Shanghai Spring: Violet Cress, An Ancient Hero, and a Peace Sign

Tiny violet flowers breaking through the wintry ground: It’s one of the first signs of spring in Shanghai. The emergence of the Chinese violet cress (Orychophragmus violaceus) every March is a reassuring sign that no matter what else is going on in the world, spring will come.

Violet cress appears during the solar season the Chinese call “Insects Awakening” 惊蛰 (usually March 5-20). This is the time when rainfall warms the earth, rousing hibernating creatures and plants from their winter slumbers. Keep an eye out and you’ll see violet cress all over the city between now and May: in patches of grass, in parks, gardens, and a great sea of purple out at Hongqiao Cemetery. It’s native to this part of China, and the plant’s Chinese name links it firmly to the season: Er Yue Lan 二月兰, “second month orchid,” the second month in question being the second lunar month: March.

Violet Cress & An Ancient Hero

Violet cress is also known in Chinese as zhuge cai (诸葛菜), named for the great ancient statesman and military strategist Zhuge Liang (181-234 CE). Legend has it that at a time when food for his army was scarce, Zhuge Liang learned from a farmer that leaves and stems of the violet cress were edible, and that any surplus could be pickled. His troops began planting violet cress, which became an important supplement to the military diet, and the plant was honored with Zhuge Liang’s name thereafter.

That farmer who tipped Zhuge Liang off to the edible qualities of the violet cress knew what he was talking about: the plant is part of the Brassica family, which includes broccoli, turnips, and mustard. Western gardeners have recently discovered violet cress, and are recommending putting it in salads–flowers and all–and stir-frying the leaves. Yet Shanghai scholar Lynn Pan, who grew up in Old Shanghai and was a Chinese plant expert, told us that she’d never heard of the violet cress being edible. Perhaps, she speculated, it was only table fare in places or at times when food was less plentiful?

The Violet Cress, A Peace Sign

A giant painted field of violet cress blooms on a wall of the Nanjing Massacre Museum (officially: The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders). It seems like a strange choice. The cheerful, bright flowers are such a stark contrast to Wu Weishan’s sculptures depicting the horrors of fleeing from the massacre. But here, the flowers, painted by art students, are a symbol of peace.

As it turns out, the violet cress is also ubiquitous in Nanjing, and was brought to Japan – one story says it was a visiting Japanese military doctor who brought the violet cress to Japan in 1939, other sources suggest that the plant arrived in the 18th century. Either way, a plant that went from China to Japan, that appears in both places in the spring, like hope and healing after difficult winter: it’s not just a pretty spring flower, it’s a lovely symbol of peace.

If you’re out and about in Shanghai this spring, keep an eye out for the violet cress, and share your photos with us! info@historic-shanghai.com