Runan pushi 汝南圃史

Runan pushi 汝南圃史 is a history of garden culture written during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Zhou Wenhua 周文華 (fl. 1620), courtesy name Hanzhang 含章, from Suzhou 蘇州, Jiangsu. The book with a length of 20 juan was finished in 1620. Runan is an alias for the author's family name, Zhou, as it was the home region of his ancestors. Zhou was a clerk in the Court of Imperial Entertainments (guanglusi li 光祿寺吏).

Zhou was inspired for this book by Zhou Yunzhai's 周允齋 book Huashi 花史, which he deemed too brief. His own book presents the topic of gardening in twelve chapters.

As the book focuses on the lower Yangtze region, fruits of north China like the Chinese chestnut (pingpo 蘋婆 or fengyanguo 鳳眼果, Sterculia monosperma) or of south China like the Lingnan lychee are not mentioned. Some chapters of the book are also not well balanced. Water melons (xigua 西瓜), for example, are not included in the chapter on melons, but in that on fruits, and Chinese boxthorn (gouqi 枸杞, Lycium chinense), is not found in the chapter on thorny plants, but in that on vegetables. Nonetheless, Zhou's book includes valuable and scholarly reliable material, and therefore deserves mentioning.

The general chapter presenting twelve rules of cultivation presents techniques of sowing, "Twelve methods of planting" introduces 12 cultivation and management methods, such as planting, sub-planting, cutting, connecting and changing, layering, pasting, transplanting, rectifying, watering, cultivating, picking fruit, and harvesting seeds. “栽種十二法”介紹了下種、分栽、扦插、接換、壓條、過貼、移植、整頓、澆灌、培壅、摘實、收種等12項栽培管理方法。 xxx

The book was not very widespread. Apart from the 1620 edition, printed by the Jinchang Lüyin Hall 金閶綠蔭堂, there was the editoin from the Shudai Studio 書帶齋 published shortly later, and some manuscripts editions.