"The dew is frost, and the so-called Iraqis are on the water side."
This is the most widely circulated chapter in China's earliest collection of poems, The Book of Songs. The white reed flower is the scene in front of the author, and it is also the place where I expect to meet my sweetheart. Beautiful scenery and beautiful feelings are in harmony. Poems describing flowers like this account for a large proportion in the Book of Songs. Most of the chapters in the Book of Songs recorded the songs sung by the working people in ancient China during their labor, so people naturally sang their feelings for flowers during their labor. Singing flowers is a compliment to life and a yearning for happiness.
"Drink Mulan dew early and eat autumn chrysanthemum late."
With the development of society, the arrival of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period means the arrival of the first ideological and cultural peak in the history of China. Qu Yuan, a great poet in the Spring and Autumn Period, expressed his full love for the motherland and infinite sympathy for the people's sufferings with his emotional brushwork in his immortal Lisao. The poet used "drinking the dew of Mulan" and "eating autumn chrysanthemum" to describe the pure soul and upright nature of Bletilla striata. Here, Mulan and Qiuju are the purest and most beautiful symbols. Not only that, the poet also used a series of flowers and plants in Lisao to compare noble sentiments, which can be said to push the combination of flowers and literature to an unprecedented height. Thousands of years later, we can still see its traces, such as the names or pen names of some celebrities in Li Sao; Zhou (the late famous Peking Opera performer in China) and Hu Sheng (the famous theorist in China) are taken from "Fang Xin" and "Hu Sheng" in Lisao. These two words are the names of flowers and plants, which symbolize good feelings and character in the poem. From this, we can see the status of flowers in people's minds at that time from another side. At the same time, many scholars and poets followed suit and began to praise flowers and express their feelings, which was the fashion until the Qin and Han Dynasties.
"Peach and plum trees are in bloom. In the spring wind, leaves fall to the ground after the autumn rain."
The late Tang Dynasty was a period of unprecedented development of social economy, culture and art in the history of China. Compared with other historical periods, the social stability in this period has been relatively maintained for a long time, the productivity of science and technology has been greatly developed, the cultures of various regions and ethnic groups have been unprecedentedly integrated, the people's lives have been rich and stable, and poetry, painting, music and dance have reached an unprecedented all-round peak in the cultural history of China, forming the world-famous Tang Wenhua in China. It was during this period that flowers stepped onto the cultural stage in an all-round way and expressed people's different thoughts and feelings in different artistic forms. Bai Juyi accurately expressed the image of a generation of romantic emperors with "peaches and plums blossom, spring breeze blows, autumn rain falls, and the willow blossoms are bright" in his sentimental poem "Long Hate Slope". After experiencing a ponytail slope, where will you go? Facing the gardens and willow lotus flowers in the palace, he was forced to think of Yang Guifei infinitely. Prunes are not flowers. Buttonwood is not a tree, because "but petals are like her face and willow leaves are like her eyebrows. What can he do except watch them cry?" "A peach blossom looks like a human face, but it hurts endlessly.
Flowers are not only a symbol of a beautiful woman, but also express a deeper concern for the country and the people. The poet Du Fu used two words: "Where petals flow like tears, lonely birds sing their grief." Deeply expressed the poet's worries about the current situation and war. In the face of endless wars and people who paint charcoal, flowers will be sad to tears. At this time, flowers are not only a metaphor, but also a living feeling, which is enough to treat people's thoughts.
This is true of Tang poetry, and so is Song poetry. There are "helpless flowers fall, I feel familiar with Yan's return", and there are also "when is the spring flower and the autumn moon, and how much is known about the past", but no matter which "flower" it is, we can't tell whether it is plum blossom or peach blossom or something else, because it is not a flower, but a flowing thought and a fleeting time.
"My first tree in West Wild Goose Lake is full of light ink marks. Don't boast of lewdness, just leave a breath and do it all. "
After the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, except poetry, the art of painting moved from Zhejiang to maturity, from craftsman-style decorative style to independent art form. Since the literati painting style was created, the atmosphere has been maintained until the Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are few modern literati and calligraphers who can't draw a few strokes of Mei Lan Zhu Ju. It seems that these four gentlemen have become the standard of literati, and poetry, painting and calligraphy are all involved. However, whether it is conceited, arty or expressive, reflecting social reality, as long as you look at the different descriptions of flowers, you can see at a glance. Wang Mian, a famous painter in Yuan Dynasty, was a herdsman since he was a child. His painting "Don't regret" doesn't attach anything, but there is only a real understanding, "Don't praise lewdness", but what the painter left is the freshness and righteousness of Mangankun.