What is the king of flowers?

The story of Wu Zetian

On a snowy day in the dead of winter, when Wu Zetian was visiting the back garden of Chang'an, she ordered all the flowers to bloom at the same time to help her drink. The decree said: "Visit Shangyuan Garden tomorrow morning and quickly announce the arrival of spring. The flowers must bloom overnight and don't wait for the morning breeze to blow." Everyone knows that different flowers not only bloom in different seasons, but also at different times. Violets bloom in spring, roses bloom in summer, chrysanthemums bloom in late autumn, and plum blossoms bloom in winter; roses and peonies bloom in the morning, while tuberoses and epiphyllums bloom at night. Therefore, it is difficult to make all the flowers obey human will and bloom at the same time. However, frightened by Empress Wu's power, all other flowers bloomed out of season, except for the peony, which still stood proudly with its dry branches and fallen leaves. Empress Wu was furious and banished Mudan to Luoyang. As soon as the peonies arrived in Luoyang, they immediately blossomed with their heads held high, with numerous and colorful flowers, forming a magnificent sight. This made Empress Wu even more angry, so she ordered the peonies to be burned to death. Unexpectedly, after the fire, the peonies bloomed even more red, taller and more graceful, which was very spectacular. It shows the peony's fearlessness of power and its bravery and unyielding character.

Anecdotes of Emperor Yang of Sui

In 604 AD, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty succeeded to the throne and opened the Western Garden in Luoyang, the eastern capital. Emperor Yang of Sui was fond of strange flowers and rocks, and he went to the south of the Yangtze River three times to search for them. He also sent people to plant peonies collected from all over the country in the Western Garden. According to the records of the Tang Dynasty, "Emperor Yangdi opened up a 200-li area for the Western Garden and ordered the whole country to present flowers. Yizhou presented 20 peonies, including Feilaihong, Yuanjiahong, Zuiyanhong, Yunhong, Tianwaihong, Yifuhuang, Yan'anhuang, Xianchunhong, and Chanfengjiao, etc."

Legend of Yang Guifei

During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, the court began to pay attention to peonies, and planted several varieties of red, purple, light red, and white peonies in front of the East Chenxiang Pavilion in Xingqing and the Lishan Palace. When the flowers first bloomed, Yang Guifei took the palace maids to admire the flowers, as if intoxicated. Wang Renyu of the Five Dynasties recorded: "Yang Guozhong was initially favored by the imperial concubine, so the emperor gave him several wood peonies (i.e. peonies) to plant at home." It is recorded that because the imperial concubine was favored and loved peonies, Emperor Minghuang of Tang also gave peonies to her brother as a favor.

Ouyang Xiu's story

Ouyang Xiu, whose courtesy name was Yongshu, called himself Zui Weng and later Liuyi Jushi. He was from Ling (now Ji'an City, Jiangxi Province). When Ouyang Xiu was a magistrate in Luoyang, he discovered that "the people of Luoyang generally love flowers. In spring, everyone in the city, regardless of their status, arranges flowers. When the flowers bloom, even the scholars and common people go out for fun." It is recorded that at that time in Luoyang City, both private homes and government offices were planted with peonies. Ouyang Xiu visited many places among the people and made a detailed investigation on the history, cultivation, varieties, customs and folkways of Luoyang peony, and wrote the first monograph on peony in China, "Luoyang Peony Records".

Pu Songling

Pu Songling was a famous writer and thinker in the Qing Dynasty. Pu Songling wrote in his Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio: Chang Dayong, a native of Luoyang, was fond of peonies. I heard that the peonies in Caozhou are the best in Qi and Lu, and I longed to see them. As he was dealing with other matters like Cao, he borrowed a garden from a gentry to live in. It was February, and the peonies had not yet bloomed. I wandered around the garden, staring at the buds, hoping they would bloom. ...and wrote down the mythological stories of the Ge scarf and the jade tablet.

Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong loved peonies very much during his lifetime. In 1935, Mao Zedong led the Red Army through a 25,000-mile Long March to Yan'an, the revolutionary base in northern Shaanxi. During the harsh war, Mao Zedong led Zhou Enlai, Zhu De and others to Wanhua Mountain in Yan'an to appreciate peonies. Among the peonies, he said to the people around him: "This is a natural peony painting. We must protect it well. When the whole country is liberated, we can build a people's park here." One day in the winter of 1950, Mao Zedong was walking in the Zhongnanhai Garden. He stopped in front of the peonies and told the staff around him the story of Wu Zetian and peonies. He said meaningfully: "Young people should have the character of peonies and not fear violence, so that they can take on important responsibilities.