The Emperor's Flower 帝王之花

Daniel Arrhakis - Visual Arts
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The Emperor's Flower 帝王之花
The Emperor's Flower 帝王之花

The Emperor's Flower 帝王之花

By Daniel Arrhakis / 丹尼尔·红龙 (2021)

With the music : The Empress Of China Soundtrack - Wang Xinyue

youtu.be/gqY43t-RoFw


The Emperor's Flower 帝王之花

Long time ago, China's only female emperor Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty was obsessed with flowers.
She brought the most beautiful flowers for her garden from all over China.
One day while walking she saw one of the gardeners cutting a simple and strange flower from her garden, to give to his recently pregnant wife Li Chun.

The empress was furious and immediately ordered the guards to cut off his head. But the gardener's wife crying, asks her to save him by promising her own child when he is born.
The childless empress agreed and the Gardener's life was spared.

However, several months later the child was born and was to be given to the empress as she had been promised.
But Li Chun quickly regretted it when she saw and felt her only child in her arms. In a desperate act, she flees to the forest and was soon pursued by the palace guards.
When they found Li Chun, she was crying next to an ancient cherry tree with her child in her arms.

The moving scene next to a profusely blossoming cherry tree astonished and moved its pursuers, after all they were in the middle of a cold Winter.
On her way to the palace, the guards told what they had seen and the Empress wanted to see the tree with her own eyes.

When she reached it, the perfume of the flowers filled the monarch's heart with a feeling that she had never felt and the tears came to her eyes, the scent of the tree was the love of a mother.
The empress then allowed her to continue to care for the child under the supervision of the Palace and instructed her to be a court dignitary.

As for the flowers that were the beginning of this story, every year they bloomed on the Empress's birthday, as if to thank her benevolence and wisdom.
The Empress Wu Zetian also had later an active family life, Wu was a mother of four sons and was granted certain honors and privileges which were not enjoyed by any Chinese empresses before or after.
After the death of Gaozong, her husband and emperor, Empress Wu as Empress Dowager and Regent gained power independently and exclusively and, seven years later, assumed the throne in the Zhou dynasty, becoming the only reigning empress in Chinese history .

(Story and Image by Daniel Arrhakis)

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A creative still life with an Asian ancient mood made with stock images and a photo of mine of a dried flower.

© All Rights Reserved
Taken on: November 28, 2021
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with Wu Zetian Wu Zetian Everybody's photos tagged with China Empress China Empress Everybody's photos tagged with China China more » Everybody's photos tagged with Ancient China Ancient China « less
Sets appears in:   • Digital Ancient China    • Asian Poetic Nature    more » • Asian Inspired Digital Art    « less
Camera: NX1000, f/5.6, 1/80 sec, 50mm (=77mm), ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: NX1000
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure Time: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Focal Length: 50mm (35mm equivalent: 77mm)
ISO: 200
Exposure Bias: +0.3 EV
Flash: Fired
Exposure Program: Program AE
Exposure Mode: Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Auto
Color Space: Uncalibrated
Software: Topaz Studio
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