投桃授荑 抛梅掷李——《诗经》赠遗兴象的民俗文化内涵

To You and To Me ——The cultural connotation of folk customs on presenting in The Book of Songs

由《诗经》的花草果蔬等兴象可见出先秦婚恋习俗中的赠遗之风。初时 ,女子多任采集之责 ,故蔬果花草之属为女子用于赠答致爱、结恩定情甚是便宜 ,或以芍药、梅子、茅草等取用为求偶媒介 ,或以桃子、花椒等取意于繁殖性能 ,使自然界中的极普遍之物因寓含了特殊而神秘的象征意蕴而别有价值 ,另具风味。

From the symbols of flowers, grass, fruits and vegetables in The Book Songs, the trend of presenting in ancient marriage customs during the early Qin Dynasty is found to be very popular. At the beginning, most of girls' work was picking food, so it was very convenient for them to present fruits, flowers, grass or vegetables to express their love. Sometimes, they took plums, peony, or grass as the medium of proposition, and sometimes, they used peaches or prickly ashes to symbolize bearing ability, endowing the common things in nature with the special meanings and making them more valuable, more interesting and more mysterious.