What is the flower language and symbolic meaning of the redbud flower?
The redbud flower, also known as the red-flowered Bauhinia, is native to China; abroad it is called the "red-flowered camel's foot tree," and it is the regional flower of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. Do you know what the flower language and symbolic meaning of the redbud flower are? Let's take a look together with the editor at the flower language and symbolic meaning of the redbud flower!
The flower language of the redbud flower
Family affection, harmony among brothers, and a thriving family fortune.
The symbolic meaning of the redbud flower
When the redbud blooms, branch after branch, cluster upon cluster, it is like dye, like a painting. Amid displacement and wandering, how much longing lingers in the drifting heart. The wind blows the redbud, and countless blossoms fall, making the melancholy poet think of kin at the sight of them. The deep bond of siblings who once stayed together day and night is gone like fallen petals with no place to return.
In the shadows of the flowers, have you felt those eyes in the distance longing for the wanderer's return, letting you feel the warmth brimming with faint family affection? Having been invited into courtyards and becoming a traditional courtyard tree, the redbud sinks its roots deep into the courtyards of ordinary households, and has always been a symbol of family harmony and deep blood ties, becoming the representative plant of family affection.
The legend of the redbud flower
1. The legend of the flower language
In early spring, the redbud blooms in response to spring, and the gorgeous flowers crowd densely over every branch of the whole tree. The flowers have the color of roses and are shaped like a flock of fluttering butterflies, layer upon layer, the whole tree a vivid red. The reason the redbud flower is used to compare family affection and symbolize harmony among brothers and a thriving family fortune comes from a legend:
It is said that during the Southern Dynasties, the mayor of the capital, Tian Zhen, and his brothers Tian Qing and Tian Guang divided up the family property. When all the other property had been divided properly, they finally discovered that there was still a redbud tree in the courtyard, with spreading branches and leaves and a profusion of blossoms, that was hard to deal with. That night, the three brothers discussed cutting this redbud tree into three sections, one for each of them. Early the next morning, when the three brothers went to cut the tree, they found that all the branches and leaves of this redbud tree had withered, and all the flowers had fallen. Seeing this, Tian Zhen could not help sighing to his two brothers, "People are not as good as trees."
Later, the three brothers combined the household again and lived together in harmony. That redbud tree seemed to quite understand human nature, and it too recovered its vitality, growing with abundant flowers and lush leaves.
2. A myth and legend
It is said that the redbud was not called redbud but wusang. The wusang tree was a divine tree of the Heavenly Palace; its flowers could preserve youthful looks and beautify hair, its leaves could be used in bathing to refresh the body, and its roots could prolong life. So it became the favorite flower of the Queen Mother of the West. In order to keep it from falling into the mortal world, she placed the flower seeds in a secret place. Except for her favorite Zixia Fairy, who wove seven-colored clouds, no one knew where she had put the flower seeds.
Later, that Zixia Fairy, who was cherished in every way by the Queen Mother of the West, unexpectedly descended to the mortal world without permission, took the name Zhinu, and became husband and wife with Niulang, becoming a timeless tale widely circulated among the people. This is a story known to every woman and child on the land of China.
Later, when the Queen Mother of the West learned of it, in a great rage she brought Zixia Fairy back to the Heavenly Court. First she locked her in a small room as a punishment. Later, after the Queen Mother's anger gradually subsided, besides allowing her to meet Niulang on the magpie bridge on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month each year, she also let her continue to look after the wusang tree of the Heavenly Palace to relieve her loneliness.
Zixia Fairy, straining her eyes in expectation, awaited the annual meeting with Niulang on the magpie bridge. When she asked about the villagers, Niulang shook his head with a gloomy expression and told her that the villagers had contracted a strange disease, with itching all over the body and dry, withered hair, and the village had fallen into utter chaos. Hearing this, Zixia Fairy thought of the wusang tree in the Heavenly Palace that could cure a hundred diseases and bore purple flowers. Why not scatter wusang tree seeds throughout the mortal world to benefit the common people? She acted as soon as she thought of it. Zixia Fairy told Niulang to wait a moment, then went to the place where the Queen Mother of the West had treasured the wusang tree seeds, secretly took out the mutton-fat jade bottle filled with wusang tree seeds, returned to Niulang's side, and told Niulang about the functions and uses of the wusang tree seeds, telling him to bring the seeds back to the mortal world and plant them everywhere, using the wusang tree to cure the villagers' strange disease.
When Zixia Fairy handed the bottle to Niulang, Erlang Shen had already discovered her actions. Erlang Shen shouted sternly, "How dare you! You actually dare to carry a divine object of the Heavenly Court privately to the mortal dust. Hand it over at once!" Hearing this, Niulang fell into a panic. Seeing that things were going badly, Zixia Fairy immediately took out the mutton-fat jade bottle, pulled out the stopper, and poured all the wusang tree seeds down into the mortal world. The wusang seeds drifted and floated down into the mortal world. The seeds took root upon meeting soil and sprouted upon meeting water, becoming the most flourishing and most beautiful redbud forest in the mortal world.
Later, the villagers soaked the leaves and roots of the wusang tree in water and washed their whole bodies with it, and the strange disease was actually cured. To commemorate that kind and beautiful Zixia Fairy, people called this tree the redbud tree and this flower the redbud flower, because folk legend says the flower language of this flower is: "Unwavering in devotion, never parting, never abandoning." Therefore the redbud flower is regarded by many young people as a token of love, given to the one they love.