A pair of couplets, six allusions, you know?
There is such a couplet:
Teachers are full of peaches and plums, and Dongtan is a model.
There are only 14 characters in this couplet, but six allusions are cleverly used. The antithesis is neat, the rhyme is harmonious, the meaning is rich, and it is very interesting. In order to help readers further understand Lianyi, this article briefly analyzes the allusions used in it as follows:
Teacher:Respect the teacher. Why did the ancients respectfully call teachers "Xi Xi"? This is related to Liu Zhuang, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty. According to the eighth volume of "Appellation Records": "Emperor Han Ming respected Huan Rong as a teacher, and went to the Taichang Mansion. He ordered Rong to sit on the east side and set up a table. Therefore, the teacher is called Xixi." There are historical materials for this matter: Emperor Han Ming is Guang The successor of Emperor Wu Liu Xiu, he worshiped Huan Rong as his teacher when he was the prince, and he still respected Huan Rong very much after he ascended the throne. He often went to the Taichang Mansion where Huan Rong lived, asked Huan Rong to sit on a seat facing the east, set up tables and canes for Huan Rong, and listened to Huan Rong explain the scriptures with the scriptures in his hands. Why did he let the teacher sit "to the east"? Because in the Han Dynasty, the "Xixi" (facing the east) was the most respected seat in the room. "Xixi" is the seat of "sitting west and facing east". Emperor Ming arranged this to show his respect for the teacher. Because the emperor arranged for the teachers to sit on the west seats, people respected the tutors, and even all the teachers, as "the west seats".
peaches and plums:Metaphor refers to students. Volume 7 of "Han Shi Wai Zhuan" is published: "The husband trees peaches and plums in spring, and the shade is under them in summer, and they are eaten in autumn. The leaves of thistles in spring cannot be picked in summer, but the thorns in autumn." Who is right to say this? Who said that? During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a minister named Zizhi in Wei State. When he gained power, he trained and recommended many people. Later, because he offended Wei Wenhou, he ran to the north alone. In the north, when he met a man named Zijian, he complained loudly, complaining that those he had trained and recommended refused to contribute to him. After hearing this, Zijian smiled and said: "Plant peaches and plums in spring, so that you can enjoy the coolness under the trees in summer, and you can eat fruits in autumn. However, if you plant thorns (a kind of thorny plant) in spring, then not only You can’t make use of it in summer, even in autumn, the thorns all over its body can still sting people.” Then Zijian said: “So a gentleman cultivates talents like planting trees. He should first select the right people and then cultivate them. You choose People should not be selected!" Here, Zijian uses "planting trees" as a metaphor for "educating people", which is both vivid and profound. Later, people referred to the outstanding talents cultivated by teachers as "Tao Li", and gradually referred to the students they educated and the younger generations they cultivated as "Tao Li".
Sangzi:It is called hometown. The "Book of Songs Xiaoya Xiaobian": "Wei Sang and Catalpa, must be respectful. Mi Zhan Bandit Father, Mi Yi Bandit Mother." The general idea of these four lines is: When I see mulberry trees and catalpa trees, I think of my homeland The surrounding parents also planted them, which aroused my nostalgia for my parents, so I respectfully faced them. What I respect is my father, and what I am attached to is my mother. Based on this poetic flavor, there is also a sentence in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" that "Songbai Sangzi, you should be respectful and respectful" (when facing the pine and cypress Sangzi, you should show a respectful and solemn look). Because mulberry trees and catalpa trees were planted by their parents and they grew in their hometown, later generations used them to refer to their hometown; "Sangzi" has gradually become a synonym for "hometown". For example, in the poem "Wearing the Oriole" by Liu Zongyuan, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, there is a sentimental line "whatever the country birds come here, it makes me remember my hometown".
East Tan:Refers to the son-in-law. According to the note on "Dongtan" in "Ciyuan", "Dongtan" is an abbreviation for "Dongtan belly". Why does "Dongtan" refer to the son-in-law? This is related to the marriage of the great calligrapher Wang Xizhi. Xijian, the Taifu of the Jin Dynasty, wanted to find a son-in-law in the prime minister Wang Dao's house, so he sent his disciples to the Wang's house to choose for himself. The disciple came to the East Wing where the children of the Wang family gathered and looked at each of them. Then he went back and reported to Xi Jian: "The young men of the Wang family are all very good, and it is difficult to distinguish between them. However, I heard that you are going to choose a son-in-law. Well-dressed and elegant, hoping to be selected, there is only one young man lying on the bed in the east, with his clothes open and his belly exposed, he doesn't care, as if he doesn't know that you are going to choose a son-in-law." Xi Jian said happily after hearing this "This man is the good son-in-law I want to choose." So Xi Taifu betrothed his daughter to this man. The person lying on the bed with his belly exposed was Wang Xizhi, who later became a great calligrapher. This story has been handed down as a good story, and gradually people called the good son-in-law "the good son-in-law of the east bed", "the belly of the east bed", "the bed of the east" and "the Tan of the east".
Dragon Snake:The metaphor is very personal. The classic "Zuo Zhuan Xianggong Twenty-One Years": "In the deep mountains and great swamps, dragons and snakes grow." It means: deep mountains and vast waters are indeed places where dragons and snakes grow. According to Du Yu's commentary quoted in "Ci Hai", "Extraordinary places are full of extraordinary things", it can be seen that the original meaning is that unusual regional environments often produce unusual things, that is, there are Zhong Lingyuxiu, earth spirit, etc. The meaning of outstanding people. Li Bai, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "Gift to Pei Shiqi Zhongkan in Early Autumn", in which the two sentences "the treasures come out of the poor, and the dragons and snakes are spared by the great lake" can also be used as evidence. In addition, the term "Dragon Snake" is also often used to describe concealment and retreat, to describe weapons such as spears and halberds, to describe twisted branches, to describe vigorous and free calligraphy, bold and unrestrained strokes, etc. But judging from the content of the above couplets, the "dragon and snake" here should refer to "extraordinary people", that is, outstanding people with talents.
Model:Metaphor refers to a model figure. The word "model" comes from "Guangqunfangpu" compiled by Wang Hao in the Qing Dynasty under the order of Kangxi. Kaishu, that is, coptis tree, this kind of tree has sparse and unyielding branches, straight and straight. According to legend, it was born on the tomb of Confucius, a great educator and thinker in ancient times. After Confucius died, three thousand of his disciples stayed by the grave for three years. Only Zigong was unable to visit Confucius when he was ill because he was out of business, and he kept the sacrifice for six years. When Zigong was in mourning, he broke a branch into a mourning stick and inserted it beside the tomb. Later, the branch germinated and grew into a big tree with lush leaves and sparse branches, straight trunk and good quality. The model tree is said to have grown on the grave of Zhou Gong, a statesman in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, who advocated "clear morality and careful punishment", and respectful corporals. This tree is evergreen in all seasons, with luxuriant branches and leaves, and its leaves change with the seasons—spring green, summer red, autumn white, winter black, and the color is pure. Because these two kinds of trees grow beside the tombs of sages, and their shapes and textures are loved and admired by people, so later generations call those model figures who are noble, respected and can be teachers "models".
To sum up, once the meanings of the six allusions are clarified, the general idea of the entire couplet is self-evident. It turns out that it is a compliment to the teacher: my teacher is well-educated, and his successful students are all over the village; his son-in-law is extraordinary, and they are all role models.
