What does the height of willows mean in ancient poetry?

Zhang Zhi's "Liu Yong"

Tang He Zhang Zhi

Jasper dressed as a tree, hanging down ten thousand green silk tapestries.

I don't know who cut the thin leaves, but the spring breeze in February is like scissors.

To annotate ...

(1) Willow: willow, deciduous tree or shrub, with long and narrow leaves and many kinds. This poem describes weeping willows.

⑵ Jasper: Bright green jade. Here is a metaphor for the bright green willow leaves in spring.

(3) make-up: decorate.

(4) a tree: full of trees. One, full, full. In China's classical poems and articles, the use of quantifiers does not necessarily indicate the exact number. The "ten thousand" in the next sentence is of great significance.

Tapestry: a rope made of silk. Silk tapestry: Describe a wicker like a ribbon.

[6] cutting: cutting, dividing an object into several parts with a knife or scissors.

February: February in the lunar calendar is the early spring season.

Like: like, like, like.

Guide reading

This poem sings the spring breeze through the willow tree, compares the spring breeze to scissors, says that she is the creator of beauty, and praises her for cutting out the spring. This poem is full of people's joy in early spring. The novelty and appropriateness of metaphor and metaphor is the success of this poem. "Notes on Tang Poetry" says: "Things are wonderful, but the meaning is soft."

This is an object-chanting poem about willow trees in early spring and February.

Where should I start writing willow? There is no doubt that the beauty of its image lies in Naman's long branches. Once a year, it grows new green leaves and hangs down, which has a charming posture in the spring breeze. This is something that everyone can appreciate. In classical poetry, we often see this kind of image beauty to describe and compare a beautiful woman's slim figure and graceful waist branches. This poem is original. Turn it over. "Jasper pretends to be a tall tree". At first, Liu Yang appeared as a beautiful woman: "Thousands of threads of moss tapestry hang down", and these countless threads became her nepotism. The word "Gao" in the previous sentence sets off the graceful charm of beautiful Tingting; The word "hanging" in the next sentence means that the slender waist is swaying in the wind. There are no words "willow" and "waist branch" in the poem, but the beauty embodied by weeping willows and willows in early spring is vividly written. "Southern History" said that Liu Yong was the secretariat of Yizhou and presented several Shu Liu plants. "The stripes are very long and shaped like a line." Emperor Wu of Qi planted these willows in the Taichang Cloud and in front of the temple, calling them "romantic and lovely". Here, wicker is called "green silk tapestry", which may be the hidden use of this famous allusion about willow. But it's a waste, and you can't see any traces.

"Jasper makeup" leads to "moss tapestry" and "who cut it". Finally, the intangible "spring breeze" is also vividly portrayed by "scissors". These "scissors" cut out bright green flowers and plants and put on a new makeup for the earth. It is the symbol of natural vitality and the inspiration of spring to people's beauty. From Jasper Makeup to Scissors, we can see a series of processes of the poet's artistic conception. A series of images in poetry are closely linked.

Some people may think: There were many famous beauties in ancient China, Liu. Why should we compare them with Jasper? I think this has two meanings: first, the name Jasper is related to the color of willow, and the words "green" and "green" in the next sentence complement each other. Second, Jasper will always leave a young impression in people's hearts. When it comes to Jasper, people will associate it with the popular Jasper Song "When Jasper Broke a Melon" and Jasper's Little Family Daughter (Xiao Yi Picking Lotus Poems) and other poems. Jasper has almost become a general term for young and beautiful women in ancient literary works. Comparing willow with jasper, people will imagine that this beauty has not yet reached its heyday; This willow is still a willow in early spring, and it is not the time to hide crows with dense branches and leaves; This is also related to the "thin leaves" and "February spring breeze" below.

Brief introduction of the author

He was a poet in Tang Dynasty. The word Ji Zhen, the word Wei Mo, the number stone window, and the number Siming fanatic in his later years, also known as the external supervisor. Ranked eighth, known as "He Ba". Huiji Yongxing (now Xiaoshan, Zhejiang) was born. Zheng Shengyuan was a scholar in 695. Received Dr. Guo Zisi and transferred to Shao Qingtai Chang and Jixian College to study for a bachelor's degree. In the 13th year of Kaiyuan (725), he was the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, and the palace minister was in charge. So it is called "He Mijian" or "He Jian" for short. In the third year of Tianbao (744), he resigned and returned to his hometown to become a Taoist priest, building a seclusion for later generations. He died at the age of 86. He was famous for his poems when he was young, and became famous in Beijing during the Dragon Boat Festival (705-707). In the early years of Kaiyuan, Bao Rong, Zhang Xu and Zhang, who were famous for their poems, were collectively called "Four Scholars in Wuzhong", also known as "Four Friends in Wuzhong" and "Four Masters in Wuzhong". He is a rich, generous and open-minded person, and a generation who can learn from romantic life. I especially like to improvise poetry while drinking until I run out of paper. The Interruption of the Sea by Zeng, Zhang Xu and Cui Zongsi, together with Song and Meng Haoran, are called "Ten Immortals". He and Zhang Xu are congenial, close contacts and in-laws, so people often call them "He Zhang". The two often travel together. "Every family has a good wall and a good barrier. Suddenly, I forgot the opportunity for development, and I put pen to paper for several lines, flying like a bug. Although Zhang (Zhi) and Suo (Jing) are not as good as ancient times. Good-hearted people provide them with a letter to pass on the treasure. " (Shi Su's Records of Jiatai Meeting) Why is cursive script famous? In Shu Shu Fu, he praised his cursive script as "excellent in writing" and "contending with nature, and arriving without manpower", while Lu Zongxu's book review thought that "the vertical pen flies endlessly" and Li Bai compared it to Wang Xizhi in the poem "Seeing the guests off to Vietnam", saying that "the mirror lake overflows with clear waves, and the fanatics return to the boat." Yin Shan Taoist: If we meet, we should write "Huang Ting" for the white goose. "Lu Xiang's poem" Send greetings to the prison, return to the meeting "says:" Qingmen resists thanking guests, and remonstrates against Wang Xianzhi. Chang' an plain book is biased, and the work is often cherished. "It's called Wang Xianzhi. At that time, people also called its cursive script, meteorite stone in our province, crane painted by Xue Ji and phoenix painted by Lang Yu as "four wonders" in our province. However, He's calligraphy is rare in the world. The only cursive script that can be seen now is the Book of Filial Piety, which is full of strokes, intense stippling, alternating shades, and virtual reality. The knot leans left and right, drifting with the tide; The composition is like flowing water, which fully embodies his romantic feelings. He's cursive script opened the prelude to the romantic atmosphere of cursive script in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. In addition, He is also good at regular script, which has been passed down from generation to generation.

Modern Translation of Ancient Poetry

A tall willow, dressed like jasper, with countless branches hanging down and green silk strips. I wonder who cut off the thin willow leaves. The warm and cold February spring breeze is like a pair of scissors.

Appreciation of famous sentences-"I don't know who carries thin leaves, and the spring breeze in February is like scissors."

"Jasper dressed as a tree, thousands of strands of green silk tapestry hanging down", profoundly grasped the characteristics of weeping willows. In the poet's eyes, it is like the embodiment of beauty. The tall trunk is like her graceful charm, drooping wicker, like the ribbon on her skirt. Here, willow is a person, and this person is willow. There seems to be no obvious difference between the two. And "Jasper" also has a pun meaning. Literally, in harmony with the green of willow trees, it also refers to young and beautiful girls, which just echoes the following "spring breeze in February"-this is the weeping willow in early spring, and it has not yet reached the time when the trees are graceful and the shadows are clear and round. But the following two sentences are even better: "I don't know who bears the thin leaves, and the spring breeze in February is like scissors." Before he opened it, who thought the spring breeze was like scissors? Turning the warm and cold February spring breeze from invisible to tangible shows the magic and dexterity of the spring breeze, making Singing Willow a poetic model of describing the object.