What Are the Characteristics of Shanghai's Orchid Culture? Read This One Article to Understand

Author: Red Furnace Snow

  During the Spring and Autumn period, Shanghai was territory of the Wu state, a vassal state of the Ji surname; during the Warring States period, it was the fief of Lord Chunshen of the Chu state, and city construction began. "Shencheng" is also a current alternative name for Shanghai. "Three thousand retainers beneath Lord Chunshen's gate" - the tradition of embracing all rivers, it seems, was no accident; the character of Shanghai's culture was already branded into it during the Warring States period.

   Culture is defined in myriad ways, but one thing is certain: it must be a style of life of a certain group of people. Starting from this point, Shanghai's orchid culture is the traces left by people connected with orchids throughout Shanghai's history.

Starting from 1666, when Shanghai selected Fengqiao Mei, and surveying the history of orchid cultural activities of Shanghai's orchid people across different historical times and spaces as Shanghai society moved from agricultural civilization to industrial civilization and toward modern civilization, we can clearly see the enormous influence of politics and economics on orchid culture, as well as the attitudes toward life and the realization of value displayed by Shanghai's orchid people amid the turbulent changes of society.

1. From the Qing Kangxi era 1662----Opium War 1840

  During this period, China experienced the "Kang-Qian Golden Age." While the empire basked in the comforts of agricultural civilization, the British industrial ** had already profoundly influenced Europe, and the distant East was already on the eve of unprecedented upheaval.

    During this period, Shanghai selected cymbidium (huilan) flowers: Fengqiao Mei, Shanghai Mei, Songjiang Dahe. Sanhuaitang Xian, Xiaozhi Xian, Xianlü, Songjiang Daban, Yehexian Su, Wudou Mei, Hezhi Mei, Huahe Hesu.

 We can see in the<兰言述略>,<兰蕙同心录><兰蕙小史><兰花谱>book that the Shanghai social classes that selected and bred orchids were "cotton seed sellers," "shipping firms," "paint shops," "ginseng stores," and so on - even the "Sanhuaitang" brothel selected Sanhuaitang Xian. These classes could not be considered poor at the time, which shows that orchid varieties had already been endowed with great commercial value. Beyond fragrant herbs and beautiful women, what else were people of all trades and professions passionate about? From these background materials, we believe that Shanghai was already quite prosperous in the early Qing dynasty, with what was called a forest of shops and wine houses, and it had long been known as a famous southeastern city, with the saying "Su-Song tax revenue accounts for half the empire." Without a developed economy, how could the orchid exhibitions held at Shanghai's Yu Garden from the Qianlong era of the Qing dynasty have been maintained for nearly 200 years, continuing until the outbreak of the War of Resistance?

2. After the Opium War 1840---Republic of China 1949

   After the First Opium War, according to the Treaty of Nanking signed in 1842, Shanghai was opened in 1843 as one of five treaty ports for foreign trade. Later, the United States and France also successively forced concessions in Shanghai. At that time, Shanghai, as a "paradise of adventurers," entered the era of the ten-li foreign settlement. Because the concessions provided residents with a relatively free and safe environment immune from the intrusions and disturbances of the government, warlords, and warfare, and coupled with the convenience of being a free trade port, Shanghai's various national industrial sectors were able to develop rapidly.

  During this period, Shanghai selected and bred:

    Spring orchids (chunlan): Zimei, Chun Yipin Xian, Chun Yipin, Cuitao, Lianxi Mei, Tongle (Caiyun Tongle Mei), Wushuang Mei, Youcheng Mei, Sheng'an Mei, Huanqiu Heding, Hehe, Yuhuan Mei, Shengzi, Xiao Cuihe, Cuihe, Xianhe, Dafugui.

    Cymbidium (huilan): Xi Shenfu He, "Dangkou Gai Shi Xian, Tuanzi Dahe, Eryou Su (the earliest recorded joint-stock orchid cultivation in ancient orchid manuals), Qian Xiazi Xian, Shangding Mei (also known as Shending), Nanxiang Zhang Xian, Hou Xiazi Xian, Shou Mei, Pei Xian, Zhankui, Yongsi Mei, Wudie, Jiepei, Liangyi, Jiangnan Xin Jipin, Xian Mei, Shenyi Mei, Yuanji Mei, Jinchan Mei, Yu Mei, Wen Mei, Cui Mei, Wenhua Xian, Lü Hui Heding, Ang Mei.

  We can see that over these more than 100 years, the cymbidiums selected were noticeably more than in the previous nearly 200 years, and the selection and breeding of spring orchids also received attention from enthusiasts. The social classes selecting orchids were completely different from the early Qing period; the wealthy, leisured, and cultured - such as lawyers, compradors, doctors, publishers, entrepreneurs - occupied the orchid stage.

Orchid publishing work during this stage was also unprecedentedly prosperous, including Liu Nan's "Orchid Manual," "Secrets of Orchid Cultivation" by the Master of Qingfen Studio,

    "Secret Manual of Orchids and Cymbidiums" by World Book Company, Wu Enyuan and Tang Tuo's "Brief History of Orchids and Cymbidiums," etc.

Important orchid events: In the ninth year of Guangxu (1883), Shuangqing Villa (commonly known as Xu Garden) opened, and thereafter orchid (huilan) flower shows were held annually in the second and third lunar months, continuing until the late 1920s.

All of this constitutes a picture of orchid-growing life in modern industrial civilization. The development of orchid culture clearly received the support of industrial civilization. Today, Shanghai calls this period of industrial development "Suzhou Creek civilization." Suzhou Creek was the cradle of Shanghai's national industry and education, and was once an important birthplace of China's national industry. It was precisely because of the progress of industrial civilization that Shanghai's orchid people at this time had qualities clearly distinct from orchid growers in other regions. In their modern lifestyle they left behind the vermilion, purple, emerald, and ink of Chinese culture. Amid the rich aroma of coffee, they evoke memories of the calm and empty harmony of tea. They endowed orchids with an air of elegance, wealth, and status symbol, injecting new cultural life into orchids.

3. Founding of the PRC 1949-1987

  After the founding of the PRC, influenced by political factors, the commodity attribute of orchids no longer existed, and the element of cultivating temperament was also criticized as bourgeois culture. Under the sweeping red tide, individual orchid growing and collecting nearly vanished.

The famous Shanghai calligrapher and painter Bai Jiao once wrote about the amusing story of hiding his orchids under the bed, which shows how tense the situation was at the time. In 1959, the famous entrepreneur Mr. Liu Hanlin, chairman of Zheng Tai Rubber, donated 182 pots of famous spring orchid and cymbidium varieties of 70 varieties to the Shanghai Longhua Nursery (predecessor of Shanghai Botanical Garden), and in October 1965 he donated 22 famous spring orchid and cymbidium varieties to the Suzhou Municipal Garden Management Office. Old Mr. Liu's actions were the standard version of individual aphasia of that era, but they laid the foundation for the later opening of the orchid room at Shanghai Botanical Garden, one of the three great famous gardens of Jiangnan in China. From a sociological perspective, this donation made Old Mr. Liu an immortal legend in the orchid world, and his magnanimous demeanor along the long river of time is something people endlessly emulate.

In 1965, Shanghai Botanical Garden established its orchid room, and Zhu De visited four times. Yet Marshal Zhu was criticized during the Cultural Revolution for growing orchids. Statist culture comprehensively constrained every aspect of individual life, and the spirit of individual freedom was entirely subordinated to the cultural orthodoxy of state authority.

During the Cultural Revolution, the orchid room of Shanghai Botanical Garden was destroyed in an instant.

4. 1987---Present

   A stretch of scorched ground, meeting spring, turns green again. After the Cultural Revolution, with the deepening of reform and opening up, orchids as a special commodity began to be sought after. Due to the rapid economic development of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Shanghai no longer held the leading position in Chinese orchids, but Shanghai still played a role in linking past and future in the development of China's orchid cause. Special mention must be made of the important influence of Shen Xuebao of the Shanghai Botanical Garden orchid room. After reform and opening up, many extinct old orchid varieties in China were introduced from Japan through him at the Shanghai Botanical Garden orchid room, then spread to orchid gardens throughout Jiangsu and Zhejiang, branching out and flourishing - truly delightful. And his orchid friendship with Japanese friend Matsumura Masanao has long been celebrated as a fine story in the orchid world. Now, the orchid room's spring and cold orchid exhibitions, open to the public twice a year, have persisted for more than 10 years. This kind of work popularizing orchid culture for ordinary enthusiasts has excellent social significance.

  In 1993, Dai Xianqin opened Shangyi Tang on Shanghai's Jiangyin Road. This was the first specialty shop in Shanghai's history dealing in famous orchid varieties.

  In 1993, Ding Baoquan set up a counter at the Shanghai Flower and Bird Market on Nanjing West Road to deal in cymbidium (jianlan) varieties.

  In 1996, Dai Xianqin, Wu Zhiqian, Wu Zhifeng, and Wang Yongmao, together with Shanghai Jingwen Company, held the Shanghai Orchid and Rare Stone Exhibition. Vice Premier of the State Council Chen Muhua, Shanghai Vice Mayor Gong Xueping, and a group of retired military cadres came to visit. Calligrapher and painter Xu Ang launched his orchid painting album.

  In 2000, Japanese opened the first orchid shop in Shanghai, China, "Lan Cui Yuan."

  In 2001, Dai Xianqin, Wu Zhiqian, and ten orchid friends, after obtaining approval from the Shanghai Lujiazui City Management Office, held the first commercially operated "Shanghai Folk Rare Orchid Variety Exhibition."

  In 2002, the Shanghai Luwan District Orchid Association was established.

  In July 2003, the Orchid Branch of the Shanghai Flower Association was established and published "Shanghai Orchid Charm," and mass orchid activities continued to unfold.

  In 2004, the Shanghai Orchid Association held the first Shanghai Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai Spring Orchid Joint Exhibition at Guilin Park.

  In December 2007, the Orchid Professional Committee of the Shanghai Agricultural Society was established, giving Shanghai a professional orchid organization integrating production, academia, and research. In 2009, the Shanghai Orchid Professional Committee and the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences undertook the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission project "Production Technology Standards and Quality Standards for Chinese Spring, Cymbidium, and Cold Orchids," completing a series of basic scientific work on orchid cultivation. From environmental and water quality data, substrate and fertilizer formulas, pest and disease control, orchid growth monitoring, to orchid quality grade classification and various other aspects, complete scientific research results were obtained. The 2009 Shanghai Confucian Temple "Orchid and Culture Series Activities" and the 2010 Guyi Garden Shanghai 7th Orchid Exhibition were both relatively large-scale municipal-level orchid cultural activities held by the Orchid Professional Committee, widely reported by city television, radio, and newspapers, attracting broad participation from citizens.

Currently, the Orchid Culture Society in Shanghai's Pudong area is the most active group in carrying out mass orchid activities, with more than 400 members. It holds community orchid exhibitions every year and has done much solid work in popularizing orchids. For example, the orchid-themed demonstration activity at the Huinan Town Library received commendation from Shanghai's publicity department and became a district-level specialty library.

In external exchanges, Shanghai always leads the way. In the appreciation of Chinese cold orchids, Shanghai's Zhu Yuzhou can be considered a leader. When most orchid friends were still unfamiliar with cold orchids, he began exchange activities with Japan on cold orchids and introduced Japanese standards for evaluating and appreciating cold orchids. After several years of effort, the domestic orchid community has now basically accepted the view that cold orchid appreciation differs from traditional spring and cymbidium orchids and constitutes its own system.

In these twenty-plus years, due to the lack of good statistics and scarce materials on orchid varieties selected and bred by Shanghai's orchid circles, I will select only the widely circulated ones: "Su Shiba" selected by Mr. Shen Xinbao and Mr. Dai Xianqin - eighteen means "Dai." Wang Dongfang's "Hongyun," Ding Puyuan's "Meibao," "Xuedie," Zhu Kefu's "Zhu Shi Jiuqi," "Judie," etc. - as a flower and a leaf of Shanghai's orchid world.

  Today, orchid growing in Shanghai extends to virtually every social class. The development of modern society has provided ample space for Shanghai's orchid activities. With an attitude of tolerance and magnanimity, Shanghai has allowed a large number of orchid operators from orchid-producing areas across the country to open gardens and settle in Shanghai, famous ones such as Fujian's Liancheng Orchids. Local orchid friends, however, mostly focus on appreciation and enjoyment, using orchids to express the meaning of their own individual existence. For example, they enjoy orchid competitions and comparing cultivation skills, enjoy feeling leaves to identify flowers, picking flower buds from wild-collected plants to gamble on fine flowers, comparing eyesight - somewhat like treasure hunting in the antique trade. Old Mr. Shen Xinbao even has a specialized work "Orchid Mirror," which can be called the "Nine Yang Classic" of flower selection in the orchid world.

Shanghai's orchid world presents both the timely liveliness of some orchid growers and the quiet, nostalgic seclusion of some enthusiasts, like dragonflies' reds and greens touching the center of the lake, each with their own ripples, refracting a riot of color.

I believe the future direction of orchid growing is this: some orchid lovers with means and refined taste will perfect their cultivation on the level of elevating the traditional spiritual realm of orchids, and orchid growing will become a symbol for understanding traditional Chinese culture and expressing the Chinese attitude toward life.