FROM THE GARDEN OF ZEN: kaido

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May 2, 2023

Kaido (Malus halliana) flowers: Kaizo-ji

The abundant bright sunlight from the spring sky is bringing back the vigor of life to various living things after their winter dormancy.

Knowing that the cherry blossoms are about to fall in concert soon, these magenta flowers of Kaido are beginning to come into full bloom, like a diva of great beauty who tries to inherit the leading role on the spring stage.

As is well known, in China which is the place of origin of a Kaido tree, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang likened this elegant flower to his beloved beauty, Yang Kuei Fei, who was dozing off drunkenly in a bewitching manner in his quiet garden filled with the fragrance of lively spring air.

According to the eternal cycling of the seasons brought about by the universe, every seasonal flower blooms gracefully with all its might and then pretty soon fades away, leaving an evanescent shadow of an immortal beauty.

Kaido (Malus halliana) flowers: Kaizo-ji

May 7, 2022

Kaido (Malus halliana) flowers: Kaizo-ji

Enticed by a flood of blazing colors in the spring sun, I wandered into the humble garden of this old temple and found the old tree of Kaido bearing countless rose-red flowers.

As if to try to inherit the principal role in spring flowers from the gradually declining flowers of Sakura, the Kaido flowers drooping from the slender twigs were in full bloom and were decorating the tranquil garden in such a way as to put rouge on its cheeks.

Kaido is a flowering tree of rose family native to China, and the Chinese people have highly praised its flowers of maidenly grace since very remote times.

This flower is sometimes called "the broken heart flower" there, according to the ancient legend that, when a girl was forcibly separated from her lover and cried out longing for him, the beautiful rose-red flowers of Kaido appeared in the place where her tears of blood had dripped.

Kaido (Malus halliana) flowers: Kaizo-ji

The combination of the rosy shades of the flower petals and the vivid green of the new leaves causes the exquisite elegance of these Kaido flowers in the gentle spring sun.

At the tip of the crimson floral axes extending from the slender branches, these bewitching flowers are hanging their heads low like taking a long afternoon nap.

They seem to keep sleeping gracefully like Empress Yang Kuei-Fei of the Tang dynasty who is known as the legendary lady of unmatched beauty in China. She became tipsy and felt into a doze in the peaceful palace garden before the eyes of Emperor Xuan Zong who was deeply enchanted by her.

Kaido (Malus halliana) flowers: Kaizo-ji

These graceful flowers will soon scatter and vanish completely in the rapid flow of the seasons. The long-awaited flowers of each season bloom for a short period of time and quickly fade away without clinging to the branches.

In many cases, like Sakura or Ume flowers, as soon as flowers fall altogether, fresh green leaves emerge in a great hurry as if to wipe out the remains of the flowers, which lets me forget the delightful memory that the entrancing flowers were once in full bloom.

Although I know that such is the way of this very transitory world, the swift passage of the seasons often brings on the subtle feeling of melancholy and loss, especially in spring.

Kaido (Malus halliana) flowers: Kaizo-ji

Kaido (Malus halliana) flowers: Genji-yama park (Kita-kamakura)

April 8, 2021

Kaido (Malus halliana) flowers: Kita-kamakura

Kaido (aronia) is a small garden tree native to China, which produces numerous five-petaled, dark pink flowers in spring. The flower stalk of Kaido is slender and its elegant flower looks downward gracefully as if to be dozing off.

This flower has been praised in China since ancient times and, together with plum and peony flowers, it is considered one of the "three outstanding flowers of spring."

In China, it is also called a "sleeping flower" after Yang Guifei in the Tang Dynasty.

According to legend, when Emperor Xuanzong summoned Yang Guifei, she appeared with a tipsy and sleepy face, which let him murmur "the sleep of my beautiful Kaido flower is not enough yet." Yang Guifei herself is said to have loved the flower of Kaido.

In China, this flower has been loved along with plum and peony flowers traditionally, and is often depicted as a subject in Chinese poetry and paintings.