Xiaolan people love to grow chrysanthemums and have the reputation of "Chrysanthemum City". Throughout the ages, there have been countless praises about "Chrysanthemum", leaving a valuable cultural heritage for this land rich in chrysanthemums. Xiaolan's chrysanthemum pageant "once every 60 years, 10 once a year" is even more amazing. Chrysanthemum will be characterized by "nature, humanity, flower sea and chrysanthemum city", with chrysanthemum landscaping as the main feature, highlighting cultivation techniques. The beautiful scenery of chrysanthemums in different forms is a great event of chrysanthemum culture in Lingnan.
Xiaolan people love to grow chrysanthemums and have a long history. According to legend, in the ninth year of Xianchun in the Southern Song Dynasty, residents of Nanxiong Zhuji Lane moved south to pursue Hu Fei's departure. In the tenth year of Xianchun (1274 Jiaju), some refugees in Zhuji Lane fled to Xiaolan. Seeing that the land here is fertile and the climate is mild, Huang Ju is full of fragrance and gold. They settled here and established their homes. Since then, Xiaolan people have formed an indissoluble bond with Chrysanthemum.
By the Ming Dynasty, the chrysanthemum art of Xiaolan had flourished, and the cultivation of chrysanthemum had become very common. According to Li, a villager who was the Shang Shu of Ming Dynasty at that time, the article "Two Alleys Landscape Topographic Map" has been written, and there are praises of "Five pines, Six Roads, Three Yards of Water, Twelve Bridges of Plum Blossoms in the Cave, and endless chrysanthemums in the poetry circle", which is enough to show that Xiaolan people were good at chrysanthemum art at that time and it has become a habit for three or five confidants to get together to enjoy flowers every year when chrysanthemums are in full bloom.
During the reign of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, Xiaolan's artistic level of chrysanthemum was further improved, and a set of systematic experience was gained in the cultivation of chrysanthemum, such as modeling, coring, maintenance and management. According to historical records, new species were introduced from Shanghai and other places at this time, adding varieties and colors. Some gentry, businessmen and officials in the countryside laid down their posts, relaxed their ambitions and made great efforts to put pottery on the Wyer fence, and chrysanthemum art flourished from then on. Xiaolan at this time has been called "Little Chai Sang".
In the third year of the first year of Qing Qianlong, Xiaolan began the "Chrysanthemum Examination". "Folks love the integrity of chrysanthemum, it is not afraid of first frost, appreciate its various flowers and elegant fragrance. In the first year of Qing Qianlong (1736), there was a chrysanthemum contest. According to "Xiangshan County Records", the chrysanthemum test is to gather the famous species planted by villagers, set up a reward grid and compare competitions when chrysanthemums are in full bloom. During the sports meeting, a flower shed will be built in front of the ancestral temple, famous flowers will be displayed, chrysanthemums will be evaluated and sung on the spot, and the champion will be promoted and the ranking will be determined. The evaluation of chrysanthemum is based on "three noes", that is, no leaves, no branches and no knees; Taking "three branches and six tops" as a model, the art of Dali chrysanthemum branches was used for the first time. After inspection, yarn, satin towel, fan and other items were awarded respectively.
However, after five years of Qianlong, because Xiaolan's famous chrysanthemum "a pinch of snow" was lost, the chrysanthemum examination was no longer held, and it was changed to "Chrysanthemum Society", that is, when chrysanthemums were in full bloom every year, people formed a group association with clans, temples or square societies as units to gather all kinds of good chrysanthemums in society and "unite two or three confidants and lean against the fence to find flowers". Regarding the Chrysanthemum Society, He Dazuo, a Qing Dynasty man, wrote in the book "Olive Fragments": "Those who join the Chrysanthemum Society will not pay in advance or pay. Different from Jushen, they only gather comrades-in-arms and friends, move all the beautiful things to the club, decorate with fragrant screens, face each other in the morning and evening, or drink wine and compose poems, or play music evenly according to the music. After the club broke up, there were flowers for the givers, and they left with a full boat. "
In the forty-seventh year of Qianlong, namely 1782, the scale of "Chrysanthemum Club" was expanded and renamed as "Huanghua Club", and the former Chrysanthemum Club was transformed into a small group for Chrysanthemum Club to participate in. At that time, all the villages in Lanxiang were furnished, and the chrysanthemum fields in each village not only put chrysanthemums, but also set up flower stands, flower houses and flower bridges, and also performed more than ten performances. At night, lanterns are decorated in colorful, staying up all night, and there are many tourists.
In the 19th year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty, 18 14, Xiaolan held a grand chrysanthemum meeting to commemorate the contribution of ancestors' settlement, and agreed to hold a chrysanthemum meeting every Jiaqing year (that is, every 60 years). In the 13th year of Tongzhi (1874), 1934 and 1994, the Chrysanthemum Exhibition was held successively, and four Chrysanthemum Assemblies were held.
Xiaolan is also known as "Jucheng". Many people know that "Jucheng" is a world-famous name, but few people know when it was called. In fact, "Chrysanthemum City" was spread by a chrysanthemum exhibition in 1959.
1959 is the first chrysanthemum exhibition held by Xiaolan after the founding of the People's Republic of China. This Chrysanthemum Festival not only inherited the traditional chrysanthemum art, but also created a new modeling style. Xiaolan people used chrysanthemums for the first time to build a huge mural "Dove of Peace" with a width of 10 m and a height of 7 m, and made huge slogans and patterns with chrysanthemum art. At the same time, a large number of chrysanthemums, cliff chrysanthemums, tower chrysanthemums and varieties of chrysanthemums were exhibited. Although the exhibition lasted for seven days, the audience was nearly 300 thousand. Pearl River Film Studio also specially produced a documentary called "Chrysanthemum", and some newspapers and periodicals inside and outside the province reported the grand occasion of the Chrysanthemum Festival for several days, praising Xiaolan as "Chrysanthemum City". Since then, "Jucheng" has become increasingly prosperous.
During the Chrysanthemum Festival, you can have a special "Chrysanthemum Rice". That is, all kinds of delicious food and delicacies cooked with fresh chrysanthemums. The more famous ones are chrysanthemum meat, chrysanthemum stewed snake soup, chrysanthemum colored balls, chrysanthemum fish porridge, chrysanthemum wine, chrysanthemum cake and so on. There are all kinds of chrysanthemums around the dining table. People talk about chrysanthemums and taste chrysanthemum dinners. Fragrant and fragrant, sweet but not greasy, with endless aftertaste.