Wang Wei's famous "Weicheng Song":
The morning rain in Weicheng is light and dusty, and the guesthouses are green and the willows are new.
I advise you to drink a glass of wine. There is no old friend when you leave Yangguan in the west.
In the eyes of readers who are not familiar with classical poetry, this poem may think that the first two sentences are just a general description of the scenery after the spring rain. If we trace it back to the earlier Yuefu poem "Song of Folding Willows" in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, we will find that it is related to ancient social customs. One of the verses goes:
When riding a horse, instead of catching the whip, the willow branches are folded instead.
I sit on my seat and play the flute, worrying about killing travelers.
Why didn’t the traveler in the poem take a riding whip? Instead, he broke off a willow branch and sat there playing the flute after dismounting. (The ancients cut off the young willow branches and pulled out the woody stems in the stems, leaving The bark of the stem can be blown with slight trimming at one end, just like a flute, also called a willow flute or a willow whistle)? And what about "worry about killing"?
It turns out that the ancients had a habit of using homophones to express meanings. "Liu" and "Liu" have the same pronunciation, so borrowing willow means to retain (the ancients called poplar and willow actually the same plant). Therefore, when the "traveler" in the poem above mounts his horse and sees the willows, he will think of "stay", and his nostalgia for his hometown will arise spontaneously. He will break off the willow branches and get off the horse, play the willow flute, and stay in place. I don't want to leave, but I have to leave, so there is a saying of "sorrowful killing".
The fourth poem of the same poem also sings:
Looking at the Mengjin River in the distance, the willows are dancing.
I am a kid from the Lu family and I don’t understand Chinese children’s songs.
When the "traveler" was nostalgic for his hometown and sang the farewell song "Willow", his traveler was a barbarian, precisely because he did not understand the meaning of "willow" and "liu" in Chinese. The homophony implies relationship, so he does not understand the feelings of his companions, so he said, "I am a kid from the Lu family, and I don't understand Chinese children's songs." Regarding "The Willows and the Swirling Willows," he can only look at the scene, but not understand the emotion. After understanding this poem, we will understand the full meaning of Wang Wei's "Weicheng Song". Because the rain has washed away the light dust, the willow color in the guest house appears more vivid, which makes the people who are about to part ways even more shocking. Inspired by this deep love, they uttered with infinite emotion, "I urge you to have a glass of wine and leave the sun in the west." The feeling of farewell to an old friend.
In order to express the feelings of "retention" and "nostalgia", when the ancients said goodbye, they often broke off the willow branches beside the road and gave them to the travelers to express their deep affection. Therefore, Wang Zhihuan's poem "Farewell" goes:
The willow trees at the east gate are green and green with the river.
The recent hardships are probably due to the many separations.
Sometimes, in order to commemorate relatives and friends who have left their hometown, they also send willow branches to express their feelings. For example, Zhang Jiuling's poem "Breaking Willows" writes:
Breaking willows delicately, holding this to send lover.
One branch is not so precious, pity is the spring in my hometown.
The act of breaking willows is an expression of reluctance by the farewell person and a sign by pedestrians that they are willing to stay, but in the end they cannot stay. This helpless mood is accurately depicted by Luo Yin's poem "Willow" ：
Ba Anqing came to say goodbye, and we cuddled together for the best part of spring.
My own flying catkins are still uncertain, trying to trip people up with the long strips?
To understand the whole story, let’s look at Liu Yong’s "Yulin Ling", the second part of this poem about leaving the capital and about to travel far away:
Sentimental feelings have been hurt by separation since ancient times, and more and more That's too much to neglect the Qingqiu Festival. Where did you wake up tonight? On the bank of willows, the dawn wind wanes and the moon falls.
Then you will realize how touching the melancholy expressed in the words is. This is why the poet emphasized the scene of "Willow Bank".
In ancient times, there was a flute music called "Breaking Willows". When people heard the flute playing this music, they would also associate with the image of willows and increase their homesickness. Therefore, Du Fu once asked in "Blowing the Flute": "The willows in my hometown are falling now, how can I live in sorrow?" Li Bai's "Song Xia": "It is snowing in the mountains in May, there are no flowers, only cold. I hear the broken willows in the flute." "I haven't seen the spring scenery yet." He complained that it was still snowing outside the Great Wall in May, and there was no spring scenery or willows to be seen. But why did the flute play this tune to increase the homesickness of the travelers?
Look again at Wang Zhihuan's "Liangzhou Ci":
Far above the Yellow River among the white clouds,
an ancient city is located in Wanren Mountain.
Why should the Qiang flute blame the willows?
The spring breeze does not pass through Yumen Pass.
This poem expresses euphemistic and multi-layered meanings. No wonder it is regarded as the masterpiece of Tang Dynasty quatrains.