我花園裏種著兩棵樹，春天以後它們會開出紫色與白色。花有點像芙蓉，卻是單瓣。每次等月色洗去了梨花妝，這兩棵樹便開花了。
在一年的大部分時間裏，兩株樹都在不停地開花，幾年前我練過一段書法，若無花可供，我便會采幾朵下來插瓶。我並不太喜歡，因為花是沒有芬芳的，而且，花瓣采下來以後，總是顯得髒而舊，像村婦的容顏。
今天中午與父母一道吃飯，母親談起了她的50年代的童年。我有感覺，我在聽一個語音版的《今生今世》的故事。東陽的一個小村莊，環村的清澈溪水，美麗而婀娜的少女們采摘下某種樹葉，放在臉盆裏，搓出黏液，然後用樹液水洗頭：她們都有長而黑的發，柔而低垂的眉眼。洗完了黑發與她們的玉體，她們便嘻嘻哈哈地往回走，走過自留地，順手采幾把豆角，一個茄子或者空心菜，在祖屋的附近還有一個做米粉的小作坊，東陽的米粉和江西米粉或者桂林米粉是不一樣的，有一點像台灣米粉：細，口感卻粗，我不愛吃。母親說，那是因為你沒有吃到過真正好吃的：她說做米粉，米粉本身已經熟了，用水車的木錘子把米粉壓成一片片，然後通過機器齒，便成了一條條細粉絲。大人們會抓起一把粉絲，擱在碗裏，放一點醬油和小蔥，米粉還是熱的，噴香噴香。
周末的時候母親的姐妹們來探望她。我見母親瘦弱的身體弓著，在陽台上與大妹妹聊天。中午母親告訴我，她的大妹妹——也就是我的大阿姨——和她看到了我們住的樓房底下種著她們童年時代洗頭的樹，我十分感興趣，便請母親與我下去一起采摘樹葉。
用臉盆接了熱水，把樹葉放在水裏，仔細用手揉撚，漸漸的水就變得像雞蛋清一樣，然後把樹葉撈起來，洗頭，我還滴了一點檸檬精油，覺得自己滿頭都是清香。
母親說她不知道這是什麽樹什麽花，於是我便上網查，原來，這種就是木槿。很美麗的名字。我尤其喜歡槿這個字，右邊，不蔓不枝，中正平和，有君子心性。這時我突然想起曾經讀過一本《嶺南筆記八種》，其實很早就有人提到過木槿花，它另有一個非常的美麗和淒涼的名字：朝生暮落。這時我想起我供過的木槿，果然摘下便失去了顏色。果然。
在唐朝的時候某個詩人還寫過一首胡騰舞詩，我想那個美麗的胡人男孩，白玉一樣肌膚和琉璃盞一樣鼻梁的美麗男孩，就是這樣緩緩起舞，最初跳的像《六幺》，後來越轉越快，鼓和琵琶和笛子和阮鹹和箜篌漸漸跟不上他的節奏，然後他突然一跺腳，穩穩站住了，他的臉朝著西方他的家鄉，路很遙遠，有沙漠裏的獨眼巨人，殘月隱現在木槿花中，那樣靜的，隱現在沙侖的玫瑰之中。
是的，在英文裏，在雅歌裏，從童年起我們參加婚禮就為新人這樣唱：你是沙侖的玫瑰，你是空穀的百合……朝生暮落花，像激情，愛或活著。
I have two bushes in my garden, for most of years they bloom in pourpre and white
I sometimes pick the flowers and put them in the vases, then write galligraphy with flowers' accompagnie. I didn't like this kind of flower, 1. it's not fragrant, 2. It soon lowers the head and fades. 3. the textile of pedals are dirty and ragged - after being inserted into the vase.
Today at noon I ate the lunch with my parents. They told me about their childhood in the year 50s. Mom said in her village it was clear and quiet, people g0t on well with people, neibhors were just like a family. Then, surronding the village there was a transparent sream. At that time you couldn't find lots of products in the market, so they just had the soap for clothes. There was no shampoo or conditionner. Then, since it's unconfortable to wash the hair by using soap, they used a kind of tree leaves, put them into the water, then twisted and rolled the leaves, little by little the water would become thick as soap-water, and it was perfect to wash the hair. Mom said all the girls in her village had black, long, silk-like hair...
Last weekend my aunts came here to visit mom. One of them chatted with mom in the balcony, and they saw that kind of tree under our apartment, Mom told me while the lunch, I was very interested and asked mom to go and pluck the leaves with me together.
So today I have had my hair washed organically and naturally...that's true, if you roll the leaves, the water became just thick. I put 4 drops of lemon essence oil in the water, and it smells good...
Mom didn't remember the name of the flower, nor do I - I don't know what is it but I told mom I have two sames bushes in my house and when I go back I will wash my hair this way. So after showering I checked the online information, and found it is called in Chinese: 木槿
I do like this two characters, especially 槿，left side is the radical suggesting the tree (pictogramme), but right side, you will see there is no strokes coming out, kind of suggesting moderation, neutral position...it can go back to the Canon of Mean of Confucius, and that's why the character for prudent or prudence 謹 takes exactly the same right side, with left side suggesting speech.
I suddenly recall I read a short stories collections of Tang Dynasty before. Over there the author mentionned once 木槿flower, and it has a name just beautiful, poetic, but ephemeral, like the petal itself：朝生暮落花：dawn-birth-twilight-falling flower. Yes it never lasts longer than a day. There is another poem of Tang dynasty, describing a dancer from West and Central Asia: those born-to-dancer were good at spiral dance, the beautiful young boy, with skin as white jade and nose as glaze bottle, with the accompagnie of flute, drum and pipa, he span faster and faster, and all the instruments jost lost their rythme. Suddenly he stopped, his face turning to west - to his hometown, and the waning moon (well, I prefer to use broken moon...) hid behind the flowers of Rose of Sharon.
Yes, in English, it has a well known name: Rose of Sharon: Dawn-birth-twilight-falling flower, like passion, love, life.
yes. Mu Jin = Mu Fu Rong.
Shui Fu Rong = He Hua
And there is no third Fu Rong
我們小時候好像就把那樹叫肥皂樹。
祝福。
It is Althea, in the family of Hibiscus, Hibiscus syriacus. 是否又叫木芙蓉？
。。。。
非常讚同