Flowers are the soul of nature and Chinese are flower-loving people. Among all flowers, the tree peony is their favorite. Since ancient times, the tree peony (Mudan) has been regarded as a symbol of wealth, fortune, luck, prosperity and happiness.

Tree peonies and Heze are so closely associated with each other that the "Heze Tree Peony" has become world famous. Long known as the "hometown" of the tree peony, Heze was formerly called Caozhou in ancient times. The famed Yellow River flows through Heze and the climate is moderate here with plenty of rain and fertile soil. The tree peony reaches perfection in Heze, gathering the spirits of the soil, rain, sunlight and moonlight, and returning buds and flowers that spill incomparable beauty and fragrance across the land.

The history of tree peony cultivation in Heze is long and can be traced back to the Sui Dynasty (581A.D-618A.D.). During the Sui Dynasty lived a famous flower grower named Qi Lu Huan who first introduced the tree peony into this land, rooting it here permanently. From its introduction in the Sui Dynasty, the Heze tree peony rose in importance and popularity during in the Tang Dynasty (618A.D.-907A.D.) and flourished in the Qing Dynasty(1636A.D.-1912A.D.). By the time of the Ming Dynasty (1368A.D.-1644 A.D.) and later the Qing Dynasty, the Caozhou Tree Peony had earned the reputation of being the very best in the world. Farmers devoted hectares to it just as they did to their food crops. Looking across the fields in bloom, the scene was wonderful as the colorful tree peonies connected the land to the sky.

Tree peony gardens are scattered all over the land. Many of them are very famous for their well-known breeds. At present, there are more than 20,000 mu (3400 acre) and over600 breeds of tree peony in Heze. The most famous gardens are Caozhou Mudan Yuan("Caozhou Tree Peony Garden"), Heze Bai Hua Yuan ("Heze Garden of a Hundred Flowers"),and Heze Gu Jin Yuan (Heze Garden of ancient and modern).

Historically, the royalty have most cherished the tree peonies’ flowers. And if the tree peony is the “Emperor of Flowers,” then the yellow tree peony named “Yao Huang” is the “Emperor of Emperors.” An incomparable variety esteemed for its rings having thousands of petals, Yao Huang has been praised as radiating a noble quality and having a grace likened to the momentum of dragons flying. It has been noted that Yao Huang produces very few blooms. Perhaps due to the fact that the blooms are the same yellow as the imperial yellow of the Emperor’s robe, or perhaps because scarce things are precious, people have desired and coveted it for their own gardens. There is a historical writing from the Bei Song Dynasty (960A.D.-1127A.D.) which translates: “When Yao Huang blooms, men and women in the city turn out in full strength to visit it. Peasants, old and young, crossed hundreds of miles in order to have a look at it.” Yao Huang is indeed the emperor of emperors.

The crown for the “Queen of Tree Peonies” must fall to the gorgeous and fragrant purple variety “Da Wei Zi”. In the years of “Zhen Guan” (627A.D.-650A.D.) during the Tang Dynasty, (618A.D.-907A.D.) the Emperor issued an edict that all officials above the third grade should wear purple uniforms.

The white variety “Yu Ban Bai” has enjoyed the title of “The First White Under Heaven” since ancient times. It has sparkling, crystal-clear flowers with tall and straight branches. Other well-known white varieties include “Xue Lian”, “Jing Yu”, “Bai Yu”, “Qing Xiang Bai” and “Kun Shan Ye Guang”. They each have their own different form and unique beauty. “Kun Shan Ye Guang” is most alluring for its shiny flowers that sparkle in the boundless dark of night when all other flowers disappear from view.

In ancient times, a person who scored highest in a national examination conducted by the emperor was designated “Zhuang Yuan,” or Number One Scholar. The emperor wanted to marry his daughter to a particular Number One Scholar, but he had returned to his hometown to look for his own sweetheart. To the scholar’s surprise, his parents already had chosen a wife for him who was nearly ten years older than him. Before his parents could force him to marry the woman, an edict came from the emperor demanding that he return to the capital to marry the princess. By the Confucian ethics of Chinese feudal society, he could neither disobey his parents’ order nor refuse the emperor’s edict. In a hopeless quandary, he dropped dead spitting blood. The following year, a tree peony grew out of his tomb whose flowers were as big as plates with the red color of the Zhuang Yuan Pao, the uniform worn by Number One Scholars. The name “Zhuang Yuan Hong” has stuck ever since.

“Qing Long Wo Mo Chi,"or “Green Dragon Lying in an Ink Pool” is a traditional black tree peony that is a symbol of dedication. During a year of terrible drought, most plants died from a lack of water. A little dragon risked his own life to steal water from the Yao Tai (a place where the supreme being lives) for the plants. To protect the dragon from punishment and to repay him for his kindness to her plants, a tree peony goddess flew with him into an Ink Pond and he was saved. But the peony goddess changed its color to black.

Another story concerning the origin of the black peony tells us that one day in the second year of the Tian Shou Years (690A.D.-692A.D.) during the Tang Dynasty (618A.D.-907A.D.), Queen Wu Ze Tian and Princess Tai Ping were drinking in the Imperial Flower Garden and admiring the snow when they were greeted by the fragrance of flowers. It was the aroma of wintersweet (Calycanthus), which was in bloom. Queen Wu Ze Tian rewarded the wintersweet but to her disappointment, she found only wintersweet, winter jasmine, narcissus and pelargoniums blooming in the garden. She wrote a poem and sent it to the god in charge of flowers, which read “Tomorrow I’ll visit the garden; let me know that spring has come. All flowers are to bloom tonight; don’t wait for the spring breeze to blow.” The next morning, hundreds of flowers bloomed and the garden was full of Springtime. But the tree peonies stubbornly disobeyed the order and refused to bloom. Queen Wu Ze Tian burst into rage and ordered them banished from Chang An, the capital at that time. Those tree peonies which refused to leave Chang An were burned to the ground. The following year, the burned peonies produced black flowers; the best of them is named “Hei Hua Kui”, which means the Champion of Black Flowers.

Peonies are beloved not only by the Chinese people, but also by peony growers worldwide. The flower was first introduced to Japan in the eighth century where it soon became a Japanese favorite renowned as the “Flower of Wealth”. The English obtained peonies in 1787 where its popularity has remained high. To this day there are direct descendants of these imported plants at the Royal Botanical Garden in Edinburgh. Peonies were also introduced at about the same time into Denmark, France and other European countries where the plants created a great sensation. In 1820, it was brought to America where it has been treasured and hybridized to a great extent.

Wherever the peony has traveled, its home is still China. We can say with confidence that China continues to play an important role in the development of peony breeding and cultivation worldwide.