January 14, 2013

Fuyu-botan (winter peony) flowers in Tsurugaoka-hachimangu


The marbled crimson petals of the flowers are shining softly like fine, flamboyant silk in the pale sunlight of winter.

In classic Chinese poems, the beauty of a peony flower is compared to that of Yang Guifei, who was a woman of peerless beauty for whom an emperor of the Tang dynasty neglected his realm.

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