"Cardamom Years" is an idiom that describes a girl aged thirteen or fourteen, and also refers to a girl's youth.

The word "cardamom" comes from a famous seven-character quatrain "Farewell" by Du Mu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty: "Pingping has been curling up for more than thirteen years, and the cardamom sprouts are in early February. The spring breeze is ten miles away from Yangzhou Road, Vol. 1 The pearl curtain is not as good as it is."

This poem was written by the poet Du Mu to a prostitute named Zhang Haohao who was only about thirteen years old. It means that the lightness of posture and graceful behavior are exactly thirteen years, just like the cardamom flowers in bud on the branches in early February.

After seeing all the young beauties in the ten-mile long street of Yangzhou City, no one can compare with her as a beauty who rolls up bead curtains to pretend to be pretty. This fragile and beautiful girl is described as a newly sprouted cardamom bud, ready to bloom.

Since this allusion, the idiom "cardamom years" has come into being, which further describes girls aged thirteen or fourteen as cardamom years. Generally speaking, it refers to a girl aged 13 or 14, who is like a flower in bud in February, pure, beautiful, and full of youthful vitality. After this allusion, people began to refer to girls aged thirteen or fourteen.

Profound meaning

In some areas of southern China in ancient times, the cardamom flower had another name, which is the fetal flower. Because cardamom flowers grow between the branches and leaves, and the petals do not open wide when they bloom, hence the name. It is precisely because of this characteristic that cardamom flowers are often used as a metaphor for a woman's virginity. Therefore, there is a saying that cardamom is used to refer to a thirteen-year-old girl.

In addition, cardamom flowers generally bloom from April to June, which is the early summer season. The cardamom flowers are in bud, and there is a touch of light red at the top of the bud.

In the early morning, dewdrops decorate the branches, making them beautiful. And the thirteen-year-old girl, just like this cardamom flower, shows her beauty in the early summer of her life. She is white and pure, budding and delicate, which is the most beautiful stage in her life. Therefore, it is most appropriate to use cardamom to describe the purity and beauty of a thirteen-year-old woman.

In fact, in addition to cardamom years, there are many other things used to refer to women of various ages in ancient my country, such as "Peach and Plum Nianhua", which refers to a woman's age of twenty. "Flower age" refers to a woman who is twenty-four years old, etc.