Folk Stories about Chrysanthemum

Story 1

As early as more than two thousand years ago, Ying Shao of the Han Dynasty said in "Customs and Meanings": There was a village called Gangu in Li County, Nanyang, Henan (now Neixiang County). The water in the valley is sweet and there are many large chrysanthemums growing on the mountain. A spring flows through the chrysanthemum bushes on the mountain, and the petals scatter in the water, giving the water the fragrance of chrysanthemums.

More than 30 households in the village drink this spring water. They generally live to around 130 years old, and the youngest are in their 70s or 80s. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, people in the imperial palace would drink chrysanthemum wine every Double Ninth Festival, saying that it would "prolong one's life."

Story 2

In my country's strange notes, there are many accounts of people becoming immortals by taking chrysanthemums. According to records, Hengjing of Runan in the Eastern Han Dynasty studied Taoism under Taoist Fei.

Fei said to him, "There will be a great disaster in Runan on September 9th. Let your family go up the mountain and drink chrysanthemum wine to ward off some disaster." After hearing this, Hengjing and his family went up the mountain. When he came back, all the chickens and dogs were dead. From then on, climbing high places and drinking chrysanthemum wine on the Double Ninth Festival became a traditional custom for the people to avoid disasters and calamities.

Story 3

During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao's son, Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi, once wrote a letter to his good friend Zhong Yao about chrysanthemums.

The letter said that someone was sending him a bouquet of chrysanthemums, because in autumn when all the trees withered, only chrysanthemums were colorful and luxuriantly growing, which showed that they contained some of the true energy of heaven and earth and were a good thing that could prolong people's life, so they were sent to him for him to study the principle of longevity.

Tao Hongjing, a famous doctor in the Jin Dynasty, also advocated people eating chrysanthemums. And it is said that real chrysanthemums taste sweet, while fake chrysanthemums taste bitter.

The poet Tao Yuanming also often mentioned eating chrysanthemum in his poems, and said, "Wine can cure a hundred diseases, and chrysanthemum can control the decline of aging." People love chrysanthemums, not only for viewing, but also have long recognized their medicinal and edible value.

Story 4

There is also a very interesting legend about chrysanthemum in Japan.

In ancient times, a large ship sailed out from China, carrying 12 noble boys and girls, on a long voyage overseas in search of the elixir of life. In exchange, they brought their most valuable item - golden chrysanthemums.

Later, the ship encountered a storm and was washed onto an uninhabited desert island. They were forced to live there, reproduce, and plant golden chrysanthemums on the island.

After that, the people there called themselves the "Empire of Japan". The pattern on the Japanese flag that is mistakenly thought to be the sun is actually a golden chrysanthemum. Moreover, the symbol of the Japanese emperor is also a 16-petal chrysanthemum.