sanlejiang 三勒漿 (three myrobalan decoction) is a kind of fruit drink that originated in India and was introduced into China via Persia in the Tang dynasty. It was made up of three kinds of fruit (sanguo 三果), respectively halila, balia and amola in Persian and haritaki, vibhitaka, and amalaka in Sanskrit. It was a fashionable drink of the upper classes in the Tang dynasty. During the Song dynasty, two kinds of soup from the south associated with it, germinalia chebula and phyllanthus emblica, were also well-known in the north. In the Yuan dynasty, the drink was made popular again for a short time by Xu Guozhen 許國禎 (active 1280s). With the Ming and Qing dynasties, it disappeared as a drink in daily life, but the related knowledge was passed on from generation to generation through the written Word, as people tried to preserve the historical memory of the Tang dynasty. The three kinds of fruit had an important position in the diet and medicine of ancient India, with corresponding mythological descriptions. In Persian and Arabic medical literature as well as in Huihui prescriptions 回藥方, sanlejiang is frequently recorded as a medicine or beverage, indicating that it was popular in Persia and the Arab areas. This was different in many respects from its transmission on Chinese soil because of the differences in the relations among Persian, Chinese and Indian cultures. As a cultural transit area, Persia not only offered a second chance for this Indian beverage to be transmitted to foreign parts, but also left the Chinese with a good impression of things Persian. For this reason, the transmission and absorption of dietary customs among China, India and Persia reflect the differences, preference and interaction among the three areas.
目次
1. The ‘three myrobalan decoction’, ‘three myrobalan soup’, and ‘three fruit decoction’ of the Tang Dynasty 3 1.1. Tang Dynasty brewing method for the three myrobalan decoction 4 1.2. The ‘three myrobalan decoction’ on the Tang banquet table 6 1.3. The ‘three fruit decoction’ in Tang medical texts 10 1.4. ‘Tuode flower’ and the ‘three le decoction’ 14 1.5. The ‘three myrobalan decoction from Hehan’ in histories about wine 18
2. The ‘three fruits’ as a drink and a myrobalan soup from the Tang and Song dynasties 21 2.1. Black myrobalan ‘can be drunk’ 21 2.2. Faxing Monastery’s Myrobalan soup in the Tang and Song dynasties 24 2.3. Beleric myrobalan: ‘a decoction, which is very hot’ 28 2.4. Boiled Indian gooseberry and an Indian gooseberry ‘mixed soup’ 29
3. ‘The Three Myrobalan Decoction Poem’ and the recipe in the Huihui yaofang 33 3.1. Three Myrobalan Decoction in the Yuan Dynasty 33 3.2. Persian and Arab drinks in the Song and Yuan dynasties, and ‘shalabi fang’ in the Huihui Yaofang 37 3.3. Myrobalan and myrobalan soup in the Huihui yaofang 40 3.4. ‘Yitelifei’, ‘yiteliefali’, and ‘yitelifeili’ in the Huihui yaofang 43 3.5. Three Myrobalan Formulas in Arabic and Persian Medical Literature from the Middle Ages 45
4. Ancient India’s decoctions with the three fruits and ‘Supiluo jiang’ 48 4.1. Ancient Indian Alcohols and Pānaka 48 4.2. Ancient India’s Three Fruits as Medicine and as Alcohol 50 4.3. A ‘sauvīraka’ made of the triphalā 53
