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Qionghua (Jada
Flower)
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In the compound of Daming Temple，there
is a tall flourishing tree Which blossoms in spring． ItS flowers
are as white and smooth as jade．
Qionghua is a precious flower (a woody hydrangea hortensia)．It
became famous because Emperor Yangdi of the Sui dynasty once
came down to admire the flower．
QiOnghua was originally in Fanli Monastery of Yangzhou. As the
1egend goes，a Taoist fairy Fanli came down to earth and tried
to convince the mortals of the beauty of unders beaven but failed．The
fairy then took out a White jade and buried it in the soil．The
jade immediately grew into a tall tree With fowers as clean
and white as the White jadeTheir fragrance spread far and Wide．After
the fairy had gone，people built a Taoist monastery for the tree
and called it Fanli Monastery．As the tree had grown out of a
jade，it was named Qionghua(jade flower)．
According to the legend，Emperor Yangdi，on learning Of this
precious flower,made a special trip to Yangzhou．One fine day，the
Emperor and Empress went tO Fanli Monastery to admire the beauty
of Qionghua。The tree was in full bloom and glory before the
Emperor and Empress arrived．But once they were under the tree,a
strong dusty wind began to blow and the Emperor could hardly
open his eyes． When the wind stopped,all the flowers were blown
off and the ground was covered by theif snow-white petalS．In
a rage，the Emperor ordered his guards to cut down the tree．But
in the year following Emperor Yangdi’death，the remaining root
of Qionghua sprouted and it bloomed every year。 This legend
is still very popular now and people highly admire the beauty
and integrity of Qionghua． |
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