檳榔進入中國版圖大約在西漢武帝時期(140-87 B.C.)，但一直到東漢、三國時期(西元第一至第三世紀)才逐漸進入中國的知識領域，而且，一直到六朝時期(西元第三至第六世紀)，嚼食或利用檳榔的風尚基本上只流行於南方的上層階級。其後，中國結束了南北分裂的格局，政治中心再度回歸北方。因此，檳榔的流傳是否因中國的統一而得以跨越南方的境域，便成為本文探索的核心問題。本文認為，隋唐五代時期，中國境內生產或流通檳榔的地區，主要在嶺南、雲南、福建、江蘇、浙江、湖南、長安、洛陽和敦煌。有嚼食風尚的地區，只有嶺南、雲南和福建，其他地區則是以檳榔為藥物。但是，若不從實物來看，檳榔在這個時期的文化版圖上所留下的漬痕，應該比前朝還要深廣。當時人對於檳榔名物的認知，已經相當清晰。在承繼與集成前人知識之外，對於檳榔的醫藥功能有更新的認識，也有更多樣的臨床運用；對於檳榔文化在域外的分布，有更多的了解，更親近的接觸；對於檳榔的文學書寫，有更多樣的表現，更新的意象營造。以檳榔文本的作者或主角而言，他們大多數都是北人，只有少數算是南人。因此，當時檳榔在中國社會擴散的範圍，應該已經超過前朝。

The betel nut entered Chinese territory around the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty (140-87 BCE), but not until the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms periods (from the first century to the third century CE) did the Chinese gradually learn about the betel nut. In addition, Chewing or using betel nut remained a fashion only among the southern nobles toward the close of the Six Dynasties (third century to sixth centuries), after which the north-south separation came to an end as the unification of Sui-Tang Dynasties brought the center of political power back to the north. The question of whether the unification of China enabled betel nut to spread beyond the southern provinces is the focus of this article. This article argues that betel nut was produced and circulated mainly in Lingnan, Yunnan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, Chang’an, Luoyang and Dunhuang from the Sui-Tang Dynasties to the Five Dynasties. It was consumed as a chewed snack only in Lingnan, Yunnan, and Fujian; other places treated it as a medicinal drug. However, if not confined by material evidence, it would be fair to say that the cultural terrain that betel nut conquered in this period exceeded the previous one and its social impact was deeper. Contemporaries’ knowledge of betel nut was clearly established. In parallel to inheriting and compounding what their predecessors had already known, they gained new understanding of betel nut’s medical function with various clinical applications. They also knew more about the foreign distribution of betel nut based on an increasing amount of first-hand knowledge, and literary references to betel nut were marked by diverse approaches to its representation and new imagery. Most of the authors or protagonists of betel nut literature came from the north. Only very few of them could be counted as southerners. As a result, it can be inferred that betel nut attained a wider spread in medieval Chinese society than in the previous periods.

隋唐；五代；檳榔；醫藥；文化

Sui-Tang Dynasties; Five Dynasties; betel nut; medicine; culture