Cover news reporter Liu Kexin
"The willows are green and hanging on the ground, and the yang flowers are long and stirring up the sky." The willows are exhausted and the flowers are gone, and the borrowing line is not returned. This "Farewell" written by anonymous shi is the most emblematic of the image of willow tree in Chinese's heart.
▲ Weeping willow leaves of "February spring breeze like scissors" (source network)
As a plant that is easy to reproduce and has a simple cultivation method, the willow that "hangs on the ground" has become one of the plants that can be seen in the streets and alleys, and has also become the most indispensable link in Chinese aesthetic imagery for thousands of years.
In fact, "willow" refers to two different genera of plants in the willow family. According to the "Flora of China" record, there are more than 60 species of poplar plants in the Willow family, and there are more than 250 species of Willow plants, "Yang" and "Willow", completely different. The "willow tree" in our cognition is a plant with a loose canopy and hanging branches, referring to the weeping willow. Sichuan pipe this plant is also called weeping willow, Yunnan is called Qingming willow.
▲ Weeping Willow (Image Source Network)
Produced in the Yangtze River basin and the Yellow River basin, weeping willow is a native plant in China and is cultivated throughout the country. "Unintentional willow planting willow shade" shows its easy survival and the characteristics of cuttings reproduction. In Sichuan, this plant is also widespread, especially in the Chengdu Plain. The Wenjiang district of Chengdu has a deep connection with weeping willows. According to legend, the ancient Shu Yu King once used weeping willows to demarcate the boundaries of the city. The King of Yu went down the river from the upper reaches of the Min River to the present-day Wenjiang District of Chengdu, where he built a city. The weeping willows, which are easy to live and graceful, were chosen as a symbol of the demarcation of the boundaries of the Yu kingdom. Therefore, Wenjiang District is also known as Liucheng. Today, in the streets and alleys of Wenjiang District, many names have the word "willow", which may also be related to this.
But that's just one way of sayings. Another theory is that the Fish King planted not weeping willows at that time, but silver willows. Silver willow is also a species of willow plant, but its original form is not commonly seen. The silver willow we see is a "New Year Flower" that has been artificially dyed and appears on the hawker's pick and looks very similar to a plum blossom. The part that is dyed is the silver-gray spores of silver willow. These silver willows, dyed red, purple, green, yellow and other colors, are inserted in vases as decorations to add a festive atmosphere to the New Year.
▲ Silver Willow (Source Network)
In the current Wenjiang District, there are also a number of silver willow planting bases. Now the silver willow and weeping willow in Wenjiang District, which one is left by the Yu Kai King? No one can tell.
▲ Dyed silver willow (source network)
The connection between weeping willows and parting has existed since ancient times. People fold the willow to bid farewell, because the harmonic sound of the willow is "stay", indicating the wish of friends to stay. And the state of the wicker hanging on the ground, or the way it is blown by the wind, is it also like trying to hold the hand of a pedestrian? The "Three Auxiliary Yellow Maps" once recorded this custom of folding willows to send farewell: "Baqiao, in Chang'an East, crosses the water as a bridge." The Han people sent guests to this bridge and folded willows to bid farewell. ”
According to legend, a kind of willow tree in Tibet today is the "folded willow" given by Tang Taizong when Princess Wencheng set out from Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty. When marrying Songzan Gampo, Princess Wencheng, in order to alleviate her homesickness, deliberately took away the willow branches given by Tang Taizong when Baqiao was parted, and planted them in the Lhasa area. As a result, these willows are now also known as "Tang Willows" or "Princess Willows". But in fact, these willows are a variant of the Conding willow in the genus Willow, and they are called "left-handed willows", which are completely different plants from weeping willows.
▲ Left-handed willow (source Chinese plant image library, photography Xu Yongfu)
It grows at altitudes of more than 3,000 meters above sea level, with a thick trunk that rotates from left to the root and has a low canopy. This is very different from the weeping willow of Yuan Yuanping. In the beautiful legend, the curved and twisted form of the left-handed willow is also related to the frequent turn of the head to look at Chang'an after Princess Wencheng married. The vitality of the left-handed willow is extremely tenacious, and it has the reputation of "living for a thousand years and not dying, not falling for a thousand years after death, and not rotting for a thousand years after falling".
The meaning of the ancients giving willow lies in two aspects: one is to take the harmonic sound of "stay" as the meaning of retention; the other is because of the easy-to-plant and well-nourished plant attributes of willow trees, and the people who wish to travel can settle down smoothly and live smoothly no matter when and where. Therefore, the farewell of the folded willow not only carries the sadness of parting, but also the blessing of the farewell.
At the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which just ended, the dancers bid farewell to all the athletes and spectators in the form of folding willows, and at the same time sent blessings and reluctance. "Once upon a time, I was in the past, Willow Yiyi", Chinese's thoughts and romance, through the millennium, still appear sincere and deep.