Floriography (or the symbolism of flower) and politics have always been very preeminent in Chinese traditional arts. It’s heavily found in painting, calligraphy, ceramic, poetry, and so on. For example, a scroll displaying plum blossoms invading branches in winter, is the vehicle to narrate the great victory by a new dynasty (the plum blossom), that chases away the harsh bitterness from the previous one (winter). Flowers are brutally alive: inspiring aestheticism, invigorating scent and empowering liveliness.

I breath in, look around, and realized that even hospitals have now replaced florists by bank outlets in the halls…

Let that sink in, the reality of priorities shifting.

That is the world we’re living in, and Effy‘s investments might have played a rather large role in that. Another example are the so-called flowers revolutions that came and went, with little to no real impact. The real takeover took place though. Largest companies control more resources than most states (human, time and material), so from a leadership and decision making perspective, the mode of selection of state leaders is becoming a moot point.

You can root for A or B, eventually, Effy‘s investors win and we’re left without inspiration and beauty.

Note for non-botanists on some of the floriography found in this comics:

• Tulip Revolution (Kyrgyzstan – 2005): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_Revolution
• Saffron Revolution (Myanmar – 2007): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron_Revolution
•  and so on…

Further notes:

• Metropolitan Museum of Art on Chinese painting: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chin/hd_chin.htm
• Flower Meaning page on Chinese floriography: https://www.flowermeaning.com/chinese-flower-meanings/
• Chinasage on Chinese floriography: https://www.chinasage.info/symbols/flowers-and-fruit.htm

Constructive comments welcome.

G.M.