Study Of Ancient Chinese Chrysanthemum Culture

The thesis is about the development of the theme on Chrysanthemum and aesthetic cognition, and emphasis is in cultural aspect.This thesis consists of eight chapters is divided into two parts.The first,second,forth,fifth chapters are research of the production,development and meanings of chrysanthemum culture.The third,sixth,seventh,eighth chapters are cultural research of the different aspects of chrysanthemum image and cultural meanings.Chrysanthemum has a progressive course in the Chinese cultural history from utility value to esthetic value.As wild plant,chrysanthemum first entered the ancients view because of its utility value.It's utility value is embodied in three aspects:the relationship between living things and the seasons function,the medicinal function and the edible function.It's esthetic cognition has experienced three stages roughly:the Pre-Oin is the early period,represented by Qu Yuan,is embodied in the personality symbol function of chrysanthemum.Wei,Jin as well as Southern and Northern Dynasties,lays a foundation in the history of chrysanthemum esthetic cognition, represented by Tao Yuanming,has added the connotation of reclusion and characters of noble and virtue.Song Dynasty is the thriving period,embodied in two aspects:first,as a result of the personality request of Neo-Confucianism,showed the distinct realistic ethics tendency in the esthetic cognition:second,along with the appearance of the worships to Tao Yuanming, chrysanthemum became the important medium to interpret Tao Yuanming.Chrysanthemum is a mark in the history of Chinese ancient culture,which has profound symbolic meaning experienced from Ou Yuan,Tao Yuanming to the confucian in Song Dynasty.The symbolic characters of noble and virtue started from Qu Yuan,became fixed by Tao Yuanming,came to the extreme in Song Dynasty.In this progressive course,the contribution of Tao Yuanming is no doubt the hugest.His behavior of picking chrysanthemum had profound cultural significance,opened a brand-new inner world for the later generation writers.The spirital image of chrysanthemum besides fence is the core of Chinese chrysanthemum culture.But in Qing Dynasty, Pu Songling had dispeled and transformed the spirital image through his short story HuangYing,caused it to change from the connotation of reclusion and characters of noble and virtue to compatible townsfolk culture.Chrysanthemum image endows with strong folk customs colour,mainly presents in the close relationshiop with the Double Ninth Festival.Enjoying chrysanthemum,inserting it on the hair and drinking the chrysanthemum liquor are the most important activities in the Double Ninth Festival, which stem from the antiquity psychology of avoiding disaster and evil and desiring immortality.The activities in the Double Ninth Festival also promoted the prosperous creation of relevant poems,caused chrysanthemum to become the important image in poems related with the Double Ninth Festival.In the history of chanting chrysanthemum,there is a process from close appearance to close resemblance,demonstrating aesthetic pursuit,seeking wonderful shape of chrysanthemum in Tang Dynasty,while pursuing charm and writing the beauty of withered chrysanthemum in Song Dynasty.The horticulture of chrysanthemum has a long process.In the early time,chrysanthemum is wild.The cultivated Chrysanthemum started from Tao Yuanming,thriving in Song Dynasty when gardening technology was advance,the species were rich,the shape was diverse,and even appeared the first chrysanthemum spectrum.The chrysanthemum spectrums and gardening works were numerous in Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty.Chrysanthemum has close relationship with drawing.Chrysanthemum had already became drawing theme as early as in the late Tang Dynasty.After Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty,along with the prosperous of writer's drawing creation,chrysanthemum became important drawing theme of the four favorite plants along with Chinese plum,orchid and chrysanthemum,the so-called Four Men of Honor by the Chinese.Chrysanthemum is also important images of handicraft creation such as ikebana art,bonsai and so on.