The formal writing of the Chinese Tree Peony started after the tree peony Mudan - was chosen as the national flower of the People's Republic of China. It is the culmination, however, of many years' work in tree peony production and research in China. The writing of this book has three main aims:
First, to express our thanks to people all over China for their love of the tree peony. Throughout 1994, a year of well-planned and organized activities was mounted to encourage people's interest in flowers and plants and to further understanding of the flora of China. This included a nationwide poll to decide on the national flower of the country, and the results demonstrate once again the Chinese people's longstanding love of the peony - it won the vote in 29 out of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.
This love of tree peonies in China is firmly rooted in history. As early as the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD), which was a period of national strength, a prosperous economy and a flourishing culture, Mudan was honoured with the titles "National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance" and "The King of Flower". The peony was in fact given the status of national flower in Tang, and also in the literature of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Contemporary dictionaries of Chinese list the peony as the national flower, and it also emerged as the favourite in the "Selection of Ten Nationwide Famous Flowers" competition run by the journal Popular Flowers. All these facts are convincing confirmation of the Chinese people's love, both past and present, for the peony.
As the national flower, the peony symbolizes love of peace, pursuit of happiness, and the fight against despotic power. It can be taken to represent the nation's strengths and recent development since the introduction of the Open Door Policy. Our first aim with this book is to satisfy people's thirst for knowledge and understanding of the peony and its cultivation.
The second aim is to take stock of what we have. According to authoritative sources, both Chinese and foreign, there are about 35 peony species in Paeonia in the world. Within the genus Paeonia, the current literature lists five or six ancestral wild species of Mudan or tree peonies, all native to China. Botanists, taxonomists and horticulturists have been carrying out research into Mudan for the past 100 years. However, in the last ten years significant new findings have emerged, and it is high time to make additions and corrections to the existing literature. For example, there are new discoveries of wild Mudan species, bringing the number from five or six species to the present eight species and two sub-species. Their areas of distribution, environment, botanical forms, morphology, cytology and palynology have also been studied. China probably also has the largest number of horticultural cultivars of Mudan in the world. Research into their origins and classification has produced striking results, and the selection, cultivation and reproduction of new cultivars has undergone continuous development.
Our third aim is to produce a comprehensive and authoritative new record, in which new achievements and recent research have been added to earlier knowledge. We believe that only in this way can the overall perspective and the high level of Chinese research work on Mudan be accurately conveyed.
Mudan is amongst the earliest plants in tile world to nave been used in horticulture. In China, specialized books and records of Mudan feature among the earliest plant books. In the 800 years from 986AD, when Zhong Shu wrote the first florilegium of tree peonies in the world, to 1809, when Ji Nan finished his, about fourteen Mudan books and florilegia were published, outnumbering those on other well-known Chinese plants, in addition to general books containing sections on Mudan. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, especially during the 1980s, local books and florilegia on Mudan were produced in Haze, Luoyang, Linxia, Tongling and other cities where peony research and production have prospered. Although some of these publications describe peony work in general, or make an in-depth study of some aspect of peonies, not one of them covers both Chinese peony history, resources, production and research, and also the scientific classification, sorting, registration and description. We, as a group of Chinese researchers, have therefore written this book to present Chinese tree peonies as a significant flower and plant as we move into the 21st century, and to commemorate the hard work and research carried out for many generations by our forefathers.
This book gives a systematic description of both wild ancestral species and many horticultural cultivars of Chinese Mudan with their resources, distribution, classification, ecological and biological characteristics, reproduction and cultivation, and application. In this volume, 400 typical cultivars of the Central Plains Group are recorded according to recognised principles and methods, with concise accurate descriptions and photographs.
This book was written co-operatively by contributors from Haze, Luoyang and Beijing - researchers with a solid theoretical base, and producers with rich practical experience - under the guidance of the Mudan and Shaoyao (tree peony and herbaceous peony) Branch of the China Flower Society. To determine the morphological characteristics, habit and origin of each cultivar, all the writers went together to the field for observation, recording and careful checking, and consulted experienced local workers and horticulturists. During this investigation, the same cultivars with different names or different cultivars with the same name were sorted out, and some cultivars of no value were eliminated. Accuracy of representation and a systematic approach were pursued in the recording of the cultivars, and it is hoped that this book will be used as a standard and base for future determination, checking and recording of Mudan cultivars. During each stage, of individual writing, joint discussion and final revision, every effort has been made to maintain the highest standards. However, the writers are aware that there is scope for further research and experience, and are open to comments and suggestions.
The authors of the first half of the book are: Section 1 - Li Jiajue and Li Qingdao, Section 2 - Qin Kuijie Section 3 - Qin Kuijie and Li Jiajue; Sections 4, 5 and 9 - Wang Lianying and Ran Dongya; Section 6 - Zhang Yuexian, Zhao Xiaoqing, Zhang Shuling, Lei Zengpu and Ran Dongya; Section 7 - Liu Xiang and Qin Kuijie; Section 8 - Li Qingdao and Zhang Yuexian; Section 10 - Cheng Fangyun. The cultivar descriptions in the second half are written by Zhao Xiaozhi, Zhao Xiaoqing, Li Qingdao and Liu Zheng'an.
The book was completed within the impressively short period of one year, thanks to the great efforts of all the writers, and the active support of provincial governments, directors and staff of peony nurseries and research institutes in Luoyang and Heze. The academician Dr. Wang Juyuan (our landscape predecessor) and Professor Yu Heng gave us enthusiastic encouragement and help and wrote the Preface - we give them our deep earnest thanks.
