China's National Flower
As an ancient civilization with a history of 5,000 years, the selection of China's national flower has always stirred the emotions of its people. From the Forbidden City's Imperial Garden to modern urban greenways, the candidate flowers that carry the memory of national culture are undergoing a new evaluation.
A Century of Evolution in the National Flower
The Glorious Memory of Royal Peonies
Historical documents from the Qing Dynasty record that Empress Dowager Cixi once issued an edict designating peonies as the national flower, which is evidenced by the existing site of the National Flower Terrace in the Summer Palace. The peony, with its magnificent scenery of 'flowers in full bloom that shake the capital,' has become a cultural symbol of 'only peonies have the true color of a nation.'
The Modern Transformation of the Cold梅花
In 1930, the Republic of China (ROC) officially designated plum blossoms as the national flower, whose characteristic of 'blooming alone in the cold' matched the spirit of the era of saving the nation. The plum blossom hill in Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing still preserves rare plum stakes from the ROC era, witnessing this special history.
Analysis of Contemporary Candidate Proposals
Proposal for Dual National Flowers
During the Two Sessions in 2005, 62 deputies to the NPC jointly suggested adopting a system of 'peony and plum blossom as dual national flowers,' with peonies symbolizing material civilization and plum blossoms representing spiritual civilization. This proposal received a 45% support rate from netizens.
Cultural Proposal of the Four Gentlemen
The academic circles proposed a combination of plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum, materializing the culture of gentlemen. Among them, orchids have an appearance rate of 78% in diplomatic occasions, and the frequency of the Four Gentlemen in Confucius Institute textbooks exceeds 2,000 times per one million words.
The Civilizational Code Behind Famous Flowers
The selection of the national flower is not just a choice of plants but also a visible expression of cultural genes. The flourishing Tang Dynasty represented by peonies and the literary elegance symbolized by plum blossoms together form the double helix structure of Chinese civilization. With the advancement of ecological civilization construction, this century-long debate over the national flower will ultimately find an answer in the integration of tradition and modernity.