Green Bamboo Begonia Flower

"Green Bamboo Notes in the Xianping Years" is set in the sixth year of Xianping in the Northern Song Dynasty. It revolves around a pair of childhood sweethearts in Yingtian Prefecture - the scholar Shen Zhiwei and the daughter of the paper maker Su Yanqing. It uses delicate brushstrokes to outline the long-lasting affection and responsibility for family and country in troubled times. Shen Zhiwei came from a scholarly family, while Su Yanqing grew up in a family of penmen and ink. The two families were only separated by a blue brick wall. After more than ten years of companionship, the green bamboo paper became a testimony of their friendship: she picked early spring new bamboo to make paper for him, and printed fresh begonias on the corner of the paper; he used the pen to paint for her, and condensed the begonias by the window on the paper. The selection of Imperial College broke the peace, and Shen Zhiwei went to Bianjing to study. Before leaving, Su Yanqing gave him a green bamboo paper and an engraving pen made by himself, and agreed to wait for his return. During the years of studying hard in Bianjing, a monthly letter with begonia paper became Shen Zhiwei's comfort; while Su Yanqing guarded the pen and ink shop and expressed his thoughts with newly made green bamboo paper. Two years later, when the Liao army moved south and the border was in crisis, Shen Zhiwei resolutely gave up his academic career and took the initiative to go to Yanmen Pass to counselor in military affairs. At the windy and sandy border, he held the bamboo pen tightly and drafted a battle report on Su Yanqing's green bamboo paper, shouldering the responsibility of his family and country as a scholar. When the war subsided, Shen Zhiwei resigned and returned home, only to find that the Su family's pen and ink shop had closed its doors. Su Yanqing went to Bianjing to seek medical treatment for his father. Carrying the last stack of green bamboo paper with Begonia printed on it, Shen Zhiwei set foot on the road to Bianjing again. The story stopped in the spring breeze of the Xianping period, but left a page full of tenderness and determination - the green bamboo paper carries not only the affection of childhood sweethearts, but also the persistence of ordinary people in the troubled times, and the warmth that has never faded in the years of war.