A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Griffis frames this fable as advice given by the scholar Sul Chong to Sin Mun of Silla. A magnificent single-stemmed peony reigns over flowers and receives fruit-tree blossoms and garden flowers as envoys. He favours Cinnamon Rose, described in a green skirt and red jacket, until his ministers struggle to obtain an audience. The flower Old Man then appears as an aged beggar in sackcloth with a staff and urges the king to choose prudent company. King Peony blushes deep crimson, acknowledges the rebuke and reforms. These are personified plants in a moral narrative, not humans transformed into flowers.

The historical frame says that the human king likewise changes his conduct, but this retelling alone does not verify that event or the earliest form of the fable. Its assertions that women brought down dynasties and its stigmatizing associations for dancers belong to the admonitory rhetoric. No botanical species is inferred for the flower Old Man from its English name, and the beings are kept together as the court of this specific telling.

Speaking flowersPeony rulerCinnamon RoseOld Man flower
01

Origins & earliest records

Korean tale in an English literary retelling

02

Records & interpretation

Full relevant tale and collection preface directly read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Korean Fairy Tales

    William Elliot Griffis · 1922

    The King of the Flowers, pp. 65–70

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

William Elliot Griffis, Korean Fairy Tales (1922)

The King of the Flowers. The King of the Flowers, pp. 65–70

Complete chapterXI including previously truncated introductory frame read. Personified botanical court, not metamorphosed humans; no inferred scientific identification for Old Man. Sul Chong attribution belongs to Griffis witness, with earlier textual history unverified.

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References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical English literary retellingGriffis, Korean Fairy Tales (1922), The King of the Flowers, pp. 65–70Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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