Mu Xin once said: "In life, you need something higher than firewood, rice, oil and salt." To say that we are the best at living, we are really not as good as the ancients. You see, the Qing Dynasty palace in "Story of Yanxi Palace" is calm and elegant at the same time: the solemn

Mu Xin once said: "In life, you need something higher than firewood, rice, oil and salt."

To say that we are the best at living, we are really not as good as the ancients.

You see, the Qing Dynasty palace in "Story of Yanxi Palace" is calm and elegant at the same time: the solemnity of receiving guests, the elegance of the study, the quietness of resting, every furnishing is the ultimate test of the owner's aesthetics.

▲ Stills of "Story of Yanxi Palace"

In "Know or Not", how elegant are the people of the Song Dynasty? Even when it comes to eating and drinking that is full of fireworks, also pays attention to not eating from time to time, and must eat to be famous.

Burning incense, ordering tea, hanging pictures, arranging flowers, all four other things are learned.

▲ Stills of "Know or Not"

From living and traveling to eating and playing, the ancients of were experts in everything!

Living with them must be poetic and interesting.

Elegance is the way the ancients lived. Live with rules, dignity and dignity.

In this regard, Ming Dynasty a pair of confidants have the most say.

One of them, Wen Zhenheng, is the great-grandson of Wen Zhengming, one of the four great talents in Jiangnan. is good at all kinds of elegant things.

His "Long Things" can be called the "aesthetic bible" for contemporary life writers and designers.

◎ "Chronicles of Long Things" covers twelve categories including houses, flowers and trees, water and stones, birds and fish, calligraphy and painting, couches, utensils, clothing, and fragrant tea.

The ideal home in his mind is to cultivate "feng shui" -

Where should the house be built to keep it warm in winter and cool in summer? How should the objects be arranged to make people comfortable? He pays attention to everything...

Although he cannot live in the mountains and forests, But if you want to live in a secular city, you should also have an elegant foyer and clear windows. Although is simple and elegant, make your life smooth and happiness will come naturally.

◎ "To live in the chán city, one must have an elegant and clean gate and a clean and beautiful house. The pavilions and terraces are like those of a scholar, and the pavilions are like a secluded person."

The placement of utensils, the matching of flowers and trees, the decoration of calligraphy and painting, etc. In terms of aesthetics, also needs to be "formal and presentable, and the painting must match the scene."

◎ "The hanging paintings should be high", the hall should hang "large horizontal drapes", and the study should hang "small scenes of flowers and birds, whether single, fan, square, hanging screen, etc., all look good."

Waiting for you to enter the room, walk through the corridor and cross the bridge , and walked into the secluded back garden.

Wen Zhenheng's friend Ji Cheng created the Chinese garden aesthetic of "Although it is man-made, it seems to be open from the sky" in "Garden Governance". What creates is not only a garden, but also a spiritual paradise for the Chinese people.

◎ "Garden Governance" is the world's first gardening monograph . It intuitively explains the key points of site selection for ancient Chinese houses. It is also very knowledgeable in selecting stones, paving the ground, trimming mountains, and planting flowers and trees.

After reading this book, when you take a leisurely tour of the Royal Summer Palace, Suzhou Lion Grove and other gardens and courtyards, where the winding paths lead to seclusion, you will understand the wonder of the wilderness with rockeries and strange rocks, and know how to change the scenery by looking at the walls. The universe of scenery.

In addition to Wen Zhenheng and Ji Cheng, there were four "first players" in ancient times who played a great role in the elegant affairs of clean food, tea ceremony, stone hiding and flower arrangement:

It can be said that we are having a great time nowadays. All these elegant things are just the remnants of their fun back then!

This complete set of "The Elegant Life of the Ancients" is a collection of classic works by six people. It is both practical and appreciative:

○ decoration guide and gardening secrets that can be used at your fingertips. allows you to do it like an expert. Design your own home.

○ For enthusiasts of ikebana, tea art, hidden stone , and even gluttonous foodies, it is a "living dictionary" for appreciation and collection, and a glimpse into ancient life.

This set of books has an excellent version and can be called 's "precious collection of Chinese aesthetics":

Each volume has full-color binding, hundreds of original illustrations, and highly restores the original text. Compared with other boring pure ancient Chinese versions on the market, is definitely It can be called the "most beautiful version"!

Comparative translation and illustration with pictures, is "the best aesthetic education in China" for children. Compared with children who are addicted to games, children who grow up immersed in Chinese aesthetics will never lose their temperament.

After reading, you will be amazed: It turns out that it is not difficult at all to live a poetic and elegant life in modern times like the ancients!

° "Shan Jia Qing Gong" °

The eating pleasure of "the first literary and artistic foodie in the Song Dynasty"

Beauty can be eaten, and elegance can be eaten

If Yuan Mei is the number one foodie in the Qing Dynasty, then the person who wrote "Shan Jia Qing Gong" Lin Hong, can be described as "the most literary and artistic foodie in the Song Dynasty" - not only loves to eat, but also loves to give poetic names to food.

It is said that once he traveled to Wuyi Mountain in winter and caught a hare, but he could not find a skilled chef to cook it in the wild mountains.

A hermit told him: just cut the rabbit meat into thin slices, mix it with wine, sauce, and pepper as ingredients, hold the thinly sliced ​​hare meat with chopsticks, and stir it in the steaming soup, it will immediately turn into clouds. color.

Later, he wrote a poem: "The clear river surges with snow, and the wind blows and the evening glows." He gave the hot pot a literary name, "Balking Xia Gong."

"Shan Jia Qing Gong" records 104 elegant and delicious dishes of the Song Dynasty. The ingredients and dish names in the mountains have their own hermit style and are full of the life interest of the literati in the Song Dynasty:

"Plum porridge" is made of fallen plum blossom petals and snow water. Boiled white porridge;

"Tang Xuan Mei" is made by using a bamboo knife to pick out the budding plum blossoms and then soaking them with honey.

After reading one volume, teaches you about eating, satisfying the craving of the mouth and quenching the thirst of the heart.

° "The Book of Tea"°

"Since Lu Yu was born in the world, the world has learned about spring tea"

The most luxurious illustrated version of the "Tea Book"

Anyone who loves tea will read the "Tea Book".

This version of the book is even more massive:

is based on the "Tea Classic" from the Xianchun edition of the Southern Song Dynasty collected by the National Library of China;

is drawn using the mainstream form of Jin and Tang paintings - silk painting techniques;

is based on the shape of the utensils The textual research also follows the method of the Tang Dynasty.

includes 133 vigorous fine paintings, 0 chapter " Tea Saint " Lu Yu's deepest understanding of tea culture, vividly depicts the fun of the ancients cooking snow and tea.

"There are nine difficulties in tea: the first is making, the second is separation, the third is utensils, the fourth is fire, the fifth is water, the sixth is roasting, the seventh is grinding, the eighth is boiling, and the ninth is drinking."

Open this book " "Living Tea Classic" is like sitting across from Lu Yu, making tea and explaining the classics in detail. After finishing the book, you will have the answer.

° " Yunlin Stone Spectrum " °

A garden is beautiful without stones, and a house without stones is indecent

A must-read classic for stone enthusiasts

There are stones in the study, either independent or interesting, which are exactly the symbol of the spiritual temperament of the literati.

The “number one player” in playing, hiding and appreciating stones in ancient China was none other than Du Wan. His "Yunlin Stone Book" is even regarded as the most complete and rich monograph on stone in Chinese history.

It systematically and comprehensively introduces how to select, view and evaluate stones. introduces the origin, collection method, texture, shape, sound, etc. of 116 famous stones.

Many Tibetan stone enthusiasts around me have read and re-read it and praised it repeatedly.

° "Vase Flower Spectrum" °

Authentic Chinese flower arrangement by literati

Practicing skill and dexterity, for elegant rooms to appreciate

A monotonous and boring room has become elegant because of vase flowers. If you want to learn flower art, you must know about vase making.

"Vase of Flowers" was written by Zhang Qiande in the Ming Dynasty. It introduces traditional Chinese ikebana from eight aspects: vase appreciation, flower appreciation, branch breaking, insertion and storage, nourishment, matters, flower taboos and vase protection.

After reading, we can know the character of plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum flowers of the four seasons. also understands what kind of vase and what kind of offerings can truly make ordinary flowers more soulful.

▲ "Know or Not" excerpt

Living in the bustling world, you can enjoy the joy of mountains and forests, and being hidden in the city, you can feel the beauty of forests and springs.

If you can't escape the world and live in seclusion, you might as well invite the beauty of the mountains and forests as a guest, and exchange the firewood, rice, oil and salt with the host's deep love for life.

Life is too short, you have to live poetically to live up to this life.