What does it mean to say, “Don’t fall in love with the passing water, but realize the orchid”? Talking about the classic play “The Locking Bag

The phrase “Don’t fall in love with dead water, realize the orchid” is often used to describe love and to persuade people to wake up from love. However, this phrase, which has been used in romance novels, was not first used to describe love.

It is from the classic Cheng School Peking Opera “Lock Lin Bag”, the original line is “He taught me to accept the remaining hatred, to avoid being angry, to reform myself, to change my temperament, not to love the passing water, to turn back to the sea of bitterness, and to realize the orchid cause as early as possible.” To understand the meaning of the line itself, you need to first learn about the classic play “Lock Lin Bag”.

The masterpiece of Mr. Cheng Yanqiu, one of the “Four Famous Dancers”, is also known as “The Peony Robbery”. Only some fragments of Mr. Cheng Yanqiu’s performance can be found, and nowadays we hear more of Chi Xiaoqiu’s singing, and it was Chi Xiaoqiu who sang the fragments of Lock Lin Bag performed at the 2016 Spring Festival Gala.

China’s ancient Shandong area, lock Lin bag is a kind of filled with jewelry, the external embroidered with the unicorn purse. Mothers send this bag to their daughters before they get married in the sedan chair in the hope that the unicorn will send them a son, that is, they hope that their daughters will get a son soon after marriage. The whole drama revolves around this pouch and reaches its climax.

The protagonist of the drama, Xue Xiangling, was originally a young lady from a rich family. Although she was capricious and loved to be pampered, she was also kind-hearted. Unexpectedly, due to a flood in her hometown, Xue Xiangling was reduced from a rich lady to a slave and her husband was separated. This is the song she sings when she is in trouble, lamenting her fate and reflecting on herself. The word “he” refers to the capricious fate. The whole phrase literally means that she sighs that she should curb her resentment, avoid the love and anger she had when she was rich and powerful, and reform herself, not to crave for past glory and wealth, and to realize the impermanence of the world earlier.

Opera is profound, although with the passage of time and the abundance of various musical forms, it has become difficult for most people to appreciate it. However, the essence of it still has an irreplaceable spiritual color and is known to others directly or indirectly. Is not the popular saying, “Rest in love with the passing water, realize the orchids early”, the best example of this?