The historical legend of Ophiopogon japonicus

Other names for Ophiopogon japonicus

Ophiopogon japonicus is recorded in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" as an excellent medicinal material for health preservation. The main medicinal part of Ophiopogon japonicus is its tuber. In Henan, people habitually call Ophiopogon japonicus "Yu Yuliang", "Yu Jiu" and "Yu Xia". These names are related to the historical legends of Ophiopogon japonicus.

The historical legend of Ophiopogon japonicus

Legend has it that in ancient times, the sage Dayu spent a lot of effort to control the disaster of floods. He passed by his home three times without entering. Finally, the floods ended and people finally lived and worked in peace and contentment, no longer suffering from floods. Since the flood was over, people were able to work normally. Without the flood, the crops in the fields grew very well and people had a good harvest. However, this harvest also brought troubles. There was too much food and the people could not eat it all. When Dayu saw this, he ordered everyone to dump the remaining grain into the river. After a while, people found that a kind of grass had grown in the river where the grain had been dumped. For this reason, people called this grass "Yu Yuliang". This plant called "Yu Yuliang" is what we call Ophiopogon japonicus. Later, because this plant grew in Yuzhou and its leaves were very long and narrow, and looked very similar to leeks, people also called this plant "Yu Jiu".