In the verses of the "Chu Ci", there are many names for herbs, trees and vegetables.
□ Zeng Garden
The Chu Ci is another masterpiece after the Book of Poetry. One of the functions of the Book of Poetry is to allow readers to "know more about the names of grass, trees, insects and fish", and the role of the Chu Ci may be similar. However, when modern people read the Book of Poetry and the Chu Ci, they are full of a wide variety of unknown plants. This is the biggest barrier to reading. The Chu Ci may be even worse. Because the ancient cultural center was in the north. The plants of central and southern China that appear in the Chu Ci are not known to the Northern Cultural Center at that time. With the passage of time, the names of plants have changed, and most people have no understanding of the Chu Ci plants.
Among the plants in the Book of Verses, there are more grains and cash crops. Botany expert Pan Fujun believes that "the climate of the Yellow River Basin is dry, and the growth period of plants is short... Food production is not easy. "The southern Chu land is fertile and easy to cultivate. Chudi is thus particularly rich. Today's Hubei Museum and Jingzhou Museum have a variety of exquisite tableware, which is not inferior to the magnificent tableware of european royalty. Perhaps for this reason, the Chu Ci does not attach much importance to the economic attributes of plants. The "Wei" in "Surprised Woman Cewei, Deer He You" in "Chu Ci Tianwen" refers to wild peas and is romantic, while there is no mention in the Book of Poetry that agricultural products will often appear grateful to the emperor and the queen of heaven.
The Chu plants that Qu Yuan sang were roughly divided into two categories, and Wang Yi's "Chu Ci Zhang Sentence" said: "The text of the departing from the troubles, according to the poetry, cites analogies, so the good birds and herbs, to match the loyalty; The most frequent plants in the Chu Ci are "Bai Zhi" and "Zelan". In the famous verse "Lan Tang Xi Mu Fang", "Lan" refers to Zelan and "Fang" refers to Bai Zhi. According to Pan Fujun, a doctor of agronomy and soil at the University of Hawaii, in the book "Chu Ci Botanical Atlas", Bai Zhi has 6 names in "Chu Ci": Zhi, Zhi, Zhi, Medicine, Clam, Bai Zhi and Guan, which shows the difficulty of reading through "Chu Ci". Huang Bosi of the Song Dynasty concluded that many authors of the Chu Ci, regardless of their place of origin, were "shu Chu language, Chu sheng, Ji Chu di, and famous Chu wu." "The breadth of Chu Land, the prosperity of Chu Things, and the complexity of Chu Sheng are all embodied in the Chu Ci. Through Mr. Pan Fujun's collation, the "Chu Ci" really became remarkable.
Everyone knows the "Ode to Orange", qu Yuan valued the loyal character of the orange tree "appointed not to move" and "rooted in difficulty". Similarly, "Privet" (桢) may be because the name is valued. This is not much different from Confucius's concept of "the Tao is not good, floating in the sea by the pole". But we can't conclude that Confucius didn't love the countryside. Confucius also once praised that "the country has no way, it remains unchanged until death, and it is strong and corrective." And "The state has a way, such as a ya; Bang Wu Dao, like a ya. ”
There are no oranges in the Book of Poetry, but from the Book of Poetry to the Chu Ci, the ideal of pursuing political clarity has never changed. In the Han Dynasty, Dongfang Shuo's "Seven Sayings and The First Release" of "cutting down orange grapefruit and listing tree bitter peaches" completely continued Qu Yuan's thought.
Citrus did not receive singing in the north, but not all southern plants were not associated with the north during the Spring and Autumn Period. In the Book of Poetry, there is "隰有苌楚, 猗傩其枝." "Chang Chu" is a specialty of Chudi kiwifruit. According to the documentary "Chinese Plants and Fruits Affecting the World", the New Zealand kiwi fruit that shines today has seeds from the Three Gorges region. The original information came from Mr. Li Mingyi's book "Foreigners' Past Events".
"Huai tangerine for citrus", orange to the north taste does not dare to compliment. Before the Han Dynasty, citrus was not divided, and was collectively referred to as orange. The Three Gorges region has preserved the original varieties of citrus that Qu Yuan sang. In the last century, the Irish botanist Augustine Henry (Halley) (1856-1930) discovered the "Yichang Orange" in the Three Gorges, named Citrus ichangensis. In the 19th century, Yichang was not yet known to ordinary people around the world, but in the eyes of global botanists, it was very famous. The Three Gorges plant that Qu Yuan sang about was finally shocked by the world after being recognized by botanists two thousand years later.
Not only citrus makes us more familiar with Qu Yuan, but the various herbs that Qu Yuan wears are frequently used as spices in the kitchen today. "Hu Jiang Li and Zhi Zhi Xi, Sewing Qiulan thinks of Pei", he carries herbs such as Jiang Li, Bai Zhi, and Ze lan. Jiang Li, what we hear today is closer to "Chuan Qian". The plant has an aroma. Cao Cao also liked to hide it in his sleeve. Bai Zhi, Confucius also wore. From the Zhou To the Qin and Han Dynasties, the function of vanilla has remained unchanged for a long time. "Miscellaneous peppers and fungus cinnamon, but the sewing man", these plants are cinnamon, pepper, basil.
"Hui" is also known as lavender, once thought to be "Hui Lan", but it is actually basil, also known as the nine-story tower. Tastes similar to star anise. Common in Western food. In southern China, it is named "Jin Bu Chang", and there is a famous dish in the Chaoshan area "Jin Bu Chang Fried Thin Shell".
"Fungal laurel" is the ancient name of "gui", which is easily misunderstood as "osmanthus" or "laurel", but it is actually "cinnamon", of course, "cinnamon" is the most simple. The name reveals its local side, but it also has a foreign side. "Cinnamon" was made into perfume in ancient Egypt and is one of the spices used to make mummies. According to Xi Mi's book "Incense", Cleopatra Cleopatra, in order to confuse Caesar (100-44 BC), soaked the aroma of cinnamon in her hair. Qu Yuan was only a hundred years before Caesar. Today, Westerners after the decline of the Spice Age sprinkle cinnamon powder on black tea and cappuccino.
Speaking of drinks, "The Conjuring" has "turtle cannon lambs, there are garnet pulp." Braised turtle grilled whole lamb is not a problem, and the "garnet pulp" is sugarcane juice. After that, the "frozen drink" of "frustrated cold drink, cooler" refers to fine wine, but sugarcane juice may not be iced. It can be seen that the living standards of the Chu state are high. The Book of Verses does not mention sugar cane, which is a plant unique to the south.
The Book of Poetry will have thorns or plants growing everywhere to symbolize bad things, and the Chu Ci inherits this habit. Today we are most familiar with cang'er, which is called "葹" in the Chu Ci. The "Seven Sayings of Chu Ci" says: "Jiang renounced himself in the poor alleys, and the tribulus terrestris was in the east chamber." Vanilla (loyal generals) was abandoned by the imperial court, while the villains filled the temple. The villain is often referred to as a vine-growing tribulus terrestris.
Interestingly, the world-famous botanist Wilson once complained about such plants in Chudi: "The low-lying hilly areas around Yichang ... Most of the area is covered with 'needlegrass' grass... "Needlegrass" is deeply hated by foreign athletes, and this grass has sharp barbs on its head... The penetration of this barb is really incredible..." Qu Yuan once praised the plants of the Three Gorges region, which not only amazed and intoxicated foreign botanists, but also brought them a lot of troubles. It can be seen that "the East Sea and the West Sea are psychologically the same."
□ Zengyuan, writer and media person, published "The Adventure of Words" and "There is Tea" and so on.