The Complete Guide to the Meaning and Legend of the Foxtail Grass

Foxtail grass, also known as Arhat grass, barnyard grass, and green foxtail, is an annual herbaceous plant of the genus Setaria in the grass family. It grows as a common weed in wild fields and along roadsides below 4000 m in elevation. It originated in the temperate and warm temperate regions of Eurasia and is now widely distributed in the temperate and subtropical regions of the world. Let's take a look at the meaning and legend of the foxtail grass!

The Meaning of the Foxtail Grass

Perseverance, love that is not understood, love that is difficult, secret love. There was once a very beautiful little girl on her birthday. Many boys gave her flowers, all kinds of beautiful ones, but a boy from a poor family gave that girl a bunch of foxtail grass. At the time the girl was very angry and drove him out. Later, after thinking it over carefully, she wanted to know the reason. The boy told her that foxtail grass symbolizes love that is not understood by others, yet it can silently give for her.

The Symbolism of the Foxtail Grass

Take three stalks of foxtail grass and braid them into a single braid, sized to your finger, then bend it into a loop and tie a knot, and wear it on your finger; it represents a private pledge of marriage.

The Legend of the Foxtail Grass

Long, long ago, there was a beautiful and peaceful kingdom called the Kingdom of Red Sandalwood. This country was named for its abundant production of purple sandalwood, though some say it was named because a fairy in purple robes once descended here, took some sandalwood, and thus the name came about. But whatever the reason, sandalwood calms the spirit, so all things here more or less possessed spirituality.

The people of the Kingdom of Red Sandalwood all had surnames related to colors. No matter how strange it might be, no one would say anything, but this country had an unwritten rule: only members of the royal family could bear the surname Zi (Purple).

The king of the Kingdom of Red Sandalwood was called Zi Ran, and the queen had originally been a commoner named Lan Xun, later renamed Zi Xun. The king and queen had a son named Zi Yi. Though this only son was not extremely handsome, he had a kind heart and an innate melancholy. The prince had a large garden filled with rare flowers and exotic plants from all over. Walking into the garden was like being immersed in nature itself.

The little prince's most pleasant pastime was walking in the garden in spring and admiring the flowers. In summer he set up gauze curtains in the garden, placed a bed there, and slept in the garden watching the stars at night. In autumn he strolled through the garden, sighing with a sorrowful mood. In winter he watched the snowy scenery in the garden. The king and queen knew the prince loved his garden very much, so they instructed the servants to clear all the weeds in the garden every early spring, leaving only the prince's flowers blooming in the garden all year round. Of course, the prince never knew about this, and likewise, the prince had never seen grass.

But in this early spring, things took a turn. One morning, as the prince strolled along the garden path, beneath a white rose he discovered a tiny foxtail grass. The little prince was very curious, because he had never seen grass before, so the prince called over a maid and the gardener. The gardener and the maid thought the prince would blame them for not clearing the grass away completely, so the gardener hurried to pull up the foxtail grass. The prince grabbed the gardener's hand and signaled him not to do so, showing great interest in this little grass and repeatedly asking the gardener questions about foxtail grass. The gardener and the maid finally breathed a sigh of relief. Since this foxtail grass was now the only grass in the vast garden, the prince instructed the gardener not to remove it and to let it grow and die on its own.

But no one knew that this little grass was a foxtail grass with thought and spirituality; it simply could not make sounds or move.

Prince Zi Yi came to the garden for a walk every day as usual. When passing by the foxtail grass, the prince would always pause for a while, gazing and thinking with deep affection. The poor foxtail grass thought the prince was looking at it, and so it grew fond of the prince. But the little grass did not know that after a nap the prince had long forgotten its existence; what the prince gazed at was only the white rose in front of it, sent by the princess of a neighboring kingdom. Every day the little grass looked at the prince's face and fell in love with him. Although it could not speak, for it, being able to silently gaze at the prince was already happiness enough.

As the days passed one by one, autumn was approaching. The garden was desolate, the tall plane trees began to shed their leaves, the birches began to wither, and the foxtail grass did not have many days left either. The plants were destined to all die before winter; this was the law of nature and the decree of heaven. But the foxtail grass refused to die just like that; it liked the prince. It also did not want to die; it feared the prince would be sad. But all of this was only its own wishful thinking, only its beautiful dream. The prince in fact never remembered it, but the foxtail grass did not know any of this. So the grass decided to defy fate, to fight heaven and nature for its own dream, for the chance to see the prince every day. It would live on regardless of the seasons!

Throughout autumn, the foxtail grass endured pain, living under the oppression of the autumn wind. Finally, autumn passed, and in the entire garden only the withered chrysanthemums and the gaunt foxtail grass remained. Soon winter arrived again, and in the garden only the plum blossoms and the weak foxtail grass were left. The prince came to the garden every day as usual, but what attracted him was only the cold-defying plum blossoms, not the dying foxtail grass. And under the devastation of fierce winds and snow, what sustained the grass's will to live was the prince's every smile and frown as he admired the plum blossoms. Sometimes the snow was too heavy and the prince could not go out, so the little grass would strain to push through the snow layer, just to catch a glimpse of the prince's palace.

Winter finally passed amid the little grass's blood and tears, and the foxtail grass faced one spring, summer, autumn, and winter after another with renewed vigor.

Who knows how many more years passed. The little prince had grown up, and the foxtail grass was no longer the tiny blade it once was, but what remained unchanged was still the little grass's love for the prince.

Winter came again. After a light snowfall, even the cold-defying plum blossoms were gone from the garden. In the lonely garden only the green foxtail grass remained. The little grass suddenly felt that this winter was colder than any winter before.

The snow melted, and the garden became lively again. But it was people who were lively; spring had not come. Hundreds of maids and guards, holding colored ribbons and red silk, decorated the garden with lanterns and streamers. The lonely, desolate garden became extraordinarily bustling. However, because the people were so happy, they did not notice that beside the path they had just laid, there was a green foxtail grass.

The foxtail grass was very curious and did not know why people were so happy, but intuition told it that something was about to happen. For the first time the grass suddenly panicked. The little grass was surprised, because it had no heart, yet it had indeed just felt panic. The foxtail grass did not know that it was an anomaly among all plants, because not only did it have thought and spirituality, but more importantly, at the center of its seed head there was a very, very small blue dot, and that was the heart of the foxtail grass. Because it had a heart, the foxtail grass had feelings and independent thought.

Another 8 days passed. On that morning, no one came to the garden again, and the garden had long since been decorated like paradise. Time passed little by little, and the foxtail grass panicked again, its little heart slowly beginning to beat. By noon, light snow began to fall from the sky. The foxtail grass was astonished to find that the snowflakes were faintly purple, though the color was very, very pale, visible only to tiny living things. Many strangers in splendid clothing came to the garden one after another. Toward evening, the music began, and those nobles all put down what they were holding and looked together toward the end of the path.

The snow was still falling. The foxtail grass saw the prince. He looked happier than on any other day. But beside the prince, a girl who looked like a fairy had her arm linked with the prince's, her face full of smiles. "What beautiful clothes they are wearing, just like..." While the foxtail grass was silently marveling, it suddenly realized that this was the prince's wedding, and this girl was the prince's bride...

The snow grew heavier and heavier. The prince and his bride, the princess of the neighboring kingdom who had sent him the white rose, walked along the path covered with a red carpet, getting closer and closer to the foxtail grass by the roadside. And the foxtail grass gradually truly awakened: I am only a tiny foxtail grass, ordinary. I should not have vainly hoped to like the prince. After all, he is human, and the prince's companion in the end could only be a princess. So all I can do is wish them well... Why is this winter so cold? I don't think I can hold on anymore...". The foxtail grass suddenly felt an unprecedented cold. Yes, originally it had relied on its love for the prince to withstand the severe cold, but now that protective barrier was gone, and the foxtail grass had only one last bit of consciousness left.

The prince and princess stopped beside the foxtail grass. This time it was the princess's wish. "Zi Yi, look! There is still foxtail grass surviving in winter. This must be God's blessing upon us!" The princess was overjoyed. The prince said in confusion: "It seems a tiny foxtail grass grew here in the garden a few years ago. I don't know how it is now; perhaps it died long ago." "Then, could you weave this foxtail grass into a ring and give it to me? It seems quite unique." "Of course! If one stalk of foxtail grass can bring you happiness, that should be its honor!" With that, the prince went to pick the foxtail grass.

At that moment, with a faint "pop," the blue heart of the foxtail grass shattered. "My prince?! I am that very little grass from before! Have you never remembered me at all? Zi Yi, Zi Yi, it seems all of this really was just my purple dream rambling! My last wish is..." The prince pulled up the foxtail grass, and the foxtail grass's life ended at that very moment. It did not even finish silently wishing its final wish, "I hope the prince will be happy," before its life ended.

That night, the princess completed the wedding wearing the ring the prince had woven from the foxtail grass. And until the prince died, he never knew that the dream of a foxtail grass that had once silently loved him had been ended by his own hand. And that foxtail grass ring, though withered, was buried in the princess's tomb, because this ring had been woven by the prince himself at the wedding of the prince and princess...