Author: Li Yuhong (Professor, School of Arts, Chinese Min University)
The moon flower is widely distributed all over the world, is an ornamental plant with high social, economic and cultural value, and is one of the traditional famous flowers in China, known as the "queen of flowers". Moonflowers, roses, roses, etc. belong to the rose genus of plants in the family Rosaceae, and are strictly distinguished by Latin names in scientific research.
China's moon flower was introduced to Britain and France in the 18th century, causing great interest from local breeders, they crossed the moon flower as a parent to the local rose, improved the problem of local rose flowering and flower color in one season, and finally in 1867, the French Guio bred a new variety of the moon season and named it "France", that is, the "modern moon season" that we commonly see in floral fragrance, color and style, referred to as the moon season. Roses now refer to wild species that bloom in a season of the rose genus. The English Rose is a general term for rose plants, including various plants of the same genus such as moonflowers, roses, roses, etc., as well as ancient moonflowers and modern monthly varieties.
In the long-term cultivation and appreciation process, the moon season has been endowed with rich cultural connotations. In Europe, the months and seasons represent love, holiness, and peace. In our country, the moon season is a spiritual symbol of auspiciousness, peace, endless life and tenacious progress. In some areas, people refer to the modern moon season as "roses"; in the flower market, people often refer to the cut flower moon season as "roses"; in literary works, the author often refers to the moon season as "roses".
"Rose" in Old Chinese refers to red jade. In the "Zi Xuan Fu" mentions "its stone is red jade rose", The Tang Dynasty Yan Shigu once said: "Rose, beautiful jade name also ... Or the pearl of the essence of the rose. "Since the Han Dynasty, the courtyards of the royal family or nobles have been planted with seasonal flowers. In China, the moon flower also has the good names of "moon red" and "periwinkle", and there are countless verses of praise, such as Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty", who wrote: "Peony is rich and noble for spring dawn, and peony medicine is only in early summer." Only this flower blooms without complaint, and it occupies four o'clock in the spring of the year. Yang Wanli of the Song Dynasty has a sentence in the Song Dynasty's "Moon Season Before Lap", "Only the flowers have no hundred days of red, and this flower has no day and no spring wind". The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty praised the "Periwinkle" praise: "Light and deep red are full of spirit, and wanjiao Shaoguang is new month by month." It is the female Yi who pays attention to it, so the four seasons of the teaching always contain spring. ”
Umberto Echo, the author of The Name of the Rose, once pointed out: "The rose, because of its complex symmetry, its femininity, its brilliant colors, and the fact that it blossoms in the spring, in almost all mystical traditions it appears as a symbol, a metaphor, a symbol of freshness, youth, feminine tenderness, and beauty in general." The famous French painter Joseph Reddoud, because he was good at painting roses, was known as the "Raphael of the Flower". Under his brush, each rose is vivid and colorful, with light colors and natural transitions. His "Rose Atlas" has become a classic masterpiece of the world's roses, and various countries have competed to publish them, which has had a profound impact on future generations, and his rose drawings are preferred in many decorative paintings, porcelain and other items in the West.
The moon season is also known as the "flower of love". In the Greco-Roman period, the gorgeous rose was a tribute to Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess of love and beauty, who was born at the same time and brought the rose to the abode of the gods in Olympia, where the gods competed for her love. Under the spread of ancient Greek culture, people called the woman whose love was projected as a rose. The 20th-century American poet William Carlos Williams' poem "The Rose" and Robert Pence's "A Red Rose" both bear the "weight of love."
In the Catholic Church, there are Gothic rose windows, rose reliefs and patterns, among which the famous one is the rose window in Notre Dame Cathedral. The Rose Window is a round window modeled on the shape of a rose and a skateboard, inlaid with beautiful stained glass, forming a colorful religious story.
Ancient Chinese moon flowers symbolize "peace in all seasons", and the pattern of moon flowers inserted in the vase contains the meaning of exorcising evil spirits and blessings, peace and happiness. The moon season also has its tenacious growth posture, symbolizing the tenacious spirit of life. The Qing Dynasty painting "The Moon Season of Flowers and Insects" collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing depicts a moonflower growing in a crevice in a rock, regardless of the barren land and the pecking of insects, it is still leafy and colorful.
During World War II, the Frenchman Francis Mérão carefully bred a new variety under the iron hooves of fascism, and then sent it to several countries for cultivation for protection. American horticulturists received it and immediately distributed it to breed throughout the United States. In 1945, the American Monthly Association named it "Peace" to express the expectations of the people of the world at that time for peace. When the United Nations was founded and held at its first meeting in the same year, a bouquet of "Peace" Monthly Season was inserted in the vase of each delegate's room, and the sign read: We hope that the "Peace" Month Season will influence people's minds and give lasting peace to the whole world. Since 1955, many countries around the world have built "Peace" monthly gardens to express their desire for peace and hatred for the aggressors. The "Peace" season is associated with people's good wishes to love peace and enhance friendship.
A series of poems created by the 20th century Irish poet William Yeats, such as "The Rose of Peace", "The Rose of Battle", and "The Rose of the Earth", use roses to pin down and express emotions, symbolizing the noble spirit and eternal beauty of the Irish nation.
People's love for the moon and season has penetrated into all areas of material and spiritual life. After Europe cultivated the latest varieties of the world's monthly season, it gradually set off a wave of flower appreciation, and built a number of classical European-style gardens based on the moon season, which became the beginning of the world's moon garden, and the private monthly garden was also rapidly developed.
Horticultural planting has become a part of the life of european people, whether it is the arrangement of the party or the flower arrangement of the room can see the shadow of the moon season, people are more inclined to hold wedding ceremonies in the moon garden. Today, there are many monthly gardens in the world, with a wide variety of types, including public gardens such as Japan's Flower Festival Memorial Park; private gardens such as the Monthly Garden in butchat Garden; monthly gardens attached to the Botanical Garden such as the Beijing Botanical Garden; scientific research units such as the American Moon And Season Association Garden; festival gardens such as beijing Daxing Moon Garden.
In the historical development, flower gardening as an aesthetic object has gradually been widely and deeply integrated into all aspects of life. A flower can show people a time and space of life, reflecting the cultural concept and spiritual world of human beings. Flowers also connect the past and present of different regional civilizations. Based on the common ideal of the pursuit of beauty, people use flowers to explain people's attitudes towards life, values, traditional cultural spirits and aesthetic pursuits. The moon and season carry people's beautiful pursuit of life and also represent people's strong desire for world peace.
Guangming Daily (2021-08-26, 13th edition)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily