If we don’t understand the allusions of ancient Chinese poetry, when we first saw the poem “A pear tree crushes begonias”, from the perspective of others, this poem is indeed very interesting. beautiful. But if you read the allusion or the entire poem behind "A pear tree crushes a crabapple", you will have another perspective.
The sentence "A pear tree crushes begonias" comes from Su Dongpo's seven-character quatrain "Playing Zhang Xian".
"Playing Zhang Xian"
The eighteenth-year-old bride has pale hair and red makeup.
The mandarin ducks sleep in pairs at night, and a pear tree presses the begonia.
After reading this poem, you will know that "a pear tree crushing begonias" is not a description of scenery.
Just like the title of this seven-character quatrain, "Playing with Zhang Xian", "playing", as the name suggests, means ridicule according to current parlance. This poem is actually a congratulatory message written by Su Shi to his friend. At that time, his friend was already eighty years old and married an eighteen-year-old woman. So the pear blossoms in "A Pear Blossom Pressing a Begonia" are white. It refers to his gray-haired friend, while Haitang represents his young daughter-in-law. Therefore, according to our literal understanding, "Mandarin ducks sleep in pairs at night, and a pear tree presses the begonia." Everyone should know what it means. "A pear tree weighs begonias" is a euphemism for an old couple and a young couple, that is, "an old cow eats young grass".
I have to say that educated people always have connotations when making jokes. They do not say it directly and clearly, but use very representative scenery to describe it. If we are people today, and face an 80-year-old man marrying an 18-year-old girl, I guess the first word that comes to mind is "old cow eats young grass", which is crude and clear, but very cliché. But Su Dongpo's description makes people feel very beautiful.
In fact, not only Su Dongpo, but also poets in ancient times liked to use allusions to describe some obscure things, such as the following poems. Can you understand the meaning?
In February and March of spring, willows bloom together. The spring breeze entered the boudoir one night, and poplar flowers fell to Nan's house. When love comes out of the house, my feet are weak, and when I pick up the poplar flowers, I feel tears stained with them. As autumn passes and spring comes, a pair of swallows are willing to carry poplar flowers into their nests.