What is the origin of Xiaolan Chrysanthemum?

Xiaolan Town is located in the middle of the Pearl River Delta and is an important town in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province. Xiaolan has the reputation of "Cheng Ju". Chrysanthemum culture runs through the history of Xiaolan. At first, there were non-governmental organizations such as "Jushen" and "Juhui", and then it gradually evolved into a 10 annual "Huanghua Club". In the Qing Dynasty, Xu Jianian (18 14) and 10 chrysanthemum societies jointly held a large-scale chrysanthemum festival, and Xu Jianian, whose ancestors settled in Xiaolan, was regarded as a major event (that is, once every 60 years).

Xiaolan people are good at making pot chrysanthemums, and their skills are exquisite. In history, when chrysanthemums were in full bloom, families put all kinds of chrysanthemum arts together to compete, which was called "Chrysanthemum Trial" and later developed into Chrysanthemum Fair. The duration varies from a few days to more than ten days, and the activities mainly include chrysanthemum appreciation, chrysanthemum competition, chrysanthemum singing, chrysanthemum painting, chrysanthemum tasting, floating colors on the water, chrysanthemum play and so on. Xiaolan Chrysanthemum Festival, with flowers as media and chrysanthemums as friends, is exquisite in skills and large in scale, forming a unique folk traditional comprehensive flower festival.

First, Xiaolan's chrysanthemum art and the origin of chrysanthemum appreciation.

Xiaolan people love to grow chrysanthemums and have a long history. According to legend, in the ninth year of Xianchun in the Southern Song Dynasty, residents of Nanxiong Zhuji Lane moved south to pursue Hu Fei's departure. In the tenth year of Xianchun (1274 Jiaju), some refugees in Zhuji Lane fled to Xiaolan. Seeing that the land here is fertile and the climate is mild, Huang Ju is everywhere. They have settled here and established their own homes. Since then, Xiaolan people have formed an indissoluble bond with Chrysanthemum.

By the Ming Dynasty, the chrysanthemum art of Xiaolan had flourished, and the cultivation of chrysanthemum had become very common. According to the article "On the Landscape of Two Lanes" written by Nanjing Shangshu Li in the Ming Dynasty, there is a praise of "Plum Blossoms on the Twelve Bridges of Sanjiang and Six Roads in Wusong, and there are endless chrysanthemums in the poetry circle", which is enough to show that Xiaolan people at that time had a good artistic chrysanthemum. Every year when chrysanthemums are in full bloom, it has become a habit for three or five confidants to get together and drink and enjoy flowers.

During the reign of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, Xiaolan's artistic level of chrysanthemum was further improved, and a set of systematic experience was gained in the cultivation of chrysanthemum, such as modeling, coring, maintenance and management. According to historical records, new species were introduced from Shanghai and other places at this time, adding varieties and colors. Some gentry, businessmen and officials in the countryside laid down their posts, relaxed their ambitions and made great efforts to put pottery on the Wyer fence, and chrysanthemum art flourished from then on. Xiaolan at this time has been called "Little Chai Sang".

In the third year of the first year of Qing Qianlong, Xiaolan began the "Chrysanthemum Trial". "Villagers love chrysanthemums and are not afraid of the virtues of first frost. They appreciate their blooming flowers and elegant fragrance. In the first year of Qing Qianlong (1736), there was a chrysanthemum contest. According to "Xiangshan County Records", the chrysanthemum test is to gather the famous species planted by villagers and set up a reward grid for evaluation when chrysanthemums are in full bloom. During the sports meeting, a flower shed was built in front of the ancestral temple in the township, famous flowers were displayed, chrysanthemums were evaluated on the spot, chrysanthemums were sung, promoted and ranked, as if they were officials. The evaluation of chrysanthemum is based on "three noes", that is, no leaves, no branches and no knees; Taking "three branches and six tops" as a model, the art of Dali chrysanthemum branches was used for the first time. After inspection, yarn, satin towel, fan and other items were awarded respectively.

However, after five years of Qianlong, due to the loss of the famous chrysanthemum in Xiaolan, the chrysanthemum test was no longer held, and it was changed to "Chrysanthemum Meeting", that is, when chrysanthemums bloom every year, people form group associations with clans, temples or square societies as units to gather all kinds of good chrysanthemums in the society "to unite two or three confidants and pour down the fence for a word before they bloom". Regarding the Chrysanthemum Society, He Dazuo, a Qing Dynasty man, wrote in the book "Olive Fragments": "The people of the Chrysanthemum Society do not anticipate, and they get something for nothing. Unlike Ju Shen, they only gather gay friends, bring all the good things to the club, decorate the incense screen, face each other day and night, or drink wine to write poems, or play music evenly according to the music. " After the club broke up, someone wanted flowers as gifts and left with a boat full of flowers.

In the forty-seventh year of Qianlong, namely 1782, the scale of "Chrysanthemum Club" was expanded and renamed as "Huanghua Club", and the former Chrysanthemum Club was transformed into a small group for Chrysanthemum Club to participate in. At that time, every village in Lanxiang had furniture, and the chrysanthemum fields in each village not only put chrysanthemums, but also set up flower stands, flower houses and flower bridges, and also served as entertainment. There were more than ten sets of performances alone. At night, lanterns are decorated in colorful, staying up all night, and there are many tourists.

In the 19th year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty (18 14), Xiaolan held a large-scale chrysanthemum festival to commemorate the contribution of ancestors' settlement, and agreed to hold a chrysanthemum festival every Jiaqing year (that is, every 60 years). In the 13th year of Tongzhi (1874), 1934 and 1994, the Chrysanthemum Exhibition was held successively, and four Chrysanthemum Assemblies were held.

Second, the origin of Xiaolan "Cheng Ju"

Xiaolan is also known as "Jucheng". The name "Jucheng" is very famous all over the world. Many people know that it started with chrysanthemums, but few people know when it started. In fact, "Chrysanthemum City" was spread by a chrysanthemum exhibition in 1959.

1959 is the first chrysanthemum exhibition held by Xiaolan after the founding of the People's Republic of China. This Chrysanthemum Festival not only inherited the traditional chrysanthemum art, but also created a new modeling style. Xiaolan people used chrysanthemums for the first time to build a huge mural "Dove of Peace" with a width of 10 m and a height of 7 m, and made huge slogans and patterns with chrysanthemum art. At the same time, a large number of chrysanthemums, cliff chrysanthemums, tower chrysanthemums and varieties of chrysanthemums were exhibited. Although the exhibition lasted for seven days, the audience was nearly 300 thousand. Pearl River Film Studio also specially produced a documentary called "Chrysanthemum", and some newspapers and periodicals inside and outside the province reported the grand occasion of the Chrysanthemum Festival for several days, praising Xiaolan as "Chrysanthemum City". Since then, "Jucheng" has become increasingly prosperous.

Xiaolan is unique in chrysanthemum art, and it is 1994 that makes "Cheng Ju" famous at home and abroad. At that time, the exhibition area of the Chrysanthemum Fair reached 10 km, with more than 820,000 pots of chrysanthemums and 1568 varieties of chrysanthemums, including more than one giant chrysanthemum 1 13 pots per plant, which attracted more than 6 million visitors from 23 countries and regions.

Third, meaning.

Xiaolan people love to grow chrysanthemums, so they have the reputation of "Chrysanthemum City". Throughout the ages, there have been countless praises about "Chrysanthemum", leaving a valuable cultural heritage for this land rich in chrysanthemums. The traditional art of cultivating chrysanthemum by Xiaolan people has been passed down from generation to generation and has been continuously carried forward. Especially in the aspect of tying chrysanthemums, Xiaolan people have wonderful craftsmanship and constantly create new world records.

The "once in 60 years,/kloc-once in 0/0 years" Xiaolan Chrysanthemum Festival is even more amazing. Chrysanthemum will be characterized by "nature, humanity, flowers and chrysanthemum city", with chrysanthemum landscaping as the main feature, highlighting cultivation techniques. The beautiful scenery of chrysanthemums in different forms is a great event of chrysanthemum culture in Lingnan. After the reform and opening up, Xiaolan Town took advantage of chrysanthemum culture, held a medium-sized chrysanthemum meeting every three years, and held a chrysanthemum appreciation meeting every year, making the chrysanthemum exhibition the main carrier to show Xiaolan Town's mass culture and art.

Xiaolan Chrysanthemum Festival is the most concentrated embodiment of chrysanthemum culture in China, with strong mass participation, profound cultural connotation and high historical and cultural value. At the same time, chrysanthemum is deeply rooted in people's hearts because of its noble character. Chrysanthemum morifolium, which inherits chrysanthemum culture, will play an important role in cultivating temperament, improving people's cultural literacy, promoting foreign cultural exchanges and building a harmonious society.

Since the development of Xiaolan Chrysanthemum Club, the scale and most chrysanthemum arts have been passed down, but some famous chrysanthemum species have been lost, some traditional chrysanthemum arts have been replaced by modern decoration, and fewer and fewer chrysanthemum stunts have been passed down.