张渝 魏杰

桃之夭夭，灼灼其华。

之子于归，宜其室家。

即便是唐诗宋词那样的美好，还是遮不住《诗经》里的这枝“桃夭”。美得不可方物的同时，其爱之真之深之切，一如李白名句：“桃花潭水深千尺，不及汪伦送我情。”百二千年，中国人的爱情与审美中，桃花园一直是最大也最美的庄园。当然，王母娘娘的蟠桃园以及刘关张三结义的桃园都有些传说中的遥不可及，唯一够得着的是“桃之夭夭”。只要翻开《诗经》就能看到。

夭夭，桃树繁茂；灼灼，鲜花绽放；华，花；之子，这个姑娘；于归，出嫁；宜，和睦；室家，夫家。

罗列完这一系列最基本的关于“桃夭”的注解之后，我第一个反应是“宜家”这个商业综合体的名字太取巧，巧得很多人不知道它的出处居然在《诗经》。自然，在这篇小叙里，我也必须要说的是，一切的一切，都在“宜家”二字。

男大当婚，女大当嫁。好友王肖峰之子王天昕留美学成归国。他不仅学业优异，而且带着正当芳龄的美国姑娘。“之子于归”，天昕之父王肖峰喜自中来，一定要亲自操办儿之大喜。肖峰老兄，喜书画，遇书画圈朋友，必爱之不分老幼，朋友中，爱肖峰者亦无老幼之别。久之，肖峰书画圈朋友达百人之众。其著名者崔振宽、江文湛、赵振川、雷珍民、薛养贤、郑墨泉等俱皆在列。闻其子大喜，老少朋友纷赠翰墨之雅。感友之慷慨，肖峰将友之所赠，汇之一册，嘱余叙之。

洞房花烛，合卺之喜。喜气之中，我为这本集万千宠爱于一册的画集命名为《合卺集》。

“合卺”乃今日“结婚”一词之雅称。雅人雅事雅情雅意。《合卺集》所收之书画，虽一纸万金，但其在义不在金，在情不在市。祝福之外，一册在手，余香袅袅，有氤氲之象。《白虎通·嫁娶》篇说，“天地氤氲，万物化淳。”在古人的道德与审美伦理里，淳字所代表的淳朴、厚道是第一位，也是最高的标准。杜甫的人生标准就是“致君尧舜上，再使风俗淳”。基于此，贤达们集爱宠于一册的祝福中，亦有“日光七彩，融于一白”的真淳。

真淳之中，百年之好是所有人的期盼。然而，百年之好的“好”究竟好在哪里？

好在“合”字。这也是我们经常将“百年之好”说成“百年好合”的原因所在。花好月圆，鸳鸯壁合。真正的好是“和合之美”。《合卺集》合笔墨之美、福音之善，亦合新人之璧。如此合璧之美，天造地设，人也？天也？

《周易·系辞上》说，二人同心，其利断金。同心之言，其臭如兰。臭（xiu），香兰之气。新人如是，《合卺集》亦如是。如是如是，《合卺集》功德无量，善莫大焉。

善哉，善哉。

2019-10-6

The He Jin Album

Zhang Yu, Wei Jie

The peach tree is green and lush with glowing red flowers,

The bride-to-be will make the family flourish and happier.

Even if there are so many beautiful poems from Tang and Song Dynasties, this piece from the Classic of Poetry is still famous. It is so beautiful and so sincere with heartfelt love which is also seen in the famous poem by Li Bai. “Peach flower pool a thousand feet deep is shallower than the love of Wang Lun who sees me off.” For two thousand years, peach flower is regarded as the most beautiful flower to represent Chinese people’s love and aesthetic preferences. There are many peach legends and folktales. But people are most familiar with this poem about peach flower and marriage in the Classic of Poetry.

In the Chinese poem, yaoyao describes the lush and green peach tree; zhuozhuo catches the charm of blossoming flowers; hua means flowers while zhizi refers to the bride-to-be; yugui is about the girl marrying the guy; yi in Chinese means happiness and shijia is the groom’s family.

After going through the basic elements of this peach poem, my first idea is that IKEA as a company really had a good translation for its name in China. Few people know that Chinese name of IKEA, Yi Jia comes from the Classic of Poetry. All I like to say today is about Yi Jia which means good to the family.

Marriage is a natural part of adult life. The son of my good friend Wang Xiaofeng, Wang Tianxin came back home after studying in the U.S. He brought home great academic achievements and a beautiful American girl. Tianxin’s father was so happy to see this sweet couple that he set his mind to arrange for the wedding ceremony himself. Xiaofeng loves calligraphy and painting and respects all the friends he made in this circle, young and old and vice versa. Gradually, Xiaofeng had nearly one hundred friends from the art community with many famous figures like Cui Zhenkuan, Jiang Wenzhan, Zhao Zhenchuan, Lei Zhenmin, Xue Yangxian, Zheng Moquan and many others. Upon the good news of Tianxin getting married, Xiaofeng’s friends presented their art works as gifts which he compiled into a book. This is why I am here today, to give you the background and introduce the book.

Thinking about the wedding ceremony and the happiness of marriage, I’d like to name this crystallization of great minds the “He Jin Album”, the album of marriage.

He Jin in ancient China was part of the wedding ritual and an elegant name for marriage. He Jin is such a time-honored and profound word to represent people’s love for life. The calligraphy works and paintings in this album are invaluable, but what’s more valuable is the great friendship and kindness they reflect. Apart from the goodwishes, the album also shows ancient Chinese traditions and people’s pursuit for nobleness and sincerity. In an ancient scripture about marriage, there is one line that goes “the yin and yang mist meets and the world is born”. In terms of the ancient ethics and aesthetics, sincerity and honesty are most important standards. For example, the famous poet Du Fu was committed to assisting the sage emperors and making people honest and noble. This album of good wishes also bears the pursuit of nobleness and sincerity.

Eternal love is something we all crave for. But why is it so precious?

Eternal love is about being together and about walking into the sunset hand in hand. The best thing about eternal love is love birds going through good and bad together. The He Jin Album combines the beauty of masterpieces, the kindness of friends and the best wishes to the happy couple. They are made for each other.

In Zhouyi, the Book of Changes of ancient China, there is a saying that goes two are better than one. It is also true for a couple. With the He Jin Album pooling the best regards of so many people, we wish the new couple everlasting love and a lifetime of happiness.

​2019-10-6