History of peony cultivation

Medicinal cultivation began in the Han Dynasty, and peony was found in the Han tomb in Wuwei, Gansu Province in 1972 to treat "blood stasis". Ornamental cultivation began in the Tang Dynasty. Gansu is close to Guanzhong and Chang 'an, the political, economic and cultural centers of Sui and Tang Dynasties, and is a part of the prosperous Silk Road. Ornamental cultivation developed in Song Dynasty (Jin Dynasty). Due to frequent wars, no written records have been found, but we can know from archaeological excavations that peony has become one of the themes of folk art and decorative sculpture. This breed group was formed in Ming and Qing dynasties, and there are many written records. Traditional varieties such as "Fotouqing", "Green Butterfly" and "Taishihuang" have been handed down from at least the Qing Dynasty and before. This variety group was discovered and studied only after 1980s, and Li Jiajue's "Linxia Peony" is a new starting point for the research and development of this variety group.

Peony traditional planting areas are distributed in the west of Xi, east of Xining, Qinghai, Ningxia and south of Gansu, which mainly form the origin, evolution and cultivation center of Gansu varieties, and are distributed in other northwest regions such as Qinghai, Shanxi and Ningxia. There are more than 300 varieties of peony, which are intensively cultivated and distributed in Lanzhou, Linxia, Lintao and Longxi of Gansu Province. Its planting scale, variety number and influence abroad make it the second largest peony variety group in China after the Central Plains peony.

The introduction and cultivation abroad started from 1925 to 1926. Joseph Charles Francis Rock collected the seeds of Paeonia suffruticosa in a Lama Temple in Zhuoni, Gannan, and sent them to Arnold Arboretum in the United States to sow successfully, and then spread all over the world. After 1990s, peony was introduced and planted sporadically abroad, and in recent years, large-scale seedling export began. Lanzhou Peony Gardening Company and Yuzhong Heping Peony Garden are the two largest companies exporting purple peony, but the former is bigger and stronger. Domestic introduction and cultivation are carried out sporadically in various historical stages. From 65438 to 0996, the fourth annual meeting of Peony Branch of China Horticultural Association was held in Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, which made domestic peony experts know Paeonia rockii for the first time and made Paeonia rockii widely spread and planted in China, especially in North China and Central Plains. Marked by the success of introduction and cultivation of Paeonia lactiflora in Peony Garden of Shenyang Botanical Garden by Lanzhou Peony Horticulture Company, since 2003, the promotion and cultivation activities of Paeonia lactiflora in Northeast China have been vigorously carried out. Subsequently, Paeonia lactiflora was widely planted in cold and arid areas in northern China, such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Qinghai and Tibet, and the promotion and planting of Paeonia lactiflora in the whole country entered a period of all-round development.