Flora Sinensis

For other uses, see Flora of China.

Flora Sinensis is one of the first European natural history books about China, published in Vienna in 1656. Its author, Michał Boym, was a Jesuit missionary from Poland (then the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth).

Drawing of a lychee, in Boym's Flora Sinensis.

Focus on the ecosystem of the Far East

The book was the first description of an ecosystem of the Far East published in Europe. Boym underlined the medicinal properties of the Chinese plants.

Seeking patronage by the Shunzhi Emperor and Leopold I, King of Hungary

The book also included pleas for support of the Catholic Church to the Shunzhi Emperor, the Chinese emperor at the time; each page contained a chronogram pointing to the date of 1655, the date of coronation of Emperor Leopold I as the King of Hungary, as Boym wanted to gain the support of that monarch for his mission.

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  Jackfruit
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  Mango
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  Drawing of, probably, the sugar-apple
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  Pepper
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  A squirrel (松鼠) chasing a green-haired turtle (绿毛龟)
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  Hippopotamus
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  Church of the East in China

External links

• [1] digitised copy of the book hosted at the Biodiversity Heritage Library