Peonies across cultures: Blooms across nations, shared beauty between China and Japan

The peony, symbolizing national prosperity and happiness, is a celebrated traditional Chinese flower. The 2025 World Peony Conference and the 34th Heze International Peony Culture and Tourism Festival officially opened Tuesday in Heze City, east China's Shandong Province, known as China's "Peony Capital."

As more than just China's iconic flower, the peony has become a cultural ambassador bridging continents and leaving a distinctive Oriental imprint in the history of world horticulture. CGTN invited artists from multiple countries to share how peony culture gains international recognition and cross-cultural charm across diverse cultural contexts. In Japanese culture, the peony represents wealth and prosperity, making its motifs highly popular in textile dyeing art.

Mutsumi Kimura, a Japanese Kyo-Yuzen dyeing artist, admires peony patterns in clothing design. "Peonies are called the king of flowers, they are gorgeous and symbolize good luck. They are often used in formal kimonos," she explained, noting that in Japan, peonies signify nobility and elegance. In this video, let's follow her journey of how artists depict peony motifs, explore the shared admiration for peonies between Chinese and Japanese people, and uncover the China-Japan friendship embodied by this floral symbol.