Source: Beidou Weiwei
When it comes to China's national flower, many people immediately think of the peony flower. However, China does not have a national flower in the first place, and there is no official organization that says what China's national flower is. At present, the statement that "the national flower is a peony flower" is basically some media building. Once "China National Geographic" once counted the degree of national support for the national flower, and the result was that peony was ahead, followed by plum blossoms, orchids, azaleas, yueji, chrysanthemums, osmanthus, lotus, etc.
However, although the support rate of peony is very high, it cannot become a real national flower, which is caused by the natural defects of peony flowers. In ancient times, the peony flower represented grace and luxury. In the Tang Dynasty, the peony flower was a flower planted in the royal garden, and it was also loved by the people. If you have to match a character image for peony flowers, what people can think of is Yang Guifei, who brought disaster to the country and the people.
Peony flowers were very popular with the masses in ancient China, but the masses did not appreciate the essence of the peony flower and culture, but simply felt that the peony flower was beautiful. "Ai Lian Said" mentioned that "since Li Tanglai, the world loves peony very much", "The love of peony is suitable for everyone." ”
Bai Juyi's "Buying Flowers" said that the peony is "a cluster of dark flowers, and people in ten households are endowed". It can be seen that the price of peony flowers in the Tang Dynasty was very expensive. Why are peony flowers so expensive in the Tang Dynasty" because the elite class of the Tang Dynasty used peonies as a flattering gift, and they gave peonies to each other to compete for new favors. As a result, peony represents flattery in classical culture, and represents disaster to the country and the people.
There were not many peonies written in the past dynasties, and many of them criticized peonies as a negative image. For example, Wang Rui of the Tang Dynasty wrote: "The peony is bewitching and chaotic, and a country is crazy and does not hesitate to pay for it." If the peaches and plums in the East Garden, the fruit becomes speechless and becomes yin. In the Song Dynasty, there were more poems about peonies, and Yang Xuan wrote, "Concubine Yang sings and dances, and Xizi skillfully slanders the soul." The sword slashes constantly, and the remnant demon bell is this root. The glory has flourished, and the threshold will not last forever. Message to those who are looking for beauty, you need to know Song Guizun. It can be seen that in their eyes, the peony is the demagogic "demon flower".
There are also some poems that believe that peony flowers are graceful and luxurious, but have no spiritual temperament, so they are flashy and unrealistic, such as Wang Pu's "Song of Peony" wrote, "Jujube flowers can become small and fruitful, and mulberry leaves are soft and silky." It is ridiculous that the peony is as big as a bucket, and it is empty if it doesn't work. Shao Yong mentioned in "Tianchun Pavilion in the Inner Countryside" that "peonies are poinsettia and purple, flashy and unrealistic." And the widely circulated "Zengguang Xianwen" also wrote: "The peony flower is so empty, and the jujube flower is small and fruitful." ”
I believe that since it wants to become the national flower, it must be able to represent the spiritual temperament of the Chinese nation and have sufficient cultural heritage. Peony flowers make people think of gorgeous, wealthy, it is difficult to connect with spiritual temperament, even if it is connected, it is far-fetched.
In fact, in traditional Chinese culture, the four major flower systems have already been formed, that is, "Chunlan", "Summer Lotus", "Autumn Chrysanthemum" and "Winter Plum". According to relevant statistics, the flowers with the highest frequency in ancient Chinese poems and ancient texts are orchids, lotuses, chrysanthemums and plum blossoms, while peony flowers are not as frequent as peach blossoms, plum flowers, azaleas, etc.
Orchid, in ancient times, was regarded as one of the "Four Gentlemen", alongside "plum, bamboo, and chrysanthemum". The orchid is noble and elegant, representing the friendship of gentlemen, representing friendship, and representing the spiritual temperament of the unique and ungrouped. "Confucius's Family Sayings: In Doom": Zhilan was born in the deep forest, and she does not think that no one is not fragrant;
The lotus flower, the summer flower of China, has an elegant name - hibiscus. Cao Zhi wrote in "Furong Fu" that "looking at the majesty of a hundred flowers, there is no lone spirit of Sihua". The noble character of the lotus flower "straight from the middle to the outside, not vines and branches, out of the mud but not stained, clear ripples but not demons", has always been one of the themes of poets and painters. The love of lotus in the folk is very high, people regard it as a representative of many sons and many blessings, and the woodblock New Year paintings of the Ming and Qing dynasties mostly use patterns such as "lotus noble" and "lotus year with fish". On various buildings, the pattern of lotus carving is very high.
Chrysanthemum is a famous flower in autumn in China, known as "the hermit in the flower", and the chrysanthemum is used as a metaphor for a noble person in the poem, symbolizing not to be in the same stream with the world. Chrysanthemums generally bloom in autumn, and almost all the flowers wither in autumn, so chrysanthemums that bloom in autumn are highly valued. Yuan Zhen said: "It's not that chrysanthemums are favored among flowers, and this flower is even more flowerless."
Plum blossom is arguably the most qualified flower to represent the national flower. In 1987, a number of Chinese institutions selected the "Top Ten Traditional Chinese Flowers", among which plum blossoms had the highest vote rate, peony second, chrysanthemum third, orchid fourth, followed by Yueji, rhododendron, camellia, lotus, osmanthus, and narcissus. It can be seen that plum blossom is the highest evaluation among traditional Chinese flowers.
The cultural symbol of plum blossoms is high. Because plum blossoms bloom in winter, "spring in the world". Therefore, plum blossoms are regarded as the representative of "Ling Han arrogant" and "tenacious chastity". Winter is often the saddest season of the year, and the blooming of plum blossoms gives hope. The Chinese nation is also a nation of many disasters and difficulties, China is a country that is prosperous in great difficulties, and the spiritual temperament of plum blossoms is just in line with the temperament of the Chinese nation.
In addition, in terms of geographical distribution, the distribution of peony flowers is not as extensive as plum blossoms, lotuses, chrysanthemums and orchids. Peony flowers are basically distributed in warm temperate regions, and the requirements for climate are very high, mainly in Henan, Shaanxi, and Shandong, so peony flowers are very "delicate". Other flower species can be distributed from Heilongjiang to Hainan Island, from Xinjiang to the southeast coast, and even everywhere.
Most cities in China have city flowers, according to relevant statistics, there are 10 cities in the country will plum blossom as the city flower, 13 cities will be rose as the city flower, 15 cities will be orchid as the city flower, 22 cities will be lotus as the city flower, 31 cities will be osmanthus as the city flower, 39 cities will be azalea as the city flower, 11 cities will be lilac as the city flower, 16 cities will be chrysanthemum as the city flower, 18 cities will camellia as the city flower, 17 cities will be the triangle plum as the city flower, 11 cities have magnolia as the city flower, 76 cities have Yueji as the city flower, 24 cities have crape myrtle as the city flower, and only 9 cities have peony as the city flower.
Therefore, in terms of distribution range and cultural implications, it is difficult for peony to become the national flower.