Chapter 6 maverick sunflower

Cao Wei, an ancient Korean literati, wrote an article "The Story of the Sunflower Pavilion". He wrote that he was relatively poor when he lived in exile, and he built a small pavilion in a garden several feet in size. The young leaves are just to shake the south wind, so it is called Sunflower Pavilion." A guest asked him why he didn't take the name of pine plum, chrysanthemum orchid, which has moral meaning, but named it after sunflower, which is a "soft and brittle thing".Cao Wei first said that it is precisely because sunflower is not valued by others that it is suitable for his own situation, "to abandon people and match cheap things".Then he said that although sunflower is discarded, it has two virtues.One is that "sunflower can lean towards the sun and follow the sun, which is called loyalty." The second is "sunflower can defend the foot, which is called wisdom." And this loyalty and wisdom are exactly "the festival of people and ministers".

When I read this article, I first thought of Du Fu's "Kui Huo Yang Yang Chun", and then I thought of the sunflower culture that was so popular during the "Cultural Revolution".In Du Fu's view, sunflower and Huo are mixed together, and they also have the nature of species.It's just a metaphor to express loyalty, and Aoi has not been given a separate value.When Cao Wei came here, Kui became independent and became the name of Ting, which expressed a kind of integrity that was still loyal even though it was abandoned.But here, there is still a kind of helplessness, revealing that this is a last resort choice because Songmei Julan cannot be done.However, during the "Cultural Revolution" period, the value of sunflowers surpassed that of pine plums and chrysanthemums.The most beautiful flower at that time was the sunflower. Not only were there large-scale posters, but even daily necessities such as bed sheets and tablecloths were often covered with sunflowers.I took art class in elementary school. The first lesson was to draw a red sun, and the second lesson was to draw sunflowers.

However, I am no stranger to the real sunflower.People in the Northeast love to eat melon seeds, so they grow a lot of this kind of plant, even in the city, they are planted everywhere in front of buildings.Some children and I often go to "Gong Xing Tian Thief" in summer.Sneak into the garden, break off the big flower plate and run away. At that time, I don't care whether he is sunny or not.In my impression, the sunflower is not beautiful at all. It hangs its head and breaks when it is folded. It is indeed a "soft and brittle thing".We also know that it has turned its neck with the sun since the morning, but this image of "following with its face up" has no aesthetic feeling.

Cao Wei and Du Fu expressed their loyalty by using sunflowers to the sun, which may be criticized as "slavery" and "accomplices of tyrants" in the eyes of some honest gentlemen today.But I think that in that era, this was the embodiment of their free will, which had the same human value as comparing themselves to "Jiandi pine", "Hedgeside chrysanthemum" and "Wall corner plum". It is the expression of their independent personality.But if the interests of the minority are imposed on the majority, it will be counterproductive.If everyone wants to be a sunflower, the result is that everyone throws melon seeds.Independent personality must be established by oneself, neither bestowed nor cloned.Everyone can fight together to fight for national independence. If you fight for your own personality independence, you will follow a large group of so-called "independent intellectuals" and reject and attack those who do not want to be "independent." First of all, you have lost your independence. significance.In an era when everyone wants to make eighteen green pines, the value of green pines is almost the same as that of melon seeds.So in an era that claims to worship individuality independently, should we respect those who don't have individuality and give them some free space?

(The title of this article was given by Mr. Luo Shuang, a famous critic when it was published in "Letter News". After reading this article, a friend said that Van Gogh would definitely like it.)