Baoxun 寶訓

Baoxun 寶訓 "Precious instructions" is an agricultural treatise written during the mid-Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Hao Yixing 郝懿行 (1755-1823), courtesy name Xunjiu 恂九, style Langao 蘭皋, from Qixia 棲霞, Shandong. His highest office was secretary in the Ministry of Revenue (hubu zhushi 戶部主事). Hao also wrote a treatise on seafood, Jihaicuo 記海錯, and a book on bees, Fengya xiaoji 蜂衙小記.

The term baoxun was used for public announcements like the famous Huang-Ming baoxun 皇明寶訓 of Emperor Ming Taizu 明太祖 (r. 1368-1398) or the Buddhist treatise Chanlin baoxun 禪林寶訓.

The book of 8 juan length was finished in 1790. It is divided into eight chapters explaining miscellaneous or general matters of agriculture, the cultivation of grains, mulberry trees, legumes, fruits, timber trees, medical herbs, and domestic animals. The text consists of agricultural principles (nongyu 農語, the "instructions" of the title, actually farmer's proverbs) as guidelines which are supported by quotations from ancient writings. The reason why Hao relied on vernacular sayings is that he was convinced that "the words of the streets and the villages reflect reality and practice" (jie tan li yu, yan jie zhu shi 街談里語、言皆著實).

The book was printed in 1882 and is included in Hao's collected writings, Haoshi yishu 郝氏遺書.