preface
As one of the countries with the largest land area, China is also extremely rich in vegetation types. In terms of flower resources, China is one of the richest countries in the world, and it is also the origin of a variety of flower cultivation in the world. Such abundant resources have also created the vigorous development of mainland flower culture.
China's flower culture is full of pan-humanism, you must know that in the subconscious of ancient people, flowers have never been regarded as natural objects, but as living creatures like themselves. As a multifunctional plant with national characteristics for spring flower viewing and autumn fruit picking, begonia has had the custom of planting begonia and appreciating begonia flowers since ancient times, and even derived a very connotative begonia flower culture.
First, Ning knows the back garden of the jade tree, leaving the wild begonia like a snow branch
In botany, begonia belongs to the genus Apple of the Rosaceae family. However, in people's perception, several types of papaya genera with relatively small fruits are collectively referred to as "begonias". What we are talking about today is the begonia culture that people generally know. In the continent with extremely rich plant species, apples are all over the country and belong to extremely important temperate flowering trees.
Begonia can be seen everywhere in thousands of years of history and has a close relationship with human life. Throughout history, it is not difficult to see that begonia flowers have played an extremely important role in various stages of Chinese literary history, art history and garden development history. With the development of the times, people have rich associations through the variety of begonia flowers.
Through begonia flowers to express ideas and sentiments. It endows begonia flowers with rich cultural connotation and aesthetic value, and produces a vast collection of poetry, myths and legends about begonia flowers, as well as a variety of exquisite begonia flower decorations and artworks. In the long river of historical development, with people's continuous inheritance, development and innovation, the begonia flower culture has become increasingly rich.
In the Chinese system, the original meaning of culture is "educating with culture", which is the cultivation of human character and the cultivation of morality, which belongs to the category of spiritual field. However, with the development and change of the times, the word "culture" has now become a multi-dimensional concept with extremely rich connotation and broad extension.
The flower culture is an important part of a country and national culture, and the formation and development of the flower culture must also rise and fall with the rise and fall of the national culture. When Chinese flower culture appeared, it was influenced by traditional culture and art such as Chinese painting, literature, and art.
Therefore, it is not difficult to see that China's flower culture is developed on the basis of a very strong traditional culture, and it also has a very close relationship with ancient myths and legends.
As a plant form that is widely present in nature, flowers are also very noticeable in nature. Especially when productivity is low, many species of flowers and trees can sustain human life. In order to obtain food that can sustain life, people are full of desire and worship for the plants and flowers they depend on, and the plant flower totem appears.
The begonia flower culture in the flower culture has its own uniqueness. Historically, the name of the begonia has evolved many times. The ancients could not distinguish between apples and pears, so they collectively referred to the plants of the pear genus and apple genus as "tang", "du", etc., which were mentioned in books such as "The Book of Poetry" and "The Classic of Mountains and Seas".
In the Western Han Dynasty, Sima Xiangru's "Shanglin Fu" in the era of Emperor Wudi of Han recorded the grandeur of Shanglin Garden, including the phrase "Pavilion Magnolia". It is also the earliest appearance of the word "柰" in mainland texts to indicate the meaning of a plant. In the "Miscellaneous Notes of Xijing" compiled by Liu Xin of the Western Han Dynasty, a distinction has been made between "柰" and "棠".
There are records of citrus since the Western Han Dynasty, and the ancients have various theories about it, but it is still almost certain that citrus in early documents refers to an apple with a slightly larger fruit. Among them, the view of "Qunfang Spectrum" is more universal. Li Shizhen also quoted the views in the "Compendium of Materia Medica".
However, over the course of history, the meaning of the word has also evolved, and by the Qing Dynasty it had been used to refer to other small fruits. Today, in Shandong and Hebei, small apples are still called citrus, or small pears are called citrus, and in the Guangdong and Fujian generations, it is even the custom of calling Li citrus.
Literature reflects that citrus has been cultivated and used since the Western Han Dynasty, but at the beginning people paid more attention to the use value of citrus fruit. Subsequently, through people's conscious cultivation, the cotton apple with edible fruit as the main purpose was gradually formed, and a small type of plant in the apple genus with flower-viewing as the main purpose was gradually formed, called begonia.
Among the three terms "wild hall", "sea red" and "begonia", wild begonia appeared first. As early as the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties periods, the Liang Dynasty poet Shen Yao's "Early Origin Dingshan Poem" has the sentence "Yetang opens but does not fall". In the Tang Dynasty, there were also many poems about wild begonias, such as Wen Tingjun, the originator of the flowers, "Ning knows the back garden of the jade tree, leave the wild begonia like a snow branch".
From the available data, "sea red" appeared more than ten years earlier than "begonia". The "All Tang Poems" includes Liu Changqing's "Summer Zhong Cui Zhongcheng Mansion Sees the Sea Red Shake and One Flower Blooms". In the "All Song Poems", the literary scholar Qiu Yuan's poem "Flowers Like Begonias, Lin Yong, but Ye Xiaoyi" clearly pointed out that Hai Hong, Lin Yong, and Begonia are the same name.
Second, the four seas should be free of Shu begonias, and a city of incense should open for a while
The Chinese begonia flower culture has a long history, and the earliest exact written record of it is no longer available, but there are records about "tang" in the Book of Poetry, and there are also records about it in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas". In addition, according to the research of today's scholars, tea and begonia were planted in Zhanghua Taichung built by King Chuling of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
Traditional Chinese flowers have basically gone through the process of moving from eating to appreciating. Begonia first attracted people's attention, not because of its gorgeous flowers, but because of the edible value of the fruits of begonias. Due to the limitations of knowledge at that time, the pre-Qin people could not accurately identify "begonia", and could only attribute a similar type of plant to "begonia".
By the Qin, Han, Wei and Jin dynasties, begonia ushered in a transformation from wild to cultivated, from eating to ornamental, and begonia began to appear in large numbers in royal gardens, private gardens and temple gardens. During this period, begonia were mainly recorded through literary forms such as diction and Lefu poetry. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the fruit became a precious fruit in the palace.
"Luoyang Jialan Ji" is a local chronicle of the rise and fall of Luoyang Buddhist temples in Northern Wei during the Southern and Northern Dynasties of Wei and Jin. In one of the volumes, the forest in Hakuba Temple is recorded. Although exaggerated rhetorical devices are used, it is still proved that Buddhism was cultivated in Buddhist temples in the early days of the introduction to China, and it is actually famous in Kyoto.
The Sui and Tang dynasties were a period of prosperity in mainland feudal society, during which the social economy prospered and all walks of life far ahead of the previous generation. Around the middle and late Tang dynasty, the word "begonia" appeared and is still used today. At the same time, the cultivation of begonia was widespread, and begonia flowers appeared as a commodity. During this period, literature and art with the theme of begonia flowers flourished.
Although the Sui Dynasty is only thirty-seven years old, there are also many records of begonias. In the Book of Sui, there is an allusion to "Gan Tang" quoted in "Sitting Tang Hearing". In addition, the Sui Dynasty also used "Gantang" as a place name, such as "Marquis of Gantang County" in the Book of Sui, "Gantang County of Later Weizhi County of Shou'an" and so on.
The books edited from the early Tang Dynasty to the High Tang period do not mention "begonia", which also proves from the side that the word "begonia" appeared in the middle and late Tang period. There is no "begonia" in the large-scale book "Art and Literature Cluster" edited by Ouyang Xun. Among the more than a thousand poems handed down by the poet Saint Du Fu, there is no mention of begonias, why didn't Du Fu sing about begonias?
It is not difficult to see from the above that before the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the term "begonia" was not popular, and most people still used "柰" or "Lin Yong" to call begonia. The Song unified the whole country and ended the strife. During the Two Song Dynasty, the social economy was prosperous, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. However, the rulers pursued a life of drunken gold, which led to the rise of garden winds, but this also provided opportunities for the development of begonia flower culture.
When begonia was popular as an ornamental plant, begonia also had special works "Begonia Notes" and "Begonia Spectrum". In it, not only the morphology, planting techniques and distribution of begonia are recorded, but also the verses of begonia verses from previous generations are compiled in it. However, this book was lost in the Ming Dynasty, but it is fortunate that Chen Si of the Southern Song Dynasty made some excerpts from it in the "Begonia Spectrum".
With the gradual increase of begonia flower varieties, varieties such as Shu begonia, weeping begonia, and purple sponge begonia appeared. During the Two Song Dynasty, flower cultivation became an important industry, and even became an independent industry with a high degree of commercialization. In the second volume of "Mengliang Lu", it records the scene of selling flowers in Hangzhou at that time.
The classic records on begonia in the Song Dynasty are extremely rich, reflecting that the garden application of begonia is very common, but unfortunately the royal gardens and private gardens of the Song Dynasty can not maintain the original appearance and preserve it to this day, and the garden application of begonia can only refer to written records. The Southern Song Dynasty Zhang Wei's "Records of Genyue" recorded part of the scenery made with begonias.
During this period, the cultivation and appreciation of begonia flowers spread to ordinary people from top to bottom, and thus brought about the development of begonia flower commodity economy. During this period, many people also left a lot of begonia flower paintings, and the image of begonia was also used by literati. It can be seen that from the royal family to the ordinary people appreciate begonias, love begonias, and sing begonias.
After experiencing a period of germination and prosperity, the begonia flower culture has entered a period of development and inheritance, and with the development of the expression of begonia flower culture, it tends to diversify. Not only in meta-miscellaneous dramas, flower arrangement bonsai has gradually increased, the garden application of begonia has become more popular, and begonia freehand flower and bird paintings have appeared.
Third, the weeping silk has a special scenery, who loses all the Shu begonias
The poet Sheng Du Fu wrote countless poems in his life, and there are more than a thousand that have been handed down to this day. Among them, all the flowers and trees in Xishu are sung, but they are not as good as begonias. You must know that Shudi begonia was famous during the Tang and Song dynasties. For example, Lu You once called begonia in a poem "Shu place name, flowers are good at ancient and modern." Later generations have different opinions about this, and Du Fu's begonia has become a mystery through the ages.
There have been many opinions on this since ancient times. Zheng Gu of the Tang Dynasty believed that when Du Fu saw the drifting of begonias, he thought of his own life, so he was not interested in citing it. However, this statement cannot withstand scrutiny, looking at many of the Yonghua poems written by Du Fu, many of which use poetry to convey the poet's sense of hurt through the sense of life of things.
Some people also think that Du Fu did not have a begonia poem, which may be scattered. But many of Du Fu's Yonghua poems have been passed down to the world, but the begonia poems are scattered, which is somewhat too much. Yang Wanli thought that Du Fu did not write begonia poetry because he had never seen such words. When writing begonia poems, it must be mentioned that Du Fu did not chant begonias, which basically became a fixed pattern of begonia poetry.
In addition to the mystery of the begonia in the poem Du Fu, there are other allusions to begonias. One of them is - Begonia Spring Sleep, it is said that the generation talent Tang Bohu created "Begonia Beauty Picture" based on this allusion. In later literature, Yang Yuhuan is often referred to as "begonia spring sleep", and its lack of sleep is used as a metaphor for the enchantment of begonia flowers.
Begonia flower culture is involved in various fields, and there are countless in literature. Among them, Su Shi, as the representative of the cultural and artistic spirit of the Song Dynasty, has an extremely profound impact on the formation of the aesthetic culture of mainland national art. For example, many forms of expression aesthetic ideas were created or carried forward. And Su Shi's poetry in begonia also had a profound influence on future generations.
In Su Shi's poems, although the number of works of Yonghai Begonia is not too much, it has a profound influence on future generations. From the analysis of existing works, most of Su Shiyong's poems were written when Yuan Feng was demoted to Huangzhou in the third year. When he first arrived in Huangzhou, it was the spring blossom season, and Su Shi's most proud work at this time was a poem about Yonghai Begonia.
It is rumored that Zhang Xian, a Song dynasty, married an eighteen-year-old girl when he was over eighty, and Su Shi, who was a friend, offered a hand of congratulatory poems to ridicule: "Mandarin ducks are doubled into nights, and a tree of pear flowers presses begonias." And the pear blossom refers to the eighty-year-old husband with white hair, and the eighteen-year-old red-faced young woman.
In addition to Su Shi, Lu You has also lived in Shudi for eight years, and he loves the beautiful scenery of Chengdu, and he is even more fond of the world-famous Shu begonia. Therefore, during his time in Chengdu, Lu You wrote a lot of poems about begonias. In "Traveling Through the Homes in Time of Flowers" (ten songs), he depicts in detail the scene of his flower viewing in Chengdu.
From this set of words, we can not only see the land tour of begonia blossoms and happy to enjoy begonias, but also the land tour of begonia flower fanatics who are afraid that the wind is too strong in spring and is not conducive to the blossoming of begonia and go to the Ming Hall overnight. The spring after the begonia flowers bloom is no longer called spring, and the begonia flowers have not yet fallen, and they are already worried about flowers.
It can be seen that Lu You likes begonia to an unparalleled extent, and his deep feelings for Chengdu are also unforgettable for him. Even when he retired to Shanyin in his later years, Lu You, who was already 84 years old, could not suppress his excitement every time he thought of the famous flower that he was moved by. It is vividly embodied in "Begonia Song".
epilogue
As a well-known Chinese famous flower, it can be found everywhere in the long river of history, whether it is in the field of literature, art, architecture, etc. Follow the history of the development of begonia flower culture and lead us to witness history from different angles.
From the gorgeous shape of the flowers to the profound connotations of flowers. Begonia flowers are separated from the botanical category and have a deeper meaning. Through these literary works, we not only let us know more about history, but also lead us into the inner world of the author and appreciate the style of literati.
Bibliography:
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CHEN Qingyuan. "Selected Words of the Six Dynasties of Han and Wei". Taibai Literature and Art Publishing House, 2004
ZHANG Qixiang. Research on the Origin and Formation of Chinese Flower Culture. Beijing Forestry University,2007.
YUAN Xingpei. History of Chinese Literature. Higher Education Press, 2007.
WU Qijun. "Plant Name Picture Examination". Cultural Relics Press, 1993.