus this basin resounds in sympathy. You could file away [a part of the basin] and thus make it lighter; the sound would reverberate inaccurately and the basin would cease ringing out of its own accord." The man did as Hua had advised, and the basin never rang out again.

The Ganying leicongzhi 感應類從志 "Record of the Mutual Resonances of Things According to Their Categories" is attributed to Zhang Hua.

Title

The Bowuzhi title combines bó 博 or 愽 "broad; abundant; plentiful; learned", wù 物 "thing; matter", and zhì 志 or 誌 "(historical) records; annals; mark; sign; record; register". This title follows Yang Fu's (early 3rd century) Yiwuzhi 異物志 "Records of Foreign Matters". The word bowu 博物 originally meant "broadly knowledgeable; erudite" in the (c. 4th century BCE) Zuozhuan and later came to mean "studies of plants and animals; natural science" in the (80 CE) Lunheng. In general, bowu "refers to realms transgressing the boundaries of the defined canon of knowledge, covering a variety of matters from the strange and supernatural to quaint things of interest". Books on Chinese folk customs and their geographical distribution were termed Fengtu ji (beginning with Zhou Chu's 3rd-century Fengtuji 風土記 "Records of Local Customs"), and descriptions of unfamiliar regions Yiwu zhi. In Modern Standard Chinese usage, bówùxué 博物學 "natural history" and bówùguǎn 博物館 "museum" are common terms.

There is no regular English translation of Bówùzhì, and examples include:

Record of the Investigation of Things

A Treatise on Manifold Topics

Treatise on Curiosities

Vast Records about Different Topics

Natural Science

Miscellaneous Records

Record of Things at Large

Records of Myriad [Notable] Things