What is the meaning of the imagery of "lilac" in ancient poems?

The lilac is a traditional image in classical Chinese poetry, symbolizing beauty, purity and melancholy. Since the Tang Dynasty, the number of works with lilac as the theme has increased, and it has entered the poets' creative threshold as an image, and its aesthetic meaning and emotional and ideological connotations have been further expanded.

1. It is a symbol of noble sentiment and a carrier of independent personality.

(1) Du Fu, Tang, "Five Songs from the Riverhead - Lilacs"

The lilacs are soft and fragile, and the knots are still cushioned.

Fine leaves with floating hairs, sparse flowers in a vegetal color.

The lilacs are planted deep in the back of a small house, so that they can be taken up by people who want to know what they are like.

Later, I fell into the orchid and musk, so I don't want to think about the powder body.

Translation:

The lilac is very soft and weak, and bears a lot of seeds, and the leaves and flowers are beautiful, but they are beautiful in their plain color, not gaudy. Plant lilacs at the back of the house, in order that they may be appreciated by thoughtful people.

And the lilac itself? It sends out its fragrance morning and evening like orchid musk, but without having to think of itself ground into powder.

The whole meaning of the poem is that a tender and beautiful creature, which should know its own qualities, completes itself, though the final completion of the self is feared to be pulverized, and need not think much of it!

The first four lines of this poem use the technique of white description to show the image of a light and elegant lilac: soft, branching, plain and colorful. The lilacs, with their beautiful flowers and fragrant aroma, are known as the "gentleman of flowers".

The last four lines show the inner quality of lilacs. The lilacs are the most beautiful flowers in the world, but they are also the most beautiful flowers in the world. The soft lilac is endowed with noble qualities and strong personality, and it would rather break its bones than join with the world, thus becoming the embodiment of the author's independent personality. In his later years, Du Fu had no way to express his ambition, so he borrowed the soft lilacs to express his ambition for his country.

(2) Wang Shipeng (Southern Song Dynasty), "Point Jiangliao - Cloves and Lilacs"

Fallen trees are in a state of depression, and under the glazed leaves the agar is spat out. The fragrance is soft and soft, and it's a pleasure to be called a ghost. I don't want to be the first to compete, but I'm not jealous of the plum blossoms. Containing spring rain. The knot of sadness, like remembering the Lord of South River.

Translation:

The leaves of the tree are still sparse, the lilac tree under the leaves of the lilac tree lilac flowers are open, spitting out the light fragrance around the tree, the elegant scholar praised this is the pleasure of the secluded man.

The lilac flower did not want to compete for the spring, the plum blossom do not be jealous. She is full of sorrow in the spring rain, as if she is nostalgic for her native land in Jiangnan.

The lyric combines the characteristics of lilacs with the fragrance, and in the first half of the lyric, it first uses the phrase "the falling trees are rustling" to emphasize the sad atmosphere, and then uses the phrase "the agarbucks under the glazed leaves are spitting out", which makes people's eyes light up.

Then the words turn, "the fragrance of the soft trees, elegantly known as the interest of the people", indicating that the elegant and indifferent interest. The second half of the que further elaborates on his mindset of not competing with the world: "I have no intention of competing to be the first, the plum stamen will not be jealous of each other." The whole word is wonderful in its end, the author boldly suspense, the reason why the lilac "knot sadness", perhaps it is in memory of the master of the south of the river.

To this point, the flowers and plants are not sentimental, it has become a sentimental author of the heart of the support, a sadness, full of sadness, there is a specific landing.

2, to express sadness, the feelings of resentment.

(1) Li Shangyin, Tang's "Gift"

Upstairs in the twilight, the desire to rest, the jade ladder across the moon in the hook.

The banana does not show the lilac knot, and each of us is sad in the spring breeze.

Translation:

It was dusk when I went up to the high building alone and wanted to rest, but the staircase was cut off and my lover didn't come, and the crescent moon was like a hook.

The heart of the banana is not yet unfolded, and the lilacs are not yet dissolved, and they are all worried at the same time towards the spring breeze.

This poem is a gift from a woman to a distant man. The first two lines portray the image of a thinking woman who is leaning on a building and looking at a distant place with a broken heart. In the last two lines, the two images of banana and lilac are used to deepen the spring sorrow.

The banana is characterized by its large and long leaves, which are often curled, thus giving it a symbolic meaning of sorrow. The lilac knot refers to the unopened buds of lilacs. The poet uses the knot of lilac as a metaphor for the depressed mood. The combination of the two sad images multiplies the spring sorrow of the thinking woman.

"The banana does not show the lilac knot" creates a new realm for the words of a thinking woman and has a far-reaching influence on later literary creation,

(2) Li Xun, Tang, "River Passage - Going to Go"

Going to go! I'm not sure where I'm going to go. The mountains and the waters are connected to each other. The clouds, the rain, the twelve peaks, the sound of apes to the passenger boat. I'm not sure if my sorrows are different from those of the lilacs. Because of the parting, the voice and letters of my homeland have been cut off. I want to think of a beautiful woman under the flowers, to the bright moon and the spring breeze, hate should be the same.

Translation:

Where to go? The distant land of Ba Chu, where mountains and water are connected. There are clouds in the morning and rain in the evening, and before the twelve peaks the cry of the apes reaches the passenger ship. Melancholy mood like lilac buds. Because of the parting, the full text of the sound of home.

Thinking of the beautiful people in the flowers, to the bright moon blowing the spring breeze, the parting hate should be the same as their own.

This word describes the man's parting sorrows. The first part of the song is about the remote and distant place where the departed is going, but the Bashan and Chushui mountains, the clouds and rain, and the twelve peaks in front of them are always connected to each other, which is a metaphor for the sorrows of the departed like the mountains and the water, the farther and the deeper, the longer, and the more the sound of apes following the boat, which is a foil to the sorrows of the departed.

Next piece of the opening three sentences straight write because of the parting of the sound book isolation and the sadness of the knot. The last three sentences, change the writing style, far away, for the sake of his wife, she in the flowers under the moon and the spring breeze, the hate should be the same as their own. "A gas scroll, if the break if even, there is a water flow of flowers to release the music, the knot is warm and thick".

3, in order to emphasize the love affair.

(1) Mao Wenshi (毛文锡) The Fifth Dynasty's More Leakage - The End of the Spring Night

The end of the spring night is a time of hatred, and outside the flowers, Zigui cries for the moon. I can't see you, I can't dream, I can't see you, I can't see you, I can't see you. I'd like to say goodbye to the lilacs under the courtyard. The night fog disperses, the morning sun shines, and the two swallows fly between the beams.

Translation:

The late night of spring is quiet, and the thoughts of spring are unending, and the cries of the cuckoo bird outside the flowers seem to be retaining the waning moon in the west. The people I love are nowhere to be seen, and the dreams I love are hard to come by, and my lonely heart is like a bit of a broken lamp in a red veil.

The most hateful thing is to be separated at this time, in the spring season, the lilacs under the steps of the flourishing leaves, each one is like a concentric knot. The night fog gradually dispersed, the morning sun in the sky brilliant, beams murmured pro-whispering, flew a pair of spring swallow.

This word is written about the heroine's love for each other. The first part of the song is about the spring night. The first part is about the spring night, and the second part is about the spring night, and the second part is about the spring night. The next piece is about the grievances after the dawn of the day.

The two sentences of "I hate to say goodbye" are doubled to write the depth of hatred; the sentence of "a thousand knots of lilacs under the court" is to bake the feelings with the scenery; the last three sentences are to write the sadness with the music, which intensifies the main character's feelings of hatred. The whole piece is a mixture of scenes, implicit and deep.

(2) Mao Wenxi, "Zhongxing Le - Cardamom Flowers and Smoke"

The cardamom flowers and smoke are deep, and the lilacs are softly knotted in the same heart. The girl with the green hair, and the girl with the **** panned for gold. The gorillas speak in the red banana leaves, and the mandarin ducks dance in the mirror. The silk rain is separated from the lychee shade.

Translation:

Flower buds and flowers flourish, reflecting each other, men and women love each other forever. Sixteen and seventeen year old women, meet to pan for gold together.

Orangutans cry in the leaves of the red plantain, and on the small island where the mandarin ducks roost, the luan bird is reflected in the lake and dances.

Silky drizzle separated the figures of people sheltering from the rain under the lychee trees.

This lyric is about the southern scenery, more emotional. The first piece of writing cardamom flowers, lilac soft knot, young girls meet to pan for gold, the scene like a picture. "Cardamom blossoms are in abundance and the smoke is deep, and the lilacs are softly knotted together."

Using the technique of intertext, borrowing the cardamom flowers and lilac knot of sadness to symbolize the love of fidelity of the concentric knot. The next piece of banana leaves, orangutan language, which has a stronger local color. In particular, the last two lines write a profile under the lychee tree in the south to avoid the rain. The whole word image vivid and distinct, the mood is quite good.

4, through the spring time is easy to pass, things are different.

Li King, Tang Dynasty, "The Raccoon River Sand" (摊破浣溪沙-手卷真珠珠上玉钩)

手卷真珠上玉钩，依前春恨锁重楼。 I'm not sure who's in charge of the flowers that fall in the wind. I've been thinking about it for a long time. The green bird doesn't send a message beyond the clouds, and the lilac knots the sorrow in the rain. The first time I looked back at the green wave of the three Chu twilight, catching the flow of the sky.

Translation:

Rolling up the curtain made of pearls and hanging up the curtain hooks, I look far away from the high building as before, my sorrows still y locked. The fallen flowers in the wind are so haggard, who is its owner? This makes me more and more confused the more I think about it.

The messenger did not bring the news of the distant pedestrians, and the lilacs in the rain reminded me of the condensation of sorrow. I looked back at the three gorges in the twilight and saw the river flowing from the sky.

This poem expresses the author's sorrow and emotion by expressing the disappointment and hatred between men and women.

The first part of the poem is about a heavy building and the hatred of spring, and the falling flowers have no owner; the second part of the poem is about a hundred knots of sadness, which can't be solved. The lilac knot into the rain in the realm, so that the symbol of sadness of the metaphorical lilac buds more poignant and moving, more compassionate, the feelings are very strong, full.

What the lyricist expresses in this love theme is a deeper sense of worry, as a monarch of a weak country surviving in the cracks, a kind of worry about the country, about life, through the lilacs in the rain, expressed to the fullest.