1.11. Blossoming Virtues

When entering to Chinese parks and gardens, a visitor is immediately captured by their Oriental charms. In such parks everything slows down including time which seems to have become viscous sugar syrup. It is not easy to understand how much time you spent here – an hour or a century, and in fact it doesn’t matter because your only dream is to stay there forever, sitting in an open pavilion, admiring blossoming peaches, playing erhu (Chinese fiddle), sipping green tea from an almost transparent porcelain cup, envying lazy colorful fish swimming in a pond. Gardens in the Kingdom of Heaven are nothing of the kind we have in Europe, they are miniature and exquisite, meandering and significant, elegant and not fussy. It is hardly believable that all landscapes in such parks are not natural but manmade, created by famous gardeners getting inspiration from the eternal search – how to mirror human nature in stones’ shadows and paths’ curves. Every element of such garden got a mark of century-old culture and traditions.

China is paradise for aesthetes whose refined souls are so sensitive to beauty of things and events. The Kingdom of Heaven has a long tradition of admiring flowering plants, special festivals are held to enjoy beauty of blooming peonies, peaches and meihua plum. During the autumn’s Double Ninths Festival people gather in gardens and parks to admire beautiful chrysanthemums. The Chinese are very sensitive to plants’ beauty, they endow flowers and other plants with special virtues and are able to see the best human features in interlace of petals.

In great antiquity, however, people had a different, very pragmatic, attitude towards plants, researching and growing them in medical purposes. At that time the first catalogues of medicinal herbs, flowers and trees appeared. Famous scientist of the 16^th century Li Shizheng in his book described characteristics of 1,100 plants.

Later on the tradition of decorative plants growing appeared. The Chinese gardeners could always give an explanation why the best sorts of fruit trees or the most beautiful flowers grow in this or that particular area. They are sure that the main reason for that is abundant “energy of Heaven and Earth”. Well-known scientist of the 11^th century Ouyang Xu said that harmonious combination of vital energies gives birth to “ordinary” plants, and lack of any vital forces produces surprisingly beautiful or vice versa – ugly specimen. If it was Heaven that goes counter to natural order, freak of nature is born. If it is Earth that deviated from the natural order, something marvelous appears.

Among all noble trees the Chinese regarded the pine to be the best; it is symbol of straightforwardness and firmness. Gardener of the 17^th century Wen Zhenheng advised to plant the pine in front of a study’s windows placing a decorative stone among the roots and planting narcissuses, orchids and grasses around the tree. “Mountain pines are better to be planted in firm soil,” Wen Zhenheng affirmed, “Its bark is like the Dragon’s scales, the wind singing in its crown. Why leave the house for mountain peaks or for a sea shore?”

Another very popular plant is bamboo – resilient and coreless, embodiment of life-giving emptiness. The first book about bamboo appeared in China in the 5^th century, according to which, gardeners were able to tell the difference between 300 bamboo varieties.

Every Chinese garden has “plants of happiness” in it, namely plum and peach, and in almost every park willows incline. They are said to represent the vital yang principle. In the south of the country magnolias and banana trees are planted everywhere bestowing beneficial shadow during summer, while in winter mandarin trees give out an exquisite aroma.  

In all centuries connoisseurs regarded peony as the “king of flowers”, it was personification of pure yang. Loyang city in Henan Province is famous for its splendid peonies since the Middle Ages. Every year the city hosts the Peony Festival attended by flower-lovers from all over the world. As early as in the 12^th century, there were around 200 sorts of peonies known in China. “Dancing Lion Cub” peony with pastel colored petals, leaves resembling “jasper butterflies” and seeds like the “Golden Pavilion” was regarded as the best of them all.

 in principle of the flower garden was represented by chrysanthemum, the most beautiful autumn flower, symbol of tranquility and longevity as well as heartfelt purity of a noble person. Among chrysanthemums the ones with petals resembling “multicolored heron’s feathers” are the most admired.

Hydrangeas, roses, narcissuses, camellias, hyacinths, pomegranates and orchids are also widely grown in China. Many roses popular these days in Europe actually originated from China.  

Among aquatic flowers the most popular is lotus, the main flower of Buddhism. According to a legend, Buddha himself was born inside of a lotus. Of course, it is not without explanation: a lotus’ stems reaching out of dark water depth towards the Sun run symbolically through all levels of the Universe and personify irrepressible force of nature. Its beautiful and delicate flowers blossoming over water surface symbolize a pure soul.

Lotuses in Chinese parks are firstly grown in special water tanks and only then are transplanted into ponds taking into consideration particular features of a local landscape. There were special rules for aquatic flowers: lotuses were planted a little farther from a bank and nearer to a bank and to a bridge water-lilies were planted. It was widely believed that water-lily with its small leaves and flowers are better admired from the short distance.

Ornamental plants and flowers were not only feast for eyes but also imbued with deep philosophical implication. Trees and flowers in the Chinese garden are not only images of eternal beauty, they also attempt to snatch and capture a single moment and its mood. In one household management book published during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) it was written: “A flower is grown during a whole year but admired in just 10 days”.

Every Chinese garden has special corners to be visited in different seasons. “Winter” landscapes are composed of pines and frost-resisting plants and flowers; “spring” ones a riot of cherries, honeysuckle, almonds, early roses, violets and narcissuses. In “summer” corners of the garden, summer plants and broad-leaf trees such as oaks, ashes, beeches and platans are grown. In autumn season, people enjoyed sweet smell of mandarin trees and beauty of chrysanthemums.

Centuries ago special rules for admiring plants in the garden were formulated. According to these rules, it was widely believed that the winter flowers were better to be enjoyed after the first snowfall when the sky cleared up. It was recommended to enjoy them as one sat in a secluded house. Flowers of spring had to be contemplated in sunlight when one sat on a terrace of an imposing palace during a cool day. It was believed that summer flowers were in their best after the rain, in fresh breeze, in the shadow of a branchy tree, in a bamboo grove or on a bank of a water stream. Autumn flowers looked better in rays of sunset, in the gloaming, as one sat near front steps, on a mossy path or under twisted liana.

The most popular plants, both trees and flowers, were not only flora representatives, but also had many associations connected to them. For example, a pine evoked an image of sky-rocketing tree on a mountain slope and its mighty roots tearing up stony soil. Willow was associated with a water flow, bamboo – with a picture of lambent shadows during summer night, banana tree – with the sound of rain in dense foliage.

Flowers, like any other things for contemplation, were imagined by the Chinese in a proper company. Every noble flower had its companions among lower-ranked flowers that reflected hierarchy peculiar to the Chinese way of thinking. Dog-roses and roses were regarded as the best companions for majestic peony, for white peony they were poppy and althaea, plum was accompanied by camellia and magnolia, lotus by tuberose, chrysanthemum by begonia.  

There were direct parallels between flower kingdom and human’s moral qualities. Orchid symbolizes elegancy and modesty, bamboo – straightforwardness and firmness, chrysanthemum – nobility in harsh times, magnolia – feminine beauty, lotus – heart purity in a “world of dust and filth”; happy married couple is often described as “two lotus flowers on one stem”. Plum is regarded as symbol of longevity and happy marriage, persimmon – as joy of life and pomegranate as abundant posterity; it is widely believed in China that the more children in a family the happier it is. Poets regarded meihua plum, peony, lotus and chrysanthemum as “four noble beings”. Combination of plum with bamboo symbolized lasting friendship and together with a pine, three of them make the image of mutual devotion even in winter hard frost, and also the symbol of unity of the China’s three main teachings: that of Confucianism (pine), Buddhism (bamboo) and Taoism (plum). 

Book “Chinese Customs and Wisdoms” (translated into English by the author) was published in Beijing in 2007 by the Foreign Language Press