The Story of the Peony

Peonies are my favourite flowers. And although there are approximately forty unique species of the plant, I love the pinkish ones the most. The stunning flowers has a short growing season, but they make up for their short life cycle through their hearty fragrance.

Every springtime I'm looking forward to this light floral scent of a peony blossom. It's so sweet and fresh that different tales believed nymphs and fairies hid their naked bodies by turning into a peony flower.

There is no doubt that peonies always inspired writers and storytellers.

Even two Greek myths describe the meaning of the peony. They are as different as night and day, but both stories are entertaining. Both indicate that the peony received its name from Greek mythology.

In the first story, Paeon was the physician to the gods. He made his teacher mad when he took the liquid of a plant to cure Pluto. The teacher, Asclepius, was jealous of Paeon because he was the god of healing. When Zeus heard Asclepius’ plan to kill Paeon, he turned the physician into a flower he called a peony.

The other Greek myth is about a nymph named Paeonia. She was so extraordinarily stunning that she won the interest of Apollo, the son of Zeus. Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, grew jealous of Paeonia and turned her into the peony flower.

Gorgeous peanies are the most celebrated flowers in Eastern tradition too.

One of the Chinese legends tells the story how they became the Queen of Flowers. 

One day Empress Wu Zetian, while staring out on the dull winter landscape, felt disappointed by the lack of flowers in her garden.

So the Empress issued an imperial decree: “All the flowers in the royal garden must bloom in the middle of winter!”

When the flower fairies heard this, they flew into a panic. “We should follow the course of nature and only bloom in the spring. How can we go against nature?”

But none of them dared disobey Empress Wu Zetian, who was known to be ruthless. And by the next day, even though it was snowing heavily, the imperial garden was in full bloom.

Delighted, the Empress walked through the garden, admiring her control over nature. But something was amiss. Not all the flowers were in bloom.

Out of all the flowers in the royal garden, only the peonies refused to go against the course of nature and bloom in winter.

Enraged, the Empress banished the peonies from the capital city to the city of Luoyang.

That spring, the peonies bloomed beautifully in Luoyang.

When the Empress found it out, she ordered all the peonies be burned to the ground.

The flowers struggled to survive in the red fire. Although their branches blackened, the flowers seemed even more dazzling in the glowing flames. Yet soon they were all destroyed.

But to everyone’s surprise, the next spring all the peonies grew back and bloomed once again.

Because the brave peonies continued to follow the course of nature, even when faced the anger of the Empress, the flower fairies declared the peony the Queen of Flowers.

The peony thus became the most celebrated flower in the Eastern tradition. It symbolizes staying strong and righteous in the face of great hardship, and taking the “right way” even if it’s not the easiest way.

P.S. You can get more information about these extremely beautiful flowers here:

https://www.mypeonysociety.com/stories/