Jinzhang lanpu 金漳蘭譜 and other books on orchids

Zhao Shigeng's 趙時庚 Jinzhang lanpu 金漳蘭譜

Jinzhang lanpu 金漳蘭譜 is a book on orchid cultivation written during the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Zhao Shigeng 趙時庚, style Danzhai 澹齋, who was a member of the imperial family. The dates of his life are not known, and the book on orchids seems to be his sole writing. It was finished in 1233.

The book of 3 juan length begins with an account of how Shigeng's father retired from office and returned to his home village, where he dedicated himself to the cultivation of orchids. The author himself continued to invest in this extravagant hobby and finally started writing a book. The first chapter is about the general appearance of orchids (Xu lan rong zhi 敘蘭容質), a qualitative rating of the different kinds of orchids (Pin zhi gao xia 品質高下), and an overview of the cultivation (Tian di ai yang 天地愛養). Zhao discerns basically between two types of orchids, namely the purple type (zilan 紫蘭, with 16 species or types), and the white type (bailan 白蘭, 19 types).

The most beautiful flower of the purple type was, according to Zhao, the kind chenmengliang 陳夢良. A very extravagant flower (pinwai zhi qi 品外之奇) was the species jindianpang 金殿邊, and among the best flowers, the conoisseur could find bailan 白蘭, yijilao 以濟老, zaoshan 灶山, shihua 施花, li tongpan 李通判, huizhirong 惠知容 and madatong 馬大同. Master of the white type was the flower jilao 濟老, while the most extraordinary (qipin 奇品) white orchid was yuyou 魚魷.

The second chapter provides information about cultivation (Jianxing fengzhi 堅性封植), positioning, cutting, propagation and irrigation (Guangai de yi 灌溉得宜), as well as the use of pots, earth and sand and fertilizing. Different types of orchids required different treatment and required special care during different seasons. In the last chapter, the author describes the methods of cultivation, planting, reproduction, caring for the blossoms and preventing them from attacks by insects.

The last part of the book is an appendix called Lanpu aofa 蘭譜奥法 "Secret methods of orchid [cultivation]". This part is called Zhonglan aojue 種蘭奧訣 in the quotation in the encylcopaedia Gujin tushu jicheng 古今圖書及陳 (ch. 538).

The Jinzhang lanpu is included in the series Baichuan xuehai 百川學海, Biyu conglu 筆餘叢錄, Qunfang qingwan 群芳清玩, Xiangyan congshu 香艷叢書 Shuofu 說郛 and Siku quanshu 四庫全書.

Wang Guixue's 王貴學 Lanpu 蘭譜

Lanpu 蘭譜, also called Wangshi lanpu 王氏蘭譜, is a book on orchids written during the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Wang Guixue 王貴學 (fl. 1247), courtesy name Jinshu 進叔, from Linjiang 臨江 (today's Qingjiang 清江, Jiangxi).

The book is divided into six chapters, namely classification (Pindi zhi deng 品第之等), watering (Guangai zhi hou 灌溉之候), cutting (Fenzhe zhi fa 分析之法), earth (Shani zhi yi 沙泥之宜), habitats (Aiyang zhi di 愛養之地), and reproduction (Lanpin zhi chan 蘭品之產). The book is dated 1233 or 1247. In some aspects, it goes beyond the matters described in the Jinzhang lanpu, for instance, information on he background on the types dazhangqing 大張青 and putongling 蒲統領. The book is highly praised by Wang Shizheng 王世貞.

The book is first recorded in Tao Zongyi's 陶宗儀 (1329-1410) Shuofu 說郛, but not complete. Thus, only 30 paragraphs of the text are surviving. It is also found in the series Baichuan xuehai 百川學海, Shanju xiaowan 山居小玩, Qunfang qingwan 群芳清玩, Wenfang qishu 文房奇書, Biyu conglu 筆餘叢錄, Xiangyan congshu 香艷叢書 and Guoxue zhenben wenku 國學珍本文庫.

Zhang Yingwen's 張應文 Luolizhai lanpu 羅籬齋蘭譜

Luolizhai lanpu 羅籬齋蘭譜, sometimes simply referred to as Lanpu 蘭譜, is a book on orchids written by Zhang Yingwen 張應文 (mid-16th cent.), courtesy name Maoshi 茂實, style Yifu 彝甫 or Beiti Xiansheng 被裼先生, from Kunshan 昆山, Jiangsu. He was particularly convinced that the orchid books of Zhao Shigeng and Wang Guixue had to be supplemented.

Zhang's book is divided into three parts presenting types and species of orchids, methods of cultivation and care, and other topics. The text is very detailed and was highly rated by Zhou Zhongfu 周中孚 (1768-1821), author of the review collection Zhengtang duhu ji 鄭堂讀書記. In the catalogue Qianqingtang shumu 千頃堂書目著錄, the book is said to have a length of 2 juan, while Zhou speaks of just one fascicle.

The Luolizhai lanpu is included in the series Qunfang qingwan 群芳清玩, Shanju xiaowan 山居小玩 and Meishu congshu 美術叢書, also with a length of 1 juan only.

Feng Jingdi's 馮京第 books on orchids

The books Lanyi 蘭易, Lanyi shi'er yi 蘭易十二翼, and Lanshi 蘭史 are a coherent unit of texts dedicated to the cultivation of orchids. Each of the three texts has a length of 1 fascicle.

The Lanyi "Changes of orchids" is also called Tiangenyi 天根易 "Changes of the root of Heaven" and was written, according to the title page, by Master Luting Weng 鹿亭翁 from the Song period 宋 (960-1279), while the two others indicate master Xunxizi 蕈溪子 as the author. The authors of the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 identify both persons as a certain Feng Jing 馮京, who lived later than the Song, while Yu Jiaxi 余嘉錫 (1884-1955) specifies the author as Feng Jingdi 馮京第 from the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644). Feng Jingdi, courtesy name Jizhong 躋仲 or Chaizhong 儕仲, hailed from Cixi 慈谿, Zhejiang, and later moved to Yinxian 鄞縣 in the same province. He died during the fights against the Manchus.

The trinity of books does not just deal with orchid cultivation, but can be interpreted as a political metaphor. This is at least what the preface says, but it seems that the corresponding passages were eliminated during the Qing period 清 (1644-1911). Seen from the textual composition and language, the books belong to the typical literature for leisure time as it was common during the late Ming. It imitates the style of classical texts and thus ridicules them somewhat, for instance, in naming the first book "Changes of orchids", in analogy to the divination Classic Yijing 易經. The Lanyi begins with the "hexagram" fu 復 representing the root of Heaven, hence the alternative name. The text makes use of twelve hexagrams in total. Moreover, the Lanyi can be seen as the core classic which was accompanied by twelve "wings" (shi'er yi), just as the core text of the Yijing, Zhouyi 周易, is accompanied by the Ten Wings (shiyi 十翼). The "commentary" of the Lanyi is articulated as "oral formulas" (koujue 口訣) and monthly ordinances on orchids (lan yueling 蘭月令). The text informs about appropriate treatment of the flowers and cautions against critical errors.

The third part, Lanshi "History of orchids", assembles statements on the classification of orchids found in older texts, and imitates the moral classification in the table Gujin renbiao 古今人表 (ch. 20) of the official dynastic history Hanshu 漢書 by creating a similar table on orchids, Lanbiao 蘭表, with nine grades of quality. The author further creates – still in imitation of dynastic histories – imperial annals-biographies (Lan benji 蘭本紀) of 3 types, biographies of hereditary houses (Lan shijia 蘭世家) of 11 types, ordinary biographies (Lan liezhuan 蘭列傳) of 20 types, "outer", i.e. inferior, records (Lan waiji 蘭外紀) of 9 types, and "outer" biographies (Lan waizhuan 蘭外傳) for 5 types, making brief descriptions for 48 types and species of orchids.

The texts are found in Feng's literary remains, Feng Shilang yishu 馮侍郎遺書, and the series Siming congshu 四明叢書 and Yihai yishao 藝海一勺本. In the latter version, the "twelve wings" are an integral part of the Lanyi, and not a separate text.