The first time I learned about hydrangea and dewgrass was when I bought two bottles of colored ink named after them. The colors are as beautiful as the names. Later I learned that such a beautiful name and color come from an even more beautiful flower.
I don’t know why, but the names of some flowers in Japanese are more appropriate and elegant than the current Chinese ones, adding more charm. Of course, many of them are closely related to traditional Chinese culture, and some of them are probably caused by my psychological effects.
Chinese: Hydrangea
The poet Bai Letian (that's Bai Juyi) once went to a temple. The abbot asked him about an unknown flower in the temple, and he named the flower " Ziyang". "In what year it was planted on the altar of immortals, and sooner or later it was transplanted to the Brahma family. Although no one knows it in the world, it is named Hydrangea with you." After this name was spread to Japan, Japan named the hydrangea after it.
During the short one-month flowering period of hydrangeas, the colors will change in many ways. It's not just red turning to blue, or blue turning green, but the petals that were pure white the night before may turn into a mixture of red and green the next day. Perhaps with such a hard-working and fickle character, Watanabe Junichi named this novel about the painful game between husband and wife after "Hydrangea Diary".
Chinese: Commelina
It often appears in Japanese paintings, clothing, and ceramic decorative patterns, and is commonly seen in blue, white, and pink. In Japanese, various flowers are often used to express colors. For example, "花草いろの夜明けかな" means "dawn of dew grass color", which is probably a light, refreshing blue dawn.
The white dew grass, the flower language is meditation. Pink dew grass, the flower language is joy.
Chinese: Purple Pearl
Murasaki Shikibu is the author of "The Tale of Genji", the highest peak of Japanese classical literature. Her status in Japanese literature is just like Purple Pearl's in the family garden. Same status. In winter, strings of gorgeous and long-lasting purple beads hang on the branches of Murasaki Shikibu that have taken off their leaves, which is extremely gorgeous and noble. It is said that purple represented nobility during the Heian period and was a color reserved for female officials, so it was called Purple Shikibu.
Chinese: Morning Glory ("Morning Glory" in ancient Japan also refers to platycodon and hibiscus.)
The Japanese call it Morning Glory because it blooms in the morning. The Chinese, on the other hand, took the buffalo to express their gratitude to the flower because someone took the morning glory seeds to cure a chronic disease, and called it morning glory. What the Japanese attach most importance to is the gorgeous and short appearance of the morning and afternoon, which is probably related to the Japanese's sense of mourning for things. Just like a line in "The Love of the Wise": "Disappearance is also a kind of beauty."< /p>
The Japanese love the morning face very much. When it is in season, the morning face can be seen in an overwhelming variety of stationery, paper products and souvenirs in shops everywhere. Morning glory is also a commonly used flower in ikebana. In "Riku Shiqime - Painting Flowers and Talking about Ikebana" compiled by Ishiyama Kazuo, the third eye is morning glory: two morning glories, one blue and one yellow, blooming freely. The style is gentle and full of sex; a few light vine leaves are the lingering and twists and turns of love; coupled with a white porcelain water dish and a bamboo flower stand, it becomes a demure, fresh , low-key joy, which makes people live in love and business (quoted from Shen Shengyi's "Morning Beauty in Japan").
Chinese: Calabash Flower (or Moonlight Flower)
Opposite to the morning face is the evening face that blooms in the evening and wilts in the morning.
The fourth chapter of "The Tale of Genji" by Murasaki Shikibu, "Evening Face", tells a beautiful and sad story. Prince Genji was staying somewhere in the summer and saw "many white flowers blooming in the green vines in front of the shabby house next door, smiling in admiration." The entourage reported that this was Xiyan, and Master Genji sighed: "Poor, this is a life-threatening flower. Pick one for me." The entourage went to pick one, but he didn't expect that a maid from the house next door came out, saying that the branches were weak. For this reason, he held a white paper fan and asked his attendants to put the flowers on the fan and present them to him. On the fan that came with the flowers, there were two lines of poetry written on it: "Xiyan's face is so bright and beautiful, so she is expected to come to Malaysia." It turns out that the hostess next door is named Xiyan, and she wrote a poem to give it to her. Prince Genji wrote a poem in return, "My face is full of smiles at dusk, just because I met fate at that time." From then on, it has attracted people's attention and I think about it all the time.
Later, they finally got what they wanted, and Xiyan became a sincere and affectionate part of Genji's romantic history. The two lived in seclusion in the countryside, admiring flowers and trees, listening to autumn insects, watching stars and the moon, and stayed in both places.
Little did he know that such a beautiful time was so short-lived. Xi Yan suddenly died of a sudden illness. Genji was in grief. He often cried and meditated, sighing, "That evening, just because of the fate of a Xiyan flower, I fell in love with that person at first sight and became inseparable." Now that I think about it, this is a sign that love cannot last forever, how sad!" The irreplaceable longing for Xi Yan ran through Mr. Genji's life.
In "The Tale of Genji", many characters are named after flowers, which also coincides with their flowery character and destiny.
Similar to morning and evening flowers, and named after their special blooming time, there are also day and night flowers. Day and night flowers are Japanese bowl flowers and night flowers are moonlight flowers.
Chinese: Cosmos, Galsanghua
Yamaguchi Momoe has a classic song "Autumn Sakura", which has been sung for more than 30 years and was selected into the "Twentieth Century Japan" 100 Classic Tracks". This is a song sung to the mother, expressing the daughter's nostalgia for her mother before getting married. Yamaguchi Momoe, who grew up in a single-parent family, will naturally be particularly emotional when singing this song.
It is said that European girls often include an autumn cherry blossom in their love letters. A flower carries the thoughts of so many young girls who have just begun to love each other, with shyness mixed with expectations, joy hidden with uneasiness, and countless question marks of "Does he love me?" Autumn Sakura was also chosen to be dedicated to St. Philidis Wade, a nun in Oxford who made great contributions to the development of the Oxford region and Oxford University. He can be said to be the patron saint of learning. There is a Tibetan legend: No matter who you are, you will find happiness as long as you find the eight-petal Gesang flower. Therefore, its flower language is girlish innocence, academics, or eternal happiness.
Chinese: 棣棠花
Since the time when Yamabuki is in full bloom is also the time when spring is bright, Yamabuki has gradually become a representative of spring in Japanese culture and is regarded as the "seasonal language" of spring. ". In the "Man'yoshu", there are 17 haiku about Yamabuki, and the most famous one is by the Edo period poet Matsuo Basho - "Yamabuki withered, quietly and silently, dancing, the sound of Taki" .
Japan has many allusions related to Yamabuki. Due to the influence of "Yamabuki" in Japanese culture, "Yamabuki" is also widely used by the Japanese as a place name, as well as a person's name and surname. The flower color of Yamabuki is bright yellow, which is also called "Yamabuki color".
Japanese is said to be the most beautiful language in the group interview survey. There is a sense of beauty in the expression of things in Japanese. This is probably the innate aesthetic in Japanese culture.
We don’t need to belittle ourselves. There are many beautiful flower names in Chinese, so let’s write them down slowly.
The picture comes from the Internet and Huajianji Flower Arrangement Classroom
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