"Ni", no Jiawen or bronze inscriptions, small seal script from the rain, and a child's voice. "Ni" has a variant form, which is written in the form of "worm" on the left and "er" on the right.
"Shuowen Jiezi": Quhong, green-red, or white, represents Yin energy. "Erya": Two rainbows appear, and the one with bright colors is the male, and the male is called the rainbow. The dark one is the female, and the female is called Ni. According to this explanation, we can understand that "rainbow" and "neon" are actually the same thing, but there are differences in color. "Rainbow" is brighter and "neon" is darker.
The explanation of "Chengzhong Meng Xuetang Zi Lesson Illustration" is: Rainbow... Sunlight enters the rain and is formed by inflection. The white one is a rainbow, the green one is a neon... Commonly known as the male, the rainbow, and the female. Yue Ni, also known as hauni, is also called hauni when the horseshoe crab's jet in the sea is unbelievable. ? The explanation in "Zi Ke" denies the theory of male and female, which is understandable, but the white rainbow mentioned in "Shuowen" may refer to another thing.
"Historical Records: Biography of Lu Zhonglian and Zou Yang": "In the past, Jing Ke admired the meaning of Yan Dan, and the white rainbow penetrated the sun, and the prince was afraid of it." The "white rainbow penetrates the sun" here refers to the white Changhong passes through the sun. The ancients believed that this change in celestial phenomena was caused by extraordinary things in the world. Whether the white person mentioned in "Zi Ke" and "Shuowen" is Bai Hong remains here as a question for the time being.
In fact, hauni is two concentric rings formed by secondary refraction when sunlight shines on small water droplets suspended in the air. Because part of it is under the horizon, people can only see it. are two arcs. The arrangement of the seven colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet in the inner arc from the outer circle to the inner circle is a "rainbow", also called a positive rainbow; the arrangement of the colors of the outer arc is red, inner and ultraviolet, because it is more The main rainbow is reflected once more, so it is lighter in color and is called the secondary rainbow, also known as "neon".
"Ni" and "Hong" are often used together. When the word "Hong Ni" first appeared, the bright colors came first, and the dim ones came last. However, nowadays people often talk about "neon", so why is the order reversed? The reason here is said to be related to English neon.
Neon is a rare gas neon. The brightly colored lamp made by filling this gas into a lamp tube is neon lighting. Initially, a French electrical engineer named Georges Claude improved on the basis of previous scientific research and design, and obtained the patent for neon lighting in 1910. Two years later, he applied it in a barber shop on Montmartre Avenue. It became popular in European and American cities in the 1920s, and was later introduced to Shanghai and Hong Kong. As a result, neon lighting got a beautiful Chinese name - neon light.
This vocabulary is an excellent example of translation. It only reverses the order of the familiar "Hong Ni" to the Chinese people, and it becomes the name of a new thing. The transliteration and free translation are just right. Neon lights have been popular for decades, and now the advertising lights in the city have been updated. But no matter what the principle of the lights, we still call them neon flashing, and "neon" has become a fixed Chinese vocabulary.
We have all heard of the term "nichang and feather clothes". What is "nichang and feather clothes"?
"Nishang" may first be seen in Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs of the East" "The blue clouds are covered with white neon clothes, and the long arrows are raised to shoot at the wolf." Shang refers to the lower clothes, so here we can understand it as an immortal Wearing a Qingyun top and a white neon skirt.
The appearance of "Neon Shang Feather Dress" was in the Tang Dynasty. Although it has been passed down to this day, people do not know exactly the details of this dress.
It is said that Emperor Xuan of the Tang Dynasty, Li Longji, composed "The Song of Neon Clothes and Feather Clothes", and Concubine Yang performed the "Nice Clothes and Feather Clothes Dance" for it. " appears in the works of poets of all ages, including Li Bai, Li Yu, Su Shi, Xin Qiji and Nalan Xingde. The person who loves this dress the most is Bai Juyi. In addition to "The fishing sun and the ground are stirring, the song of feather clothes is shocked." in "Song of Everlasting Regret", and "Lightly gathered together, slowly twisted and wiped, and then picked up again" in "Pipa Xing", which was originally called "Neon Dress". After "Liu Yao" and other poems, he also wrote the poem "Dance of Colorful Feather Clothes". Although it is named after a song, it is actually a poem. It revolves around the vicissitudes of "Dance of Colorful Clothes and Feather Clothes" over the past few decades and the scenes blend together. This is very important.
However, not all literati praised "Neon Clothes" songs. For example, Du Mu, whose "Three Quatrains on Passing the Huaqing Palace" started with "The song of neon clothes climbed to thousands of peaks, and the dance broke down in the middle." "A flogging and satire on Tang Xuanzong's extravagance and licentiousness that led to the ruin of his country and his family. Let’s end with this poem.
Three Quatrains on Passing the Huaqing Palace
[Tang Dynasty] Du Mu?
Looking back at Chang'an, there are piles of embroidery, and thousands of doors are opened one after another on the top of the mountain.
Riding on the red dust concubine smiled, no one knew it was lychee.
The green trees of Xinfeng are covered with yellow mosaics, and several emissaries riding on the fishing sun are returning.
The song of neon clothes reaches thousands of peaks, and the original dance comes down.
The music and songs of all nations are intoxicating and peaceful, and the moon in the sky tower is clear.
Lushan dance is shot randomly in the clouds, and laughter is heard under the heavy mountains as the wind blows.
Previous articles:
Reading Notes [24-26] Thunder Shock
Reading Notes [27-29] Wind and Storm
Reading Notes [30-32] Hail haze
Reading Notes [33] Full
Reading Notes [34] Rainbow
Reference Documents and sources
1. "The Origin of Words", edited by Li Xueqin, published by Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House, first edition in December 2012
2. "Illustrated Notes on the Calligraphy Lessons of Chengzhong Meng School" , (Qing Dynasty) edited by Liu Shuping, China Literature and History Publishing House, first edition in August 2014
3. "Shuowen Jiezi", (Eastern Han Dynasty) Xu Shen
4. "Shuowen Jiezi" "Modern Chinese Dictionary (7th Edition)", compiled by the Dictionary Editorial Office of the Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, The Commercial Press