Textual Research and Correction on the Origin of Grafting Techniques in China

China is an ancient civilized country with a long history of agriculture. However, due to the loss of many precious ancient books, it is difficult to verify their specific book-making years, and is thus hard to clarify the origin and the earliest record of the ancient Chinese grafting. Through review and analysis of a large number of literatures, we hold that the invention of artificial grafting technology in ancient China may be inspired by natural grafting and parasitic plants or owing to the development of cutting technology. At present, textual research has proved that the earliest reliable record of artificial grafting in ancient China is from chapter “Shimu” in the book of Erya, which roughly came from the Spring and Autumn Period to the early Western Han Dynasty, while the more specific finishing time of the book needs to be further clarified. In addition, some errors related to the origin of plant grafting in some literatures have been discussed.