植物、商业与时局:民族危机视野下除虫菊的引种与推广(1887—1949)

Plants,Commerce and Current Situation:Introduction and Promotion of Pyrethrum in the Context of National Crisis,1887-1949

除虫菊是近代日本重要的出口农产品之一。甲午战败后,中国在“以日为师”的背景下认识并零星引种了作为日本新兴农业经济产物的除虫菊。五四运动爆发后,国内商人借助抵制日货的时机,将除虫菊鼓吹成可“杜塞漏卮”的“厚利”农业经济作物,提倡国人种植,以取代日货,开启了除虫菊商业种植的浪潮。“九一八”事变后,国民党为从经济上抵抗日本,赋予了除虫菊“经济抗日”的使命和意义,大力提倡种植,获得各方的广泛响应,国内除虫菊的种植规模日盛。然而,抗战的全面爆发,不仅使除虫菊种植业和相关制造业遭到了毁灭性打击,而且使得其“经济抗日”的使命失去了实际意义,从此一蹶不振。除虫菊原本只是颇具杀虫效力的菊科植物,但其引种与推广历程却是近代民族危机下中国从经济上反抗日本侵略的期许与努力在植物上的展现与缩影。

Pyrethrum is one of the important agricultural exports of Japan in modern times.After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894—1895,China recognized and gradually introduced pyrethrum,a product of Japan's emerging agricultural economy,under the background of taking Japan as a teacher.With the outbreak of the May Fourth Movement,Japanese pyrethrum,which monopolized the Chinese market,was boycotted by Chinese people.At the same time,the businessmen promoted the pyrethrum as a"lucrative"agricultural cash crop which could"prevent outflow of benefits".They advocated the planting of pyrethrum to replace Japanese goods and thus triggered a wave of pyrethrum planting.After the September 18th Incident,the Kuomintang entrusted pyrethrum with the mission and significance of"resistance against Japan through economic means"in order to resist Japan from the economic aspect.It vigorously advocated the planting of pyrethrum and received wide response from all over the country.The planting scale of pyrethrum in China was growing day by day.However,the ful-scale outbreak of the war of resistance against Japan dealt a devastating blow to the pyrethrum planting industry,which had never recovered.Pyrethrum is originally only an insecticidal plant of the Compositae family,but its introduction and promotion process are an epitome of China's expectations and efforts to resist Japanese aggression economically in the context of national crisis in modern times.