Among the prose sketches of the Northern Song Dynasty, the most famous is Zhou Dunyi's "Shuo Ai Lian". The article uses lotus as a metaphor for people, praising the noble personality that "comes out of the mud but remains unstained". Later, Huang Tingjian's "The Story of Shuyoufangting" can be said to be an exquisite sketch comparable to "The Story of Love and Lotus". However, because the former was selected into middle school textbooks and became widely known; while Huang Tingjian himself was famous for his poetry, his prose creations were overshadowed.
Huang Tingjian was a famous poet and calligrapher in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the first of the "Four Scholars of the Su School". Huang Tingjian has extremely high attainments in poetry, calligraphy and writing, and is known as "Su Huang" together with Su Shi. His life was full of ups and downs and suffering. In the party struggles of the Northern Song Dynasty, he belonged to the old party and was repeatedly demoted. But no matter what difficult situation he was in, he always encouraged himself with integrity. This article is the expression of his noble character. With his own actual behavior, he reached the supreme state of "literature is like the person, and people are like the person".
There has always been a tradition of "beautiful women" in ancient China. This is a typical analogy: using certain animals and plants in nature to compare human conduct. Zhou Dunyi established a strong analogical relationship between Lian and Guozi, and Huang Tingjian's article established a strong analogical relationship between Lan and Guozi.
Huang Tingjian used three analogies at the beginning: national scholar, national color, and national fragrance, elevating orchid to the supreme position. "Chu's Chasing Minister" refers to Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan planted orchids, peilan, and orchids in "Li Sao": "I have nourished nine acres of orchids, and planted hundreds of acres of cypress trees." He used orchids to symbolize his beautiful character. Huang Tingjian pointed out that orchid is very similar to Guozi: "Orchid is very similar to Guozi. It was born in the deep mountains and thin bushes. It is not fragrant because there is no one. The snow and frost are sharp and it kills people. It will not change its nature next year." Just like an orchid, it never brags about itself, nor is it depressed because no one appreciates it; it never changes its nature after suffering cruel torture from the outside world. The vigilance of these two sentences can be compared with "coming out of the mud but not stained".
Why did Huang Tingjian specifically point out these two points? Because in these two environments, the character of Guozi can best be seen. In the first situation, the prince has not yet become famous and is not appreciated by anyone, so he must endure loneliness; in the second situation, although he is repeatedly attacked, he does not change his conduct. The sentence "There is no boredom in escaping from the world" comes from the "Book of Changes". "Qian Gua" and "Wenyan": "On the ninth day of the lunar month: Do not use the hidden dragon. What does it mean? Confucius said: The dragon virtue is hidden, it is not easy to be in the world, and it is not famous. There is no boredom in escaping from the world, and there is no boredom without seeing what is right." If you do it, if you worry about it, you will go against it. It is indeed unbreakable, and it is like a hidden dragon. "Confucius": "Those who escape from the world are not bored. It is said that those who escape from the world are not bored even if they encounter no way. There is no boredom in their hearts." , saying that everything in the world is wrong, even if you don’t see good, your heart is not bored. There is no boredom in the world when you go to the clouds. Your heart is remote and humble, and you don’t see the evil in the world. There is no boredom, so there is no boredom again. "Yi Daguo" and "Xiang Zhuan": "The prince is independent and has no fear." "Confucius": "When the Ming Dynasty is in trouble, it is independent and has no fear." There is no need to worry about the world, and the desire to escape is unchangeable. Mortals cannot do this, but only the prince can do this." It can be seen that only the prince can stand upright in these two environments. The sentence "Han Zhang" also comes from the "Book of Changes". Chapter 63 of the "Book of Changes" says: "The chapter can be chaste. It may be done by the king, but there will be no success. "Xiang" says: The chapter can be chaste, and it will be released in time; or it may be done by the king, and it will be great." Chapter, that is, Literary talent is virtue. Hanzhang means hiding goodness, keeping a low profile and maintaining virtue. Zhen, upright. Hanzhang Kezhen: Contains virtue and keeps an upright heart. time, timing. Success, take credit. The prince should wait patiently for the best time before taking action. It has beautiful connotations and strong moral character; if you do things for the emperor and don't take credit, you will have a good ending. Huang Tingjian once again praised the characteristics of Guozi's conduct in life: first, he is reserved, not ostentatious, and not deliberately pursued. Just like orchids, they are usually mixed with other flowers and plants, and their fragrance is not obvious. The second is to seize the opportunity. Once a prince has the opportunity to display his talents, he will devote himself to serving the country and the nation, working hard and dying. Just like an orchid, a breeze blows by, and its fragrance is fragrant and can be heard far and near.
Next, the author specially compared the differences between orchid and hui, pointing out that orchid is like a scholar and hui is like a scholar-official. The cultivation environment of orchids and rhubarb is the same, but the number of flowers and the fragrance of the two are different. "One stem with one flower and more than enough fragrance is orchid; one stem with five or seven flowers but not enough fragrance is rhizome." If the flowers are few, they are subtle and unobtrusive; if the fragrance is far away, they have real talents and rich connotations. The author also pointed out that "although the rhubarb is not as good as the orchid, it is far away from the pepper." Pepper, a common herb with a strong fragrance, here refers to a mediocre person. Although the moral character of scholar-bureaucrats is not as good as that of the country's sons, they are still far behind mediocre people. What is sad is that pepper is actually called the "national fragrance" by people in the world.
"Dangmen" refers to those in power. Those in power are stupid and cannot distinguish between hui and pepper, let alone appreciate the subtle and quiet orchid. Therefore, those "people of the mountains and forests" with noble moral integrity have stayed away from the authorities and "never returned". Here, the author expresses his profound lament about the world.
Huang Tingjian’s admiration for orchid was put forward in the context of the Northern Song Dynasty when the integrity of the state was respected. Zhou Dunyi's "Love of Lotus" said: "Lotus is the son of the country of flowers." Huang Tingjian also said: "Orchid is like the son of the country." This article was written when he was demoted to Rongzhou. There is a mountain in Rongzhou named Lanshan, with wild orchids on it. He transplanted it into the courtyard and built a small pavilion named "Youfang Pavilion". During the party struggles in the Northern Song Dynasty, Huang Tingjian belonged to Su Shi's party and was repeatedly attacked by the new party. However, he had no words of resentment or abuse. Su Shi praised him: "It means that he is transcendent, independent of the appearance of all things, and can ride the wind and spirit to travel with the Creator. He is not the only one in this world who can't use it. Although he is like Shi's dissolute and self-abandoned person, he is also estranged from the world. "There is no gain but a friend." ("Reply to Huang Lu Zhi's Book") His evaluation could not be higher. Huang Tingjian named his residence "Ren Yuntang" and "Chamu'an" successively, which showed his attitude towards life of letting fate happen. He is "hard on the inside and harmonious on the outside", like an orchid, reserved, unobtrusive, profound, and particular about integrity. His poems also repeatedly eulogized the noble qualities of orchids, such as "Sending Li Zixian with the same words and saying that they smell like orchids", "Bingyin's fourteen poems follow the example of Wei Suzhou", "Ci rhyme answers and three poems about Pulu spring water" , "Reply to Li Kangwen", "Reply to Liu Zhongsou's Palace", "Ten Poems to Chao Yuanzhong", "To Fu Guoyi in the Same Year", "Ci Yun's Reply to Huang Yudi" and other poems. He also personally wrote "Ode to Orchid" by Han Boyong of the Tang Dynasty, which has been passed down to this day and has become a masterpiece of running script in the history of Chinese calligraphy.
Huang Tingjian is knowledgeable and good at using allusions. He advocated extensive study of ancient excellent literary works, accumulated a solid foundation, and innovated on this basis, "turning iron into gold" and "reborn". In this short article, Huang Tingjian casually quoted the "Book of Changes" and "Li Sao" to show his profound knowledge.