¹ Japanese scholar Sanetou Keishuu (1896–1985) has done remarkable research on the Japanese influence on the modern Chinese vocabulary. On the term lühua, see Huixiu, Shitun (Sanetou Keishuu), Zhongguoren liuxue Riben shi (A history of Chinese study-abroad in Japan) (Beijing, 2012), 282Google Scholar.

² The Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925), for instance, was a strong advocate of greening as part of China's nation building. For his contributions, the date of Sun's death, 12 March, is designated as Arbor Day (Tree Planting Day) in China. See Wen, Sun (Sun Yat-sen), Jianguo fanglüe (Plans and strategies of nation building) (Shanghai, 1925), 135, 199.Google Scholar

³ Verdurization was part of the Soviet Union's urban planning model, which included such things as formalistic street patterns, huge public squares and the predominance of master plans. Tang, Wing-Shing, ‘Chinese urban planning at fifty: an assessment of the planning theory literature’, Journal of Planning Literature, 14 (2000), 347–66CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁴ Jijun, Zhao, ‘“Lühua” gainian de chansheng yu yanbian’ (The origin and unfolding of the concept of ‘verdurization’), Zhongguo yuanlin, 2 (2013), 57–9Google Scholar.

⁵ Shanghai is arguably one of the best-researched cities in the world. Since the 1990s, there has been a continuous torrent of scholarly works on the history of Shanghai, which has now become, as Jeffrey Wasserstrom has put it, ‘a booming cottage industry’. However, the study of post-1949 Shanghai remains relatively new and there are virtually no academic works on urban greening in Mao's era. For an analytical biography of the history of Shanghai, see Wasserstrom, Jeffrey, Global Shanghai, 1850–2010: A History in Fragments (New York, 2009), 141–6Google Scholar. See also Hanchao, Lu, ‘Meiguo de Zhongguo chengshi shi yanjiu’ (The historiography of Chinese urban history in the United States), Journal of Tsinghua University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 23 (2008), 115–26Google Scholar.

⁶ The Chinese expression huayuan chengshi (garden city) was used during the campaign, but there is little evidence that the term was inspired by Ebenezer Howard's notion of the ‘garden city’. The latter is alternatively translated in Chinese as tianyuan chengshi (pastoral city). A Chinese translation of Howard's Garden Cities of To-morrow by Jin Jingyuan was first published in 2000 (Beijing).

⁷ kancha sheji zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, Shanghai, comp., Shanghai kancha sheji zhi (A gazetteer of prospective designs of Shanghai) (Shanghai, 1998), 611.Google Scholar

⁸ zhengfu zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, Shanghai renmin, comp., Shanghai renmin zhengfu zhi (A gazetteer of the People's Government of Shanghai) (Shanghai, 2004), 751Google Scholar; chengshi guihua zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, Shanghai, comp., Shanghai chengshi guihua zhi (A gazetteer of urban planning in Shanghai) (Shanghai, 1999), 388.Google Scholar

⁹ Composed by Guo Shifu (1929–2007), based on a Uyghur folk song; Zhongguo yinyue bao (Chinese music news), 24 Dec. 2007.

¹⁰ China's largest beverage company, Wahaha, founded in 1987 in Hangzhou, is named after the song. The song's name recognition contributed significantly to the company's success in the food and beverage market, and also caused a major lawsuit in 2007 against the company over the right to use the name; see Jianxing, Luo, Zong Qinghou yu Wahaha: yige Zhongguo zhuming qiye de shendu yanjiu (Zong Qinghou and Wahaha: an in-depth study of a famous Chinese enterprise) (Beijing, 2008), 77–8Google Scholar; South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), 11 Apr. 2007, p. B3.

¹¹ Zhao Zukang, reporting on the preliminary plan for verdurization (lühua) in the city of Shanghai; in Renmin ribao (People's Daily), 26 Feb. 1958.

¹² The ‘Resolution on a Few Issues concerning the People's Communes’ was passed at the CCP's sixth meeting of the Eighth Central Committee held in Wuchang, 28 Nov. – 10 Dec. 1958. The document was published in Renmin ribao, 19 Dec. 1958.

¹³ wenxian yanjiushi, Zhonggong zhongyang, comp., Mao Zedong lun linye (Mao Zedong on forestry) (Beijing, 2003), 51.Google Scholar

¹⁴ From January to November 1958, Mao gave no less than 15 speeches or written instructions on verdurization, advocating the so-called three-three system, with one third of all farmland to be devoted to grain production, another third to trees and the last third to be left fallow. wenxian yanjiushi, Zhonggong zhongyang and linyeju, Guojia, comps., Mao Zedong lun linye (Mao Zedong on forestry) (Beijing, 1993), 44–64.Google Scholar

¹⁵ Shanghai renmin zhengfu zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai renmin zhengfu zhi, 751.

¹⁶ In the city proper, the total number of street trees in 1962 was 119,500, an increase of only 3,400 from the number in 1957; see yuanlin zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, Shanghai, comp., Shanghai yuanlin zhi (A gazetteer of Shanghai's landscape gardens) (Shanghai, 2000), 388.Google Scholar

¹⁷ Shanghai yuanlin zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai yuanlin zhi, 430.

¹⁸ Galston, Arthur W. with Savage, Jean S., Daily Life in People's China (New York, 1973), 130Google Scholar. Galston was a professor at Yale University and the first American scientist to have visited the PRC since 1949.

¹⁹ Shanghai kancha sheji zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai kancha sheji zhi, 611.

²⁰ Shanghai yuanlin zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai yuanlin zhi, 387.

²¹ Erfu, Zhou, Morning in Shanghai, trans. Barnes, A.C. (Beijing, 1962), 1.Google Scholar

²² See, for example, Anyi, Wang’s The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai, trans. Berry, Michael and Chan Egan, Susan (New York, 2010)Google Scholar, and Lu, Hanchao, ‘Nostalgia for the future: the resurgence of an alienated culture in China’, Pacific Affairs, 75 (2002), 169–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

²³ difangzhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, Nanjingshi, Nanjing yuanlin zhi (Gazetteers of gardening in Nanjing) (Beijing, 1997), 396.Google Scholar

²⁴ Zhijuan, Ru, Gaogao de baiyangshu (The tall white poplars) (Shanghai, 1959)Google Scholar. Using trees as symbols remains common. Yomi Braester has noted that Beijing had 141,796 trees in 1980; the locust tree stood out by being regarded as ‘the national locust tree’ (guohuai) and in 1986 was chosen as Beijing's ‘city tree’ for its perceived social and cultural value. Braester, Yomi, Painting the City Red: Chinese Cinema and the Urban Contract (Durham, NC, 2010), 125–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

²⁵ Shanghai yuanlin zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai yuanlin zhi, 388.

²⁶ The insects became quite a hazard in the city. For instance, in summer 1973, in eight elementary schools along Zaojiabang Road where white poplars were commonly planted, 373 kilograms (746 jin) of bristle insect pupa were collected from the trees. Shanghai Municipal Archive, File #B252–2–41–15.

²⁷ Shanghai yuanlin zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai yuanlin zhi, 388, 591.

²⁸ Da Qizhen, ‘Shanyin Lu de qianshi jinsheng’ (The past and president of Shanyin Road), Chinese University of Hong Kong database, Minjian lishi (Folk history). Starting from October 1971, the Shanghai municipal government had a number of park and promenade garden renovations in preparation for Nixon's visit in February 1972; see Shanghai yuanlin zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai yuanlin zhi, 35. For a fictional account based on a real life story about the day Nixon visited Shanghai, see Xiaolong, Qiu, Years of Red Dust: Stories of Shanghai (New York, reprint edn, 2011), 59–70Google Scholar.

²⁹ Shanghai yuanlin zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai yuanlin zhi, 388; Shanghai kancha sheji zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai kancha sheji zhi, 611–12.

³⁰ Shanghai renmin zhengfu zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai renmin zhengfu zhi, 750.

³¹ These parks were all built in the former foreign Concession areas. For a detailed account of parks in pre-1949 Shanghai, see Yuezhi, Xiong, ‘Jindai Shanghai gongyuan yu shehui shenghuo’ (Parks and social life in modern Shanghai), Social Sciences (Shanghai), 5 (2013), 129–39.Google Scholar

³² tongzhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, Shanghai, comp., Shanghai tongzhi (Comprehensive gazetteer of Shanghai) (Shanghai, 2005)Google Scholar, vol. XXVI, ch. 8; Shanghai yuanlin zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai yuanlin zhi, 5.

³³ See Mao's opening address at the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference delivered on 21 Sept. 1949 – Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung (Peking, 1977), vol. V, 15–18.

³⁴ Nanjing Road refers to both Nanking Road (present-day East Nanjing Road) and Bubbling Well Road (present-day West Nanjing Road).

³⁵ The enforcement of the ban varied over time but before June 1928, most Chinese, save for a few amahs and individuals with special permission, were barred from the park. For details of the ban and a revisionist view on the controversies over it, see Bickers, Robert A. and Wasserstrom, Jeffrey N., ‘Shanghai's “Dogs and Chinese not admitted” sign: legend, history and contemporary symbol’, China Quarterly, 142 (1995), 444–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³⁶ difangzhi bangongshi, Shanghaishi and luhua guanliju, Shanghaishi, comps., Shanghai mingyuan zhi (A gazetteer of famous gardens in Shanghai) (Shanghai, 2007), 122Google Scholar. In 1996, the Shanghai municipal government designated the park as a ‘base for educating youth in patriotism’.

³⁷ At the time, it was located at the corner of Nanking Road and Honan Road.

³⁸ In September 1951, the southern part of the racecourse was made into People's Square, a 35 acre open, public space.

³⁹ Shanghaishi difangzhi bangongshi and Shanghaishi luhua guanliju, comps., Shanghai mingyuan zhi.

⁴⁰ Christian Henriot, ‘Shanghai zujie gongmu yanjiu, 1844–1949’ (The colonial space of death in Shanghai), www.virtualshanghai.net/Texts/Articles?ID=81. The weight of the tael varied considerably in China, but in most cases was equivalent to 1.3 ounces of silver.

⁴¹ Shanghaishi difangzhi bangongshi and Shanghaishi luhua guanliju, comps., Shanghai mingyuan zhi, 216–17.

⁴² Jing'an Temple was known among westerners as Bubbling Well Temple. The temple's origins can be traced back to AD 247, but much of its structure was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion in 1860. It was rebuilt in 1880–81 with donations from merchant Hu Xueyan (1823–85) and others and survived to Mao's time.

⁴³ Shanghai kancha sheji zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai kancha sheji zhi, 599.

⁴⁴ Jing'anqu renming zhengfu, comp., Shanghaishi jing'anqu diming zhi (A gazetteer of toponyms in the Jing'an district of Shanghai) (Shanghai, 1988), 282.

⁴⁵ By 2003, of the total of 133 parks in Shanghai, 90 were admission-free; Renmin ribao, 18 Apr. 2003, 13.

⁴⁶ The monthly pass was not valid for Xijiao Park, which was a zoo and charged 10 cents for single-entry admission.

⁴⁷ laodong zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, Shanghai, comp., Shanghai laodong zhi (Shanghai labour gazetteer) (Shanghai, 1998), 339.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ Shanghai yuanlin zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai yuanlin zhi, 588.

⁴⁹ Bangxing, Zhu, Lin'ge, Hu and Sheng, Xu, Shanghai chanye yu Shanghai gongren (Industries and workers in Shanghai) (Shanghai, 1984; orig. publ. 1939), 79–80Google Scholar.

⁵⁰ Xiong, ‘Jindai Shanghai gongyuan yu shehui shenghuo’.

⁵¹ Shanghai yuanlin zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai yuanlin zhi, 588.

⁵² Tao, Wang, Yinru zazhi (Seashore miscellanea) (Shanghai, 1989; orig. publ. 1875), 14–15.Google Scholar

⁵³ North China Herald, 29 May 1875.

⁵⁴ shili yuanlinchang, Shanghaishi, comp., Zai ju shu: Shanghaishi di san jie juhua zhanlanhui dashiji (The art of chrysanthemum planting: memorabilia of the Third Chrysanthemum Exhibition of Shanghai) (Shanghai, 1933)Google Scholar.

⁵⁵ Shanghai yuanlin zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai yuanlin zhi, 361–2.

⁵⁶ Xijiao Park was renamed Shanghai Zoo in 1980. Shanghaishi difangzhi bangongshi and Shanghaishi luhua guanliju, comps., Shanghai mingyuan zhi, 112.

⁵⁷ Nixon's visit in 1972 and Deng Xiaoping's return to power from 1973 to 1975 created a relatively relaxed atmosphere in Chinese society; flower shows were part of that general trend.

⁵⁸ See Shanghai tongzhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai tongzhi, vol. III, ch. 1.

⁵⁹ Lu, Hanchao, Beyond the Neon Lights (Berkeley, 1999)Google Scholar, ch. 4.

⁶⁰ Shaozhou, Wang and Zhimin, Chen, comps., Lilong jianzhu (Architecture of alleyway houses) (Shanghai, 1987), 161–72.Google Scholar

⁶¹ de Balzac, Honoré, The Works of Honoré de Balzac (Philadelphia, 1901), 86Google Scholar. Also, de Balzac, Honoré, Comédie Humaine (Philadelphia, 1898), vol. XXII, 301.Google Scholar

⁶² The saying is generally attributed to Taoist poem Wang Kangju, who lived during the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420); Laiyin, Zhong, Zhonggu xian dao shi jinghua (The best Taoist poems of medieval times) (Nanjing, 1994), 278Google Scholar.

⁶³ See Tzu, Lao, Tao Te Ching (Indianapolis, 1993), 41Google Scholar.

⁶⁴ Renhu, Xia, Zhi chao si shu / Jiu Jing suo ji (My four accounts / miscellanea of old Beijing) (Shenyang, 1998), 83.Google Scholar

⁶⁵ Ibid.

⁶⁶ Lu, Beyond the Neon Lights, 154.

⁶⁷ Fan Qian, ‘Shanghai longtang’ (Shanghai's alleyways), Shijie ribao fukan (World Journal Supplementary), 6 Feb. 2009.

⁶⁸ Ye Shengtao, ‘Tianjing li de zhongzhi’ (Planting in a patio), Zhongxuesheng, 52 (1 Feb. 1935).

⁶⁹ Renmin ribao, 1 Mar. 1958, p. 2.

⁷⁰ Ibid.

⁷¹ Ziliao xuanbian (Selected materials), dated Feb. 1967, housed in the library of the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing; see also the Red Guard publication titled Mao Zedong sixiang wansui (Long live Mao Zedong thought) (n.p., 1967), vol. II, 332.

⁷² Beijing Forestry Institute and the Shanghai Park Office Red Guard Newspaper, undated, http://blog.people.com.cn/article/1319690443872.html.

⁷³ Li, You-Sheng, A New Interpretation of Chinese Taoist Philosophy: An Anthropological/Psychological View (London, 2005), 213Google Scholar.

⁷⁴ Chang, Jung, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (New York, 2003), 10Google Scholar.

⁷⁵ Chengpeng, Li, Quan shijie renmin dou zhidao (The whole world knows) (Beijing, 2013), 4–5Google Scholar.

⁷⁶ Renmin ribao, overseas edition, 12 Oct. 2009, 7.

⁷⁷ Da, ‘Shanyin Lu de qianshi jinsheng’.

⁷⁸ For an eyewitness account of the backyard furnaces during the Great Leap Forward, see Zhisui, Li, The Private Life of Chairman Mao (New York, 1994), 272–4, 277.Google Scholar

⁷⁹ Da-peng, Zhang, Life under Mao Zedong's Rule, trans. and annotated by Fowler, Georgia A. (North Charleston, SC, 2013), 221, 239.Google Scholar

⁸⁰ Wang, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow, 5, 17, 237 and 429.

⁸¹ Ibid., 253

⁸² Despite the recent building frenzy in Shanghai that has led to the demolition of numerous old homes, Fu Lei's residence survived to this day at its current address, Lane 284 Jiangsu Road, Number 5.

⁸³ Shenghua, Jin (ed.), Fu Lei he ta de shijie (Fu Lei and his world) (Beijing, 1997), 309.Google Scholar

⁸⁴ Still, in a large measure, Fu's case was exceptional. For an ‘average’ rightist, to accept a cut in salary and ‘voluntarily’ surrender part of one's home were often part of the cost for being purged; see, for example, Li, Jie, Shanghai Homes: Palimpsests of Private Life (New York, 2014), 65–70.Google Scholar

⁸⁵ Fan, Jian, Canghai (Ocean) (Beijing, 2000), vol. III, 225–8Google Scholar.

⁸⁶ Ibid. Zhang, Life under Mao Zedong's Rule, 384–6.

⁸⁷ Tan Yingzhou, ‘Shiliu huakai, qianban ganhuai’ (Reminiscing at pomegranate blossom time), Shanghai wenxue (Shanghai literature), 4 (Apr. 2012), 83–5.

⁸⁸ Tan Yingzhou, ‘Hongse de niaoluo’ (The red cypress vine), Xinmin wanbao (Xinmin evening news), 27 Jul. 2013.

⁸⁹ Da Qizhen, ‘Shanyin Lu gushi: yi Dashen Xiaoqing xiongmei’ (The story of Shanyin Road: reminiscences of brother and sister Dashen and Xiaoqing), Chinese University of Hong Kong database, Minjian lishi (Folk history), www.mjlsh.net/.

⁹⁰ Li, Quan shijie renmin dou zhidao, 4–5.

⁹¹ Xiamen ribao (Amoy daily), 3 Aug. 2014.

⁹² Nie Chongbin, The Flow of Life: Miss Ye's True Story (n.p., 2013), 30. The present-day address of the house is Number 10, 108 Changsu Road. On the practice of ‘permanent leasing’ in Shanghai, see Lu, Beyond the Neon Lights, 160–7.

⁹³ Nie Chongbin, ‘Wo de guju wo de nuxiang’ (My former residence and my alma mater), http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_6796d0b80100w4rj.html.

⁹⁴ Zhonggong zhongyang wenxian yanjiushi, comp. Mao Zedong lun linye, 51.

⁹⁵ Ibid., 74.

⁹⁶ Scott, James C., Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed (New Haven, 1998)Google Scholar, see in particular chapter 1 for an analysis of scientific and state-sponsored forestry. For case-studies of failed Chinese state programmes that caused ecological disasters, see Smil, Vaclav, China's Environmental Crisis: An Inquiry into the Limits of National Development (Armonk, NY, 1993)Google Scholar, and Shapiro, Judith, Mao's War against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China (New York, 2001)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁹⁷ Jianhong, Dong, Zhongguo chengshi jianshe shi (A history of Chinese urban construction) (Beijing, 2004), 386–98.Google Scholar

⁹⁸ See Table 1; Shanghai chengshi guihua zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, comp., Shanghai chengshi guihua zhi, 386–8; see also Green Leaf (monthly, Beijing), no. 9 (Sep. 2009), 85.

⁹⁹ Li, The Private Life of Chairman Mao, 504.

¹⁰⁰ Scott, James C., Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance (New Haven, 1985)Google Scholar.