Pseudo-orchid culture sharply criticized, pointing directly at the false chaos in the orchid circle
Ganjiang Daughter. Growing flowers is just my hobby. Among the flowers I grow, Chinese orchids are the most numerous, followed by succulents and roses. I like the fresh elegance of orchids, very delicate and pleasing to the eye, matching my aesthetic. But when a friend saw me growing orchids, he teased me, saying, "You are so cultured," and I felt very awkward and embarrassed. Chinese orchids have no...
Author: Ganjiang Daughter
Chinese orchids are undoubtedly the flower that best represents traditional Chinese Confucian thought. As a Chinese person, loving Chinese orchids is entirely natural. But! Please do not reject or look down on other flowers. Other flowers also have culture. China's bamboo, plum blossoms, chrysanthemums, and peonies all have culture. The Netherlands' tulips have culture. Britain's roses have culture. Japan's cherry blossoms also have culture. The traditional flowers of every country have always been conveying truth, goodness, and beauty, and giving people beautiful beliefs. If you cannot see that and say foreign flowers have no culture, how short-sighted that is! Do truth, goodness, beauty, and beautiful beliefs really need to be divided by flower type, by new versus old, by national borders?
Tea originated in China. After tea spread to the world, the Japanese had a fine tea ceremony, and the British also had black tea culture.
Chili peppers, potatoes, sesame, and cilantro are all foods not native to China, yet now they have likewise become integrated into Chinese food culture. Try asking: can Sichuan cuisine do without chili peppers? Mung beans are originally from India. Many people would not have thought of that, right?
Buddhism came from India. Have you ever seen Buddhism wipe out Daoism? Marxism-Leninism is German. Do we not study it all the same?
Cymbidium orchids cannot possibly replace Chinese orchids. I am confident that the beauty of our Chinese orchids is not so fragile.
Hybridization also cannot harm old varieties. At most it only harms the prices of old varieties.
I believe that if a person cultivates virtue and self-restraint and keeps himself clean, then no matter what flowers he grows, or even if he grows no flowers at all, he is honest and noble.
Likewise, for a person of misconduct and filthy thoughts, no matter how many expensive orchids he grows, do not expect it to cover up his shamelessness and baseness.
A knife in a chef's hand is a tool; only in a criminal's hand is it a weapon. A beautiful girl in a gentleman's eyes is a graceful lady; only in a rapist's eyes is she a source of temptation.
Culture and morality are never in some object, but in people's brains and hearts.
Shouldn't people always be a bit more plain and honest?
First, I am not a scientist, and I certainly cannot demand that everyone be a scientist. I have no great depth, and cannot carry on Chinese culture. Growing orchids is just a hobby for me, the same as growing other flowers, only for viewing and enjoying the fragrance. But I think that in a flower forum, asking everyone to have some basic botanical common sense is not too much, right? So many people oppose hybridization. Opposing is fine, but you should at least understand a thing before you have the right to oppose it, right?
I remember when I first became obsessed with orchids, I made a friend in Tangshan who grew orchids. Several of my pots of flowers were bought from him. I asked him, are original old varieties the best? He said, as long as the grass is healthy and the variety is correct, that is enough. I asked again, how do you grow orchids well? He said, explore experience yourself, and then have a bit of basic botanical knowledge. Not much is needed, middle school level is enough. At the time it seemed casual and ordinary. Now, looking again at all the bizarre talk in the forum, I feel that this orchid friend of mine was truly plain and honest, and I truly want to say from the bottom of my heart: thank you, orchid friend, for not fooling me back then!
All right, now let us look at what common statements there are:
First, the most common one is comparing hybrid orchids to agricultural products, thinking that the meat and vegetables raised in rural soil taste fragrant and are old varieties, while greenhouse vegetables, chicken, and duck are tasteless and are hybrids. This concept is wrong. Farmers themselves also buy seeds from seed companies, and those are also hybrids. It is only that the growing methods are different, the nutrient sources are different, and the growth cycles are different, which leads to different tastes. If you must make an analogy, it can only be this: naturally soil-grown orchids without heating and with organic fertilizer bloom more beautifully and fragrantly, while orchids in greenhouses with hard planting material, chemical fertilizer, lacking trace elements, and being heated are prone to disease, and the flowers they produce are not as fragrant. That is all.
Next is comparing old varieties to natural beauties, and hybrids to cosmetic surgery and breast implants. But the four great beauties of ancient times were also human, right? Humans are hybrid animals. Besides, cosmetic surgery changes appearance after birth, and the changed features cannot be inherited. If you must make an analogy, you can only say that natural beauties are naturally cultivated and bloomed, while cosmetic surgery and breast implants are medicinal-soaked grass, hormone grass, and dyed grass, and have nothing to do with variety either.
There is also comparing old varieties to antiques and collectibles, and hybrids to fakes, thinking that orchids must remain rare, and that if they become cheap and more people play with them, they are no longer fun. This is also wrong. Antiques cannot be copied, but orchids can be copied infinitely. If orchid friends think that growing orchids is only to show off their own unique nobility, then there are plenty of expensive and tasteful things in this world. If orchid merchants think that orchids must be niche and rare, they might as well just say directly that they hope orchids stay expensive forever.
Similar metaphors pop up every few days. Every time I see them, I, or other orchid friends already, will patiently explain in follow-up posts that you cannot compare them like that, they are not the same thing, and the principle should be such and such... But! It all gets ignored. What can you do? You can never wake a person who is pretending to sleep!
What is even more speechless is that posts with such statements can actually be marked as featured, and even some moderators have made such statements! Come on, a moderator of a flower forum has not even a bit of basic biological knowledge. If such statements were posted on other forums, people would laugh their teeth off. Not to mention Guokr and Zhihu, even if posted to Tianya, Douban, or Hupu, they would be mocked to death. Ironically, our forum is still the place where the word "culture" appears most frequently. Shame on you, shameless!
All right, if ordinary orchid friends really speak from genuine feeling, then fine. Let us next look at the faces of the most disgusting types of profiteers:
One type is completely illogical, speaking wildly and talking nonsense, even resorting to personal attacks, such as "hybrids are eunuchs missing a bird egg," or "hybrids are actors and prostitutes, and growing hybrid orchids means being a whoremonger and corrupting morals." My goodness! Who do you think you are, and where does your sense of superiority come from, that you despise eunuchs, actors, and prostitutes? You are not even worthy to carry their shoes: Cai Lun, Zheng He, Sima Qian, Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Xun Huisheng, Liang Hongyu, Li Shishi, Sai Jinhua. The thick, filthy stench between the lines rushes at you and cannot be blocked. I think that even if I were opposed to hybrid orchids, I would still be ashamed to have teammates of this caliber!...
There is another type: the leftover elders of the Cultural Revolution with sanctimonious big-character-poster-style statements, raising high the banner of old varieties to promote national culture and save orchid friends all over the world who have gone astray because of hybridization and are in deep misery! Hybridization is a flood and a beast stirring up waves and confusing public opinion, disturbing a pure land! Even if it ruins the family fortune, one must only play with old varieties. Hybridization is a paper tiger. Positive energy will ultimately defeat evil forces! Oh my, national heroes, please wake up, it is time to take your medicine. If your own IQ is low, then do not insult the IQ of the broad orchid community, all right? Do not think that being marked as featured makes you persuasive, all right? Everyone has judgment. You sing loudly in the forum, and we complain happily in the group chat. Orchid friends know clearly in their hearts; they just cannot be bothered to reply to you! What era is this, and shouting big-character posters still works?
Every day people talk about inheritance. Inheritance also requires effort and brains. Otherwise, on what basis do you inherit? Every day people shout about culture. Why not go read a few more books? Our country has had universal compulsory education for so many years. Children today learn even more. How do you explain it to other people's children? You talk about the king's fragrance, but they can recite the Analects more fluently than you. You talk about spiritual charm, but they start learning art in kindergarten. You say old varieties are free-range chickens and hybrids are broiler chickens. Are you joking? Every child can pull a biology book out of their schoolbag! Keep up with the times, keep up with the times!
It is fine to have no culture; you can read and study. It is also fine not to read and study; it is just growing flowers after all. Then please just be a bit more plain and honest, all right, all right...