{"id":3897,"date":"2026-09-05T06:44:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T06:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/?p=3897"},"modified":"2026-09-05T06:48:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T06:48:27","slug":"%e6%a2%85%e8%8a%b1%e5%90%ab%e7%be%a9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/zh_hk\/plum-blossom-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"\u6885\u82b1\u5728\u4e2d\u570b\u6587\u5316\u4e2d\u7684\u542b\u7fa9\u8207\u8c61\u5fb5"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3897\" class=\"elementor elementor-3897\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-adc18d7 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"adc18d7\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8e01c71 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8e01c71\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Quick Answer: What Does the Plum Blossom Mean in Chinese Culture?<\/span><\/h2><p class=\"p1\">The plum blossom (\u6885\u82b1, m\u00e9ihu\u0101), usually identified botanically as <em>Prunus mume<\/em>, has several related meanings in Chinese culture:<\/p><ul><li><strong>Resilience and courage:<\/strong> Its late-winter or early-spring flowering can represent perseverance through adversity.<\/li><li><strong>Purity and integrity:<\/strong> Its spare branches, delicate flowers, and subtle fragrance are associated with unshowy moral character.<\/li><li><strong>Hope and renewal:<\/strong> Blooming before many other plants makes it a sign that winter is ending and spring is approaching.<\/li><li><strong>Restrained beauty:<\/strong> Its brief blossoms and understated appearance can express self-control, refinement, and awareness of life\u2019s transience.<\/li><\/ul><p class=\"p1\">The exact meaning depends on the poem, inscription, artistic composition, companion motifs, medium, and historical context. A plum blossom does not carry one universal definition in every setting.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-06679af e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"06679af\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2af274a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2af274a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"p1\">Chinese plum blossom (\u6885\u82b1, m\u00e9ihu\u0101) symbolism is often reduced online to one word: resilience. That reading is important, but incomplete. A plum image can also express moral integrity, scholarly reclusion, the return of spring, an auspicious wish, or a modern personal story. Its meaning comes from the flower\u2019s observed growth, the artist\u2019s composition, inscriptions, companion motifs, medium, and historical setting. This guide separates those layers so that you can identify the plant, understand the literary tradition, read a painting or decorative object, and avoid treating every five-petaled flower or snow-covered branch as a fixed code.<\/p>\n\n<h2>What Is the Chinese Plum Blossom?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Chinese plum blossom is the flower of <em>Prunus mume<\/em>, a deciduous tree in the rose family. English names include Chinese flowering plum and Japanese apricot; the latter reflects its botanical relationship to apricots but can confuse readers about the plant\u2019s cultural origin. Its native range extends from south-central China into northern mainland Southeast Asia. The flowers commonly appear before the leaves in late winter or early spring and may be white, pink, or red.<sup>[1]<\/sup> <\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">No single clue identifies every specimen, especially in stylized art. Use several features together:<\/p>\n<div style=\"overflow-x:auto; max-width:100%; max-height:800px;\"><table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Flower<\/th>\n<th>Botanical identity<\/th>\n<th>Useful clues<\/th>\n<th>What not to assume<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Chinese plum blossom<\/td>\n<td><em>Prunus mume<\/em>, rose family<\/td>\n<td>Rounded petals, flowers close to bare wood, noticeable fragrance, often flowers before leaves<\/td>\n<td>A snowy background is not proof of its actual flowering date<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cherry blossom<\/td>\n<td>Flowering cherries in the genus <em>Prunus<\/em><\/td>\n<td>Flowers often form clusters on stalks; many familiar types have a small notch at the petal tip<\/td>\n<td>Leaf timing varies by species and cultivar, so \u201cflowers with leaves\u201d is not a universal test<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Wintersweet<\/td>\n<td><em>Chimonanthus praecox<\/em>, Calycanthaceae<\/td>\n<td>Usually yellow, waxy-looking, strongly scented flowers on bare stems<\/td>\n<td>It is not a yellow variety of <em>Prunus mume<\/em>; it belongs to a different family.<sup>[2]<\/sup> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">Artists may simplify petals, omit leaves, or invent snow. On an object, identification may also depend on a title, inscription, adjacent plant, or established motif. For a wider comparison, see our guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/chinese-flower-symbols\/\">Chinese flower symbols<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Why Plum Blossoms Symbolize Resilience, Purity, and Hope<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">Plum blossom meanings developed from an interaction between plant observation and human interpretation. The flower does not possess a mystical message by itself. Chinese poets, painters, collectors, and later consumers selected features that suited different moral, seasonal, or decorative ideas.<\/p>\n<div style=\"overflow-x:auto; max-width:100%; max-height:800px;\"><table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Meaning<\/th>\n<th>Basis of the association<\/th>\n<th>Where the reading fits best<\/th>\n<th>Necessary limit<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Resilience and courage<\/td>\n<td>Blossoms emerge while the season is still cold and the branch may look lifeless<\/td>\n<td>Winter scenes, scholar painting, works about endurance<\/td>\n<td>A plum in a pleasant spring garden need not represent struggle<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Purity and integrity<\/td>\n<td>Pale blossoms, spare branches, restrained fragrance, and uncolored ink could be read as an unshowy moral presence<\/td>\n<td>Ink painting, poetic inscriptions, gifts honoring character<\/td>\n<td>A bright decorative plum pattern may be simply seasonal or auspicious<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hope and renewal<\/td>\n<td>Early flowering announces the transition toward spring<\/td>\n<td>New Year objects, seasonal art, designs about recovery<\/td>\n<td>Flowering dates vary with place, climate, and cultivar<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Transience and restrained beauty<\/td>\n<td>Delicate blossoms appear briefly against old, angular wood<\/td>\n<td>Moonlit scenes, intimate ceramics, contemplative paintings<\/td>\n<td>This reflective reading is not the same as a cheerful blessing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">A sixteenth-century Chinese painting now in the Smithsonian shows this mechanism clearly: brief blossoms appear on a long-lived, gnarled tree while most vegetation is dormant. Its museum interpretation connects plum to purity of character, courage in adversity, beauty\u2019s transience, and renewed hope.<sup>[3]<\/sup> The image supports several meanings at once because it combines flower, season, and branch. It does not prove that every plum image carries all four.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">This layered method also distinguishes plum from other symbolic flowers. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/lotus-meaning-chinese-culture\/\">Lotus symbolism<\/a> often builds purity from an unstained flower rising out of muddy water, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/peony-meaning-chinese-culture\/\">peony symbolism<\/a> more often turns on luxuriant form, wealth, rank, and flourishing. The visual logic matters as much as the flower name.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Plum Blossoms in Chinese Poetry and Scholar Culture<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">By the Song dynasty, the flowering plum had become a major subject of literati attention rather than merely a seasonal plant. Looking at plum, composing poetry about it, and painting it offered scholars a language for discussing how a person might remain inwardly whole when public life was disappointing or dangerous. Two figures became especially influential: Lin Bu shaped the ideal of the reclusive plum admirer, while Wang Mian made the ink-painted plum a forceful vehicle for self-presentation.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Lin Bu and the Plum-Recluse Ideal<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\">Lin Bu (\u6797\u900b, L\u00edn B\u016b; 967\u20131028) was a Northern Song poet and hermit associated with Solitary Hill by West Lake in Hangzhou. Later tradition remembered his devotion to plum trees and cranes through the phrase \u201cplum wife and crane children.\u201d That phrase is a cultural summary of his recluse persona, not a quotation that should automatically be treated as his own declaration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">His poem <em>Little Plum of a Hill Garden<\/em> established one of the most enduring plum scenes in Chinese literature. The famous couplet, \u758f\u5f71\u6a2a\u659c\u6c34\u6e05\u6d45\uff0c\u6697\u9999\u6d6e\u52a8\u6708\u9ec4\u660f, evokes sparse shadows slanting over shallow, clear water and a hidden fragrance moving through moonlit dusk. The poem does not announce \u201cresilience\u201d directly. Its thin branches, indirect scent, water, and evening light construct an ideal of quiet distinction: beauty that does not compete for attention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Later artists turned that literary memory into pictures. Du Jin\u2019s <em>The Poet Lin Bu Wandering in the Moonlight<\/em> shows Lin looking toward a gnarled plum tree. The work depicts a Northern Song poet, but the painting itself dates to the late 1400s in the Ming dynasty\u2014a distinction that is frequently lost in online summaries.<sup>[4]<\/sup> The image therefore records Lin Bu\u2019s later cultural afterlife, not an eyewitness Song portrait.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Wang Mian and Ink Plum as Moral Expression<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\">Wang Mian (\u738b\u5195, W\u00e1ng Mi\u01cen; 1287\u20131359) was a Yuan dynasty scholar, poet, and painter whose plum images became important models for Ming and Qing artists. In an ink plum (\u58a8\u6885, m\u00f2m\u00e9i), monochrome brushwork makes the branch, blossom, and written inscription part of one expressive field. Avoiding bright pigment could suggest simplicity and integrity, but it also demonstrated control of ink tone, line, and calligraphic rhythm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The closing lines of Wang\u2019s poem <em>Ink Plum<\/em> read \u4e0d\u8981\u4eba\u5938\u597d\u989c\u8272\uff0c\u53ea\u7559\u6e05\u6c14\u6ee1\u4e7e\u5764: the plum does not seek praise for beautiful color; it leaves only its pure fragrance across the world. In context, \u201cfragrance\u201d works as a moral metaphor for character that does not depend on public approval. Wang\u2019s <em>Fragrant Snow at Broken Bridge<\/em> balances delicate blossoms with rough, calligraphic branches, and its museum record notes both his influence on later plum painters and the motif\u2019s association with purity and endurance under adversity.<sup>[5]<\/sup> Still, monochrome alone does not make every ink plum a political protest. The artist\u2019s inscription, biography, recipient, and date determine whether the work makes a moral claim, marks friendship, or simply explores brushwork.<\/p>\n\n<h2>How to Read Plum Blossoms in Chinese Art<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">Start with what is visibly present, then test the interpretation against the object\u2019s title, inscription, date, and use. This approach is more reliable than attaching a dictionary meaning to the flower.<\/p>\n<div style=\"overflow-x:auto; max-width:100%; max-height:800px;\"><table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Visual evidence<\/th>\n<th>First reading to test<\/th>\n<th>What to verify<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>New blossoms on an old or bare branch<\/td>\n<td>Endurance, moral continuity, or renewal<\/td>\n<td>Is the work contemplative, celebratory, or simply a study of brushwork?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Snow, frost, or withered surroundings<\/td>\n<td>Survival in adversity; winter yielding to spring<\/td>\n<td>Snow is an artistic device and not a fixed botanical record<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Crescent moon, water, or large areas of empty space<\/td>\n<td>Lin Bu, reclusion, subtle fragrance, transience<\/td>\n<td>Look for a poem, figure, or title that strengthens the literary association<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Magpie perched on plum<\/td>\n<td>Joyous news, spring, an auspicious rebus<\/td>\n<td>Confirm that the bird is a magpie and that the composition is decorative or congratulatory<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Plum with pine and bamboo<\/td>\n<td>A group meaning centered on perseverance and upright character<\/td>\n<td>Read it as a winter plant trio, not as plum alone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Monochrome plum with calligraphy<\/td>\n<td>Scholar character, self-expression, or artistic lineage<\/td>\n<td>Read the inscription before inferring political resistance<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">The magpie-and-plum motif is a useful demonstration of wordplay. It can signify \u201cjoy reaches the brow\u201d (\u559c\u4e0a\u7709\u68a2, x\u01d0 sh\u00e0ng m\u00e9i sh\u0101o): the \u201cjoy\u201d of magpie, x\u01d0qu\u00e8, combines with plum, m\u00e9i, which sounds like \u201cbrow,\u201d m\u00e9i. Palace designs and later decorative objects make that rebus explicit.<sup>[6]<\/sup> Yet a bird on a flowering branch is not automatically this phrase. Species, position, inscription, and object type all matter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Three museum examples show why dates and contexts should stay attached to the interpretation:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Zhang Feng\u2019s <em>Magpies with Plum Blossom<\/em> is a seventeenth-century Qing painting, not a Ming work. Its museum description reads the magpies as auspicious birds and the late-winter plum as renewal and the arrival of spring.<sup>[7]<\/sup> <\/li>\n<li>Du Jin\u2019s late-fifteenth-century painting of Lin Bu uses a historical poet to visualize the later plum-recluse ideal; the subject\u2019s dynasty and the artwork\u2019s dynasty are different.<\/li>\n<li>Wang Mian\u2019s fourteenth-century <em>Fragrant Snow at Broken Bridge<\/em> joins representation with calligraphic brushwork, making the branch\u2019s expressive handling part of its moral force.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p class=\"p1\">The same principles apply across painting, porcelain, lacquer, embroidery, and clothing. Material and use can shift emphasis: an intimate ink scroll may invite self-reflection, while a brightly colored bowl made for celebration may prioritize a rebus or seasonal blessing. Our broader guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/chinese-symbols-and-meanings\/\">Chinese symbols and meanings<\/a> explains this context-first method across motifs.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Plum Blossom in the Four Gentlemen and Three Friends of Winter<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">The plum belongs to two famous plant groupings, but the groupings are not interchangeable.<\/p>\n<div style=\"overflow-x:auto; max-width:100%; max-height:800px;\"><table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Group<\/th>\n<th>Members<\/th>\n<th>Main organizing idea<\/th>\n<th>Plum\u2019s role<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Four Gentlemen (\u56db\u541b\u5b50, s\u00ec j\u016bnz\u01d0)<\/td>\n<td>Plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum<\/td>\n<td>Plants used to model cultivated character in poetry, calligraphy, and painting<\/td>\n<td>Steadfast, unyielding character associated with winter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Three Friends of Winter (\u5c81\u5bd2\u4e09\u53cb, su\u00ech\u00e1n s\u0101ny\u01d2u)<\/td>\n<td>Pine, bamboo, plum<\/td>\n<td>Plants joined through their ability to endure or remain expressive in the cold season<\/td>\n<td>Flowering amid austerity; endurance with the promise of renewal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">The collective label Four Gentlemen is traced in a Hong Kong Museum of Art account to the late Ming, although the individual plants had much older literary and artistic histories. The exhibition associated plum with steadfast, unyielding qualities.<sup>[8]<\/sup> Modern introductions often map the four plants neatly onto four seasons. That is a useful teaching device, but it should not be mistaken for the only meaning of every historical set.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Three Friends more directly organize pine, bamboo, and plum around winter survival. A sixteenth- to early-seventeenth-century carved lacquer dish at the Met places the three together and interprets the motif as the perseverance of a lofty person in a harsh environment.<sup>[9]<\/sup> Plum contributes the blossom: delicacy that appears where the viewer expects barrenness. Pine and bamboo add their own evergreen or flexible qualities, so the group conveys more than three repetitions of \u201cresilience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<h2>Plum Blossom Meaning in New Year Decor, Gifts, Tattoos, and Feng Shui<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">Modern uses mix inherited symbolism with later folk convention and personal design choices. Keeping those levels separate prevents historical claims from becoming promises.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>New Year decoration and gifts:<\/strong> Plum branches suit a transition-of-seasons message: cold is passing, spring is approaching, and renewal is welcome. On a congratulatory object, bright color, magpies, paired birds, or a written blessing may make joy more important than the solitary-scholar ideal. Before giving a plum design, consider the recipient and occasion; there is no single etiquette rule shared by every Chinese community.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Five petals and blessings:<\/strong> Five-petaled plums are popularly linked with the Five Blessings (\u4e94\u798f, w\u01d4f\u00fa). In the <em>Great Plan<\/em> chapter of the <em>Book of Documents<\/em>, the five are longevity, wealth, bodily health and peace of mind, love of virtue, and a fulfilled or peaceful end.<sup>[10]<\/sup> Decorative sources do not always use that classical list. A Palace Museum design, for example, explains five plum petals through the popular set fortune, official emolument, longevity, joy, and wealth.<sup>[6]<\/sup> The variation is evidence that \u201cfive petals equal one fixed code\u201d is an interpretive overlay, not a botanical law.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tattoos and logos:<\/strong> A contemporary plum blossom tattoo commonly communicates endurance, recovery, a new beginning, or quiet strength. An artist can strengthen one reading through bare branches, snow, moonlight, calligraphy, or companion plants. This is personal symbolism; there is no traditional Chinese rule assigning good or bad luck to a body location, flower color, or number of blossoms.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Feng shui language:<\/strong> A plum image may be chosen as a visual wish for upright character, spring, or renewal. That cultural association does not demonstrate that the object can alter finances, protect a room, repair relationships, or change a person\u2019s fate. Treat such claims as belief or marketing, not measurable effects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\">For the larger framework separating natural features, literary allusion, rebus, and later folk use, see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/chinese-flower-plant-symbolism\/\">Chinese flower and plant symbolism<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Common Myths and Misreadings About Plum Blossoms<\/h2>\n<div style=\"overflow-x:auto; max-width:100%; max-height:800px;\"><table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Claim<\/th>\n<th>More accurate reading<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\u201cPlum blossom is China\u2019s official national flower.\u201d<\/td>\n<td>This collapses different jurisdictions. The Republic of China (Taiwan) officially designated the plum blossom in 1964.<sup>[11]<\/sup> The People\u2019s Republic of China had not established a national flower when a 2019 national discussion was reported, and no later legal designation was found in the official records checked for this article.<sup>[12]<\/sup> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u201cIt always blooms in deep snow.\u201d<\/td>\n<td>Actual flowering occurs in late winter or early spring and varies by climate, location, and cultivar. Snow-covered plum is a powerful artistic convention, not a worldwide timetable.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u201cRed, pink, and white plum blossoms have fixed lucky or unlucky meanings.\u201d<\/td>\n<td>Color can matter in a specific work, ritual, brand, or personal design, but there is no single classical color code that governs every plum image.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u201cEvery five-petaled plum represents the Five Blessings.\u201d<\/td>\n<td>Five petals can support that popular reading when the object or occasion is auspicious, but scholar paintings, botanical studies, and other plum designs may have no Five Blessings intent. The blessing list itself also varies.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u201cAny five-petaled flower is a plum blossom.\u201d<\/td>\n<td>Many flowers have five petals. Check branch, flower stalk, petal shape, fragrance, leaf timing, title, and companion motifs together.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u201cA plum pattern can ward off harm or guarantee wealth.\u201d<\/td>\n<td>A symbol can express a wish, value, or identity. It does not provide evidence of supernatural protection or material results.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">The practical rule is simple: identify the object, then read the whole scene. Ask what the flower is doing, what accompanies it, who made the work, for whom, on what medium, and when. \u201cResilience\u201d is often a good hypothesis, but it is not a substitute for looking.<\/p>\n\n<h2>FAQs About Plum Blossom Meaning<\/h2>\n\n<h3>What does the plum blossom symbolize in Chinese culture?<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\">It commonly symbolizes resilience, moral purity, integrity, hope, renewal, and restrained beauty. In scholar art it may evoke reclusion or character; in festive decoration it may welcome spring or joyous news. The exact meaning depends on composition, inscription, medium, and historical context.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Is a plum blossom the same as a cherry blossom or wintersweet?<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\">No. <em>Prunus mume<\/em> commonly flowers on bare branches and has rounded, fragrant blossoms. Flowering cherries include many species and cultivars, often with clustered flowers and notched petals. Wintersweet is <em>Chimonanthus praecox<\/em>, a different-family shrub with waxy yellow flowers.<\/p>\n\n<h3>What do the five petals of a plum blossom symbolize?<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\">They are popularly associated with the Five Blessings. The classical list in the <em>Book of Documents<\/em> concerns longevity, wealth, health and peace, virtue, and a fulfilled end, but decorative traditions may use different five-part blessing lists. The meaning is contextual rather than automatic.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Is the plum blossom China\u2019s national flower?<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\">Not as a single designation covering both the People\u2019s Republic of China and Taiwan. The Republic of China (Taiwan) officially designated the plum blossom as its national flower in 1964. The PRC has debated candidates including peony and plum but has not enacted an equivalent national designation in the records checked for this article.<\/p>\n\n<h3>What does a plum blossom tattoo mean?<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\">A modern plum blossom tattoo often represents resilience, recovery, renewal, or quiet integrity. Snow, bare wood, moonlight, magpies, pine, bamboo, or calligraphy can shift the message. The design is a personal interpretation, not an ancient rule about luck or body placement.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">[1] Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kew.org\/plants\/plum-blossom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Plum blossom<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">[2] NC State Extension. <a href=\"https:\/\/plants.ces.ncsu.edu\/plants\/chimonanthus-praecox\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chimonanthus praecox<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">[3] Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. <a href=\"https:\/\/asia.si.edu\/explore-art-culture\/collections\/search\/edanmdm:fsg_F1916.478\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Birds, plum blossoms, and bamboo in winter<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">[4] Cleveland Museum of Art. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clevelandart.org\/art\/1954.582\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Poet Lin Bu Wandering in the Moonlight<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">[5] The Metropolitan Museum of Art. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/art\/collection\/search\/40080\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fragrant Snow at Broken Bridge<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">[6] The Palace Museum. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dpm.org.cn\/ancient\/special\/180908.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yellow-Ground Design for a Bowl with Plum Blossoms and Magpies<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">[7] Minneapolis Institute of Art. <a href=\"https:\/\/collections.artsmia.org\/art\/29431\/magpies-with-plum-blossom-zhang-feng\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Magpies with Plum Blossom<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">[8] Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.info.gov.hk\/gia\/general\/201412\/05\/P201412050591.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Four Gentlemen: A Selection of Flower Paintings from the Hong Kong Museum of Art Collection<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">[9] The Metropolitan Museum of Art. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/art\/collection\/search\/40223\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dish with the Three Friends of Winter<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">[10] Chinese Text Project. <a href=\"https:\/\/ctext.org\/shang-shu\/great-plan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Great Plan<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">[11] Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan). <a href=\"https:\/\/english.president.gov.tw\/Page\/98\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Flower<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">[12] Workers\u2019 Daily via People\u2019s Daily Online. <a href=\"https:\/\/opinion.people.com.cn\/n1\/2019\/0719\/c1003-31244147.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Flower Selection Should Not Be Diverted by Factors Beyond Flowers<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u4e86\u89e3\u6885\u82b1\u5728\u4e2d\u570b\u6587\u5316\u4e2d\u8c61\u5fb5\u751a\u9ebc\u3001\u5982\u4f55\u5f9e\u85dd\u8853\u8207\u8a69\u8a5e\u89e3\u8b80\u6885\u82b1\uff0c\u4ee5\u53ca\u300c\u4e94\u798f\u300d\u8207\u570b\u82b1\u76f8\u95dc\u8aaa\u6cd5\u70ba\u4f55\u5fc5\u9808\u7d50\u5408\u5177\u9ad4\u8a9e\u5883\u7406\u89e3\u3002<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[252],"tags":[255],"class_list":["post-3897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chinese-symbols-meanings","tag-flower-and-plant-symbolism"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3897"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3901,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3897\/revisions\/3901"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinaculturepro.com\/zh_hk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}