The four elegant lives of ancient literati—burning incense, drinking tea, arranging flowers, and hanging paintings

Gentlemen in ancient times had four kinds of elegance: burning incense focused on the beauty of "fragrance", drinking tea focused on the beauty of "taste", arranging flowers focused on the beauty of "color", and hanging paintings focused on the beauty of "landscape".

Ancient literati liked to pursue a slow life. Zhang Chao of the Qing Dynasty wrote in "Youmengying": "People don't like to be idle. It doesn't mean doing nothing. When you are idle, you can read, and when you are idle, you can travel. In a famous mountain, if you are idle, you can make good friends, if you are idle, you can drink wine, and if you are idle, you can write books. There is no greater happiness in the world than this."

Burning incense means that people process natural spices obtained from animals and plants. Make it into a variety of different fragrance types and burn it on different occasions to obtain a wonderful olfactory enjoyment.

Burning incense has been integrating people’s physical and spiritual needs from the very beginning. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty in China, dignitaries, literati and wealthy families often competed and tasted incense at gatherings. Gradually, incense became an art form and developed together with tea culture. By the Song Dynasty, my country's art of burning incense, together with tea ordering, flower arranging, and hanging paintings, was regarded as the "four arts" of literati.

Lu Fangweng wrote a poem: "Officials often owe money to study, and Lumi does not provide money for selling wine. I am happy that I have nothing to do now. I burn incense and read Yuxi poems in my leisure time." The ancients' requirement for burning incense is that it is smokeless but has a long-lasting fragrance. In the courtyard of the study, the literati and guests of the ages have dreamed of reading at night with red sleeves adding fragrance. In the quiet night, a faint fragrance flows and floats, making people intoxicated. In the blur, I read all the prosperous and vicissitudes of life, and then turned into wisps of blue smoke. In the leisurely fragrance, either hugging one's knees and reading a book, or sitting across from each other and chatting, these are all timeless images of classical China.

Tea plays an important role in Chinese history. Since the discovery and drinking of tea, it has been sought after by literati and scholars of all ages. A group of three or five friends gathered among the mountains and rivers to drink tea and talk about their aspirations, showing the style of Chinese literati.

Tea is made by giving up oneself when meeting water, because of giving; the fragrance of tea in the leaves is like the fragrance of moral discipline, which is for upholding the precepts; enduring the steaming, stir-frying and fermentation, being squeezed and kneaded, is for enduring humiliation; Eliminating laziness, awakening the mind and improving thinking, this is diligence; being respectful and quiet, having the same taste as tea, is meditation; acting in accordance with the law, helping countless people, is wisdom. What is the difference between the heart of tea and the heart of Buddha? A cup of tea.

The ancients paid attention to the heat when making tea. Whether the water is boiled tender, aged or moderate, the time and method of adding tea, the way of making tea and the quality of the "soup" all depend on whether you can master the duration of the soup. Xu Mingran described this in "Cha Shu": "As soon as the water enters the pot, it must be boiled quickly.

When there is a sound of loosening, remove the cover to inform it of its oldness and tenderness. Behind the crab eyes, the water must be slightly Tao is the time. The big waves are boiling and whirling silently, which is the time of use. If it is too late, the soup will become old and fragrant, and it will never be used. "The Book of Tea" also says: "It boils like fish eyes and makes a slight sound." It is the first boil; the edge is like a gushing spring with beads, it is the second boil; it is the third boil when the water is boiling, and the water is too old to be eaten" ("Wu San Bo").

Chinese flower art not only attaches great importance to echoing the four seasons of solar terms, but also pays more attention to the meaning of flowers and trees. For example, Bian Wenjin, a flower and bird master in the early Ming Dynasty, once painted a large hall vase of flowers, using plum, pine, cypress, Ten kinds of flowers with rich meanings, including camellia, narcissus, ganoderma, and persimmon, symbolize perfection and everything goes well.

For busy modern people, the meaning of flower arrangement is more about getting closer to nature and discovering the beauty of life. From choosing flower materials at the market or nature, choosing suitable bottles, designing floral arrangements to hands-on execution, the artistic process of discovery, appreciation and creation is completed.

By the Ming Dynasty, the art of flower arrangement in my country was not only widely popularized, but also monographs on flower arrangement were published, such as Zhang Qiande's "Vase of Flowers" and Yuan Hongdao's "Vase History". The development of Chinese flower arrangement art reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty. It is quite mature and perfect in terms of technique and theory. In terms of style, it emphasizes natural lyricism, beautiful and simple expressions, elegant and bright colors, and simple shapes. The art of flower arrangement in the Qing Dynasty was not taken seriously, developed and popularized among the people.

"The Shan family has nothing to do at the end of the year, so they celebrate the New Year by planting plum blossoms." 』Chinese people’s emotional requirements for flower arrangements can be seen as general.

Burning incense emphasizes the beauty of smell, drinking tea emphasizes the beauty of taste, arranging flowers emphasizes the beauty of touch, and hanging paintings emphasizes visual beauty. It is the integration of four arts to show the elegance and charm of the life aesthetics of the literati in the Song Dynasty.

"Hanging paintings" were first hung next to tea party seats. The content was about tea knowledge. It evolved into the Song Dynasty. Hanging paintings were mainly scrolls of poems, words, calligraphy and paintings. At that time, literati and refined scholars paid attention to hanging. The content and display form of the painting are important activities for daily home appreciation or appreciation at gatherings.