Recently, with the gradual rise in temperature, the Sui plum in the Guoqing Scenic Area of Tiantai County, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, has entered a blooming period, white as snow, red as Xia, pink as peach, light and elegant fragrance, and graceful style.
Plum blossoms are deeply loved by the literati and the public in China for their purity and elegance. Sui Dynasty ancient temple Guoqing Temple is a good place to enjoy plums, there is a Sui plum plant in the temple, on the east side of the Daxiong Treasure Hall, it is said that it was planted by the temple's founder and Sui Dynasty senior monk Zhang An. Entering from the round cave door, you can see this old and vigorous ancient plum with a crown, which is one of the oldest existing plum trees in China, with a history of more than 1400 years.
There is a local folklore about Sui Mei. Legend has it that more than 1,000 years ago, in the Baishuiyang area of linhai, there was a couple surnamed Yang who liked to plant plum blossoms. They had a daughter named "Plum Girl". Mei Nu grew to 18 years old and was very intelligent, especially the embroidery of one hand. In the spring of this year, the plum blossoms in the Yang family courtyard were in full bloom again, and the neighbors came to admire the plums.
The news spread to the city, and a young master Diao who did not learn any skills also came with his family to admire the plums. When he saw Mei Nu's beautiful posture, he moved to pull it, and Mei Nu, in anger, picked up a broom and drove him away, and in a moment of chaos, the silver noodles on her head fell to the ground. Young Master Diao picked it up casually and hid it in his arms. Two days later, Young Master Diao asked Master to come forward and bring a bride price to the Yang family to ask for relatives. Master said to Mei Nu's father, "A few days ago, the young master came to your house to admire mei, and he had already been promised by Mei Nu in person, and he used the silver noodle as a basis. Father Mei knew that there was a difference in his heart, summoned Mei Nu to ask, and knew that it was Young Master Diao who was threatening to threaten, so he categorically refused. When Master heard this, he looked at him with two eyes, left a bride price, and threatened to marry in three days, so he took care of himself and left. The father and daughter of the Mei family were anxious and consulted with the neighbors to let mei nu change into men's clothes and go to the Guoqing Temple for temporary refuge.
Before leaving, Mei's father handed a bag of plum cores to Mei Nu and asked her to plant in the temple and stay in a different place. When Mei Nu went to guoqing temple, Master Zhang An saw that she was wise, so he asked her to help sort out the scriptures. Mei Nu privately embroidered the Lotus Sutra on white satin with ginger silk thread, accumulating 69,777 words over the years. Three years later, Young Master Diao died of a violent illness, and Father Mei came to Guoqing Temple to pick up his daughter and return home. Mei Nu presented Master Zhang An with a white satin scripture scroll and a bag of plum cores. When Master Zhang An opened the scripture scroll and looked at it, he was so surprised that he was so moved that he could not speak. Master Zhang An buried the plum core left by the plum girl in the flower bed on the right side of the temple, and within a few years, the plum tree grew longer and more lush, and every early spring, the branches were sparse and oblique, and the incense filled the ancient temple.
"Ten thousand flowers dare to come out of the snow, a tree alone in the spring of the world." During the Spring Festival, the temple's red and white plums have also been in full bloom. Ancient temples, green trees, and plum blossoms constitute a beautiful picture. (Author/Luo Xuecheng)