The Legend of How the Peony Became the Queen of Flowers

Dan Skorbach and Natasha Stevanovic, Contributing Writers

Did you know that the beautiful peony is the most celebrated flower in Eastern tradition? Her story of dignity has been cherished for thousands of years. Let's find out why.

Empress Wu Zetian lived long ago during the Tang Dynasty. One day, as she stared out on the dull winter landscape, she 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," they said. “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 out, in a fit of anger, she ordered all the peonies be burned to the ground.

The peonies 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 across Luoyang.

To this day, Luoyang is still known as the City of Peonies.

Because the brave peonies continued to follow the course of nature, even when faced with dire consequences, 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. The ancients called this “living in the Tao.”

To celebrate the importance of the peony in Chinese culture, Shen Yun Performing Arts choreographed the dance Flower Fairies, and performed it on their 2011 world tour.

Our Tang Flower jewelry collection was inspired by this heavenly dance and features the Queen of Flowers—the peony—as depicted on the dancers’ Flower Fairies costume.