There is a locust tree downstairs from the apartment and it was the first loved one I met here.
It was August, the first sunny day after the rain, and it was a little cold, and I was dragging my suitcase and rumbling down the streets of a foreign land, and a gust of wind passed, and the clear noise between the trees made me stop and look up: a locust tree, as if in response to me, a few leaves fell in clusters. There are also locust trees here, which are the same as the locust trees in my hometown.
There are also poplars, willows, elms, and plane trees, all of which are my old knowledge. There are new acquaintances: horse chestnut trees, beech trees and linden trees, which are tall and dignified, tall and handsome.
My mother asked on the phone, "Do you have any friends over there?" ”
I thought about it and replied, "There are many." ”
The mother laughed and said that she would be relieved. I didn't say what kind of friends I was, these trees were indeed my best friends. I go to see them from time to time, some alone, some standing together. Looking at their greenery in summer, or their wonderful posture in winter, can make me feel calm and happy.
After studying for many years, I returned to nature and tried to be a child again, receiving an education in landscapes and trees. Trees have taught me a lot, more than a university has taught me.
The Education of the Tree (Three Books)
Written by | Three books
Spring and noon in the shade of green locusts
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"Ying Tianchang"
(Tang) Wei Zhuang
The yellow warbler in the shade of the green locust speaks, and there is no one in the deep courtyard in the spring day and noon.
Painting curtains hanging, golden phoenix dance, lonely embroidery screen incense.
Blue sky clouds, no fixed place, empty dreams come and go.
Night and night green window wind and rain, broken intestines Junxin?
There is a big locust tree in our village, the thickness of the tree is four or five, it grows in the doorway next door to my house, the age of the tree is less than three or four hundred years, and no one in the village knows it. Someone from another village came to visit my father, and my high school classmates came to me, and when I arrived at the village, I only had to inquire which street the big locust tree was on, and there was no one who could not find my house.
Next door was the old village chief's house, who hated and feared the locust tree. When the big tile house in front of the building was built, the arms of the old locust tree were cut off, and not long after, his old father died of an acute illness. It was said that this was a sacred tree, and the old village chief's family did not want to believe it, but they did not dare not believe it, and they did not dare to cut it down again.
We used to play under the big locust tree as a child, hide and seek, hopscotch, and catch cats (a kind of tile game), when the tree had broken its arm, the center of the trunk had dried up, and the arms were forked, hollow and bare, and the area was full of leaf dust. Nevertheless, the other arm remains vigorous, supporting the sparse and lush, like another large tree growing on the trunk.
A few years ago, the old village chief's family built a building, but still did not dare to move the locust tree, and the zhuangji was indented to one meter, so the village made up for the width. And looking at the feng shui, the head door should be opened on this side, and most of it is facing the locust tree. I heard that the village elder's wife often cursed the tree in the open and in the dark, and at night she cut it with a knife and poured garbage into the heart of the tree. The locust tree is becoming more and more delicate, and there is no business, but even if it is dead, I am afraid that I will still stand there, and no one will dare to move.
As a common tree in the north, the locust tree has been a place for people to live, rest and even discuss since ancient times. The locust tree was considered to have a divine nature in the Zhou Dynasty, and the Taigong JinKui (太公金匮) says: "The King of Wu asked Taigong Ri: 'There are many gods in the world, and if there are feared to be tested, why should they be treated?'" 'The prince invites the tree to be in the king's gate, and the beneficial ones enter, and the unhelpful ones are far away. "There were three large locust trees planted outside the court of the Zhou Dynasty, symbolizing the Three Dukes, and when Taishi Taifu Taibao saw the Heavenly Son, he stood under the big locust tree. In the Tang Dynasty, the official road of the post road was planted with green locusts, as the poem says: "Chang'an Twelve Locust Flowers And Strange".
For me, locust trees mean home and spring. Spring day and afternoon, dense leaves new green, locust flowers white fragrance, time clear and long. The late Tang Dynasty poet Wei Zhuang's "Ying Tianchang" wrote out the tenderness in the depths of my memory. "The yellow warbler in the shade of the green locust, the deep courtyard is no one in the spring day and noon", the yin is the shade, and the four words of "in the shade of the green locust" recall how much forgotten time. The shade of the locust tree is different from other shades, more turquoise, more delicate, more idyllic, especially in the courtyard, inside and outside the earthen wall, the shadows of the trees are beautiful, clear and vivid.
"Yellow warbler language", after hearing the song of yellow warbler, we will know that these cute little birds call crisply, chirping, as if talking. In the long and quiet day and afternoon, the yellow warblers call in the shade of the locust tree, and the lonely people will find them very lively and even a little noisy. The poet used the word "language", and we might as well ask: What is the yellow warbler saying? These two verses give a picture of what it feels like to be free to imagine.
"Painting curtain hanging, golden phoenix dance, lonely embroidery screen incense", this is the woman's boudoir, rich classical atmosphere, the curtain hangs low, the room outside the room is separated. The screen is embroidered with golden phoenixes, double pairs of dances, incense sticks, carving out the silence of a room.
These sentences are not meant to tell us how lonely a woman is in a boudoir, she is lonely, but loneliness is not poetry, the beauty of words, the aesthetics of loneliness, is poetry. If you post a few poems like this in the circle of friends, I will like it, and it is not lonely, you know.
The next film is directly lyrical. The blue sky clouds are a metaphor for the wanderer, waking up in the night, the green window wind and rain, and the locust flowers falling a little. The spring light is old, but may the king's heart be like my heart, and it will not fail and miss each other.
Qing Dai Quheng's "Huaishi Hengjing"
Banyan trees that fall in February
"Liuzhou February Banyan Leaves Fall Even Question"
(Tang) Liu Zongyuan
The eunuchs are miserable, and the spring is like autumn.
The mountain city has run out of rain and flowers, and the banyan leaves are full of warblers crying.
Many villages in Guangdong have a large banyan tree at the mouth of the village, with lush leaves and branches. Under the tree, there is a circle of stone benches, three or five old people sit idly on it, cool off, basking in the sun, there are stone tables next to it, several old people playing cards, and children playing around. The big banyan tree does not wither in winter, and the green strips are often tied with red head ropes, and some incense is inserted at the roots, and the villagers make wishes and pray for blessings.
Passing through those villages and seeing the big banyan trees, the feeling of praise came to my heart. If I had grown up here and left my hometown, I would have missed the big banyan tree, and whenever I came back from outside and saw the big banyan tree at the mouth of the village, I saw my childhood. The big banyan tree guards the years and guards the tranquility of life. I envy the serene old man under the tree, and it is a very happy thing to be able to grow old like this.
Guangxi also has banyan trees, and the climate is similar to that of Guangdong. When northerners arrive in Lingnan, they first feel uncomfortable with the climate, and they are always amazed by the tropical plants with huge and lazy leaves, and then the seasons. It is not that the four seasons are different, it should be said that Lingnan only has two seasons of summer and autumn, the flowering leaves are different from the north, the bauhinia blooms at the end of the year, and the banyan tree leaves in February.
Liu Zongyuan wrote this poem for this purpose, and he felt quite misplaced by the reversal of the seasons. The title of the poem is "Liuzhou February banyan leaves fall even", February is the season of grass and trees in the north, but in Liuzhou City, it is in Xiaoxiao. "Eunuchs and thoughts are miserable together", as a courtier, far away from the foreign land, eunuchs are trapped and worried about the journey, they have been miserable together, if they are familiar with the celestial phenomena and grass and trees, they can also talk about my heart, but in front of me is "spring and half like autumn". The difference in seasons makes him feel that he is not only exiled in space, but also in time. The dislocation of the seasons is more insurmountable and hopeless than the spatial distance.
"The mountain city has been rained and flowers have been exhausted", a rain has passed, and the hundred flowers of the mountain city have been knocked down, there are bauhinia flowers, and there are also kapok bars. "The banyan leaves are full of warblers crying", the banyan leaves fall in the garden, the warblers are crying, and he may be asking himself: What year, month, time and place is this?
Qing Dong Bangda "Willow Wave Smelling Warbler Imperial Title Axis"
Du Fu and the Evil Tree
The Evil Tree
(Tang) Du Fu
Alone around the virtual path, often holding a small axe.
The shadows are quite mixed, and there are many evil wood scissors.
Goji berries because I have, chickens inhabit Nai Ru He.
Those who know no talent, grow up to be long.
Du Fu in this poem is in a humble state, holding a small axe, circling the hut and cutting down the "evil trees". What is an evil tree? There is no good or evil in the tree, the so-called evil tree, of course, refers to those useless trees, and the word "evil" also reveals man's disgust for them. Du Fu's cuteness lies in the fact that while he cuts, he jokes, ridicules the evil tree, and also ridicules himself, reading it without feeling disgusted, but humorous and joyful.
Virtual fasting, like Tao Yuanming's "virtual room dust thinking" situation, means that the heart is idle, and there is no personnel disturbance, so it is called virtual fasting. "Little Axe Ke", this name is also cute, the axe sounds bulky, Du Fu is actually secretly using allusions, the ancient inscription: "Hao Mo will not be chopped, will look for axe Ke".
It had only been a few days, and the shadow was mixed with evil trees, so he sighed: "There are still more evil wood shears." Evil wood is hard to get rid of, and this is where evil wood is disgusting. Du Fu was talking to evil wood while cutting, and he said to the wolfberry, Well, just when you were born for me to prolong my life, what about the chicken perch, why did you grow up here? Chicken perching is a soap horn tree, or so named after the chicken perched on it, which has many thorns.
The last two sighs are meaningful: "Those who know the unworthy, grow up to be rambling." The oaks written in "Zhuangzi" are all unworthy, which is an affirmation and praise for inaction and uselessness. Du Fu lamented that the wood is not wood, the more unfinished, the more ferocious it grows, and the vitality is particularly vigorous, which is another kind of realization.
The chicken perch in the poem reminds me of the holly tree in my hometown. The tree grew in the east corner of the front yard, I don't know who planted it in what year, the parents can no longer remember, Xu is a branch that was inserted by which child when the foundation of the house was divided. We don't have anyone there growing holly because it's useless. In those years, the family house was small and the courtyard was large, and there were four plane trees in the front yard, that was the tree of the Eight Classics, and holly could not be counted as a tree in our eyes, but at most it was a bad wood.
The family raises seven or eight chickens a year, and the chickens pick up the soil around holly every day, pull chicken manure everywhere, and make it dirty. Holly was even more disliked by this, and several times her mother proposed to cut it down, but after talking about it, she never saw action, and year after year, she still let it grow there, and strangely no one cut it and did not see it grow again.
I have some pity for the holly tree, which seems to know that it is not welcome, and it cannot be deceived, and it stands there in a disheveled manner. There was a lot of laundry, there was not enough clothesline, so I put a handkerchief and socks on the holly, and then I felt that it was still somewhat useful, and the water dripped on the leaves, and it seemed to open its eyes, green and glowing. In winter, the trees withered, and the whole yard was a touch of green, and I understood why it was called "holly", which was a good name.
Later, the family built a house, the trees in the front yard were all cut down, the four plane trees were made of rafters, and the main branch was made of tables and chairs and bed cabinets. Holly trees, who remembers in the hustle and bustle, is nothing more than when the firewood is burned.
Intuitive perception of life
Also the true face of ancient poetry
Beijing News Book Review Weekly Weekend Poetry Reading Column
From the first 50 issues, 40 articles were selected and collected
"Drizzle Wet Streamer"
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"Reading Poetry on the Weekend: Drizzle and Wet Streamers"
Author: Three books
Edition: Qinghai People's Publishing House, January 2022