Recently, peonies, known as the "king of flowers", have gradually revealed their fragrance and entered the blooming period, attracting many citizens to come to enjoy the flowers. In Wutang Village, Nanqiao Town, Fengxian District, the oldest surviving peony in Shanghai has also bloomed, and this peony was donated by Dong Qichang, a great calligrapher of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, Dong Qichang was studying at Songjiang Yexie Shuiyuean, and was a classmate and friend of Jin Xuewen of Wutang Village in Wuqiao. There were originally two peonies gifted, one green peony and one pink peony, but the green peony was transplanted and died when the brothers of the Jin family separated at the end of the Qing Dynasty, leaving only this "powder makeup building". Today, this 494-year-old "powder makeup building" is still beautiful and charming, graceful and luxurious. Let's follow the reporter to enjoy the flowers.
This week, the ancient peony has entered its full bloom, with a total of 65 blooming this year. Under the transparent tent, the pink-purple peony flowers are delicate, and the palm-like flowers lean against the green leaves, and the heavy colors eclipse the surrounding environment. The petals are layered on top of each layer, and if you look closely, you can smell a unique fragrance. Although the spring rain continues, it still cannot stop the enthusiasm of tourists to come to watch peonies in the rain, and many citizens and photography enthusiasts come to enjoy the flowers and take photos in the rain.
A tourist said: "We go to shoot flowers in every season, peony flowers must come, the ancient peonies here are famous and the flowers are also beautiful." ”
In fact, this ancient peony is no longer an ornamental meaning for the villagers here, but more of a habit and feeling. Ms. Tang visited the ancient peony once when she was 10 years old, and now she is 55 years old and still maintains the habit of coming to enjoy the flowers every year. "It's like it's become a habit, looking at this flower, the mood will be different immediately, even if it's raining today I want to see, I will come in the rain, and her flowering period is relatively short, next week will not be so good-looking, this week is the most beautiful period."
Jin Shulin, an 83-year-old villager, and his old wife Wang Xiuqin are the guardians of this "powder building". Every time it comes to flowering, the old couple will move to live nearby, not only to build a canopy for the ancient peony, but also to "close" her 24-hour guard, considering that there are too many tourists who come to watch, Lao Jin also had to pull a few "protection lines" around the ancient peony. Lao Jin told reporters that peonies are delicate, and a nylon shed was built to prevent wind and rain and cold, "The rope was not tied before, but there were too many people who came to see, they all came in to take pictures, stepping on the soil is too strong to be good, worried that the peony root will not climb out in the future, so I tied this rope." ”
What makes Old Jin happy is that this "powder building" is full of vitality, and new branches grow every year. He pointed to the bottom of the peony and said, "The big flowers below all grow from the new branches, because the old branches are already very old, so the flowers are not very good, and the new branches bloom well, and three or two new branches grow every year." ”
Seeing that the ancient peony was well taken care of by the old Jin couple, tourists who came to see the peony every year were also praised, "I remember that it was almost on the verge of death a long time ago, and then rescued it, and now it is getting better and better year by year, and it is also blooming vigorously, and it is indeed not easy to see such a Ming dynasty peony in our local area." ”
According to Lao Jin, the ancient peony blooms early, the flowering period is also very short, this week is the best viewing period for the ancient peony, after this week the flowering period will end, citizens who want to come to enjoy the flowers should not miss it.
Reporter: Wu Koutian
Correspondent: Xue Wei
Editor: Xia Yang