History of the Tree Peony

   The tree peony, known as “Mudan” in Chinese, has been grown as an ornamental plant since the Sui Dynasty (581-618) or earlier.  Both tree peony and herbaceous peony were cultivated and used as medicinal plants much earlier.  Paintings and literature suggest that the tree peony has been associated with Chinese culture for over 3,000 years.

   “Mu” means male, and “dan” means red.  “Mudan” means “a plant that can reproduce by both seed and sucker, and the better ones are the red ones.”  Tree peony has also been called “Hua Wang,” which means “The King of Flowers,” and “Fu Gui Hua,” which means “wealthy and honorable.”

   Tree peonies became fashionable during the Tang (618-907) and Song Dynasty (960-1279).  As the fashion for tree peonies grew, the hearty, wild ones growing in the hills around Tang’s capital Changan (today’s Xian), found their way into the Imperial Garden.  Methods to select new and better plants from seedlings and grafting were developed, which led to the ability to mass reproduce the best specimens by grafting cuttings. 

   Empress Wu Ze Tian sent all tree peony plants to Luo Yang (considered frontier at that time) for not blooming according to her wishes. Tree peonies settled in Luo Yang and further flourished.  A champion tree peony plant was worth its weight in gold.

   Many of the unusual collections around the country were sent to the Imperial Garden during this time period, and the more colorful and multi-petal varieties started making an appearance.  

   During the Northern Song Dynasty, Ou Yang Xiu, one of the best-known writers during the Tang-Song era, wrote the first encyclopedia of tree peonies in 1034.  The encyclopedia mentions 24 different varieties of tree peonies and summarizes its progress while describing its significance in Luo Yang. Yao Yellow and Wei Zi, famous varieties of those days, are still around today.

   Zhang Xun (1086-1093), who visited every tree peony garden he knew, listed 119 varieties in a later book.  At the same time, tree peony cultivating techniques continued to improve and more varieties appeared.

   Tree peonies did not get too much attention during the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) when the Mongolians ruled China.  During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), much of the tree peony production moved to Bo Zhou, then later to Cao Zhou, now known as Heze in the Shandong Province. 

   Today, Heze is still the largest tree peony production area in China, even though Luo Yang may have a better reputation due to its historical association with the tree peony.