1. The deep affection of "breaking willows"
The ancients would break willows to send each other off when they parted. This was a very popular folk custom at that time, especially among literati and poets. A fashion.
Zhang Ji's "Thoughts on Journey to Jibei": "The willow trees outside the guest pavilion's door have broken all their branches toward the south." Zhou Bangyan's "Lanling King": "The willow shades are straight, and the smoke is green. On the Sui Embankment, I have seen several times, the flowing water is like a farewell... Changting Road, every year, there should be more than a thousand feet of soft branches. "In such words and phrases, we can see the universality of this custom and fashion.
The farewell locations are mostly at pavilions, bridgeheads or embankments, such as the "Sui Embankment" mentioned in Zhou Bangyan's poems, and the "Baling" below (there is a Baqiao nearby). Not only did people break willows to send each other off, but drinking was also indispensable; sometimes they also had to play the flute and sing. The tunes were ready-made and almost anyone with some literacy at that time could sing them casually; of course, the poets also had to recite poems and compose lyrics. Gift each other. In ancient poetry, we can read many works related to the cultural custom of "breaking willows to say goodbye". It can be said that this is a very important cultural landscape in the history of Chinese literature. For example:
Li Bai's "Hearing the Flute on a Spring Night in Luocheng": "The sound of someone's jade flute flies darkly, spreading into the spring breeze all over Luocheng. Hearing the broken willows in this nocturne, who can't help but feel the love of his hometown." ( This poem was the subject of the 2003 Gao Archaeological Poetry Appreciation)
Li Bai's "Recalling Qin E": "The sound of the flute swallowed, Qin E dreamed of cutting off the moon in the Qin Tower. The moon in the Qin Tower, the willow color every year, "Ba Ling is sad to say goodbye."
Li Bai's "Jinling Wine Shop Leaves a Farewell": "The wind blows the willow flowers all over the shop, Wu Ji presses wine and invites the guests to taste. "
Zheng Gu's "Farewell to Friends on the Huaihe River": "The Yangliuchun is at the head of the Yangtze River, and Yang Hua is worried about killing people crossing the river. I leave the pavilion late with several bagpipes." ("Yang Hunan." "Flowers" are catkins. Su Shi's "Yanghua Ci")
Wu Wenying's "Wind into the Pines": "The dark green in front of the building carries the road, a trace of willow, an inch of tenderness."
In the poem, not only the action of "breaking willows to say goodbye" is written, but also all words related to willows are used to express the sorrow and hatred during parting, and the deep affection between friends. Such as "willow silk", "willow branch", "willow shade", "willow color", "smoke willow", "willow cotton" (also said to be "willow flower", "yanghua", "catkin"), "willow" ", "Zhe Yangliu", "Yangliuchun", "Yangliu Yiyi" and so on.
There is also a very touching story in the poem "Breaking Willow".
Li Zhiwen, an official in the Ministry of Rites of the Song Dynasty, fell in love with Nie Shengqiong, a famous prostitute in the capital. When Li returned to his hometown, Nie Shengqiong said goodbye to him. He drank in the Lotus Tower and sang a poem. The last line was: "I have no plan to stay in spring, but I have no plan to follow you." For this reason, Li Zhiwen stayed again. Stayed for more than a month. Later, because his wife pressed too hard, Li had to leave sadly. In less than ten days, Nie Shengqiong wrote a song "Partridge Sky" and sent it to Li Zhiwen. Li found it on the way and hid it in a box, but was discovered by his wife after returning home. Li had no choice but to tell the truth. Mrs. Li read "Partridge Sky" and was very happy to see its clear and healthy sentences. Not only did he not stop Li Nie's love affair, but he used his private money to let Li Zhiwen go to the capital to marry Nie Shengqiong.
Nie Shengqiong's "Partridge Sky": The jade is sad and the flowers are sad out of Fengcheng, the lotus flowers are green downstairs, the one in front sings Yangguan behind, everyone else is on their fifth journey. Looking for a good dream, it’s hard to come true, who knows how I feel at this time. Tears fell in front of the pillow, rain fell in front of the curtain, and dripped into the morning through the window.
2. The reason for "breaking willows"
Why do we break willows to send each other off when we say goodbye?
The common explanation is that "Liu" is a homophonic sound of "Liu", and giving Liu as a gift means to commemorate someone. One means that they cannot bear to say goodbye, and the other means that they will never forget. However, we feel that this explanation is very thin and not completely convincing. As a very common cultural custom, folding willows to say goodbye cannot be explained clearly by a "homonym". Therefore, in ancient times, some people explored the reasons from another angle. For example, Chu Renhuo of the Qing Dynasty put forward in the fourth volume of "Jianhu Guangji": "The person who is seeing off has no other branches to break and has to leave the willow. It is not just the convenience of Jinting, but also the departure of people to their hometown is like the separation of trees. Soil, I hope it will be safe everywhere, just like willows can live everywhere, I wish you the best." This explanation is very reasonable. Compared with other trees, willow trees are characterized by "living anywhere", which can be used to wish people who are far away from home that they will be at peace with the situation when they arrive in a different place, and that they can quickly integrate into the local people, and everything will go well. This statement has profound philosophy and higher cultural taste.
However, I think this is not the original reason for the cultural custom of "breaking willows to say goodbye". The earliest origin should be these ancient poems: "In the past, I left, and the willows lingered; now I come to think about it, and the rain and snow are falling." There are three reasons: first, this poem comes from the Book of Songs, and it is a famous line that is familiar to everyone who reads it; second, "Yangliu Yiyi" expresses the soldiers' parting mood of missing their families and their homeland before going off to war, which laid the cultural tone for subsequent farewell poems. Third, as one of the Five Classics, the "Book of Songs" has a profound and extensive role in cultural inheritance. The ancients emphasized "no word has its origin" when writing poems, which of course comes from the classics. In this sense, I think it is inappropriate for someone to change the phrase "the guest house is surrounded by the spring willows" in "Weicheng Song" to "the guest house is green and the willows are new".
In short, "breaking willows to say goodbye" should have three reasons: "homonym of nostalgia", "philosophical enlightenment" and "cultural inheritance".
3. The music of "Breaking Willows"
When "Breaking Willows to Farewell", one has to play the flute and sometimes sing loudly. Therefore, in ancient poems, the music of "Breaking Willows" and "Blowing Willows" are often used. (singing songs) together to express the deep feelings of farewell. There are three related pieces of music:
The first is "Breaking Willow Branches" from the Northern Dynasties Yuefu's "Drum and Horn Horizontal Blowing Music". There is a lyric that says: "When you get on your horse, you don't catch the whip, but instead grab the willow branches. When you get off your horse, you play the horizontal flute, and you worry about killing the travelers." Li Bai's "Song under the Sea": "I heard the broken willows in the flute, but I haven't seen the spring scenery." There is also the previous mention. "Hearing the Flute on a Spring Night in Luocheng" mentioned in these two poems, "hearing the breaking of willows" should both be the song "Breaking Willow Branches".
The second is "Weicheng Song" of the Tang Dynasty, also known as "Yangguan Sandie". In fact, it turned out to be not a song, but a poem written by Wang Wei "Send Off the Second Envoy Ruan to Anxi": "The morning rain in Weicheng is light and dusty, and the guest house is green and the willows are new. I urge you to have a glass of wine and leave Yangguan in the west for no reason. "People." Later, it was composed by musicians and used as a farewell song. The last line of the song, "Going west to Yangguan without any old friends," was repeated and sung, so it was called "Yangguan Three Pieces". This was a very popular farewell song in the Tang Dynasty.
The third is "Poems of Yangliu Branch" written by the Tang Dynasty. This is the name of Tang Jiaofang's song. The author often uses this title to express the meaning of farewell. Liu Yuxi has nine poems called "Poems of Willow Branches", one of which reads: "The spring breeze outside the city blows wine flags, and pedestrians wave their arms to the west. There are countless trees on the streets of Chang'an, only the weeping poplar tubes can separate them." According to scholar Wang Xianqian Explanation: "Yangliu" is a type of willow, and Chuiyang means weeping willow. For example, Li Shangyin's "Sui Gong": "Today there is no glistening fire in the rotting grass, but in ancient times there will be dusk crows in the weeping willows." The "weeping poplars" in this sentence refer to the Sui Dynasty willows. (In ancient poetry, there seems to be a clear division of labor between Liu Yu and Yang Yu. For example, in Bai Juyi's "Gift to Lu Zimeng": "I heard that the tree on the tomb in Xianyang has already taken three feet of poplar branches." Let's talk about it. .
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