Orchid robbery

Author: Mou Anxiang

Orchid is a favorite ornamental plant, which, like peony and lotus, has become the carrier of culture. Over the past few hundred years, the people of Jiangsu and Zhejiang have bred many famous species of Cymbidium, of which nearly 900 have been recorded. This number is limited to some ancient genealogical documents, and the actual number is far more than this number. Up to now, the historical Cymbidium cymbidium species are only about 100, and the relative proportion is too low. Even if according to the nine hundred products recorded in some documents, only about 1/9 of them have survived, that is to say, nearly eight hundred products have died in the course of historical spread. This figure is really staggering. What is the reason for the disaster of famous orchids?

There are many reasons for the premature death of the famous species Lanhui in history, and we can't generalize it. Orchid is a kind of living plant, birth, aging, sickness and death are inevitable. It is a natural law and a way for orchids to reproduce life that the new ones in each breed replace the old ones. Orchids that die as a result of disease rather than normal death can be divided into two situations: one is that some of the seedlings die, and some of the seedlings are handed down; the other is that all the seedlings die and the varieties are cut off. This kind of situation has been recorded in the history of the Koran spectrum. Wu Xinglan Huipu said in the record of Luhui "Tang name Narcissus": "Little lotus style, soft, big round tongue, thin dry, one word frame." When he left the home of a prostitute in Suzhou, he was disabled and injured, and he was never planted for more than a year. " "Lan Hui Xiao Shi" in the record of "Yong Simei" said: "Shanghai Zha Yongsi was obtained in the Xuantong period of the former Qing Dynasty. Five lobes divided into nests, Ruyi tongue, core tip white meat is very heavy. As a result of steaming for too long, the seed gradually withered, and could not be preserved. What a pity! Tang Luo, the owner of the half-garden, could not bear to give up his love and was included in plate making in 1949. " This kind of orchid species that died without further breeding accounted for only a small part, and most of the aborted orchid species came from "natural and man-made disasters". Let's talk about this "natural disaster" first.

"Lan Hui Xiao Shi" said: "it is compiled and recorded, broken from the former Qing Dynasty Guang Xu Ranchen, the old species left behind after the great freeze, as well as the best species newly falling from the mountain year by year." The year of "Guang Xu Ranchen in the former Qing Dynasty" is the so-called "Great freeze" year in history (AD 1892). Wu Enyuan said in the Chronicle: "Guang Xu Ranchen winter November, more than ten days of severe cold." According to Zheng Tongmei's "dill orchid experiment", "I was very fond of orchid in the spring of Ranchen. It was an unusually cold winter, and the river was frozen and blocked for five or six days." "the rest of the flowers are stored only in the room, without pots but without ice. At that time, the thermometer dropped to 17 or 18 degrees. Because the iron stove was placed in the middle of the room, the coal was kept day and night for about two days before it could be preserved." "Feng Jun and Yu Chen came to pay attention to this, and the canal exclaimed that it was worth no less than 100,000 gold because it was frozen and wilted everywhere." There is no record in history of how many famous species were lost in this frozen year. "it is worth no less than 100,000 gold." it can be seen that many people lost at that time. Due to the climate, the withered Lanhui occurs every year, but compared with the "natural disaster", the "man-made disaster" is more shocking. Here we focus on several catastrophes that Lan Hui suffered as a result of "man-made disasters" in history.

Xu Jielan, the son of Xu Jielou, the author of the Book of Lan Hui, once said: "the chaos of Gengshen, the house was burned down, the fuelwood was empty, and Lan Hui was also ravaged." "if you don't save ten times, you can't get any more memories of the strange products of the past." Yuan Shijun said in "A brief account of Lan Yan": "the change of Gengshen was ravaged, and he felt sorry for it for a long time." "Jiaxing and Fengjing have the most excellent products, and they were all destroyed after the disaster." "the Rebellion of Gengshen" refers to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement in the tenth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty, that is, 1860. In this year, the Qing army suppressed the Taiping army in southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the Anglo-French coalition forces in the north invaded Beijing and set fire to Old Summer Palace's barbaric aggression. The country was destroyed, the people were living in poverty, and the famous species of Cymbidium were ravaged. Through the records of some famous species, we can also see that the record of Lan Hui with one mind says in the record "Saint Lin Meisu": "planting has grown leaves to seven cylinders for three years, but it is a pity that it has been destroyed at random." "Great Green Plum"it is a pity that it has suffered the chaos of Gengshen, but its species does not exist." "Lan Yan Shuoluo" records Chunlan's "Xiaoshan Meisu": "after the military disaster in Gengshen, Zhejiang Province was cut off, and the maids from Ningbo in Xianfeng were replaced by Green Plum." "Tou Guimei" and "Xianfeng Gengshen was killed." "Zhao Qimei" to Xianfeng Gengshen after the absolute. " Huihua "Wang Mingyangsu" and "Tongzhi (Xianfeng) Gengshen cut off the military disaster in Jiangsu and Zhejiang." The popular "Wang Mingyangsu" is very likely to be a variety of pseudonyms for future generations.) In the chaos of Gengshen, the name species of Lanhui is "ten not to exist", and the orchid culture is also greatly traumatized. "Lanhui Tongxin Records" and "Lan Yan four kinds" have been recorded one after another under the influence of "Bing Yi" at that time. "the loss or burning of the Qulan spectrum," said in the "Lan Hui Tongxin record": "Changzhou Tu's Lan Huijing", Suzhou Zhu's "the first incense Notes", Jiashan Chen's "King's incense Collection", Yixing Yun's "Xing Lan Collection" Yuyao Huang has "Orchid Hui Spectrum" and Fengjing Cheng has "Orchid Huixue". After the war, most of them died, and there was no way to collect them. " The Orchid Huijing (Mirror) and the first fragrant Notes have been preserved. Jiashan Chen's "King of incense Collection" (this Chen is probably Chen Yinggeng, is a very famous magnolia master at that time), Yixing Yun's "Xinglan Collection", Yuyao Huang's "Orchid Spectrum", Fengjing Cheng's "Lan Huixue" (Cheng is likely to be Cheng and Reed, "continued Lan Hui Tongxue" said in the record "Da Kui Su": "Maple Jing Cheng and Reed filial piety Lianyun: if Huilan meets gold, the first view of the article at home.") Unfortunately, most of these precious Quran spectra were burned in the "Gengshen Rebellion", which we can hardly see so far.

Another encounter with Lanhui in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was the Japanese invasion of the south of the Yangtze River in the late 1930s and early 1940s. We quote that on July 1, 1938, the author of Lanhuasu, Yojiro Ohara, published a record of the Battle Tour in his "Friends of interest" publication. On April 13 of that year, Kohara arrived in Wuxi. Because of the war, Jiang Dongfu took refuge in Shanghai at that time, and the Japanese artillery team was stationed in the Jiangdong fragrant grass garden in Wuxi. Lanhui was exhausted and the pots were scattered. The flower bed of red sandalwood has become the fuel of the army. The house of Rong Wenqing was burned down; the famous orchid derived by Zhuang was exhausted, the whereabouts of Lanhui was unknown, and the orchid shed was demolished, which became the material for building air defense trenches. The whole family took refuge in the mountains. On April 15, Junjiro Ohara arrived in Suzhou. Fei Shiying and Xie Ruisheng (Shan), a famous local orchid family, abandoned Lanhui and fled and took refuge in Shanghai. On April 25, Junjiro Ohara arrived in Hangzhou. The owners of the orchid gardens fled, and Lanhuido was burned or used as horse material. The more than 200 pots of orchid name species of the famous orchid relatives in Hangzhou were all transferred to Yojiro Ohara, which was shipped to Tokyo, Japan on May 9 of the same year. That year, Japan's Ueda Ministry in Shanghai also shipped the orchid species he collected in China (concentrated in Shaoxing) to Japan. During the more than two decades from the 1920s to the 1940s, the Japanese Orchid people collected many famous species of Lanhui in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces of China. Have all these varieties been preserved? The situation is not optimistic either. Let us say a few more words here. The publication of Orchid Spectrum by Yoshihara Ohara in 1937 was also the heyday for Japanese orchids to cultivate Chinese orchids. By the full outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, the war did not bring back the prosperity of the country and the stability of the people. Lan Hui also fell into a deep valley. Kenzo Matsumura of Japan said in my Lan Diary: "during the war, the orchids were damaged, and the air defense trenches were shrouded by damp heat in winter." There is more damage to orchids. " In an article entitled "what you want to know," the Japanese Orchid said: "because the war gave up orchids, enthusiasts and businessmen had no time to care about it. Although they continued after returning from the war, everyone went on to eat and live in an era when they sold cloth, tires, gravel, rice and wheat." In 1952, Kenzo Matsumura said in my Lan Diary: "although we do not know how many varieties were imported from China before the war, it is certain that many varieties became extinct in the war." The Chinese Orchid people also recorded some of the damage of Lanhui at that time. Shen Yuanru wrote an inscription behind the original photo of Victory Dahe in 1946, which talked about the destruction of Lanhui planted by Rong Wenqing: "Victory Big Lotus, Chihui." Out of thirteen years in 1949. At that time, it was named Cao Rong Dahe by the elder Cao Ziyu and Rong Wenqing. After five years of study, I spent it informally once again. In the following winter, during the Sino-Japanese incident, Lan Hui, planted by Rong Wenqing, was almost defeated. The rest is weak and weak. " In the Chronicle of Orchid Garden, the Chronicle said: "when the Japanese invaded China, encroached on Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and Zheng took refuge in Shanghai, all Lanhui were buried in the country courtyard. The following year, Feng Rumei in Huzhou asked Zheng's consent to go to Shuanglin to check that bluegrass no longer existed, leaving only empty potted ears. it was a pity that the year was extremely cold, and bluegrass might freeze to death." The "Zheng" here refers to Zheng Tongmei. I once learned about the spread of Zheng and Mei Lanhui from Mr. Feng Rumei, a leading orchid in the orchid world. he said that many of Gu Xiangxiao's orchids came from Xu Xianlou, and the orchids that Gu Xiangxiao collapsed returned to Wu Enyuan. this is written in the Lan Hui Little History: "Guang Xu Renyin Qiu, Gu's Lanhui all belong to Jiufeng Pavilion." Most of Wu Enyuan's Lan Hui later went to Zheng Tongmei. Zheng Tongmei fled to Shanghai when the Japanese invaded China in 1937, and all the orchids were destroyed at this time. Zheng Tongmei died shortly after 1940. "Jian Weng" said in the postscript to the "Dill experiment": "the war between Ding Chou and Japan broke out shortly, Huzhou fell, and the names of Lanzhi were plundered, so it is not possible to ask. I have really returned to Yuanyuan. " According to the preface to the dill experiment, Ding Shaolan of the orchid family in Huzhou also took refuge in Shanghai at that time. According to the Chronicle of Lan Yuan, "in the early 1950s, I had the honor of knowing Yao Xuanyu in Wumen. There are hundreds of pots of Lanhui in my husband's home, most of which are very valuable species, which are left by his respect for Mr. Weng Junyu." It is a pity that when the Japanese invaders occupied Sioucheng, they deposited all the bluegrass in the flower bed surnamed Wang and buried it on the edge of the hedge. After settling down, they returned home. Most of the famous flowers were destroyed, and there was only 'Dongshanmei' residual grass, which was very much regretted in my heart. " "Cheng Yuanding, a native of Changshu and a distinguished family, is generous. There are small gardens in the house, exquisite rockery, sparse flowers and trees, and an extremely beautiful environment. There are more than a hundred pots of Orchid planted next to the house, all of which are precious species." the Japanese invaders occupied northern Beijing, and then nibbled away at East China. When there was bad news from the land, for safety reasons, they brought their families, bought boats and went south to live in a rental house in Dangkou Town, Suzhou. Dozens of orchids were carried beside them, although they were in full bloom. But the wind is jittery and frightened several times a day, so I have no intention of enjoying and playing. Soon after the fall of Changshu, it was calm, and the asylum seekers went home one after another, and Cheng also returned, but the flowers could only stay temporarily, and eventually withered due to lack of management. " From the above historical records, we can see that the destruction of Lanhui was very serious at that time. From the "Gengshen Rebellion" in the Qing Dynasty to the founding of the people's Republic of China in 1949, there were wars and social unrest. The famous species Lanhui also suffered disasters again and again, and countless famous products were cut off. In the 1950s, there was a scene of supporting Su in domestic orchids. In the early 1950s, Xu Jinkang was in charge of preparing for the construction of the Orchid Room of the Shanghai Botanical Garden; in 1953, Zhu Youren was responsible for the construction of the Orchid Room in Hangzhou; in 1956, the Chinese Academy of Sciences set up a Botanical Garden in Beijing, in which part of the orchid was cultivated; in 1958, Marshal Zhu de invited Shengfu to set up an orchid room in Zhongshan Park; and the Canglangting Park Orchid Room in Suzhou and the Orchid Room in Jingjiang Park were also set up one after another. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, and the "cultural dageming" that began in the mid-1960s made the orchids fall into an even greater abyss.

"Cultural gageming" defines flower cultivation as a closed repair, and orchids are also eradicated. According to the Records of Landscape Architecture of Jiangsu Province, Shen Yuanru had 51 species of cymbidium and 70 species of Cymbidium in the 1950s, totaling 121 species, reaching more than 2,000 pots. Unfortunately, in his later years, he was devastated by the Cultural Revolution, Lan Hui lost all of it, became depressed and became a disease, and died with resentment. During the ten years of turmoil in the Shanghai Botanical Garden, Lan Hui was unmanaged, despite the wind and rain, most of them wilted or lost. Mr. Liu Hanlin in Shanghai gave more than 160 pots of his beloved orchid that he had accumulated for many years to the Shanghai Botanical Garden, which was nothing during the Cultural Revolution; the orchid stored in the orchid room in Hangzhou suffered a great loss. In the article "Orchid appreciation", Kenzo Matsumura, son of Kenzo Matsumura, Japan, said: "Jiuhua has changed very little even in China in recent years. Asked the gardener in Hangzhou (garden). As a famous product, there are only two or three kinds, such as' Cheng Mei 'and' Duan Huimei'. My father thinks that since wenge, Chinese famous goods have been lost. " I once asked Mr. Yao Yuping, who worked in the garden in Hangzhou, and he told me that at the end of the Cultural Revolution, the famous species of Huihua disappeared, and the remaining species of Chunlan were also small, weak and weak, and most of them lost their names. Orchid planted by the Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and the Canglangting Orchid Room in Suzhou can not escape this calamity. Although the orchid room in Zhongshan Park in Beijing was protected, Lan Hui neglected to manage it. At that time, the garden department collected more than 100 precious orchids, and Zhu Shengfu brought 40 good species, of which the extremely precious "Purple Shou Golden Medallion" is now missing. Many orchid farmers in Shaoxing, the hometown of orchids, were put on bourgeois hats and criticized, and orchids were moved to the site to be destroyed. After the death of the husband and wife of the famous Orchid family Hu Zhitian in Yuyao, Lan Hui was nurtured by his son Hu Xiaoyan. During the Cultural Revolution, Lan Hui was protected by relatives and friends in the countryside after dividing the basin, or hidden in a wooden box under the bed, taking advantage of the dead of night to water it. Huzhou Feng Rumei Feng had a rough life, and Zhong Ailanhui had a name of Lanhui more than a hundred pots, but it was stolen and lost in the Cultural Revolution. Yuyao Wang Shuping, a famous art orchid of the generation in 1965, died of illness. It is said that he transferred most of the orchids to others for cultivation, but also left some of them. His youngest son also loved orchids. At that time, during the extraordinary period of anti-drug weeds during the Cultural Revolution, I dared not raise them at home, secretly planted them in the fields, and dared not take care of them. All these orchids withered, and so on. Here we can list many situations in which Lan Hui was destroyed at that time, which can be said to be a catastrophe of Lan Hui's name. Who dared to talk about orchids at that time? Who dares not to? Of course, the main purpose of the "Cultural Revolution" was not aimed at orchids. The fire at the city gate affected the fish pond. At that time, Orchid Art also became a vacuum zone. From the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s to the late 1970s, no Jiangsu and Zhejiang orchid works of reference value were published in China. After the 1980s, Shen and his son's Orchid and Gu Shuqian's Orchid Chronicle were published one after another.

The cultivation of orchids is the key to the survival of orchids. According to the Lan Yan Shu [Appendix], "Jiang has several brothers in Shanghai. Since then, he has sent someone to Yuyao to buy famous old flowers, about two thousand gold, new flowers and potted mud, and hire another Yuyao person to plant them, at a cost of more than two thousand dollars." After Xin Weidong resigned the Yuyao people, he hired a layman to plant them, so that the flowers and leaves withered, totaling 190 pots of leaflets, frozen and steamed last winter, but withered this spring, which is a great pity. " There are too many examples of wilting due to improper cultivation or care in orchid records and reality. There is still no good solution for stem rot and soft rot, and it is difficult to prevent rodent cat drowning. Orchids are like beauties, and beauties are doomed. "Shu Hui Chapter" said: "when you meet those who love, cherish and plant them for decades, but once you die, it will be scattered in Guangling." There is a popular saying in Linghai Lanyan: "Orchid has no leaves for three years, and there are no three generations of orchids at home." "there are many people who ask for both money and money from their ancestors, and those who are abandoned by their children and grandchildren."

Petal orchids are based on common grass. In orchids, petal flowers are derived from natural hybrids, accounting for only 1/10000 or 1/100000 of ordinary orchids. The protection of wild orchid resources will make the new petal flowers have a long history. For more than 20 years since the 1980s, driven by economic interests, wild orchid resources have suffered an unprecedented catastrophe. In the past, there were few mountain visitors who lived on Cailan. Cailan sought wonders and treasures in the orchid, leaving most of the grass on the mountain. Today, the number of people digging orchids is more than ten thousand times, and they dig whenever they see orchids. Without the common grass, where will the treasures come down the mountain in the future? "if the skin does not exist, how will the hair be attached?"

The robbery of orchids, to name a few. Zhu Kerou said in the first fragrant Notes [robbery of Flowers]: "drunken people turn pots, rats bite stamens, hairpins are worn on ugly women's heads and cultivated in the hands of common people." The orchid "disaster" mentioned here is very small compared to the "natural and man-made disasters" listed above. Nowadays, with the prosperity of the people and social stability, people of insight call for early legislation on the protection of orchid resources, and the cause of orchids is booming. Orchids can cherish the orchids in their hands, enjoy the fragrance and edify their sentiment. May the orchid robbery go away from us forever.