Then, why is "cardamom" often used as a metaphor for girls in ancient poems?
Amomum villosum, a plant, has three kinds, namely Amomum villosum, Amomum villosum and nutmeg, which are collectively called Amomum villosum. Perennial evergreen herb with banana-like appearance, thick leaves, grape-like fruit and yellow pomegranate seeds, which can be used as medicine. In addition, cardamom, as the common name of cardamom seeds, can be used as seasoning, spice, aromatic stimulant, wind repellent and so on.
Cardamom has a spicy aroma and can be used as medicine.
Cardamom is about ten feet tall. It blooms in early summer and forms fruits and seeds in autumn. Tofu pudding is very full when it is not in full bloom, so it is commonly known as "flower with fetus", so it has become a symbol of girls.
The word cardamom is one of the two farewell poems written by Du Mu in the Tang Dynasty: "Cardamom is more than thirteen, and it ends in early February. It is better to roll up the bead curtain when the spring breeze is ten miles along Yangzhou Road. " In other words, graceful is thirteen years old, just like the cardamom flowers with budding branches in early February. Seeing all the young beauties in Shili Long Street in Yangzhou City, no one can compare with the beautiful woman who rolled up the bead curtain and pretended to be charming.
This poem was written by Du Mu when he was in Yangzhou and dedicated to a singer. In the poem, early spring and early February are used as metaphors for a girl of 13 years old. So later, cardamom was used to describe a beautiful young girl of thirteen or fourteen. Cardamom can also be written as "cardamom".
In addition, the ancients had different names for age at different stages of life, and women also had different proper names at different stages. When a woman is thirteen or fourteen years old, she is called "cardamom", which symbolizes the meaning in Du Mu's poems in the Tang Dynasty. Fifteen years old is called "Harmony". In ancient times, when a woman reached the age of fifteen, her hair was tied up to indicate adulthood, which was also called the year of harmony. According to "Book of Rites Quli Shang", "Women are allowed to marry, and the words are full." In other words, women can't get married until they are adults, so they haven't got an engagement yet. This is called "equal word"
A woman is sixteen years old and is called "twenty or eighty years old", "broken melon" and "the first teacher of melon characters". Twenty-eight refers to the age of twenty-eight. The word "melon" can be divided into two characters in the official script and Wei Bei in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and eight plus eight is sixteen. When a woman reaches marriageable age, it is called "the year of plum blossom", which is quoted from the preface to the Book of Songs: "Plum blossom is timely for both men and women." Stretching plums means that plums fall from trees when they are ripe.