Willow and Practicing Scholars Yang Juyuan Series: Ancient Poems about Willow Trees Willow and Practicing Scholars The willows by the waterside are twisted with dust, and I immediately asked you to break a branch. Only the spring breeze cherishes each other the most, and blows diligence into my hands. Appreciation: The custom of breaking willows to give farewells began in Japan and flourished in the Tang Dynasty. According to "Sanfu Huangtu", when *** saw guests off at Baqiao, they often broke willows to say goodbye. It is said that Li Bai's "Recalling Qin'e·Xiao Shengyan" written by Li Bai "willows color every year, and Baling is sad to say goodbye" refers to this matter. Although this poem does not specify the location, from the poetic point of view, it is probably about the breaking of willows in Baling as a farewell gift. The first two sentences of the poem show the reader such a scene: in early spring, the willows by the water (probably referring to the bank of Bashui in Chang'an) hang down long yellowish strips like distiller's yeast. A couple was about to part ways here. The traveler stood on his horse, stretched out his hand to take the wicker branch that the sender had just broken off, and said, "Please break a branch!" This scene was like a "Baling Farewell Picture." The last two sentences, "Only the spring breeze cherishes each other the most, and the diligence blows into the hands." Judging from the tone, it seems that the traveler is speaking on behalf of the willow branches in his hands. From Willow's point of view, at this time and here, among all things, only the spring breeze cherishes each other the most. Even though it has been folded off and held in the hands of passers-by, the spring breeze is still blowing diligently, which can be described as affectionate. The willow branches were broken off and separated from the root, just like travelers leaving. Therefore, the traveler refers to himself by breaking a willow tree, and compares the person seeing him off to the spring breeze. It means: Only you can see me off with deep and sincere feelings like the spring breeze blowing the willows. You are the only one who has "the most sympathy" for me, a traveler from afar! This meaning is exactly the deepening and development of feelings expressed in "Fanjun breaks a branch". The poet cleverly uses the relationship between spring breeze and willow branches to compare the relationship between the sender and the traveler, which is vivid, appropriate, novel and unique. This poem is written from the perspective of a traveler. In the eyes of a traveler, the spring breeze blowing in the willows seems to have the meaning of "cherishing" and "diligence", as if they are friends who have come to see off. This is a very emotional association and illusion. The practitioner infiltrates his emotions into the objects. Things that were originally ruthless become sentimental in appearance. As Xie Fangde of the Song Dynasty said when commenting on this poem: "The willows have been broken, where is the business? The spring breeze blows as if there is a diligent and caring heart, this ruthlessness seems to be sentimental." This method of turning ruthless things into sentimental things, It is often used in Chinese classical poetry. For example, Tang Yuanzhen's "On the Third Year of the Wing Chun Wind Sent by Yang Yuan to the Willows of Chang'an" says, "The spring breeze has been full of love for three days, and it touches people's heads and faces with a little pity." Liu Xun's poem "Xinqing" of the Song Dynasty said: " Only Nan Feng, an old acquaintance, secretly opened the door and opened the book. "It's all about empathizing with things. Ancient Chinese literary criticism called it "looking for things with feelings" ("Wen Jing Mi Fu Lun·Nan·Wen Yi"). This is not an ordinary personification, which does not mean that the natural form of an object is subject to the subjective spirit of a person and becomes a symbol of a person, but that people's subjective feelings are transferred into the natural form of the object, maintaining the objective image of the object, and achieving the state of identity between the object and myself. . The last two sentences are thought-provoking mainly because of the clever metaphors and emotional artistic techniques used. This is the success of this poem.