Ramie Disseminated: A Global History of Environment, Technology, and Market, 1840-1950

• In Event: Commodity Extraction across Transimperial Spaces

Abstract

Ramie, a plant that produces linen-like fibers, is one of the oldest fiber crops in the world. It is native to and has been used to make clothes for centuries or millennia in various parts of Asia, including China, Korea, Japan, and the Island of Java. Being one of the strongest natural fibers, it was used to make clothes, fishing nets, and mosquito nets. Porous and light, ramie cloth was perfect for making clothes in the summer. In addition, the plant is perennial and could be harvested three to four times each year, which makes it a lucrative crop.

Recognizing the huge potential of this fiber, people from Europe and the US were interested in ramie and transplanted it all over the world, including Paris, Mexico, and the American South, beginning in the nineteenth century. They also went to great lengths to invent and improve machines to process the plant into profitable fibers. How did botanists and agriculturalists understand the plant and its growing conditions, and how did they decide where to grow it? Were they successful? How were the new environments different from the native ones, and how did the newcomer crop and the industry interact with the local environment and society? Focusing on the American South, this paper explores the process of disseminating ramie to various places and its impact on the environment, society, and economy.

Author

• Yiyun Peng, Cornell University