A poem in the Book of Songs describes a lush sweet pear tree that the people would not cut down, because the Duke of Shao had once rested under it.
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The word comes from the first line of a poem in the 诗经, 蔽芾甘棠, 'lush is the sweet pear tree'. The oldest commentary read 蔽芾 as 'small', the Song scholar Zhu Xi as 'lush', and 'lush' is the usual reading today. 芾 is read fèi here, not fú.
