Xiaolan chrysanthemum Festival

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Xiaolan chrysanthemum Club

Applicant: Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province

Item No.: 492

Project No.: Ⅹ - 44

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Guangdong Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province

Protection unit: Zhongshan Xiaolan Chrysanthemum Culture Promotion Association

Brief introduction of Xiaolan chrysanthemum meeting:

Applicant: Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province

Xiaolan Town, located in the middle of Pearl River Delta, is an important town of Zhongshan City in Guangdong Province. Xiaolan people are good at making potted chrysanthemums. In history, when chrysanthemums were in full bloom, various families put all kinds of chrysanthemum art together to compete, which was called "chrysanthemum test" and later developed into chrysanthemum Festival. The duration of the meeting varies from several days to more than ten days. The activities mainly include appreciating chrysanthemums, racing chrysanthemums, chanting chrysanthemums, painting chrysanthemums, tasting chrysanthemums, floating colors on water, chrysanthemum opera, etc. Xiaolan chrysanthemum club is a unique folk traditional comprehensive Flower Club, which takes flowers as the medium and makes friends with chrysanthemums.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, chrysanthemum was planted in Xiaolan. In the Ming Dynasty, the style of Xiaolan chrysanthemum was flourishing, and the cultivation of chrysanthemum was transferred to plastic pot. In 1782 and 1791, the major surnames held two large-scale chrysanthemum meetings. Jiaxu (1814) of the Qing Dynasty held a large-scale chrysanthemum meeting again. The squire agreed that in order to commemorate Xianchun's settlement in Jiaxu of the Southern Song Dynasty, a grand meeting would be held every Jiaxu year. By 1934, three chrysanthemum meetings had been held. A small chrysanthemum meeting is held every year or several years. In 1994, in order to uphold the tradition, all villages jointly held the Jiaxu chrysanthemum meeting.

Xiaolan chrysanthemum Festival is the most concentrated embodiment of Chinese chrysanthemum culture, with strong participation of the masses, profound cultural connotation and high historical and cultural value. At the same time, chrysanthemum has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people because of its noble character. Xiaolan chrysanthemum, which inherits chrysanthemum culture, plays an important role in cultivating temperament, improving people's cultural literacy, enhancing foreign cultural exchanges and building a harmonious society.