楹聯, is written on paper, cloth or engraved on bamboo, wood dual sentences, the battle is neat, flat and harmonious, is a unique art form of one word and one sound language, for one of the traditional culture of the Han people.
When Chinese New Year's Eve, people like to write, post, and appreciate the Spring League, and introduce good wishes into the Spring League and display them in the great rivers and mountains.
(Qing) Qianlong Imperial Pen Book Seven Words Spring League
1. Wood of the Wood
Yang Lian came with the footsteps of spring.
Yang Lian is also called Chun Lian and Couplet, and her predecessor is Tao Fu. The Qing Dynasty poet Fu Cha Dunchong's "Records of the Yanjing Period" said: "The Spring League, that is, Tao Fu Ye. ”
When the peach tree is smiling lightly in the spring breeze, people see her role in exorcising evil spirits, and often at the beginning of the new year, she is made into a rectangular peach plank that grows six inches and is three inches wide, and hangs it on both sides of the gate to eliminate disasters and avoid disasters. The "Classics" say that the peach "is a fairy wood" and "tastes spicy and evil, so it can disgust the evil qi and control hundreds of ghosts." ”
At that time, the peach symbol would be painted with the names and images of the two gods shēn shū and Yu Lei (yùlǜ), who were legendary gods who were good at curing evil spirits and were worshipped as door gods. The Eastern Han Dynasty scholar Ying Shao's "Customs and Customs" explains in detail the origin of the customs of the Tiemen God: "There are large peaches in the Shuo Mountains of the East China Sea, and there are thousands of miles of pan. To its north there is a ghost gate, the two gods keep it, known as the gods and yu lei, and the lord leads the ghosts. The Yellow Emperor set up a peach board at the door and painted two gods to ward off fierce ghosts. "During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the custom of hanging peach charms during the Spring Festival was already prevalent.
The Han Dynasty Weishu "River Map covering the earth elephant" also has the same record: "There are large peach trees in Taodu Mountain, which are bent for three thousand miles. There are golden roosters on the top, two gods on the bottom, one Yu, one lei, and the reed rope, feeding the ominous ghosts and birds of the genus. The sun shines on the golden rooster, and the chickens sing loudly, so that the chickens of the world will know and sing. The golden rooster flew down and ate all the evil spirits. The ghost fears the golden rooster, and all go away. Slowly, people also wrote auspicious words on peach charms, and then wrote dual verses, replacing the names of Shendi and Yulei. In addition to writing on peach wood, it is also written on other wood and bamboo, which is the link before the production of papermaking.
It can be seen that the nature of the yanglian is wood, and the original meaning of the tree is the pillar in the front of the hall house. It is appropriate to pray with wood for blessings. The curvature of the woodiness stretches straight, showing the balance of yin and yang. As one of the five elements of yin and yang "wood, fire, earth, metal, and water" of the ancient Chinese philosophical system, wood corresponds to the east of the five directions of "east, south, middle, west, and north" and the spring of the five seasons of "spring, summer, long summer, autumn, and winter", as well as the liver of the five viscera "liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys". The original meaning of wood is tree, and its shape and nature subtly integrate the yin and yang qi. Lo and behold, the branches, the flowers, the leaves, and the sprouts of the above ground are upward and outward, yang, corresponding to the gallbladder; the root system of the underground part, under the inside, is yin, corresponding to the liver, and the yin is wrapped in the yang, and the yin and yang are harmonized and safe.
Therefore, when the spring wind blows, when the grass and trees sprout, when the yang qi rises, Yang Lian opens its wings and plays the music of spring toward the mountains and toward the flowing water.
Deeply familiar with the taste of spring, the Later Shu Emperor Meng Chang counted one during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. In Chinese New Year's Eve 964, Meng Chang was not satisfied with the minister Xing Yinxun's inscription on the Tao Fu Zhi Xi, so he personally waved the inscription: "New Year Na Yu Qing, Jia Jie Number Changchun." "The inscription with deep rhyme makes the peach symbol change from the original peach wood plate that exorcizes evil spirits and prays for blessings to a special style that expresses a certain idea- the conjunction. This joint language, which was born in the spring and contains the word "spring", was highly appreciated by the ministers and hung on the wooden pillar of the palace, achieving the first "spring union" in China.
Yang Lian has become one of the most popular words brewed in the New Year. Ah, all the good days, fly up from the yanglian. The heart is condensed, the heart and hands are connected, and the beautiful wishes are generated, and the pair of couplets is deliberated word by word, which is also a kind of cultivation. Cultivation emphasizes the unity of mind and the fusion of qi and blood. Hidden in the deep mountains and old forests from time to time, as long as there is this concentration and tranquility, even if it is only for a moment, even if you are in the downtown, you can harvest harmony. The qi of the liver and gallbladder also comes gently and soothingly, and the righteous qi, clear qi, and spirit qi are all fixed in the body and stronger than the bones and muscles. Thinking about the Yang Lian, what you want is health and beauty.
Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang also liked the way of recreation, he built the capital Nanjing, in order to celebrate, in the Chinese New Year's Eve, the will, the secretary of state must be posted on the door of the Spring League. This custom of "inscribing peach symbols" into "sticking to the Spring League" was promoted to the people's portal overnight from the palace giants. In the early morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year, Zhu Yuanzhang traveled in micro-clothing, strolled through the streets and alleys, and appreciated the Spring Festival. When he found that a castrated pig smith had not posted the Spring League because he could not read the big characters and did not invite someone who could write the Spring League, he also specially ordered someone to take paper and ink, and the pen was immediately mentioned for his title: Both hands split the road of life and death, and cut off the root of non-existence with a knife.
It flew into thousands of households and ushered in the spring light.
Second, the yanglian multi-edge
The birth of The League of Trees has brought many regrets.
Ink, wood, bamboo, paper, pen, and stone all formed a deep relationship in the encounter with Yang Lian.
When the ink falls on the wood, the good woodiness is combined with the ink nature, and its integration and beauty are needless to say. Ink, spicy, warm, non-toxic, at least in the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, in the Han Dynasty to a certain degree of development, to the Tang Dynasty reached its peak. Ink can be used for writing, but also for medicinal purposes, song dynasty medical scientists Ma Zhi, Liu Han edited the "Kaibao Materia Medica" recorded that ink can "stop bleeding, skin, alloy sores", gold sores are common knife and gun wounds. Good ink, mostly made of pine smoke as the main material. Song is listed as the top product by the medical works "Famous Doctors" collected by successive Generations of Chinese physicians. The upper product is the king, the Lord nourishes the life to respond to the heavens, non-toxic, take more, serve for a long time does not hurt people, can lighten the body and benefit the qi, not old and prolong the age. Li Shizhen, a medical scientist of the Ming Dynasty, said: "Ink, use pine smoke to dissolve and make with ash juice, or add incense and other substances." "The materials are both physically and mentally pleasing.
When Mo Yang is on the bamboo, it naturally complements each other. Bamboo not only has a powerful and knotted, just and righteous, high and full belly, not to fall into the world, but also to help people's physical and mental health a lot, she has a sweet taste, slightly cold, can clear the heat to remove annoyance, phlegm to open the depression, calm the panic, etc., the whole body can be used for wonderful uses: the outer skin of fresh bamboo is peeled off, scraped the second layer of thin skin is bamboo ru, bamboo ru is often used to treat lung fever cough, stomach fever vomiting, palpitations and insomnia and other symptoms; the fresh bamboo to split the knot, put on the fire, the yellow juice flowing out of both ends, is bamboo, bamboo asphalt is often used to treat stroke, high fever, panic, Pneumonia and other diseases; the clump of the juice secreted from the hole of the bamboo is bamboo yellow, which has the same function as bamboo asphalt, and the nature is more gentle than that of bamboo asphalt. In addition, bamboo roots are often used to treat postpartum deficiency and other diseases; bamboo leaves are often used to treat high blood pressure, hemorrhoids, mental trance and other diseases caused by heart fire; bamboo shoots are delicious dishes, the main thirst, water channels, qi, contain a lot of food fiber, suitable for people with constipation.
When the ink floats on the paper, it has the same beauty as the bamboo match, paper, sweet, flat, non-toxic. Liu Xi, a Eastern Han Dynasty classicist and exegetical scholar, wrote in the "Interpretation of Names": "The paper person is also as flat as the stone." "The most original and main material of paper is bamboo. In ancient times, it was written on the bamboo jane, first roasting the green bamboo with fire, so that its moisture seeped out like sweat, and then scraping off the green skin to dry, in order to facilitate writing and avoid insect moths, which is called sweat green, also known as killing green. Later, there was a hata paper, which was cut into a certain specification in ancient times and used to write. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun made paper, and the materials selected were also environmentally friendly and healthy, "During the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Emperor, Cai Lun began to collect bark, ancient drapes, fish nets, hemp, boiled papermaking, the world and universal." ”
Therefore, either choose a good wood, or pick a good bamboo, or choose a flat paper, grind a good ink, and write the yang lian, is not a child of nourishment?
Meng Chang knew these wonderful things well, and he knew the knowledge of medicinal herbs. At that time, his mother was infected with the disease, asked the tai doctor to treat, the effect was always bad, changed a lot of tai doctor, no use. Meng Chang made his own bait and gave it to his mother to take, which cured her mother's illness. Later, the ministers had a disease, and Meng Chang personally examined them, and the curative effect was very good, which made the medical officers admire. Meng Chang ordered Han Baosheng, a scholar of Hanlin, and others to record the effects of wood, ink, bamboo, paper, etc. related to the Yang Lian, and collect them together with other herbs into books for the world to study and use.
(Qing) Leng Ming (paragraph) "Meng Chang Thrush Diagram" (partial)
Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the custom of scholars and doctors practicing medicine has prevailed, and Han Baosheng is a Confucian doctor, who is both refined in medical science and knowledge of medicinal properties, especially in the study of famous things. Han Baosheng and the doctors carefully examined the form of the drug, studied the efficacy of the drug, based on the "New Revised Materia Medica" compiled by the Tang Dynasty medical scientist Su Jing and 23 others, referred to a variety of Materia Medica literature, participated in the proofreading, additions, annotations, deletions, revisions, etc., compiled into "Shu Bencao", prefaced by Meng Chang, published in the world.
After the "Shu Materia Medica", the "Kaibao Materia Medica" also made detailed proofreading of the "Shu Materia Medica" and the "New Cultivation Materia Medica", and referred to the Tang Dynasty medicinal scientist Chen Zangqi's "Materia Medica Collection", "publishing the correct alias, adding the items". Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" also quotes and corrects the contents of medical books such as "New Cultivation of Materia Medica", "Materia Medica Collection", "Shu Materia Medica", "Kaibao Materia Medica" and so on, and adds many new contents. The herbs, in this way, grew day by day through the hands of the Fang family, and grew into a vigorous and flourishing posture.
The same is true of the Union, which is more and more popular every year.
3. The Red of the League
The red flame of the Yang Lian, like the sun, brightened people's eyes. Red, also red, Liu Xi said: "Red, Heye, the color of the sun also." ”
The red of the Yang Lian is also reflected in the use of red paper as the carrier, and around the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the use of red paper to write the Yang Lian was particularly popular. In addition to Zhu Yuanzhang's attention and promotion of zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor known as the "Liantianzi", there is also the heartfelt love of the broad masses of the people.
Like the water years, red, with the connotation of enthusiasm, blood, light and hope, full of radiance from the heart. The red in the five colors of "blue, red, yellow, white, and Xuan" in the five elements of yin and yang belongs to fire in the five elements of "wood, fire, earth, gold, and water", and is full of warm and upward nature; in the five viscera "liver, heart, spleen, lungs, kidneys", it belongs to the heart, which represents the red heart, fullness, and affection. The heart has righteousness, and the qi comes out of the hand. I write my heart by hand, and I write wonderful chapters.
(Qing) Qianlong Imperial Pen Book Five Words Spring League
The paper dyed red is a few hearty plants, standard environmental protection products. The ancients were good at obtaining color from natural materials, creating a unique "grass and wood dyeing" in the history of printing and dyeing in the world, so that flowers and trees could bring color to the world. Madder was one of the most important red dyes used by people at the earliest, and was used around the Shang Zhou Dynasty. Tao Hongjing, a medical scientist during the Southern Dynasty Song Dynasty and Qi Liang Dynasty, called madder "dyed madder grass", Han Baosheng said that madder was "dyed grass", and Li Shizhen even elaborated on the shape of madder: "Madder sprouts in December, and the vine is several feet." The square stem has hollow ribs and fine spines on the outside, a few inches a section. Each section has five leaves, the leaves are rough like black medicine leaves, and the face is green and green. It blooms in July and August, and the fruit is as large as a small pepper, with fine seeds. ”
The part of madder used for dyeing is generally a root, and the color of dyeing is called "madder red", which is a dark earth red. In the Western Han Dynasty, the diplomat Zhang Qian brought back the seeds of saffron from the Western Regions and planted them in the Central Plains, which were red and had a bright and pure appearance. Saffron, also known as safflower, its red petals can be directly dyed red, refined pigments and oils, but also can be made rouge, lipstick.
The ancients liked to grow madder and saffron carefully, in addition to dyes, but also for edible and medicinal purposes, and their young leaves could be used as vegetables to save hunger. Both have the effect of invigorating blood and dispelling stasis, madder can also stop bleeding through menstruation, and saffron can also relieve depression and calm the spirit.
Xing Yinxun also likes madder and saffron, and he uses these two flavors of miaocao to dye paper to write the yanglian. Although the words of Tao Fu Zhixi were discarded by Meng Chang, as a poet, he never gave up the study of Yang Lian. He also worships Taoism, always serves secret recipes, and loves to read "Shu Materia Medica". He combined the study of herbs with the study of the Elixir of Medicine, believing that it was all about health. When he was ninety years old, he often covered his white beard, looked at the flowers and grass, and recited aloud the various branches.
When the yang lian is pasted, it is a pleasure to read it. Oh, this pen is well written, this word is used well; well, that word is still a little less hot, and that line is still less flavorful. A thousand tastes, a thousand evaluations. There are satisfactions, and there are times of dissatisfaction, just like the taste of life, as far as the eyes can see, hidden in the heart. Always believe that on the road of life, all the unsatisfactory things are decoration; all the beauty, even if it is tortuous, will arrive and depend on each other for a long time.
The spring breeze was once full of flowers and plants. Yang Lian, floating from ancient times, skillfully hides the glory of the hundred grasses; runs to the future, gently promoting the essence of the hundred trees. Thinking of her, writing about her, reading her, the days we look forward to, will fly from afar and greet us with smiling faces. (Editor-in-charge: Shen Feng)