蘭癡、蘭花會與蘭花賊：清代江浙的蘭蕙鑑賞及其多元發展

Orchid Enthusiasts, Orchid Shows and Orchid Thieves: Orchid Appreciation and Its Diversified Development in Jiangsu and Zhejiang during the Qing Dynasty

自古以來，蘭花一直被視為是君子的象徵，讀書人對其鍾愛自不待言。而對蘭花的熱愛，在明清時期達到頂峰。尤其是在江浙地區，不少研究蘭花的專業書籍與栽培手冊持續出版，十七世紀與十九世紀是兩波高潮。而為了滿足當地對於蘭花的需求，商人將福建、安徽、浙江南部等地的蘭花運抵南京、揚州、蘇州、杭州與上海等蘭花消費量巨大的城市。江浙人士歷來欣賞的是清香的福建蘭花，但值得注意的是，自十八世紀末起，商人、富豪開始炒作蘇南與浙北的蘭花，重視的是花蕊的獨特樣貌。因此在約略同時，開始出現類似鑑賞指南的蘭蕙圖譜。大約在十八世紀末，上海、蘇州等多個城市還萌生蘭花會，其後雖有起有落，卻一直持續至民國時期。蘭蕙圖譜與蘭花會之出現，顯示蘭花之鑑賞越來越專業化。而自十八世紀以來，有錢的商人與士人，不惜斥資購買名貴的蘭花。由於這股對蘭花的狂熱，將蘭花的價格炒高，在十九世紀初，曾有一盆蘭花賣價三千兩的紀錄。另外，名貴蘭花被偷，亦時有所聞。而且，賣方利用各種手段詐騙買方也常見於記載，迄至十九世紀末，仍有人花費一千兩，而買到的卻是假貨。

Orchids have been regarded as a symbol of gentlemen since ancient times, and needless to say, it has been one of the most favorite flowers among literati. This enthusiasm for orchids reached its peak during the Ming-Qing period. Many professional books and cultivation manuals on how to grow orchids were published in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, where publishing of such books reached the highest levels in the seventeenth century and the nineteenth century. To meet the demand for orchids in these areas, merchants had transported orchids from Fujian, Anhui, and southern Zhejiang to large cities such as Nanjing, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai where orchids were in great demand. People in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas had always appreciated and preferred the fragrant Fujian orchids; however, it is worth noting that since the end of the eighteenth century merchants and wealthy people had hyped orchids grown in the southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang areas, hoping to draw attention to the unique shapes of the stamens. Therefore, illustrated orchid catalogues that were similar to appreciation guidebooks began to flourish during the same time. Around the end of the eighteenth century, orchid exhibitions had been held in many cities, such as Shanghai and Suzhou. Although there had been ups and downs, the exhibitions were held continuously until the Republic of China was established. Publishing of illustrated orchid catalogues and holding of orchid exhibitions showed that orchid appreciation had become more and more professionalized. Since the eighteenth century, wealthy businessmen and literati had been willing to spend a great amount of money to buy precious orchids. Because of this orchid enthusiasm, prices of orchids had been hyped─a record showed that the purchase price of a pot of orchids was as high as 3,000 taels of silver in the early nineteenth century. In addition, reports on precious orchids being stolen were also very common. Moreover, orchid sellers had used a variety of ways to defraud buyers. Up to the end of the nineteenth century, people were still spending 1,000 taels of silver to buy a pot of precious orchids and ended up getting a fake one.