The legend of flowers

Lotus

Lotus is a traditional famous flower in my country. The flowers and leaves are graceful, and the fragrance is all around, touching the heart. It has the temperament of facing the scorching sun without fear and remaining unstained by the mud. Therefore, in people's minds, lotus is the embodiment of truth, goodness and beauty, a harbinger of good fortune and prosperity, a sacred and pure object in Buddhism, and the seed of friendship. It is said that the lotus is the incarnation of Yu Ji, a beautiful maidservant of the Queen Mother. At that time, Yu Ji saw the couples in the world, men farming and women weaving, and she was very envious. Therefore, she was tempted by worldly desires and, accompanied by the daughter of the river goddess, sneaked out of the Heavenly Palace and came to the West Lake in Hangzhou. The beautiful scenery of West Lake made Yu Ji linger and play in the lake without restraint. She was reluctant to leave until dawn. When Queen Mother Wang found out, she used the lotus throne to knock Yu Ji into the lake and made her "sink into the mud, never to ascend to the South Heaven again." From then on, there was one less beautiful maid in the heavenly palace, and one more beautiful flower with jade-like skin and watery beauty was gained in the world.

Gerbera

In the early 20th century, Madagascar, located in southern Africa, was a small country rich in tropical flowers and plants. There was a local girl named Silang Yini who had loved wild flowers with slightly curved stems and low-hanging flowers since she was a child. When she got married, she asked for more to be placed in the hall to add to the wedding atmosphere. Friends and relatives from all over sang and danced and toasted each other frequently. Unexpectedly, the groom, who had a low alcohol tolerance, became drunk after only three rounds of wine. He hung his head and bent over, leaning left and right. The bride had to help him into the bedroom to rest. When people saw how similar the supporting posture was to the growth of wild flowers, many girls said in unison: "Oh, the flower really looks like gerbera!" From then on, the name of gerbera flower spread like wildfire.

Daffodils

In Greek mythology, there was a boy named Nagasos. It was prophesied that he could live forever as long as he didn't see his own face. When the boy grew up, he was handsome and beautiful. Many girls fell in love with him, but he was cold to them. The suitors were angry and asked the gods to punish the arrogant man. Once, Nagassos came back from hunting and saw himself in a spring. He fell in love with his own image and could not take his eyes off his own face until he died beside the spring. In this way, a flower grew at the place where he died - daffodil. According to legend, Muhammad once said: "If anyone has two loaves of bread, sell one and use it to buy daffodils, because bread is food for the body and daffodils are food for the soul."

Rose

Rose, also known as Chinese rose, is the king of flowers. Indian mythology states that Goddess Lakshmi was born from a rose bud and was awakened by the protective god Pythagoras kissing her. From then on, Goddess Lakshmi became Pythagoras' wife. Many Christian legends are also related to roses. Archangel Gavriel wove three wreaths for the Virgin Mary. The wreath of white roses brought her joy, the wreath of red roses brought her pain, and the wreath of yellow roses brought her peace. The Germans believed that using white roses could expose the tricks of witches. Every year on February 14th, the Western Valentine's Day, countless men and women who are in love use red roses to marry their loved ones. This festival is said to have originated in ancient Rome. It is said that people worshipped Juno, the queen of heaven, on this day because she was the patron saint of women's marital happiness. In addition, the ancients believed that this day was the beginning of youth and activity, and both sides needed to enjoy themselves and send silent wishes. Therefore, people generally give rose the title of "flower of love".

Hemerocallis

Hemerocallis is also called forget-me-not, daylily, and day lily. It is a "real delicacy on the table" with high nutritional value. However, although daylily is delicious, it is not suitable to be eaten fresh because it contains colchicine, which can cause poisoning or even life-threatening. Therefore, it must be steamed, dried and stored before being eaten. According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Zheng stopped paying homage to the Zhou royal family because Duke Heng of Zhou deprived him of his power to assist in government. King Heng of Zhou summoned the armies of Chen, Wei, Cai and other vassal states to attack Zheng, and Duke Zheng led the troops to defend it. The two sides fought a great battle and King Heng of Zhou was defeated. A soldier from the State of Wei who served as the vanguard died in the battle. When his wife heard the news, she sadly recited a poem. The last four lines of the poem said: "Where can I get the daylily that can make me plant it on the back of the tree? I wish I could think of my brother so that my heart would be filled with sorrow." This means, where can I get the daylily that can make me forget my sorrow so that I can plant it on the steps of the North Hall (these two lines metaphorically mean that she cannot forget her sorrow)? Whenever I think of my husband, my heart aches! Later, "daylily" refers to forget-me-not.

Cockscomb

The name of cockscomb is recorded in "History of Flowers". It is named because its inflorescence is red and flat like a cockscomb. A poem by Ming Dynasty Shen Zhou goes like this: "With its high crown and red tips, it stands alone like a morning rooster." The author depicts the cockscomb as being unique and lifelike. In the old days, there was a custom in Beijing of worshiping the moon with cockscombs during the Mid-Autumn Festival. There was also a children's song popular among people: "Cockscombs are blooming all over the yard, grandpa is drinking, grandma..."

Carnation

In Philadelphia, USA, there is a Miss Anna Chavez. Her mother died on May 9, 1906, and she was deeply saddened and missed her deeply. On the anniversary of her mother's death the following year, she wore white carnations on her lapel to commemorate her. She also called on the public to establish a holiday to honor mothers, and asked daughters to give red carnations to their living mothers to express their gratitude for her upbringing. This initiative is gaining increasing sympathy and support from the general public. Thanks to everyone's tireless efforts, the U.S. Congress finally passed a resolution in 1914 to designate the second Sunday in May each year as Mother's Day.

Peony (grow peony if you have a daughter)

The Tujia people living in western Hubei and western Hunan have always had the custom of "planting peonies when a daughter is born." Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a hunter who went up the mountain to hunt. Before I knew it, I had entered a deep mountain forest. It was all dark and dark, and no one was seen all day. When he was lonely, he suddenly heard a bird singing, and the hunter was overjoyed. Just as the bird was accompanying the hunter, an eagle swooped over and pecked the bird to death. The hunter angrily raised his gun and shot the eagle to death. When he turned around to look at the bird again, he saw a peony growing where the bird had died. The hunter took the peony home, planted it behind his house, and diligently fertilized and watered it. The next year the peony bloomed, and his wife gave birth to a beautiful little daughter. The hunter believed that the daughter was the incarnation of the peony. When the daughter grew up and got married, the hunter gave the peony as a dowry to her in-laws. Year after year, more and more people planted peonies when they had daughters, and it became a custom passed down from generation to generation.

Bauhinia (Resurrection of the Bauhinia Tree)

Legend has it that during the Southern Dynasties, Tian Zhen and his brothers Tian Qing and Tian Guang divided up their family property. All other properties had been divided up, but there was a redbud tree in front of the hall that was difficult to deal with. At night, the three brothers decided to cut the tree into three sections, giving each of them a section. The next day, when Tian Zhen went to cut the tree, he found that it was dead, as if it had been burned. He was very shocked and said to his two younger brothers, "This tree originally had only one root. I heard that it would die if it was cut into three parts. People are not as good as trees. Instead, they have to divide the tree." The three brothers were very sad and decided to divide the tree again. The tree immediately came back to life. They were deeply moved and put their divided property together again and never mentioned dividing the property again. Later, "Bauhinia" was used as an allusion to praise brothers.

tulip

In ancient times, there was a beautiful girl who lived in a majestic castle. Three warriors fell in love with her at the same time. One gave her a crown, one gave her a sword, and one gave her a pile of gold. But she was not in love with anyone, so she had to pray to the goddess of flower. The goddess of flower felt that love could not be forced, so she turned the crown into flowers, the sword into green leaves, and the pile of gold into bulbs, which together became a tulip. Tulips have the characteristic of blooming during the day and closing at night. More than 500 years ago, the headscarf worn by people in Central Asia was similar in shape to a tulip, so its original name Tulipa means "headscarf" in Turkish.