The Flower Language and Legend of Elm

Elm Plant Story

"Yu" and "Yu" are homophones, so they symbolize wealth. Because elm has always been known as "elm knot", it is also said to be difficult to cut down.

The legend of the elm tree

Legend has it that a long time ago, there lived a kind-hearted pair of farmers in a small village on the bank of the Songhua River. The old couple made a living by relying on a few acres of thin land. Although life was hard, the old couple always gave their all to help others in need. They were well-known good people.

One day, a farmer went out to collect firewood and found an old man in tattered clothes, dying on the road. The farmer carried the old man back home. His wife saw that he was almost starving to death, so she cooked the only bowl of rice in the house into porridge for him. After the old man was full and energetic, he looked around the farmer's house, sighed and said, "Your life is so hard, but you still give me the only rice you have. I don't know how to thank you enough." The peasant woman said: "No need to thank me. All poor people in the world are one family. If my family members don't help me, who else can help me?" The old man was very moved, he took out a seed and gave it to the peasant woman, saying: "This is an elm seed, plant it in the yard and wait for the elm tree to grow up. If you encounter difficulties in the future, just shake the tree and money will fall. Remember don't be greedy." After Elm finished speaking, the old man left.

The farmer planted the seeds in the yard, and a tree grew. The old couple carefully watered, weeded and fertilized the seeds, and they finally grew into a towering tree with copper coins hanging all over it. Although they had this tree, the old couple still relied on farming to make a living. Only when they were in extreme difficulties or needed to help others would they drop a few copper coins under the tree. The news spread quickly and even the village bully landlord found out. He brought his thugs and came to the farmer's house in a menacing manner, drove the farmer away, and took over the tree.

The old landlord came under the tree, looked at the strings of copper coins on the tree, hugged the tree and shook it, and the copper coins fell like raindrops. The landlord shook the tree and shouted with laughter: "I'm rich, I'm very rich." He wandered from morning to noon, and finally the landlord and his thugs were buried and crushed to death by the copper coins. From then on, the tree never dropped money again.

The following year there was a severe drought, not a blade of grass grew, and the villagers were on the verge of starvation. A few naughty children in the village came to play under the tree. When they saw green things growing on the tree, they were very curious, so they climbed up the tree and couldn't help picking a few pieces and putting them in their mouths. They were slightly sweet, so the children happily told the adults. The hungry villagers rushed to the tree and came to eat the green thing. The strange thing was that after eating it, people no longer felt hungry and even felt more energetic. So the whole village relied on this tree to survive the famine.

Later, in order to commemorate the tree that saved the lives of the entire village, and because it looked like a string of money, the villagers named it "Elm Money". "Elm money" becomes the seeds of elm trees. They float down with the wind and take root, bloom and bear fruit wherever they fall. Many years later, elm trees grew around the village.

From then on, whenever there was a famine, the villagers would eat elm tree coins to fill their stomachs. Gradually, villagers from near and far moved here to live, and the village became bigger and bigger. People called this village Yushu Village. As the village continued to expand, it became Yushu County, and then to today's Yushu City.