Chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival
——Appreciation of poems about the Double Ninth Festival in the Tang Dynasty (Part 2)
Wang Chuanxue
Appreciate chrysanthemums and drink chrysanthemum wine on the Double Ninth Festival , is an elegant thing often expressed in ancient poems.
Meng Haoran, a pastoral poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote in "Passing Through an Old Friend's Village" that he looked forward to enjoying chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival:
An old friend brought chickens and millet and invited me to Tian's house.
The green trees are adjacent to the village, and the green mountains are sloping outside.
Open a dining room and chat over wine.
On the Double Ninth Festival, I will come to see chrysanthemums.
This poem describes how the poet was invited to the home of an old friend in the countryside. In the simple and natural pastoral scenery, the host and guest toasted to drink and chatted about daily life, which was full of fun and expressed the sincere friendship between the poet and his friends. At first glance, this poem seems as plain as water, but when you taste it carefully, it looks like a Chinese painting of pastoral scenery. It perfectly combines scenery, things, and emotions, and has a strong artistic appeal.
This is an idyllic poem that describes the quiet and leisurely life of a farm family and the friendship between old friends. By writing about the scenery of rural life, the author expresses his yearning for this kind of life. The language of the whole poem is simple and unpretentious, and the artistic conception is fresh and timeless. The author writes about the process from the visit to the farewell in a kind and simple language, as if he were talking to someone in a homely manner. He writes about the freshness and tranquility of rural scenery, the sincere and deep friendship between friends, and the simple and cordial life of the Tian family.
The whole poem depicts the beautiful mountain village scenery and peaceful pastoral life. The language is plain and the narrative is natural and smooth. There is no trace of exaggeration. However, the feelings are sincere and the poetry is mellow. There are "hibiscus emerges from clear water, The aesthetic appeal of "nature without carvings" has become a masterpiece in pastoral poetry since the Tang Dynasty.
"On the Double Ninth Festival, I will come back to see the chrysanthemums." Meng Haoran was deeply attracted by the farm life, so before leaving, he frankly expressed to the host that he would come back to see the chrysanthemums and drink chrysanthemum wine on the Double Ninth Festival in the clear autumn air. . In just two lines of poetry, the warmth of old friends treating each other, the joy of being a guest, and the cordiality and harmony between host and guest are all vividly reflected on the page. It also truly reflects the festival custom of admiring chrysanthemums and drinking chrysanthemum wine during the Double Ninth Festival.
Let’s look at "Rewarding Li Guan on the Double Ninth Festival" by Huangfu Ran, a poet in the prosperous Tang Dynasty:
No white clothes come to deliver wine, but the yellow chrysanthemums bloom on their own.
I am worried about seeing the evening and the good time pass, and I walk to look for Tao Ling's house.
The meaning of the poem is: I didn’t see any friends coming to deliver wine, only the yellow chrysanthemums bloomed alone. I was so depressed that I could only walk step by step to Magistrate Tao's house as the sky was getting late and the good time was over.
The Tao Ling here should be inferred from the yellow chrysanthemum in front of it to refer to Tao Yuanming. In the poem, Tao Yuanming refers to himself, lamenting that after he separated from his friend Li Guan, no one gave him wine anymore. On the Double Ninth Festival During the festival, you can’t drink wine and enjoy the chrysanthemums, so you have to let the chrysanthemums bloom alone. The poet used the allusion of the man in white to bring wine to Tao Yuanming to express his deep nostalgia for his friend.
Among the literati stories related to the Double Ninth Festival, the man in white to bring wine to Tao Yuanming is probably the most famous and the most talked about. Yes.
Tao Yuanming, the great poet of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, loved chrysanthemums the most and was a "chrysanthemum fan". Chrysanthemums are flowers that can withstand the wind and frost after autumn and symbolize noble character. Tao Yuanming lived in the troubled times of the Jin, Song and Yi dynasties, and was dissatisfied with the political strife and official corruption at that time. He also had a noble character, which was consistent with the spirit of Chrysanthemum. He resigned from his official position and returned to his hometown of Chaisang (now Jiangxi) to live in seclusion. He planted many chrysanthemums on the east fence next to his house and watched them day and night. His famous saying, "Pick chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, and leisurely see the Nanshan Mountains" has always been praised by people. Tao Yuanming also liked drinking, but because his family was poor, he often lacked wine. On the Double Ninth Festival of that year, Tao Yuanming was admiring chrysanthemums by the fence, but he had no wine to drink. He couldn't get drunk, which would ruin the scenery! He had no choice but to pick a handful of chrysanthemums in his hand, smell them, chew them, and chat about them. The ancients believed that chrysanthemum has the effect of prolonging life, so it is not only used to make wine, but also for food. Qu Yuan's "Li Sao" calls "the fallen heroes eating autumn chrysanthemums", which is an example. However, chrysanthemums cannot replace wine after all. When Tao Yuanming was bored, suddenly a man in white came from a distance. That man was originally a messenger sent by Wang Hong, the governor of Jiangzhou, to bring wine to Tao Yuanming.
Tao Yuanming was so overjoyed that he immediately opened the wine jar and drank happily in front of the chrysanthemums until he was completely drunk.
The great poet Li Bai's "September 10th" uses chrysanthemums to be picked twice to express his inner depression:
I climbed high yesterday, and I will raise my cup today.
Why is the chrysanthemum so bitter? It suffers from these two double suns.
This poem was written by Li Bai while climbing Longshan in Dangtu (now Dangtu, Anhui), on the day after the Double Ninth Festival in the autumn of the first year of Zong Baoying in the Tang Dynasty (AD 762). The poet had climbed Longshan Mountain once the day before and composed the poem "Nine Days of Drinking at Longshan Mountain". This was the second mountain climbing feast, so the poet lamented that the chrysanthemums had been picked for two consecutive days, thinking of the two times he visited Chang'an. Suffering a heavy political blow, I can't help but sigh with emotion.
In the Tang and Song Dynasties, September 10th was called the "Little Double Ninth Festival". The poet started from this perspective and said that chrysanthemums encountered people's climbing and feasting twice in a row during the two days of the Double Ninth Festival. It was picked up, so there were complaints that it was "too bitter". The poet drowned his sorrow with drunkenness. In the hazy state, he seemed to see the chrysanthemum laughing at him, the "expelled minister" of the imperial court. He asked painfully: Why did the chrysanthemum suffer heavy damage from the "Double Ninth Festival"? For those who enjoy chrysanthemums, the joy of the Double Ninth Festival is not yet exhausted, so they will continue to feast on September 10th; but chrysanthemums, as a living entity, have to endure the pain of being picked twice. With his extremely sensitive and delicate heart, the poet discovered this poetic space from the perspective of a chrysanthemum. In fact, the poet uses the pain of chrysanthemums to express his inner extreme depression. By sighing at the chrysanthemums, I lamented the ups and downs and misfortune of being coveted from Beijing and exiled to Yelang, and I saw that it was difficult to resolve my sorrow. Although this poem is plain, its connotation is very profound. It mainly expresses the sad emotions caused by the poet's repeated setbacks and blows in his life during the festival.
Cen Shen, a frontier poet in the Tang Dynasty, was on a march during the Double Ninth Festival, which aroused a deep homesickness and wrote the poem "Nine Days of Marching to Think of My Hometown in Chang'an":
I want to climb high, but no one brings me wine.
The chrysanthemums that take pity on my hometown should bloom near the battlefield.
The ancients had the custom of climbing high to drink chrysanthemum wine during the Double Ninth Festival on September 9th. Meng Haoran wrote a poem about "waiting until the Double Ninth Festival to drink chrysanthemums" ("Passing the Old Friend's Village"), which expresses his love for farmers. The elegance of life. Cen Shen was on the march and encountered the Anshi Rebellion. Although he reluctantly wanted to go up to the heights to drink wine according to the custom, during the war, there was no one like Wang Hong who brought wine to Tao Yuanming to bring wine to cheer him up. This reminded the poet A deep feeling of homesickness.
When the poet writes about homesickness, he does not write about it in a general and general way, but particularly emphasizes missing and pity for the chrysanthemums in his hometown of Chang'an. Written in this way, not only does it use individual representatives to represent the general, but also uses "Hometown Chrysanthemum" to represent the entire hometown of Chang'an, which is vivid and concrete. It also develops naturally from the description of climbing up and drinking, and is the result of the above-mentioned Tao Yuanming's death due to lack of alcohol. The association evoked by the allusion of sitting sullenly among the chrysanthemums has the characteristics of the Double Ninth Festival. It not only sticks to the "nine days" in the title, but also points out the "hometown of Chang'an". It can be said that it is timely and relevant and closely follows the title of the poem. At this point in the poem, it still seems relatively plain. However, it is written in this way to force out the key last sentence, "Should we open on the battlefield." This sentence follows the previous sentence and is an imaginary word. Originally, one could have various imaginations about the chrysanthemums in the hometown. The poet did not write anything else but imagined that they should "bloom near the battlefield." This kind of imagination captures the word "march" in the title of the poem and combines the Anshi Rebellion and Chang'an. The characteristics of the trapped era are written in a novel, natural and realistic way. It makes readers seem to see a vivid picture of the war: the city of Chang'an is raging with war, the streets are stained with blood, and among the broken walls, clusters of chrysanthemums are still blooming lonely. The imaginative words here have gone beyond the simple cherishment of flowers and homesickness, and express the poet's sympathy for the war-torn people and his desire to put an end to the Anshi Rebellion as soon as possible.
The great poet Bai Juyi's "Ode to White Chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival" has a unique interest:
The garden is full of golden chrysanthemums and tulips, and there is a solitary bush in the middle that looks like frost.
It’s like today’s singing and drinking banquet, and the white-headed man enters the youth field.
This poem "Ode to White Chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival Banquet" is novel and unique, with simple and meaningful words.
The first and second lines of this poem describe the poet's infinite joy when he saw a snow-white chrysanthemum among the golden chrysanthemums in the garden; the third and fourth lines use metaphors and personification to describe the snow-white chrysanthemum. The chrysanthemum is likened to an old man participating in a "sing and dance party", singing and dancing with young people. The whole poem expresses the poet's interest in youth even though he is old. It expresses the emotion of an old man with a strong heart.
Qi Ji, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote about his sincere love for chrysanthemums in his "Dairy to the Chrysanthemums":
There is no beauty, no demon, no other fragrance, so plant too many to prepare for the Double Ninth Festival.
Don’t be dissatisfied with Xing’s eyes, but you really love Huang.
The meaning of the poem is: the chrysanthemums are not pretty but have a unique fragrance. They are planted in large numbers not just to enjoy them during the Double Ninth Festival. When I woke up, I still got up to look at her. I just really liked her light yellow color. It describes the poet's sincere love for chrysanthemums.
Finally, look at "Chrysanthemum" by Zheng Gu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty:
Wang and Sun Mo compare basil, whose branches are close to the hair on the temples in nine days.
The dew-wet autumn fragrance fills the pond bank, which is why I don’t envy the tall tiles and pines.
The title of the poem is chrysanthemum. The word chrysanthemum is not used throughout the poem, but chrysanthemum is written in every sentence.
"Don't compare basil to basil." Basil is a kind of wild grass. It is tall. In appearance, it is not much different from chrysanthemum seedlings. The pampered princes, princes and grandchildren can easily mistake chrysanthemum seedlings for it. For making basil. The poet expressed his thoughts directly and bluntly reprimanded Prince Wang and Sun Gong for "not distinguishing chrysanthemums from grass." In fact, this is to despise them for not recognizing talents. The author's intention can be seen even more clearly in the next sentence.
"Nine days the branches are close to the hair on the temples", every year on September 9th in the lunar calendar, it is an important Double Ninth Festival in ancient China. On this day, our ancestors climbed high, admired chrysanthemums, drank wine, wore dogwood bags, and Chrysanthemums are placed on the temples. This sentence means that chrysanthemum seedlings will bloom beautiful flowers on the Double Ninth Festival, which is essentially different from basil. You see, one chrysanthemum after another is stuck in everyone's hair. I would like to ask: Is there anyone planting basil randomly? How proud to be a chrysanthemum, people finally realize its value.
The third and fourth sentences are the focus of the whole poem, which focus on describing Ju's noble temperament and noble character. "The dew-wet autumn fragrance fills the pond bank" is a short seven-character description of an autumn morning scene: the sun is rising, and the chrysanthemums are blooming, full of dew, moist and crystal clear, bright and lovely; wisps of delicate fragrance are floating all over the pond bank, making people feel relaxed and happy. The unique charm of chrysanthemums The charm and charm are vividly reflected on the paper. Here, the word "wet" is very particular, which makes people imagine that the petals are covered with dew, which is particularly moist and bright. The word "man" is apt, showing how refreshing the fragrance is. From it, we not only see the unique image of chrysanthemums, but also feel the charm produced by the interweaving of chrysanthemums with that specific environment and specific atmosphere.
After describing the temperament of the chrysanthemum, the poet naturally concluded that the purpose of chanting the chrysanthemum is: "I don't envy the height of the vases and the pine trees." Vasus pine is a parasitic plant that grows on the eaves of tall buildings and is of little use. The poet compares the chrysanthemums on the bank of the pond with the tiles on the high house, intending to illustrate that although the chrysanthemums grow in low-lying areas of the swamp, they are noble and quiet, and offer their fragrance to people without hesitation; A high position is actually "useless to people and useless to things." Here, the chrysanthemum is personified, and the author gives it the ideological quality of not seeking high status or glory. "Origin" corresponds to "not envious", which adds emphasis to the tone and highlights the noble integrity of the chrysanthemum. This last sentence reveals the theme of the poem and sublimates the poetic meaning.