Illustrated Investigation of the Names and Realities of Plants

original: "植物名實圖考" (Zhiwu Mingshi Tukao). This title reflects a deep-rooted Chinese intellectual tradition of "rectifying names"—ensuring that the names found in ancient literature correctly match the physical "realities" of the plants as they exist in nature.

This work was authored by Wu Qijun (1789–1847), a high-ranking government official and scholar-scientist of the Qing Dynasty. It remains one of the most important pre-modern botanical texts, featuring detailed illustrations and descriptions of 1,714 different plants, categorized by their uses and characteristics.

Title Slip: Illustrated Investigation of the Names and Realities of Plants

The physical volume is bound in the traditional "thread-bound" style (xianzhuang), featuring a dark blue silk-paper cover. The title is hand-written on a vertical paper slip pasted onto the left side, designed to be easily read when the books are stacked horizontally on a scholar's shelf.