In the fall, when the sky is high and the sky is cool, it's time to climb up to a high altitude and enjoy the chrysanthemums in the Chongyang Festival. In this installment, let's enjoy Wang Wei's "Remembering Shandong Brothers on the Ninth Day of the Ninth Month".
Wang Wei's "September 9th Memories of Shandong Brothers"
? In the picture, the incoming characters are represented by a small red dot which is hidden in the lower right corner of each incoming character. You can exercise your detective skills to see if you can find them quickly. Once you've found all of the initial consonants, you can play the game of "Labeling Ping and Oblique": draw a horizontal line (or a hollow circle) over all of the flat consonants (i.e., the first and second consonants), which is the symbol for Ping, but be careful, as some of the first and second consonants are actually initial consonants, and need to be labeled as oblique consonants! Then draw a vertical line (or a solid circle) on top of all the oblique tones, i.e., the third, fourth and incoming tones, and the symbol for oblique. It's okay if you don't know how to label them yourself, you can just look at the picture I shared and find each symbol that indicates a level and oblique tone and label your poem accordingly. However, I highly recommend that you challenge yourselves and then check it against the photo.
Reciting, chanting, and chanting are all oh-so-great ways to experience the rhythm and rhyme of a poem in contempt and chanting! In chanting, you can unconsciously imprint the poem you are reading into your mind, while actually feeling the beauty of the poem.
The Fourth of July vacation is over, and we're back to our busy lives. I hope everyone had a pleasant vacation. Although many of my classmates went on a "three-day trip to Scholastic" during the National Day, I went to the northern Shaanxi Province. There, I really felt the richness of autumn. When I got up in the morning to watch the sunrise, I could feel the wind in northern Shaanxi, which was very hard, as the locals and the tour leader said. Although the sun is shining at noon, you can still feel a slight chill when you get out of the car. Roadside leaves are beginning to change color, morning and evening even need to wear a thin cotton jacket. I think this may be why the cold dew is called cold dew, it is really different from the cool feeling of white dew!
? Cold Dew is the seventeenth of the twenty-four solar terms in the lunar calendar, belonging to the fifth solar term of autumn, time in the calendar October 7-9 each year. The Monthly Order 72 Waiting Collected Explanations says: "September Festival, the dew is cold, will condense also." Cold dew means that the temperature is lower than that of the White Dew, and the dew on the ground is colder and about to condense into frost. Mid-autumn white dew festival "dew condensation and white", to the season of autumn cold dew is "dew cold, will condense into frost. Therefore, China's tradition will be cold dew as the weather turn from cool to cold symptoms. In fact, although the white dew, cold dew, frost three seasons, will be the phenomenon of condensation of water vapor as the most important feature, but we can clearly feel a festival than a festival cold, the breath of autumn is getting thicker and thicker, winter seems to be on the verge of coming. Cold dew season, China's southern ridge and the vast area north of the fall have entered, the northeast into the late fall, the northwest has entered or will soon enter the winter. Beijing, the capital of most years at this time has seen the first frost, in addition to the year-round snow on the Tibetan Plateau, the northern part of the Northeast and northern Xinjiang region has generally begun to snow.
? From the three signs of the cold dew festival, it seems that we can also faintly hear the footsteps of winter. The first weather is the arrival of Hong Yan (鴈). The geese are probably the most frequent of the 24 seasons, and the ancients of China placed a lot of affection on them, for example, in "Remembering my brother in the moonlit night", which I shared with you at the time of the White Dew Festival: "The garrison drums break the people's travels, and there is a sound of geese on the edge of the autumn". There are also Wang Wei's "The marching goose is out of the Han River Plateau, and the returning goose enters the Hu Sky", Gao Shi's "Thousands of miles of yellow clouds twilight the sun, and the north wind blows the geese and snow in droves", and Zhang Ruoxu's "The geese and geese fly long, and the fish and dragons leap over the water, and the water becomes a text", and so on. "and so on, are enough to show that the ancients on the importance of the geese. Geese are mainly concentrated in the mid-autumn migration to the south, quarter after the fall migration is called Bin. Cold dew season, precisely the last batch of geese migrating south, geese south for the guest, the ancients pay careful attention, ready to do the gift of the guest. The second bird enters the water as a clam [gé]. Bird, small bird, here refers to the yellow finch. Big water refers to the sea. Clams are clams. It is said in the Guoyu: "The bird enters the sea as a clam. The cold winds are serious, and many of them enter the sea. It changes into a clam, and this flying thing transforms into a submerged thing." As I shared with you before, the poem "Ezhou Nanlou Book Affairs" mentioned "rotting grass for fireflies", the ancients believe that fireflies are rotting grass into, which is the same as the ancients believe that birds into clams, is a kind of misunderstanding of the ancients. In the late autumn, cold days, birds have disappeared, the ancients saw a lot of clams suddenly appeared on the seashore, and the shell stripes and colors are very similar to the birds, so they thought it was the birds into the clams. Birds into clams is of course nonsense, but it is implied in the ancient knowledge of heaven and earth, they believe that this season of heaven and earth heavy yin, flying in the sky of the animals should naturally become potential underwater animals, if the birds are still very active, it means that in the yin should be heavy when the yang is heavy, which is not normal, indicating that the seasons are wrong, there will be a disaster. The third wait for the chrysanthemum to begin to yellow, means that at this time the chrysanthemum has generally opened. Other flowers generally open when yang is in full bloom, but only chrysanthemum opens when yin is in full bloom. Therefore, the "Collected Explanations of the Seventy-two Waiting Seasons of the Moon" says, "The peach and tung flowers do not speak of their color, while the chrysanthemum alone speaks of their color, which corresponds to the seasonal autumn when the earth is in full bloom." That is to say, the peach blossoms and the flowers of the tung blossoms do not speak of their color when they are mentioned in the "Collected Explanations of the Seventy-two Waiting Seasons of the Monthly Decree", but only the chrysanthemum blossoms, when it comes to the weather of this event, will speak of its color. This is because the yellow color of the chrysanthemum corresponds to the time of the year when the "earth" of the five elements is in full bloom. Famous poems about chrysanthemums, such as Yuan Zhen's "I love chrysanthemums, but there are no more flowers in bloom", Huang Chao's "When autumn comes on the eighth day of the ninth month, all flowers will be killed after my flower blooms", and Zheng Sishao's "Flowers do not bloom together with hundreds of other flowers, and the fun is strong in the sparse hedges". Hedges interesting thick" and so on, all reflecting the characteristics of the same fragrance with the flowers.
? Although the weather is getting cold, but this time also appeared a lot of autumn unique beautiful scenery. Especially in the north, the cold dew has appeared in the late autumn scene, blue sky and white clouds, tree autumn color, the tree leaves of different colors, as if the most brilliant painter, with the richest colors, painted a most beautiful painting, layer by layer, some green, some yellow, some red, some brown. These colors are also made more dazzling by the light and shadow. So at this time of the year, people naturally love to go out to the countryside to enjoy the beautiful autumn scenery, and therefore, it has been a custom since ancient times for people to ascend to the heights on the cold dew. So naturally, one of the most important customs of the 9 September Chongyang Festival, which is an important traditional festival at the time of cold dew, is to climb up and see the distant sky. Beijing's Jingshan Park, Badaqi, Xiangshan Mountain, etc. are good places to climb high.
? Chongyang Festival, the reason why it is called the nine nine Chongyang Festival, of course, because the festival is on the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar every year. Why is it called "Chongyang Festival"? This expression comes from the I Ching. "Chongyang" is also called "heavy nine", "I Ching" in the "nine" as the number of Yang, September 9, two nine overlap, so it is called "Chongyang". The I Ching has designated "nine" as the number of yang. This and I have shared with you before the Dragon Boat Festival and Tanabata Festival, is a kind of digital worship phenomenon, the ancient folk on the first day of the first month, March 3 on the Si, May 5 Dragon Boat Festival, July 7 Tanabata, September 9, plus a double foreshadowed in February two and three multiples of June 6, the "seven heavy" are listed as auspicious days. Ancient people often Chongyang and on the Si or cold food, September 9 and March 3 as the corresponding spring and autumn festivals. Han Liu Xin "Xijing miscellany" said: "March on the Si, September Chongyang, make the girl game, this purification [fú] purification [xì] climb high." If the last six, cold food is people over the long winter to the countryside after the spring festival, then Chongyang about the cold will come, people will be indoors to spend the long winter of the ceremonial significance of the autumn tour, so the folk custom on the last six, "trekking", Chongyang "resignation of the blue! "The festival is a great opportunity for people to learn more about the festival, and to learn more about the festival. Chongyang Festival customs are centered around people's feelings about this unfolding.
? But like every traditional festival, the customs of Chongyang Festival have a legendary story to explain them. Liang Dynasty Wu Jun's "renewed Qi Harmony Records" recorded: "Ru Nan Huan Jing with Fei Changfang traveled for many years, Changfang said: "September 9, your home when there is a disaster. It is advisable to go quickly, so that the family members to make Jiang bag, holding cornelian cherry, to tie the arm, climbed high and drank chrysanthemum wine, this disaster can be eliminated." Jing as said, Qi family mountaineering. Evening still, see the chickens, dogs, cows and goats die a violent death. Changfang heard: "This can be replaced." Today, the world nine days to climb the mountain and drink wine, women with cornelian cherry bladder, cover began here." This legend explains the Chongyang Festival, people climbed, wearing dogwood, drinking chrysanthemum wine custom. But this is only a legend, in fact, as early as the Warring States period has been the festival of Chongyang, "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" in the corresponding records. It can be seen that during the Warring States period, Chongyang was already emphasized by people, but it was only an activity carried out in the imperial palace. During the Han Dynasty, the custom of celebrating Chongyang Festival gradually became popular. According to legend, Mrs. Qi, the consort of Liu Bang, the founder of Han Dynasty, was murdered by Empress Lu, and one of her maids of honor, Jia, was expelled from the palace and married to a poor man. Jia then brought the court's Chrysanthemum Festival activities to the people, which already included wearing cornelian cherry, eating pungent bait, drinking chrysanthemum wine and so on, all for the purpose of praying for longevity. To the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the atmosphere of the Chongyang Festival has become increasingly rich, doubly so by the literati and writers, Tao Yuanming in the "Nine Days of Idleness" poem / preface to say: "I live in idleness, love the name of the ninth day of the year. Autumn chrysanthemum full of garden, and hold the mash [láo] by [mí], empty service nine Chinese, sends the mind in the words." Here mentioned both chrysanthemum and wine, it can be seen in the Wei and Jin Dynasties Chongyang Festival has been the custom of chrysanthemum appreciation, drinking wine. In fact, the name Chongyang Festival did not appear until the Wei and Jin dynasties. Cao Pi's "Nine Days and Zhong Yao [yáo] book" has a record: "The years go by and the months come and go, and suddenly the ninth day of the ninth month. Nine is the number of Yang, and the sun and the moon and should be, the popular Ka its name, think it is suitable for a long time, so to enjoy the feast will be high." That is the reason why people like the festival, because it represents a long, long life. However, it was during the Tang Dynasty that the Chongyang Festival was designated as an official holiday. Since then, the court and the people celebrated Chongyang Festival together and carried out various activities during the festival.
? From the poems of the Tang and Song Dynasty people, we can see that the most important customs of the Chongyang Festival are climbing up to the heights, enjoying chrysanthemums, drinking chrysanthemum wine, wearing cornelian cherry, and so on. For example, Lu Zhaolin's "The ninth day of the ninth month, Xuanwushan travel overlook": "The ninth day of the ninth month, overlook the mountains and rivers, return to the heart of the return to look at the accumulation of wind smoke. The countryside **** discretionary golden flower wine, ten thousand miles with the sadness of the sky." Li Bai's "The Immediate Events of September 10th": "Yesterday I climbed up to the mountain and left, today I raise my goblet even more. Chrysanthemum why too bitter, suffered this two suns" are written to the Chongyang Festival to climb high, drink chrysanthemum wine custom. In such a beautiful time of the year, climbing high and looking far and wide can achieve the purpose of relaxation, fitness to get rid of [qū] disease. Drinking chrysanthemum wine is because chrysanthemums are in full bloom at this time of the year, and the ancients believed that drinking chrysanthemum wine could eliminate disasters and pray for good fortune. Of course, in addition to drinking chrysanthemum wine, the beautiful chrysanthemum is also a favorite flower to see on Chongyang Festival. Meng Haoran's "Autumn Ascent to Orchid Hill and Sending to Zhang Wu": "Why should I carry wine to ****drunken Chung Yeung Festival", and Du Mu's "Ascending to Mount Qishan on the Ninth Day": "It is hard to meet the world and open your mouth". "The title of the poem speaks of the custom of ascending to the heights on the Chongyang Festival, but the poem also writes about the custom of enjoying chrysanthemums and drinking chrysanthemum wine. Du Fu's "Drinking in Lantian on the Ninth Day": "Who will be healthy at this meeting next year? Drunkenly look carefully at the dogwood", Su Shi's "West River Moon - the ninth day of the Chrysanthemum Festival": "the appendix of wine do not have to look at the dogwood, looking down on the world today and in the past," are talking about the custom of wearing dogwood. Another important custom of the Chongyang Festival is the insertion of dogwoods. Because of the strong fragrance of the dogwood, there is to drive away insects and dampness, the role of the wind and evil, so in the Chongyang Festival people like to wear dogwood in order to ward off evil and seek good luck. Cornus officinalis is therefore also known as the "evil weng". However, I am afraid that the most well-known poem written about the Chongyang Festival is Wang Wei's "September 9th Memories of Shandong Brothers", which I will share with you today.
? Let's first look at the title of this poem, "Remembering the Brothers from Shandong on the Ninth Day of the Ninth Moon". The title is very easy to understand, but it is important to note: Shandong here is not today's Shandong Province, but refers to the area east of Mount Bengshan. As the name of a geographical area, "Shandong" first began in the Warring States period, and was used by the Qin people to refer to the area east of Mount Banshan and the Hangu Pass. For example, among the Seven Kingdoms of the Warring States, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, Qi, and the Six Kingdoms other than Qin were all located east of the Banshan Mountain, so they were called the "Six Kingdoms of Shandong". This is the meaning of "Shandong" in ancient poems. This poem has an original note: "He was seventeen years old at the time". Wang Wei lived in Puzhou, east of Mount Huashan, so the title is "Remembering the Brothers of Shandong". At the time of writing this poem, he was probably in Chang'an, trying to get a job.
? Wang Wei (王维), known as Moqizi (摩诘), is also a famous Tang poet like Li Bai (李白) and Du Fu (杜甫). However, Wang Wei was different from Li Bai Du Fu. Wang Wei was an all-round poet who not only wrote good poems, but also mastered music and rhythm, was good at painting, and had deep attainments in Buddhism. At that time, he was still very famous in the Tang Dynasty, and was the idol of everyone's heart. Especially among the princes and nobles, especially popular.
? But unlike Li Bai Du Fu, Wang Wei was once a high school scholar. It is not surprising that such an erudite and talented character won the first prize. But it is said that when Wang Wei to participate in the imperial examinations, not the usual way, but used the relationship between the King of Qi and Princess Yu Zhen, in today's words, is to go through the back door. The story goes like this: it is said that when Wang Wei was young and proud, had boasted: if you participate in the imperial examinations, you must get the first place, or do not participate. It should be said that Wang Wei does have the strength. But at that time, the first prize was almost always determined by people with connections. Therefore, with Wang Wei's talent, in the jinshi is not a problem, but in the first prize will be very difficult.
? In the year when Wang Wei took the imperial examination, he heard that another candidate, Zhang Jiugao, had already gone through the door of Princess Yu Zhen, and was named the first place. Wang Wei was very reluctant, so he asked Li Fan, the king of Qi, who particularly appreciated him, to help him. The king told Wang Wei that Princess Yu Zhen was very powerful and he should not fight for it. Princess Yu Zhen was a lover of literature and art, so the king of Qi made up Wang Wei as an actor, and asked Wang Wei, who was good at pipa, to play a song called "Yu Lun Robe" at the princess's banquet, which won him a lot of applause. Wang Wei's youthfulness and beauty naturally attracted the attention of the princess. Taking this opportunity, the King of Qi strongly recommended Wang Wei to the Princess. Princess Yu Zhen examined the scene, and after listening to a few of Wang Wei's poems, she greatly appreciated them. Guided by King Qi's topic, Princess Yu Zhen asked Wang Wei why he did not take the imperial examinations. The King said, "He vowed not to take the examination if he did not win first place. But I heard that you, Princess, have recommended Zhang Jiugao." The Princess said, "I am not familiar with Zhang Jiugao either, it was entrusted to me by someone else." Then she said to Wang Wei, "If you want to take the examination, I can help." Wang Wei hastened to thank. So the princess gave a greeting to the examiner of that year. In this way, Wang Wei did get the top grade in high school.
This story is very fascinating and widely circulated, but it is not true. Because from the historical records, when Wang Wei took the imperial examination, there was no princess who was more powerful than the king of Qi. Moreover, Wang Wei did write a poem related to Princess Yu Zhen, but from that poem, we can see that their concern was rather distant. In addition, Zhang Jiugao in the story is the younger brother of Zhang Jiuling, a famous chancellor during the Kaiyuan period of Tang Xuanzong. Historical records show that before Wang Wei won the Scholarship, he had already passed the Mingjing and the first grade, and it was impossible for him to be taking this entrance examination. Although this story is not true, but Wang Wei talented this point is undoubtedly.
? There is another story that particularly illustrates Wang Wei's musical talent. According to the Tang State History Supplement, once a man got a picture of a musical composition, but he did not know why it was titled. When Wang Wei saw it, he replied, "This is the first beat of the third layer of the Nishang Yuyi Song." The man invited a musician to play it, and it was indeed a perfect match.
? Wang Wei's official career after winning the Scholarship was not smooth, but the most lamented is the encounter in the An Shi Rebellion. In 756, Chang'an was captured by the rebels, and after Wang Wei was arrested for being too famous, An Lushan forced him to become an official. He was unwilling to comply, so he deliberately took medicine to give himself diarrhea. However, An Lushan would not let him go, and Wang Wei was eventually forced to take up a pseudo-post. After the war subsided, Wang Wei was imprisoned and sent to the court for trial. He was sentenced to death for defecting to the rebels, but when he was captured, he wrote a poem called "Ngebi Pond", which reads, "Ten thousand households are saddened by the smoke of the wilderness, and when will the hundred officials ever face the heavens again? Autumn acacia leaves fall in the empty palace, condensing Bi Pond head playing strings." Expressed the pain of the death of the country and miss the feelings of the court, and because of his brother, the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Wang Jin has been successful in counter-revolution, requesting the cut for his brother to atone for his sins, Wang Wei to be forgiven [yòu], demoted to the Crown Prince in the fairness, and then moved the Chinese bookkeeper, and ultimately the official to the Shangshu Right Minister. Therefore, Wang Wei is also known as "Wang Yu Chancellor".
? This experience of being forced to surrender to the rebels had a great impact on Wang Wei's life. He had been a Buddhist since his childhood, and in his later years, he was even more dedicated to studying Buddhism, and he was not interested in fame and fortune. Therefore, his poetic style is cold and profound, far away from the world, without a bit of earthly smoke, full of Zen, landscape scenery has exceeded the general plain natural aesthetic meaning and entered a religious realm, which is precisely the inevitable embodiment of Wang Wei's Buddhist cultivation. This is also why Wang Wei is called "Poetry Buddha". In fact, his name is derived from the Buddhist Vimalakirti Sutra.
? After the title and author, let's look at the poem itself. "Alone in a foreign land, I miss my family twice as much at festivals". Alone in a foreign land refers to another land, foreign land. To be a guest in a foreign land means to be a guest in another land. Festival means a good festival. This sentence is to say: alone away from home in the field for the guests of other countries, every festive season is coming to miss their relatives extraordinarily.
? "Remote knowledge of the brothers to climb high, all inserted Cornus officinalis less a person". The first time I saw this, I realized that I had to go back to my home country to see my family.
? This poem was written on the occasion of the Chongyang Festival, when Wang Wei was thinking of his relatives in his hometown. Wang Wei wrote this poem when he was probably in Chang'an, seeking fame. Although the prosperous imperial capital was very attractive to the young scholars who were eager to advance in their careers at that time, it was, after all, a "foreign land" for a young wanderer who had no relatives in sight; and the more prosperous and bustling the city was, the lonelier the wanderer appeared to be in the vast sea of people. The first sentence uses one word "alone" and two words "foreign", which is very heavy. The thoughts of his loved ones and the feelings of his lonely situation are all condensed in this word "alone". "A guest in a foreign land" is just about being a guest in a foreign land, but the artistic effect created by the two words "foreign" is much stronger than that of being a guest in a foreign land in general. In ancient times, different regions of the terroir, people, language, living habits are very different, leaving the hometown of many years to go to a different place, will feel everything is strange, not accustomed to, and feel that they are floating in the life of a floating leaf in a different place. The words "foreign land" and "foreign guest" are a simple and sincere expression of this feeling. The feelings of homesickness and nostalgia of those who are guests in other places naturally exist in ordinary days, but sometimes they are not necessarily obvious, but once they are touched by something, they will easily burst out, and even become unstoppable. The most easy to touch this kind of emotion is the "festive season", because the festive season is often a day of family reunion, and often associated with a lot of good memories of home, which is the so-called "every festive season doubly homesick". This is an experience that everyone has, but no poet before Wang Wei has ever successfully expressed it in such a simple, unadorned, yet highly summarized verse. But once the poet expressed it, it became the most effective aphorism to express the feelings of homesickness in a guest. This is "all in the heart, but all in the pen" ah!
? Almost without any detour, but straight to the core, quickly form a climax, appear a cautionary tale. However, this way of writing often makes the last two lines difficult to follow, resulting in a lack of strength. The last two lines of the poem, if along the "festive season, twice the homesickness" as a linear extension, it is not inevitable to add to the snake; turn out to be new and then form a new climax, it is also very difficult to do.
? Three or four lines, if only a generalized remote thought of how the brothers in the day of the sun, wearing dogwood, and their own alone in a foreign land, can not participate in, although written out the festive feeling of homesickness, but it will appear to be too straightforward, lack of novelty and deep feelings. The poet's distant thought is: "All over the dogwood less one." Means, far away from the hometown of the brothers today when climbing high on the body are wearing a dogwood, but found less of their own this one brother is not included. As if the regret is not their own failure and hometown brothers **** degree festival, on the contrary is the brothers festival failed to fully reunited; seems to be alone in a foreign land for the situation is not worth talking about, on the contrary is the lack of brothers to be more considerate. This is a twisted flavor, out of the ordinary. And this out of the ordinary place, it makes it so that every person who reads it are sighed, memorable.
? Chongyang Festival is coming soon, how do you plan to spend this Chongyang Festival? Are you going to climb up and insert cornelian cherry like Wang Wei's brothers?
Reference Feedback Questions for "Remembering Shandong Brothers on September 9"
1. Can you feel the difference between the "Cold Dew" festival and the previous "White Dew" festival?
2. What do you think about the ancient misconceptions that "rotting grass is a firefly" and "a bird in the sea is a clam"? Do you think the ancients were so stupid?
3. What is your favorite custom of the Chongyang Festival? You have seen the dogwood? Can you introduce it?
4. What do you know about the poet Wang Wei? Do you like his poems? Can you share one?
5. The old saying goes, "We miss our relatives twice as much as we miss our parents during the festivals", so do the adults like us.
What are your feelings about the holidays, kids?
The lesson begins!
The first time I've ever seen a dogwood, I've never seen a dogwood in my life!
Of course, there are all kinds of Baidu......