How Are Chinese Orchids Appreciated? A Detailed Explanation of Orchid Appreciation Standards

Chinese orchids can be divided for appreciation into two major categories: flower art and leaf art. Under these, they can further be divided into thirteen lines, such as plum, lotus, narcissus, plain, exotic, butterfly, colored flower, exotic leaf, line variegation, leaf-loves-flower, snowflake dot, dragon-embracing-pearl, and qilin body, etc. Whether appreciating the flower art or leaf art of Chinese orchids, the creative idea is the same: seeking form as symbol, transforming nature into artistic conception, with the aim of having the beauty of the human soul confirmed in the orchid, and thereby mutually resonating and elevating each other. Once we clearly understand the creative idea and purpose, as long as we maintain a proper attitude toward appreciation, it is not difficult to grasp the standards.

I. Appreciation Standards for the Flower Art of Chinese Orchids:

There are approximately fifteen basic standards for appreciating the flower art of Chinese orchids.

1. Main petal upright: The main petal must be upright; any that are crooked or slanted are inferior.

2. Shoulders level: The midline of the two side petals being horizontal is called level shoulders; those higher than the horizontal line are called flying shoulders and are all superior. Gradually drooping shoulders, drooping shoulders, and greatly drooping shoulders, also commonly called "three-legged bird," are all defective in form and character.

3. Petals round: The three outer petals should be short, broad, and tending toward round; any that are narrow and long like bamboo leaves, lines, or chicken claws are difficult to classify as proper varieties.

4. Edges tight: When the circumference of the three outer petals curls slightly inward, shaped like a shallow spoon, it is called a tight edge; flat edges, reflexed edges, and upturned corners are all inferior.

5. Three petals embracing: After the flower fully opens, the three outer petals still maintaining an embracing posture is excellent; those that roll back or flutter upward are relatively inferior.

6. Rui petals short: The rui petals (inner petals) must be short and round; any that are pointed and narrow are all ordinary orchids.

7. Pou soft: The pou (the folded tip of the inner petal) must be soft, glutinous, and smooth; those with thick, hard, and stuck-together rui centers are all inferior.

8. Lip large: The lip petal must be short, round, broad, and large; any with pointed tongues or narrow, long, tongueless forms are difficult to classify as varieties.

9. Dots bright: The red dots on the tongue must be vivid and eye-catching; the dots must be well-formed and not scattered. Those with pale red dots or dull color are relatively inferior.

10. Mouth and tongue upright: The entrance where insect pollinators enter is the mouth; the mouth shape must be upright. Any with an open mouth or crooked mouth shape is defective. The lip petal should open moderately and have an upright posture; crooked tongues, hanging tongues, and slanting or twisted ones are all difficult to select as varieties.

11. Stem tall: The flower stalk must be slender, round, and tall, rising above the leaf canopy; those with thick, woody, bent, square-edged, or short stalks are difficult to classify as superior.

12. Color lovely: The flower color must be bright and delicately gorgeous; any with muddy color or dark and unclear color are all inferior or poor varieties.

13. Texture glutinous: The petal texture must be fine and moist; only those with thick, glutinous quality are superior; those with coarse, loose texture are all inferior.

14. Good staying power: If after blooming for a month the color does not fade and the form does not change, the flower's staying power is good, commonly called "good strong bones." It takes seven days after opening for the form to settle, and half a month after opening to determine whether the staying power is good. If after three to five days the color gradually wilts and the form gradually deteriorates, then the staying power is extremely poor. By this analogy the quality of staying power can be determined.

15. Noble spiritual charm: The form and posture, color and luster, spiritual temperament, demeanor, and lingering appeal of the flower and leaves combine to form spiritual charm. Although spiritual charm is manifested through the color, fragrance, form, grade, character, and posture of the flower and leaves, its artistic conception lies beyond the physical. It requires the appreciator's relatively high literary and artistic cultivation to comprehend. The preceding fourteen standards all serve spiritual charm; if spiritual charm is poor, then all is lost. For example, if the flower form is still good and the color already fine, but the flower bows its head downward, then there is no spiritual charm to speak of at all. Another example: if the flower has grade, the form has posture, and the color is also good, but the stalk is short, the stem brief, and the flowers crowded tightly together, then it loses demeanor and lingering appeal.

The above fifteen items are the general standards established for Chinese orchid appreciation based on the flower. Paired with leaf standards and fragrance standards, it becomes more comprehensive. The leaf standards for exotic leaves and line variegation will not be discussed here for now.

1. Elegant plant form: The plant forms of Chinese orchids may look similar, but in fact individuals vary: some are upright and vigorous, some half-drooping with beautiful curves, and some slanting or fully drooping, etc. Generally, those that are refined and gracefully beautiful are superior; vigorous yet not lacking in grace is the combination of firmness and softness; otherwise it is coarse and woody. Curving and drooping does not equal weakness; firmness within softness, with moderate curving and drooping, gives beautiful curves. Leaf arrangement should be neat, or curved with posture and an antique flavor; tousled and chaotic growth always feels lacking in beauty.

2. Beautiful leaves: Old orchid manuals say: "Incense-stick foot, mantis belly, earthworm tail are beautiful leaves." That is to say, the leaf stalk stands tight like an "incense stick," the middle of the leaf blade resembles a "mantis belly," and the leaf tip resembles an "earthworm tail." In fact, the best leaf tips of fine Chinese orchids all resemble "boat tails"; the "earthworm tail" in old orchid manuals may be a transcription error arising from similar pronunciation. There are many types of beautiful leaves, such as "dew-catching leaf," "round-head spoon leaf," etc. Generally, those with both shape and form are beautiful; flat ones without form are all ordinary flowers.

3. Leaf texture glutinous and moist: Only when the leaf texture of Chinese orchids is glutinous and moist and the veins are fine and contained can the flowers be superior. Leaves with coarse texture, coarse and bright veins, or with fine mixed veins will not produce good flowers.

4. Leaf color dripping green: Leaf color that is emerald green and dripping with jade is good. Plain-heart varieties have moist and somewhat pale leaf color; exotic-flower varieties mostly have yellowish leaf color. Those with thick texture, raised skin, and dull, lusterless color are either exotic or lotus types; those with oily, bright yet coarse and astringent leaf color are all inferior.

5. Leaf sheath firm and upright: The leaf sheath is also commonly called the foot shell, armor, or leaf trousers, etc. Only when the leaf sheath is firm and upright, thick and glutinous in texture, well-formed in shape, and colored with variegation is it superior; those that are pale, soft, oily, astringent, and without color are all relatively inferior.

6. Fragrance clear, distant, and elegantly refined: Only when the fragrance of Chinese orchids is clear, distant, and elegantly refined does it show noble quality. Fragrance that is strong, fierce, turbid, heavy, or stuffy is all undesirable. Even those with no fragrance or with a foul odor are not selected.

The above twenty-one items are the general standards for Chinese orchid appreciation. There are many types of Chinese orchids and even more lines; the types and lines have extremely strong individuality and all have fine and strict appreciation standards. Below, in separate sections, I introduce the appreciation standards for Chinese orchids of the plum, lotus, narcissus, plain, exotic, butterfly, colored flower, exotic leaf, line variegation, as well as new lines such as leaf-loves-flower, snowflake dot, dragon-embracing-pearl, and qilin body, etc. If there are errors or omissions, I ask readers and experts to correct them so we may progress together.

II. Appreciation Standards for the Petal Types of Chinese Orchids:

About 260 years ago, during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Bao Yiyun of Anhui Province summarized the orchid appreciation experience of predecessors and wrote an orchid monograph titled "Miscellaneous Notes on Cultivating Orchids," in which he first proposed the petal-type classification of Chinese orchids. Since then, over the past 260 years, people have continuously deepened and perfected the appreciation standards for petal-type flower art. It can be said to have reached perfection; the key lies in how we study hard, and then understand and thoroughly comprehend its essence. Seeking form as symbol within natural beauty, transforming natural beauty into artistic conception, and having the beauty of the human soul confirmed in the orchid, this is the true meaning of the Chinese orchid petal-type theory. Let us now speak of the plum-petal flower art of Chinese orchids:

1. Plum petal: Also called plum, plum blossom petal.

Checking historical old orchid manuals, the most detailed description states: "The three petals of the plum petal are round at the base, the rui center has a pou and white head, the tongue is short and round, and when in bloom it closely resembles the cold plum of early spring." The ancients refined their sentences with great precision and treasured every word, but this created difficulties for people today in understanding and grasping it, so much so that beginners and later learners of Chinese orchid cultivation find it very hard to fully digest the standard.

Only through careful observation in the practice of selecting varieties and appreciating orchids can one thoroughly comprehend the plum petal standard. Below I discuss some extremely immature experiences and lessons I have observed and realized in practice:

When the new shoots of plum-petal orchids emerge from the soil, the bud color is relatively vivid; most bud tips have a bit of white jade peak, or the bud body bears variegation, with a crystal-clear, moist texture. Those with muddy or oily-astringent bud color definitely will not produce plum petals. The leaf trousers are vigorously upright yet spreading, with each leaf trouser often twisting forward; the leaf trousers stand tight with tips like needles. The leaf posture is mostly drooping, with leaves arranged neatly like a folding fan; the base leaves mostly appear fish-shaped, the leaf stalk standing tight and slender, the middle portion mantis-belly-shaped, the leaf surface mostly having "running dragon" texture, the leaf tip boat-shaped, the leaf surface usually groove-shaped and not flat, the veins fine and contained without narrow threads, the leaf texture moist, the leaf color emerald green and rich in luster.

The flower bud head shape is upright and refined, with a sparrow-beak empty top and a tightly contracted base, rounded and full but not bulging. If the flower bud is round and bulging like a fist, and before the flower opens one already sees the white head of the rui center, then the rui center will certainly be hard and stuck, and the outer petals, if not upturned, will certainly flutter. Plum-petal flower bud shell colors come in many kinds, but the shell tip must bear green variegation or a jade-white peak; the bud sheaths from outside to inside layer by layer add color and hue while the mottled patterns gradually become sparser. Superior plum petals often have 2 to 3 colored sheaths, with jade-white edges; the edge sheaths without mottled patterns closely resemble petals. When the ovary sheaths are fully colored and wrinkled, the flower form will certainly be round, neat, and large. Colored sheaths include emerald green sheath, purple-red colored sheath, red-green colored sheath, white jade sheath, glass colored sheath, etc.

When the flower bud emerges through the bud sheath, its shape resembles a lotus seed or a flower growing, with the head facing upward and definitely not bowing. The bud tip has a white peak, the edges inlaid with white, holding its head high and chest out as it gradually opens its petals. Carefully observing the process of a plum petal blooming truly gives the artistic conception of plum blossoms welcoming spring and ice and snow melting away.

There are many plum-petal flower art varieties, but the rounder the outer petals, the easier the rui center becomes hard and stuck together, and the lip petal then easily becomes pointed and small; and the harder and more stuck the rui center, the more the outer petals, though round, easily flutter upward, and hard white veins also easily appear on the outer petals, commonly called "back-back." Although some people sometimes call these "crystal plum petals," by traditional standards they are inferior.

In judging the quality of plum-petal flower art varieties, the central palace is the key.

The pou of plum petals commonly includes the following types:

Soft silkworm-moth rui: Shaped like the head of a silkworm moth, the front end of the rui petals is round and curls inward, appearing jade-white or milky yellow. The rui petal texture is relatively soft, glutinous, and moist, with a fleshy feel; the two rui petals are separated at the base yet embrace upright, round, moist, and smooth. The top of the rui center does not expose the column back, and the side of the rui center does not show the tongue cheek. A ruyi round tongue or a liu hai tongue is even better. Paired with round, neat outer petals, such as the Spring Orchid "Song Mei," it is among the very top superior grades in the plum category.

Semi-hard silkworm-moth rui, also called semi-hard rui: The pou is relatively thick and hard. The rui petals can still be separated at the base or separated at the head and joined at the back; the lip petal is relatively short and small, and the central palace feels slightly tight and small. It can still rank as a superior grade in the plum category.

Hard rui: The rui center is thick and hard, the rui petals joined shoulder-to-back, the tongue petal pointed and small, the central palace tightly contracted; even if the outer petals are round, it only ranks as a middle grade in the central palace.

Pipa-head rui, oil-ash-block rui, fist rui: The rui petals and the column are stuck and ossified into one body, the tongue petal pointed and small like a grain of rice or with no tongue petal at all; a few also have a downward-opening tongue petal, but all have no mouth and a hanging tongue. No matter how round the outer petals of such plum petals are, they resemble plum blossoms frozen stiff by ice and snow that cannot open normally, and are all inferior without selection.

The ancients said: "Plum has no large tongue." Indeed, if a plum-petal art variety can have a tongue petal short, round, broad, and large, opening moderately, with the rui center soft, glutinous, smooth, and neatly round, the central palace not tight and small and in reasonable proportion with the outer petals, the outer petals round with tight edges, the main petal upright, the shoulders level, opening with posture yet embracing, color lovely, texture glutinous, stem tall, spiritual charm lofty, and staying power also good, such a plum petal can truly be said to be one in ten thousand.

Among Chinese orchids, the petal-type flowers with upright flower appearance and spreading flower form are not plum petals, but plum-form narcissus and lotus-form narcissus. Appreciating those frozen plum petals is truly not as good as appreciating ordinary orchids, which, though plain, are natural and dignified.

It has been more than 260 years since plum-petal flower art was first proposed; the content of appreciation has not changed, and the appraisal standards have not changed. Therefore, people call it the traditional standard, meaning it is an old variety. Indeed, judging by the lines of Chinese orchid appreciation, plum-petal flower art is quite an old variety. However, for over 200 years people have been splitting hairs within plum petals, searching for new varieties, no matter how many new plum petals are produced. Strictly and earnestly speaking, those with new ideas and breakthroughs are far too few. So where do so many new varieties come from? When a new plum petal is introduced, one might still say so; but to call them all new varieties seems somewhat inappropriate in understanding the word "variety." It seems we still need to work hard in inheriting tradition. May like-minded friends seek knowledge together with me.

Ding Yongkang, residing in Chengdu Written on April 1, 2004 (Tong Qu day)