The first poem at the beginning of the Book of Songs is the well-known Guan Ju, among which the widely circulated sentence "Guan Ju's dove is in Hezhou; My Fair Lady is a Gentleman, which means "a pheasant pigeon that closes the door and sings, resting on the sandbar in the river. "A beautiful and virtuous girl is indeed a good spouse of a gentleman."
Then, the word "Guan Guan" in this sentence, "Guan Guan's pigeons are in the river continent", is a kind of waterfowl, whose song is like "Guan Guan", which has always been interpreted as a symbol of single-minded loyalty between men and women.
So what kind of bird is this? What does it look like?
What we call pheasant dove, pheasant and osprey today are also called cormorants.
What does an osprey look like?
Osprey, also called cormorant, is a large fish-eating bird, good at diving. After diving, its feathers are soaked, and it needs to spread its wings and dry in the sun before flying. The mouth is strong and long, conical, with a pointed hook at the top, suitable for pecking fish, and a pouch under the throat. The foot is in the posterior position, the toe is flat, the hind toe is long, and there are full webbed feet. Habitat in Yu Haibin and lakes. When flying, the neck and feet are straight. Often domesticated for fishing, tied to the throat and forcibly spit out after being caught.
The big osprey is a kind of raptor in the water, and its flying ability is also very good. The US Air Force has a biplane model called "Osprey", which shows its power.
Judging from the shape of the raptor, the osprey obviously does not conform to the statement that "Guan Luo" is a symbol of loyal love. In reality, there is a tacit understanding between osprey. When nesting, most of them stay away from the river bank and live on cliffs or trees, so the group life is more harmonious. From this perspective, there seems to be some consistency.
Some people think it's Yuanyang. They are inseparable, but this is completely wrong. Yuanyang is a fickle guy among waterfowl, and it seems more appropriate to explain it as osprey.
From the perspective of biological evolution, after thousands of years of evolution, including artificial domestication, the osprey has been able to fly with its wings and the water quality is excellent, but its call is "Guan", which is similar to the "quack" of ducks.
Some people say that Guan pheasant is a white-bellied crake.
This is a wading bird, which conforms to the environmental description of "in the river continent" in the poem. Its cry is similar to "bitter wow, bitter wow" and even its pronunciation is close to "Guan Guan". More importantly, the white-bellied crake is shy and timid by nature, hiding in the water grass, only hearing its voice, it is difficult to see its shape, like shy men and women in love. During the breeding season, the cry is louder, as if complaining about something.
This seems to be in line with the description of "the pigeon in Guanguan is in the river continent", and it is in line with all the characteristics of the pigeon in Guanguan to sing loudly during the breeding period and find a spouse to have children.
This seems to be a love letter written by a man to a woman. It is beautiful and affectionate.
Why do you use pigeons to compare love?
The bird song in Guan Guan is very harmonious and pleasant, which reminds people of the harmony between husband and wife. Secondly, the pheasant dove is a monogamous bird. The ancients called it a "chastity bird" and thought it was loyal to chastity, which was in line with the values in human family ethics.
In a word, The Book of Songs has been passed down through the ages, and people chanted its beautiful love, evoking countless fantasies.