Fàncūn júpǔ 范村菊譜
Treatise on the Chrysanthemums of Fàn-cūn (Stone-Lake) by 范成大 (Fàn Chéngdà, 撰)
About the work
A one-juàn late-Southern-Sòng monograph on the chrysanthemums of Fàn Chéngdà’s Sūzhōu Stone-Lake estate (Fàncūn). Composed in Chúnxī bǐngwǔ (1186) during Fàn’s early retirement period, when he had received the honorary title of Zīzhèng diàn xuéshì and was supported by the gōngcí (palace-temple-sinecure) appointment. The work documents the chrysanthemum cultivars of Fàn’s own garden — partial coverage of the broader Sūzhōu chrysanthemum tradition documented also in Shǐ Zhèngzhì’s KR3i0032.
Fàn’s self-preface claims thirty-six varieties grown; the WYG recension preserves thirty-five entries (sixteen yellow, fifteen white, four mixed-colour), with one variety missing — probably a copyist’s loss. The work is the most narratively-elegant of the surviving Sòng chrysanthemum-treatises, drawing on Fàn’s literary mastery as one of the four great Southern-Sòng poets (alongside Lù Yóu, Yáng Wànlǐ, and Yóu Mào).
Tiyao
The combined tíyào covering this work is in KR3i0031. The portion concerning Fàncūn júpǔ (translated): We submit that the Fàncūn júpǔ is by Fàn Chéngdà of the Sòng, recording the chrysanthemums of his Fàncūn residence. Completed in Chúnxī bǐngwǔ (1186), apparently composed when he was at home with the Zīzhèngdiàn xuéshì honorary office and the gōngcí appointment. The self-preface says he obtained thirty-six varieties; but the present recension records in all sixteen yellow, fifteen white, and four mixed-coloured — only thirty-five in fact, still one short. We suspect transmission-loss. Chrysanthemum varieties are extremely numerous; their form-and-colour transformations are not uniform; field-gardeners-and-old-men therefore continuously, each time, supplied new specification-and-naming. The names emerge daily and have no end. Comparing this treatise with Shǐ Zhèngzhì’s treatise KR3i0032, the differences-and-similarities already cover five-or-six-tenths of the total; and Chéngdà only records what is planted in his home garden — his collection is therefore not yet exhaustive. However, his narration has a method, comparing to other authors more skilled. As for planting-methods: Huáng Shěngzēng 黃省曾 says “the flower-cluster depends on the size of the planting: for the largest, leave four or five buds; for the medium, seven or eight; for the smallest, ten or so.” Today’s Wú-region chrysanthemum-gardeners still use this method — the resulting plants’ strength is concentrated, so the flowers are all large-and-full. Chéngdà however says “one stem produces several hundred clusters, swaying and clustering in a circle, close to the popular ‘thousand-headed chrysanthemum.‘” This is the modern-vs-ancient difference in fashion. Submitted Qiánlóng 46 month 11 (1781).
Abstract
The work is one of the principal Southern-Sòng chrysanthemum-treatises and the most literarily-finished. Fàn Chéngdà’s deep poetic-cultural background gives the work an aesthetic-narrative dimension absent from the more technical KR3i0031 and KR3i0032: his descriptions of individual cultivars combine practical-botanical observation with quotation of literary precedent, biographical-historical context for the variety’s name, and personal taste-judgement.
The 35 (originally 36) cultivars are divided by color: 16 yellow varieties (yellow being the canonical chrysanthemum-color, huánghuā 黃花 being a literary synonym for the flower), 15 white varieties, and 4 in mixed colors (red, purple, pink, parti-colored). The supreme variety in Fàn’s ranking is Yùpán 玉盤 (Jade-Plate), a pure-white double-petal variety; in second place is Jīntuán 金團 (Gold-Ball), a yellow ball-form variety.
The Sìkù editors note an interesting cultural-historical observation: Fàn praises the “thousand-headed” multi-flowered chrysanthemum form (a single stem with many small flowers); subsequent Yuán-Míng-Qing chrysanthemum culture preferred the opposite — disbudding to produce a few very large blooms. The shift in aesthetic preference between Sòng and Míng is precisely documented here.
Translations and research
- Bickford, Maggie. 1996. Ink Plum: The Making of a Chinese Scholar-Painting Genre. Cambridge UP. Treats Fàn Chéngdà.
- Hargett, James M. 2018. Jade Mountains and Cinnabar Pools: The History of Travel Literature in Imperial China. Seattle: U Washington Press.
- 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 paired companion to KR3i0033 Fàncūn méipǔ; together the two works define Fàn Chéngdà’s retirement garden — Stone-Lake (Shíhú), the residence and aesthetic-monument that gave him his hào of Shíhú jūshì. The Shíhú estate, with its named Fàncūn village-of-gardens, became one of the iconic Sòng literati estates and a model for subsequent Chinese garden-culture; modern Sūzhōu still hosts a Shíhú park preserving aspects of the site.