Zhai Hao in the Qing Dynasty recorded in "Popular Compilation of a slang": "Plant bamboo this year and eat bamboo shoots next year; The predecessors planted trees, and later generations enjoyed the cool. " China has had the habit of planting trees and loving them since ancient times. The best interpretation of this proverb is that "merit lies in the present and benefit lies in the future".
Why did the ancients like planting trees so much? It turns out that these trees have some beautiful meanings and are auspicious symbols in the eyes of the ancients. Mr. Lu Xun once wrote in Autumn Night: "There are two trees in front of my house, one is jujube and the other is jujube." Although the feelings expressed are very sad, it also proves from the side that people liked to plant trees at home at that time. Since there are auspicious trees, there are naturally some trees that were taboo by the ancients, such as the following five trees: pine, cypress, mulberry, pear and locust.
Pines and cypresses add bad luck, while mulberry trees are unlucky. In ancient China, people liked to plant pines and cypresses beside cemeteries, which originated from a folklore. According to legend, there is an evil animal called raccoon, which likes to steal dead bodies, but is afraid of cypress trees. Therefore, in order to prevent this evil beast from appearing again, the ancients planted pine and cypress beside the cemetery. Pine and cypress are evergreen all the year round, and dark green symbolizes reverence, prayer and nostalgia in ancient China, which is why the ancients planted pine and cypress beside the cemetery. Because of this, people don't want to plant pines and cypresses at home, and they feel very unlucky for the ancients who believed in ghosts and gods.
Mulberry likes warm and humid climate, which is common in ancient south China. Because people need a lot of mulberry leaves to feed silkworms, it should be a popular tree, so why didn't the ancients want to plant it at home? "Sang" is homophonic for "mourning". The ancients preferred auspicious things, such as magpies chirping in the branches, which must be a good sign. So there is a saying that if mulberry trees are planted at home, it is not a "funeral", which is very unlucky for the ancients who pay attention to longevity, just as no one likes the number "4" as a truth, so mulberry trees are excluded.
Pear trees should be separated, and there is something wrong with the branches of locust trees. Pear trees are similar to mulberry trees, both of which are homonyms. The homonym of "pear" is "Li". The ancients attached great importance to reunion, but thought separation was unfavorable. Now they can still hear from the old population that two people can't eat a pear, and eating separately is separation. Because of the feudal thoughts of the ancients, they were unwilling to plant pear trees.
Compared with the other four trees, Sophora japonica is not unlucky. On the contrary, there is a beautiful meaning of "there are Sophora japonica flowers in front of the promotion and wealth". The ancients regarded it as a symbol of good luck, and even produced a belief, that is, the worship of Sophora japonica. Imagine what kind of beautiful scenery it will be in May when the trees are full of Sophora japonica fragrance. But the ancients did not plant it at home, because some people thought that Sophora japonica was a ghost in the wood, and its yin was extremely heavy, which made it easy to attract ghosts to possess. Others think that from the perspective of feng shui analysis, it should not be planted near houses.
In fact, all this comes from a bug named "Chihuo" in the tree, which usually stays in the tree. Once frightened, they will hang themselves in the air and throw off branches. People passing by here may bring insects to their bodies, and it is inevitable that they will feel sad after seeing them, so the locust tree will go bad.
The ancients liked to plant more trees than trees that made them have bad ideas, and there were some trees that the ancients liked to plant. For example, pomegranate tree means many children and many blessings; Osmanthus fragrans, as the old saying goes, "A year's autumn is thick, and osmanthus fragrans is fragrant in ten miles". "Osmanthus fragrans" is homophonic "expensive" and has the meaning of wealth. Planting osmanthus is a good way to win the lottery. Apple tree, for peace. In addition, there are phoenix trees, also known as "bronze", commonly known as "phoenix trees". In ancient times, there was a saying that "there is a phoenix tree at home, and there is no worry about the phoenix", which symbolizes good luck.