What do you mean by "three friends in a cold year"?

Ancient China literati loved to send things to express their feelings, and expressed their ideal character and spiritual pursuit with natural objects. The indomitable pine and cypress, colorful bamboo and winter plum, although belonging to different families and genera, all have noble styles that are not afraid of severe frost. They lived together in the cold of the old days, and they have always been admired by China ancient and modern literati, and they are called "three friends in the cold of the old days", which is a metaphor for loyal friendship.

The origin of "three friends in cold years";

In the second year of Yuanfeng, Su Shi was persecuted by powerful officials in North Song Shenzong, and was arrested and imprisoned. After Wang Anshi and others were rescued, they were given a light sentence and placed under the control of Huangzhou. Huangzhou is now Huanggang, Hubei. As a "sinner", Su Shi was depressed when he first arrived here. Later, family members came to visit and friends came to visit. Su Shi's mood gradually improved, but his life was difficult, so he asked Huangzhou Prefecture to reclaim dozens of acres of wasteland for planting to improve his life. This land is called "Dongpo" by the locals, and Su Shi himself has a nickname "Dongpo Jushi".

Su Shi planted rice, wheat and other crops in Dongpo, and built a garden wall to build a house. The house is named "Tang Xue" and the walls are painted with snowflakes; In the garden, pine, cypress, bamboo, plum and other flowers and trees are planted everywhere. One spring, Xu Junyou, the magistrate of Huangzhou, visited him in Tang Xue and joked, "You live in this room and sleep in this room. Looking around, there is snow everywhere. It is really cold and snowy, don't you think it is too cold and snowy? " Su Shi pointed to the flowers and trees in the courtyard and laughed heartily: "Wind and spring are two kinds of music, and pine and bamboo are three friends." Wind and spring sound are two kinds of music that can solve loneliness, while pine and cypress with evergreen branches, bamboo that never withers in winter and plum blossom that opens in Ao Shuang are three kinds of friends who can accompany the cold in winter.

Hearing this, Xu Junyou encouraged Su Shi with "three friends", and maintained the noble sentiment of Ling cold. He was awed and paid more attention to taking care of him. Later, the pattern of "Three Friends in Cold Year" composed of pine, bamboo and plum was widely used in utensils, clothes and buildings. The understanding of it by people with lofty ideals is to show the noble character of being proud of frost and snow and having a heart of stone. The common people value its immortality, and it never withers in winter, which is extended to the exuberance of vitality, so it has become a symbol of good luck.