Speaking of The Book of Songs, it is the earliest collection of poems in ancient China and the earliest literary creation of China people. Unfortunately, this creation did not leave the author's name. This is because it comes from the people, belongs to popular folk songs, and is the collective creation of ordinary people. Later, it was collected by poetry collectors and compiled into a book, which was widely circulated. At that time, there should be a lot of collections, which may be lost or lost because of its long history and frequent wars. In addition, some contents will definitely touch the rulers at that time and be deleted. So, so far, there are only 305 articles.
The Book of Songs is divided into three sections: wind, elegance and ode. The ancients wrote poems for singing, and they were accompanied by different music. Different music comes from different places and produces different styles, or different "winds". The Book of Songs has a total of 160 articles, which come from 15 regions, including , Iraq, Wei, Wang, Zheng, Qi, Wei, Tang, Qin, Chen, Qi, Cao and Yi. These areas were vassal States at that time, so these poems were called "countries". For example, this poem "Cutting Tan" from Wei State was classified as "Feng Wei".
All the music in the world is called "wind", but the music of the Zhou Dynasty can't be called that. It must be at a higher level, so it's called "Ya". Zhou people think that heaven and earth can't talk, and there is a saying that "heaven is deaf and dumb", but the sun and the moon move and heaven and earth change. This is a sacred thing, which cannot be easily violated, but can only be copied, so this matter is left to "Ya" to complete. Let "Ya" use pictures, words and poems to describe and record natural phenomena and form information. This is the origin of the 105 poem called "Ya" in the Book of Songs.
Of course, "elegance" has another meaning, which is "orthodoxy". The Zhou royal family believed that the world belongs to it, and its local music should be "orthodox" and "correct", that is to say, "accurate voice and elegant music". The connotation of "elegance" is determined, and the next step is to classify "elegance". They call poems describing larger phenomena "elegance", such as the sun, moon and stars, storms and lightning, mountains and rivers, etc. There are thirty-one articles in The Book of Songs. Poems describing smaller things or phenomena are called "Xiaoya", such as flowers, birds, insects and fish, and there are seventy-four poems in The Book of Songs.
In fact, both Daya and Xiaoya are music appreciation at court banquets or music songs at court meetings. But according to different occasions, we should choose different music. In court meetings attended by many courtiers, in order to show the majesty of the monarch, "elegance" should be used. At a palace banquet, the atmosphere should be relaxed and suitable for the voice of "Xiaoya". As for sacrifice, it is even more particular. "Elegant" music is not qualified to enter the venue at all. What kind of music should I use? After careful consideration, the Zhou royal family finally chose the word "ode". This is the origin of "Fu" in The Book of Songs. Zhou people attached great importance to "sacrifice". They not only fear the majesty of nature, but also hope that God will bless them. At the same time, they also want their ancestors to work hard for them in the dark, so it is inevitable to hold a "sacrificial ceremony" on a large scale, so it is necessary to "praise" the mountains, rivers and great achievements of the 18 generation ancestors. Forty pieces of Fu in The Book of Songs came into being.
What I'm going to talk about today is not the whole book of songs, only that there is an idiom that comes from the "wind" in the book of songs. This idiom is called "prepare for a rainy day". There is an article entitled "Owl" in The Wind, which says:
Owl, owl, take my son and don't destroy my room. Ensi Qinsi, Xunzi's people thought.
If it doesn't rain, it will be rainy. Today, women are inferior to the people, or dare to insult them?
"Owl" is a bird that looks like an owl and goes out quietly at night. When it caught other birds, it shouted excitedly. Its voice is ugly, almost weird, and it looks terrible in the silent night sky. The poem accuses the owl of catching the bird, but the bird's mother, Big Bird, is extremely sad, so she makes a complaint of "still dare to insult it"!
In order to prevent the owl from attacking again, before the rain, the big mother bird "takes a shortcut to save for a rainy day", that is, she moves the roots of mulberry trees and Eucommia ulmoides and wraps them around the window or at the door so that the "owl" can't get in. Why before it rains? Because once it rains, it can't be done, or it's hard to do. This is a "self-defense" method after learning from a painful experience. The purpose of doing this is to plan ahead before the disaster comes, so that there will be no more losses in the future. This is the origin of the idiom "take precautions". Someone used to say that "preparing for a rainy day" means preparing an umbrella before the rain comes. This statement is right in reason, but it is wrong to interpret "preparing for a rainy day" as "umbrella". "Take precautions" is not an umbrella, but means "winding up".
There is a bird in Africa that can weave a beautiful "shack". Locals call it "sewing bird". Their house, or "nest house", is a needle-like grass that they have worked hard to catch from all directions with their mouths, and then they began to weave it carefully. Strangely, most of these birds hang their nests upside down on trees, as if to show off their great achievements. However, just as they were enjoying their masterpieces, the sea breeze suddenly roared and blew the "upside down nest" on the tree without a trace. These sewing birds flew without a trace in surprise. After the storm stopped, they returned to their original station and began to weave their "paradise" again. Imagine how many times the sea breeze blows by the sea. This means that their work is endless. Therefore, the famous writer Ma Qinfu saw this situation and wrote a short article entitled "Enlightenment of Sewing Birds", pointing out that this bird has a congenital defect, that is, it does not know how to "plan ahead", which leads to their endless grievances. What a pity!
It's really a good idea to prepare for a rainy day, which can guarantee less losses after the disaster comes. In real life, there used to be a saying that often hangs in our ears and is often nagged by old people, that is, "always take an umbrella and fill it with dry food." No matter how sunny the weather is, you should take an umbrella, because you don't know that the weather may change at any time. If it rains, you won't let your clothes get wet at all, so you won't catch a cold. No matter how full you are, you should bring dry food. This is not an unnecessary thing, because if something happens, you can't go home at once, and the dry food you bring will be of great use. This is actually the concretization of "preparing for a rainy day".
China also has ancient books, almost contemporary with The Book of Songs. It's called Zuo Zhuan, or Zuo Zhuan in the Spring and Autumn Period. This is an official historical record, not a folk collection. According to legend, it was written by a Lu nationality named Zuo Qiuming. This book records the events from the year of Luyin to the twenty-seventh year of Lu Aigong, that is, the history from 722 BC to 468 BC. This is China's first complete chronological history book, which is of great help to Sima Qian's later writing Historical Records. This book records the major historical events that took place at that time, especially the military frictions and conflicts between vassal States. Many idioms we used later came from Zuo Zhuan. For example, prepare your horse with all your strength, go forward bravely, take it for granted, be close at hand, rely on mountains and waters, avoid three houses, be strong outside, be hollow, gloat, bully the weak and be afraid of the hard, aim high, still struggle, and be irrelevant.
There is also an idiom in Zuo Zhuan, which is closely related to "preparing for a rainy day". This idiom is called "sound". In the "Seven Years of Wengong", he said: "If I accept Qin, Qin Wei will be the guest; If you don't accept it, you can rest assured that Qin will be angry. The ancestors have the heart to seize people, and the army has good intentions. " It means that to overwhelm the enemy, we must first create public opinion on the momentum and deter the enemy's psychology through strong spiritual strength. Of course, more often, when the enemy is not ready, you take advantage of favorable conditions to take the initiative, which will cause a serious passive situation for the enemy, and the balance of victory has tilted to your side!
It seems easy, but it's really hard to do. Because we don't "prepare for war" at ordinary times, it is impossible to deter the enemy first in wartime. Usually, we don't "prepare for war", but we can only brush our guns and go off in wartime, but it is too late. The enemy won't give you a chance to kill him, and usually won't "prepare for war", waiting for only the fate of failure. If we want to win, it involves a problem of "preparing for danger in times of peace", that is, we should be prepared for a rainy day in peacetime. Only by doing this first can we gain the initiative in wartime. This is true in wartime, and so is everything else. According to the various competitions we usually participate in, the chances of winning can only be valued by those who are well prepared, right?