Twenty-four solar terms: "time beauty" in ancient poetry
"Sneak into the night with the wind, moisten things silently", "There is a lot of rain during the Qingming Festival"... Before the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the world-class intangible cultural heritage - the twenty-four solar terms turned into a "countdown timer", from "rainwater" all the way Counting down, and finally reaching the "Li Chun", each solar term is accompanied by a well-known ancient poem, conveying the traditional wisdom and romantic aesthetics of Chinese culture to the world.
Where do these ancient poems come from?
Have you read the "time beauty" it contains?
"Poetry" in solar terms
The opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics coincided with the beginning of the Spring Festival. When frames and poems about the twenty-four solar terms appeared, people could not help but sigh: "This is the most beautiful Chinese culture." The ancient poems in it complement the scenery of the solar terms. .
In order to interpret the charm of ancient poems related to the twenty-four solar terms, the reporter interviewed Cao Xu, librarian of Shanghai Museum of Culture and History, distinguished professor and doctoral supervisor of Shanghai Normal University.
"The ancients divided the year into 365 days, divided the four seasons, and made a reincarnation table with 24 solar terms. This is a very important thing and a product of farming culture." He said that the 24 solar terms represent the human Understand the heaven and earth, nature and the four seasons, and remind yourself to use the unique "time rhythm" to exert one's subjective initiative and interact with the universe, the universe and the four seasons of nature.
In his view, this table related to the twenty-four solar terms is the relationship between man and nature, the relationship between man and landscape, the relationship between man and agricultural production, and the relationship between man and social system (including sacrificial activities, etc.), so , the general nature of Chinese poetry and the rhythm of language are related to this.
Take the solar terms with poems for the countdown to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics as an example.
Rainwater solar term, accompanied by the poem "Sneak into the night with the wind, moisten things without sound", this poem comes from Du Fu's "Spring Night Joyful Rain" in the Tang Dynasty. Waiting", the spring rain comes quietly with the wind at night, moisturizing everything on the earth quietly and silently.
Tomb-sweeping solar term, accompanied by the poem "Rain During the Tomb-Sweeping Season", selected from Du Mu's "Qingming" in the Tang Dynasty, it has been one of the well-known poems that have been circulated for thousands of years, reminding us that the time to remember the deceased is coming.
Compared with spring, summer poetry is different.
The summer solstice solar term, accompanied by the poem "Lvyun still contains powder, round lotus begins to diffuse fragrance", from Wei Yingwu's "Summer Solstice Summer Solstice Beichi" in the Tang Dynasty, which depicts the wind scene of the summer solstice solar term, "Lvyun" is green bamboo, which is just born from bamboo The bamboo joints also have white velvety powder, and the round lotus leaves begin to emit fragrance. Bamboo and lotus give people a cool summer mood.
Great summer solar term, with the poem "Gui Lun opens midnight, fireflies shine in the sky", from Yuan Zhen's "The Poetry of the Twenty-Four Qi: The Mid-June of Great Heat" by Yuan Zhen of the Tang Dynasty.
The Great Heat is the hottest solar term in the year. In such a hot summer, the poet was thinking about how to escape the summer heat. In the middle of the night, he saw the starry river was bright, the moonlight was clear, and there were fireflies that could not be seen in other seasons.
Bailu is the solar term, accompanied by the poem "The dew is white from tonight, the moon is the hometown of bright", from Du Fu's "Moony Night Recalling My Brother" in the Tang Dynasty, which is also a well-known poem.
On the night of Bailu's solar term, it was chilling. Against the background of the drums on the garrison and the wailing of the lost geese, Du Fu's longing for his family became more and more profound and intense.
Lu You's "Time Rain" in Song Dynasty said: "When rain and mangosteen are planted, all the fields are planted. Every family has beautiful wheat and rice, and there are long songs everywhere." It also describes the lively scene of mangosteen season.
In the last 10 seconds before the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the countdown has accelerated. The picture is the grand scene of Shanshui China. The solar term is turning, the white snow catkins are flying, the peach blossoms are falling in the red rain, and the spring is returning to the sound of the cuckoo. The last second of the countdown is reserved for the beginning of spring.
The twenty-four solar terms fully expand the Chinese style of poetry and painting.
Poets and solar terms are natural languages
"Spring rains startle spring and clear valleys, summers are full of mansions and summers are connected, autumns are exposed and autumns are cold and frosts fall, winters are snowy and winters are small and cold." The 24 solar terms are connected into a catchy solar term song.
Cao Xu likened the 24 solar terms to the 24 stations that people walk through in a year.
Long-distance buses run 365 days a year and pass through 24 stations.
The 4 major stations are Spring Station, Summer Station, Autumn Station, and Winter Station. These 4 major stations are subdivided into 24 smaller stations, and one station is reached every 15 days or so.
The season, climate, phenology, scenery, etc. of each station change regularly.
"People are a part of nature and solar terms, and poets are also a part of nature and solar terms." He said that the twenty-four solar terms are natural languages, so poets use words and poetic language to correspond to natural language and solar terms. language.
Poets are actually narrating, describing and expressing the emotions when different solar terms come.
And this expression contains many levels of content.
For example, a poet is a child of nature. Facing nature, he has something to say and feelings to express.
Praise and sing songs of natural scenery and natural ecology, and the changing seasons are the poet's different "poetry tips".
In nature, there are scenery, temperature, and matching flowers and bouquets, such as peony in spring, lotus in summer, chrysanthemum in autumn, plum blossom in winter, etc. Thousands of flowers and thousands of grasses are the "endorsements" of the four seasons, poets throughout the ages, Can't write.
The poet captured these descriptions of flowers and plants, making poetry a symbol of the 24 solar terms in the four seasons.
These are the very important contents of solar term poems.
For another example, the poetic factors contained in the twenty-four solar terms not only include natural factors such as climate, but also social factors, such as social and festive.
There are festivals in spring, summer, autumn and winter, and these festivals themselves have many "poetic materials" and poetic elements.
For example, it is expressed by the rain on the Qingming Festival, which shows the poet's thoughts and commemorations for his relatives.
In Cao Xu's view, poets are a part of society, so when natural solar terms intersect with social identity and personal circumstances, he writes different poems in different solar terms.
For example, Du Fu's poems such as "From Beijing to Fengxian County to Wing Huai Five Hundred Characters" interweave the coldest solar term in the year with the experience of the poet himself and his whole family suffering from freezing and starvation, and wrote a grand masterpiece of depression and frustration.
Nature is the nature in heaven and earth, the nature in the universe.
This nature also contains geographical factors, such as rivers, mountains, etc., in the 24 different solar terms, more faces and scenery are transformed, just like a child's face is constantly changing.
This different change also gave the poets the subject matter for writing.
Just like Meng Haoran of the Tang Dynasty wrote in "Climbing to Xian Mountain with Zhuzi", "Personnel and affairs are metabolized, and exchanges have become ancient and modern. If the rivers and mountains leave historical traces, my generation will come again."
When the poet writes it down, he leaves behind the poems from generation to generation.
The solar terms are regular, and the poet's expression is diverse
"The solar terms are like origins, which can radiate countless poems." In Cao Xu's view, poets' feelings are divergent and diversified, and their expressions are also different.
Therefore, the poems related to solar terms are also diversified.
For example, Bai Juyi wrote in "Viewing the Wheat", "The Tian family is less busy in the moon, and people are busy in May. When the south wind rises at night, the wheat is covered with yellow." He used the solar terms to describe life and express his emotions.
And the poet Liu Changqing of the Tang Dynasty wrote the poem "The sound of the frost descends on the red, and the autumn is deep, and the guests are lost."
The scenery and phenology of the four seasons are fixed and regular, but the emotional expression of poets through poetry is ever-changing.
For example, in spring, everything recovers and flowers bloom in spring, which is a particularly pleasant season, but Du Fu wrote in "Spring Hope": "The country is broken, mountains and rivers are, and the spring grass and trees are deep in the city. The bird was shocked." At that time, when Chang'an fell, only the mountains and rivers remained, spring came, and the sparsely populated Chang'an city was lush with vegetation, but the poet was saddened by state affairs and could not help but shed tears.
The chirping of birds was originally pleasant, but it was shocking at the time, only adding to sorrow and hatred.
Another example is that in winter it is freezing cold and boring.
But Liu Zongyuan wrote in "Jiang Xue": "Thousands of mountains and birds fly away, and thousands of people disappear. Lonely boat and liang, fishing for cold river snow alone." In the heavy snow solar term, the poet used this poem to set off his blow. Unyielding personality and spirit.
"Every season and every solar term, the poet's feelings are diversified. By substituting his own feelings, each solar term has his own unique feelings. A poet also writes 10 spring poems, and the writing style and emotion can also be different. "Cao Xu said.
At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, we used the twenty-four solar terms and related poems to express the greatness and splendor of Chinese culture.
When is the full moon and the moon is short; when is the day long and the night is short; when is the ice melted, the river opens, the wind comes, the rain comes; when the insects wake up, the earth can be cultivated, and the crops It's about to grow... As Zhang Yimou, the chief director of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, said, "There may be no one in the world who counts numbers like this," but we have confidence and confidence, which is a deep cultural confidence.
In the four seasons of the year, the solar terms are changing, and winter is coming to spring.
(Reporter Peng Wei)