Li Gang was a famous official of the Song Dynasty, and the era in which he lived coincided with the flourishing of orchid culture
Li Gang, courtesy name Boji, pseudonym Mr. Liangxi, was of ancestral origin in Shaowu, Fujian, and was a famous politician and man of letters during the transition between the Northern and Southern Song dynasties. Throughout his life he weathered the turmoil of the late Northern Song and the upheaval surrounding the early establishment of the Southern Song; because of his uprightness and readiness to speak out, and his firm stand in favor of resisting the Jin, he has always been regarded as a representative official of integrity.
In his official career, Li Gang is best known for being called upon in a moment of crisis during the Jingkang era, when he took charge of the defense of Bianjing and steadied a perilous situation. After the Southern Song was established, he briefly served as chancellor, setting about reforming the government and arranging defenses, but because his pro-war stance conflicted with the court's inclination toward seeking peace, he was dismissed not long after taking office and was subsequently banished to remote regions on several occasions.
Li Gang was also a prolific man of letters, leaving behind poetry and prose such as the "Liangxi Collection." His works mostly concern the current situation and the livelihood of the people, in a profound and plain style; his famous piece "The Sick Ox" uses an old ox as a self-portrait, conveying a spirit of giving one's all until the end, and it is still often quoted and recited today.
From the perspective of orchid culture, the Song Dynasty in which Li Gang lived was precisely a period when the Chinese custom of cultivating orchids was moving toward prosperity. Men of letters in the Northern and Southern Song widely adopted the practice of comparing orchids to virtue, regarding orchids as symbols of a gentleman's character; poetry and prose praising orchids emerged in endless streams, and specialized orchid catalogs also appeared during this stage. When orchid enthusiasts of later generations sort through the origins of orchid culture, they often use the stories of Northern and Southern Song men of letters as background, and a figure like Li Gang, who possessed both literary fame and strength of character, naturally became a representative within the picture of that era. Nowadays, when orchid enthusiasts, in addition to cultivating traditional varieties such as cymbidium and goeringii, learn about this cultural origin, it can also add a touch of charm to a pot of orchids on the desk.
