The Book of Songs Plants Liao Lan

? In Xiaoya. Picking green, there is a poem that says "picking green at the end is unprofitable, and five days and six days are not good." It is said that the dye accumulated in the blue leaves of Polygonum hydropiper for one day is not enough to dye a linen shirt; The man went to pick Polygonum cymosum and agreed to go home five days later. Six days later, there was no sign of anyone. The woman looked at the door from a distance, resentful. In fact, she worries more than complains. It can be seen that picking Polygonum cymosum is a very hard thing! This is a Miss Lan poem that grows naturally in life without any chanting.

? Polygonum cuspidatum, also known as blue or indigo, is an annual Polygonaceae herb, which likes wet and sunny places and is wild in wilderness ditches. Polygonum hydropiper looks a bit like Polygonum cuspidatum. The stems are reddish purple, the leaves are oblong and dark blue when dry. If we look closely, we will find that their petioles are covered with a white film, which is the characteristic of Polygonaceae plants: membranous leaf sheaths. As for Polygonum viviparum, it is a bit like a bunch of "green grass" flowers. However, unlike Setaria viridis, each small flower has five petals. Flowers reddish, spikes, achenes, dark brown. Leaves contain blue juice, which can be used as blue dye. Also called blue. According to the ancient book Xia Zhengxiao, Polygonum cymosum was planted in Xia Dynasty in China, and its growth habit has been known. "Irrigation Polygonum hydropiper in May". In other words, in the fifth month of the lunar calendar, we will plant umbrella grass. There is a folk saying that "elm pods can grow blue when they fall." In June and July, Polygonum hydropiper is ripe and its leaves turn green, so it can be harvested. After harvesting, new leaves will be released, and harvesting can be carried out once every three months (September and1October). I will be interested in it in a year. The propagation method can be seeded with seeds, or the stems of Polygonum hydropiper can be directly planted in the soil.

China is the first country in the world to use vegetable dyes to dye fabrics. Before Qin and Han Dynasties, indigo was widely used. In ancient times, there were four important blue dyes (Polygonum cuspidatum of Polygonaceae, Isatis indigotica of Cruciferae, Indigofera indigotica of Leguminosae and Isatis indigotica of Acanthaceae), and Polygonum cuspidatum was one of them. In addition to dyeing blue, Polygonum blue can also be used to dye green, and the other two can also be used to dye green, and the colors are better than the mother color. Therefore, Xun Kuang's famous phrase "shine on you is better than blue" in the Warring States Period originated from the blue dyeing technology at that time. Its leaves will turn from dark green to dark blue after drying, and dyes can be extracted. The rough foam of indigo naturalis is indigo naturalis, the root of bluegrass is Isatis indigotica, and the fruit is blueberry.

? Although the cyme is called "blue", its color is purplish red and its leaves are green. Even if their leaves are torn open, the oozing juice is transparent. Where does blue come from? But his leaves are generally used as dyes, and Polygonum cuspidatum leaves contain urocyanine, which is a glycoside composed of indophenol and glucose. Urocyanin itself is not blue, but it will be decomposed by glucoamylase or alkaline reagent in alkaline fermentation broth, releasing colorless indophenol, and then oxidized and condensed into blue precipitate-blue lake (indigo dye) in air. So it was often used in ancient times. Before the Ming Dynasty, people made indigo from easily hydrolyzed Isatis indigotica. Later, after the invention of distiller's grains fermentation, Polygonum cuspidatum was more widely used. Modern Miao, Yao, Dong, Buyi and other ethnic minorities still use Polygonum hydropiper to process tie-dyeing, batik and other ethnic handicrafts.

Dyeing silk fabrics with indigo will bring out noble, rich and charming atmosphere in the hazy luster. Dyed cotton and linen fabrics will bring a modest, elegant and simple artistic conception, which makes people feel noble, quiet and practical. And the color fastness attached to the fabric after dyeing is very good, which has been widely loved by the court and the people for thousands of years. We can see that indigo, a simple and elegant color, is still quietly revealing its original temperament after long-term polishing on unearthed fabrics, folk colored fabrics and printed fabrics.

Articles impregnated with Polygonum blue will have a noble and rich charm in the hazy luster, and also have a modest, elegant and simple modality, which makes people feel noble, quiet and practical. After dyeing, the color fastness attached to the fabric is very good. We can see that indigo, a simple and elegant color, is still quietly revealing its original temperament after long-term polishing on the cloth unearthed in China and the cloth and cloth arts and crafts circulated by the people.