The Legend of Motherwort in the Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is about ten miles around, between Zhengyang Gate and Yongding Gate. It was built in the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1420). There is such a kind of motherwort in the Temple of Heaven. Before the Republic of China, there were several pharmacies selling "motherwort" in the Temple of Heaven. After the Republic of China, they were moved out of the Temple of Heaven.

The Temple of Heaven, a group of ancient buildings, can be said to be world-famous. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Imperial Vault of Heaven, the Circular Mound, and the Echo Wall are all familiar names to people. Many products even use pictures of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests as trademarks. I won’t talk about the architecture of the Temple of Heaven here, but let’s just say that there is a strange grass in the Temple of Heaven: the young shoots can be eaten as vegetables, called "Asparagus"; when they grow up and mature, the stems and leaves can be used to make medicine. An effective medicine for treating women's diseases is called "motherwort", and the brewed medicine is called "motherwort ointment"; the seeds are also gynecological medicine, called "motherwort". Why are there so many motherworts in the Temple of Heaven? There is such a story among the people.

The storyteller said: In the early years, before the Temple of Heaven existed, and before it was enclosed in the city, it was also a large piece of yellow land, where many farmers lived, and they also cultivated and plowed the land. Find food. Here, there lives a farmer named Zhang. The old man has been dead for more than two years, and there is only one old lady left. The old lady has no sons and only has an eldest daughter of sixteen or seventeen years old. The mother and daughter live a life of lack of people. Hard life with little money. Because the old lady missed her husband and was worried that no one would farm the land for them, she fell ill as the days passed. Her illness became more serious day by day. The old lady became anxious, and Miss Zhang became even more anxious. I consulted many doctors and took many medicines, but nothing worked. Just when the crops were harvested in autumn, Miss Zhang made up her mind: go to Beishan to find the elixir. When she was young, her father and mother told her stories, saying that there were many elixirs in the old mountains and valleys of Beishan. As long as you were not afraid of climbing mountains and found this elixir, any serious illness could be cured. Miss Zhang has already remembered it in her heart. At this time, she was going to Beishan to find medicine, so she told her mother. Her mother was worried and said, "How can you, a little girl, walk such a long way?" Miss Zhang said, "Don't worry, Mom, I will do it as soon as possible." Be careful on the road." She asked an aunt next door to take care of her mother. She took the dry food and went out to Beishan to find the elixir.

After leaving home, Miss Zhang was worried: Where is Beishan? She thought: Beishan must be in the north, let’s go north! After walking for one day, I saw the mountain. After walking for three more days, I still haven't reached Beishan. However, the mountain that Miss Zhang saw was getting closer and closer. On this day, we came to a mountain pass. Miss Zhang was thinking: Should we enter this mountain pass? Just look at the old man with a white beard walking down the mountain pass. The old man saw Miss Zhang and said happily: "Girl, you are a little girl, what are you doing in the old valley in the mountains?" Miss Zhang asked why her mother was sick and why she wanted to go to Beishan to find the elixir. After saying it again, he asked the old man with the white beard: "Grandpa, is there any magic medicine here?" "Yes, there is." "Grandpa, how do you go up the mountain?" The old man with the white beard smiled and replied He pointed his hand towards the mountain and said, "Little girl, you can go up the mountain here, turn seven bays to the left and eight bays to the right. Eat pine nuts when you are hungry, drink clear springs when you are thirsty, see the earth and the sky, and have the elixir at hand." Miss Zhang listened. The old man spoke like a song, and she understood in her heart that she just didn't understand what "seeing the earth and the sky" meant. When she was about to ask the old man, the old man with the white beard had already left the mountain pass and walked far away. Miss Zhang went up the mountain. She turned seven bays to the left and eight bays to the right. When she was hungry, she picked up some big pine nuts on the ground to eat. When she was thirsty, she lay down next to the mountain spring and drank some water. When she was tired, she slept in the mountain col. If you wake up, you should go up the mountain. I can’t remember how many days I walked. On this day, Miss Zhang walked to the top of a hill. There was a small pool on the top of the hill. The water in the pool was so clear that all the white clouds in the sky shone into the pool. Miss Zhang was in a daze here when she heard the voices of girls talking behind her. Miss Zhang turned around and saw two little girls walking towards her. One was wearing a snow-white dress, and the other was wearing a light yellow dress with white plum blossoms embroidered on it. They were so beautiful.

As they got closer, the girl in white clothes smiled and said, "Sister, what are you doing in a daze? Don't you know our 'Heaven on Earth'?" When Miss Zhang heard about "Heaven on Earth", she was very happy and said: " Sisters, do you have any elixir? Please help my mother!" The girl in the flower dress said, "Sister, there is no need to tell us. I have a bag of elixir here and I can make it into a paste when I go home. Just give it to the aunt." He said and handed over a small bag. The girl in white clothes said: "In this pocket, there are also seeds of the elixir. After my aunt is cured, my sister will scatter these seeds on the ground and let them grow by themselves. If someone gets sick like this, I will People, don't be afraid anymore." The girl in flower clothes said, "Sister, please go home quickly. If we don't send sister off, please remember it!" Miss Zhang said to the two sisters with great gratitude. After thanking him, he turned around and walked down the mountain. After walking not far, Miss Zhang really couldn't bear to leave these two kind-hearted sisters. She wanted to take a look at these two sisters again. She looked back and saw that there were still girls in white clothes and flowers. I saw only a white parrot and a sika deer, flying and running westward from the "earth to the sky".

Oddly enough, when Miss Zhang came, she walked for seven days and eight nights. When she returned, she arrived home very quickly. When Miss Zhang got home, she boiled the elixir and gave it to her mother. Within a few days, her mother recovered, and Miss Zhang and her neighbors were happy. Miss Zhang scattered the seeds of the elixir in her pocket all over the edge of the land. In the spring, dark green buds appeared, and in the summer they grew into elixirs. In the autumn, the elixirs produced seeds again, and they grew better every year. More than years. When women were sick, they followed the method taught by Miss Zhang and boiled elixirs to cure their illnesses. What is the name of the elixir? Everyone said: "The kind-hearted Miss Zhang worked hard to find the elixir for her mother and cured her disease. Let's call it motherwort." The name "motherwort" has been passed down.

Later, I don’t know how many years passed, and there was an “Emperor” in Beijing; I don’t know which “Emperor” it was passed to, and this “Emperor” asked “God” to bless him. , a temple of heaven was built on this piece of land where motherwort grew. The Temple of Heaven was built, and there were still lush motherwort growing in the open space in the Temple of Heaven. The emperor got angry and said, "How could there be so many weeds growing in the Temple of Heaven where I worship the heaven? I pulled them all out!" At that time, a minister whose mother had eaten motherwort and whose wife was eating motherwort said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, this is not a weed, it is called asparagus. Isn't your Majesty a dragon? If you pull it all out, Your Majesty, please stop growing a beard.” The emperor was afraid that he would not grow a beard, so motherwort was left in the Temple of Heaven. From here on, the young shoots of motherwort are called asparagus.