A brief discussion of common images in ancient poetry:
1. Trees
Willow: farewell, nostalgia, sadness.
①The words "Liu" and "Liu" are homophonic, often metaphorizing farewell. "Where will I wake up tonight? Willow bank, dawn wind waning moon" expresses Liu Yong's longing for his lover.
② "Willow" grows in front of and behind the eaves and is often used as a symbol of hometown. "As soon as I go to the high city, I am sad for thousands of miles, and the willows are like Tingzhou" expresses Xu Hun's infinite concern for his hometown.
③"Catkins" are erratic and often used to relieve sorrow. "How much leisure and sorrow are there? A river of tobacco fills the city with wind and rain. Plums and yellow rain" vividly interprets the depth of He Zhu's sorrow at this time.
Pine: The pine tree is a model of proud frost and snow, and is naturally the object of praise.
Liu Zhen, a native of the Three Kingdoms, wrote in "Gift to Congdi": "Don't you suffer from the cold, because pines and cypresses have their own nature." The poet encouraged his cousin to be as loyal as pines and cypresses and maintain a noble character under any circumstances. .
Indus: Indus is a symbol of desolation and sadness.
Wang Changling's "Chang Xin Qiu Ci": "The autumn leaves of the Jinjing sycamore are yellow, the bead curtains are not curled up by the night frost. The jade pillow in the smoked cage has no color, and I lie down and listen to the clear water of Nangong." It is written about being deprived. The scene of a young, free and happy girl lying alone in a desolate and lonely palace, listening to uterine leakage. The first sentence of the poem begins with the yellowing sycamore trees beside the well, creating a desolate and lonely atmosphere.
2. Flowers and plants
Red beans: Acacia beans, which refer to tokens of love between men and women, metaphorizing love or friendship between men and women.
Wang Wei's poem "Lovesickness": "Red beans grow in the South. When spring comes, a few branches will appear. I advise you to pick more. This is the most lovesick thing." The poet expressed his nostalgia for his friends through red beans born in the South. feeling.
Chrysanthemum: seclusion, nobility and refinement.
Although the chrysanthemum cannot be compared with the beautiful peony, nor can it be compared with the orchid that is a hundred times more valuable, but as a flower of proud frost, it has always been favored by literati, and some people praised its strong character. , some people appreciate its noble temperament. Qu Yuan's "Li Sao": "Drinking magnolias in the morning make the dew fall, and dining with autumn chrysanthemums in the evening."
The poet symbolizes his nobility and purity of character by drinking dew and eating flowers. "Chrysanthemums" by Yuan Zhen of the Tang Dynasty: "Autumn bushes surround the house like Tao's house, and the fence is gradually sloping. It's not that chrysanthemums are preferred among flowers, but there will be no flowers when the flowers are in bloom." It expresses the poet's pursuit of steadfastness and noble character.
Plum blossom: proud, strong and unyielding.
Plum blossoms are the first to bloom in the severe cold, and then lead to the fragrance of brilliant flowers. Therefore, plum blossoms, like chrysanthemums, are admired and praised by poets. Wang Anshi's "Plum Blossoms": "You know it's not snow from a distance, because there is a faint fragrance coming." The poem not only describes the plum blossoms' spread due to the wind, but also implicitly expresses the purity and whiteness of the plum blossoms, achieving an artistic effect of both fragrance and color.
Lu You's famous poem "Ode to Plum Blossoms": "It fell into mud and was crushed into dust, but only the fragrance remains the same." The plum blossoms are used to describe his tortured misfortune and his noble sentiments that he does not want to join in the misfortune.
Lotus: expresses love. Since "Lotus" and "Lian" have the same pronunciation, there are many poems about lotus in ancient poetry to express love. For example, "Xizhou Song" by Yuefu in the Southern Dynasties: "In autumn, lotus flowers are collected in Nantang, and the lotus flowers exceed people's heads; I lower my head to pick up lotus seeds, and the lotus seeds are as green as water."
"Lotus seeds" means "pity", and "green" means "qing" . This is both real and fictitious writing, with semantic puns and homophonic pun rhetoric, expressing a woman's deep longing for the man she loves and the purity of her love.