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A National Flower’s Symbolic Value During the Tang and Song Dynasties in China

The concept of a national flower was an important part of the culture and poetry of the imperial courts of the Tang and Song dynasties. Li Bai and other poets in the Tang period used the tree peony as an icon of the imperial concubine Yang Yuhuan’s beauty. Later Tang poetry, however, also includes undertones of disquiet, using this flower-image as a sign of unhappiness at the state of the country. With the advent of the Song dynasty, the poetic focus exalts the plum blossom, a very different kind of flower than the tree peony. I argue that this reflects the Song dynasty’s different mentality. Writers of this age emphasized refinement, rationality, and introspection. For example, Lin Bu felt wedded to his plum tree. Su Shi developed a theory of the plum blossom’s character. The shift in government from North to South may have also contributed to the shift. The tree peony suited the northern climate; the plum tree thrived in the South.