揚州瓊花佳話

揚州在春天是那樣神秘，那樣誘人，屆時各地游子攜妻呼伴擁到揚州，爭相觀看令人神往的瓊花。

瓊花是揚州的象征，揚州瓊花天下獨有，你若要看正宗瓊花非要到揚州不可，揚州人以瓊花自豪！

瓊花芳容

瓊花是落葉小喬木聚八仙的一個優良變種，質地純潔，性格高雅，它既喜愛陽光又耐得陰寒，幾十根枝條從瓊樹根部生出來直沖向上，頂著猶如巨傘一般的樹冠，每年四五月間（農歷三月）開花，花形奇特，像玉盤又像圓月，花朵潔白晶瑩，猶如瑞雪冰凌，香氣純正淡雅，沁人心脾。它們一簇一簇依偎在一起，溫柔嫵媚，姿態舒展，流光溢彩，璀璨晶瑩，一陣春風吹來時，花瓣輕輕扇動，猶如潔白的蝴蝶展翅欲飛。

瓊花不像牡丹那樣富貴濃麗，也不像秋菊那樣色彩斑斕，它以超凡脫俗的氣質傲視群芳。有人說這是仙子下凡，有人說這是少女出浴，也有人說此乃九五之尊，帝王之象。

瓊花由來

揚州早就有聚八仙生長。所謂聚八仙是指一簇花蕊圍著八朵瓊花。北宋初年，揚州后土祠一株古聚八仙樹發生優良變異，花蕊四周長出九朵瓊花來，色澤比往常更浸潤，香味比往常更馨馥，于是整個揚州城轟動起來，老百姓紛紛前去觀賞。時任揚州知府的王禹也聞訊前去看個究竟，這一看當即被瓊花的仙姿異香所傾倒，他作了《后土廟瓊花詩二首》，盛贊這株瓊花如“二月之輕冰”、“八月之重霜”。詩前還有小序記載發現瓊花的經過：“揚州后土廟有花一株，潔白可愛，其樹大而花繁，不知實何木也。俗謂之瓊花，因賦詩以云其狀云。”這是我們所見有關木本瓊花的最早記載。

王禹離任后，政治家韓琦接任揚州知府（后來官至宰相），他作《瓊花》詩盛贊：“維揚一枝花，四海無同類。”再過三年大文豪歐陽修任揚州知府，處理公事之暇又來到亭中欣賞瓊花，后來他干脆在瓊花臺旁建筑一座六角飛檐花亭，取名“無雙亭”，用以比喻揚州瓊花天下無雙。他所作的《瓊花》詩把瓊花稱為“九朵仙葩”、“天上仙女”，從此揚州人稱后土祠為瓊花觀，宋徽宗也御賜石額，題“蕃厘觀”（意為多福之觀），不過老百姓仍喜歡稱后土祠為瓊花觀。

瓊花的傳說

民間稱帝王為“九五之尊”，這株瓊花每簇有九朵，每朵有五個花瓣，于是人們就常常把它同帝王之事聯系起來，創造了許多傳說，其中流傳最廣的莫過于隋煬帝與瓊花的故事了。故事說有一位叫“蕃”的仙人來到揚州，和人們談論著仙家花木的奇異美麗，世人不信，他便拿出一塊白玉種在地下，頃刻間便長出一棵樹來，樹上白花婀娜玉潤。由于是種玉而生，人們便稱之為瓊花。后來鄉親們便在這里建了蕃觀，守護這株仙花。隋煬帝聽說這件事后興致大發，不惜花費巨大人力物力開鑿一條運河通到揚州，運河完工后他便帶著妃嬪們沿河而下看瓊花。不過當他進入蕃觀剛要走近細看之時，只見一陣狂風襲來，頓時飛沙走石，讓人們睜不開眼。狂風過后地上雪白一片，此刻瓊枝上早已花朵全無。隋煬帝氣急敗壞，當即拔劍將瓊枝全部砍去，但此乃亡國征兆，不久他便身死國滅。

瓊花通人性

揚州瓊花特別留戀故土，它似乎通人性。

北宋慶歷年間仁宗皇帝聽說揚州瓊花美麗多姿，便派人將瓊花移植到開封皇宮的御花園里，不想瓊花馬上枝葉低垂，漸趨枯萎，花也不開了。仁宗動了惻隱之心，不忍見如此可愛的瓊花從此凋零，第二年就將瓊花送回揚州重新栽入后土祠；南宋淳熙年間（1174—1189）宋孝宗又思念起揚州的瓊花。他派人到揚州挖取瓊花的部分根、枝移植到臨安（今杭州）的皇宮內，可是它仍然不服水土，逐漸憔悴，不再開花，只得又送還揚州。

北宋末年，金兵鐵騎南下占領揚州，金太宗完顏亮妒忌揚州人民有如此高貴的瓊花，就將瓊花連根挖去，揚州人民為之飲泣。戰亂之后，瓊花觀道士唐大寧回到觀里，檢到完顏亮漏下的一個瓊花根塊埋到瓊花樹原處，又筑一個八角形瓊花臺，對瓊花殘根精心澆灌和護理，工夫不負有心人，數月以后殘根長出新枝，數年后新枝又長成大樹，開出瓊花仍然光潔如初，這就是瓊花歷史上的“還魂復茂”。

賓朋尋芳蹤

1963年4月，謝覺哉過80歲生日到揚州避壽，正逢瓊花盛開。他欣喜異常，賦詩一首：“今年生日在揚州，十里揚州景物稠。寺里瓊花繁若錦，湖中西子瘦于秋。”1988年初，揚州市政府決定每隔二年舉行一次瓊花節，首屆瓊花節因準備不及，未能在瓊花開放之時召開，便改在這年10月舉辦。當四海賓朋聚集揚州為只見樹葉不見樹花而遺憾的時候，瓜洲古渡的瓊花突然反季節開放，這真是“天遂人意”，大家一時都興奮異常。

如今，揚州已將瓊花節擴為“煙花三月旅游節”，每年都在4月18日（農歷三月）瓊花盛開之時開節。屆時瘦西湖邊、古運河岸、街道兩側、校園內外隨處可見瓊花的身影，盛開的瓊花把揚州打扮得分外美麗妖嬈。每年4月專程趕赴揚州觀賞瓊花的海內外賓朋流連忘返，如飲香茗，如品美酒，無不被揚州瓊花所傾倒。

Jade Flower

in Yangzhou

By Huang Dazhao

Yangzhou， a river town in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River， used to be renowned for its fortune and fast life for hundreds of years. The legendary affluence and fast life are gone today， but the ancient Wild Chinese Viburnum， academically known as viburnum macrocephalum f. ketkleeri and locally known as jade flower， has outlived the river town’s past and still blooms fantastically year in year out in Yangzhou. The local residents boast that the city’s proud blossom is quite unique and you need to come to Yangzhou to see the flora.

The first discovery of the wild Chinese Viburnum in Yangzhou dates back to the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). Something mysterious had happened to the plant behind a temple and nine jade-white flowers came out around a pistil and sent out an odor so fragrant that， on hearing the news， the residents flocked there to take a look. The sensational news reached the governor. He hastened to the blooming scene and was so inspired that he wrote a poem. The preface to the poem recorded the event. As the flower looked like jade in color， it was named jade flower.

Succeeding governors in Yangzhou also wrote poems to laud the floral beauty. Ouyang Xiu， a great historian and poet in the Northern Song Dynasty， had a hexagonal-roof pavilion constructed near the plant and renamed the nearby temple as jade flower viewing temple.

As spectacular things always beget legends， the jade flower in Yangzhou gave rise to a few legends that try to romanticize the flower genesis. The most popular legend has it that an immortal visited Yangzhou and chatted with locals about the incredible flowers in the divine land. To prove the truth， the god planted a white jade into the soil. The jade instantly grew up and bloomed. That was how the river town got the famed flower in the first place. A temple was established to guard it. When the Yang Emperor of the Sui Dynasty heard of the flower， he had a grand canal built to reach the city. He came to see the flower， followed by his huge entourage and concubines. Upon his arrival at the temple， a storm blew out of nowhere all of a sudden and the plant was stripped of all the flowers and leaves. The enraged emperor chopped down the plant with his sword， totally unaware that the plant acted as a guardian for his dynasty. With the guardian gone， his dynasty soon fell apart.

There are folk stories about how the plant has a stubborn heart for its home soil in Yangzhou. The Renzong Emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty heard of the flower in Yangzhou so much that he asked the royal gardeners to remove the plant by the temple to his garden in the capital. The jade flower soon withered and refused to bloom. The emperor had sympathy for the displaced plant and sent it back to its home garden in Yangzhou. In the closing years of the Northern Song Dynasty， the emperor of the Jin Dynasty heard of the jade flower in Yangzhou and removed it. After the war ended， a Taoist came back to the temple. He found a root of the plant that had been left over. He replanted the jade flower and built an octagonal pavilion to protect it. Miraculously， the root came back to life and grew up into a tree again in a few years. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279)， another emperor transplanted part of the plant to the capital in the south. But the plant refused to acclimate itself to the royal garden and withered. The disappointed emperor ordered the plant to be transplanted back home.

In the early 1988， the Yangzhou Municipal Government decided to hold a jade flower festival every two years. As pressed for time， the first festival was postponed to be held in October that year. When guests and local residents gathered to celebrate the river town symbol flower， the blooming season in spring was long past. To their delight and surprise， however， jade flowers planted near an ancient river port bloomed in the wrong season as if to cater to the occasion. All the people were greatly pleased.

Today， the festival is held on April 18th every year in Yangzhou. The jade flower is widely planted everywhere in scenic spots across the city.

(Translated by David)