Li Shangyin’s Four Pomegranate Poems, a brief analysis of the meaning of pomegranate flowers in Li Shangyin’s poems, wife and lover
Pomegranates have been particularly popular with the Central Plains since they were brought to China by Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty. It is widely cultivated from Chang'an to the Jiangnan River Basin.
This fruit tree native to Iran is not as acclimatized as other fruit trees. For example, lychee also grows in the hot south, but it is difficult to adapt to the dry climate in the north. But pomegranates are different. They grow luxuriantly not only in the arid north, but also in the rainy south of the Yangtze River. The pomegranates bloom and bear fruit in each place and have different sweet flavors. For example, the crystal pomegranate in Yangzhou and the small pomegranate in the north are both famous pomegranate fruits.
Pomegranates were often planted on the capital roads and tombs of the Han Dynasty. Pomegranate is evergreen all year round, with bright flowers and sweet fruit, symbolizing health, redness, and fertility. In the Tang Dynasty, there were also many kinds of pomegranates in the courtyard. In the Tang Dynasty, which advocated splendor and beauty, the red of the pomegranate skirt was the most important color in the skirt, and it was bright and attractive for women to wear. From Emperor Zetian to ordinary singers, everyone loves pomegranate red dresses.
Pomegranate has become a common garden tree species, symbolizing the passion of love and the prosperity of the family.
In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, pomegranate flower wine was popular. Like calamus wine, it was a seasonal wine around the Dragon Boat Festival in May. Because pomegranate flowers and buds were added to the wine, it could treat and prevent gastrointestinal diseases in summer, strengthen the body and eliminate evil.
Li Shangyin left four poems about pomegranates. However, it is precisely because of Li Shangyin’s beautiful poems and colorful images that people are often immersed in them without knowing the true meaning of the images. This creates the special charm of his poems. .
Touching and deciphering his poems is also what poets of all ages are most happy to do.
" The phoenix tail incense sticks are several layers thin, and the blue dome is cracked in the middle of the night.
The moon is so shy that it can’t be concealed by the fan, and the thunder of the car cannot make sense.
It used to be lonely, golden embers were dark, and there was no news or pomegranate red.
The spots were only tied to the bank of weeping poplar trees. Where can the wind blow in the southwest?" "Two Untitled Poems" by Li Shangyin of the Tang Dynasty. One"
This poem is one of Li Shangyin's untitled poems. It writes about a scene on a summer night.
A woman was sewing a thin canopy on a summer night. The soft canopy was piled on her body and she was sewing in the middle of the night.
In the process of sewing, she recalled an old friend she met on the road during the day. He was her lover and lover, but she was sitting in the car at that time, using a summer fan to half-cover her face. , already blushing, only hearing the rumble of the car moving forward, he met her face to face, but could not communicate verbally. But this shyness had exposed her shock and excitement at that time, and thunder and words were a kind of immediacy, as if summer thunder would definitely trigger a shower, but they had thousands of words to say, but they missed it.
She used to be trapped here day after day, and saw her heart burning like charcoal and turning into ashes.
There was no news about him in the past, and the summer pomegranates bloomed infinitely in the courtyard. That kind of red shows that she is in the prime of her youth, and that kind of red also means that she belongs to someone in her heart, but they just can't meet each other.
Because in the Tang Dynasty, pomegranate flowers were the flower of the courtyard, the flower of love, and the flower of husband and wife. Only the love between husband and wife can make pomegranates bear fruit. But it is obvious that she has almost lost her youth in a desperate situation.
That piece of hair was tied to the willow bank, where her lover and her lover were. However, she had no wings, so she flew over the shackles, like catkins, and flew into her lover's arms like pomegranate flowers.
Li Shangyin’s phrase “Pomegranate is red without news.” links the bright red color of pomegranate with lonely waiting, creating a deep despair and loneliness in summer.
In fact, Li Shangyin’s use of pomegranate red has a profound meaning. Pomegranate is not only bright and eye-catching in color, but also represents his wife, his wife’s youth and lovesickness. Wu Zetian "didn't believe she had shed tears recently, so she opened the box to check for a pomegranate skirt." This was a token of love between her and Emperor Zhongzong. Her identity meant that she was already his wife or concubine. The pomegranate skirt represented the deep love and the love of the couple.
Although Li Shangyin wrote this poem when he was young, the reason why Li Shangyin used pomegranate red was not simply to choose a bright color to contrast his mood, but because the woman was his lover and wife in his mind. .
She belongs in her heart and even in her body, but due to the pressure of the environment, she has been isolated from her lover for many years, so that she was extremely excited when they suddenly met. Unfortunately, there was thunder but no rain, and a desperate soul was there. Within the courtyard wall, a watching soul is on the bank of willows.
Cao Zhiyou "I wish to be the southwest wind and pass away forever in your arms." He writes about the strong thoughts and wishes of a woman who misses her husband but is isolated from him.
This wife and lover in Li Shangyin's mind is like a bird in a cage or a pomegranate flower in the courtyard, suffering from longing and youth.
After thousands of years of continuous cracking, it is generally known that Li Shangyin once fell in love with the princess's senior maid, and the two of them also struggled for love and staying together, but due to the woman's identity, was forcibly dismantled.
Li Shangyin’s simplicity and persistence lies in the fact that this is not a romantic affair, this is his lover and wife. Although there is no result in the end, both Li Shangyin and the woman have truly devoted themselves to it. This encounter and love.
Pomegranate flower is another name for home and wife.
“Longshan is clear with snow and phoenix towers are glowing with clouds. There are several charming caves in the cave.
I am so drunk that I am so heartbroken for spring that I will not bother you to persuade the pomegranate flowers.” Li Shangyin of the Tang Dynasty "Two poems to express regret to Han in the same year (when Han lived in Xiaodong)? Part Two"
Li Shangyin was a 24-year-old high school Jinshi, and his contemporary Han Zhan was a Jinshi at the same time.
The two hit it off immediately. The first love was fruitless, and it was really fruitless. After Li Shangyin passed the Jinshi examination, he went to the Taoist temple, expecting to meet his lover and talk about the future. However, he waited for a long time and the other party did not come out to see him. There was a misunderstanding. In fact, the woman had been transferred to the capital. But for Li Shangyin, he thought the other party had given up on him.
In this state, his confidant Han Zhan saw that Li Shangyin was unmarried and introduced him to the shogunate of General Wang Maoyuan where he served.
Here, he was reused, and Wang Maoyuan betrothed his youngest daughter to him.
This pure aristocratic girl, who was more than ten years younger than Li Shangyin, impressed Li Shangyin with her gentleness, elegance, beauty and purity, and the two got married smoothly and fell in love with each other.
Only in the second year, when Li Shangyin was waiting for the Jinshi conferment in the late spring and early summer, he was suddenly told that his qualifications as a Jinshi were invalid and his official career was blocked. Li Shangyin felt as if he had been struck by lightning and could not recover. This was the result of ten years of hard work for him. Why was this the result? He seemed to see magnolia flowers falling overnight and ashes everywhere.
On the other hand, Han Zhan, standing beside Li Shangyin, saw the impact of this crisis on Li Shangyin, and also saw that this crisis was not without a solution. He took Li Shangyin to his newlywed family to entertain him, and took out the pomegranate flower wine that was most in season at this time.
So how did Han Zhan persuade Li Shangyin? Someone must have interfered with this, but with the abilities of Wang Maoyuan and Han Zhan, they would definitely find out the cause and find a solution. He advised Li Shangyin to calm down.
In addition, Li Shangyin is already married and has a newlywed wife. Why not enjoy the pomegranate wine and the tenderness of his beautiful wife? No matter what, Li Shangyin now has a lovely wife and a career.
It’s just that Li Shangyin’s mentality must have collapsed. Both were Jinshi, and both were consorts of the Wang family. Han Zhan had a smooth official career, and the bridal chamber with his young wife, who was named on the gold medal list, was a real possession and fun, but what did it mean to him, Li Shangyin? If Jinshi is a fake, wouldn't it mean that this sweet wife's future is all in vain? What's more, a scholar cannot be killed but cannot be humiliated. This is the biggest humiliation that the proud Li Shangyin has experienced in the world.
I don’t need you to persuade me to make pomegranate wine, I don’t need you to explain it, there are pomegranate flowers here. The skin is gone, the hair will cover it, everything is like a dream.
Just seeing his little wife standing in front of him, as bright and quiet as a pomegranate flower, would be a great sting and irony for Li Shangyin at this time.
The first half of his life was really difficult. Just as soon as it clicked, the dream was shattered.
“The pomegranate branches are graceful, the pomegranates are abundant, the pomegranate membrane is light and bright, and the pomegranate seeds are fresh.
The green peach tree in Yaochi is enviable, and the green peach cheeks have been red for a thousand years. "Li Shangyin of the Tang Dynasty "Pomegranate"
But the real family life, the love between husband and wife, and the arrival of children relieved Li Shangyin's sadness in life, and he gradually gained a real sense of happiness.
The woman he once loved was engaged in Taoism, and whether she was sincere or not, she was still on the road to spiritual practice.
He once claimed to be the reincarnation of Dongfang Shuo in order to gain eternal love and fate with that fairy.
They used to love each other so much, but apart from hurting themselves, they created the most beautiful and sad poems, not true happiness. He once said that the woman was A Huan, who was beside the Queen Mother, and she was as beautiful as a peach blossom. He once looked forward to a dream-like opportunity in life that would allow him and his lover to stay together forever.
But nothing compares to the reality before your eyes.
The real world is before our eyes. In summer, pomegranate branches are graceful and full of pomegranates. When the pomegranate is opened, the pomegranate membrane is transparent and lovely, and the pomegranate seeds are crystal clear and delicious. That is the contribution of pomegranate flowers.
Who is Pomegranate Flower? She is his little wife, who gave him a son and a daughter, and gave him the happiness and stability of other people in the world.
Looking at the haggard face of my wife due to childbirth, there is also the happiness of being a wife and mother in the haggardness.
Li Shangyin said, pomegranate flowers, you can envy the peach blossoms in the sky. They will always be beautiful, but they will never enjoy the love and happiness in the world.
Li Shangyin was showing off his happiness without any emotion.
It is enough that he has his own pomegranate tree and pomegranate flowers. It was too cold in the sky and the fairy girl was too far away. Even if life was really a hardship, he was willing to go through fire and water to see his wife and children and his home.
" Biyanqiu Temple comes from the lake, and the water hits the city roots and destroys the ancient battlements.
I am sad all day long, and people are gone, and pomegranate flowers are all over the old piano platform." "Visiting Lingjia Temple" by Li Shangyin 》
This is Li Shangyin in his later years, returning to Chang'an from Sichuan. At this time, his wife had passed away for five years. In the year when his wife passed away, he was working as a staff member and missed his wife's serious illness. When he returned home, his wife had been buried. Soon, for the living expenses of his two children, he went to the Sichuan shogunate despite his illness.
After working for five years, Li Shangyin returned to Chang'an. This time, he had time to stay and slowly explore the temple scenery in the capital.
The past remains in my heart, and now it is restored scene by scene.
Although he and his wife were together less and more apart, he always saw her and took the children to play when she was alive.
Where he used to live, he saw the roses that his wife loved blooming in midsummer.
In the temple he visited in the past, pomegranate flowers were still blooming well. He brushed away the pomegranate flowers and sat on a stool.
He finally cried bitterly alone.
The pomegranate flower is the flower of the wife. The pomegranate bears seeds, but the wife is gone forever.
What seemed like ordinary happiness and love in the past has now become the endless sadness and sorrow that accompanies the falling pomegranate flowers.
And his life gradually came to an end because of hard work and sorrow.
The pomegranate flowers have fallen, and it’s time for him to go back.
Two years later, Li Shangyin died of illness in his hometown, and his wife's bones were placed next to him.
The two important women in his life are given distinct images of pomegranate flowers, which represent lovers and wives. It’s just that his poems are written to the purity of the soul and heaven, interpreting his pomegranate images and deciphering his affectionate life.
Chuyi Shengxue interprets the love and beauty in poetry for you. .