Brief introduction of esoteric reading glasses

The Secret Biography of Reading Mirror was published in the 27th year of Kangxi in Qing Dynasty (1688). Author Chen Zi, also known as Fu Yao, was named the West Lake Flower Hidden Weng. He was probably from Zhejiang, born in life is unknown during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. He was 77 years old when he wrote this book, and the date of his death is unknown.

Although the title of the book is "Flower Mirror", the content is mainly ornamental plants, but the last chapter is devoted to raising birds, mammals, fish and insects. Generally speaking, it is a book on viewing animals and plants, with seven volumes. The first volume is "Li Xin Zhi", which includes twelve months of observation (meaning of divination and prediction) and events (meaning of phenology and work to be done between fields). The second volume is Eighteen Methods of Teaching Flowers, which discusses all the techniques of planting flowers, such as planting, planting, transplanting, sowing, cutting, grafting, seed collection, watering, pest control, vase insertion, bonsai, pruning, cultivation, indoor furnishings and so on. The content is very rich and is the essence of this book. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth volumes respectively discuss 352 species of flowers and trees, flowers and fruits, vines and flowers, each of which includes name explanation, morphological description, variety category, propagation method, distribution area, planting essentials, ornamental characteristics, use and cultivation history. The author made a detailed description according to his life's practice experience. Chrysanthemum 13 1 variety and 152 variety were introduced at that time. From the content, we can imagine the grand occasion of flower cultivation 300 years ago, which is also of great reference value to modern cultivation.

Since the publication of Flower Mirror, there have been 7 woodcut editions (including Japanese edition 1 edition), 2 lithographs and 2 lead prints, which have been widely circulated at home and abroad. The most detailed proofreading is "Reading Mirror" revised by mr. yi, South China, published by Agricultural Press 1982. After textual research, most of them are annotated with Latin scientific names, with modern illustrations. Many ancient and modern related works are quoted in the notes, and their contents are explained, which brings great convenience for people to reread this famous flower book. Chen Wuzi wrote about his personal experience in raising flowers and also consulted flowers. Summarizing the valuable experience of many people, today, except for a few who were falsely influenced by celebrities, mountain people and astrologers at that time, most of the contents are credible and valuable. In the past, many versions were named "Secret Reading Mirror", and there are indeed many amazing "mysteries" in this book.