Many East Asian plants found on the KU campus have a rich history in the art and literature from where they originated. Click on the name of each botanical below to learn more. Cherry tree Crabapple Gingko/Maidenhair Tree Hibiscus Juniper Lilac Magnolia Maples Mulberry Pear Pine Plum Poplar Quince Tea Leaves Weeping Willow The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in nearby Kansas City houses one of the best Asian art collections in the United States. Consider a visit to personally see masterpieces featuring Asian botanicals. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art | Chinese Art Collection | Japanese Art Collection | South and Southeast Asian Art Collection Back to East Asian Plants Plants in East Asian Culture Cherry Tree Japanese Flowering Cherry, Prunus serrulata Cambridge or Chinese cherry, Prunus pseudocerasus Cherry Blossom Culture in Japan The cherry blossom, sakura, is the unofficial national flower of Japan, a beloved symbol of spring and renewal celebrated in painting, poetry, songs, and many other arts. Countless cherry trees of many different varieties decorate cities and parks all across the country. Viewing parties celebrate the arrival of the cherry blossoms. The custom of cherry-blossom viewing, called hanami, is accompanied by food, drink, singing, and general merriment. A special vocabulary developed to describe viewing the blossoms under particular circumstances; hanamizake refers to drinking sake while viewing the blossoms, sakuragari (cherry blossom hunting) to seeking the blossoms in the mountains; ozakura (cherry blossoms of night) to viewing the blossoms in the evening; and sakura fubuki (cherry blossom storm) to the petals scattered like snow by the wind. The cherry trees in bloom on the banks of the Kamogawa River are among of the most beautiful sights of Kyoto, but the ancient capital boasts a number of famous hanami locations: Maruyama Park, next to Yasaka Shrine; Philosopher's Trail, starting at Ginkakuji Temple; Heian Shrine; Okazaki Canal, outside Heian Shrine; Arashiyama; Daigoji Temple; and Hirano Shrine. For more information on these sites, see: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3951.html. Japan- guide.com also provides a nationwide list of cherry-blossom viewing locations and a guide to “How to do cherry blossom viewing” (reserve your spot early). Taste of Japan Kansas City Hiratsuka Calendar of Events: April http://www2.gol.com/users/csr-kts/calendar.html 花見 (Plum & Cherry Blossom Viewing) - February to April http://www.jref.com/culture/japanese_national_holidays.shtml Under the Cherry Blossoms http://www.humanflowerproject.com/index.php/weblog/comments/under_the_cherry_blossoms/ It's Cherry-Blossom Time at Sumile nymag.com/daily/food/tags/west%20village Selected Japanese works of art featuring cherry blossoms: Tokyo National Museum Kano Naganobu, 17th c., Merrymaking under Cherry Blossoms (or Aronia Blossoms) Nabeshima ware dishes, 18th c., Design of cherry tree in overglaze enamels Kyoto National Museum Matsumura Keibun, Edo period, Cherry Blossoms in Moonlight Metropolitan Museum, New York Kano Sansetsu, attributed. The Old Plum, four sliding door panels Fragment of A Long Tale for an Autumn Night, Nanbokucho period (1336–92), Ink and color on paper Painting by Tawaraya Sotatsu; Calligraphy by Hon'ami Koetsu. Poem page mounted as a hanging scroll, Momoyama period (1573–1615), dated 1606. Ink on paper decorated with gold and silver Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C.: Hishikawa Moronobu (1618-94) Viewing cherry blossoms at Ueno Park and autumn at Asakusa, pair of six-fold screens Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) Parties of men and women looking at cherry blossoms, hanging scroll painting Tawaraya Sotatsu (ca. 1600-43) Ladies among cherry trees, pair of six-panel folding screens Art Institute of Chicago Torii Kiyonaga. (1752-1815) Cherry Trees of Nakanomachi, Color woodblock prints; oban triptych, c. 1786. Clarence Buckingham Collection. Miscellaneous Benji Asada. "Pagoda of Ninnaji Temple in Kyoto.", circa 1960. Eiichi Kotozuka. Owl and Cherry Blossoms, 1950, Original Japanese Woodcut. Katsushika Hokusai. Goldfinch and Cherry Tree, Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock printing. Ito Sozan. Seagulls and Cherry. Ohara Koson. Cherry on a Moonlit Night, 1932. Color woodblock print. Ohara Koson. Two Pigeons Under Cherry Blossoms, 1900. Back to Plants in East Asian Culture Crabapple, Flowering Japanese flowering crab-apple, Malus floribunda Plum-leafed crabapple, Malus sp. prunifolia Siberian crab-apple, Malus baccata Please check back in the next couple of weeks for more cultural information on the flowering crabapple. Selected Asian works of art featuring crabapples: Zhu Qizhai. Crab Apple Blossoms,1960, Ink and color on paper. Translation: Chinese crab apples proudly show their red color Painted in March of 1960. Borrowing a phrase from Chen Jianzheng of the Song dynasty. Back to Plants in East Asian Culture Ginkgo/Maidenhair Tree Ginkgo biloba All of the ginkgos (also known as maidenhair trees) outside of China were directly or indirectly introduced from China. Called the “World’s No. 1 Living Fossil,”the ginkgo predates the dinosaurs and is deemed the most ancient of trees. The ginkgo biloba has been described as a “living fossil” because of its relatives are found in the fossil record dating back to the Permian. Understanding of its evolution, however, was impeded by a gap in this record of over 100 million years. An article published in Nature in 2003 claims to fill this gap with a fossil collected in Liaoning Province, China. (see: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v423/n6942/full/423821a.html) Sometimes called the “giant panda of plants,” wild ginkgos like the panda are endangered. They survive in only a few scattered patches of forest in China. The source of the Western name “ginkgo” is apparently a misspelling of the Japanese name for the plant, ginkyo, by the German botanist Engelbert Kaempfer, who saw one growing in a Japanese temple garden in 1690. Ginkyo is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese term for the plant, jinxing, meaning “silver apricot,” a description of the ginkgo “nut,” the hard-shelled kernel of the fruit of the ginkgo tree.” When China’s State Forestry Administration asked people to vote on a national tree, the ginkgo won with 95% of the vote. The love of the tree is rooted not only in its antiquity, but also in its beauty and health-giving properties. The trees are exceptionally durable and long lived, some living over a thousand years, and can grow to great heights (over 30 meters). The elegant fan-shaped leaves of the great trees turn golden yellow in autumn, ensuring it a place in poetry and art. A poem by the 19th-century writer Li Shanji extols the ginkgo: In exquisite billows, the foliage cascades from its shrouded source in the sky; green abundance veils the top- dwelling place of the lone crane. Like a dancing phoenix, its trunk soars to the clouds, like a coiled dragon perching on a cliff these images reveal its hidden forces. (Quoted from: http://www.itmonline.org/arts/ginkgo.htm) The nuts give off a putrid odor, but are much valued in both cuisine and medicine. In Chinese cuisine, ginkgo nuts appear in both sweet and savory dishes. Sometimes they substitute for lotus seeds in 'eight treasure' dishes. Thought to resemble silver ingots and are featured in New Year’s food to represent good fortune. Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine use ginkgo leaves, nuts, and extracts are used to treat a wide variety of health problems, from lung and urinary track problems to loss of memory. Sources and links: “Introduction to Ginkgoales, the ginkgos” “Ginkgo” by Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D. and Heiner Fruehauf, Ph.D., Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon “Ginkgo nut” on “Asia Food Glossary” page on The Asia Society’s “Asia Source” ; citing Charmaine Solomon's Encyclopedia of Asian Food, Periplus Editions,1998, supplied courtesy of New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd. “Palaeobiology: The missing link in Ginkgo evolution,” Nature 423, 821-822 (19 June 2003) “The Ginkgo in Japanese Culture” Japanese American National Museum “Ginkgo Likely to be China’s National Tree” Copyright China Internet Information Center. “National Poll Shows Ginkgo as Firm Favorite” Copyright by People's Daily Online, from China Daily Ginkgo Pearl Oral Liquid Ginkgo Pearl Oral Liquid “The Ginko Pages" by Cor Kwant. "This non-commercial homepage is the most complete website about Ginkgo biloba on the internet." Wikipedia - Ginkgo Selected Asian works of art featuring Ginkgo: Ginkgo. Yoshiko Yamamoto, Framed card. Doves and ginkgo. Watanabe Seitei. Owl on Ginkgo Branch. and Pigeons on Ginkgo Branch. Ohara Koson. The Ginkgo Pages Artwork Montreal Botanical Gardens: Ginkgo Bonsai Back to Plants in East Asian Culture Hibiscus Rose-of-Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus Also known as the Rose of Sharon, the hibiscus (or mugunghwa in Korean) is the national flower of South Korea and a popular motif in that country’s architecture. The hibiscus was adopted as the symbol for the Joseon Dynasty (1392- 1910), and the Silla Kingdom (57 BC-935 AD) called itself Mugunghwa Country. Records indicate that Korea was referred to in ancient China as “the land of gentlemen where mugunghwa blooms.” The Korean government adopted the hibiscus as the national flower following liberation from Japanese rule in 1945. Because of the flower’s ability to easily flourish following transplanting or cutting, some Koreans cite it as an example of their country’s wish for prosperity and the tenacity of its citizens. During Japanese occupation, Nam Gung-eok (1863-1939) sought to create “hills of roses of Sharon” by sending tens of thousands of the flowers to schools and churches from his hometown of Hongcheon. This effort to promote patriotism led to Nam Gung-eok’s arrest and imprisonment in 1933 for what became known as the “mugunghwa incident.” Red hibiscus is a common ingredient in tea and Asian food, often cited for curative elements, such as lowering blood pressure and cooling the body.