After the beginning of winter, the cold became heavier and snow fell, so I brought a pot of cymbidium from the balcony to my desk. In the light and shadow of the desk lamp, its green leaves are tinged with a touch of orange, exuding a natural elegance.
Perhaps it is a coincidence that I am reading the novel "The Beauty in the Konggu" by a female writer. The book was given to me by a literary friend. Tired of reading, I quietly looked at the elegant orchid leaves, and some memory fragments about orchids gathered together intermittently.
Chinese people have loved orchids for a long time. In the Spring and Autumn Period, orchids have already entered the "Family Language": "Confucius said, making friends with good people is like entering the room of Zhilan. If you don't smell the fragrance for a long time, you will become like him." He also said, "Flan should be the king's. fragrant". After King Gou Jian of Yue was defeated by King Fu Chai of Wu, he planted orchids at the foot of Kuaiji Mountain and tasted gallbladder while lying on firewood. Qu Yuan was more in love with orchids. He wrote in "Li Sao" that "the generals will give up when the warmth is warm, and the orchids will linger"; in "Nine Songs" "Autumn orchids are green and green, and the purple stems are green"; "Shuowan" of the Han Dynasty has "within ten steps, there must be vanilla"; Wang Xizhi of the Jin Dynasty built the Orchid Pavilion at the foot of Lanzhu Mountain, and he wrote "Lanting" "Preface to the Collection" has become a masterpiece of Chinese art. Two of the 37 poems are about orchids.
Since then, Lan has become a confidant of Chen Ziang, Li Bai, Liu Yuxi, Wen Tingyun, Mei Yaochen, Du Mu, and Wang Anshi, as well as Lu You, Fan Chengda, Su Shi, Su Che, Yang Wanli, Zhu Xi, Wen Zhengming, Zheng Xie, etc. are the beauties in their hearts. This can be found in their poems.
The first time I planted orchids was after reading Deng Tuo’s poem "Ode to Orchids":
Why should we be united in the end of the world?
A volume of Li Sao Until now.
Go and see the green spring grass in the south of the Yangtze River,
Don’t worry about the empty valley with few close friends.
That was my first winter in Jiangnan. I saw someone carrying a load selling orchids on the street, so I bought a bag and planted them in a pot. Just after the Lantern Festival, I saw a bunch of orchids blooming on the flower arrow. They were delicate and yellow, and the fragrance was overflowing. Its fragrance was far better than other flowers or artificial spices. This is probably the origin of why the world calls orchid the ancestor of fragrance, the national fragrance, and the first fragrance. Since then, I have become attached to Lan.
Although the orchid has a unique and rich fragrance, it is clear but not turbid, mellow and distant. One branch in the room fills the house with fragrance, so some people say: "Peony is the king of flowers, the true king; orchid is the fragrance of the king. It has its virtues but not its position, so it is the king."
Orchid conquers its admirers with the fragrance brewed by its "pure love from heaven and earth". Huang Tingjian said in "Shu You Fang Pavilion": "The virtue of a scholar is the foundation of a country, and it is said that the country is a scholar; the beauty of a woman is the foundation. A country is called the color of the country; when the fragrance of orchids covers a country, it is called the fragrance of the country." He also compared orchids to a gentleman: "Growing in the mountains and grass, it is not fragrant unless there is no one, and the frost and snow are sharp. If you kill him, his nature will not change next year." The painter and poet Zheng Xie was especially good at painting orchids. He once wrote a poem on a painting:
Zhijun is a simple man,
The painting is quiet Lan is a photo.
One day when Jiangnantou grows old,
The bamboo fenced thatched cottages will be our neighbors.
Because he loved, painted orchids, chanted orchids, and regarded orchids as his close friends, orchids also inspired his creative inspiration and achieved his artistic attainments.
One year, I went to visit an old man who had been painting orchids all his life. As soon as I walked into his spacious courtyard, I saw that there were all kinds of orchids in the yard, on the flower stands, and on the windowsills. In his studio, there is a piece of "Orchid" by Li Kuchan hanging on it, with more than a hundred words on it, to the effect that he himself has never painted an orchid, and this painting was specially made for the old man. The painting method of flower stems was taught to him by the old man. It turns out that the two of them are close friends. Back then, when the old man was wronged for herding cattle in the countryside, Li Kuchan was also affected and guarded the gate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. When the old man was in trouble, Li Kuchan saved thirty yuan a month from his meager living expenses to help him. The two were gentlemen.
I once asked him why he painted orchids all year round. He said that his late wife had the word "lan" in her name, so he painted orchids all his life to clarify his aspirations. In order to find the Su Xinlan in his mind, he traveled all over the country, but in the end he came back with regrets. So, he continued to look for his bosom friend in paintings. This kind of gentleman's chastity is very touching. He also painted a piece of ink orchid for me and wrote a poem: "Searching all over the Dabie Mountains for thousands of miles, in order to find pure orchids in the world." When I visited him again last year, my neighbor said that he had passed away. The orchids in the courtyard have also disappeared.
I think they probably went to a certain valley and were accompanying him to paint Su Xinlan in the sunset.
There are thousands of species of orchids in China. The orchid as it was called by the ancients refers to Cymbidium, Jianlan, Hanlan, Molan and other varieties. They each have famous names in "Qun Fang Pu", such as Xiaowang, Xizi, Yingji, Tianyuan, Baishan, Canyue, Luoxian, Penglai Mountain, Yangtianxiao, Tianxianji, Eighteen Bachelors, Qinghua Chunjian, Thirteen Taibao, Beauty under the Snow, etc. These flower names are elegant, subtle and appropriate, like exquisite poems, leaving a lot of room for imagination. Seeing these names is like seeing a group of dreamlike elves coming towards you from a distance, making you have the idea of ??getting close to them, getting to know them, and caring for them.
Appreciating orchids is a state of mind. Whenever the cold weather comes, I look forward to the appearance of the orchid arrow. When you see the orchid arrow emerging from the soil, you will feel an inexplicable excitement. When the buds bloom one after another, an irresistible fragrance will hit you. This is the gift of the orchid to the orchid grower. When an orchid grows old and the calyx quietly falls off the arrow shaft, there will be an unreasonable melancholy in my heart.
The ancients praised the orchid and said: "Bamboo has knots but is stingy with flowers, plum has leaves but is stingy with leaves, and pine has leaves but is stingy with fragrance. Only orchids have these." In a year, the flowering period of orchids is less than one month, but the orchid leaves stay together all year round. They are staggered and scattered, pitching freely, high and low, looking at various shapes. Some are light and stretched, swaying in the wind; some are handsome, tall, and strong. It is soft in the middle, its posture is strong, elegant and elegant, and has a unique style. This is probably what people call "watching leaves rather than flowers".
Outside the window, the moonlight was hazy. I looked at the Cymbidium orchid under the shadow of the lamp, and Cymbidium orchid was also looking at me, both of them silent. I want to tell it that when people in the world appreciate orchids, they pay more attention to their flowers. When I appreciate orchids, I pay more attention to their leaves.