''Flora Sinensis'' is one of the first European natural history books about China, published in Vienna in 1656. Its author,

Michael Boym Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

, was a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

missionary from Poland (then

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

). 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. The book also included pleas for support of the Catholic Chinese emperor and 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 support of that monarch for his mission. It is said that the ''Flora Sinensis'' was the first book that used the name "

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

" in this meaning, a book covering the plant world of a region. However, despite its title, the book covered not only plants, it obviously includes some species that are neither plants nor Chinese. File:Flora Sinensis - Jackfruit.JPG,

Jackfruit The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family ( Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, ...

File:Flora Sinensis - Mango.JPG, Mango File:Flora Sinensis - Custard Apple.JPG, Drawing of, probably, the sugar-apple File:Flora Sinensis - Pepper.JPG, Pepper File:Flora Sinensis - Sum Xu AND Tortoise.JPG, A squirrel (松鼠) chasing a green-haired turtle (绿毛龟) File:Flora Sinensis - Hippopotamus.JPG, Hippopotamus File:Flora Sinensis - Nestorian Stele.JPG,

Church of the East in China The Church of the East (also known as the Nestorian Church) historically had a presence in China during two periods: first from the 7th through the 10th century in the Tang dynasty, when it was known as ''Jingjiao'' ( zh, t=景教, w=Ching3-chiao ...

References

External links

Bibliothèque Universitaire Moretus Plantin
(access to the facsimile of the book, its French translation, and an article about it) .Flora sinensis Florae (publication) Books about China 1656 books Botany in Asia Chinese encyclopedias 17th-century Latin books {{china-book-stub