In the Southern Song Dynasty, the painter Ma Yuan painted a beautiful picture of pine and bamboo, which was called "Three Friends in Cold Years". Winter is the season when all trees wither, but pine, bamboo and plum can still maintain their ecology in the severe winter, which means that friendship will last forever.
Plum, bamboo and stone are beautiful, bamboo is thin and longevity, and stone is ugly and elegant, meaning three beneficial friends.
In the old society, when getting married, couplets of "bamboo shoots are born on the edge and plum blossoms are red and solid" were often posted around the gate, because "bamboo shoots" and the word "sun" of later generations are homophonic and appear at the same time.
Make pine, bamboo and plum into a ball; Divided into three groups, simple lines represent pine, bamboo and plum to form a pattern: a doorway composed of pine, bamboo and plum.
The origin of "three old friends" is Su Dongpo.
The pattern of "Three Friends in the Cold Year" composed of pine, bamboo and plum is a common decorative theme in ancient vessels, costumes and buildings in China. However, few people know where they come from and what they mean. It turns out that the three friends of the cold age also have an indissoluble bond with Su Dongpo, a great writer in the Song Dynasty.
In the second year of Bei Yuanfeng (1079), Su Dongpo, a great writer, was rejected by his ministers and exiled to Huangzhou (now Huanggang County, Hubei Province). When he first arrived in Huangzhou, Su Dongpo was far away from his relatives and friends and felt very depressed. He had to send love poems to solve his worries. "BuFu. Living in Dinghuiyuan, Huangzhou "is the best portrayal of his mood at that time:" When there is no moon, people are quiet at first, and you are alone. When I started, I looked back. I don't hate anyone. I refuse to live on a cold branch. The lonely sandbar is very cold. "
Later, his family and friends came to visit him, and his mood gradually improved. However, poverty in life is still a big problem. In order to solve the economic difficulties, Su Dongpo reclaimed a wasteland and planted crops such as rice, wheat, mulberry and jujube. Soon, he built a small house by the field and named it "Tang Xue". There were snowflakes on four murals in the house. Su Dongpo planted pine, cypress, plum, bamboo and other flowers and trees in the yard. The whole apartment was elegantly dressed, which was very suitable for Su Dongpo's mood at that time. On one occasion, Xu Junyou, the magistrate of Huangzhou, made a special trip to Tang Xue to visit him. Seeing that his residence was deserted and desolate, he jokingly asked him to sit and lie down. All he can see is snow. Is it too lonely and cold? Su Dongpo pointed to the swaying flowers and trees outside the window and smiled brightly: "Wind and spring are two kinds of music, and pine and bamboo are three kinds of beneficial friends." That is to say, the sound of the breeze and the gurgling spring water are two kinds of wonderful music. The pine and cypress with evergreen leaves, the bamboo that has experienced the cold winter and the plum blossom that blooms in the proud snow are the best friends who accompany the cold winter. When Xu Junyou saw that Su Dongpo could still encourage himself with "pine, bamboo and plum blossoms" in adversity, he still maintained Shuang Ling's noble sentiment, which was very emotional. From then on, he admired him even more.
Later, Song, Zhu and Li were collectively called "Three Friends of Old Cold" by the world. On the one hand, they take its noble quality of being clear and white, standing proudly in frost and snow, on the other hand, they regard it as a symbol of evergreen and vitality all the year round. And the three friends in the cold era have gradually evolved into auspicious patterns that admire elegance and customs, which have been passed down to this day.