The mascot of the Beijing Winter Olympics, "Ice Pier", has been completely on fire in the skyline! "A pier is difficult to find" is the norm, "ice pier freedom" is a show off capital, more people simply do it themselves, build snowmen, pinch color mud, weave wool, only for DIY a "ice pier".
The "ice pier" is the world's and China's, and its body is full of Chinese elements: the panda as a mascot is a rare animal unique to China; the rock sugar gourd, which is inspired by the shape, is a special snack of old Beijing. In fact, Chinese have liked ice since ancient times: ice is clean and jade, which is the highest praise for natural landscapes or personality. In classical Chinese poetry, the "ice element" can be said to be pitched.
The "ice pier" in the north, the atmosphere!
The main venue of the Beijing Winter Olympics is in present-day Beijing and Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, which belongs to the Yellow River Basin and is a typical northern region of China. "Northern scenery, thousands of miles of ice, thousands of miles of snow drifting", northern China's winter is cold and ice and snow, the mother river of the Chinese nation, the Yellow River, usually "the water of the Yellow River comes up from the sky", and in winter, it is also a frozen scene.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the outstanding statesman and poet Cao Cao, on the way to the North, felt the landscape along the way and wrote a group of "Steps Out of the Xia Gate". The third of them, "Heshuo Han", reads:
The countryside is different, and the river is in the middle of winter.
The flow is floating, and the boat is difficult to travel.
The cone does not enter the ground, and the worm is profound.
The water is exhausted, and the ice is strong.
The hermit is poor, and the brave man is light.
The heart is often lamented, and the relatives are sad.
Luckily, even Ya, the song is sung in Yongzhi.
This is a poem describing the natural landscape and customs of the Yellow River Basin in the north. Heshuo, which refers to the area north of the Yellow River, roughly corresponds to today's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region , that is, the area where the Winter Olympics will be held. This place is in the middle of winter, it is not the usual cold: "the flow of floating, boats are difficult to travel", the river is frozen, it is difficult to travel; "the cone does not enter the ground, the worm is profound", the whole earth is a lump of ice, the awl can not be inserted; "the water is exhausted, the ice is strong", the Yellow River has a thick layer of ice, hard enough to step on it at will, of course, you can also come to an unrestrained speed skating, or a dazzling play skating?
When the time came to the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai wrote in the famous "Difficulty in Walking":
Golden bottle sake bucket ten thousand, jade plate zhen shame straight ten thousand dollars.
Stopping the cup and throwing the spoon can not eat, drawing the sword and looking around at a daze.
If you want to cross the Yellow River Ice Plug River, you will climb the Taihang Snow Mountain.
Idle to fish on the Bixi, suddenly take a boat to dream of the day.
It is difficult to walk, it is difficult to walk, how wrong is it, and now it is safe?
Long winds and waves will sometimes hang directly on the clouds and sails to the sea.
"If you want to cross the Yellow River Ice Plug River, you will climb the Taihang Snow Mountain", the ice of the Yellow River, the snow of Taihang, is the most spectacular northern winter scene! In the cold winter, the big river suddenly lost its gushing, and even in the place where the river flowed straight down like Hukou Waterfall, many water streams seemed to be frozen in an instant, and the ice hanging still maintained the appearance of the former agitation. Majestic Taihang, from north to south, runs for eight hundred miles, has also been full of spring flowers, has also been summer and shady, and has also been dyed with layers of forests, and now, the layers of mountains are stacked overnight.
The "ice pier" of the south, Reiki!
If the characteristics of the northern "ice pier" are spectacular, then the characteristic of the southern "ice pier" is full of spirit.
Winter in southern China, although wet and cold, is not as cold as in the north, and occasionally ice and snow will be extremely exciting. Fan Chengda, a famous poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, returned to his hometown of Suzhou in his later years and wrote a group of sixty "Four Hours of Pastoral Miscellaneous", describing the four seasons of the southern countryside. In "Winter Pastoral Miscellaneous", there is such an article:
Put the boat open to see the snowy mountains, and the wind will be cold and more condensed in the evening.
Sit and listen to a penny of jade shattering, I don't know if the lake has become ice!
This poem describes the poet's winter boat trip to Taihu Lake. It had just snowed before, and it was covered in silver makeup. After the snow, the air is clear, and there is also a chill. One day, when I looked at the past, I saw that the red sun was sinking in the west, and a round of su moon was hanging in the sky. The wind rose little by little, only to see a little spark swaying, and I felt the cold getting heavier. In the middle of the night, Fan Chengda, who slept in the cabin, did not know whether he was awakened by the cold air or by what sound, and he could only hear the sound of "chirping" in his ears, which was crisp and crisp. When he went to the bow of the ship, he saw that the boatman waved a bamboo penny, and the ice ballast like crushed jade splashed up. The boatman said: "It is too cold at night, and the lake is already frozen!" If you don't knock, the boat will freeze, and you won't be able to do it! ”
Take advantage of people's inattention and freeze the boat? Oh, it turns out you're such a naughty "ice pier"!
Let's look at the poems of another Southern Song Dynasty poet:
Childish ice
Song Yang Wanli
The golden basin of the child is shed from the ice, and the colored silk is worn as a silver pot.
Knocking into a jade chime through the forest sounded, suddenly making the sound of glass breaking the ground.
Children play with ice, which is more lively and cute. In the middle of winter, the washbasin was placed outside the house for a night, and the water in the basin was all frozen, and the children used silk thread to wear it up and beat it like a bell. I was having a lot of fun, and suddenly I lost my hand, the ice fell to the ground, and the "whoosh" shattered into glass slag...
In ancient Chinese poetry, there is also "curling"
Next, let's talk about an object related to ice – curling. One would argue that curling didn't originate as an ice and snow competition in the West? How come there were curling pots in ancient China?
Indeed, there were also curling in ancient China. The difference is that Western curling is a prop for ice and snow sports, while ancient Chinese curling is a container that can hold ice, water, and wine; the same is true, Western curling, Chinese curling, are all rock products: it is said that the most authentic competition curling is made of granite rock from Scotland that does not contain mica; while ancient Chinese curling is carved from fine white jade.
Regarding ancient Chinese curling, the most famous verse comes from the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Changling's poem "Furong Lou Sends Xin Wei": "If relatives and friends in Luoyang ask each other, a piece of ice heart is in the jade pot." "Ice and jade are indeed things that match the temperament very well." The former captain of the Chinese women's curling team is called Wang Bingyu, called this name, engaged in this sport, it is a perfect match!
In fact, in ancient times, there were people who wrote poems to sing curling:
Jade Curling/Curling
Tang Li Cheng
The jade is only strong, and the body of the pot is more rounded.
The humble heart contains the multitude of elephants, and the things should be subjected to the cold spring.
Warm and moist nature, pure and natural.
The sun melts and the snow shines brightly.
To judge the merits of Ning Zai, selflessly illuminate the bias.
Ming will be the water mirror pair, white and powder connected.
Whisking is finally beautiful, and carrying it is passed on.
Don't be tired and hate Bao Gong.
You look at this curling, it is really beautiful: "jade is strong, the body of the pot is more round", white jade carved, the shape is elegant and rounded; "warm and moist nature, pure and pure nature", people say "warm as jade", and this warmth comes from natural creation; "the sun melts light, the snow shines brightly", the daylight is transparent, bright as snow; "the whisk is finally beautiful, carrying the legend", such a good curling, I love it, rub and rub, wipe and wipe - see here, have you ever associated, the Winter Olympic curling competition, What do athletes look like repeatedly rubbing ice around a curler?
Photo by Ang Lee