Peony - A Celestial Beauty
The Luoyang Peony is China's traditional and well-known flower and enjoys the honor of "King of the Flower Kingdom" and "Luoyang Peony Ranking the First under Heaven". "The Queen of Flowers," "The First of Ten Thousand Flowers......These are some of the compliments paid to the peony by the local people who have made it their city flower. Because Luoyang is prolific in the production of peony, it is also known as "the city of peony". Praised as China's national flower, the peony has been carrying both Luoyang's and China's ancient glory throughout the years--the flower originated here and has grown here for over 1,500 years. In the domain of peonies, Luoyang is a sign corresponding to what Jerusalem and Mekka mean to Muslim or the place which Jinggang Mountain(Jinggang Mountain. Jinggang Mountain is pivotal in the history of the People's Republic as the bastion for the Chinese Communists in the 1920s)? and the city Yan an ( the center of Chinese communist life) assume to Chinese Communism.

Luoyang soil is the best for flowers, and its peonies are the wonder of the world.

Ouyang Xiu (a successful statesman, historian and essayist as well as a poet of ancient China who wrote both poems and verses, 1007-1072). Many a "ists" crowning extolments and sayings that seem to conjure sensational-like imagery and legendary rave for just one plant tends to arouse doubts and suspicion: are these just flatteries only adding interest to an otherwise bland paper or have been proved faithful to what people once landed in the city and bumpped into some peonies in blossom really saw with their eyes and felt by their heart One way or another the answers can always give you a warm glow: A trip to Luoyang in late spring or early summer is just like setting up a journey of dream where an ocean of dancing peonies in full blossom in a blaze of colour feasting your eyes with heaven-like fragrance gets you exhilarated even intoxicated, sending everything else including yourself, into oblivion.

Perhaps the best place to begin the story of peonies is in Luoyang, China. Depending upon the source of information, Peonies were in cultivation in China 1,400 to 4,000 years ago. I will go with the 4,000 years ago figure because of the beauty of the plant and that figure sounds much more dramatic. In all probability the plant was appreciated long before someone decided to make a written record of its existence. Peonies were known in China as far back as perhaps 1000 BC. It was not however until the seventh century, during the reign of the Emperor Yang (605-617) of the Sui dynasty, that peonies were thought to have been grown as ornamental plants. During the Tang dynasty that followed (618-906) peonies supposedly became very popular in the imperial gardens and they were put under imperial protection. The best varieties commanded huge prices and peonies were often part of a dowry settlement. During the Sung dynasty, which began at the end of the tenth century, peonies had spread throughout China and the Sung capital of Louyang became a centre for peony culture. As new dynasties began and emperors moved their courts, peonies were also moved, adding to the widespread cultivation of peonies throughout China.

Today Luoyang is still recognized as a centre for peony culture. Each spring Henan Province's city of Luoyang-the capital of nine Chinese dynasties in central China-holds a 10-day peony festival and trade show (April 15-25). Varieties of peonies from overseas are displayed besides the some 600 varieties of peonies developed in Luoyang itself.

Peony symbolizes Luoyang which to large degree analogizes the close relation between Tulip and Holland the latter is a place where tulip gained a major popularity as a trading product; also rose to England (rose is the national flower of England). But wait a second, considering that both Holland and England are states of political bodies while Luoyang, a humble city, the capital of nine dynasties starting from around 770 B.C., one of the most important places of origin of Chinese civilization, has led in the cultivation of peonies since the Tang Dynasty.