Yantai Apple, a long documentary non-fiction written by Wu Dianbin, recounts the 150-year history of apple development in Yantai since American missionaries introduced western apples in 1871.
With a total of 430,000 words, this book that consists of 18 chapters in six parts, was published by People's Daily Publishing House in February this year. The first part is named "The Western Fruit Arrived", which introduces the origin of Yantai apples in modern times. Before the arrival of western apples, Yantai apples, like those in other parts of China, were of an ancient variety with small, fluffy fruit, the taste of which was completely different from that of today's sweet and crisp apples. Since John Livingstone Nevius, an American missionary, successfully introduced western apples in Yantai in 1871, Yantai has become famous as the land of fruits in China until today.
For that, Wu said, "We still should not forget the western apples being the source of Yantai apples, otherwise Yantai apples will be like ungrateful people who forget where they come from.“
In 1871, the American missionary Nevius and his wife Helen came to Yantai by boat. In addition to preaching, he bought more than 10 acres of land for cultivating fruit trees. Nevius learned how to grow fruit trees when he was a child living with his grandfather. After becoming a missionary, he once felt sorry for not having any opportunities to use his gardening skills. At that, Nevius said, “How much God loves me! I learned gardening in my childhood, and it can be used by God today...”
After coming to Shandong, he found that the climate and soil of the province were very similar to that of his hometown New York in the United States. Yantai and New York are both 37 degrees north, but the fruit produced in Yantai was far worse than that in the United States, so he came up with the idea of improving the local fruit trees in Yantai. He transplanted western apples from the United States to the city and then cultivated them by grafting, seedling, and other methods to make them into new varieties with a special fragrance. It turned out that his apple tree cultivation was so successful that the quality of the apples even surpassed that of his hometown, New York. People in neighboring counties began to promote these apples, leading to one of the most important industries in Yantai. This is the "Yantai Apple", which later has become famous both at home and abroad. Yantai became the birthplace of modern apples in China. More than 100 years later, in the 1980s, Red Fuji and other modern high-quality apples were also widely promoted from Yantai to the whole country. The city has played a vital role in the field of the apple industry in modern China.
About the author: Wu Dianbin is a senior journalist, writer, poet, and photographer. He used to be the editor-in-chief of Yantai Science and Technology Information News and deputy editor-in-chief of Yantai Evening News. Now he is currently the cultural consultant of Yantai Apple Association and honorary stationmaster of Yantai Workstation of Central Digital TV Photography Channel. He has won more than 80 prizes in journalism, literature, and photography at or above the provincial level, and has published theoretical works such as Fine News Collection and Writing and a biography Raise This Glass of Wine.
- Translated by Stephen Huang
作家吴殿彬所著长篇纪实文学《红苹果》全书共43万字，记叙了自1871年美国传教士引进西洋苹果以来150年的烟台苹果发展史。
今年2月由人民日报出版社出版发行，全书共分六部，十八章。其中第一部为“西果落户”，介绍了近现代烟台苹果的由来。在西洋苹果落户之前，烟台的苹果和中国其他地方的苹果一样，品种非常古老，果子又面又小，跟今天苹果的甜脆口味完全不同。自从1871年美国传教士倪维思在烟台成功引种西洋苹果以后，烟台才成为全国文明的水果之乡，直到今天。
对此，作者吴说：“今天，我们依然不能忘记西果落户烟台这个源头，否则，烟台苹果便成了没有背景的‘忘恩负义之徒’。”
1871年，美国传教士倪维思和妻子海伦乘船来到了烟台。传教之余，他买下十余亩的土地，用来进行果树栽培。原来，倪小时候和祖父一起生活的时候就学习过果树栽培技术，成为传教士以后还曾经为自己学习了园艺却用不上而感到惋惜。对此，倪维思说：“上帝是多么的爱我，我童年时候学习的园艺技术，上帝今天要使用它了......”
来到山东后，他发现山东的气候、土壤等与美国他的家乡纽约很相似，烟台与纽约同处于北纬37度线，而所产水果却远不如美国，于是他就萌生了改良烟台本地果树的念头。他将美国的西洋苹果移植到烟台，然后以嫁接、育苗等方法培育，使之成为具有特别香味的新品种。结果，他栽培的苹果树异常成功，苹果质量甚至超越了他的家乡纽约的苹果，之后附近州县的人民竞相推广，很快就成为烟台重要的产业之一。这便是后来享誉国内外的“烟台苹果”。烟台成为中国近现代苹果的发源地。100多年以后的20世纪80年代，红富士等现代优质苹果也是从烟台开始往全国大规模推广。烟台，在近现代中国苹果产业领域中起到了至关重要的作用。
作者吴殿彬，高级记者、作家、诗人、摄影家，曾任烟台科技信息报总编辑、烟台晚报副总编辑、现任烟台苹果协会文化顾问、中央数字电视摄影频道烟台工作站名誉站长等职。曾获省以上新闻、文学、摄影等奖80多项，项出版过理论著作《新闻采写精谭》和人物传记《举起这杯葡萄酒》。
新书推介丨作家吴殿彬长篇纪实文学《红苹果》出版 介绍烟台苹果与西方传教士渊源
Yantai Apple, a long documentary non-fiction written by Wu Dianbin, recounts the 150-year history of apple development in Yantai since American missionaries introduced western apples in 1871.
With a total of 430,000 words, this book that consists of 18 chapters in six parts, was published by People's Daily Publishing House in February this year. The first part is named "The Western Fruit Arrived", which introduces the origin of Yantai apples in modern times. Before the arrival of western apples, Yantai apples, like those in other parts of China, were of an ancient variety with small, fluffy fruit, the taste of which was completely different from that of today's sweet and crisp apples. Since John Livingstone Nevius, an American missionary, successfully introduced western apples in Yantai in 1871, Yantai has become famous as the land of fruits in China until today.
For that, Wu said, "We still should not forget the western apples being the source of Yantai apples, otherwise Yantai apples will be like ungrateful people who forget where they come from.“
In 1871, the American missionary Nevius and his wife Helen came to Yantai by boat. In addition to preaching, he bought more than 10 acres of land for cultivating fruit trees. Nevius learned how to grow fruit trees when he was a child living with his grandfather. After becoming a missionary, he once felt sorry for not having any opportunities to use his gardening skills. At that, Nevius said, “How much God loves me! I learned gardening in my childhood, and it can be used by God today...”
After coming to Shandong, he found that the climate and soil of the province were very similar to that of his hometown New York in the United States. Yantai and New York are both 37 degrees north, but the fruit produced in Yantai was far worse than that in the United States, so he came up with the idea of improving the local fruit trees in Yantai. He transplanted western apples from the United States to the city and then cultivated them by grafting, seedling, and other methods to make them into new varieties with a special fragrance. It turned out that his apple tree cultivation was so successful that the quality of the apples even surpassed that of his hometown, New York. People in neighboring counties began to promote these apples, leading to one of the most important industries in Yantai. This is the "Yantai Apple", which later has become famous both at home and abroad. Yantai became the birthplace of modern apples in China. More than 100 years later, in the 1980s, Red Fuji and other modern high-quality apples were also widely promoted from Yantai to the whole country. The city has played a vital role in the field of the apple industry in modern China.
About the author: Wu Dianbin is a senior journalist, writer, poet, and photographer. He used to be the editor-in-chief of Yantai Science and Technology Information News and deputy editor-in-chief of Yantai Evening News. Now he is currently the cultural consultant of Yantai Apple Association and honorary stationmaster of Yantai Workstation of Central Digital TV Photography Channel. He has won more than 80 prizes in journalism, literature, and photography at or above the provincial level, and has published theoretical works such as Fine News Collection and Writing and a biography Raise This Glass of Wine.
- Translated by Stephen Huang
New Book: Famous Yantai Apple Introduced by Western Missionaries
