Shǐshì júpǔ 史氏菊譜
Mr Shǐ’s Treatise on Chrysanthemums by 史正志 (Shǐ Zhèngzhì, 撰)
About the work
A one-juàn mid-Southern-Sòng monograph on the chrysanthemum, by Shǐ Zhèngzhì 史正志 zì Zhìdào 志道 of Jiāngdū, retired to Gūsū (Sūzhōu) and self-styled Wúmén lǎopǔ 吳門老圃. The work catalogs twenty-seven chrysanthemum cultivars known in the Sūzhōu gardens during the 1150s–1170s — the first Southern-Sòng chrysanthemum-treatise and the founding document of the Wúzhōng (Sūzhōu) chrysanthemum tradition that became dominant in subsequent Chinese floriculture. With a self-preface that claims primacy (“nobody has previously made a chrysanthemum-treatise”) — overlooking Liú Méng’s earlier KR3i0031 — and a substantive postface discussing the Chǔcí “fallen-petals” controversy (the famous Wáng Ānshí vs Ōuyáng Xiū debate over whether chrysanthemum petals fall or not).
Tiyao
The combined tíyào covering this work is in KR3i0031. The portion concerning Shǐshì júpǔ (translated): We submit that the Shǐshì júpǔ is by Shǐ Zhèngzhì of the Sòng. Zhèngzhì, zì Zhìdào, was a man of Jiāngdū, jìnshì of Shàoxīng 21 (1151), rising successively to Sīnóng chéng*; under Xiàozōng he held offices as prefect of Lú, Yáng, Jiànkāng; his official-rank reached* Lǐbù shìláng*; he retired to Gūsū and self-styled himself “Old Gardener of the Wú Gate.” His attested works include the* Qīnghuī gé shī*, the* Jiànkāng zhì*, the* Júpǔ jí — all now lost. The present text is included in Zuǒ Guī’s Bǎichuān xuéhǎi*; the* Sòngshǐ Yìwénzhì also records it. It lists in all twenty-seven varieties. The self-preface says: “From of old, lovers-of-the-affair have made many treatises for tree-peony, herbaceous peony, hǎitáng and bamboo-shoots — but the chrysanthemum alone has not had a treatise. I therefore make this on what I have seen.” However, Liú Méng’s chrysanthemum-treatise had been before [him]; Zhèngzhì must not have seen it, and so spoke thus. At the end is a postface arguing the issue of “fallen flowers” in the Chǔcí that Wáng Ānshí and Ōuyáng Xiū disputed — saying that some chrysanthemums fall and some do not, and criticising the two for not fully understanding the names of plants. The discussion is quite detailed, and the matter was hitherto never raised. The world-circulating account that Sū Shì mocked Wáng Ānshí’s poem, was demoted to Huángzhōu, found that the chrysanthemums there all dropped petals, and then admired Wáng’s accuracy — is utterly absurd-and-baseless. Some Míng-period shuōbù writers nonetheless believed it. Having this can serve as proof of its falsity.
Abstract
The work is the earliest Southern-Sòng chrysanthemum-treatise and the founding document for the Sūzhōu chrysanthemum tradition. Its twenty-seven varieties — heavily weighted toward the named Wúzhōng cultivars that became central to the Yuán-Míng-Qing floricultural tradition — represent the southward migration and elaboration of the Northern-Sòng chrysanthemum culture in the new Southern-Sòng cultural centres.
The most famous content of the work is its postface on the Chǔcí “fallen-petals” debate. Wáng Ānshí had written in a poem the line “Yellow flowers fall, scattering, golden filling the ground”; Ōuyáng Xiū criticized this as botanically incorrect — chrysanthemums (he claimed) wither on the stalk and do not drop their petals; Wáng had confused them with peach or apricot. Shǐ Zhèngzhì’s empirical demonstration that chrysanthemums do fall their petals (specifically in certain late-flowering single-petal varieties) and others do not (the double-petal ball-form varieties) settled the question in Wáng’s favor, against the inflated Sòng moralistic-aesthetic literature that had grown up around the controversy. The Sū Shì-mockery legend — that Sū Shì had mocked Wáng’s poem, was demoted to Huángzhōu, observed the local chrysanthemums dropping petals, and then ashamedly admired Wáng’s accuracy — is firmly rejected by the Sìkù editors on the basis of this postface.
The dating: Shǐ Zhèngzhì retired to Sūzhōu after his service career; the work is from his retirement, probably c. 1170s. The work was preserved in the Bǎichuān xuéhǎi.
Translations and research
- Wáng Lìpíng 王利平. 2010. Sòng-dài huā-pǔ wén-xiàn yán-jiū 宋代花譜文獻研究. Shàng-hǎi gǔjí chū-bǎn-shè.
- Liú Yīnghuá 劉穎華. 2008. Zhōng-guó jú-huā wén-huà-shǐ 中國菊花文化史. Shàng-hǎi: Wén-huà chū-bǎn-shè.
Other points of interest
The work is a notable document of mid-Southern-Sòng retirement-culture: Shǐ Zhèngzhì’s adoption of the hào “Old Gardener of the Wú Gate” and his transition from senior bureaucratic office to dedicated horticultural connoisseurship represents an emerging Sòng pattern of officials retiring to private cultivation as a recognised cultural mode.