The teacher is full of peaches and plums; Dongtan Dragon Snake is a model.
The general idea of this association is: my teacher teaches and educates people very well, and his favorite students are all over the village; His son-in-law is also a very dragon and snake, and they are all role models. This couplet is fluent in context, harmonious in rhythm, catchy, and naturally and skillfully embedded with six allusions, which makes it rich, interesting and exotic. The following are described separately:
Teacher: Teacher. In addition to honoring teachers as "masters", "gentlemen" and "teachers", why did the ancients honor teachers as "teachers"? This is related to Liu Zhuang, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty. According to Volume 8 of Appellation Record, "Emperor Hanming honored Huan Rong as a teacher's gift. Fortunately, Tai Chang Fu made Rong sit in the east. Set a few reasons, and the teacher is the teacher. " The historical data of this matter can be found: Emperor Hanming is the heir of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu. When he was a prince, he worshipped Huan Rong as a teacher, and he still respected Huan Rong after he acceded to the throne. He often goes to Taichang Mansion where Huanrong lives, and asks Huanrong to sit in the East Wing, set up a console table and crutches for Huanrong, holding a book in his hand, and personally listen to Huanrong explain the scriptures. Why did he let the teacher sit "East"? It turns out that in the Han dynasty, sitting by the western wall-that is, facing east-was the most respected. "Teacher" means "sitting in the west and sitting in the east". Ming Di's arrangement shows his respect for the teacher. Because the emperor arranged for the teacher to sit in the teacher's seat, people regarded the tutor and even all the teachers as teachers.
Li Tao: It refers to pupils and students. The seventh chapter of "Biography of Han Poetry" contains: "Those who love peaches and plums in spring get shade in summer and food in autumn; Those who stab the spring tree cannot take their leaves in summer and get their thorns in autumn. " To understand the meaning of this passage, we must also know who said it to whom. It turns out that in the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a minister named Zizhi in Wei State. When he was in power, he trained and recommended many people. Later, because he offended Wei Wenhou, he ran to the north alone. In the north, he met a man named Jane, who complained that no one who recommended him would help him. Jane smiled and said, "If you plant peaches and plums in spring, you can enjoy the cool under the tree in summer and eat fruit in autumn;" But if you plant thistles (a thorny plant) in spring, it will not only be used in summer, but also sting in autumn. " Then Jane added, "So gentlemen should cultivate talents like planting trees. He should choose the right object first, and then cultivate it. The person you choose should not be chosen! " -Here "planting trees" is used to describe "educating people", which is vivid and profound. Later, people called the outstanding talents trained by teachers "peaches and plums". And gradually, all the educated students and the younger generation are called "Taoli". Such as "peaches and plums on the door" and "peaches and plums are all over the world".
Mulberry: Mulberry is a general term for mulberry and catalpa. They are all good trees with great practical value. The ancients often planted these two kinds of trees around their homes, which means hometown here. This classic is from The Book of Songs Xiaoya Xiao Ge: "Weisang and Zishu must respect each other. I am afraid of my father, but I am afraid of my mother. " Seeing mulberry trees and catalpa trees and remembering what my parents planted around my house, I respectfully face them, let alone look for my parents. So I didn't look up when I saw my father, so I couldn't help myself when I saw my mother. Based on this kind of poetry, the Book of the Later Han Dynasty once said, "You should be respectful and sober (you should show respect for Su Shun when facing the pine, cypress and mulberry)". It is precisely because mulberry was planted by parents and grew up in their hometown that future generations used them to refer to their hometown; For the sake of simplicity and fluency, people call the names of these two trees "Sang Zi" for short, and therefore, Sang Zi has gradually become synonymous with hometown. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, Liu Zongyuan's poem "Smelling the Orioles" said: "What is the national bird coming here, which reminds me of mulberries." In addition, from the above meaning, the ancients often referred to their hometown as "Gigi Lai" and "Sang Zi (because of the rhythm in poetry, it needs to be reversed)".
Dongtan: refers to the son-in-law. It is short for "open stomach". Why Dongtan refers to the son-in-law? This is related to the marriage of the great calligrapher Wang Xizhi. A teacher in the Jin Dynasty wanted to find a son-in-law in the home of Prime Minister Wang Dao, so he sent his apprentice to the Wangs to choose for himself. Pupils came to the place where the children of the Wangs gathered in the East Wing and watched them one by one. When they came back, they reported to Chi Jian: "The children of the Wangs are all very good, so it is difficult to distinguish them from top to bottom. However, I heard that you want to choose a son-in-law. They are all dressed up and reserved, hoping to be chosen. There is only a young man on the bed in the east, with his skirt open and his stomach exposed, as if he didn't know you were going to choose a son-in-law. " Hearing this, Chi Jian said happily, "This man is just the husband I want to choose. "So master Xi betrothed his daughter to this man. Later, I found out that Wang Xizhi, who was lying in bed with his stomach exposed, was a great calligrapher in the future. This story was passed down as a beautiful talk, and gradually people called other people's good sons-in-law "Dong Chuang son-in-law is a good husband", "Dong Chuang son-in-law is open-minded", "Dong Chuang son-in-law" and "Dong Chuang son-in-law".
Dragon and snake: This is not a combination of "dragon" and "snake", but a very figurative figure. The book "Zuo Zhuan Xiang Gong Twenty-one Years" says: "In the deep mountains of osawa, a dragon snake was born." It means: there are huge waters in the mountains, and it is really full of dragons and snakes. According to Tu Yu quoted in Ci Hai, "Extraordinary things are born in places where words are extraordinary." In other words, unusual geographical environment often produces unusual things, that is, Zhong Ling is outstanding in beauty. Li Bai, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem entitled "Seventeen Reprints for Pei in Early Autumn", and the sentence "A treasure from poverty, a snake spared by Ozawa" in the poem can also be used as evidence. In addition, the word "dragon snake" often refers to hiding and retiring; Metaphor spear halberd and other weapons; Describe the curved branches; A winding scroll or calligraphy work that describes the strokes of calligraphy, etc. But as far as the content of this couplet is concerned, it should be a metaphor for "extraordinary people"-outstanding and talented people.
Model: Kay and Mo are both tree names. The word "model" was used as early as in Emperor Liang Jianwen's Letter to the King of Xiangdong: "The crown of Shi's article is the model mentioned above." Regular script tree, that is, Huanglian tree, is dry and unyielding, upright and upright. According to legend, it was born in the tomb of Confucius, a great educator and thinker in ancient times. After the death of Confucius, his 3,000 disciples stayed at the tomb for three years. Only Zi Gong was away on business and couldn't visit Confucius when he was ill. He kept the memorial service for six years. Zigong once broke the branches into funeral sticks and inserted them beside the tomb. Later, the branches sprouted and grew into a big tree with sparse leaves and straight stems and good quality. According to legend, the model tree grew on the grave of Duke Zhou, a politician and ritual corporal who advocated "moral caution and punishment" in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty. This kind of tree is evergreen all the year round, and its leaves change with the seasons-Chun Lv is white in summer and red in autumn and black in winter, with pure color. Because these two kinds of trees grow beside the graves of sages, their gestures are loved and respected by people, so later generations call those noble and respectable model figures who can be a model for others as models.