persian picnics and other elegant pastimes (春山淡治而如笑)

 -the vernal equinox 春分

Some say Nowruz, or Persian New Year, is a holiday that goes back 2,500 years. Seems impossible, but everyone agrees it is one of the world's oldest celebrations-- a celebration which continues to be one of the most looked-forward to events in the Persian calendar. 

Part of the festivities include a picnic-- hopefully with a fire. Persians love their picnics-- as this devotion to picnics can be seen across the vast expanse of what was once the Great Persian Empire. From Turkey, Afghanistan, Central Asia to Kashmir-- even in Tehrangeles, in the more elegant part of LA-- people picnic around the vernal equinox. 

It is a civilized pastime, very much like cherry-blossom viewing-- a day to relax and dream of paradise-- enjoying both the company and  spring itself-- the birds, the clouds, the sunshine, and more than anything the flowers.

And, why is it that everything tastes better outdoors?

I was indoctrinated into picnics long before I came to Japan (by a Persian best friend back home). It is a custom which I carried with me to Japan-- where, of course, it fit like a glove.

So, every year we would celebrate the vernal equinox by picnicking. And, in my heart, this will always be the real New Year.

Like clockwork, the ducks and egrets return to the Uzumagawa River and specks of green start sprouting in the lawn-- yes, the return of life and the start of a new year. I cannot help but start imagining all the picnics and flower-viewing-- and somehow everything seems so filled with possibility.

    

The Kid and I usually would start taking to the mountains just before the equinox to go "baby fern hunting."  Called "zenmai" 薇 you know how they are like little coiled springs waiting till it gets to be just the right time to unfurl?

They are so cute and adorable. I read once that ferns used to cover prehistoric forests... so maybe they're very old like dinosaurs? Can you imagine wandering in never-ending forests of ferns as huge, prehistoric dinosaur birds soared in the skies above?

There is an expression used in haiku poetry composition around this time of year: "Mountains smiling in early spring" Borrowed like so many other things from China, the painter who coined this phrase, the Northern Song painter and Literati great, Guo Xi, is most famous for his work titled Early Spring. His poem about mountains smiling appeared in an poetry anthology in Japanese known as  漢詩集 「臥遊録」 (yes, that's right, the Han Anthology Dream Journey Jottings)

春山淡治而如笑
夏山蒼翠而如滴
秋山明浄而如粧
冬山惨淡而如眠　

Mountains smiling in early spring was a theme much appreciated at court-- even during my beloved's times-- which came about 100 years after the painter wrote his legendary poem. Imagine after what must have felt like an almost unendingly long period of cold and depressing "mountains sleeping," the mountains in March would seem to almost "spring" to life again.

First, came the slow but sure return of green. Followed by a splash of color here and there: plum, robai, and finally sakura. And, so people would take to the hills....

This was also after all the best season for a love affair ---for of course, we all know everything is always dashed to hell by mid-Fall so it's better to get started early, right? :))

In China, people travel back to their hometowns around this time of year for qing ming to sweep the tombs of their ancestors and celebrate the return of spring-- very much like Japanese O-bon. There is also a custom of eating outdoors to celebrate spring.Some scholars see the Japanese cherry blossom-viewing custom having its roots in qing ming --as a day of family communion (between the living and the dead), picnics (celebrating spring) and purification. Ideally, one picnics on top of a hill and purified oneself in a river (to wash away in bad deeds or bad luck). There are probably poems about friends climbing hilltops （踏青）or maybe about picking mountain herbs　(山菜摘み）...

It was this idea, of "stepping on blue" （踏青→ getting out and walking in nature）, along with the Japanese idea of the gods of the fields returning from their long slumber around this time of year that are most deeply connected to Japanese sensibilities surrounding cherry blossom viewing.

And, it's that time again.

**

 Shalimar Garden; one of Srinagar's three famous "gardens of love," one the most memorable picnic I ever had in my life took place in the shade of one the garden's many chinar trees. Beautiful tulips were planted alongside the many fountains, and families sat in the pavilions as what seemed like an army of newleyweds strolled across the grass....Sultan's wife had prepared a true Persian picnic of pollo rice and yogurt, kebabs and tea served in glasses. Although nearly 20 years have passed since then, I will never forget it. Sultn's wife had brought the most beautiful tomatoes I have ever seen and we laughed and talked about the flowers and all the future children we would have.

To sit in the warm sunshine in a cool garden surrounded by the sounds of flowing water and laughing children truly is the perfect pastime for a spring day. I only wish I could go back in time and somehow insert my son right smack in the middle of the memory. Of course, he is war of rice with nuts and fruit in it and isn't crazy about tomatoes....Still, I think he could have really had fun in those fountains.

Persian New Year article in National Geographic: Persian New Year Transcends Religions, Regimes

  

 

Comments

[Eric]

You forgot the Persian pastries. My favorite part! The kulchen nahod (chick pea cookies), the loze (almond and rosewater pastries) and Persian baklava. Really, no Persian New Year is complete without them!

But more importantly, why is it always your most beautifully written pieces - like this - that people hesitate to comment on?

The beauty of Persian New Year is beauty itself. I always find the cultures that celebrate life and beauty to be the most attractive. Whether it's the dilligent pursuit of beauty of the French and Balinese, or the momentary lapses where people let go of the daily trappings and simply embrace the beauty of the world and life around them - like Persians.

Persians, perhaps more than any culture I've seen - know when to let go and dance. That itself is honoring the divine, celebrating life - it's an art itself.

Make sure to give that to our boy - and he will be in that memory. And he'll understand the fruits and nuts in the rice.

[Peony in a teacup]

Hi Eric,

It's funny you say that about comments, but my own personal favorite pieces of writing shimmering blue and slender gold didn't receive any comments whatsoever... I just assume it's because some don't appreciate me going on and on about my lover...though the post about my boyfriend is the most accessed page on this blog: sex and the getty bronze (just because the word sex is in the title maybe??)

Delightful and dazzling conversations:
It's rare, I think to meet someone who can converse intelligently but playfully on a variety of topics.... Japanese is better in this sense--as the Japanese education system seems to be less concerned with the imparting of efficiency-based critical thinking *skills* as it is with imparting a shared traditional base of knowledge. Yes, there are all the issues with stressful examinations-- and I know you are going to try and annoy me with talking about patents again-- but, from my point of view (with conversations in mind) the Japanese system overall does a good job to emphasize shared cultural knowledge: they start by singing the same songs, then go on to read the classical books with much more "learning by heart"-- Western critics call this rote memorization but you know how I have always thought this internalization of exemplary models from literature and philosophy, history, etc. to be a really important aspect of education in terms of character-building/moral education/cultural inheritance, etc. (And, its not as if the learning by heart is the end aim of classical education, either-- as in fact creativity/character building and aesthetic/ethical sensibilities are also really encouraged under this type of "classical education", don't you think?)

See: red cliffs: afterward

This is on my mind, by the way, because I am reading Daniel Bell's new book China's New Confucianism and just finished his chapter "Critiquing critical thinking" in which he makes the case (which you know I completely agree with) that higher education should be about more than simply imparting certain skills:

Future political leaders should study the great literary and philosophical texts of the past. That's where they learn about the sorts of ethical virtues--humility, sensitivity, temperance, and genuine concern for the people-- that they ought to exhibit in political action.

I loved his whole chapter on education and it reminded me of our conversation about Plato's idea of the the education of a freeman versus the education of slaves--remember?

Inside a Ding-- part 2

It really does go back to asking what are the metaphysical underpinings of the humanties-- for in fact, as Sam Crane not that long ago pointed out on his blog ( his post is highly recommended
), the moment those in the humanties begin to embrace these contemporary notions of usefulness (Heidegerrean efficiency)-- their days will surely be numbered....

[Peony (who had a bad dream last night)]

Dream and responsibility.— You are willing to assume responsibility for everything! Except, that is, for your dreams! What miserable weakness, what lack of consistent courage! Nothing is more your own than your dreams! Nothing more your own work! Content, form, duration, performer, spectator—in these comedies you are all of this yourself! And it is precisely here that you rebuff and are ashamed of yourselves, and even Oedipus, the wise Oedipus, derived consolation from the thought that we cannot help what we dream! From this I conclude that the great majority of mankind must be conscious of having abominable dreams. If it were otherwise, how greatly this nocturnal poetizing would have been exploited for the enhancement of human arrogance! —Do I have to add that the wise Oedipus was right, that we really are not responsible for our dreams—but just as little for our waking life, and that the doctrine of freedom of will has human pride and feeling of power for its father and mother? Perhaps I say this too often: but at least that does not make it an error
- Nietzsche, Daybreak (Morgenröte. Gedanken über die moralischen Vorurteile), 1881

[chriswaugh_bj]

I, for one, hesitate to comment on these most beautifully written posts because all too often to comment would be to mar the post's beauty. Somethings should be appreciated in silence.

[M.W.Nolden]

Chris: Ditto…
Except I inevitably, at some point, hint about lunch.

[John Emerson]

I just read the Slender Gold piece. It's a sort of a shock because I've studied that era mostly from the Liao-Jurchen-Mongol side of the line. I'm sure that I've read about the conquest of Kaifeng without knowing anything about the Emperor's talents. And I'd seen the calligraphy, disconnected from his imperial career.

[peony]

John,

What a wonderful birthday treat to hear from you! You know, John, the Emperor is our kind of man...Like Crazy Ludwig he could be the world's most elegant blog persona...if only one had the sensibilities...

One time I was writing our name on the city-authorized trash bags for burnable trash and it is-- I swear-- the perfect place to practice slender gold calligraphy! So I was dashing off some of my best spindly leg characters when my evil co-habiteur walked over and took the pen out of my hand and wrote just above my "slender gold" →金 (ie, 金朝)....I do not know what his point was but he still calls me that...

For more see the category 徽宗帝 My Lover the Emperor...

[John Emerson]

Some ferns are edible when they first come out, sort of asparagus-like. It's probably worth checking around before trying them, some might be toxic. We had a cow die from eating ferns once. (Tending a hobby farm, I'm no farmer).

[Don Croner]

Ah, the pleasures of baby fiddlehead ferns. Always a treat in the Springtime. By the way, I am sorry I had that brief fling with Facebook. I hope I am still welcome at Tang Dynasty. Never again will I be tempted by a promiscuous hussy like Facebook who offers her charms to anyone with a user name and a password. I will never stray again, I promise!

[Don Croner]

Let me add that all the ferns I am aware of are edible when they first emerge in the Spring. They must picked and eaten before they unfurl. There is usually only a two week window in the Spring when they are edible. They can be steamed and then frozen for later use, however. Some adult ferns are indeed poisonous and all should be avoided. Allow me to suggest a simple dressing of olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper.

[peony]

Don, you are always one of the tang dynasty's most welcome guests!!! But you are always missed on facebook.... I just posted about the surprising amount of Gobi desert sand stuck in my eyelashes today and almost got a tear in my eye at the thought that you wouldn't be reading....!! A promiscuous hussy to be sure.. but you know what they say, there are worse things in life then promiscuous hussies right?

Around here, those baby ferns are friend up as tempura (sometimes served by a friend here with a touch of mattcha tea powder)... they are heavenly really.

Hope the silk road sands skipped Mongolia in their swirling streaming East!

[Jan Walls]

Here's my tentative translation (I didn't see any on your TDT post):

春山淡治而如笑
夏山蒼翠而如滴
秋山明浄而如粧
冬山惨淡而如眠　
Spring mountains are gently seductive, seeming to smile.
Summer mountains deep green, almost oozing moisture.
Autumn mountains bright and clear, looking well dressed.
Winter mountains dark and gloomy, as though sound asleep.

====================
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
--- Albert Einstein

[Chris Waugh]

Fun to see this again, and my original comment, and notice something I hadn't seen (or at least, don't recall seeing) the first time around:

"you know how they are like little coiled springs waiting till it gets to be just the right time to unfurl? "

Called 'koru' where I'm from, and featured, in stylised form, on the tail fins of the planes of our national airline, and symbolise, as I think you can see, new life.

[Don Croner]

See Nowroz at Chilpak Tower of Silence.

[Only a Blockhead]

Beautiful.

That is all.

From a fellow devotee of picnics.