Yángzhōu sháoyào pǔ 揚州芍藥譜
Treatise on the Herbaceous Peonies of Yángzhōu by 王觀 (Wáng Guàn, 撰)
About the work
A one-juàn mid-Northern-Sòng monograph on the sháoyào 芍藥 (herbaceous peony, Paeonia lactiflora) — the deciduous-rootstock cousin of the mǔdān (tree-peony) of KR3i0029. The Yángzhōu herbaceous peony was the principal Sòng centre of cultivation, parallel to Luòyáng’s tree-peony. By Wáng Guàn 王觀 zì Dásǒu 達叟 of Rúgāo, Jiāngdū xiàn magistrate during Xīníng (1068–1077). The Sòngshǐ Yìwénzhì records three Sòng sháoyào pǔ: Kǒng Wǔzhòng’s 孔武仲, Liú Bān’s 劉攽, and Wáng Guàn’s. Of these, only Wáng Guàn’s survives in full; Kǒng and Liú are lost except in citations preserved by Chén Jǐngyí’s 陳景沂 Quánfāng beìzǔ 全芳備祖 (Sòng anthology of plant-references). Wáng’s work is therefore the principal Sòng surviving source on the herbaceous peony.
Tiyao
The combined tíyào covering this work and KR3i0029 is in KR3i0029. The portion concerning Yángzhōu sháoyào pǔ (translated): We submit that the Yángzhōu sháoyào pǔ is in one juàn by Wáng Guàn of the Sòng. Guàn, zì Dásǒu, was a man of Rúgāo. During Xīníng he held jiāngshì láng guarding the Tàicháng cìshǐ chéng post zhī Yángzhōu Jiāngdū xiàn (in Yángzhōu, Jiāngdū county). While in office, he made the Yángzhōu fù and submitted it, receiving high imperial-favor; he was awarded a red-robe and silver-mark. His affairs are recorded in the Jiājìng Wéiyáng zhì*. Wāng Shìxián cut him into the* Shānjū zázhì titled as ” Jiāngdū rén (a man of Jiāngdū)” — this is mistaken. The Yángzhōu herbaceous-peony from the early Sòng was famed throughout the empire; together with the Luòyáng tree-peony it was prized in its time. The Sòngshǐ Yìwénzhì records three families’ treatises on it: Kǒng Wǔzhòng’s, Liú Bān’s, and this Wáng Guàn’s. But Wáng’s treatise was the last to come out and alone survives today. Kǒng’s and Liú’s the world no longer transmits; only Chén Jǐngyí’s Quánfāng beìzǔ records their summaries. To compare this to that: what it calls “the thirty-one varieties previously fixed by earlier authorities” is in fact based on Liú’s treatise; only Liú’s has the variety ” dùqún hóng ” (jealous-skirt red) which this treatise changes to ” dùéhuáng ” (jealous-goose yellow), and slightly rearranges the order. The new varieties added by this treatise beyond Liú are eight. The opening discussion which mentions “some say Tang Zhāng Hù, Dù Mù, Lú Tóng and the like resided in Yángzhōu for a long time and none of them said a word about the herbaceous peony — so it appears the flower-cultivation was not as flourishing in antiquity as today” — this is also language taken from Kǒng’s treatise preface, which Wáng adopts-and-paraphrases. As to Kǒng’s treatise which says thirty-three varieties were worth recording, the Jiājìng Wéiyáng zhì still preserves the original list, with some differences from this. Submitted Qiánlóng 46 month 3 (1781).
Abstract
The work is the foundational Chinese monograph on the herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora), the deciduous-rootstock species that flowers in late spring some weeks after the mǔdān. Yángzhōu — the great Sòng commercial city on the Chángjiāng delta — was the principal centre of pre-modern Chinese sháoyào cultivation, and Wáng Guàn’s work documents the cultivar-tradition of the Yángzhōu gardens in detail.
The work documents thirty-nine cultivars (the “thirty-one previously fixed” by Liú Bān, plus Wáng’s eight new ones), ranked by quality and each described by colour, petal-structure, fragrance, and origin-story. The principal varieties include Guānqún hóng 冠裙紅 (Crown-Skirt Red), Dúzhīhuáng 獨枝黃 (Single-Branch Yellow), Bǐngzǐ 餅子 (Cake-Form), Yùniǎnniú 玉碾鈕 (Jade-Twist Knob), Jīnlíng huáng 金陵黃 (Jīnlíng Yellow), among others.
The dating is set by the magistracy: Wáng Guàn held office at Jiāngdū during Xīníng (1068–1077); the work is probably from the later years of this office, c. 1073–1077, postdating Liú Bān’s lost treatise (which Wáng builds on).
The work is also a notable document of Sòng urban-economic history: it describes the Yángzhōu peony-economy, with named cultivators (the huāgōng 花工), seasonal pricing, the huāshì 花市 (flower market) at the city’s Xīngjiào sì gate, and the famous Sòng custom of headpiece-wearing (pèihuā 佩花) of fresh peonies by Yángzhōu officials and merchants during the spring season.
Translations and research
- Wáng Lìpíng 王利平. 2010. Sòng-dài huā-pǔ wén-xiàn yán-jiū 宋代花譜文獻研究. Shàng-hǎi gǔjí chū-bǎn-shè.
- Lǐ Xiǎo-bǎi 李曉柏. 2002. Sòng-dài Yáng-zhōu sháo-yào wén-huà yán-jiū 宋代揚州芍藥文化研究. Yáng-zhōu master’s thesis.
Other points of interest
The work — together with Ōuyáng Xiū’s KR3i0029 — defined the Sòng cultural pattern of pairing the Luòyáng mǔdān (tree-peony) and the Yángzhōu sháoyào (herbaceous peony) as the two great flower-cultures of the empire, the former associated with the conservative cultural-political establishment of the Northern capitals, the latter with the commercial-cultural creativity of the Yángtze-delta. The pairing was celebrated in countless Sòng poems and continues to define the modern Chinese flower-festival calendar.