What does the soul of the classic text "the Soul of Plum Blossom" mean? Is it the spirit of standing upright?

The classic text "Plum Blossom Soul" is written by an old overseas Chinese who cherished the ink plum painting very much. On the occasion of returning home, he solemnly gave the ink plum painting and the handkerchief embroidered with blood-colored plum blossoms to his granddaughter and asked her to keep it well. So what does the soul of the plum blossom mean? According to Xie Yanfang, a Chinese teacher, plum blossom is also known as red plum blossom, so it is a traditional Chinese flower. "Soul" means spirit. "Plum blossom soul" refers to the spirit of plum blossom, that is,"no matter how many hardships it has experienced, no matter what kind of bullying, it has always been indomitable and refused to bow its head."

Original Appreciation:

The plum blossoms of my hometown bloom again. That blossoming cool, wisps of Youfang plum blossoms, always remind me of my grandfather wandering in a foreign country, buried in a foreign country.

I was born on Star Island in Southeast Asia and grew up with my maternal grandfather. When my grandfather was young, he read a lot of classics, history, poetry and Ci, and was good at calligraphy and painting. He was quite famous in the literary world of Sing Tao. When I was very young, my grandfather used to hold me in his arms and sit on the pear tree chair, teaching me to read Tang and Song poems over and over again. Whenever I read sentences like "Alone in a foreign land as a stranger, I miss my relatives twice during the festival","Spring grass is green next year, Wang Sun does not return","Flying flowers are light like dreams, endless silk rain is as thin as sorrow", there are often two cold tears falling on my cheeks and hands. At this time, I will clap my hands and laugh: "Grandpa is crying!" Grandpa is crying!" The old man always shook his head, sighed and said,"Ying 'er, you are still young, you don't understand!"

There were many antiques in my grandfather's house, which I occasionally fiddled with, and the old man didn't care much. Only the black plum painting in the study was especially cherished by him, and his family could not touch it. When I was five years old, I went back to play in my study and accidentally left a dirty handprint on it. My grandfather immediately pulled his face down. For the first time in my life, I heard him reprimand my mother: "Children should be disciplined well. Is this innocent plum blossom defiled?" After training, he gently scraped away the stains with a safety knife and slowly wiped them with fine silk. Seeing my kind grandfather lose his temper, I was afraid and strange: a painted plum, what is rare?

One day, my mother suddenly said to me,"Ying 'er, we have to go back to China!"

"Why go back?"

"That's our country!"

Oh! Motherland, is that the place like a golden rooster on the map? Is that the land with the Yangtze River, Yellow River and Great Wall? I cheered, my little heart filled with joy.

But then I remembered my grandfather, my dear grandfather. I asked my mother,"Is Grandpa leaving?"

"Grandpa is too old…"

I ran into my grandfather's study, where the old man was lying on a rattan sofa. I said,"Grandpa, you go back to your country!"

Unexpectedly, my grandfather cried like a child…

The morning before we parted, my grandfather got up early, called me into his study, and solemnly handed me a roll wrapped in white silk. I opened it and saw that it was the ink plum. I said,"Grandpa, isn't this your most precious painting?"

"Yes, Ying 'er, you have to preserve it well! This plum blossom is the most famous flower in China. Next to the flowers, probably warm spring to bloom, she is not the same, the more cold, the more wind bullying snow pressure, flowers bloom more spirit, the more delicate. She was the most character, soul, and backbone! For thousands of years, our Chinese nation has produced many people with integrity. No matter how many hardships they have experienced, no matter what kind of bullying they have suffered, they have always stood tall and refused to bow their heads. They're like this plum blossom. A Chinese, no matter what circumstances, must always have the temperament of plum blossoms!"

The day I returned to China was New Year's Day. Although it was not winter in the tropics, the weather in the twelfth month was chilly after all. Grandfather took us to the dock. The equatorial wind stirred up the old man's neatly combed silver hair, and I felt that my grandfather had aged a lot at once.

The boat was about to open, so my mother had to be ruthless and pull me onto the big passenger ship. Unexpectedly, my tearful grandfather also boarded the boat and handed me a handkerchief-a white linen embroidered with red plum blossoms.

For many years, every time I saw this plum blossom painting and handkerchief given to me by my grandfather, I thought that it was not only a flower, but also a heart of nostalgia for the motherland of an overseas Chinese old man. (This article has been selected from the textbooks of Grade 5 and Grade 6 of People's Education Edition for Primary School Students)