The place where gardeners usually buy flowers is called "flower market". Walls Street can be said to be about 2000 meters from Chongwenmenwai Street to Baishiqiao Street in the south of Dongbianmen. In the Yuan Dynasty, this area was full of beautiful aquatic plants and scenery, and in the Ming Dynasty, Huashi Street was formed. Its original name was Huang Mu Factory Street or Shenmu Factory Street, which was named after the royal timber used to build the Forbidden City was stored in the east of Fangxiang in the early Ming Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Huaershi Street. Later, in the Republic of China, the place name was changed to "Huashi Street", but it often sounded like "Huashi Street" because old Beijingers all spoke in children's voices.
There are no flowers in Huashi Street, mainly Huangjiadian Hutong, Xikou Road, Xihua City. Through the narrow path, you can see a square, where flowers brought by flower farmers from Hu Axiang will be sold. The atmosphere of selling flowers here infects the surrounding residents, who also like to plant all kinds of flowers and plants and often put them by the door for people to enjoy.
Huashi Street is the busiest in the market, and young people often come to buy some favorite flowers for the elderly at home. There is a rule and etiquette in old Beijing, that is, young people go home to visit their parents. In addition to carrying snack boxes in their hands, there are usually potted flowers. At that time, every family would raise some flowers, whether it was a quiet deep house compound or a large courtyard that lived in groups. Pomegranate and asparagus will be planted in the yard where conditions permit, and roses, jasmine and gardenia will be raised in the cramped place. People who not only pay attention to the variety and color of flowers, but also pay attention to the size, style and material of flowerpots. In a simple family, used or redundant flowerpots are often reluctant to throw away, just piled under the wall outside the door. This kind of scene is very common in old Beijing buildings.
Old Beijingers not only like to grow their own flowers, but also enjoy them everywhere. From the court nobles to the common people, they all have a hobby of enjoying flowers. People in the palace can enjoy flowers in the imperial garden, where potted flowers are piled up and the scenery is beautiful step by step. Emperor Qianlong in history was a flower lover. It is said that the Jiangxue Pavilion in the southeast corner of the Imperial Garden was named by Emperor Qianlong. At that time, Emperor Qianlong often went to Jiang Xuexuan to admire flowers and recite poems and do elegant things. At that time, there were five begonia trees in front of the porch. Every time the petals fell, they were like red snowflakes flying all over the sky. When Qianlong saw this scene, he happily wrote a poem: a century-old crimson snow garden, five forbidden gardens, and named it "crimson snow garden" It is said that the imperial garden can enjoy flowers not only in spring, but also in winter. This is because Cixi likes flowers and often gives flowers a problem. She wants to see Chinese rose flowers in winter. In order to satisfy Cixi's wish, the flower farmers in Hu Axiang, south Beijing, invented the greenhouse to ensure that there are flowers in all seasons. At that time, there was a glass flower bed in front of the porch, which was planted with extremely rare Taiping flowers. It was ordered by the Western Empress Dowager to move here from Henan to plant in the late Qing Dynasty.
Although the scenery of the imperial garden is beautiful, ordinary people can't get close to it. There are no street trees in old Beijing, and there are no flowers on the street. In spring, flowers bloom not only in the royal gardens, but also in temples and quadrangles. There used to be a jingle in old Beijing: Peony in Xiaochong Temple, Begonia in Huasi Temple, Peony in Tianning Temple and Lilac in Fayuan Temple. Every spring, ordinary people go to these four ancient temples to enjoy flowers.
Let's talk about Bug Temple first. This temple is a famous temple in Tang Dynasty, located in Xiaochong Hutong. In the early Qing dynasty, it was famous for jujube flowers, and later it was famous for lilacs. Later, peony flowers moved from Cao Zhou, especially the famous green ink peony in Beijing.
In addition, the origin of the Flower Temple is a historical misunderstanding. Zhou Lianggong, a poet in the early Qing Dynasty, first mentioned "flower beds". There is a poem "Crossing Dongguan, Wu and Liu Er talk about flower beds with wine, which is the scene of Sakyamuni and is in Chu with Fan Fu". Dongguan mentioned in the poem is not Dongguan in the Pearl River Delta today, but yinan county in the upper reaches of yi river today, and the flower beds are in yinan county. Why are there rumors about flower beds in Beijing? This has a lot to do with Luo Pin, one of the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou. Luo Pin is a famous painter of Gan family, with two peaks. When he was selling paintings in Beijing, he lived in Sanguan Temple outside You 'anmen. Luo Pin claimed to have become a monk in a flower bed in his previous life, so he called himself a "flower bed monk". His good friend Zeng Gui funded the restoration of the Sanguan Temple and wrote a plaque for his book "Flower Bed", hence the name "Flower Bed" in Beijing.
The most famous flower beds are begonia and peony. It is said that the earliest person who planted begonia here was Gao Dong, the minister of Jiaqing period. The magnificent scenery of the flower beds described in Volume 9 of Zhenjun's "Occasionally Smell of Heaven" can make people salivate: the poems of Mr. Gu Bin are hung on the wall, and the flowers and trees are sparse, which is of great significance. There are flower fields in the south of the temple, the lotus of entering the city in the morning, the sound of selling flowers, and spring sex. Most of them take this place as a place to raise their roots, especially peony. Ten dollars can be spent, a few long bottles are short, and spring scenery is like the sea. It is almost said that Haitang wins in the temple, Huatian wins outside the temple, especially peony wins. Zhou Shouchang's "Looking at Begonia in the Flower Hall" is a famous article describing the begonia in the temple: the flowering hall begonia tree, the old Buddha sat and watched for 300 years. If you dance, you bow down to the pavilion, and the swallows are red and purple. Occasionally, because the light rain broke the silence of spring, I put the east wind into the wine. Eyes full of wheatgrass, I feel Zen, but I listen to Sheng Qing's throat.
From the middle and late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, flower beds became a gathering place for literati singing, and gradually declined in the middle and late Republic of China, and now they are gone. In the winter of the Republic of China 14, Modern Review magazine published Ling Shuhua's novel "Flower Bed", which described the scene of flower bed decline: a brick courtyard, where the cracks in the bricks were covered with messy grass, many tiles on the top of the sutra depository on both sides of the main hall had been torn off, and the ashes on the red wall had fallen off in pieces. There are no people in the yard, and there are no flower trees. Only one plant at the foot of the wall was cut down, leaving only a small stem. It made two or three long branches, sticking out of the wall and opening a few pink flowers in the sunshine. Nowadays, people can't help feeling sad when they see these words.
Tianning Temple is different from Huasi Temple, and the temple is well preserved so far. Located in the north of Guang 'anmen, it was originally named Guang Lin Temple when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty was founded. Since the late Ming Dynasty, Tianning Temple has gradually become a good place to enjoy flowers in Beijing. In the Qing Dynasty, there were flower beds in the temple, including peony osmanthus and lotus chrysanthemum.
Unfortunately, the peony in Xiaochong Temple, the begonia in Huahui Temple and the peony in Tianning Temple can no longer be chased, and only the lilacs in Fayuan Temple can be appreciated. Fayuan Temple is located on the east side of the south section of Xuanwu Gate Foreign Teacher Hutong, which was built in the Tang Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, the famous Fayuan Temple in Yong Zhengdi was the oldest existing ancient temple in Beijing. After Kang and Gan in Qing Dynasty, Fayuan Temple was famous for its lush flowers and trees. Qianlong once planted two Xifu begonia trees here, when begonia was the most prosperous. After Tongzhi and Guangxu, the capital was dominated by lilacs until 1949. There are lilacs in the backyard of the vestibule in the temple, which is called "Xiangxuehai", hence the name of Fayuan Temple "Xiangsha". Even in April and May when flowers are in full bloom, lavender and light blue mist in the courtyard create a quiet and fragrant atmosphere, which vividly embodies the famous sentence "Flowers bloom in the branches, which leads to Buddhism's seclusion". The lilacs in Fayuan Temple, together with the peony in Xiaochong Temple and the begonia in Gongwangfu, were once called the three major flowers in Gyeonggi, and they are the favorite places of Beijing people. Famous people such as Lin Zexu, Ji Xiaolan and Gong Zizhen have left footprints and poems here in history. Even the Indian poet Tagore, accompanied by Xu Zhimo, went to Fayuan Temple to enjoy lilacs.
Nowadays, Fayuan Temple still retains several precious lilac trees, besides lilacs and white lilacs, there are lilacs produced in Maluku, Nanyang. Their flowers are four petals, and the lace is dark when they are in full bloom, which is really rare. If tourists are in it, sipping tea and smelling flowers, and listening to the melodious sound of Sanskrit faintly heard in the distance, they feel that the ancient temple is far away and profound.
In addition to the above four temples, there are other temples in old Beijing that can enjoy flowers, such as Xueyuan Temple, Tanzhe Temple and Summer Palace. Magnolia in the Academy has existed since the Ming Dynasty, ranking first in Beijing in history. Magnolia in Tanzhe Temple is a two-color plant, known as "Er Qiao", which also makes people daydream.
When it comes to flowers in old Beijing, it is inevitable to mention the flower temple left by old Beijing. The flower god is the flower god, and the earliest record appeared in Tianbao period of Tang Dynasty. It is said that there is a fairy peony playing among the flowers. The most famous flower beds in Beijing are Xihua Temple and Donghua Temple in Hu Axiang Town, Fengtai District. Xihua Temple, also known as West Temple, was built in Wanli period of Ming Dynasty. It is a place where flower farmers worship the flower gods, and it is also a meeting place and hall of Fengtai Flower Industry Association. Donghua Temple, commonly known as East Temple, was also built in the Ming Dynasty, where flower farmers prayed for a bumper harvest.
In addition to the above, the flower beds in old Beijing also include Tzu Chi Temple on the Weiming Lake in Peking University, which was built during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and burned by the British and French allied forces in 1860. There is no Flower Temple now. The Hua Xian Temple on the top of Qiu Jin Pier in Taoranting Park was built in the thirty-fourth year of Qing Emperor Kangxi. There is also a flower temple in the Summer Palace, which is located on the north side of Suzhou Street and on the east side of Miaojue Temple. It is the only well-preserved temple in Beijing dedicated to the god of flowers. This temple was built in the 14th year of Guangxu. /kloc-0 was destroyed by Eight-Nation Alliance in 900, and/kloc-0 was rebuilt in 990.
Talking about the above, recalling the flowers and related cultural relics in Beijing is to make people cherish and appreciate the fleeting beauty. Happily, Beijingers are very interested in flowers and plants, and the places where they can enjoy flowers are all over Beijing, not just royal gardens, temples or some gardens in the Forbidden City. Nowadays, it is a very happy thing that people can smell the flowers when they leave home.