Shi Xiangyun's "Twelve Chrysanthemums at Crab Banquet" understands flowers as a symbol of a daughter and one of the four gentlemen. Scholars have always had a special love for chrysanthemums since ancient times, because chrysanthemums symbolize that noble character and good integrity. For example, Tang Yuanming especially likes chrysanthemums. Moreover, in A Dream of Red Mansions, the girls in Baoyu's mind are also particularly beautiful, elegant and chaste, so it is very appropriate for him to use chrysanthemums to compare those girls in your mind, especially Baoyu once said in the play that his daughter is made of water, which makes her feel particularly relaxed. This shows that Baoyu is really impressed by these girls.

Why write a poem of twelve chrysanthemums? In the thirty-seventh chapter of A Dream of Red Mansions, Heng Wuyuan raised a topic of night chrysanthemums. Xiangyun read it once and said with a smile, "Ten is not enough. If you add up to twelve books, that's all, just like other people's picture books. " In ancient China, a brochure of calligraphy and painting required twelve pages to form a painting. Twelve is a number representing a complete unit, which also means perfection. There are 12 zodiac signs in our country, which can cover everyone. In A Dream of Red Mansions, Cao Xueqin has a special liking for the number "twelve". A Dream of Red Mansions, also known as Twelve Women in Jinling, shows the fate of the boudoir represented by Twelve Women in Jinling.