法苑珠林 36.82

36.82

Clove (jishexiang): The Account of Foreign Countries in the Wu Period says: 'Wuma Prefecture produces clove.' The Xu soushen ji says: 'Liu Guang of Yuzhang was young and unmarried. Going to a farmhouse, he saw a girl who said, "I am the daughter of Adjutant He. I died young at fourteen, and was raised by the Queen Mother of the West, who sent me to bring disasters to the lower earth." Guang had an intimate affair with her. That day, beneath the mat, he found a handkerchief wrapping clove. His mother took the handkerchief and burned it, and it turned out to be fire-proof cloth.' The Record of Strange Things in the Southern Regions says: 'Clove is produced in Dubo Prefecture; it is said to be an herb that can be held in the mouth to perfume the breath.' Yu Yiqi's Letter says: 'Old foreign monks say the various incenses all come from a single tree; the flowers of the tree are clove.'