Wang Zengqi: Plum blossoms

Plum flowers

"Snowflakes, ice flowers, plum blossoms..." My little granddaughter always sang this nursery rhyme. In fact, she had never seen the real plum blossoms, but only from the paintings I had drawn.

Zhou Zizhi's "Zhupo Poetry" Yun: "There is a plum in the southeast, and the cover has been since recent times." When Yu was a child, he still did not see it. During the Yuan I, lu zhi had poems in the gongfang, and there was no one who gave this poem before. During the political peace, Uncle Li Duan was in the monk's house in Guxi, the First Year's Eve, and tasted two masterpieces, the next chapter of the cloud: "Cheng's garden is five days, and thousands of gold are rewarded with Zhu Lan." Mo yin has it in his family today, so he looks at it as a normal two-class view. Looking at uncle Duan's poem, you can know that the previous day did not taste it. Judging by what he meant, Lamei was transmitted from the north to the south. However, according to my impression, there are more in the south and rare in the north, and it is especially difficult to see those who grow into big trees. I saw one in the Summer Palace, planted in a large flower pot, placed at the corner of the staircase. Because it is not the time of flowering, the green leaves are scattered, and no one pays attention. Several of the script-writing comrades who lived with me did not know what it was.

There are many people in my hometown who have plum blossoms. There are four large plum trees in my backyard. These four plums, from the time I remember, have been so big. It was probably planted when my great-grandfather was alive. I have never seen such a big plum anywhere else. The main stem has a thick soup bowl and is planted side by side on a brick flower stand. The hearts of these four plums are purple-brown, which is said to be a famous species, the so-called "sandalwood heart mouth". There are two kinds of lamei, one is sandalwood heart and the other is white heart. My hometown is more white-hearted, and it is called "Ice Heart Lamei", and the Tanxin is reduced to "Dog Heart Lamei". What does Lamei have to do with dogs? It makes no sense! Because it is a dog's heart, we don't think much of it.

However, in good conscience, Lamei is very good-looking. It is characterized by a lot of flowers – which is why we don't value it very much. Scarce is expensive, so many flowers, there is nothing rare. On each branch is a flower, not a single empty branch. And it grew very densely, one by one, squeezed into a string. Such a large four large plum trees, full of trees and flowers, yellow and brilliant spit into the clear winter sky, so lively, and so quiet, is really an unusual realm. But we're used to it, once a year.

Every year in the waxing moon, we have to fold the plum blossoms. It's my business to go up the tree. The wood is loose, the branches are fragile, and the trees are a bit dangerous. However, Lamei has many branches, which is easy to climb, and I am young and light, and it is the time when "a tree can be a thousand times a day", and I have never fallen. My sister pointed below, "This branch, this branch!" - Oh, yes, yes! "What we want is a few branches that come out of the side of the horizontal side, so it is not stupid; we want a few half-opened, most of which are bone, so that they can be kept in the porcelain bottle for several days - if it is fully open, a few days will be thanked."

It's snowing, it's New Year's. On the first day of the Chinese New Year, I got up early, went to the back garden to pick a few plums full of bones, peeled off the bones, and used very fine copper wires- this copper wire is used to wear beaded flowers, which is called "filigree", and intersperses these bones into flowers with sideburns. There is a shop wearing beaded flowers at the city gate of the north gate of our county, and when I pass by when I come home from school, I always have to go in to see how a few female workers wear beaded flowers, so I use their methods to wear all kinds of plum beaded flowers. I have a few pecans embedded in these plum beads—there's a diptycos in a corner of my backyard. Huang Lamei, Hong Tianzhu, I am still very proud: that is really beautiful. I gave these plum beads to my grandmother, to my great aunt, to my stepmother. They combed their hair and put it on. Then, say goodbye to each other. I should be a arts and crafts artist and write what a fart novel!

Sponsored by the Propaganda Department of the Cpc Dongchuan District Committee

Source | Literature and art of the Republic of China

Typography edits | Li Zhujin

Editor-in-charge | Wang Changhong

Editor| Wu Li Mao Wenhui

Final Review | Wang Jieyun Li Ze