新会蒲葵栽培史考略

Analysis on Livistona Chinensis' Cultivation History in Xinhui

作为享誉海内外的"葵乡",广东新会的蒲葵栽培历史悠久。明代至今,新会葵扇广销于天下,清代繁盛时期"约计每年所产不下十万万柄"。清初李定国攻打会城、日军侵占新会,使蒲葵栽培遭受极大创伤,葵扇抽厘、盗匪猖獗、会馆盘剥亦曾严重制约其发展;太平天国运动及日军侵华致使葵扇销路受阻,也曾导致新会蒲葵栽培的萎缩。共和国时期,政府一直高度重视葵业生产,但错误的农业政策也一度使蒲葵栽培呈现曲折发展之势。当代随着葵扇替代品的大量涌现,致使蒲葵栽培日渐式微。

The Livistona chinensis has been cultivated for a long history in Xinhui, Guangdong province. Ever since the Ming Dynasty, the punkahs of Xinhui has been widely sold all over the world, and the number of punkahs sold during the prime period of Qing Dynasty was one billion each year. However, the cultivation of the Livistona chinensis suffered great losses at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty when Li Dingguo attacked Huicheng and at the time when the Japanese troops occupied Xinhui. The great burden of punkah tax, the snatch of bandits and the cruel exploit from guilds of the punkah businessmen also badly constrained the development of Livistona chinensis. Because of the Taiping rebellion and the invasion of Japanese troops, the sale of punkahs had been seriously blocked, and then the Livistona chinensis＇ s cultivation decreased as well. Since the People＇s Republic of China was founded, the government has highly valued the cultivation of the Livistona chinensis. However, some improper agricultural policies made the development of punkah industry flexural. With the increasing repacements for punkahs in contemporary era, the cultivation of Livistona chinensis has been declining gradually in Xinhui in the last few decades.