故宫花开~知否，知否？应是绿肥红瘦

春天的北京繁花似锦，眼下海棠已进入了盛花期。北京故宫博物院内的海棠花竞相绽放，芳香四溢。

Pink and red flowers, burgundy walls and ground strewn with blood-colored petals. A colorful chaos has hit the Forbidden City as the majestic begonias bloom in the imperial palace.

海棠在我国有着悠久的栽培历史，生长在海拔50-2000米的平原和山地。海棠种植在我国的最早记录可以追溯到先秦时期。人们喜欢海棠，不仅因其花姿潇洒，花开似锦，还缘于海棠有“玉棠富贵”的寓意。因此，海棠经常种植于古代的宫廷御园之中。
The begonia is an endemic plant to China, growing on plains and mountains at altitudes ranging between 50 to 2,000 meters.
The flower has long been synonymous with riches and honor, and so has taken up residence in royal gardens in ancient times.
But the earliest records of planting begonias in China can be traced back to the pre-Qin Dynasty period.

海棠花在汉代被融入园艺。唐代的花卉培育技术提升，海棠的种植面积也扩大了。到了宋代，人们对海棠的喜爱更是达到了极致，海棠被誉为“花中神仙”。
In the Han Dynasty, begonias were an integral part of the garden art. In the Tang Dynasty, the cultivation techniques of the flower improved and their planting area expanded. During the Song Dynasty, adoration reached its apogee with the begonia lauded as the "God of flowers."

宋代女词人李清照曾在《如梦令》中借海棠表达春日易逝的惋惜之情：
Li Qingzhao, a Song Dynasty poet and essayist, described her mourning of the fleeting spring in "Like a Dream"：

昨夜雨疏风骤，浓睡不消残酒。

Last night the wind blew hard and rain was fine;

Sound sleep did not dispel the aftertaste of wine.

试问卷帘人，却道海棠依旧。

I ask the maid rolling up the screen.

"The same crab-apple tree," she says, "is seen."

知否，知否？应是绿肥红瘦。

"But don't you know,

O, don't you know.

The red should languish and the green must grow?

海棠花也被叫做断肠花，关于花的名字背后还有着一个传说。据说在古代，有一名女子每天都盼望再次见到心爱的人，但至死都没能相见，她的眼泪浇灌出了海棠花。这样的传说也吸引了古往今来的文人墨客借海棠花来抒发自己的相思与感伤。
Legend has it that begonias grew out of the tears of a lovesick woman who spent her lifetime waiting for her sweetheart, crying in pain over their separation and eventually dying without a reunion. The myth could explain why the literature surrounding the begonias exhibits elements of bitter love, and a large body of poems about the flower is tainted with sadness.