Editor's Note
Nomenclature is an important field of traditional Chinese cultural research, and there has been an ethos of studying famous objects since the "Book of Poetry" and the "Chu Ci". Confucius said that the study of "poetry" can be "more knowledgeable than the names of birds, animals, plants and trees", and the study of famous objects not only helps to understand the classics, but also is a basic requirement for scholars to be knowledgeable. Famous objects are a bridge between history and reality, and the study of famous objects allows us to get as close to history as possible, touch history, and trace the truth of history from words, artifacts and images. The study of famous objects also allows us to explore the context of Chinese culture, and behind the images of birds, animals, plants and trees that have been passed down for thousands of years, they all contain the true insights and emotional sustenance of the ancients. Three papers published in this journal explore the origins, connotations and symbols of famous objects through animal and plant imagery, point out their cultural significance, or dispel historical doubts through rich and informative literature, and propose novel cognitions. (Cheng Jie)
Author: Zhou Xiang (Part-time Researcher, Lexicology Research Center, Nanjing Normal University)
"White Sparrow" was first seen in "Mao Shi Justice". Kong Yingda's commentary mentions: "Zheng Yu's "Treatise on the Six Arts" is extremely important to the matter of Rui Fate. Yun: 'Taiping Jiarui, the picture and the book, will be the turtle and the dragon. The Yellow Emperor, Yao, Shun, and Duke of Zhou were his righteous men. Ruoyu guanhe sees the elders, Gao Tao yu Luo sees the black duke, Tang Dengyaotai sees the black bird, to the Wu King crosses the river white fish leap, Wen Wang chi que stops at the household, Qin Mu Gong white sparrow gathered in the car, is its change also. (Quoted from The Thirteen Commentaries on the Thirteen Classics of The Thirteen Classics of Qing Nguyen Yuan, Vol. XVI) Kong shi said that Zheng Xuan's words about Rui Feng mentioned that "Qin Mu Gong Bai Que gathered in the car". Zheng Xuan's "Yi Zhen" said: "In Yao's "River" and "Luo", Mu Gong's book of the White Sparrow is a hegemon... He who hesitates, who will prosper, has Ruiying, and those who have no scruples are also. (See Han Zhengxuan's note "Yi Wei Volume VII Yi is a Similar Conspiracy") Qin Mugong hunted a white bird gathered in the car, and then the hegemony was completed. It is known that the "white sparrow" was first regarded as a symbol of political auspiciousness. The Book of Jin And Lezhi records the White Dove: "Fly the white dove, fly and sing again." Carry me Junde, come to the Court of Kings. The white finch is rui, and the plain feathers are bright and fresh. Xiangting dances wings to Ying Rengan. (See Tang Fang Xuanling et al.'s "Book of Jin, Lezhi XIII") is even more clear that the "White Sparrow" is a sign of Ji Rui. Since then, the "white sparrow" recorded in the history books of the past has been based on this. Along with the changes in the scene of social life, "white sparrow" also has a different meaning. As an ancient auspicious rui, the "white sparrow" first appeared in ancient political activities. For example, the Book of Song records: "The white sparrow, the king and the king, are all there." (See Liang Shenyue's Book of Song and Fu Ruixia, vol. 29) He is a metaphor for the hegemony of politicians. At the same time, it also symbolizes the beautiful virtues of the Magi and the Noble Lords with the "white sparrow dwelling in the court".
As the representative of Xiangrui, the "White Sparrow" has become inseparable from political life. Under the social reality that the ancient saying of the five elements of our country was popular, the auspicious omen of good fortune and misfortune has become an indicator for politicians to predict the trend of national fortunes. As the representative of Xiangrui, the "white sparrow" is a common phenomenon in ancient society. It is a good omen along with the white bird, the white rabbit, the white dove, the white magpie, the parrot, the red bird, the red bird, and so on. According to the Book of Song and Fu Ruizhi, "In the Song Dynasty, chi wu, white wu, three-legged crow, white finch, white dove, white pheasant, white magpie, red white parrot and other birds were seen hundreds of times before Yuan Jia twenty-four years ago. (See Liang Shenyue's Book of Song and Fu Ruixia, vol. 29) As a thing of auspicious rui, the "white sparrow" enters the poem as a good omen. On the one hand, the "white sparrow" is regarded as a tribute to the son of heaven. For example, the Book of Song records: "In the first year of Emperor Xianning of the Jin Dynasty, Bai Que saw the State of Liang, and the King of Liang was offered to him. In June of the second year of the Jin Wu Emperor TaiKang, Bai Que saw Hanoi Nanyang, and Tai Shou Nguyen Kan was offered. In June of the second year of Taikang, Bai Que saw Henan, and Yin Xiangxiong of Henan was rewarded with a tribute. (See Liang Shenyue's Book of Song and Fu Ruixia, vol. 29) On the other hand, politicians used the image of Xiangrui to examine political gains and losses, such as Later Yan once pardoned the world for seeing "white birds". The Spring and Autumn of the Sixteen Kingdoms records: "In the summer of April, there are strange finches, with green heads, gathered at the Duanmen Gate, and left in the twentieth year of the East Garden. For the sake of the birds, the amnesty died below, and the East Garden was changed to the White Bird Garden. (See Northern Wei Cui Hong's "Spring and Autumn of the Sixteen Kingdoms", vol. 47, "Later Yan Lu V") The monarch reduced the punishment of imprisonment by not being able to patrol with white sparrows. He also said to the emperor: "The minister said: Today, Fu Feng declared that the Zhaoyi army had made Li Yuanchun march in, and in Xingzhou he was given one white sparrow and one white mountain magpie. According to Sun's "Ruiying Tu": "The king follows his own frugal covenant, and respects the elderly, then the white bird will see." And the Book of Jin Zhongxing says: "See peace in the world." (See Jiang Yinji, Tang Yuanxiao, Zhang Jing's Annotations on the Chronicle of quan de yu poems) King Dezheng sent heaven to Xiangrui to congratulate, and such records also show that the ancient idea of "the unity of heaven and man" is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
The "white sparrow" also symbolizes a person of high character. For example, the "Sixteen Kingdoms Spring and Autumn And Later Liang Record" records that Hou Jin "can understand the bird language", once went out to see the white sparrow and the black bird line, lamented that "gentlemen and villains live together", "then go, do not know what to do" (see Northern Wei Cui Hong's "Sixteen Kingdoms Spring and Autumn" volume 84 "Hou Liang Lu IV"). According to this, Hou Jin used the "white sparrow" and "black finch" as a metaphor for a gentleman and a villain. The "white sparrow" is originally a symbol of auspicious beauty, and a gentleman is nothing more than a person of noble character or good virtue, so it is most appropriate to use the "white sparrow" as a gentleman. In the history books, there are also records of the association between the wise men and the white finch, and if the soldier has virtue, the white nest court. For example, Luo Han of the Jin Dynasty is named after the article, and the virtue is not lost. At the official residence, "there was a white sparrow perched in the hall", "and zhishi returned home, and the order court was full of chrysanthemums, thinking that it was a feeling of virtue" (see Tang Fang Xuanling et al., "Book of Jin, Liechuan 62"). The Book of Liang also records that Zhen Tian was "a white bird perched in his hometown" when he was mourning for his father, and the prefecture and county wrote to express his filial piety, and was summoned and knighted. (See Tang Yao Silian's "LiangShu Liechuan No. 41") and Sima Shen's order for Moling to "see the ji with Qing energy, and there are white nests in the county court" (see Tang Yao Silian's "Liangshu Liechuan Xxii"). The above are all people of high moral character, and the white sparrows live in their court to represent their virtue and matching. It should be pointed out that during the Three Kingdoms period, there was undoubtedly a "White Bird Fu", which no longer exists, while the Tang Dynasty Wang Yan's "White Bird Fu" combines the noble symbol of the white bird", which is "proud of itself" and the emperor's virtue and auspicious Rui, and the Qing Dynasty Yang Fangcan's "White Bird Fu" only fixed the white bird as the auspicious rui of "the king's title is uniform".
"White Sparrow" mainly points to the following three aspects of cultural significance in poetry creation. First, the "white sparrow" appears in literary works in the form of a divine bird, and has become a common image in the poetry of the literati. As in the former Shu Guanxiu's "Shanglu Envoy": "Jiashu white sparrow comes, and auspicious smoke and nectar fall." (See Former Shu Guanxiu's Zen Moon Collection, vol. 5) This is the meaning. In addition, most of the literary and historical officials of the past dynasties have entered the Tianzi with Xiangrui, and the "white sparrow" has naturally become a common choice for making poems, and the Tang Dynasty ordered Fox Chu to have poems: "The green book is white sparrow, and the yellow paper descends to the dragon." And there is a note: "Its daily edict, The white sparrow is played in the state." Yifu History Museum. (See Qing Peng Dingqiu et al., Quan Tang Poems, vol. 334) For example, In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Yongjin's "White Bird Song and Entry Table" is called "White Bird" on the table. He said in the preface: "The end of the white sparrow, the virtue of Zhou Wen." His poems include the sentence "The white bird flew over the white pavilion, and the drum wings turned over into the imperial city" (see Chen Shangjun's "Supplement to the Quan Tang Poetry" continued in volume 36). Zhang Shi's poem "White Bird Descending Rui" praises the merits of the emperor, and the last sentence can especially see the characteristics of the system.
Second, the Ming and Qing literati used "white sparrow" as a classic poem, which no longer took its auspicious meaning. Most of the existing poems containing the image of "white sparrow" in the Ming Dynasty are mainly based on the stories of Zhang Jian's protection of the white sparrow and Liu Tianweng, or perfunctory to the original appearance of their stories, or borrow the canonical words, which is far from the original meaning of "white sparrow" as a god and auspicious rui. Duan Chengshi's "Youyang Miscellaneous Tricks" records that liu Tianweng wanted to get rid of Zhang Jian, zhang Jian was ascended to heaven by his quick feet because of protecting the white sparrow, and Zhang was the empress dowager of the heavenly emperor and "sealed the white sparrow as the Marquis of Shangqing". Ming Dynasty Zhang Tai's "You Xian Ci" its sixteen "white bird master into a white dragon, old Liu lapels the Taishan seal." Tianweng also gave way to his own shortcuts, and it is no wonder that ordinary people compete for changxiong" (see Ming Zhang Tai's "Cangzhou Poetry Collection", vol. 2) is dedicated to this matter. On the occasion of the Ming and Qing dynasties, Wang Fuzhi's "Merry Wind and Flowing Son: Self-Laughter": "Laughing at the white sparrow of the heavenly ong, losing me to steal the ride." (See Wang Fuzhi's "Jiang Zhai Dictionary") Used this as a metaphor to laugh at the helplessness of the hopeless restoration of the country. Qing Huangren's "Short Song Line": "The white sparrow places the wine fan Tianweng, and the children below steal the six dragons." (See Qing Huangren's "Shi Tao Pear Yange Poem") In addition to the use of Zhang Jian to protect the white sparrow, it also involves the "Hidden Armor" "If the red bird does not come, the country has no sage; if the white bird does not descend, the country has no heir" said. The red finch refers to the state-owned sage, and the white finch refers to the state-owned heir. However, this usage was not common in ancient poetry.
Third, because of the beautiful image of the "white sparrow", many phenomena and scenic spots named after the "white sparrow" were born, giving it a wide range of social and cultural significance. For example, the Later Qin monarch Yao Cang used "White Sparrow" as the era name. (See Tang Fang Xuanling et al. "Jin Shu Zai Ji No. 16") In ancient poems, the common "White Bird Cave", "White Bird Temple", "White Bird City", etc., also take the meaning of "White Bird" Auspicious Rui, it can be seen that "White Bird" as an auspicious sign has been widely used in social life. For example, "White Bird Cave" is one of the six caves of Guilin Hidden Mountain, which is named after the county people who sacrifice white birds, and wei Zongqing's "Six Caves of Hidden Mountain" of the Tang Dynasty recorded it. There is a poem in the Song Dynasty Lü Wish: "The stone swallow in the cave can live forever, and the white bird is named after the wave." Infinite good mountains are difficult to buy, and the world uses Brother Kong Fang. (See Ming Yao Ximeng's "Xuncang Collection" Volume I) At that time, Sun Kang also sang "White Bird Cave": "Birds are noble and feathered, and the earth is pitiful and rocky. (See Qing Lu Xinyuan's "Song Poetry Chronicle Supplement", vol. VIII) In addition, there are more than one place in history where the White Bird Temple has appeared. For example, the Changshu Yushan Baique Temple, which was founded in the Southern Dynasty, was renamed Baique Temple after Ningbo Zhelin Temple, and the Baique Temple in Huayin City, Shanxi. Among them, the most famous and the most ink left by the literati is the Baique Temple in Yushan Mountain. In the Ming Dynasty, Wang Shizhen wrote the "Record of rebuilding the White Bird Temple" and recorded the changes of the times of the White Bird Temple. The Ming Dynasty king left seven poems before and after visiting the White Bird Temple, but the poem did not involve the White Bird much. The above two examples embody the auspicious meaning of "white sparrow" from the initial political education to social life, and its cultural connotation has undergone top-down transmission.
As far as the existing "White Sparrow" poems are concerned, it is the representative of auspicious omens and auspicious rui, and has become the main object of ancient literati singing. The white sparrow may be deified as a sign of good fortune, or given a noble personality as a metaphor for gentlemanly virtue. Like the imagery of "phoenix", "crane" and "magpie", it is also an important auspicious rui in ancient Chinese literature and culture. However, with the social changes, in addition to the accident of Xiangrui, the other social and cultural connotations of the "white sparrow" have gradually withdrawn from the historical stage.
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