Tolipei

The National Botanical Garden's "First Peach Blossom Viewing Season and World Famous Flower Exhibition" has begun. During this period, 40,<> spring flowers such as peach blossoms, magnolias, plum blossoms, tulips, lilacs, and begonia will open one after another, forming a beautiful landscape painting.

When viewing flowers, tasting flowers, singing flowers, and feeling flowers, we can also explore the historical relationship between those famous flowers and Beijing, making the spring outing more interesting and cultural...

I don't know how many times I've been to the National Botanical Garden, but I don't know much about the history and culture of each famous flower. To this end, on the occasion of the "First Peach Blossom Viewing Season and World Famous Flower Exhibition", Mr. Liu who has worked here for many years was specially invited as a "guide" to have an in-depth tour of "exploring the source of flowers".

It blooms in the cold spring and is known as the primrose

As early as the Jin Yuan period, many kinds of peach trees were cultivated in Beijing

The peach tree also contains the totem worship of the ancients

When you enter the National Botanical Garden, the first thing you see is a peach blossom tree. Not far along the main road, I saw a stone carving erected in the green trees, with the three words "Peach Blossom Source" written on it.

Mr. Liu said that this is the peach orchard, commonly known as the peach blossom source, planting dozens of varieties of peach trees, mainly two categories, mountain peach and peache, the former blooming earlier, the latter slightly later.

Walking among the peach blossoms, the fragrance of flowers comes to your face. Mr. Liu said: The history of cultivation of peach trees in Beijing is very long, according to the records of the late Yuan Dynasty, as early as the Jin Yuan period, Beijing cultivated rose peaches, wheat ripe peaches, big fist peaches, mountain red peaches, parrot peaches, imperial peaches, September peaches, and winter peaches. The Qing Dynasty's "Wanping County Record" recorded that the varieties of peaches include hairy peaches, almonds, jade peaches, autumn peaches, silver peaches and so on.

Peach is one of the important ornamental trees in early spring in Beijing, blooming early, quietly blooming in mid-to-late March every year, and can continue until mid-April. Because it blooms in the cold of spring, it is known as primrose. Its trunk is varied, the flowers are of different shapes, the flowers are abundant and colorful.

Peach blossoms are dashing, blooming like a brocade, and are the earliest flowers to open in spring, favored by people since ancient times, and Beijing also has the elegant custom of enjoying peach blossoms in spring to pray for blessings. The ancients also regarded the peach tree as the "essence of five trees", which contains the original beliefs of totem worship and reproductive worship, and has folk symbols of fertility, auspiciousness, longevity, harmony and festivity. In particular, peach blossoms are regarded as the embodiment of beautiful things, and the paradise is regarded as the most ideal living environment, so whenever the peach blossoms are in full bloom, they go to see them for auspiciousness.

Looking here, I couldn't help but think of the song "Peach Blossoms" by Xiang Minzhong, a famous minister of the Northern Song Dynasty: "A thousand crops lean on the sill, and a branch is dotted with clouds." With Jun Mo tired of looking at the wind, Zhan Chunguang is this flower. ”

It blooms first in early spring, so it is expected to be called spring flowers

In Beijing monasteries, magnolia is a substitute for mountain magnolia

The National Botanical Garden has more than 14 plants of <> species

After watching the peach blossoms, we continued north along the main road to the Magnolia Garden on the southwest side of Wat Pho Temple, but saw that dozens of magnolias had quietly opened.

Mr. Liu said that the Magnolia Garden is the Magnolia Garden. Before the Ming Dynasty, magnolia was always mixed with several other magnoliaceae plants called magnolia. In the "Twenty-Four Flower Letters" compiled by Yuan Hua in the Yuan Dynasty, the flower letters of the three seasons of the spring equinox are "one waiting for begonias, two waiting for pear blossoms, and three waiting for magnolia". "Magnolia" here is the collective name of several magnolia plants such as magnolia, Xinyi flower, and magnolia before the Ming Dynasty. The "Daming Unified History" contains: "In the fifth dynasty, a smoke and rain building was built in the middle of the South Lake, and the magnolia flowers in front of the building were clear and beautiful, and the pines and cypresses were hidden, standing out of the building, which was also a wonder", which is the first time that the name "magnolia" was used in historical documents. After that, the Ming Dynasty's "Qunfang Spectrum" said: "Magnolia flowers have nine petals, white and slightly blue, and the fragrance is like an orchid, hence the name." A bunch of dried flowers, all covered with wood dust, no soft strips... The flowers fall from the leaves in the pedicles, pecurous flowers. ”

Magnolias in Beijing bloom in mid-to-late March, and in the mountains, they are one of the first flowers to bloom in early spring. Maybe we came at the right time, but we saw a tree of magnolia blooming and overflowing with the fragrance of flowers.

I asked Mr. Liu why most of the monasteries in Beijing grow magnolias? For example, Tanzhe Temple, Dajue Temple, and the magnolia of the Bada Xiangjie Temple are all famous.

He said that in Buddhist culture, the yotana, mandala, lotus and magnolia are known as the four auspicious flowers. Among them, the mountain magnolia tree is tall, and from April to June every year, it blooms large milky white flowers in the green leaves, with nine petals stretched and open, and a cylindrical aggregate fruit stands in the middle, just like Buddha Shakyamuni sitting on a lotus throne, so it is called the sacred tree of Buddhism. However, mountain magnolia grows in the southwest of China at an altitude of 4 meters to 6 meters in the mountains, and the average altitude in Beijing is only more than 1500 meters, affected by region, climate and other factors, mountain magnolia is not common in Beijing monasteries, so Buddhist disciples will grow in Beijing magnolia trees to replace the "Buddhist sacred tree" mountain magnolia, widely planted in monasteries.

The National Botanical Garden Magnolia Garden was founded in 1957, with an area of 0.84 hectares, collecting and planting 14 species of magnolia, more than 3 plants, and its precious varieties include Huangshan magnolia, Wangchun magnolia, Erqiao magnolia, Baohua magnolia and convex magnolia. The best time to see the blossoms is the end of March and the beginning of April.

Wandering in the magnolia garden, the flowers are blooming, and under the sunlight, the flowers are as white as snow, transparent as jade, and fragrant and pleasant, making people linger.

Wu Laodao of the Yuan Dynasty was the first to transplant plum blossoms into the capital

Chen Junyu is known as "Academician Plum Blossom"

The two plum blossoms mark the final success of the "south-plum northward migration"

Walking out of the Magnolia Garden, heading south and west, I saw two large characters engraved on a rock erected on the side of the road, "Plum Garden".

"This is the plum garden known as the 'Beijing Fragrant Snow Sea'. Since 1998, the Beijing Botanical Garden at that time has begun to plant plum blossoms, and in 2003 the plum garden was built, and now there are dozens of varieties of apricot plum, true plum, cherry plum and other dozens of varieties, including purple red, pink, light yellow, light ink, pure white and other colors. Mr. Liu introduced.

Surrounded by plum blossoms, the aroma is overwhelming, giving people a feeling that "flowers are not intoxicating, people are drunk". If you look closely, there are many varieties of plum blossoms in the plum garden. White like snow, green as jasper, forming a spectacular scene of plum sea condensing clouds and steaming clouds.

Mr. Liu said that as early as the Yuan Dynasty, plum blossoms already existed in the capital city (present-day Beijing). Tao Zongyi, a beginner in the late Yuan and Ming dynasties, recorded in the "Records of Leaving Cultivation": "In the early days, there were no plum blossoms in Yan (present-day Beijing), and Grandmaster Wu Xian was the heir during the whole festival, and the new moved from the south of the Jiang, protected by the vault, and bian (plaque) was called 'Shufang Pavilion'. "Because most of the capitals are cold in winter, plum blossoms cannot winter in the open field, so they built a Shufang Pavilion outside the Qi Hua Gate (now Chaoyang Gate), and set up a dome (felt tent) to plant plum blossoms in it.

Previously, there was no record of plum blossom planting in Beijing in historical books, it was the famous Taoist priest Wu Quanjie (No. Leisure) in the Yuan Dynasty who moved plum blossoms to the capital, creating a precedent for plum blossoms planted in Yandi. By the Ming Dynasty, plum blossoms had been planted in many parts of the capital. The "Beijing Years of Hua" also records the cultivation method of plum blossoms: "The moon bundles plum in An, hiding five feet underground, three feet deeper, using Matong to light a fire, so that the ground is slightly warm, the plum gradually turns white, with a paper cage, set in the city." During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, plum blossoms were also cultivated when the Xiangshan Jingyi Garden was built.

Due to the geographical and weather reasons, the cold atmosphere in Beijing makes it difficult for plum blossoms to winter normally, so they are cultivated in warm sheds, and plum blossoms have been planted on a large scale in the past 60 years. Since the 20s of the 50th century, Beijing has carried out the arduous practice of "moving south to the north" for more than half a century.

In 1957, botanist Chen Junyu cooperated with the Beijing Botanical Garden to conduct research on the introduction and domestication of plum blossoms, trying to move plum blossoms from Jiangnan to Beijing. After three years, four seedlings spit out one or twenty brightly colored buds. However, under the continuous attack of the cold wind, most of the buds were blown dry and died, and by the end of March there were only two flower bones left, but these two buds finally bloomed in early April 3. The following year, those plum blossoms bloomed even more, and in early summer they produced a huge plum. The two plum blossoms survived the severe cold of the northern country, thus announcing the success of the "south-plum migration to the north". Chen Junyu, who led the research of "South-Mei Moving North", is known as "Academician of Plum Blossoms". Today, there are more than 1962 varieties of plum blossoms in Beijing, which are spread throughout many scenic spots in the city.

Haitang Garden is the largest and most diverse special garden in China

Xifu Begonia got its name because it grew in present-day Baoji Xifu, Shaanxi

It is regarded as a rich flower, which means full of wealth and grandchildren

After watching the plum blossoms, we headed south and came to the Begonia Garden.

According to Mr. Liu, the National Botanical Garden covers a total area of 3.2 hectares, which is the largest and most diverse special garden in China, displaying more than 80 varieties and more than 800 plants of begonias. The terrain of the park is undulating and staggered, achieving the natural effect of "although it is made by people, it seems to be opened from the sky". At the same time, according to the characteristics of different varieties of begonias, with a variety of evergreen deciduous plants, careful layout, reasonable planting, you can not only see the thousands of postures of solitary begonias, but also see the flowers of groups of begonias. It's a pity that we came early, the begonia tree has just dyed green, it has not yet reached the flowering period, and it will open one after another in half a month.

I asked Mr. Liu about the history of begonia cultivation in Beijing. He said there is no exact record in historical records, at least it was cultivated in the Yuan Dynasty.

The dramatist Wang Shifu has already written in the second fold of the third book of "The Tale of the West Wing" that Zhang Sheng "If you want to go to the begonia flowers to make an appointment, why does the sun suffer and take root?" Here, "begonia flowers under the appointment" refers to dating a beautiful person.

In the Ming Dynasty's "Yandu Travels", there was also a description of an ancient begonia in a house in the Ming Dynasty: "Two plants of Zhang Gong Begonia, in the east of the bell and drum tower, Zhang Mansion, a relic of the Yuan Dynasty." The bush is dozens of circumferences, the dry is straight, the height is several zhang, the lower is accompanied by the zhulan, the jagged shade, and the hanging acres. ”

"Dadu Miscellaneous" said that "Dadu Xingsheng Palace (now the northwest of Beihai Park) planted hundreds of begonias, flowers bloomed in March, and the beauty of the harem was appreciated here, and the garden was full of fragrance." ”

The "Barnyard Banknotes and Plants" compiled by Xu Ke in the Guangxu Year of the Qing Dynasty recorded: "Begonia is a deciduous sub-arbor, tall and long, ovate, pointed at the end, and serrate. Spring flowers, five-petaled, reddish, sepal red, slightly black. There are several. It blooms in early spring, the flowers are small, crimson, and those who cling to the branches are called begonias. The flower peduncle is slender, called weeping begonia. All are double-lobed and not strong. However, the begonia of Xifu has a single strong petal and is known as sea red. ”

"This Xifu begonia is very famous in Beijing, why did it get its name?" I asked.

"Xifu begonia is a treasure among begonia flowers, also known as begonia, also known as sea red. According to legend, it was named after the Jin Dynasty because it grew in present-day Baoji Xifu, Shaanxi. Xifu is the official mansion, and the begonia of Xifu originally grew in the high walls of the deep palace and was known as a national beauty. Its tree shape is steep, red flowers, green leaves, beautiful fruits, whether solitary plants, column plants, clump plants are very beautiful, is the best in begonias, so it is quite favored by people. In the early years, Weigong Temple, Lama Temple, Summer Palace and Leshoutang outside Zuo'anmen were planted with Xifu begonias. ”

The flowers and trees in Beijing are extremely prosperous, and begonia is one of the most widely planted. People like begonia trees, not only because of their dashing flowers, blooming like brocades, and other beautiful names such as fairies in flowers, but also because begonia has the meaning of jade begonia wealth. As far as the homophony of begonia is concerned, the word "sea" means "big" or "many", "tang" and "tang" homophony, with the meaning of full hall and full court, indicating full of wealth and grandchildren, so the begonia tree is also called the rich tree, and the begonia flower is regarded as a rich flower, which is a symbol of auspiciousness and beauty.

When officials saw the emperor during the Three Kingdoms, they wanted to have cloves in their mouths

The leaves are heart-shaped, so they are known as the Bodhi tree

A new variety of Beijing yellow lilac has been cultivated in the garden

The National Botanical Garden has a large variety of flowers in spring, and blooms in succession, from mid-March to early May every year. In addition to peach blossoms, magnolias, plum blossoms, begonias, tulips, the lilacs here are also famous in history and have lilac gardens.

We talked as we walked, and it didn't take long to arrive at the Lilac Garden.

Mr. Liu introduced that the lilac garden was established in 1958, and the northern part is dominated by lilac plants, and the southern part is dominated by rose plants. In 1990, more than 21,1000 strains of 4 species (varieties) of cloves were collected. The main varieties are white lilac, purple lilac, blue lilac, small-leaf lilac, bergamot lilac, flower leaf clove, Liaodong lilac, Himalayan clove, etc. Due to the large variety of lilacs, lilacs are seen for about one month from April to May every year.

I asked him about the history of cloves. He said that according to research, at the latest in the Three Kingdoms period, clove cultivation was already in China, and Cao Zhi had a poem: "The imperial seal is a fan monarch, there is Honaduliang, and the chicken tongue has five flavors." Among them, "chicken tongue", that is, another name for cloves. At that time, when the official wanted to meet the emperor, he must have cloves in his mouth and let the breath be fragrant, to show respect for the emperor, so he had the name of "chicken tongue". The ancients called lilacs "lilac knots", and the "Mountain Hall Examination" during the Wanli Ming Dynasty wrote: "Jiangnan people call lilacs a hundred knots." There are two different interpretations of the meaning of this nickname. One is to describe and praise the luxuriance of lilacs when they bloom, which means enthusiasm and happiness; Another theory is diametrically opposite, believing that lilacs are small and weak, and the branches are soft, giving people a feeling of wanting to let go, which is likened to a puzzle.

The history of cloves cultivation in Beijing can be traced back to more than a thousand years ago, and lilacs have been planted in the Fayuan Temple, which was built in the Tang Dynasty. During the Jin Yuan period, cloves were widely planted in temples, and during the Ming and Qing dynasties, they were widely planted in garden gardens.

Lilacs have an indissoluble relationship with Buddhism, because of the strong fragrance of lilacs, the leaves are heart-shaped, and have the meaning of "sincerity in the heart", and are known as the "Bodhi Tree". According to legend, Buddhism's founder, Shakyamuni, founded Buddhism by becoming a Buddha under the Bodhi tree, and since then, the Bodhi tree has been regarded as a sacred tree and has been widely planted in Buddhist monasteries. But Bodhi trees are only suitable for planting in tropical and subtropical regions, Buddhist disciples in other areas have to choose some tree species adapted to the local climate environment instead of Bodhi trees, Gansu, Qinghai and other places in northwest China mostly use tyrannosaurus, and call it "West Sea Bodhi Tree", and since then in the monasteries in the northern region has also begun to widely grow tyrannosaurus.

During the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, there were a large number of lilac trees planted in and around the temple, and hundreds of lilacs were planted on both sides of the incense road from the temple's wooden archway to the south of Erlixu, known as Lilac Avenue. On April 1893, the <>th year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (<>), Empress Dowager Cixi went to Shifang Pujue Temple (Reclining Buddha Temple) to throw incense. When the lilacs were blooming and the fragrance was striking, I got out of the car and walked on the incense road to enjoy the flowers. After the incense was thrown, the abbot of the monastery also presented Empress Dowager Cixi with several bunches of freshly picked lilacs, saying that their floral fragrance had the effect of calming, comforting and calming.

At this time, the lilac tree in the lilac garden has just had buds, and after careful observation, you can see whether it is a white lilac or a lilac.

Mr. Liu said that there is a new variety of lilacs in the garden, called "Beijing yellow lilac", also called "Beijing lilac", to be precise, "golden garden lilac", which has been selected and bred for many years. The common lilac is white or purple, while this lilac is yellow and has a very dense flower. At the beginning of flowering, the color of the flower turns white, the four petals are flattened, and four or five golden yellow stamens stick straight out of the flower, exuding a very strong floral fragrance. After blooming, the pale yellow huge flowers are embedded in the branches of the canopy, clumps, pieces, layer by layer, the spectacular scene of the blooming of the flowers, especially the strong aroma, makes people linger.

Native to the Middle East, it is known as the Queen of World Flower

The earliest variety cultivated in Beijing was presented by the Dutch princess

The National Botanical Garden is home to more than 120 varieties

After passing through the Begonia Garden, we traveled south along the main road and came to the tulip exhibition area in ten minutes. As far as the eye can see, it is lush and green, and several bunches of tulips are already quietly blooming.

Mr. Liu said that we arrived more than ten days early, and the tulips here will not open until mid-April. Tulip is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Tulip of the lily family, also known as lotus flower, dry lotus flower, grass musk, native to the Middle East and other places, introduced to Europe in the sixteenth century. Due to the Mediterranean climate, tulips are formed to adapt to the characteristics of cold and humid winter and dry and hot summer, and their characteristics are dormant in summer, taking root in autumn and winter and germinating new shoots but not unearthing, and after low winter temperatures, they begin to stretch and grow to form stems and leaves in mid-to-early February of the following year, and bloom in about March and April. Tulip means fraternity, thoughtfulness, elegance, wealth, ability, intelligence and kindness, and is known as the "Queen of World Flowers" and "Flower of Friendship", and has become a cultural symbol representing fashion and internationalization.

In the 20s of the 30th century, tulips were introduced in Lushan, Nanjing, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places in China. In the early 70s, the Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences introduced a batch of tulip bulbs from the Netherlands, and sent some of them to Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Beijing and other places for trial planting, but the number was small and no landscape was formed.

"So when did Beijing have tulips?" I asked.

"The earliest accurate account of the cultivation of tulips in Beijing comes from the "Zhongshan Park Chronicle": On October 1977, 10, Princess (later Queen) of the Netherlands Beatrix presented four boxes of tulip bulbs to Beijing Park, with 6 pictures, which were accepted by the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and transferred to Zhongshan Park. Since 4, it has been planted in the open field of the inner altar, a total of 39 furnished, 1978 head for visitors to see, after flowering, bulbs began to continue planting until 26. Because its flowers resemble wine cups, it was commonly known as golden cup flowers and golden cup flowers at that time, which opened the prelude to the exhibition of tulips in Zhongshan Park, and it was also the first appearance of tulips as a landscape in Beijing gardens. Years later, tulips were planted in many gardens in Beijing. Mr. Liu said.

The National Botanical Garden is also the first place in Beijing to plant tulips, and there were trial plantings in the 20s of the 70th century. In 1994, the 2004th Peach Blossom Festival was planted in the open field for the first time. In 120, it began to be planted on a large area, and since then it has become an annual tulip event, planting more than <> varieties and hundreds of thousands of plants, forming a spectacular scene of tulip flower fields.

Mr. Liu told me that when you come back here in mid-April, it will be a gorgeous sight. Tulips of red, yellow, pink, white, purple and other colors are intertwined, like a huge color palette, and like a huge splendid picture.