The aim of this paper1 is to inquire into the significance of ‘mudan’ – Paeonia suffruticosa Andr... more The aim of this paper1 is to inquire into the significance of ‘mudan’ – Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews – above the mere botanic information. The adventurers and plant-hunters grasped little of it in the time they tried to acquire the plant in China at the end of the 18th century and after. The information on the plant from the Jesuits and other embassies from the 17th century onward was scarce but kicked off the search for the so-called “peony”. In a humanist approach “ad fontes” primary sources are evaluated to approach the phenomenon of mudan in Tang and Song dynasty times. Four dimensions of symbolic significance can be related to: 1.’mudan’ as a symbol of the country, the empire and cultural independence 2. as a symbol of beauty, love and love-crazy 3. as a symbol for power, wealth, power of will and resilience 4. as a symbol of home-sickness, the origin of culture and family and past glorious times. With methodological tools of a Zurich history-of-knowledge approach the phenomenon of mudan is interpreted as an example of construction of symbolic knowledge by an elite and as an example of collision of divergent systems creating order and meaning in the Western and Chinese hemispheres until today.
Mitteilungen der Deutschen Dendrologischen Gesellschaft, 2018
This article on paeonia moutan has three objectives: first, to trace the history of the voyage o... more This article on paeonia moutan has three objectives: first, to trace the history of the voyage of tree peonies from their origin in China and in Chinese literature up to today’s planting breeding especially in Europe. Relatively few authors englobe Chinese texts and authors in their oservations and if, they do not refer to the original text. This is certainly due to the language gap. In this respect the work of Emil Bretschneider at the end of the 19th century is worthy of praise. The second objective is to go as close as possible to the contemporary sources of the major developments. There is a lot of from hearsay and copy without really verifying the information that is passed on in a large part of the literature. Reason might be that it is much more convenient to copy what you hear than to invest time in verification. That means the defy was to either find the original source e.g. the letters of Banks, Kerr and others or to go as close to information of contemporary authors as possible. The third intention is therefore to be as precise as possible concerning the dating of the arrivals of paeonia moutan in tracing their voyage. An earlier dating was possible for example concerning the arrival of the moutan in England and in Paris as well as the first hybridation by Baumann in Bollwiller in Alsace and not in Paris.
The aim of this paper1 is to inquire into the significance of ‘mudan’ – Paeonia suffruticosa Andr... more The aim of this paper1 is to inquire into the significance of ‘mudan’ – Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews – above the mere botanic information. The adventurers and plant-hunters grasped little of it in the time they tried to acquire the plant in China at the end of the 18th century and after. The information on the plant from the Jesuits and other embassies from the 17th century onward was scarce but kicked off the search for the so-called “peony”. In a humanist approach “ad fontes” primary sources are evaluated to approach the phenomenon of mudan in Tang and Song dynasty times. Four dimensions of symbolic significance can be related to: 1.’mudan’ as a symbol of the country, the empire and cultural independence 2. as a symbol of beauty, love and love-crazy 3. as a symbol for power, wealth, power of will and resilience 4. as a symbol of home-sickness, the origin of culture and family and past glorious times. With methodological tools of a Zurich history-of-knowledge approach the phenomenon of mudan is interpreted as an example of construction of symbolic knowledge by an elite and as an example of collision of divergent systems creating order and meaning in the Western and Chinese hemispheres until today.
Mitteilungen der Deutschen Dendrologischen Gesellschaft, 2018
This article on paeonia moutan has three objectives: first, to trace the history of the voyage o... more This article on paeonia moutan has three objectives: first, to trace the history of the voyage of tree peonies from their origin in China and in Chinese literature up to today’s planting breeding especially in Europe. Relatively few authors englobe Chinese texts and authors in their oservations and if, they do not refer to the original text. This is certainly due to the language gap. In this respect the work of Emil Bretschneider at the end of the 19th century is worthy of praise. The second objective is to go as close as possible to the contemporary sources of the major developments. There is a lot of from hearsay and copy without really verifying the information that is passed on in a large part of the literature. Reason might be that it is much more convenient to copy what you hear than to invest time in verification. That means the defy was to either find the original source e.g. the letters of Banks, Kerr and others or to go as close to information of contemporary authors as possible. The third intention is therefore to be as precise as possible concerning the dating of the arrivals of paeonia moutan in tracing their voyage. An earlier dating was possible for example concerning the arrival of the moutan in England and in Paris as well as the first hybridation by Baumann in Bollwiller in Alsace and not in Paris.
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Thesis Chapters by Claus U. Rieth
Papers by Claus U. Rieth