Cicada is a creature that we are very familiar with. Every midsummer, they sing everywhere. The process from an egg to a cicada is also very wonderful. The eggs laid by cicadas in early years will hatch into larvae, which burrow into the soil and feed on the juice of plant roots. When the larva matures, it climbs to the ground, takes off its golden shell and becomes the winged cicada we see. After seeing this change, the ancients came up with an idiom "golden cicada takes off its shell" after literary processing, which means to use tricks to leave an illusion to escape, so that the other party can't find it in time, thus successfully escaping from themselves. This idiom originated from Shi Hui's "Youboudoir and Cultural Relics Alliance" in the Yuan Dynasty: "I once remembered that there was a golden cicada in Sun Tzu's Art of War, and I couldn't help hanging my red brocade shirt on this pile; Turn over and jump over the wall. " . Cicada's wings are thin and transparent. When people see things like silk in their lives, they use things as thin as cicadas. They also describe a thing or thing as thin, fragile and vulnerable.
Cicada, a creature, has been given more meanings in our China culture. In late autumn, the cicada's voice is no longer high and silent. People see this phenomenon of cicada, and some people are afraid to speak or talk for various reasons or because of fear or worry in life, so they associate this behavior with cicada's habits, which leads to an idiom called "silence", which is the most famous idiom. Wise man; Be in a high position; Silent as a cicada; Or lead us to the wrong country. " .
? Cicada is sometimes delicious in other people's mouths. The ancients saw a cicada flying on a branch in the shade of a tree, but it was found by mantis behind him. Mantis is waiting for the chance to enjoy this delicious meal. Just like mantis catches cicadas with muscular arms, I don't know when a yellowbird came behind mantis and preyed on them. In life, some people only see the immediate benefits, but they don't know that disaster is behind. People link these two phenomena again, so an idiom related to cicadas has come into being, which is called "mantis catches cicada, yellowbird comes last." This idiom originated from Zhuangzi Sanmu: "When you see a cicada, you get a beautiful picture, but forget its body. When you see it, you will forget its shape. When you see it, you will benefit from it. When you see it, you will forget its truth. " .
Cicada's shell, cicada's wings, cicada's living habits, etc. It has become a carrier that people are used to. Even the cicada's needle kiss, such as the idiom "crab and cicada", is used to describe two unrelated things, which come from the Book of Rites under Tan Gong: "If an adult has a brother who dies but never dies, his writing will be ruined, so he will die." Silkworm is the best, crab is the best, fan is the best, cicada is the worst; "'My brother is too tall to die'". "Tut-tut" refers to the needle kiss of cicada. Because cicadas are so common in summer, this role naturally blends into people's lives, and it is also very close to metaphor or description, and it is also very vivid, even appearing in the subject matter of painters' paintings and even in poets' poems. It's not surprising. For example, a Tang poem we are going to watch today is to borrow cicadas as a token. It is Yu Shinan's masterpiece Cicada. Stop gossiping and enjoy the poem.
To annotate ...
(1)Rui: A kind of hat in Tang Dynasty, which is tied at the drooping part of the hat band, below the chin. Cicada's head has prominent tentacles shaped like a drooping hat band, which is a figurative statement.
(2) Flowing sound: the cicada's continuous high-pitched sound.
translate
The cicada hangs its tentacles and drinks clear dew, and there is a long sound from the sparse plane tree.
Because cicadas live under tall buttonwood trees, their songs are naturally long and clear, not because of the transmission of autumn wind.
Make an appreciative comment
This is a poem that expresses the meaning and lyricism of things. This is the earliest poem about cicadas written by poets in the Tang Dynasty. This poem is unique in writing and profound in meaning, and has always been praised by future generations. The poet compares cicada to a gentleman. On the surface, this poem is about the shape of cicada, whose life habit is "drinking clear dew". In fact, the symbolic meaning of Bi Xing is everywhere in the poem:
The first is "drinking dew", which means that cicadas only drink dew for a living, meaning that a gentleman is lofty.
Second, "the sound of walking" is to write the chirping of cicadas, which implies the virtue, fragrance, high standards and charm of a gentleman.
Third, "it's not the autumn wind that makes you aloof." It means that a gentleman's character is lofty, and his reputation can naturally spread far and wide without external help, expressing the poet's yearning and pursuit of noble character.
The origin of cicada singing
The ancients believed that cicadas were noble and pure. Sima Qian's Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng in the Han Dynasty said, "Cicadas shed dust." This means that cicadas live in muddy water until they finally molt and emerge as adults. They shed their shells, shed cicadas, fly to tall trees, and only drink dew, which can be described as sludge without staining. Because of this virtue and character of cicada, the ancients highly praised cicada. Is it because of the ignorance of the ancients or because of their superstitions? It is amazing to think that cicadas can live in the soil and shed their shells. Therefore, since the Han Dynasty, the image of cicada emergence has been used to express that people can be reborn. It is also a beautiful moral of the ancients, such as grinding jade into cicada and putting it into the mouth of the dead, which is called "cicada-shaped jade" in idioms. (Not mentioned at the beginning, just mentioned here. ) means to be immortal and get a new life. Wearing a jade cicada symbolizes noble character.
? The ancients had the habit of wearing jade articles, so. Confucius once said: "The beauty of jade is like the virtue of a gentleman". "Li Zhou Yu Zao" contains: "The ancient gentleman must wear jade. Zuo Jiepei, right set Pei. If you live in a house, you have Pei, and if you go to court, you have Pei. Zizejepe And Jue Shuo. Where you take it, you will wear jade, but you will lose it. Yu Pei has a blunt tooth. If a gentleman has no reason, jade will not go. " . The image of cicada is closely related to people's lives, so it is meaningful whether the image of cicada appears in the form of jade, in painting or in literary works.
Appreciation of A Small Dictionary of Poems
Poetry about things is a poem that expresses one's ambition or feelings about things. This kind of poetry takes objective things as the object of description, and in the description, sighs and chants reflect the author's thoughts or humanistic feelings. The "things" chanted in poems about things are often the author's own situation and destiny, which are completely integrated with the poet's self-image. In describing things, the author places certain feelings: either revealing the poet's attitude towards life, or placing his good wishes, or containing the poet's philosophy of life, or expressing the poet's interest in life. The ancients liked to recite things. Poems about objects have a long history and deep roots in the ancient literary tradition, occupying a place. In the Tang Dynasty, they even presented a magnificent scene. He's "Yong Liu" is a household name, and now children in kindergarten can recite it.
Brief introduction of the author
Yu Shinan (born in the 4th year of Daliang in the Southern and Northern Dynasties (AD 558)-died in July of the 12th year of Zhenguan in Tang Dynasty (AD 1 1 year)), Bo Shi, Han nationality, was a famous calligrapher, writer, poet and politician in the early Tang Dynasty. Yuyao, Yuezhou (now Zhenming Hechang, Guanhaiwei, Cixi City). Good at calligraphy, well-read in the south of the city, knowledgeable. He, together with Ou Yangxun, Chu Suiliang and Xue Qi, is called "the four great masters in the early Tang Dynasty". Bei Tang Shu Chao was compiled by Bei Tang Shu Chao, which is considered as one of the four great books in Tang Dynasty and one of the earliest books in China. Yang Di was an official in the Tang Dynasty. He was the secretary supervisor and bachelor of Hong Wen Pavilion. Emperor Taizong was one of the "eighteen bachelors", and he was called virtuous, honest, knowledgeable, good at writing and knowledgeable. "Heather is a man of birth, so there are also five wonders." One is loyalty, the other is friendship, the third is blogging, the fourth is rhetoric, and the fifth is writing. "In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan (643), on February 28th, in recognition of meritorious service, Emperor Taizong ordered painter Yan to draw twenty-four heroic deeds in Lingyange, and draw them in the size of a simulated human figure. Yu Shinan was among them, ranking 20th.