The Legend of the Silk Tree Flower: Latest Detailed Explanation
The silk tree flower (Albizia julibrissin) is a deciduous tree of the genus Albizia in the legume family, with elegant leaf shapes and a broad crown. In early summer it provides cool, quiet shade, and its bipinnate compound leaves open by day and close by night, which is quite extraordinary. It carries the meaning of “making up and reuniting the family in joy,” symbolizes everlasting love and pairing side by side, and is a symbol of marital harmony. There are many legends about the silk tree flower, so let us take a look together below!
Legend of the Silk Tree Flower, Part One
It is said that Yu Shun died while on a southern inspection tour to Cangwu, and his consorts Ehuang and Nüying searched all along the Xiang River but never found him. The two consorts wept bitterly all day, until their tears ran dry and turned to blood, and when the blood ran out they died, becoming spirits. Later, people discovered that their spirits and Yu Shun's spirit “became one,” turning into the silk tree. The leaves of the silk tree open by day and close by night, loving each other dearly. From then on, people often used the silk tree to express loyal and unchanging love.
Legend of the Silk Tree Flower, Part Two
In ancient times, the silk tree flower was called the bitter love flower, and it did not bloom. The transformation of the bitter love flower into the silk tree begins with a scholar. The scholar studied hard for ten years and prepared to go to the capital for the imperial examination to seek official rank.
When he was about to leave, his wife Fenshan pointed to the bitter love tree outside the window and said to him: “My husband, on this journey you are sure to pass with high honors, but the capital is full of dazzling flowers that confuse the eyes; whatever you do, do not forget the road home!” The scholar agreed and departed, but from then on there was no news of him at all.
Fenshan waited and waited at home, hoped and hoped, her black hair turned white, and still she did not wait for her husband to return. When the end of her life was near, Fenshan, dragging her sick and weak body, struggled to the bitter love tree that had witnessed her vow with her husband, and with her life made a solemn vow: “If my husband has a change of heart, from now on let this bitter love tree bloom: he shall be the leaves, I shall be the flowers; the flowers shall not age, the leaves shall not fall; one heart for a lifetime, joy together life after life!” Having said this, she breathed her last.
The following year, all the bitter love trees indeed bloomed, soft and pink, like little fans hanging all over the branches, carrying a faint fragrance, only the flowering period was very short, just one day. Moreover, from that time on, all the leaves also opened in the morning and closed in the evening as the flowers bloomed and faded.
To commemorate Fenshan's devoted love, people renamed the bitter love tree the silk tree.
Legend of the Silk Tree Flower, Part Three
It is said that long ago there was a village at the foot of Mount Tai, and in the village lived a Squire He. In his later years, Squire He had a daughter, named Huanxi. The girl was born clever and beautiful, and Squire He and his wife cherished her like the pearl in the palm of their hand.
In the year the girl turned 18, she went to the southern mountain to burn incense on Qingming Festival, and after returning she contracted a hard-to-cure illness: she was dazed and absent-minded, had no appetite for food or drink, and grew thinner day by day. Many famous doctors were summoned and many medicines were taken, but none were effective. Seeing that she was failing, Squire He posted a notice: whoever could cure Miss He's illness would be richly rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold.
The notice was taken down by a poor scholar from Xizhuang. This scholar had delicate features and was handsome and refined; besides studying the classics diligently, he was also well versed in medical books. It was just that his family was poor, and though the time for the capital examination was approaching, he did not have a single coin for travel expenses, so he thought of curing the young lady's illness to obtain some silver for his journey to the capital.
It turned out that the young lady's illness was lovesickness: the scholar from Xizhuang was exactly the fair-faced scholar she had seen at the southern mountain on Qingming Festival. Seeing him today, she was more than half cured without treatment. The scholar did not know the girl's feelings, and simply took her pulse and examined her complexion and tongue coating, saying: “This young lady's illness is caused by her feelings not being fulfilled, by worry and longing turning into illness, and by stagnation of her emotions.”
He also said that on the southern mountain there was a tree called the “sentient tree,” with bipinnate compound leaves, each leaflet facing its pair, opening by day and closing by night, its flowers like threads and its fragrance striking the nose. It could clear the heart and relieve depression, settle the mind and calm the spirit, and when decocted in water and taken, it could cure the young lady's illness.
Squire He quickly sent someone to fetch it and give it to the young lady to take, and her illness indeed improved. Through their repeated dealings, the scholar also developed feelings for the young lady.
Not long after, the scholar went to the capital for the examination, passed with high honors, and upon returning married the young lady. Later, people called this kind of tree the silk tree, and its flower the silk tree flower.