THE BOOK OF THE PEONY 



March, double cherry for April, magnolia for 

 May, pomegranate for June, lotus for July, pear 

 for August, mallow for September, chrysanthe- 

 mum for October, gardenia for November and 

 poppy for December. From the three flowers 

 for the months of each season, one was selected 

 as emblematical of the entire season — the tree 

 peony for Spring, the lotus for Summer, the 

 chrysanthemum for Autumn and the plum for 

 Winter. These four appear as the favouiite 

 flowers in all the different forms of Chinese art. 

 They are frequently used in ceramics, particularly 

 in the decoration of the four faces of a quad- 

 rangular vase or the four side panels of a bowl. 

 In the patterns of velvets, brocades and woven 

 silks they occur again and again. 



Phoenixes, pheasants and peacocks are often 

 depicted with the peony as are storks with the 

 pine, swallows with the willow and quail with 

 millet. It was considered appropriate that the 

 phoenix, the king of all the birds, should appear 

 with the peony, the king of all the flowers. This 

 combination was embroidered with exquisite skill 

 on articles of the trousseaux of the imperial 

 princesses. 



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