Chrysanthemums – flowers for men?

A Chrysanthemum tower at the Expo in Shanghai, 10-2010

When you think of Chrysanthemums what do you think of?

I grew up in the Northeastern section of the US, and if I think about chrysanthemums, I think of fall. I actually think of the local grocery store and its tables of fragrant mums which are set by the entrance so that you won’t be able to resist buying a pot on the way in or out. You could call it the “chrysanthemums trap!” One of the best things about this flower is it’s resistance to frost, which is why everyone loves it. At least I love it for that.

In China, the Chrysanthemum is called The Gentleman of Flowers

A gentleman? Whenever I think of flowers I think of girls! But if you look back through Asian history, tending chrysanthemum plants has always been a pastime for men. I can remember so well our friend Grandpa Maruyama who lived in Tokyo in a house with a beautiful small garden out back. Grandpa Maruyama could be seen out in the garden every day in the fall, carefully cutting off old leaves, tying up tall stems, and shining on his lovely mums of every color.

How did growing and tending chrysanthemums become a man’s job?

The poet who gave birth to the tradition of chrysanthemums being tended by men in their retirement lived some 1700 years ago. Just like an American might think of Robert Frost’s poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening if they happened to find themselves stopped in the woods on a snowy night, Chinese people think of the scholar Tao Yuan Ming, (365-427), who also was called Tao Qian, when they think of tending chrysanthemums. His love for mums was so deep that it spread like a wave throughout all of Asia. Our dear Japanese friend Grandpa Maruyama tended his chrysanthemums with such love in part because of Tao Qian and his poetry.

Chrysanthemum’s most famous lover – the man named Tao Qian

His story was one that many people could identify with. Although he was from a noble and scholarly family, times had been hard and they had little money, so Tao worked as an official in order to support his family. He had great ambition, and wanted to become an official, but at the same time he also wanted to avoid the messiness of official office, which he knew about because his great grandfather had been a General and Governor during an earlier dynasty.

Resigning in favor of Chrysanthemums

He was capable and began his official career with minor postings, but he was disgusted with the infighting and corruption in the court, and he resigned in favor of his principles. He spent the rest of his life in the countryside he loved so dearly, with a simple life and pen in hand. His poetry reflects his love of nature, simplicity, and wine. He is now considered one of the greatest poets of his time, and he influenced generations of poets after him.

This is his most famous poem that mentions chrysanthemums:

I built my hut beside a traveled road

Yet hear no noise of passing carts and horses.

You would like to know how it is done?

With the mind detached, one's place becomes remote.

I pick a chrysanthemum by the eastern hedge

And catch sight of the distant southern hills.

The mountain air is lovely as the sun sets

And flocks of flying birds return together.

In these things is a fundamental truth

I would like to tell, but lack the words.

(James Hightower, The Poetry of T'ao Ch'ien, p. 130)

Tao Qian lived in retirement for 22 years, during which time he produced poems that were real inspiration for the later famous poets of the Tang and Song Dynasties. It is during that time that he became famous for his poems that included chrysanthemums as a theme.