1. Farewell with willow
Liu means "stay". The ancients often used "breaking willow" when bidding farewell, expressing the indescribable and inseparable feelings of leaving someone. The custom of "breaking willows" as a farewell was especially popular in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Therefore, "breaking willows" became a synonym for farewell.
2. With Liu Yanchou
When people encounter sad things, the scene is dark and the thoughts are filled with despair. Liu Yong, a representative figure of the graceful poetry school, is a master of Liu Yanchou. His poem "Yulin Ling", "Where are you sober tonight? The dawn wind and the moon on the bank of the willows" can be regarded as an eternal masterpiece of melancholy scenes describing melancholy. The poet imagines here that the most painful thing in life is to be drunk and depressed, and not know where you are when you wake up from the dream.
3. Beauty is softness
The physical characteristics of willow are feminine and beautiful. He Zhizhang's poem "Jasper makes up a tree as high as a tree, with thousands of green silk ribbons hanging down" writes about the beauty of this inherent quality of willow.
Extended information
1. An important meaning of willow is "to eliminate evil and ward off evil". This mainly comes from Buddhism. Guanyin holds a pure vase in one hand and a willow branch in the other. Dip the water in the bottle and sprinkle nectar on the world to cure diseases and eliminate disasters. Affected by this, Chinese people regard willow as a mascot to ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters, and call it the "ghost-horrible tree".
2. The green willow tree symbolizes youth and can express people’s cherishment and nostalgia for their youth. Liu is homophonic to "stay", so people naturally associate willow with "stay in youth". This meaning is widely used among the people. During the Qingming Festival, people make willow branches into various decorations and wear them on their bodies. Men usually braid willow rings and wear them on their heads, and women usually braid willow balls and hang them on their temples.
Reference material Baidu Encyclopedia Liu (ancient poetry describing Liu)_