The moon grass fades and is easy to miss without transfer.

Towards the end of summer, I took a walk near gallery with friends after supper one day. Dongsi area belongs to the old city, through the dark hutong, at the end of an antique shop brightly lit, we went in, the shop is very quiet, among the antique furniture, occasionally two or three pots of water culture green plants. Take a closer look, it turned out to be duck metatarsus! This is the first time that duckweed is kept in a water bottle like fresh cut flowers.

1. Interpretation: wild bamboo grass and green cicada flowers

Commelina communis is an annual herb of the genus Caryophyllaceae. Common weeds in the countryside in childhood grow in waterside wetlands and blossom in summer and autumn, when no one knows what they are called. Later, I didn't know its name until I looked at the picture, but the name was really puzzling. "Zhi í" means the sole of the foot, but neither the flower nor the leaf looks like a duck's foot. There is an explanation that ducks like to eat their leaves and often patronize them. The footprints they tread on in the mud are somewhat similar to the leaves of duck metatarsus, like bamboo leaves.

Duckweed by the water

"duckfoot grass" was first seen in the Tang Dynasty Chen Zang "herbal relics" [1], also known as Hedyotis diffusa, earring grass, nose [zhuon] grass; because its leaves are like bamboo, it is also known as green bamboo, light bamboo leaves and so on. According to the corollary of Xia Weiying's interpretation of Plant names, "duck" is similar to "wild" and "metatarsal" to "bamboo", so "duck metatarsus" is the corruption of "wild bamboo grass", and its original meaning is "born in the field like bamboo grass". [2]

In addition to the above name, the duckfoot grass is also known as the blue cicada. The Shaanxi Tongzhi compiled during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty contains its name Cui'e Flower, Cui Moth and Cui Butterfly, named for the shape outside its flowers: two blue petals spread out like wings, protruding anthers and styles just like moth feet and tentacles. In the Poems of the whole Song Dynasty, there are 27 unique sentences written by Yang Mingzhai about flowers, and the first one, "Bi cicada Flower", shows its moth-like characteristics.

Yangbao is close to the hedge, and its wings are thin and green and ready to fly.

A few wrong beauties will swoop, only to know that the mistake is in vain.

Such names as green cicada and emerald butterfly are more beautiful, more vivid, and more in line with the compact and fresh style of duckweed flowers, but previous medical books have taken "duckweed" as the entry, and modern plant taxonomy also takes it as the name of the undergraduate and this genus.

Duckfoot grass between mountains and rocks

two。 Dyeing: sheepskin lamp, rouge and kimono

Although the flowers of duck metatarsus are small, the two blue petals are exquisite and dazzling, and the ancients used them for dyeing a long time ago. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the poet Dong Sixiu [gambio], "the flowers of the blue cicada": "especially the general color of the sky, this side is only allowed to dye the family knowledge." The Compendium of Materia Medica states: "the skillful craftsman picks its flowers and takes juice for painting colors (that is, pigments) and colored sheepskin lanterns." (volume 16 of the Ministry of Grass) the sheepskin lamp comes from the prairie people. Sheepskin can protect the wind and rain. Because the skin is thin, it is used as a lampshade and has good light transmittance. The blue petals of the duck metatarsal grass are incarnated into the pattern on the sheepskin lamp. If the candle is lit on a night as cool as water, the orange fluorescence comes out, and the green on the sheepskin lampshade becomes bluish black, just like the eyebrow dai of an ancient woman.

Ming Dynasty famous musician Gao Lian's health monographs Zunsheng eight Notes contains: "Light bamboo flowers, flowers bloom two petals, the color is the most green, villagers use cotton to harvest it, goods for painting lanterns, cyan and broken green, and so on." It can be seen that people use silk wool to collect flower juice to preserve pigments.

This method is also used to make rouge, duck metatarsus is also known as blue rouge. In the late Ming Dynasty, the famous scholar Fang Yizhi "Tongya" said: "one kind is called duckfoot grass, that is, blue rouge grass." Hangzhou uses cotton to dye its flowers for rouge for the night. " (volume 42)

Hangzhou "Night" recorded here is a kind of cotton rouge. Hangzhou people use silk cotton flakes to dye the flower juice, wait for it to fully absorb the dye and dry it, and when it is used in the future, cut off an appropriate amount of cotton fat to soak in water, and the rouge water can be used for make-up.

The bright blue petals, in fact, there is a transparent petal hidden behind the stamens.

In another encyclopedic book, Little knowledge of Physics, Fang Yizhi also mentioned this rouge: "Hangzhou Night: red, use heavy rouge; Bi, use Bicicada blue rouge." Cinnabar, green are all important, do not make the night. " (volume 6) "heavy rouge" is dyed with safflower juice, and "green cicada blue rouge" is dyed with green cicada flowers, that is, duckfoot grass.

According to Meng Hui's "Red sweat of the imperial concubine," the specific method of Hangzhou "Night" rouge is: "first soak the rouge in water, get the red liquid, and then soak the white silk into red, and then soak the color liquid of blue cicada rouge in the same way. add cyan to the red cotton." [3] the combination of red and blue is purple, and cinnabar and Daqing are too heavy to be used to make night color, indicating that the rouge of "night color" is a slightly lighter purple.

According to the horticultural work "Flower Mirror" written by Chen Mingzi of the Qing Dynasty, "the natives use cotton, collect their green juice, and paint lanterns, making the night bluer." [4] does the "bluer night" here mean the bluish rouge of "night"? If so, we may be able to speculate that this kind of rouge, called "night", should be a kind of blue lavender. This reminds people of the sunny late autumn, when the twilight rises in the western mountains. The ancients named this kind of rouge with "night", which is really implicit, romantic and reverie.

Zhu Zhanji, Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty (1398, 1435, the fifth emperor of the Ming Dynasty): in the part of "the picture of five raccoons", the blue metatarsal grass in the painting should be dyed with mineral pigments such as lapis lazuli, which is still bright today.

The dyeing technique of metatarsus was introduced into Japan before the Tang Dynasty. [5] in Japan, duck plantar grass is also known as dew grass and moon grass, and the color is dew grass color. It is probably because its flowers are in full bloom in the early morning, and people are used to picking in the early morning, and dew is stained with clothes, so it is named dew grass.

Metatarsus dyeing is very popular and very important in Japan. A number of documents have recorded that people pick duckweed to make "blue and white paper". Born in Jinjiang (now northeast of Honshu, Japan), the monk Yokoi Kanatani (1761-1832) wrote about the splendor of the local people picking flowers and dyeing paper in the Story of the people on the Golden Valley: "in this village, they pick exposed grass flowers and dye paper in July and August, and sell them to various countries. Since the beginning of July, even kittens have been helping to pick flowers, not to mention people who are happy and busy. "

Atlas of Materia Medica. By Iwasaki Guanyuan

The herbal atlas of Iwasaki Guanyuan (1786-1842), a famous herbalist in the Edo period, also contains: "Daiwa and Yamada Village near Jiangli Taijun have been planted. The seedling leaves are large, two or three feet tall and erect. The flower is twice as much as the usual. Pick this flower in the morning and dye the paper with twisted juice. Dye home for drafts, or lanterns and other painting utensils. " (volume XVII) [7]

Dyeing blue-and-white paper with duckfoot grass, just like we use cotton to collect its green juice, is to store pigments, and when used, we can use this kind of blue-and-white paper to soak water to get dye juice, just like I used red paper to write couplets to get red ink. In this regard, Ono Lanshan (1729-1810), the teacher of Iwasaki Guanyuan, has a detailed record in the Enlightenment of Compendium of Materia Medica [8]. (blue-and-white paper) when used, cut into the water, out of the green juice, used to draw clothes patterns, covered with paste, into the dye are eliminated. Also used for fan noodles, although the color is delicious, the water instantly disappears. It is used for imported sheepskin lamp to reflect the fire brightly. " [9]

Song Li Di (960-1279), Autumn plants and insects, is now in the Palace Museum in Taipei.

This document also tells us that this kind of pigment is the main reason why it is used in drafts: it is easy to fade. Because of this, in the traditional dyeing method of Japanese kimono, you Zen, Commelina plays an important role: the painter soaks the blue and white paper dyed by duckweed, and the dye is used to draw the first draft. the trace of the draft on the cloth is easy to fade.

This characteristic of metatarsus was discovered and used for a long time. In the first Japanese book and the collection of ten thousand leaves, which was written in the 8th century, several poems were written about metatarsus, which is easy to fade as a metaphor for lovers to change their hearts. there is a cloud:

Deep palace or so, my heart is not moon grass.

Moon grass fades easily, Acacia does not transfer.

The dye of duck metatarsus is easy to fade, its flowers are also delicate and fragile, and a single flower blossoms for a short time, so it is called Common Dayflower Herb ("Chinese Materia Medica"), that is, flowers that usually bloom for only one day. However, the overall flowering period of metatarsus is very long, and it seems that it can bloom from the end of spring to late autumn.

The last time I listened to a MiyazakiHayao animation concert at Peking University, a picture flashed on the screen when I played "Totoro". It was a picture of duckfoot grass in the rain, with green bamboo-shaped leaves and blue butterfly flowers. At that time, I was very curious, such ordinary weeds, MiyazakiHayao painted them in his own work? I also confirmed with my partner whether it was duck metatarsus. It is said that it is also found in another work by MiyazakiHayao, Arietti the Little Man who borrows things. It seems that MiyazakiHayao has feelings for this kind of weed. He painted such ordinary wild flowers so beautifully!

"A little man who borrows things, Arietti."

3. Purple bamboo plum: exotic ornamental plants of the same family and genus

Going back to the flower arrangement of the duckweed mentioned at the beginning, looking back, I have done a similar thing. The flower material used is purple bamboo plum, which belongs to the same family as the duckweed.

The stems and leaves of "Purple Bamboo Plum" are somewhat similar to those of duck metatarsus, except that the leaves are thicker and fleshy, because its whole body is purple, also known as "purple metatarsus", originally from Mexico, but I have seen it in middle schools in the south and university campuses in the north.

Purple bamboo plum

In the third year of junior high school, there was a large pot of purple bamboo plum on the balcony of the head teacher's house, extremely luxuriant, with purplish red flowers. The head teacher lives in the family building behind our dormitory, and every time he cleans and cleans up from there, he will stop and have a look. At that time, the head teacher's daughter and I were classmates, she told me that purple bamboo plum soaked in water can also take root and blossom. I was surprised and asked her to pick some for me. It was an early summer evening, the sky was fine after the rain, and there was a very beautiful cloud in the western sky. Before self-study last night, she went to her seat and quietly handed me a bunch, tied with a rubber band tied to her hair, with flowers and bones. I was so happy that I immediately ran back to the dormitory to find an empty can to raise it. Later, it really blossomed and grew a lot of roots. The flowers are fuchsia, three petals, small and lovely. It is said that Zizhu Mei Xiyang, the more sunshine, the thicker the purple of stems, leaves and flowers, the thicker the leaves. No wonder the head teacher kept them on the south-facing balcony.

In the year of renting the college entrance examination, the landlord also planted a pot of purple bamboo plum in front of the landlord's house, folding two branches in a glass bottle and putting them on the windowsill. After lunch, the bright autumn sun shone in from the window and sprinkled on the purple flowers. If you look carefully at the flowers and leaves of purple bamboo plum, you will feel that the whole world has quieted down.

Later, when I went to university in the north, the library was close to the faculty building, which was an old-fashioned house in the 1970s and 1980s, and the open space on the first floor was fenced into a small garden. During the cold and summer days when I was writing papers in the library, I often went for a walk there after supper. Once I saw several clumps of purple bamboo and plum, planted on the overgrown grass outside the small garden. Over the years, when I saw this familiar plant again in a foreign land, I felt inexplicably surprised and particularly kind. So after self-study, taking advantage of the dark wind, I secretly broke a few branches and took them back to the dormitory. As I did in middle school, I put them in a glass bottle, expecting them to take root and give rise to fuchsia flowers.

Autumn is coming, and Beijing has entered the most beautiful season of the year. Duck metatarsus and purple bamboo plum are still in bloom. It's just that where I work and live now, it's hard to see duckweed and purple bamboo plum. This article is written in memory of.

Yu Puhuangyu in the autumn of 2018

[1] (Qing) Wu Qiyi, Zhang Xianrui, et al. Proofreading and interpretation of Plant name Map, traditional Chinese Medicine Ancient Books Publishing House, 2008, p. 268.

Xia Weiying: notes on interpretations of Plant names, Agricultural Press, 1st Edition, December 1990, p. 102.

[3] Meng Hui: red sweat of the imperial concubine, Nanjing University Press, January 2011, p. 387.

[4] (Qing) Chen Yizi: flower Mirror, Agricultural Press, 1st Edition, December 1962, p. 270.

Zheng Juxin: "investigation of traditional printing and dyeing handicrafts in Zhejiang", "Literature and Art Research", No. 1, 2002.

[6] the Atlas of Materia Medica in Iwasaki Irrigation Garden consists of 56 volumes and 92 volumes (published in 1830-1844). There are about 2000 species of herbaceous plants, which are classified according to the Compendium of Materia Medica, and painted with color maps, exquisite and accurate, showing the characteristics of western botanical atlas, which took 20 years to complete. See Liu Keshen, "on Materia Medica in the Edo period of Japan", knowledge of Ancient Medical Literature, 15 May 1998.

[7] here, "the flower is twice as much as the common product" is a variety of duck metatarsus. According to Su Pillow's book "Green cicada blossoms blown by the West Wind" (Southern Metropolis Daily, September 29, 2014): "and Japan's Shiga Kusama, now there is a variety of duck metatarsus made of 'blue and white paper'. Futaro Makino (1862-1957) compiled the Atlas of Japanese plants, just like the Materia Medica atlas of Iwasaki Irrigation Garden (1786-1842). There are two kinds of "dew grass" (duck metatarsus) and "big hat flower" (large flower duckfoot grass). It is the latter that has been cultivated and used for dyeing since ancient times. However, none of the nine genera listed in the Flora of China are cultivated in Japan. " The Japanese literature mentioned in this article comes from this article, and I would like to express my thanks to the author.

[8] Lanshan Ono, known by Western scholars as "the Linnai of Japan", was born in Kyoto. At the age of 13, he studied Materia Medica under Shuan Matsuoka. At the age of 26, he founded a private school, Zhongfangxuan, and started a 46-year teaching career in Materia Medica. He is the author of the plant atlas Huahui (eight volumes) and the Enlightenment of Compendium of Materia Medica (48 volumes). In addition, he is committed to the collation of Chinese herbal classics, such as insect vegetation Strategy (Song Zheng Qiao), Correction and disaster Relief Materia Medica, and so on. The Enlightenment of Compendium of Materia Medica, which was first published in 1802, is based on Ono Lanshan's handout of Materia Medica and is the crystallization of its study. See Liu Keshen, "on Materia Medica in the Edo period of Japan", knowledge of Ancient Medical Literature, 15 May 1998.

[9] here the "imported sheepskin lantern" should be the sheepskin lamp contained in the Compendium of Materia Medica. "reflecting Fire brightly" can increase our imagination of sheepskin lanterns.

About the author: Jianghan Tang, enterprise employee / gallery public education volunteer / freelance writer, currently lives in Beijing.

Editor of picture and text: Jiang

This work is licensed under the (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license agreement.

Please keep the above statement when reproduced.