Lisao: "Making lotus seeds means clothes, and gathering hibiscus seeds means clothes" is a typical example of our ancestors picking herbs. There are many examples of this custom in the Book of Songs, which is farming and folk activities. The picking of "vanilla" in Songs of the South is an externalization and symbol of the literati's "focusing on cultivating energy", such as picking Ficus pumila and lotus (hibiscus). It is more common to pick fragrant flowers and give them to each other in Chu Ci, such as Li Sao, which says, "I visited this erotic palace and folded my branches to continue my admiration." Its splendor has not fallen, and the female can be left behind ",Xiang Jun:" If you choose Fangzhou and Du Ruo, you will leave your daughter behind ",Mrs. Xiang:" If you choose Fangzhou and Du Ruo, you will leave behind ",and Priestess of Death:" If you break away from your home, you will leave home with your legacy ". Under the influence of the cultural system of Chuci, picking flowers and giving gifts to each other is the expression of the feelings of love and acacia between literati based on personality.
In Songs of the South, some fragrant herbs symbolize the poet's noble and clean personality. For example, "Mulan is like a lotus in the morning, and the island is like a wild one in the evening", "Take the root of a tree to make a knot, and penetrate the falling core of Ficus pumila", "Take the horse to Langao, and how can it stop?" "Take Ruhui to cover up the tears, and touch the waves of the surplus." "When it is warm, it will stop, and it will be lingering." Orchid, pepper, zhi and hui are all precious herbs, so the poet walked in Langao, stopped at the pepper hill, and Ru Hui covered her tears, and the orchid was beautiful, even after being replaced by Hui Xiang, she continued to pick Zhi Cao. This symbolizes that the poet should cultivate himself with beautiful ideals and sentiments under any circumstances, and show the poet's noble personality.
There are many poems in Chu Ci that compare virtue with vanilla and fragrant wood, and virtue and vanilla are almost synonymous. Take Li Sao as an example. "I don't know that it is already embarrassing, but I feel that it is trustworthy." "Fang and Zeqi are mixed, but they are still not lost." "Fang Feifei is hard to lose, and Fang has not yet foamed." The poet repeatedly complained that he was fragrant and moist, and although he could not get the trust of the monarch, his virtue and deeds remained in his own body. Despite the ups and downs, the virtue of fragrance has not lost money, but it has flourished for a long time. Another example is: "The purity of the past and the future is where the fragrance is." "Mixed peppers and mushrooms are precious, but it is only a husband." This is a metaphor for a virtuous sage with fragrant grass and fragrant flowers. "Yu Zi Lan is nine miles long, and the tree sticks to a hundred acres; I stayed in the country and uncovered the car, which mixed Du Heng and Fang Zhi. " The four plants mentioned in this paper are all vanilla fragrant wood, and the poet uses the metaphor of planting vanilla fragrant wood to cultivate talents with virtue.
The creation of Chuci is directly related to the witchcraft in Chu, and the image of "vanilla incense wood" is the refraction and transplantation of witchcraft. Lotus, Orchid, Hui, Ficus pumila and Gui constitute the image system of "vanilla and fragrant wood" in Chuci. Witchcraft prevailed in Chu, "Lu Chunqiu? 6? 1 extravagant music "hit the nail on the head:" The decline of the Song Dynasty is also a thousand minutes; Qi's decline is also, as Da Lu; The decline of Chu is also a witch sound "; And "vanilla" is the sacrifice and prop of witches when they sacrifice songs and dances. "Nine songs? 6? 1 East Emperor Taiyi: "Yao seats are filled with jade, but I will put Xi Qiongfang. Hui Yao steamed Xi Lan Ji, drink Gui wine Xi Jiao pulp. .. Lingyan Xi Jiao Fu, Fang Feifei Xi Mantang ",there have been" vanilla incense wood "such as Hui, Lan, Gui and Jiao. "Nine songs? 6? 1 The Ritual Soul also says: "When you become a ritual, you will know how to drum, preach Ba Xi to dance, and your daughter advocates tolerance. Chunlan and Qiuju will last forever. " Wang Yi notes the sentence "Pass on the Ba": "Say that the shrine worships and makes fun, while the singers and witches dance with the Ba, so that they can use it more for others." The purpose of sacrifice is to achieve communication between man and God, and all ethnic groups have used fragrant plants as sacrifices. Edward Taylor mentioned in his Primitive Culture that early humans used incense to worship gods: "These offerings rose to spiritual objects in the form of steam, which is very reasonable." The cause of "vanilla" sacrifice is also mainly due to this; Most of the "vanilla incense wood" in Chu Ci smells fragrant. Besides. Taking flowers as decorations and props for witches also has the intention of pleasing the gods.
There are a lot of fragrant vanilla trees in the Songs of the South, which are used to decorate clothes and residences. Fragrant flowers and fragrant grass are natural, simple and romantic. There are many descriptions of rooms and costumes in Songs of the South of China, but the wonderful thing is that these romantic works such as Li Sao and Jiu Ge are mostly decorated with vanilla and natural colors. "Nine songs? 6? 1 Mrs. Xiang lists many flowers and trees in the description of the palace of the goddess of water in Hunan. Lotus leaves are woven into the roof, covered with zhicao, and surrounded by Du Heng. Suncao is used to decorate the wall, purple shells are used to build the courtyard, laurel trees are used as beams, Mulan is used as a slap, magnolia is used as a door, Ficus pumila is used as a tent, white jade town seats are full of peppers, and the lotus leaves are green, zhicao is white and pepper is deep. 6? 8? 6? These descriptions not only make people feel fragrant, but also bring people into the colorful world and the pure and simple nature. The residence of Shao Siming is very similar to that of Mrs. Xiang. The courtyard of Shao Siming also has Qiu Lan, luxuriant weeds, green leaves and white flowers, which are pleasing to the eye. All kinds of colors are born in nature and taken from nature. Planting the fragrant trees of the land into the underwater dreamland one after another constitutes a romantic realm. Look at the costume description. In Li Sao and Nine Songs, the costumes of people and gods are all made of natural objects. "Li Sao" expresses the protagonist's initial costume as "Hu Jiang is detached and withdrawn, and Qiu Lan thinks she is admired." "Making lotus is thought to be a garment, and gathering hibiscus is thought to be a dress." Put Li Jiang and Zhicao on your body and Qiu Lan on your waist. Make a coat with rhombic leaves and weave a skirt with lotus flowers. Li Jiang and water chestnut leaves are green, bluegrass leaves are purple stems, zhicao is white, and lotus is red. Red, purple, white and green are all taken from nature, and natural colors are the basic colors of the lyric hero's clothing. The gods in Chu Ci all use natural things as their clothing and accessories. Shan Gui is sometimes "brought up by Li Xi" and sometimes "brought up by Shi Lan Xi Du Heng". Her clothes and belts are all made of vanilla. In a word, fragrant flowers and herbs are often used to write about people and gods, which not only makes people and gods have the characteristics of purity and simplicity, but also makes the Songs of the South more magical and magnificent, full of romantic atmosphere of nature, and the ancestors' love for nature is also revealed.
The prototype of "Songs of the South" by Xiangcaomu is the image of literati. The relationship between literati and Xiangcaomu is based on the understanding of the connotation and essence of Xiangcaomu, which avoids the straightforward and superficial lyricism, but is rather charming and sentimental.
In addition, the image of vanilla in Chu Ci is closely related to the Chu tribal culture, which determines the specific meaning of vanilla incense wood, thus making it have a symbolic role beyond many words, so that we can realize its complex feelings and feel its overtones and images from these vanilla incense wood.
references:
[1] Li Sao. (Song) Hong Xingzu. Notes on the Songs of Chu. Zhonghua Book Company, 1983.
[2] Pan Fujun's Botanical Illustration of Songs of Chu Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, 23
[3] (Ming) Li Shizhen. Compendium of Materia Medica. People's Medical Publishing House, 1993.