Indeed, peony flowers are elegant and represent the pursuit of a better life in ancient times; Represents their inner hope for a better future. This is also an attitude towards life. For people who have experienced many disasters in ancient times, the luxury of peony flowers is what they long to live.
However, there has been a lack of different voices in cultural history, which is called a hundred schools of thought contend. It is worth noting that a poet in the Song Dynasty put forward different views on peony flowers. Although many people sincerely appreciate the elegance of peony, the poet criticized peony mercilessly.
There are poems as evidence:
Jujube flowers are small, and mulberry leaves are soft as silk.
Laughing peony is as big as a bucket, and nothing is achieved.
The name of this ancient poem is Ode to Peony, which was written by wang pu, a poet in the Song Dynasty. This poet occupied a very important position when the Song Dynasty was established, and he was one of the right-hand men who helped Zhao Kuangyin to establish the Song Dynasty. He was once the prime minister of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, and his position was extremely high.
This ancient poem of his broke the ancients' view of peony flowers. In the first two sentences of this ancient poem, the poet takes "jujube flower" and "mulberry leaf" as examples respectively, and thinks that "jujube flower" can "grow into fruit" and bear fruit; Mulberry leaves are "soft" and look nothing special, but they can be used to raise silkworms and make them spin silk.
After continuing the previous two ancient poems and the foreshadowing of these two crops, the poet finally put forward the argument of ancient poems. Ridiculous peony is as big as a bucket, and it is not empty. The funny thing is that peony grows as big as a bucket, but it can't solve any fruit in the end. In the end, it can only be "nothing" and only a bare "empty branch" can be harvested.
Therefore, the poet's basic argument is very clear. In his view, jujube flowers are small, but they can bear fruit; Mulberry leaves are soft, but they can be used to raise silkworms. What's the use of peony growing so big? Flowers fail, and only bare branches will remain in the end. Where is the beauty?
Obviously, this poet evaluates it from a practical point of view. He values jujube flowers and mulberry leaves because they are more realistic. Peony has nothing left except the beautiful flowering period. There is really nothing to boast about.
From the poet's point of view, we can also explore a deeper truth. Just like many people now, if you don't cherish the best age in your life, you will only get a "nothing" ending. Although the poet did not embody this view in the original poem, the poem itself can still bring us deeper thinking.
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