Lin Geng
"Autumn wind is blowing, and Dongting waves are under the leaves." ("Nine Songs") Since the beginning of this touching poem, its vivid image has influenced later generations of poets, and many poems that have been recited by people have been inspired from here. For example, Xie Zhuang's Yuefu said: "The Dongting begins to wave, and the leaves are slightly separated." Lu Jue's Song of Sacrificing the King in Linjiang also said: "Under the leaves, Jiang Bolian, the autumn moon shines on the clouds and rests on the mountain." As for Wang Bao's famous sentence "Crossing Hebei": "Autumn wind blows the leaves of wood, like waves in Dongting." The impact is even more obvious. Here we can see that "Muye" has become a favorite image of poets.
What is "konoha"? Literally, "wood" means "tree" and "wood leaf" means "leaf", which seems to need no more explanation; But the question is why we seldom see the usage of "leaf" in ancient poetry. In fact, "trees" are common. For example, in Ode to Oranges, Qu Yuan said, "After the Emperor, the trees are beautiful and the oranges are attractive." And Huainan Mountain's "Recruit Hermits" also said: "There are many osmanthus trees in the mountains." Anonymous's ancient poem also said: "There are strange trees in the court, and the green leaves are gorgeous." But why are "leaves" not common? Generally speaking, when you meet a "leaf", you will call it "leaf" for short. For example, "dense birds fly on the road, and the wind is light and the flowers fall late." (Xiao Gang's "Folding Willow") "When will there be a bright moon and a red leaf?" (Tao Yuanming's "Antique") Of course, this can also be said to be the tempering of the poet's words, but this explanation can't solve the problem, because when you meet "Konoha", the situation is obviously different; It seems that the poet no longer thinks about writing, but tries his best to write famous sentences and spread them to the crowd through "Muye", for example, "Under the leaves of Gao Ting, the early autumn flies." (Liu Yun's "Yi Dao Shi") "I heard that the cold of Xunzi shook the leaves, and the Liaoyang expedition will go for ten years." (Shen Quan's "Ancient Meaning") It can be seen that washing can't be used as a reason for the exclusive use of the word "Ye", so why has no one ever asked about "Ye"? At least it never produced a beautiful poem. And that's exactly what happened. Ever since Qu Yuan discovered the mystery of "Mu Ye" with amazing genius, poets since then have refused to let it go easily. So once used again, practice makes perfect; In the language of poetry, it is not limited to the word "konoha". For example, Du Fu's famous poem "Climbing Up" said: "Leaves fall like the spray of a waterfall, and I think the long river always rolls forward." This is a well-known saying, and the "falling wood" here is undoubtedly developed from the "wood leaf" in Qu Yuan's Nine Songs. According to our usual thinking, it seems that the word "leaf" should not be omitted. For example, we might as well say "there are endless leaves rustling", wouldn't it be more clear? However, the genius Du Fu would rather leave out the "leaf" of "konoha" than give up the "wood" of "konoha". What is the reason for this? In fact, before Du Fu, Yu Xin had already said in "Mourning Jiangnan": "Leave the hole and drop the wood, and go to the anode prosperity." Here we can see that the word "falling wood" is not accidental. Ancient poets borrowed from predecessors' creation and created in their own study, which made China's poetic language so colorful. This is just a small example.
The key to the development from "wood leaf" to "fallen leaf" is obviously the word "wood", which is also the difference from "leaf" or "fallen leaf". Needless to say, "leaves" are rarely used in ancient poetry; Is "fallen leaves", although common, but it is also a general image. It turns out that the subtlety of poetic language is different from the general concept, and almost it will be much worse; This shows that the language of poetry cannot rely solely on concepts. Conceptually speaking, "konoha" is "leaf", and there is nothing to argue about; But when it comes to thinking in images of poetry, the latter is ignored, while the former is developing constantly. As bold and creative as "leaves fall like the spray of a waterfall", do people who are not afraid of die-hard mistake wood for falling from the sky? But our poet Du Fu would rather take the risk and create a vivid poem handed down from generation to generation. This adventure, this image, is actually on the word "wood", but isn't the origin of this word worth thinking about? Let's analyze the word "wood" first.
First of all, it seems to be necessary to study where ancient poets used the word "wood". In other words, under what circumstances can the word "wood" just constitute a subtle poetic language; In fact, they are not used everywhere. In that case, they will become "universal ingots". It is no accident that since Qu Yuan began to use autumn leaves accurately, poets from then on, no matter Xie Zhuang, Lu Jue, Liu Yun, Wang Bo, Shen Quanqi, Du Fu and Huang Tingjian, have made vivid images in autumn scenery. For example, Wu Jun replied to Liu Yun: "The autumn moon shines on the mountains, and the cold wind sweeps the tall trees." Can I use "big tree" here? Sure; Cao Zhi's "Wild Yellowbird Tour" said: "I hate many trees in Taiwan, and the sea waves." This is also a famous sentence throughout the ages, but the image of "hating too many trees on Taiwan" here has not fallen leaves, while "the cold wind sweeps the tall trees" is obviously a scene of falling leaves. The former is about to express the grievances as deep as the tide by the blowing of leaves, where the more leaves, the fuller the feelings; The latter is the situation that there are fewer and fewer leaves. Isn't the so-called "sweeping the high wood" the emptiness of "falling the wood"? However, the "towering tree" is full, while the "towering tree" is empty; This is the difference between "wood" and "tree". "Wood" is simpler than "tree" here, and the so-called "dying mulberry leaves and knowing the wind" seems to be closer to "wood"; It seems to contain a deciduous factor, which is the first artistic feature of "wood".
To explain why "wood" has such characteristics, we can't help but touch the suggestibility in poetic language. This suggestibility seems to be the shadow of the concept, which is often hidden behind the scenes. If you don't pay attention, you won't notice its existence. Sensitive and cultured poets are trying to understand all the potential forces in language images and interweave these potential forces with the meanings in concepts, thus becoming colorful words; It affects us unconsciously; It's very infectious and inspiring here, too. And "wood" is the concept of "tree", which has the general shadow of "wood", "wood" and "board", and this potential image often affects us to think more about trunk and less about leaves, because leaves are not wood, so "leaves" are often excluded from the sparse image of "wood", which is why it is implied. What about the "tree" It has lush branches and leaves, and it and the "leaves" have dense dark associations. As the saying goes: "The beautiful trees in the afternoon are clear and round." (Fang Ting, a man from Zhou Bangyan) If you use the word "wood" here, you will lack a more realistic image of "noon shade". But the images of "tree" and "leaf" are not exclusive, but very consistent; It is precisely because there is too much agreement between them that "leaf" will not bring more than one single word "leaf". The word "Ye" has never been seen in classical poems that are used to words. As for "konoha", it is completely different. Here we need to talk about the second artistic feature of "wood" in image.
"Wood" not only reminds us of the trunk, but also brings the color implied by "wood". The color of the tree, that is, as far as the trunk is concerned, is generally brown-green, similar to the leaves; As for "wood", it may be yellow, and it may be dry rather than wet to the touch; Door latch, stick, mast, etc. What we are used to seeing is like this; Here is a more general word "wood". Although "wood" appears as a special concept of "tree" here, its more general potential implication still affects this image, so "wood leaf" naturally has a yellowish and dry feeling of fallen leaves, bringing the breath of the whole clear autumn. "Autumn wind is blowing, and Dongting waves are under the leaves." This autumn is by no means a green and soft leaf, but a rustling and slightly yellow leaf. We seem to hear the sigh of leaving people and think of the wandering of wanderers. This is also the reason why the image of "Konoha" is so distinct. It is different from: "the beautiful demon is idle and adopts mulberry road;" The soft strips are in Ran Ran and the leaves are falling. " (Cao Zhi's Beauty), because it is a dense leaf full of water at the turn of spring and summer. It is also different from: "there are no other neighbors, only quiet nights, and I live in the same old hut;" Raindrops illuminate the yellow leaves, and lights illuminate my white hair. "Yellow leaves (when Cousin Lu Lun came to spend the night), because the yellow leaves still grow quietly on a tree, in the misty rain, although there is a yellowish color of" Konoha ",there is no sense of dryness of" Konoha ",so there is no meaning of falling; And its yellow is obviously because the rain is too yellow. " Konoha "belongs to wind rather than rain, to bright and sunny sky rather than heavy cloudy day;" This is a typical clear autumn character. As for the "falling wood", it is more spacious than the "wood leaf", and even washes away the subtle meaning left by the word "leaf": "The wind blows the sunset, and the leaves fall off the branches." (Wu Jun's Song of Sister-in-law in Qingxi) is just enough to illustrate the lingering side of this "leaf". But there is still a certain distance between "konoha" and "falling wood". It is the unity of "konoha" and "Ye", and the interweaving of "Shu Lang" and "Mianmi", which is a distant and affectionate beautiful image. This is the character image of Mrs. Xiang in Nine Songs.
The difference between "konoha" and "leaf" is just one word. The concepts of "wood" and "tree" are similar. However, in the field of artistic image, the difference here is almost rapid.