What are the flower meanings and legends of winter jasmine?
Winter jasmine, also known as small yellow flower, golden belt, yellow plum, Qingming flower, etc., is a deciduous shrub of the genus Jasminum in the family Oleaceae. It is dignified and elegant, with a refined bearing, and together with plum blossom, narcissus and camellia is known as one of the Four Friends in the Snow. It does not fear the cold, is not choosy about soil, and has strong adaptability, and has always been loved by people. Now let us take a look at the flower meanings and legends of winter jasmine!
The flower meanings of winter jasmine
Loving each other forever, traditional beauty, strong vitality, aloof and lonely.
The habits of winter jasmine
Winter jasmine likes light, tolerates slight shade, is slightly cold-tolerant, and fears waterlogging. In North China and Yanling it can overwinter outdoors. It requires a warm and humid climate and loose, fertile, well-drained sandy soil. It grows vigorously in acidic soil and grows poorly in alkaline soil. Its roots have strong sprouting ability, and the parts of the branches that touch the ground root very easily.
The legend of winter jasmine
A very, very long time ago, the land was flooded. Crops were submerged, houses collapsed, and the common people had no choice but to gather on the mountaintops. Between heaven and earth it was chaotic all day long, and even spring, autumn, summer and winter could not be told apart.
At that time the emperor was called Shun. Shun called on the minister Gun to lead the people in controlling the waters. After several years of trying, the water grew larger and larger. Gun died, and his son Yu took up the heavy burden of controlling the waters again. When Yu led the people to survey the waterways, he met a girl at Mount Tu. This girl boiled water and cooked food for them and helped them point out water sources. Yu was grateful to this girl, and the girl also liked Yu very much, so the two married.
Because Yu was busy controlling the waters, they parted after only a few days together. When he was leaving, the girl saw Yu off one stage after another. When they came to a mountain ridge, Yu said to her: “No matter how far you see me off, we still have to part! I will not turn back until the waters are controlled.” The girl looked at Yu with tears in her eyes and said: “Go then. I will stand right here and keep watching until you tame the flood and return to my side.” As a parting gift, Yu untied the rattan vine from his waist and handed it to the girl. The girl touched that rattan belt and said: “Go. I will stand here and wait, waiting until the rattan blooms, the flood stops flowing, and the people live and work in peace, and then we will be reunited.”
After parting from the girl, Yu led everyone across the Nine Provinces, digging out river channels. Several years later, the rivers were dredged, the floodwaters returned to the sea, crops sprouted from the earth, and willows and poplars budded. The people finally lived in peace. Yu hurried back overnight, overjoyed, to find his beloved girl. From afar he saw the girl holding up that bunch of rattan vine in her hand, standing on the high mountain waiting for him. But when he came closer, he saw that the girl had long since turned into a stone statue.
It turned out that after Yu left, the girl stood on that mountain ridge every day looking into the distance. No matter whether it was windy or rainy, cold or freezing, she never left. Later, grass awls pierced through her feet, and grass seeds sprouted and took root on her body, yet she still held up the rattan vine and gazed into the distance. As days turned into years, the girl turned into a stone statue. Her hands had grown together with the rattan vine, and her blood soaked into it. No one knows how long passed, but the rattan vine unexpectedly turned green and tender and put out new branches. Yu stepped forward calling to his beloved girl, and tears fell onto the stone statue. In an instant, the rattan vine unexpectedly bloomed with golden little flowers one after another. The rattan vine had bloomed, and the flood had been eliminated. To commemorate the girl's devotion, Yu named this rattan flower “winter jasmine”.