What is the flower language of the crabapple flower? Latest meaning analysis
The crabapple flower has an elegant posture and blooms like brocade. Since ancient times, it has been a famous flower enjoyed by both refined and popular tastes, and has long been known as the "immortal among flowers" and "imperial consort among flowers." However, the crabapple of the Chaenomeles genus has no fragrance, but this does not affect the crabapple flower's place in people's hearts, and it has even earned the crabapple flower the reputation of “national beauty.” Below, the editor will introduce to you the flower language of the crabapple flower and related legends!
"Crabapple" -- Su Shi
The east wind softly spreads its lofty radiance, fragrant mist veils the air as the moon turns past the corridor.
I only fear that deep in the night the flower will fall asleep, so I burn tall candles to shine upon her red adornment.
The flower language of the crabapple flower
The flower language of the crabapple flower: the wanderer's homesickness, the sorrow of parting, gentleness, beauty, and happiness.
The begonia symbolizes bitter love. When people encounter setbacks in love, they often use the begonia flower as a self-metaphor. The ancients called it the "heartbreaking flower," using the flower to express the sorrowful emotions of men and women parting, and thus its flower language came to include “bitter love.”
The legend of the crabapple flower
Flower languages generally come from certain legends and allusions, and the crabapple flower naturally has its own legend as well. According to legend, in the Jade Emperor's imperial garden there was a flower deity named Jade Maiden. Because Chang'e was gentle and beautiful, Jade Maiden and Chang'e became good friends, and she often went to the Guanghan Palace to play.
Once, Jade Maiden saw that ten pots of exotic flowers had been newly planted in the Guanghan Palace. It was a kind of immortal flower she had never seen before, with several small flowers clustered into an umbrella shape, exceedingly strange, clever, and lovely. The buds were red, but the blossoms were a shy, pale red. The flower branches also bore fruit, long and oval, yellow in color. Both the flowers and the fruit gave off a rich fragrance, truly delightful. Jade Maiden thought that the Jade Emperor's imperial garden had every kind of flower except this one. Therefore she asked Sister Chang'e to give her a pot, so she could take it back and plant it in the imperial garden. But Chang'e shook her head and said, this was the Queen Mother of the West's flower, which the Tathagata Buddha had specially sent from the kingdom of Tianzhu to the Guanghan Palace to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday. Because this flower was cold-resistant, it was planted in the Guanghan Palace. Jade Maiden pleaded again and again, saying only that the Guanghan Palace had so many flowers that missing one pot would not matter, and the Queen Mother would not notice. Chang'e could not withstand Jade Maiden's constant pleading of “dear sister this” and “dear sister that,” so she agreed.
Jade Maiden finally persuaded Chang'e and obtained this pot of fragrant, enchanting exotic flower. Happily she lifted the flower pot and walked out, saying as she went: “Thank you! Thank you!” Unexpectedly, just as she reached the entrance of the Guanghan Palace, she ran head-on into the Queen Mother of the West. As soon as the Queen Mother saw Jade Maiden holding the immortal flower sent from the kingdom of Tianzhu while expressing thanks, she understood that Chang'e must have privately taken her flower to give away, and so she angrily rebuked Chang'e for acting recklessly. Moreover, as she spoke she seized the Jade Rabbit's stone pestle and struck both Jade Maiden and the pot of flowers in her hands down to the mortal world.
This pot of flowers happened to land in the garden of an old man who made his living by growing flowers. The old man had a daughter named Haitang, and the girl's face was as beautiful as a flower. When the old man saw a pot of flowers fall from the sky, as a flower grower he naturally loved and cherished flowers, so he quickly reached out to catch it. Afraid of mishap, he hurriedly called his daughter over to help, calling out again and again: “Haitang, Haitang!” When the girl Haitang heard this, she hurried over, saw her father holding a pot of flowers, and repeatedly called “Haitang.” So she happily asked: “Father, is this beautiful flower also called Haitang?” The old man caught this pot of flowers and saw that it was a kind of flower he had never seen and could not name. Hearing what his daughter said, he felt the flower was indeed as beautiful as his daughter, so he simply made the best of the mistake and called it “crabapple flower.”
Although the crabapple flower was caught by the flower-loving old man and from then on cultivated in the mortal world, its fragrant soul drifted away with the wind. This is why some people say that the crabapple flower originally had a heavenly fragrance, but now no longer has any scent.