During the Song Dynasty ten "friends names" were given to ten flowers, which is a common theme in painting. The ten flowers are:
These connections may be a little difficult to figure out, but are based on their general symbolic values, as the lotus flower grows in mud but comes up white and pure and is thus a sacred flower of Buddhism, and is thus called "sacred friend" in this cathegory. The peony has a rich, lustrous appeal, so it is called "lustrous friend" and so on.
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