A Textual Research On Renowned Peony Parks In Northern China Through The Past Dynasties

Tree peony(Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.), one of Chinese traditional flowers, originated in China and has been applied to classical Chinese garden designing. As the old Chinese saying goes, famous flowers are usually found in renowned gardens. In the past dynasties, a number of tree peony gardens being enormously famous at that time took place in many sites. These gardens witnessed their rise and fall, some of which even don’t exist any more. However, their names have been kept in the history, and people today still remember them. When we review the culture of tree peony and those classical tree peony gardens, we will find that it is of great meaning to inherit and develop the tree peony culture.In this paper, using a combination of reading and sorting references and field research, we systematically studied the tree peony gardens in which has gone through different dynasties in the past. It mainly contains 4 sections: the influences of tree peony cultivars on specialized gardens for tree peony, a textual research on the famous tree peony gardens built over different dynasties, a history of the tree peony gardens’ development and a investigation of their present situation. By conducting such studies, we sorted out how those famous gardens used to remain in the past, and how the history of tree peony cultivars contributed to garden construction. Further, we discussed developing the traditional tree peony culture that we have inherited from the past. The results were listed as follows:(1) Sui Dynasty was the first to have written records about the tree peony garden which was first introduced to the imperial palace. In Tang Dynasty temple gardens and private mansions brought in tree peony gardens. When it was Ming and Qing Dynasty, tree peony gardens were spread on a whole-country scale, which explained why today they can be found everywhere except some places with extreme environment conditions such like the Nanhai sea.(2) The famous tree peony gardens usually were built in the centre or original region of tree peony cultivars. Tree peony cultivars had much to do with tree peony garden construction as cultivar breeding boosted peony garden construction and the peony garden was where a lot of famous cultivars were cultivated. They supported each other, and had a strong collaboration with the rise and fall of the nation.(3) A continuously developing cultural history of the tree peony garden has turned it a carrier holding tree peony culture, not simply a specialized garden with tree peonies. At the beginning tree peonies were only for ornamental use. However, with a increasing sense of art appreciation, people tended to give tree peonies cultural meaning, which made great influence on tree peony garden construction. It suggested that the tree peony garden and tree peony culture supported each other.(4) With the development of the times, the tree peony garden, a cultural legacy of the ancient garden design, is still developing a more innovative garden figure and a higher level in landscape construction. Those famous gardens are more than a physical landscape view. They are a carrier for the history of the tree peony garden, with no limits to time and space. More importantly, they provide us with references and lay the background for modern tree peony garden construction.