Folk sayings are the closest to people's lives in our traditional culture. The saying is the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancestors, but also the experience of the people's life, and at the same time, it can also reflect the attitude and expectations of the ancestors to life.
The scope of colloquialisms is very broad, and many colloquialisms can highlight the details of people's lives. For example, the old ancestors have the saying that "the kitchen is three elephants, and the wealth comes to prosperity".
So, what does the "three elephants" in this saying refer to? Why does these "three elephants" make the family "rich and prosperous"?
First of all, the first image is "full of rice tank".
Whether in ancient times or today, the most inseparable thing in our lives is the four words of "food, clothing, shelter and transportation", and from ancient times to the present, there is a saying that "the people take food as the sky". Therefore, "eating" is very important for everyone.
In addition, the life of ancient people generally relied on farming, and in the era of farming, the most critical thing was the weather. If the wind and rain are smooth, it will naturally be a good year. But if the wind is not adjusted and the rain is not smooth, it will inevitably be a bad harvest. In order to combat this uncertain year, the ancestors often stored a certain amount of grain at home.
The richer the family, the more food it has. And the "full tank of rice" is often a symbol of family wealth.
Secondly, the second image is "oil wafting incense".
In ancient times, when material life was very scarce, oil was a very valuable thing for many families.
In the beginning, people used animal fat as oil, which is what people in many places now call "meat oil". Ancient animal husbandry is far less developed than today, it is difficult for people to eat meat every day, so animal fat is one of the more precious ingredients in the home for people, and it is actually difficult for ordinary people to eat animal fat often.
Vegetable oil for the ancient times when the productivity was not developed, although it was not as precious as animal oil, it would not be as popular as it is today.
Therefore, if any family stir-frys with oil every day and can smell the aroma of oil every day, it means that this family must not worry about eating and wearing.
Finally, the third image is "tea is not hidden".
The ancients often said that there are seven things to open the door, chai rice oil salt sauce vinegar tea.
Tea was an indispensable part of life for the ancients, but it is also the part that best reflects the wealth and nobility of the family.
We often use "coarse tea and light rice" to mean that the meal is simple and the life is bitter. It can be seen that the status of tea and salt in the eyes of the ancients is the same. Many times, the ancients would only take out the tea treasured in the family to entertain when entertaining distinguished guests. Folk people often can only afford to use some coarse tea, only those rich families, can afford to drink fine, expensive tea.
And if the family does not hide the tea like a baby, it means that the material conditions at home are very rich.
The folk saying that "the kitchen is three elephants, and the wealth is rich" is actually the inversion of cause and effect. It is not because of these three situations in the kitchen that it will be a rich family, but because it is a rich family, so there will be three such situations in the home.
Today, our material life is extremely rich, the so-called three elephants, whether it is a full tank of rice, oil fragrance, or tea is not hidden, is now the standard of ordinary people. This saying of the old ancestor is only the experience summed up by the old ancestor in that living environment at that time.