Flowers And Trees Writing Of Literati In Song Dynasty

The chinese ancient literature on flowers and trees has a deep tradition with numerous masterpieces handed down for generations.The flower and tree literature involves the plants as depiction objects and the creators as literati.The literature on flowers and trees is produced in a specific era background,displaying the social cultural psychology and aesthetic fashion of the literati in different periods.The literati in the Song Dynasty were very interested in flowers & trees and created a large number of poems about flowers & trees.Among them,some poems of Ouyang Xiu,Su Shi,Lu You,Yang Wanli and Fan Chengda are typically representative masterpieces.Ouyang Xiu’s favorite flower is peony.His peony poems reflect Ouyang Xiu’s personality with an open-minded and bold character.When Ouyang Xiu was the governor in Chuzhou,he wrote on the flowers and trees around the Zuiweng Pavilion and Fengle Pavilion,expressing the feeling of "sharing happiness with the people",or expressing the sadness for the time passing.The different emotional experiences in the public and the private spheres reflect the unique spiritual contradictions of the literati in the Song Dynasty.In addition,Ouyang Xiu observed flowers and trees with a scholar eye and recorded plants in natural knowledge,reflecting a rational and scientific attitude.Su Shi constructed a relatively complete system about flowers and trees in his literary works.Based on the thought of "Bi-de" and cultural tradition,the flowers and trees in his masterpieces can be roughly divided into two categories: one is the flower with noble character represented by plum-blossom,and the other is the flower with vulgar character represented by apricot-flower and plum-flower.Plum-blossom,with pure white,intoxicating-fragrance and blossoming proudly in the snow,symbolizes the noble personality of a gentleman,being considered as the flower of "Bi-de".Apricot-flower and plum-flower are flirtatious and vulgar,with blooming in the spring with hundreds of other flowers,which cannot reflect the moral character of the literati,getting a subordinate in the system.Su Shi’s system for flowers and trees reflects his thinking about the ideal personality.He vividly shows his spiritual character by comparing himself with red plum-blossom.In addition,Su Shi inherited the creative tradition of "expressing emotion to indicate aspirations".The poems describing the plants in the relegated places show the poet’s optimistic spirit.The flowers that frequently appear in Luyou’s masterpieces are plum-blossom,begonia and peony.Plum-blossom poems show the poet’s pursuit of pure personality.Begonia poems embody the personality traits with broad mindedness and self adaptability as the core.Peony writing presents a life interest aimed at restoring the country in the Central Plains."Jingkang Change" was the historical turning point in the Song Dynasty.Due to the great change in that time,expressing patriotism has become as the main theme of poetry creation.Lu You expressed the loss of territory in the Southern Song Dynasty through peony poetry and appeal to everyone to resist the enemy’s aggression.Peony poetry shows strong patriotism,which is consistent with the main melody of the poetry in the Southern Song Dynasty.Yang Wanli loved nature and enjoyed flowers and trees all his life.The flowers and trees in Yang’s poems are rich and varied without a special preference for the author.Yang expresses his family affection and friendship in his masterpieces on flowers and trees,displaying his sense of official rise and fall,or writing something interest in his daily life.It is particularly noteworthy that Yang Wanli did not use flowers and trees to express his patriotism,which is quite different from the theme of flower and tree poetry in the Southern Song Dynasty.Fan Chengda travelled all over the country and accumulated rich botanical knowledge in his early years.In his later years in the garden,Fan Chengda participated in flower planting and deepened his knowledge of plant characteristics and cultivation techniques.There are many kinds of flowers and trees in Fan Chengda’s masterpieces.His flower and tree poetry shows meticulous and subtle characteristics,displaying naturalistic interests for the author.Although flowers entered literature very early,some changes took place in the time of Song Dynasty.Song people greatly enriched the content and form of the flower and tree literature.The flower and tree writing in Song Dynasty shows a multidimensional aspect.Poets in Song Dynasty appreciated the flowers with a scholar eye in expressing the naturalist interests,or enjoying the topic with praising the plants’ beauty,or expressing the emotion by employing the objects with an implication for the life feelings.The flower and tree literature is not only related to personal life experience,but also reflects the cultural spirit in the Song Dynasty,indicating the rational spirit,the optimism spirit,the patriotism spirit and the attention to moral character in the Song literati.In addition,the writing of garden flowers and trees showed exquisite and refined characteristics,reflecting one of the important trends in the development of Song poetry.