The 2024 Chengdu World Horticultural Expo has opened and will be held from April 26 to October 28 this year, with a duration of 186 days.
Jinyun Building at the main venue of the 2024 Chengdu World Horticultural Expo
Recently, Leonardo Capitanio, President of the International Association of Horticultural Producers, came to the Flower Valley in Zhuanlong Town, Jintang County, Chengdu, and visited the sea of hollyhock flowers, and learned about its medicinal and edible value, as well as the image of hollyhock that appears in the works of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign masters. "I learned a lot of secrets about hollyhocks that I never knew before, and this is a great example of the value that horticulture can bring to people, not only financially, but also spiritually. ”
In Chengdu, I met the world's exotic flowers and plants, and I couldn't count them endlessly. It is worth mentioning that hollyhock, the hometown flower of Sichuan people, is also the only flower with the name of Shu, and the landscaping featuring hollyhock is widely seen in the venue of the 2024 Chengdu World Horticultural Fair.
Hollyhock has been cultivated for more than 2,200 years. She was first mentioned in the Han Dynasty's Erya. Guo Pu, a person from the Jin Dynasty, said that Rong Kui is a hollyhock, the flower is like hibiscus, and the leaves are like a sunflower. According to historical records, hollyhocks appeared in the royal gardens in the Han Dynasty at the latest; hollyhock cultivation reached its peak in the Tang and Song dynasties, and the corresponding horticultural cultivation technology was also very high; in the Ming and Qing dynasties, hollyhock cultivation was still very common, and became the garland worn by the dragon boat winning team in the May Dragon Boat Race in the Old Summer Palace in the Qing Dynasty; in the black and white photos at the end of the Qing Dynasty, you can also find the figure of widely planted hollyhocks.
Hollyhock is a kind of miraculous flower, the Northern Song Dynasty "Trivial Records" recorded: "Hollyhock is wilted in the bottle, soaked in a hundred boiling soup to revive, but also burned roots." "Hundred boiling soup" is boiling water, boiling water soaking, branches and leaves will rejuvenate the spirit; hollyhock is a poetic flower, Li Bai, Lu You, Sima Guang, Tang Yin, have left clear words and beautiful sentences for her.
Today
With Xiaobu
Discover the secrets of hollyhocks
01
- Ask for a name -
At least in the Jin Dynasty
The name of hollyhock has been called
It is also called chessboard flower, a zhang red, and a sunflower......
Hollyhock is the only flower that bears the name of Shu. During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, the widely circulated flower and tree cultivation book "Flower Mirror" introduced hollyhock: "Hollyhock, yang grass is also ...... From Xishu, there are all of them today".
Hollyhock is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the genus Hollyhock in the family Malvaceae. It is generally believed that the origin of hollyhock is Sichuan, and the word "Shu" in the name proves her origin.
In recent years, the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has found a seed of the genus Malvac in the Shang and Zhou strata of the site of Polo Village, Pidu District, Chengdu. It is very likely that as early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties, hollyhocks were in full bloom in large areas on the Chengdu Plain.
In Erya, hollyhocks are called "sage" and "jung". "Erya" cloud: "Flowers, Rong Kui." In ancient times, the people in the west were called "Xirong", and the name of "Rongkui" indicates that the origin of this plant is "Xirong", and the ancient Shu Kingdom is located in southwest China.
Fu Xuan of the Jin Dynasty has an article "Hollyhock Fu": "Hollyhock, its seedlings are like gourds, taste the seeds, one leads the seedlings and grows flowers, and it is sent after two years of spring." It shows that at least in the Jin Dynasty, the name of hollyhock has been called.
Hollyhock, five-colored, gorgeous in flowers. Tang Yin, a painter in the Ming Dynasty, has a fan called "Hollyhock Picture", and there is an inscription on the painting: "Duanyang scenery is the clearest, and the scarlet sunflower is messed with flowers." Realgar disturbs the calamus wine even more, and there is a clear glow in the cup. "Rong Que is hollyhock, Duanyang is coming, Chengdu in May, hollyhock flowers are in full bloom, there are countless colors such as red, yellow, purple, pink, black, etc., the flowers bloom into pieces, bright like clouds, like a fairy wearing a neon dress.
Hollyhock, alias, is a wide range of flowers. Speaking of hollyhock, many people are a little unfamiliar with this name, but they are very familiar with this flower, because she has many "earth names". She is also known as Rong Kui, Wu Kui, Hu Kui, Jing Kui, Tang Kui, Li Kui, Flower Kui, Red Flower, Big Flower, Pyrene Herb, a piece of red, a piece of red, a piece of red, plum rain flower, ripe season flower, Shu season flower, Shu Qi flower, Weizu sunflower...... Hollyhock is one of the flowers with the most common names and nicknames in China.
Hollyhock, knowing advance and retreat, the wise person in the flower. Speaking of the name "Waizu Aoi", there is another allusion. According to the Analects, Confucius said: "Those who have the way of the country will be loyal to them and supplement them, and those who have no way will retreat to avoid them." Today, Bao Zhuangzi eats in the period of fornication, and does not measure the light and darkness of the Lord, so as to receive a great punishment, it is not as wise as Aoi, and Kwai can still defend his feet. ”
"Zuo Chuan: The Seventeenth Year of Chenggong" recorded: "Zhong Ni said: 'Bao Zhuangzi's knowledge is not as good as Kwai , Kwai can still defend his feet. Du pre-note: "The sunflower tilts its leaves to the sun to cover its roots." Some people believe that the sunflower in the allusion refers to the sunflower, but in fact, the sunflower is an exotic flower, native to South America, belonging to the Asteraceae family, and ancient Chinese plants such as hollyhock also have the characteristics of the sun.
According to this allusion, Li Bai also wrote "Liuyelang Question Sunflower Leaves"-
I am ashamed to be able to defend my feet, and sigh that I am far away from the roots.
The day is like a photo, and it returns to its hometown.
When he was exiled to Yelang, he used this poem to express his envy for the hollyhocks left behind in his hometown by the Jinjiang River.
02
- Poetry -
Very early appeared in ancient poetry
Cen Shen, Sima Guang
Lu You and Tang Yin have written about her
Hollyhock, as a native flower, appeared in ancient Chinese poetry very early.
In the Book of Songs, there is a flower called "Wattle", which is a close relative of Hollyhock. "Chen Feng: The Hammer of the East Gate" chanted: "The Hammer of the East Gate is the lifelike of Wanqiu." The son of Zizhong, under him. The southern plain. If it is not good, the city is also swaying. The Dan is gone, and the more it is to move towards the same sect. Seeing it like a wattle, I hold the pepper. In this poem, "Wattle" is obviously a very beautiful flower and plant in people's minds.
The Tang Dynasty poet Cen Shen's "Song of Hollyhock Flowers" is one of the most famous poems about hollyhocks, in which he wrote, "Yesterday a flower blooms, today a flower blooms; I know that people are not as good as flowers, but it is a pity that the flowers are not swept away; life is not long and young, and there is no need to pay for wine at the bedside. Please have money to the restaurant, you don't see, hollyhock flowers. "Sigh at the fleeting years of hollyhock, and exhort the world to cherish the time when life is short.
Hollyhock is very easy to cultivate, even if sown in the barren land can take root, sprout, flower, large areas of growth, this characteristic is also the poet joked, the Tang Dynasty poet Chen Biaoyong "hollyhock" said: "Helpless hollyhock in front of him, light purple and dark red hundreds." can fight for a few peonies, and there are only many reasons for being suspicious. "The poem says that hollyhocks are gorgeous in color and can compete with peonies, but they grow too luxuriantly.
In "Ten Questions on the Official House of Hechang Yan - Hollyhock", Sima Guang also expressed this meaning-
White as the beginning of the break, red as Yan Gu Xuan.
Sitting suspiciously and strictly, there are many festivals.
There are many things in nature, and there are many human feelings.
Calamus is a day show, and I can't throw it.
Hollyhock flowers are as beautiful as fairies, but they are too common to be cherished.
Lu You's "Autumn Light" also mentions, "Butterflies in pairs, two pairs of hollyhocks open each other", the battle is neat, the hollyhocks blooming everywhere in the garden, just like the butterflies fluttering in the air, in pairs, flowers.
Tang Yin wrote in the song "Sichuan Po Di": "The pomegranate is half blooming, and the hollyhocks are like brocades", which describes the flourishing scene of hollyhocks blooming like brocades in early summer.
Hollyhock can be as high as zhang xu, because its flowers are mostly red, in Jiangsu, Zhejiang is called "a zhang red".
According to the record of "Xishu Miscellaneous Records", during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, a foreign envoy came to China, saw the hollyhock flowers in front of the column, did not know, asked people to understand, and then inscribed a poem: "The flower is similar to the hibiscus flower, and the leaves are more than the hibiscus leaves." The five-foot railing is not exhaustive, and half of it is still left for people to see. "It is said that the flowers and leaves of hollyhocks are nothing special, but their height is amazing.
03
- Painting Viewing -
There is her in the Dunhuang murals
Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Monet, Van Gogh
She was also drawn
In addition to many aliases, hollyhocks are also a rich flower, and they are also a major protagonist in the royal gardens of the past dynasties.
From the Shanglin Garden of the Han Dynasty, the Tongquetai of the Three Kingdoms, the Xiangdong Garden of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Luoyang West Garden of the Sui Dynasty, the Dongdu Garden of the Tang Dynasty, the Huayang Palace of the Song Dynasty to the Old Summer Palace of the Qing Dynasty, there are all the shadows of hollyhocks. From the five generations of flower and bird painters Zhou Wenju, to the Northern Song Dynasty Zhao Chang, the Southern Song Dynasty Li Song, Mao Yi, Lu Zonggui, the Yuan Dynasty Qian Xuan, Tang Di, the Ming Dynasty Dai Jin, Wen Jia, Lu Ji, Wang Yuan, Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, the Qing Dynasty Wang Wu, Yun Shouping, Jiang Tingxi, Ma Quan, Yu Zhang, Li Yi, Xi Gang, Zhai Jichang, Zhang Xiong, as well as modern and modern painters Sha Fu, Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi, Cheng Yaosheng, Chen Banding, Chen Shizeng, Xu Beihong, Pan Tianshou, Zhang Daqian, etc., have created many beautiful paintings showing hollyhocks.
▲ Hollyhock painted by Xu Beihong
Hollyhock is also a very adaptable plant, which can withstand both cold and heat, and can be seen everywhere in the vast land of the mainland. Hollyhock also appeared in Dunhuang murals, and was introduced to South Asia, the Middle East, and European countries through the northern, southern, and maritime Silk Roads, and was one of the earliest Chinese flowers to be introduced to Europe.
In addition, hollyhocks also appear in the works of Dürer, Leiden, Corot, Pissarro, Cézanne, Monet, Renoir, Repin, Van Gogh and other famous Western painters - hollyhock, as a native of Chengdu flowers, from the bank of Jinshui into the world's gardens, into the world's famous paintings of artists.
▲The world-famous painting "Hollyhock in a Vase", a work by Dutch painter Jan van Haytam (1682-1749).
Today, hollyhocks are still in full bloom on the land of Bashu as thousands of years ago, witnessing the cold and summer, as bright as yesterday. In the Flower Valley of Zhuanlong Town, Jintang County, more than 1,000 copies and more than 700 varieties of hollyhock germplasm resources have been collected and preserved, ranking first in the world, and it has become the conservation center of hollyhock germplasm resources in China and the world's largest hollyhock gene bank.
Zhou Xiaolin, the owner of the valley, said that late April is the time when hollyhock flowers are in full bloom, and as the linkage point of the 2024 Chengdu World Horticultural Expo, hollyhock flowers will be used here to present the unique beauty of Sichuan to friends around the world.
The 2024 Chengdu World Horticultural Expo is being held
Welcome to friends from all over the world
Come to Chengdu to see——
"Brocade" Embroidered World Garden Fair
"Rong" Yao Tang You Cup
(Source: Chengdu release)