Sakura, originated in China. According to the authoritative Japanese book "Sakura Dakan", cherry blossoms are native to the Himalayas. After being artificially cultivated, this species was gradually introduced to the Yangtze River Basin of China, southwest China and Taiwan Island. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the royal family began to plant cherry blossoms, with a cultivation history of more than 2,000 years. During the Han and Tang Dynasties, it was widely planted in private gardens. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, when all nations came to Korea, Japan deeply admired the brilliance of Chinese culture. Gardening and flower planting techniques were brought back to Japan by envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty along with architecture, clothing, tea ceremony, kendo, etc.
According to literature research, cherry blossoms were cultivated in Chinese palace gardens more than 2,000 years ago during the Qin and Han Dynasties. During the Tang Dynasty, cherry blossoms were commonly seen in private courtyards. Bai Juyi's poem says: "I also know that the official residence is not my residence, and the courtyard is full of cherry blossoms. I have been doing five tests recently, and I have seen the flowers bloom for the fourth time." and "The newly planted red cherry trees in the small garden are leisurely surrounded by flower branches. A quick trip." The poem clearly explains that the poet dug up wild cherry blossoms from the mountains and planted them in the courtyard for viewing. Cherry blossoms were mentioned in Yu Ruoying's poem of the Ming Dynasty: "The sound of rain is soft in March, and the cherry blossoms are like apricot blossoms." The Compendium of Materia Medica written by Meng Shen of the Tang Dynasty defines cherry as: "This is a cherry, not a peach. Although it is not a peach, its shape resembles a peach, so it is called a cherry." The explanation for mountain cherry is: "The common name of this cherry is plum peach, and the former name of cherry is cherry, not peach."
He Geng, Chengdu County Magistrate in the Song Dynasty, described the main characteristics of weeping early cherry blossoms very realistically, leaving precious evidence for future generations. In his "Ode to Bitter Cherry Blossoms": "Yu Chengwu, a county magistrate in Chengdu, lives east of Fangzhai. There are cherry trees: large in size but small in size, and many of them are ripe and red. They are bitter and inedible, even for birds. Abandon it." Here he describes the actual size, and the bitter and inedible fruit is definitely not a cherry but an ornamental cherry blossom.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, Wang Sengda wrote a poem: "The first cherry blossoms are beautiful when they move, and the algae are good at burning the fragrance. The leaves have not yet opened, but the red flowers are already shining." It can be seen from the poem that this cherry blossom is a It is a red early-flowering variety that flowers first and then leaves. Its young leaves are light yellow and its flowers are gorgeous.
In the "Compendium of Materia Medica" written by Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty, it was said: "The root is small but the root is large, sweet, delicious and edible." It is also a cherry. And based on what he said, "The branches are supported and spread down", we can conclude that this is clearly a weeping early cherry tree.
The Illustrated Research on Plant Names and Facts written by Wu Qijun of the Qing Dynasty records: "Winter Begonia grows in the mountains of Yunnan... It blooms red flowers in early winter, with long and round petals, one gap in the middle, and many stamens. The protruding green heart is different from other flowers such as crabapples and cherries. The spring knots are red and round, as big as a finger, and they are always sour and inedible. "This winter crabapple is now in Shiping, Jianshui and Yuanjiang in southern Yunnan. There are many other places, and the locals still call them "Winter Begonia". It can be seen from various documents
that many kinds of cherry blossoms, such as bell cherry, weeping cherry, winter crabapple and mountain cherry, have been introduced and cultivated in ancient China. However, Japan has only planted cherry blossoms for more than a thousand years, which is more than a thousand years later than China.
Because Japanese cherry blossoms are so famous, they have cultivated varieties that are the best in the world, so cherry blossoms refer to Japanese cherry blossoms to a certain extent, or cherry blossom varieties with Japanese characteristics. After horticultural breeding technology was introduced to Japan, cherry blossom varieties continued to increase under careful cultivation, becoming a rich cherry blossom family. After becoming Japan's national flower, it has received more care and cultivation, and advanced varieties with more ornamental qualities have emerged.
However, several types of cherry blossoms originating from the Himalayas are still growing in Japan, such as Arbor Sakura, Scarlet Sakura, etc. Yunnan cherry blossoms and Japanese cherry blossoms evolved from the native chokecherries in Tengchong and Longling areas. They are a variant. The flowers change from single to double, and the color changes from light pink to deep pink. This color is very ornamental with the same flower. Different from tall Japanese cherry blossoms, the flowers of Japanese cherry blossoms are mostly light pink.