A Complete Analysis of the Flower Language, Symbolism and Legendary Stories of the Morning Glory
The morning glory is also known by other names such as qianniu, trumpet flower, jinjiaolazi, large morning glory, and "diligent lady." Its trailing stems are slender, its corolla is trumpet-shaped, and its flower colors are bright and beautiful. It grows on mountain slopes and in shrubland, along dry river valley roadsides, beside gardens and homes, and on mountain roadsides at altitudes of 100 to 1600 m. Its adaptability is extremely strong. Now let us take a look at the flower language and legends of the morning glory!
The Flower Language of the Morning Glory
Everlasting love. The morning glory has a folk name, "diligent lady," and from the name alone you can tell it is a very industrious flower. Whenever the rooster has just crowed for the first time, when the hour hand still points around "four," the morning glory branches winding around fences and trellises will open one trumpet-like morning glory after another. In the morning light, people breathe the fresh air while feasting their eyes on the fresh flowers dotted among the green leaves. It really has a special charm, no wonder it is so likable.
The Blooming Period of the Morning Glory
The blooming period of the morning glory is from June to October. It usually begins to bloom slowly at 4 to 5 o'clock in the early morning, and by about noon the flowers have withered. This is because the flowers of the morning glory are both large and thin, and the flowers contain abundant moisture. When the sun shines on them, the moisture in the flowers evaporates completely in a relatively short time. If they are in a cool place, the morning glory wilts more slowly, and sometimes the flowers are even still open in the afternoon.
Morning Glory Legend One
Long ago, in Lizhuang, Jinzhou, Hebei, there was a young man named Li Hu. He was very sturdy and very strong, but for some unknown reason he contracted tympanites. Although doctors were called to diagnose and treat him many times, he never showed any improvement. His wife was extremely anxious, and finally she invited an old physician from Luzhou Prefecture, Shanxi, to come and examine Li Hu. After looking him over, the old physician wrote a prescription: "Decoct wild trumpet flower seeds in water and take the liquid."
Li Hu's wife had never heard of this medicine, so she had no choice but to go to his door again and tell the old physician the situation.
After hearing this, the old physician said: "There are these wild flowers right by the gate of my old home in Luzhou Prefecture, Shanxi, and their seeds are this medicine. You can send someone to my home to fetch them." Li Hu's wife hurried to Shanxi and brought back the seeds of the wild trumpet flower. She decocted them in water and gave them to Li Hu for several doses, and they indeed worked. In less than a month, Li Hu had recovered. To thank the old physician for saving his life, Li Hu led over an ox, came to the old physician's house, thanked him profusely, and wanted to give him the ox. He also asked: "Sir, what kind of medicine did you give me to treat my illness?" The old physician found it hard to answer for a moment.
It turned out that this wild trumpet flower still had no name. When Li Hu asked, the old physician thought: this flower seed can cure an incurable disease, its strength can lead an ox, and today the patient has come leading an ox, so it would be better to call it "morning glory" [qianniu hua, literally "lead-ox flower"]! Then he pointed to the wild trumpet flower at the gate and said: "It is called morning glory, and what I gave you was morning glory seeds, and it just so happens that you are also leading an ox." From then on, the wild trumpet flower had the name "morning glory."
Morning Glory Legend Two
A very long time ago, no one knew where or when, a mountain suddenly appeared shaped like a crouching ox, so everyone named it "Funiu Mountain" [Crouching Ox Mountain]. Below Funiu Mountain there was a small village with not many people, and one family in the village had twin sisters. The people in the village were all very poor and had no money to buy oxen to plow the fields, so they could only use homemade crude tools to dig up the soil and work the land. The twin sisters lived at the foot of the mountain. They opened up some wasteland in front of and behind the mountain and relied on their own hands to sow in spring, weed in summer, and harvest in autumn, and their days were just barely passable. The two sisters were kindhearted and often helped people even poorer than themselves.
One day, the two sisters were digging the ground when they suddenly struck a particularly hard spot. The elder sister and younger sister brought all their tools, but no matter what they did, they could not dig up even a bit of soil. After tiring themselves out for quite a while, the two sisters sat down by the hard soil to rest for a moment. Suddenly, that hard soil cracked open by itself. The elder sister quickly widened her eyes and looked, and a silvery light shone from inside. The younger sister ran over and took something out. It turned out to be a silver trumpet.
Just as the two sisters were puzzling over this, an old man with white beard and white hair suddenly appeared beside them. Smiling, he said to them: "This mountain was sent down from heaven by the Jade Emperor. Inside it are pressed one hundred green ox spirits. These green ox spirits had cultivated themselves very well and transformed into human form to do evil in the mortal world. The Jade Emperor subdued them and pressed them under Funiu Mountain. To this day, they have been pressed there for exactly nine hundred years. By tomorrow they will all turn into golden oxen and will no longer harm the mortal world. This silver trumpet is the key to Funiu Mountain. Tonight, when you hear a 'hua la la' sound from the mountain, soon after a place will give off golden light. That is the mountain eye. Just insert the silver trumpet into it. But you must also remember the incantation, 'Funiu Mountain, hua la la, opening the mountain requires my silver trumpet.' Recite it three times, and the mountain eye will grow larger. You can go in and carry out a golden ox, and then you will never worry about food or drink for a lifetime. This key appears once every nine hundred years and is only effective for a short while. Once dawn breaks, it will no longer work. Whatever you do, do not get shut inside the mountain, or you will certainly die. Also, this silver trumpet must never be blown, or all one hundred oxen will come to life and rush out of the mountain opening." Before the two sisters could recover their senses, the old man had disappeared.
The two sisters knew they had met an immortal, and they were very happy. They hurried home and discussed how to open the mountain and carry out the golden oxen. The elder sister said: "We must move quickly and try to carry out all one hundred golden oxen and distribute them to our poor neighbors, so that everyone no longer has to suffer the landlord's anger and everyone can live a good life." The younger sister said: "Although golden oxen are fine, they cannot be eaten as meals. Bright yellow gold and shining white silver are valuable goods in the eyes of the rich, but in the eyes of the poor they are not even as good as a spoonful of flour. If we blow the silver trumpet and turn all those golden oxen into live oxen to give to our neighbors, so that they have oxen to plow their fields, would that not be even better?" The elder sister happily agreed with the younger sister's idea.
So the two sisters split up to notify the villagers and told them to go to the foot of Funiu Mountain that night to lead the oxen away. That night, there was no moon and no stars in the sky, and in front of and behind the mountain it was pitch black, with not a trace of light to be seen. The elder sister led the younger sister from the front of the mountain around to the back and listened, but there was not the slightest movement. The elder sister said to the younger sister: "Do not give up, let us wait a little longer." And so they waited until the fifth watch, when suddenly they heard a "hua la la" sound inside the mountain, and a dazzling golden light shone out from the mountain's north slope.
The two sisters hurriedly ran toward the place giving off light. They saw that the hole was only as thick as a finger. Looking in along the hole, they saw inside a golden square table, and on the square table were neatly arranged row after row of golden oxen the size of steamed buns. The younger sister quickly took out the silver trumpet and inserted it into the mountain eye, while the elder sister quickly recited: "Funiu Mountain, hua hua la, opening the mountain requires my silver trumpet." After reciting it three times, the mountain eye slowly grew larger, but it was only large enough for one person to squeeze through. The elder sister slipped in, and the younger sister followed her in.
As soon as the elder sister got inside, she blew the silver trumpet. At once the golden oxen on the table all came to life. They stretched their legs, shook their fur, jumped down from the table, and all turned into big oxen. They rushed out through the mountain eye. When the last ox had just stuck its head out, the east had already turned slightly red, and the mountain eye slowly began to shrink. This nearly panicked the two sisters to death. The two sisters worked together to push the ox's rear, but they simply could not move it.
As for the villagers, when they heard the trumpet sound, they ran one after another toward Funiu Mountain. They saw ox after ox running all over the mountain slope. They ran up, one person leading one ox, feeling deeply grateful to the two sisters, and all wanted to go thank them, but they could not find any trace of them. At this time someone noticed the ox that was stuck. Everyone pulled at the ox's head, some pulled at its legs, and they desperately dragged it outward, but it simply would not come out. Later, someone put a nose ring through the ox's nose, then tied a long rope to the nose ring, and everyone pulled together with one heart. The ox was hurt by the pulling, and in a panic it kicked out with all four hooves and came out. The mountain eye immediately closed, and the two sisters were shut inside the mountain.
At this time the sun came out, and the silver trumpet in the mountain eye changed and became a trumpet flower. Some people also say that it was to commemorate those two sisters, and that is why the trumpet flower is also called morning glory. Others say that the famous Nanyang large yellow ox of today is the descendant of those golden oxen!