I like two poems in "Tang Zixi's Quotations":
The mountain monk couldn't figure out how to count Jiazi.
A fallen leaf tells the world about autumn.
This means that the monks on the mountain don't know how to calculate the Jiazi calendar. They only know how to observe nature. When they see a leaf falling, they know that it is autumn all over the world. I once read Jia Dao's poems, which include the line "The autumn wind blows on the Wei River, and fallen leaves cover Chang'an". I was quite touched by the bleak scene of autumn, but when it comes to the leisurely style, it is not as good as "One fallen leaf knows the world of autumn."
Modern urbanites are just the opposite. It can be said that "the sky is full of fallen leaves and they don't know autumn, and people in the world can only count periods." For modern people, the only concept of time left is the calendar. Sometimes the calendar is not enough to describe it, but only the clock. . Who cares what day it is?
More than 300 years ago, when the Han people came to Taiwan to colonize and immigrate, they found that the mountain compatriots of the Pingpu ethnic group in Taiwan not only did not have a calendar, they did not even have years, and could not tell the four seasons. , living a carefree life. The newly arrived Han people took it for granted that their "culture" was backward and gradually assimilated to the Pingpu people. Today, the Pingpu people are about to become a historical term. They have age and know the four seasons, but many descendants of the Pingpu people no longer know what Erythrina flower is.
Isn’t it amazing that the perception of time can change from three-dimensional to two-dimensional so quickly? Take modern people as an example. In agricultural societies, we still have a deep understanding that changes in weather, age, plants, crops, etc. are closely related to people. However, the business model has changed us. In spring, we work from 9 to 5, and in winter, we work from 9 to 5; there is no difference between sunny days and rainy days. Although this has freed people from the shadow of "looking at the sky and eating", it has also somewhat made people lose their sense of concern for the country and their embrace of the world.
I remember when I lived in the countryside, there was always a farmer's calendar hanging on the wall of the hall. Adults would look at the farmer's calendar when they had to do things, ranging from sowing and cultivating, moving and getting married, to laying beds and bathing, and setting up bonds and transactions. Therefore, at the end of the year, a farmer's almanac was almost in tatters, which made me have a particularly affectionate feeling for the farmer's almanac since I was a child.
To this day, I still maintain the habit of reading the farmers' calendar, and I think it is a happy thing to read the farmers' calendar. Just look at autumn. From the beginning of autumn, the end of heat, and white dew, to the autumnal equinox, cold dew, and frost, it is all beautiful. The white dewdrops in the fields in the morning and the yellow leaves in the forest gardens at dusk, don't they all say autumn? Therefore, although time has passed by, we should not lose the farmers' mood of settling down and living in nature.
The city is not without autumn. If we calm down, we will know that the wind that originally blew from the southeast has now turned to the north; the cold weather in the morning and evening is like frost in the north; the rising sun in the morning and the colorful clouds in the evening , are very different from those in spring. The biggest changes are in the sky and clouds. In the bright summer sky, the blue tone gradually deepens. The clouds are higher and whiter, and they seem to be carrying a slight wind when they flutter. Every day I go to the balcony and look up at the sky, knowing that this is the real autumn, the autumn in my childhood pastoral memories, the autumn when the Pingpu Erythrina flowers bloom, and the same autumn when the mountain monks of the Tang Dynasty saw fallen leaves on the mountain.
If you can feel the world, breathe with falling leaves and flying flowers, and maintain a humble mood in nature, even if you live in the busiest city, autumn will never be far away; if you only have money and work in your eyes, even if you are hit by falling leaves on the road In the middle of the year, I can't see the beauty of autumn.
The beauty of autumn is somewhat bleak, just like the poem written by Wu Wenying of the Song Dynasty, "Where is the sorrow, it leaves the heart and goes to autumn." Most people think that the mood in autumn will be a little sad and solemn. In fact, autumn is the season when crops are ripe, so why isn’t there a clear and complete revelation?
I also like an autumn poem by Wei Yingwu:
It's cold in the county today, and I suddenly miss the guests in the mountains.
Bundle firewood at the bottom of the stream, and boil white stones when you return.
I want to hold a ladle of wine to soothe the wind and rain from afar.
The fallen leaves are all over the empty mountain, where can I find my trace?
In this turbulent world, in such a beautiful and clear season in autumn, how difficult it is to find the footprints of friends among the fallen leaves on the empty mountains! However, even on the red brick road, submerged in the crowds of people and traffic, it is even more difficult to find your own footprints!