The legend of lotus

The legend of lotus on March 3

Once upon a time, a monk in a temple and a nun in a nunnery were in love. However, as they were both monks, they could not become husband and wife, and could only meet in secret from time to time.

On March 3rd of one year, they met by a lake and were discovered by a beggar. The nun panicked and jumped into the lake and committed suicide. The monk was only trying to save the nun, but he also drowned. The beggar thought it was all his fault, so he quickly jumped into the lake to save the man. However, they all knew how to swim and eventually drowned in the lake.

The bodies of the monk and nun were soon eaten by the big fish in the lake, and their bones sank into the mud at the bottom of the lake. Both the monk and the nun felt that they had died unjustly, and they both complained to the Earth Bodhisattva. The Earth Bodhisattva said that they would have to be buried in the mud in the afterlife, but their corpses could still be connected in the mud.

The monks and nuns also ask to come out every year to see the world. The Earth Bodhisattva actually agreed, but stipulated that they could not leave the mud, and could only come out of the water and explore the world on the third day of the third lunar month every year, the anniversary of their death.

When the beggar's soul saw that the monk and the nun were allowed to recover their lives, he also came to complain to the Earth Bodhisattva. The Earth Bodhisattva turned the beggar into a water snake, and every year on the third day of March, he went to see the world.

Later, the bones of the monks and nuns grew into lotus roots that humans like to eat, and even if they were broken, they could still be connected. The monks want themselves to grow into lotus leaves, and the nuns want themselves to grow into lotus flowers. On the third day of March every year, the lotus leaves first curl up into sharp corners and emerge from the water, and then slowly unfold. The lotus would have emerged from the water on the third day of March, but she was embarrassed about her past and would not shyly emerge from the gaps between the lotus leaves until they had grown bigger.

Of course, water snakes are not shy. Every year on the third day of March, they can't wait to come out of their holes.

Therefore, there is a proverb that goes "Every year there is a March 3rd, snakes come out of holes and lotus roots grow out of hairpins."

Twin Lotus

Legend has it that a long time ago there was a lotus pond in a village, and the pond was filled with beautiful lotus flowers every year. Living in Tangdong is Mr. Hong, who is over 40 years old but has no children. This year, his wife became pregnant, and Hong prayed to the Buddha day and night to bless him with a son. But a girl was born. His wife discussed with the official and decided to raise the girl as a son, so that people outside thought Sailang was a boy.

There lived a family named Bai in Tangxi. His wife had given birth to three sons, but they all died young. This year, his wife became pregnant again. But when they gave birth to another son, the couple was afraid that the child would die early, so they named the child Zhenniang. When Zhenniang was thirteen years old, she dressed more beautifully than other girls, and people outside thought she was a girl.

When Zhenniang arrived at the school, she became particularly good friends with Sailang. Seeing how close they were, their classmates decided one day, when the teacher was away, to make a joke and ask Sailang and Zhenniang to get married in the wedding hall. No one knew that Sailang was a girl and Zhenniang was a boy.

Two years passed and the students were about to part ways. Sailang and Zhenniang were reluctant to part, so they became sworn brothers by the lotus pond.

After Sailang returned home, he often missed Zhenniang. When Zhenniang was at home, she always wanted to see Sailang. Zhenniang's father died of illness, and her mother asked Zhenniang to change into men's clothes and bury Lao Bai. It was not until this time that the whole village knew that Zhenniang was actually a man.

When Zhenniang heard from her mother that Sailang was a girl, she was very happy and determined to marry her. My mother knew that the Hong family would not agree, so she refused to find a matchmaker.

One night, Zhenniang asked her mother to ask a matchmaker to propose marriage again. Her mother felt sorry for her son and agreed to give it a try. Unexpectedly, the matchmaker was driven back before she even entered the gate of the Hong family. The official also drove Zhenniang and her son out of Hongjia Village. Later, Zhenniang's mother passed away, and Zhenniang secretly returned to Hongjia Village.

One day, he sneaked around to the back garden of the Hong family. When Sailang's maid saw that it was Zhenniang, she hurried in to tell Sailang. Sailang immediately wrote a letter, asking him to leave here as soon as possible. Zhenniang opened it and saw that Sailang had asked her to meet him at the lotus pond at three o'clock tonight. After the two met, they lamented the unfairness of fate and finally jumped into the water together.

The next day, the Hong family searched everywhere and found Sailang's embroidered shoe by the lotus pond, realizing that he had jumped into the water. Mr. Hong hurriedly ordered people to salvage them, only to see Zhenniang and Sailang hugging each other tightly, and several people could not pull them apart no matter how hard they tried. Mr. Hong ordered his men to bury them both beside the lotus pond.

That night, there were only lightning, thunder, and a violent storm. When daybreak came, the water in the lotus pond had risen all the way to the graves of Zhenniang and Sailang, surrounding them. The lotus flowers growing on the graves had stems thicker than a human thumb. There are two flowers blooming on the top, one red and one white, closely together, so people called it "Bingtie Lian", and later it was called "Bingdidi".