type
status
date
slug
summary
tags
category
icon
password
In ancient China, a long time ago, a father went off to a distant place to fight in a war, leaving behind his daughter and a male horse. The daughter personally cared for the horse and lived in a secluded area, missing her father greatly. In a jest, she said to the horse, "If you can help me bring my father back, I'll marry you." Upon hearing these words, the horse broke free from its reins and ran to her father's military camp.
Her father, surprised to see the horse, joyfully rode it back home. During the journey, the horse would neigh continuously, which struck her father as odd, making him wonder if something had gone wrong at home. Therefore, he hurried back. Feeling a sense of gratitude towards the horse, her father took great care of it. However, the horse neither ate nor drank; it only displayed signs of joy or anger when it saw his daughter coming and going. It would sometimes ram into walls or leap about, and this behavior repeated itself more than once.
Perplexed, her father discreetly inquired with his daughter, who then revealed the truth, saying, "It might be because of the joke I made." Her father told her, "Don't speak of it; it might bring shame to our family. You should not leave the house again." Subsequently, he used a crossbow to shoot and kill the horse, and then he sun-dried its skin in the courtyard. While her father was away, his daughter and a neighboring girl played beside the horsehide. Her daughter, using her foot, stepped on the horsehide and said, "You're just a beast, thinking you could marry someone. Look at the fate you've brought upon yourself; you brought this upon yourself!" Before she could finish her words, the horsehide suddenly flipped over, rolled her in, and then ran away. The neighboring girl was frightened and dared not attempt a rescue. When her father returned to find her, she had vanished without a trace.
After a few days, her daughter and the horsehide were discovered on the branches of a large tree, both transformed into silkworms, spinning cocoons on the tree. These cocoons were much larger and of superior quality compared to ordinary ones. The neighboring women took them and reared them. They harvested an abundance of silk. Consequently, they named the tree a mulberry tree, and the word "mulberry" in Chinese, which means "mourning," signified the end of something. From that day on, the people began planting mulberry trees and rearing silkworms, a practice that continues to this day.
This story conveys a tragic and mystical legend. An innocent jest triggers a tragedy, a loyal horse sacrifices its life to fulfill an impossible love between itself and the daughter. An ignorant and hasty young girl loses her freedom and happiness. A remorseful father, due to his misunderstanding and cruelty, loses his only family. A mysterious transformation turns the daughter and the horsehide into silkworms, bringing wealth to humanity in the form of silk. A serendipitous discovery reveals the origin of mulberry trees and silkworms. A profound allegory teaches us the preciousness of love and life.