Detailed Explanation of the Orchid Classic "Linghai Lanyan": Experience and Insights on Growing Orchids in Lingnan

Selected Reprints from Ancient Orchid Manuals - Linghai Lanyan

By Ou Jinse of Nanhai, Qing Dynasty

Preface

  The principles under heaven are one and the same. Mencius said: "Think, and you will get it; do not think, and you will not get it." He also said: "Seek, and you will get it; seeking is beneficial to getting." Although growing orchids is a minor art, if one does not think about the principles by which they live and does not seek the reasons why they flourish, fearing that fertilizer is insufficient and worrying that watering is not enough, acting crude and careless while merely hoping for rapid success, then the fault is being too diligent. As the saying goes: "When the flowers bloom, they are like treasures; when the flowers fall, they are like weeds." If one pays no attention at all to yin and yang, dryness and moisture, then the fault is being too lazy. When diligence and laziness both become faults, few orchids will survive.

  In human life, before one has cut off the bonds of affection, whoever has a fondness for one thing will have one thing by which he is burdened. If one can truly empty all things, wipe away all worldly thoughts, and forget both things and self, that is the highest. Or if one fears that reaching far may lead to obstruction and disdains the minor art as unworthy of attention, that is next. Even with Tao Yuanming's tranquility and Lin Hejing's lofty character, they still could not forget their feelings for the chrysanthemums by the eastern hedge and the plum blossoms on Solitary Mountain, and their praises appear repeatedly. How much more so for one like me, who since falling into this world has had no way to break free, like a cocoon binding the body, like catkin clinging to mud, having something he enjoys, loving only orchids. How could this be called failing to attain correctness?

  In the garden I planted several hundred pots of secluded orchids by hand. With no matters to attend to by the small window, I thought about their principles and sought their reasons, and when I gained something, I wrote Linghai Lanyan in two volumes. After ten years of investigation, the draft was revised three times. And I have already grown old. To break emptiness into powder and roll the universe like a pellet is the use of thought; to reach the top of the pole and hope to advance, to carve the tip of a thorn and make it a monkey, is the effect of seeking. Formerly Guo Tuotuo planted trees, and Liu Zihou thought this embodied the art of nurturing people. Though I have ambition, I have privately not attained it. From now on, if anyone asks to learn gardening, I venture to answer with this compilation.

Nanhai, Ou Jinse, Hengxiang, self-preface

Introduction

  Linghai Lanyan in two volumes was originally titled Yue Lan Bai Zhong Lu. Friends disliked its excessive plainness and changed it to the present title. Those produced elsewhere but long propagated in our Guangdong are all included, for foreign regions are listed in the Historical Records, and sojourners are also entered in the Comprehensive Gazetteer. I respectfully follow this precedent, not favoring my native place. As for the cymbidium of Jiangsu, Guangdong custom does not esteem it, and the Ou orchid of Zhejiang is not suitable for Guangdong. I dare not borrow material and force myself to pretend understanding. Thus this record fills thirty thousand words and does not copy a single word from predecessors. If later generations arise to revise and supplement it, this will be the rough cart before the great carriage.

  Huang Shangu said: "One stalk with one flower is lan; one stalk with several flowers is hui." Zhu Xi's Dialectics on Li Sao says: "The lan of antiquity must have both flowers and leaves fragrant, and only then could it be strung and worn." Yang Yuxiu's Danqian Zonglu says: "Worldly people take those like daylily and like cattail as lan, and the nine-acre field is wrongly accused." Matters of this kind lead to endless dispute. I am ashamed not to have Wang Chong's Lunheng, and it is difficult to set forth Cai Yong's Duduan. Since all the people of the state call it lan, then let it be lan. Therefore all speculative theories are not excerpted. Speculation lacks constant truth, and poetic compositions merely fill volumes. From "Zhen and Wei" in the Airs of Zheng and "Bu Wang Xun Gai," it is hard to forget these records, not only the single piece "Yi Lan." From the Han and Tang onward, elegant works have stood like a forest; if one must consult them, the various famous collections ancient and modern are there.

  Previous orchid manuals gave first importance to illustrations. But they approached it from the principles of painting, while this record specializes in cultivation. Moreover, when distinguishing types, the details are minute; double outline is already hard to make exactly alike, and coloring may not be finely done, so it is better not to do it. Or if one imitates Western methods, distinguishing yin and yang, sparing no gold, a painter is still hard to find, so it is better not to do it. There are even cases of mistaken carving and blurred copying. Ox ghosts and snake spirits, scrawled ugly writing, are either Mao Yanshou or Wu Daozi, and it is still better not to do it.

  The human body, from head to heel, has its own name for every part; the orchid plant, from leaf to root, has a fixed position for every node. In between, the feeling of the flowers and the meaning of the leaves, if divided and analyzed without detail down to a thousand miles and a hair's breadth, lose both form and spirit at once. Therefore I first set out "Appellations," occasionally explaining dialect terms. For Cantonese people discussing Cantonese matters, using their local pronunciation, there is no need to follow the written form and demand its meaning. Next "Cultivation," next "Placement," next "Planting." The methods of growing orchids are then complete, but I speak only of what is suitable for Guangdong soil. As for the severe cold of the north and the intense heat of the equator, although the plants may be precious, when moved to another place they do not thrive. Yet fine varieties may change, while their original nature is not different. Thus by giving one corner and inferring the rest, and by matching the rule and gaining skill, all-around ventilation is made the first principle. If that cannot be done, constant attentiveness is made the second principle.

  When heaven and earth produce living things, they must also produce things that harm living things; this is the regret of heaven and earth. Therefore "Protection" comes next. To avoid fire one still cherishes the Han seal; when falling into water one still embraces the Lanting; those with extraordinary infatuation have extraordinary obsessions, and those with extraordinary obsessions have extraordinary joy. It can be known but not imitated, pitied but not laughed at. One should take the orchid's body as my body and transform my mind into the orchid's mind: what it desires, gather with it; what it dislikes, do not impose on it. How subtle, how subtle. What the household does not have, one then purchases and seeks. When the eye is old and there are no flowers, one is often misled by flowers, so "Identification" comes next. Yet when love equals life itself, one naturally treats it as practice and must wander with the creator: in dreams there are announcements from ghosts and spirits. Consulting medical principles and awakening to mysterious workings, I have labored much thought and strength in this. If one adds Western science and carefully investigates the finest subtleties, then the special fragrant king and ten thousand flowers will laugh together. I still hope for help from other hills to make up for what I have not reached, so "Investigating Principles" comes next. As for after wine and tea, orchid matters can aid conversation, and so "Miscellaneous Talks" concludes it. But if it is not a Guangdong matter, it is also not included.

  The orchid family is extremely numerous. Often they grow on the same mountain yet differ in kind, and are the same kind yet differ in grade. Names differ between ancient and modern, and tastes differ between north and south. With my shallow and limited knowledge, I respectfully base this record on what I have seen and heard. Sometimes I note names, sometimes detail origins, sometimes record one aspect, sometimes describe the whole spirit. If there is no way to describe it, I must resort to analogy. There are at times praise and blame, but no love or hatred. Therefore the lower volume is marked by two guiding categories, divided into four sections, and those orchid-like but not orchid are appended as well. If the flower spirits have awareness, they will surely not take this continuation of the sable as an affront.

  Manuals originally come from the Historical Records and Bibliographies, and the Siku Quanshu placed them among the miscellaneous schools. Though the intent is the same, the form has already changed. Some say: "This record's style is delicate and ornate, and it is ridiculed by experts." But Han Yu's Mao Ying has language mixed with jest, and Tao Yuanming's "Idle Feelings" has many rich and lovely phrases. How much more so when portraying flowers; dare one not write their appearance in full detail? Some say: "Its order and arrangement sometimes reveal hardship, and between the lines are contained laughter and curses. With blocks in the chest, what is this if not indignation?" Alas! The sun and moon have passed, and my old self remains the same. I intend to love orchids, but orchids are ashamed to see me. That one lodged his feelings in fragrant plants and dispelled his sorrow, Qu Yuan did it before me. How much more so for this work fit only to cover a jar?