Common Flower Cultivation

Author: Wuhan Municipal Bureau of Landscape Garden
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-05-01
Features: Flowers, loved by everyone. Growing and cultivating flowers have become one of the hobbies of modern people. Flowers come in a variety of shapes, colors, and scents, dazzling and vibrant. Whether it's the intense hues of camellias or azaleas, or the elegant simplicity of narcissus or orchids, they all have their unique charm, refreshing and uplifting. China has a history of flower cultivation spanning over 2,700 years. As early as the Warring States period, King Fuchai of Wu built the Wutong Garden in Kuaiji, where "the flowers and trees were mostly camellias and hawthorns." During the Qin and Han dynasties, grand imperial gardens were built, collecting "exotic fruits, fine trees, and rare flowers." In the Jin Dynasty, chrysanthemums and peonies were widely cultivated, and 80 species of exotic flowers and trees were introduced from neighboring southern countries. In the Sui Dynasty, the Guiren Garden was established in Luoyang, where "there were a thousand trees of peonies." Guo Taotuo of the Tang Dynasty wrote the Book of Tree Planting, detailing grafting and propagation methods, which advanced the development of flowers. During the Song Dynasty, flower cultivation flourished even more, with numerous works on flowers reaching their peak. Among the most famous are Ouyang Xiu's Record of Peonies in Luoyang, Zhou Xu's Record of Flowers and Water in Luoyang, Shi Zhu, Fan Chengda, Liu Mengquan, and Shi Zhengzhi's Crisanthemum Catalogue, Wang Guan's Peony Catalogue, Fan Chengda's Plum Catalogue, Wang Guixue's Orchid Catalogue, and Chen Si's Hawthorn Catalogue, and so on. The Yuan Dynasty saw a decline in culture, and flower cultivation also declined. By the Ming Dynasty, flower gardening gradually revived, with a significant increase in cultivation varieties. Comprehensive gardening works, such as Zhou Wenhua's History of Ruyang Garden, Wang Xiangjin's Spectacular Flowers Catalogue, and Wang Lu's Left Part of the History of Flowers, were highly renowned in the gardening community. Chen Haozi's Flower Mirror and Pei Wenqi's Comprehensive Catalogue of Flowers formed a unique and traditional flower cultivation literature in Chinese gardening, providing valuable references to this day.