Appreciation of poems about peonies in "Peony·Peony"
Luo Yin
It is difficult to open the flower when it is full of smoke, but beware of a touch of sandalwood on the red pistil.
The young master returned drunkenly and saw her under the lamp. The beauty looked into the mirror.
When the court begins to feel the gentle spring breeze, only when it brings rain does one realize that the country is cold.
What will happen in the day and night? It is too true to be able to do anything.
"Peony" written by Luo Yin in the late Tang Dynasty does not praise the graceful and luxurious peonies with shocking words, but uses concrete and perceptible images to fully express the artistic conception and charm of peonies in the painting.
The poem begins with a description of the blooming of peonies: "It is so beautiful that it is difficult to bloom because of the heavy smoke." The peonies are in full bloom, with huge flowers, dense stamens and many petals, which are extremely gorgeous, so they are called "many and beautiful"; when the flowers are in full bloom, At that time, under the sunlight, the velvet petals were full, the tender stamens were trembling, and pink mist was rising. Each flower seemed to be surrounded by a layer of light smoke. Among them, the wise poets are most familiar with the scenery. Li Bai once said: "Fireworks descend to Yangzhou in March" ("Send Meng Haoran to Guangling from Yellow Crane Tower"); another poet of the Tang Dynasty, Quan Deyu, wrote When he saw the scenery of peonies, he also said: "The bright stamens are fresh in the house, and the smoky dew shines on the moss." ("The Peony Song of Li Zhongcheng Ci'en Temple Qingshangren Yuan") The "smoky" peonies are like this. The scenery just illustrates the beauty of its blooming, so Luo Yin focused on this scene in the first sentence of his poem. "Yan Duo Yan Zhong", a "duo" plus a "heavy", very vividly expresses the enthusiasm of the peonies in full bloom. So, why is it so difficult to open the flower when it is in full bloom? Is it because we don’t want it to bloom again, or is it difficult to open it even if we want to? It is, but it is not. It is precisely because of "the beauty and the heavy smoke" that the peonies are unbearable and it is difficult to bloom again even if they don't want to. Because "Yanduoyanhehe" is just right, it's the hottest time to open it. Isn't it? Look at the heart of the flower: "Red pistils, beware of a touch of sandalwood." The peony flower in full bloom opens its petals, and beware of a cluster of fine pistils with melting red powder, exuding an alluring fragrance, and the roots of the pistils are connected to the petals. There is a light ocher halo in the place, like a touch of sandalwood eyebrow lying in the heart of the flower, which highlights the beauty of the peony. Later poets who described peonies also noticed the sandalwood core of the peony flower. Another poet in the late Tang Dynasty, Qin Taoyu, wrote in his poem "Peony": "The golden pistils on the branches are fragrant, and the sandalwood cores are ingeniously cut." Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty Aixinjueluo Xuanye also said in the poem "Green Peony": "The blue pistils and the green clouds overwhelm all the fragrance, and the sandalwood heart chases the fragrance." It is also very interesting to write about the pistils and the sandalwood heart. Natural.
In the second couplet, the poet writes from the perspective of the appreciator, implicitly writing about the beauty of peonies. One is that the romantic young master comes back drunk at night, and in a daze he still misses the blooming peonies, admiring them again before going to bed through the light; the other is that the beauty in the boudoir wakes up in the morning and carefully places the peonies on her temples in front of the mirror. , to increase your own beauty. Appreciating flowers after being drunk or under a lamp is an interesting and elegant thing for literati. Bai Juyi said in "Two Poems on Cherishing Peonies": "When the wind rises in the Ming Dynasty, it should be blown away. At night, if the red flowers fade, they should be watched by fire." Li Shangyin In "Drunken Under the Flowers", he also wrote: "After the guests woke up late at night, they held red candles to admire the remaining flowers." Su Shi in the Song Dynasty was even more infatuated: "I am afraid that the flowers will fall asleep late at night, so I hold red candles to illuminate the red makeup." ( "Begonia") and Fan Chengda said: "If you want to know the sentence about the beauty of the country and the fragrance of the sky, you must lean on the railing and burn a candle to read it." ("Visiting the Gardens with My Late Brother to Look at Peonies") It seems that the love of flowers is the passion of the poet. *Same mentality. Beauty, on the other hand, pays more attention to her appearance. When dressing herself up, she must choose the most beautiful flowers. Put a peony flower on your head, "Looking at the flower in the front and rear mirrors, the flowers reflect each other." (Wen Tingyun, "Bodhisattva Man") That is the most pleasant thing.
The third couplet describes peonies by placing them in nature. The previous sentence describes her position in nature. Putting her in the courtyard, she feels that the spring breeze smelling of flowers also changes. It seems to be saying that if there are no peonies, the value of the spring breeze cannot be seen; on the contrary, after the baptism of the spring breeze, the beauty of the peonies becomes even more apparent. "National Color" originally refers to a woman with extremely beautiful appearance. Because the color of peony is extremely bright, it is also called National Color. Liu Yuxi once said: "Only peonies are the true national beauty, and they move the capital when they bloom." ("Appreciating Peonies") Another poet in the mid-Tang Dynasty, Li Zhengfeng, also left a famous poem: "The sky is fragrant and the night dyes clothes, "The beauty of the country is like a drunken wine" (see "Songchuang Miscellaneous Records" by Li Jun of the Tang Dynasty) to praise peonies. In these two lines of poems, Luo Yin said that peonies add fragrance to nature, and that nature adds color to peonies. They complement each other and write the beauty of peonies extremely skillfully.
In the last couplet, the poet used a well-known allusion to vividly describe the beauty and splendor of peonies: "The sun and evening will be different, too true to be able to lean on the railing." "Too true" It was the nickname of Concubine Yang when she was a female Taoist priest. This sentence means, what do the peonies look like at night? Just like Concubine Yang weakly leaning on the railing. Concubine Yang was the concubine of Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty. She was a famous beauty in Chinese history. In the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Li Bai served as an imperial concubine. He once put peonies and Concubine Yang together in the palace and wrote the famous "Three Poems of Qingping Diao Ci". The last couplet of it goes: "Explaining the infinite hatred of the spring breeze, the Agarwood Pavilion leans on the railing in the north. ." From then on, people associated peonies with Concubine Yang, and many peonies were named after her. Such as "Drunk Yuhuan", "Drunken Yang Fei", "Yang Fei hydrangea", "Taizhen's evening makeup", "Drunk Yang Fei", etc.
When poets write about peonies, they often use Yang Guifei as a comparison and describe it as "leaning on the stem". For example, Wang Zhenbai's "White Peony" of the Tang Dynasty: "The beauty put on her makeup and leaned on the railing in silence." Wen Tingyun's "Peony": "The guests in the Huatang scattered their seats and hung to the floor, hoping to use the railing to gather the green flowers." Luo Ye's "Peony": "Mo The back of the railing will smile, and you will receive the master's favor." "Peony" by Ye Yong of the Song Dynasty: "The sun is charming and weak when smiling in the wind, just like when Concubine Yang wakes up." Writing about peonies in this way invisibly enhances the beauty of peonies. Gorgeous and charming, graceful, rich and noble, beauty and jade color complement each other. The words are here and the intention is there, which invisibly completes the praise of flowers.
Praising peonies was a hot topic in the Tang Dynasty. Among the many poems describing peonies, Luo Yin was unique and creative, and it took a lot of thought. The poet worked hard, using various methods from different angles and different aspects, mobilizing various means to fully develop the description, and finally made the poem "Peony" reach an artistic state with both form and spirit. Although the language does not use colorful words and sentences, it can depict the beauty and fragrance of peony. This is also a concrete manifestation of Luo Yin's style of mostly using spoken language and striving to be popular when writing poems.