花葉兩不見 彼岸花的凄美傳說
還記得曾經王菲演唱會都將一首《彼岸花》設定為最后壓軸的曲目。你有沒有想過彼岸花是一種真實存在的花么?它究竟長什么樣?它的英文名是什么?它看似充滿玄機的名字背后又有哪些故事和緣由呢?
紅色彼岸花的學名叫做紅花石蒜，盛產于亞洲地區。在英文中，它俗名為颶風百合或蜘蛛百合。
因為這種鮮紅色的花往往在秋分之時盛開，在《妙法蓮華經》的中文和日文譯本中，它被描述成為開放在地獄黃泉路上的不祥之花，指引著死者投胎轉世。
彼岸花開花時葉子凋零，而長葉時花兒枯萎，這又帶來了另一個傳說，其中一個是關于守護花的精靈曼珠，和守護葉的精靈沙華，他們出于好奇他們打破各自守護的命運設法相見，不想一見鐘情墜入愛河。神為了懲戒他們的肆意妄為，把這對不幸的戀人分開，從此曼珠沙華花葉永不相見。因此曼珠沙華也是彼岸花的一個別名。它也象征著人與人之間相遇之后便成訣別，常用于葬禮儀式。
還有一種說法是彼岸花代表著戀人死后在黃泉路上相約來世再見，但經過輪回轉世，再世的他們卻都不記得曾經的誓言。
Lycorisis a genusof 13–20 species of flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, formerly often treated in the family Liliaceae. In English they are also called hurricanelilies or clusteramaryllis. The genusshares the English name spider lily with two other related genera.
Since these scarlet flowers usually bloom near cemeteries around the autumnal equinox, they are described in Chinese and Japanese translations of the Lotus Sutra as ominousflowers that grow in Diyu (also known as Hell), or Huángquán (Simplified Chinese: 黃泉; Traditional Chinese: 黃泉), and guide the dead into the next reincarnation.
When the flowers of lycoris bloom, their leaves would have fallen; when their leaves grow, the flowers would have wilted. This habit gave rise to various legends. A famous one is the legend of two elves: Maju (Simplified Chinese: 曼珠; Traditional Chinese: 曼珠), who guarded the flower, and Saka (Simplified Chinese: 沙華; Traditional Chinese: 沙華), who guarded the leaves. Out of curiosity, they defied their fateof guarding the herbalone, and managed to meet each other. At first sight, they fell in love with each other. God, exasperated by their waywardness, separated the miserablecouple, and laid a curseon them as a punishment: the flowers of Maju shall never meet the leaves of Saka again.
It was said that when the couple met after death in Diyu, they vowed to meet each other after reincarnation. However, neither of them could keep their words.
In commemoration of the couple, some call the herbs "Majusaka" (Simplified Chinese: 曼珠沙華; Traditional Chinese: 曼珠沙華), a mixture of "Maju" and "Saka", instead of their scientific name. The same name is used in Japanese, in which it is pronounced manju-shage.
Some other legends have it that when a person sees someone that they may never meet again, these flowers, also called red spider lilies, would bloom along the path. Perhaps because of these sorrowful legends, Japanese people often used these flowers in funerals. Popular name Higanbana (彼岸花, Higan bana) of Japanese for lycoris is literally higan (the other or that shore of sanzu river) flower means, decorate and enjoyable, flower of afterlife in gokuraku jyōdo (極楽浄土, gokuraku jyōdo).
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