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Fruits and Flowers for the Chinese New Year

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Fruits and Flowers for the Chinese New Year Mandarin Orange Year’s gifts for one’s friends. Mandarin oranges are type of resistance to the elements is admired by (Gut, Citrus reticulata) used as a “return” gift when one is given a New the Chinese. As a result, this motif reigns foremost FRUITS AND Year present. among the botanical motifs of China. Piles of oranges and mandarin oranges with leaves As individual plants, the rugged pine is a symbol attached go on sale in the weeks before the New Pomelo of nobility and venerability. As a longevity symbol, FLOWERS Year in San Francisco. Both oranges and manda- (You, Citrus grandis) the pine is often shown with the crane. The bamboo rin oranges are round golden fruits surrounded by with its straight exterior and hollow culm symbol- FOR THE emerald leaves. Their shape and color symbolize The green pomelo, which becomes yellow when izes humility and fidelity. It has integrity for it bends the sun and connect with the yang principle, which ripe, is a common sight in the shops of Chinatown in the storm but does not break. The plant is closely CHINESE represents the positive element and generative before the new year. It associated with the everyday life of the Chinese force in nature. Thus oranges are considered aus- is a delicious fruit, and because so many household objects are made picious fruits and important symbols for the New the rind can be used in of bamboo. Su Dongpo, the famous poet of the NEW YEAR Song dynasty, remarked Year. Chinese cooking. The by Terese Tse Bartholomew Flower markets offer potted plants full of these Chinese believe it is that he would rather go lovely golden fruits, ideal for indoor decoration. important to have at least without meat than to These fruiting shrubs one pomelo in the house live without the bam- represent the Cantonese for decoration, or better boo. Foremost among terms gut shue hoi fa and still, to have a pair, since the flowers, the plum is gut shue kit gwo, mean- good things always come emblematic of persever- ing “flowering of the in pairs. In Cantonese, ance and purity. The five lucky tree” and “the lucky you is similar in sound to petals of its flower make tree bearing fruits.” the phrase “to have.” To it an auspicious plant The name of the fruit use a pomelo to decorate because five is a sacred is gut in Cantonese, and one’s home during the number in China. In this instance the five pet- therefore it symbolizes new year implies a wish that the home will have als represent the Five Blessings: old age, wealth, good fortune (dai gut). It everything it needs the coming year. health, love of virtue, and a natural death. is an important item for All three plants, together or individually, are a the household. At the Three Friends of Winter—Pine, source of inspiration for the Chinese, and are rep- New Year a pair of man- Bamboo and Plum resented in every field of Chinese art. darin oranges, together (Suihan Sanyou, Song, Zhu, Mei) with red envelopes of money, is placed next to the pillow of every child The pine (Pinus sp.), bamboo, and plum (Prunus in the family. This stands for dai gut lai see, “good mume, also known as Japanese Apricot) have fortune and good business.” The same items are been known since the Song dynasty (960–1279) placed on top of the chuen hop, the circular box as the “Three Friends of Winter.” In the cold sea- containing New Year’s preserves and candies, as son when most plants are dormant, the bamboo well as above the family rice container, to bring and pine remain green, and the plum is the first to good fortune for the home. Dishes of oranges are bloom. These three plants are models of fortitude also placed in front of altars and on top of New and uprightness in adverse conditions, and this Asian Art Museum 200 Larkin Street Chong-Moon Lee Center San Francisco, CA 94102 for Asian Art & Culture 415.581.3500 Crab’s Claw Narcissus Quince Peach blossom important and beloved flower of the Chinese New Pussy Willow (Tiegeng Haitang, Chaenomeles lagenaria) (Taohua, Prunus persica) Year. Narcissus has a pleasant fragrance. The yel- (Yin liu, Salix sp.) low cup resting on white petals gives it another ele- Although native to China, this plant is also culti- The peach tree with its pink blossoms is a standard gant name, jinzhan yintai, or Gold Cup on a Silver Since the Chinese like vated in Japan and is known as Japanese quince. decoration for the New Year. Considered sacred Stand. This flower came originally from Europe, but numerous blossoms Its branches are thorny and bear showy blossoms in China, the wood of the peach tree was used was already known in the Tang dynasty. Legend on a branch, the many that range from scarlet to as a charm (taofu) against evil in ancient times. has it that Emperor Minghuang (712–756 ce) pre- buds of the willow make pink or white. The flow- Numerous peach trees are sold annually during the sented twelve pots of it a favorite flower for ers have short stalks, New Year flower fairs in Canton and Hong Kong. red narcissus to Lady Chinese New Year. The hence the name tiegeng, They are brought home and kept in the oldest and Guoguo, the sister of his fluffy white blossoms or sessile flowered. nicest porcelain vase in the family, for it is believed beloved concubine Yang of the pussy willow In San Francisco, the that the older the vase, the longer the flowers will Guifei. resemble silk, and they quince flowers around bloom. The cultivation of the soon give forth young the New Year, and it has The peach, an emblem narcissus is confined shoots the color of green become a substitute for of longevity, is of para- to southern China, and jade. Chinese enjoy such the peach and plum trees mount importance in the bulbs of Zhangzhou, signs of growth, which of China and Hong Kong. Chinese culture and is Fujian, are considered represent the coming of It is customary for one of the most popular the best. Narcissus bulbs prosperity. Chinese to decorate motifs found in Chinese can be grown easily in their homes with blos- art. It is the symbol of a shallow dish called a Kumquat soms during Chinese the venerable God of shuixian pan. The bulbs (Gumgut, Fortunella margarita) New Year. For without flowers, there will not be Longevity, Shoulao. are held in place by any formation of fruit. The southern Chinese have Xiwangmu, the Queen smooth pebbles; the dish is then filled with water Pronounced Gumgut in Cantonese, the kumquat a tradition of displaying a blossoming peach tree or Mother of the West, is and placed in the sun. is a pun for gold (gum), and for good fortune (dai plum tree at home during the Chinese New Year, believed to possess an The narcissus in southern China is cultivated in gut). Cantonese love to decorate their homes and and immigrants have continued this custom. In orchard of peach trees two ways. Grown naturally, it has straight leaves places of business with Hong Kong and Canton, thousands upon thousands in her abode up in the and flowers. But if the young bulb is mutilated on pots of kumquats, in the of peach and plum trees are sold in the annual New Kunlun mountains. The purpose by having some of its scales cut away, the hopes that they will bring Year Flower Fair, and the Chinese buy these trees trees blossom only once every 3000 years, and plant becomes stunted and the leaves curly. This good fortune and wealth. just as Americans buy pine trees and fir trees to the fruit takes another 3000 years to ripen. It latter type of narcissus is called “crab’s claw”. Candied kumquats are celebrate Christmas. The Chinese believe that blos- is believed that eating these peaches will grant Its simplicity and beauty make the narcissus a one of the necessary pre- soming flowers will bring prosperity (huakai fugui), immortality. favorite motif in Chinese decorative art. When the serves for the New Year. therefore considerable care is taken in choosing lingzhi fungus, narcissus, heavenly bamboo, and these trees, so that many of the buds will bloom on Narcissus rocks are combined together, they form the phrase New Year’s day. (Shuixian, Narcissus tazetta var. orientalis) zhixian zhushou, or “the fungus fairy brings birthday greetings.” Known to the Chinese as Water Fairy Flower, Elegant Garlic, or Fairy of the Waves, the narcis- sus, a symbol of good fortune and prosperity, is an .
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