What is the Language of Lilacs?
This article will provide you with a comprehensive explanation of what the language of lilacs is and the symbolism and meaning of lilacs in the context of flowers. Keep reading to find out more!
Recently, while driving outside to run errands, I saw from a distance many light purple flowers blooming by the roadside. The beautiful flower clusters slightly bowed, swaying gently with the spring breeze. I knew that those were the flowers I once loved as a child—the lilacs.
I first learned about lilacs more than a decade ago, probably around 2003. At that time, I was in junior high and had moved from the countryside to the county seat to study. My parents had good intentions, wanting me to receive a better education in the city, but they never expected that my personality would change dramatically because of this, only recovering slowly after I went to college.
I was only eleven or twelve years old when my parents sent me directly to the county to study, living in the school dormitory and going back home once a month. Being away from my familiar friends from childhood was already quite uncomfortable, and what's more, I was among the top students in the village but only average in my new class in the city. Teachers paid no attention to me, and I felt a huge gap in my heart. As a result, the once outgoing me became increasingly melancholic and introverted after entering junior high, not liking to communicate with the students around me. I always felt that these classmates were not only better in their studies but also had better clothing and materials than I did.
Back then, my favorite thing was to go to the bookstore near the school gate to read books or listen to music at a small tape shop nearby. The tape shop would play many songs every day, such as Pang Long's "Two Butterflies," Yu Quan's "Running," and Dao Lang's "The First Snow of 2002"...
Then one day, a song with a hint of melancholy飘进了 my ears, giving me some solace and warmth—“You say you love lilacs the most, because your name is just like it, how melancholic a flower, how moody a person... Drifting and摇摆 all your life, how many beautifully woven dreams... You left so hurriedly, leaving me with lifelong concerns...
Later, I learned from my classmates that the name of this song was "Lilacs." Unwilling to communicate with classmates, I proactively borrowed a tape from a classmate for the first time, played it in the tape recorder I used for English, listened to it many times, and silently wrote the lyrics in a small notebook.
At that time, I often wondered what lilacs looked like and why this song sounded so sad. Was it because lilacs themselves were melancholic?
Then, as I entered high school and college, my personality gradually changed, and I became more and more confident. Often, I was so busy that I forgot the period when I was young and melancholic, introverted, and clueless. I also forgot all the illusions I once had about lilacs.
Even after entering college, with the internet becoming more and more developed, I never thought of searching online to find out what the lilacs I was curious about looked like.
It was not until a practical botany class in college when the teacher took us to the major parks in Xinxiang to recognize plants that I truly saw lilacs for the first time—
Just like now, it was March with warm weather and occasional breezes that brought a hint of fragrance. Many classmates were attracted by the bright peach and purple wistaria, but I was drawn to a shrub with light purple flowers by the roadside. These shrubs were not very tall, some reaching my shoulders, others just to my waist. Since its heavy flower clusters mostly grew at the top of the branches, the branches leaned slightly, looking like a shy girl.
What is the Language of Lilacs?
Its flower clusters have many small flowers that are beautiful and abundant, with a gradient color of light purple mixed with a hint of white, very elegant and unique. At this time, its leaves had just come out and were elliptical, echoing the flowers and swaying in the spring breeze.
I curiously asked the teacher what kind of plant it was. The teacher smiled and said, "This is a lilac, a deciduous shrub often used as an ornamental shrub in gardens, which blooms in spring and is one of the few plants with both flowers and leaves in spring.
This was when I realized that this was the lilac that had comforted my heart for a long time and made me feel extremely emotional and curious!
Lilacs are really beautiful, half light purple and half light white, with drooping flower clusters, swaying with the wind, exuding a faint poeticness and emitting a sweet fragrance.
Lilacs are special; from a distance, they look like clusters of flowers, but up close, they are individual small flowers. So many small flowers crowded together look like a cluster of light purple little stars closely packed, relying on each other harmoniously and intimately. Moreover, if you look closely at each small flower, you will find that each has four tiny petals, looking exquisite and unique. I believe that no matter how restless one's heart is, it should be able to calm down and become comfortable at the sight of lilacs.
I once thought that lilacs were only light purple, but after working in the field of landscaping, I gradually discovered that there are many colors of lilacs, including dark purple, light purple, and white, although light purple is more commonly used in landscaping.
Photo of white lilacs
Like most flowering plants, lilacs also have beautiful flower languages, with slightly different meanings for each color. For example, purple lilacs symbolize初恋, representing the beauty and innocence of first love. It is said that if you give lilacs to your beloved, you will surely have a long and happy life together.
And I, who did not know lilacs and understand them in my youth, got some solace and hope from a song and the unseen lilacs. At that time, I often fantasized about what lilacs looked like...
The above is an introduction to the language of lilacs and the symbolism and meaning of lilacs as a reference suggestion.