Why did ancient literati like to use "cardamom" as a metaphor for girls? Just look at what the bean flower looks like.
When autumn comes, everything enters the mature season, and cardamom is one of them. The word "cardamom" is believed to be familiar to everyone. Cardamom is usually used to describe a thirteen-year-old girl. Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, was the one who let cardamom enter the history of China literature in an aboveboard way. Most of the great poets in ancient times were depressed and frustrated, and Du Mu also had an unsatisfactory life in Yangzhou. In those years, his official career was not smooth and he was frustrated. Du Mu got into the habit of drinking and drinking prostitutes. Fortunately, at this time, he met a confidante who understood him-Zhang Haohao, a famous online celebrity singer at that time, was often intoxicated by Du Mu. In 835 AD, Du Mu was promoted from Yangzhou to Chang 'an and had to be separated from Zhang. When I was leaving, I felt sad, so I had this song "Farewell": More than thirteen flowers curled up, and the cardamom was the first in early February. In Yangzhou, vernal wind blows through three-mile long street. No one can rival her beauty with bead curtains rolled up. Charming is thirteen years old, like a bean flower in early February. There is more than ten miles of spring breeze on Yangzhou road, and there is no one who can roll up the bead curtain like you. In just 28 words, a beautiful woman as beautiful as flowers and jade is depicted. Girls in The Longest Day In Chang'an started with this song "Farewell", and the ancients used cardamom to describe thirteen-year-old girls, and the allusion of "cardamom ending" was constantly plagiarized, er … borrowed. In Song Dynasty, both Qin Guan and Lu You "stole" Du Mu's creativity. For example, Qin Guan has "Koutouduan", and he hates the dream for ten years, but only one can be surprised. Lu You has "Spring grows old from the beans, and the sun fades to the teeth", and Su Shi has "Doukouhuaduan in early February, and young is a moment" ... Of course, people call it allusion. However, although "cardamom" and "cardamom" were almost worn out, people at that time didn't quite understand-why did Du Mu use cardamom to describe girls? ! If you don't know why, you probably haven't seen the cardamom deity. There are many kinds of cardamom, including Amomum Tsaoko, Amomum Cardamom and Cardamom. The cardamom mentioned in Du Mu's poems should be Cardamom. This kind of plant is about ten feet high. It blooms in early summer and bears fruits and seeds in autumn. Before the cardamom blooms, its flower bones are in a tangible and plump state, very watery and * * *, so it is commonly known as "fetal flower". Isn't it the shy appearance of a maiden who has not been married and has just grown up? "At first, it was like a hibiscus flower, reddish." The words used by the ancients were euphemistic and implicit, and the flowering period was better than that of a young girl, which was really extraordinary. In addition to its appearance, cardamom is compared to a girl because of another mystery: it is edible. There will be very sweet honey water in the bud. In ancient times, it was also called "perfume bag". For example, in the Song Dynasty, Zhao Changqing wrote a poem "Partridge Sky", which was written to his beloved concubine Wen Qing, who said, "Remember to join hands, cross the ridge, and the moonlight is half bright.". Jade hairpin's head trembled slightly, and the cardamom branches fell off her head. Look, the cardamom inside is a decoration that women put in their heads. Because many girls like to pick cardamom flowers as ornaments on their heads, over time, people use "cardamom years" to describe this kind of girls with cardamom flowers in their heads. As a digression, in the Tang Dynasty, cardamom represents not only girls aged thirteen or fourteen, but also love. In 532 AD, Liang Wudi was in Datong for four years. The writer Xiao Zixian wrote four poems about farewell to spring, and Xiao Gang, then a prince, also wrote four poems with him. One of them is: don't watch the grapes droop, the cardamom in the south of the Yangtze River grows branches. Ruthless and unintentional, like this, those who have a heart and hate leave. Attention, attention, Xiao Gang described the appearance of cardamom here-born with branches. Grapes are bunches, and cardamom is clusters of flowers. These heartless plants are still so reluctant, but those who have a heart and hate can only leave helplessly. Fan Chengda in the Song Dynasty also said in his book that the cardamom "has two petals, and the poet is interested in it, such as comparing the eyes and connecting the clouds", that is to say, cardamom represents the love of husband and wife. From this point of view, later, some scholars used to send cardamom flowers to express their lovesickness. In the Song Dynasty, Wang Pei-ng, the son of Wang Anshi, wrote such a word: "Acacia only exists on the lilac branches, and the cardamom is on the top." Ok, let's get back to our topic-cardamom representing age. The ancients were very imaginative. Since the age of 13 or 14 was called "the age of cardamom", the age of 15, 16 and 17 would also have corresponding titles. Let's sum it up. Fifteen years old is called "Fu" and "Fu". In ancient times, when a woman reached the age of fifteen, her hair was tied and added, indicating that she was an adult, which was also called Fu Year. According to the Book of Rites Quli Shang, a woman promised to marry. It means that a woman can only marry when she is an adult, so she has not yet made an appointment to marry, which is called "waiting for the word". At the age of sixteen, the girl who gave the ceremony was called "28 years old", "broken melon" and "the beginning of melon word". Twenty-eight refers to the age of two eights, and the word "melon" can be divided into two eight characters in Lishu and Wei stele in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and eight plus eight is sixteen. In ancient times, it was believed that when a woman was sixteen, her body was fully developed and she could get married. Photo source: Zi Xiaoxun, a girl in her twenties in Weibo, is called "Double Ten Years" and "Peach and Plum Years". Double ten is two tens, that is, twenty; Twenty years old is as gorgeous and moving as peach blossoms and plum blossoms in full bloom. Bolzigit, the imperial concubine of Emperor Taizong of Qing Dynasty, was the mother of Emperor Shunzhi. When a woman is twenty-four years old, she is called "in her prime". Every spring, the wind blowing in the blooming season is called "Hua Xinfeng". Slight cold to Grain Rain, four months * * * has eight qi 24 times, each qi has three times, each time there is a flower trade wind, so it is also called "24 times Hua Xinfeng".