The Historical Evolution of Flower Festival

China is a country of flowers. It has a long history, which was first recorded in Tao Zhugong in the Spring and Autumn Period. As for the "flower god", it is said that it refers to Nu Wa, the female disciple of Mrs. Northern Wei. It is said that she is good at planting flowers, and is honored as the "Flower God" by later generations, and attached a flower festival as her festival.

The book "Local Conditions and Customs" written by Jin people at the beginning of Zhou Dynasty: "The custom in Zhejiang says that spring is in the middle and flowers are in full bloom. There is a saying in the world that flowers bloom in the morning and evening. " In the middle of the spring sequence is the fifteenth day of the second lunar month. There is a poem in "Flower Dynasty" by Emperor Liang Yuan of the Southern Song Dynasty: "Who can endure lovesickness and never meet each other?" Zhang saw a poem in "Flower Dynasty": "Three spring dawns, new rain blooms"; Fang Gan, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said: "There is fog among the flowers, and the lake is reflected on a snowy night." . Ancient poets wrote many songs about Flower Festival. Flower dynasty customs vary from place to place. The northeast is to set up a god position for the flower god and sacrifice with vegetarian food. Kaifeng is a folk butterfly-catching party, and the winner can get a grand prize. Zhai Cheng's Poems says: "February 12th is a butterfly-catching party".

In Luoyang, both dignitaries and ordinary people will visit Longmen Grottoes and other places at the Flower Festival to pick wild vegetables and taste fresh. Shangqiu people pay more attention to the relationship between astronomical phenomena and harvest, and use the sunny days of flowers to predict the harvest of wheat and fruits and vegetables all year round. In Suzhou, people will slaughter livestock in front of the Tiger Hill Flower Temple, offer sacrifices to the flower gods and wish them a birthday. On festivals, there are usually drinks, food and entertainment to add fun. In Beijing during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, flower farmers generally lived in Caoqiao and Fengtai areas south of You 'anmen. According to Dong Liu's "A Brief Introduction to the Imperial Capital" in the Ming Dynasty, "South Shili Bridge outside You 'anmen, with Shili as one side, is full of springs ... so flowers are appropriate, so people will spend their whole lives. Everyone sells flower poles, which cost thousands of dollars every morning. They are scattered in Doumen, which is beautiful in spring, while camellias, daffodils and spring. Peach, plum and spring, only begonia. Spring is old peony, peony and twin branches ... "Liu Jie Flower Market by Feng Xun in the early Qing Dynasty also said that" the flower farmers in Fengtai are gardeners.

On the 3rd, 13th and 23rd of every month, we will take flowers in the car and go to Huaishuxie Market. These descriptions record some situations of flower planting and flower business in Beijing in the old days. On the day of the Flower Festival, "ladies and gentlemen" in Beijing sang poems and went out to enjoy flowers in the famous gardens in the suburbs. It is said that the "Flower Banquet" in Qing Dynasty was the most exquisite. Eunuchs decorate peony flowers with red and yellow silk in the Summer Palace, and let all love and Xia Guang fly. Empress Dowager Cixi watched the comedy "Flower God's Birthday" and tasted snacks made of flowers. There is also a flower temple in Fengtai District, Beijing, which is located in the north of Jijiamiao Village in Fengtai Town. It is a place where flowers are sacrificed in spring, and it is also a meeting place for various flower associations in Fengtai District.

It is said that this flower bed was built in the Ming Dynasty. There is a plaque of "Ancient Flower Temple" above the temple gate. In the front hall of the temple, there are tablets of Kao Hua and various flower gods. Legend has it that Luoyang Peony and other twelve flower gods offended the Jade Emperor and were thrown into the mortal world. The flower gods came to the southern suburbs of Beijing and made Fengtai area full of all kinds of flowers. In order to thank the flower god for his gift to the world, flower shops in Kyoto raised funds to build this flower temple. Among flowers, peony and peony are known as the kings of flowers. Historically, peony in Beijing is also very famous, and the peony in Fengtai, Hu Axiang is the best in Beijing. There are dozens of excellent famous products such as "official brocade red", "pear blossom snow" and "white jade belt".

The Flower Festival was formed at the latest in the Tang Dynasty, because it is very common to record the Flower Dynasty in the poems and historical records of the Tang Dynasty, such as Si Kongtu's Mourning with the Guests, the Flower Dynasty is Sick (Early Spring) and Lu Lun's Void Smelling the Night, Cleaning the Rain Flower Dynasty (Inscription on the Upper Courtyard of Kisdiwan). There are also written records in the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty (AD 945) and the Legend of Luo Wei, which was written by the Jin Emperor two years after he left Jin. "Every time Wei spends every month, he is very affectionate with Binzuo House." According to folklore, Emperor Taizong personally presided over the "picking vegetables" in the imperial garden at the Flower Festival. During her reign (AD 690-705), Wu Zetian, who was fond of flowers, always asked the ladies-in-waiting to pick flowers, mash them with rice and steam them into flower cakes for ministers. At that time, people regarded the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month, the flower show on February 15th and the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th as equally important festivals.

The festival period of "Flower Festival" is different from February 15, 12 and 2 due to different time and region. For example, the book summary says: "February 15th is the Flower Festival in the Tang Dynasty." Wu in the Southern Song Dynasty also said in "Dreaming and Looking at February": "The fifteenth day of mid-spring is the flower festival, and Zhejiang customs believe that when spring is in full bloom, the tour is the most enjoyable." Wang Hao, a poet in A Qing, quoted Yang Wanli's poem about the walled city in Guangqunfangpu Tianshipu II: "Tokyo (now Kaifeng, Henan) held a flower party on February 12th, which was a butterfly-catching party." As for the record of taking the second day of February as the flower festival, it can also be found in the book Guang Fang Qun Pu, in which the second chapter of Shi Tian Pu quotes the Mohanji cloud: "Luoyang custom takes February as the flower festival. The scholars are playing, and it is also the' Picking Vegetables Festival'. " In addition, in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province and Guangshan, Henan Province, there are folk customs that February is the small flower festival and February 15th is the big flower festival. For example, the Records of Guangxu County in Qing Dynasty said, "On February 2nd, the popular cloud' Little Flower Dynasty' and on February 15th, the cloud' Big Flower Dynasty'."

"Hundred flowers are a good birthday season, and the flowers are not half spring. Colorful flowers are covered with brilliant flowers, and the flowers are decorated with gods. " Cai Yun's poem "Singing Flowers" is a portrayal of the custom of celebrating the birthday of flowers in the south of the Yangtze River in the past, but Wu described the flower show in more detail in "The King of February in Lu", so I won't repeat it here. At the Flower Festival, in addition to enjoying flowers, catching butterflies and picking vegetables, and the government going out to the suburbs to persuade farmers, in some parts of the old society, women also had the custom of cutting flowers and arranging flowers at the Flower Festival. During the Qianlong period, the scholar Hong also wrote the poem "No flowers today, no moon today" in the poem "Quarrying Taibai Building in Wangjiangkou to stop the morning breeze". For some reason, this traditional festival gradually disappeared. Flower Festival only exists in the life of Zhuang people in Ningming and Longzhou areas of China and Guangxi.