Lovesickness

By Wang Wei

Red beans Grows in the South’’

Send a few branches in spring
May you pick more
This thing is the most lovesick

I. Context
(Background of the author and text)
During the Tang era, Wang Wei was a Chinese poet, musician, painter, and statesman. His
surname was Wang, and his given name was Wei. He was one of the most well-known
individuals of his day in the arts and letters. Many of his poems have survived, and twenty-nine
of them were published in the classic 18th-century anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems. He
was born in 699 and died in 759. He was between the ages of 59 and 60 when he died.
Wang Wei is most recognized for his work as a poet and naturalist painter. A total of 400 of his
poems have survived. By imperial command, his next-youngest brother, Wang Jin, gathered and
originally edited these into a corpus. There are no certified pieces of his paintings, but his effect
on succeeding paintings and descriptive reports of his paintings provides evidence of his work.
His musical abilities were highly acclaimed, despite the fact that no recordings of his
compositions exist. He had a good career as a court officer as well. Wang Wei studied with Chán
master Daoguang for ten years before becoming a committed Zen Buddhist and vegetarian.
Wang Wei was a "very great master" of the jueju, with many of his quatrains depicting calm
settings of water and mist, with few details and little human presence. At present, 420 poems
are credited to Wang Wei, of which 370 are regarded to be genuine. He affirms the world's
beauty while questioning its ultimate reality, according to the Indiana Companion. It also draws
a parallel between his paintings' deceptive simplicity and the Chan Road to enlightenment,
which is based on meticulous planning yet completed without conscious effort. Wang Wei is
widely credited as the creator of the Southern School of Chinese landscape painting, which was
distinguished by bold brushstrokes and light ink washes.

II. Themes

 Yearning for someone

“Lovesickness,” in Chinese terms, is any strong longing for a person, lover or otherwise.
In this poem, Wang Wei uses simple terms to convey very strong emotions of fraternal
affection toward a friend.
Wang Wei exhorting his friend to gather many, subtly indicating that his friend lives in the south
and, therefore, far away. In ancient China, picking flowers or plants was a way of being close to
someone as it often led to sentimental thinking. Wang Wei is, in effect, saying “pick red beans, a
symbol of longing, and think of me.” The poet tells his friend that red beans are the best thing to
remember him by. Interestingly, Wang Wei uses the concept of lovesickness here to join two
individuals; they are divided only by distance, not by emotion.
 Love
Love is an emotion that completely takes over one person and make them to act in ways
they may not have otherwise even thought of doing so. It may compel one to sacrifice
everything for someone they love, or be so emotionally attached or emotionally
dependent on the other that a void is left when the other leaves.

III. Symbolisms

 Red Beans- expresses a yearning emotion.

red beans are also called “beads of lovesickness”.
Just as the name replies, the fruits of red beans are round and sparking; making them perfect for
decorations. The red beans are used as a gift of love. Red beans, also called love peas, are solid
and bloody red like a bumping heart. They never decay and never turn rotten. The color goes
deeper to the core. There is heart-shaped curve circled the dark red inside; just like a heart circle
a heart.

 Spring
Season of the year between winter and summer during which temperatures gradually rise. Red
beans are present during this time. It symbolizes as a time of rebirth, renewal and awakening.

IV. Analysis
Structuralist Criticism

To analyzed and interpret the poem we used structuralist criticism.

First, let's have a look at the title
Lovesickness
"lovesickness", which successfully remind the imagination of those teenage girls, Lovesickness
is a condition that causes negative feelings when a person is strongly in love, when they are
separated from a loved one. But the fact is that Wang Wei's love poem does not describe the
love between men and women. This poem was written by him to a male friend, Li Guinian.
Lovesickness has a stronger significance when it is referred to as "long-distance lovesickness."
The first statement ‘’Red beans Grows in the South’’ is prosperous because of things, and the
language is quite simple, implying both the origin of the red beans and the location of the
friend.
Red bean
Some people believe that red beans, also known as acacia beans and acacia seeds, are legume
products. Like peas, the seeds are slightly flat and brilliant red. Some people string acacia beans
into bracelets and sell them as handicrafts because of their vivid color. Acacia, commonly
known as red beans, is a vine with many branches and thin stems. It's a poisonous plant from
the Leguminosae genus that's found all across the tropics. Acacia protein is present in the
seeds. This poison is highly dangerous. It can be poisoned if swallowed, and even killed in
severe cases. There is, also, another red bean species, the red bean tree, which is rare species.
There were four red bean trees in the history of Suzhou. According to Qing Gu Zhentao's
"Wumen Biaoyin·Volume Nine": "The iron tree is the red bean, and there are only four trees in
the county, in the Yuan Tomb Mountain Temple; in the Chengdong Jiuxiantang (Dongchan
Temple).
In China, there is an old story about red beans and longing. It is said that in ancient China, a
women got lovesickness because her husband went to a war. She cried so sadly that her tears
were blood, and then her blood tears became red beans in the ground. In this story, the blood
tear is the expression of serious yearning. Yearning, namely, lovesickness usually is seen one
kind of illness. On the other hand, when someone blood, it means this person may get illness.
As a result, yearning refers to blood tears and red beans refer to yearning, but not other
emotions.
the red bean's historical origin becomes a natural source domain for the objective. But why did
humans choose red beans to represent blood tears?
Red beans and blood tears are essentially the same color. The color red evokes strong feelings
of love and passion. "The color red, being the color of physical movement, stimulates our
physical life energy." Also, red bean refers to a group of plant seeds that includes red bean tree,
sea red bean, and acacia. It is recognized as a symbol of male and female love, and it is
frequently employed in literary works to represent love or lovesickness.
After the first sentence "red beans," the second sentence reads, "Send a few branches in the
spring."
Taking on nature, the poet poses a question; not only is the tone incredibly pleasant, with the
connotation of welcomes to friends, but the aesthetic picture of "red bean" is underlined,
giving it significance. "A few branches" means that the red beans don't sprout much, and it's
used here to suggest that it's early spring. When the poet touched the scene, he thought of his
friend who had never returned in this wonderful season of spring.
The term "chun" in the phrase not only indicates the passing of another year, but also the
wonderful season of spring.
The word "fa" that follows not only indicates that spring has arrived, that everything has
recovered, and that red beans have grown, but it also indicates that this lovesickness is a
natural occurrence.
"May you pick more, this thing is the most lovesick," in the last two sentences. Since new
branches have been released, new fruits will naturally appear, thus "May you pick more," I
hope you will pick more red beans.
So, why are you trying to urge people to pick more red beans?
Because selecting plants to remember individuals from afar is a custom in ancient Chinese
poetry. Because he is originally known as Xiangsizi, red beans are more ideal for selecting and
gifting.
At the end, the next sentence flowed naturally. Why is it necessary to "persuade you to pick
more"? Because "this is the most lovesick thing." The core of the poem is the last statement,
"this thing is the most lovesick." It's based on the acacia quality of red beans, and the term
"most" is used to emphasize the notion. It's euphemism and implicit, using shallow but warm
wording. Since then, the red bean tree's name has spread across the country, making many
handsome men and beautiful women fall for it.
In short, Wang Wei's quatrain is full of youthful feelings and rippling youthful breath, as it is a
quatrain of lovesickness by reciting things. Although it is a work of love and affection given to
his friend Li Guinian, he has never directly confessed it. Every syllable is inextricably linked to
red beans, and it has evolved into a plain love poem as a result of the picture of red beans
solidifying. This poem expresses a wide range of emotions with simple and straightforward
language. It was a "pop song" at the time, and it has since been regarded as a timeless classic.
This poetry appears indifferent, straightforward, and simple, yet it has its subtle and
euphemistic charms, and the poem itself is unadorned and without indications of meticulous
work, yet it appears sincere and emotional. It is simple yet profound, appearing to be both
minimalist and profound in meaning, appearing to be both direct and nuanced and tactful.

V. References:

Red Bean, Red in Love. https://www.dailyzhongwen.com/2020/05/lovesickness-

wang-wei.html

Wang, Wei. Lovesickness. Tang poems.

https://www.dailyzhongwen.com/2020/05/lovesickness-wang-wei.html

Wang Weiyin missed Li Guinian and wrote the ambiguous “Lovesickness”, which
has been misunderstood for thousands of years. (2022, February 02).
https://min.news/en/culture/74aaf955a6ff7dc6d05ef378f0478dca.html

Appreciation of Wang Wei’s “Lovesickness” and the legendary story behind “Red
Beans produced in the South”. (2022, February 02).
https://inf.news/en/culture/e216a978f25f3d4964294bec0216766b.html

相思 - dailycharacter (weebly.com)

lovesickness - ChinaWiki.net