The origin of jujube slices

Version 1

During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a family named Gao in Zaoqiang County, Hebei Province. The Gao family owned thousands of hectares of fertile land and had a large business. They were well-known and wealthy households. The owner Gao Shichong, who was a Jinshi in his early years, had a son when he was over fifty, named Dan Feng, whom he loved like the apple of his eye. He invited a well-known nearby teacher to teach him Chinese composition since he was a child. Dan Feng is smart and eager to learn. He was admitted as a scholar at the age of 14. It can be said that he has a bright future. Dan Feng's aunt's surname is Liu, who is also a wealthy local family. There is only one daughter in her aunt's family, Dan Feng's cousin, named Chaoyang. She is two years younger than Dan Feng. She is proficient in all kinds of music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and is considered a lady of the family. Dan Feng and Chaoyang grew up together since childhood. They are childhood sweethearts, have the same spirit, and naturally love each other. On a full-moon night when Dan Feng was 16 years old, the two of them planted a strong jujube tree in front of their house and vowed to make a thousand-year alliance. The elders of the two families also wanted to get married, so they exchanged wedding stickers early, hoping that when they came of age, the two families would become friends of Qin and Jin.

Just when they were filled with joy and looking forward to a bright future, unexpectedly, the imperial court issued a decree and confiscated the properties of the local wealthy families. All the properties of Danfeng and Chaoyang were also confiscated. Dan Feng was forced to join the army because he was the only young male in the Gao family. Dan Feng's parents, aunt's family, and local villagers formed a team and moved to Shandong. With no choice, the two families had no choice but to move to Shandong with what the court allowed them to take away. Before Dan Feng enlisted in the army, he learned that Chaoyang and his family would move to Shandong. He couldn't help but feel sad when he thought that he was a scholar and now he was drafted into the army. He didn't know whether he would live or die, and he didn't know when he would be able to reunite with his family. On a dark night, he and Chaoyang dug up the wild jujube tree they had just planted for less than a year and asked Chaoyang to take it to Shandong. The two parted in tears.

Later, after a long journey, Chaoyang followed the team to live in Dawa Village, Guanwang Town. Most of the people in the village were named Gao, and it was located in a lowland, so it was called Gaojiawa. Later, a village called Xiaowa was formed to the west of the village, and Gaojiawa was changed to Dawa. Chaoyang planted the jujube tree that symbolized her love with Dan Feng next to the inlet in front of the village. I hope that the jujube tree can survive, and that Dan Feng can come back to reunite with her one day soon.

Although the jujube tree had lost a lot of water after a long journey, it miraculously survived, giving hope to the rising sun.

The waiting days are extremely long. It takes seven years to wait for the rising sun.

The jujube tree grows slowly and blooms every year, but it does not bear fruit.

Seven years ago, Dan Feng was sent to northern Xinjiang to guard the border. After joining the army, Dan Feng learned how to ride horses, archery, and formations, and grew from an ordinary soldier to a Chinese soldier. Five years later, he made military exploits and was named "General Huwei". Dan Feng has not forgotten his family, let alone his cousin Chaoyang. Dan Feng, who became a general, sent three of his capable men to Shandong to visit his relatives. After a year of investigation, we finally found Gaojiawa and Dan Feng’s relatives.

That year, Dan Feng's immediate boss, "Dingyuan Hou", saw that Dan Feng was versatile in both civil and military affairs and was suave, so he summoned Dan Feng to the Chinese army's tent and publicly announced that he would betroth his daughter to Dan Feng. Dan Feng is by no means a heartless person. Even if there is no news about his relatives, not to mention that he has found out the whereabouts of his relatives, he will not immediately accept the marriage. Immediately, he informed "Marquis Dingyuan" about his engagement and expressed his feelings. "Marquis Dingyuan" had such an identity that he was refused marriage by one of his subordinates in public. On the surface, he was tolerant, but on the inside, he held a grudge. Later, Dan Feng was exiled on "unfounded" charges. Dan Feng originally looked down on his official career, so he simply claimed to be ill and returned home, so that he could be reunited with his family.

When Old Man Gao saw that his son had returned safely, even though he was not returning to his hometown in fine clothes, he still felt that the sky had eyes. The first thing is to choose an auspicious day for the son to get married. The lovers finally get married, and everyone in the village, men, women, old and young, is happy.

At that time, the wild jujube tree had grown so tall and strong that no other tree could be found within hundreds of miles. It had long been called the "King of Wild Jujube" by the locals. In the year when Dan Feng and Chaoyang got married, the "King of Sour Dates" produced big and sweet dates.

Three years later, Dan Feng and Chaoyang had a son and a daughter. The son named Gao Yulou, and the daughter took her mother's surname and named her Liu Jinfeng. Hou Danfeng and Chaoyang, men farming and women weaving, spent their lives peacefully.

The wild jujube tree grew on the edge of the inlet. Under the erosion of the rain, its two main roots were exposed, and they hugged each other tightly, much like a pair of lovers reunited after a long separation. I don’t know how many years have passed. Dan Feng and Chaoyang are no longer alive, but the two main roots of the Ziziphus jujube tree have been hugging and kissing...

After Dan Feng and Chaoyang passed away, the Ziziphus jujube tree moved towards the water bay every year. Tilt a little, and then it's almost close to the water.

According to local villagers, when he was a child, he often "walked" (because the tree was sloping, so there was no need to climb) to play in the wild jujube tree, and he and his friends would eat the jujubes from the tree. Take a small bamboo pole, flick it a few times, the dates will fall into the water, then wade in the water to pick up the dates and eat them. He said that it might be the most delicious date in the world. What is gratifying is that in the place where the "King of Jujube" once grew, in the year when the "King of Jujube" was annihilated, a new jujube tree grew. It must be the "descendant" of the "King of Jujube". The new wild jujube tree has been growing for more than 20 years. It is already more than 2 meters tall and has a diameter at breast height of more than 10 centimeters. Unfortunately, the new wild jujube tree has not yet produced any fruit.

Many things in ancient and modern times are all discussed in a joke. The old jujube tree is gone, but it and the beautiful story will always remain in people's hearts.

Version 2

Twenty miles north of Yanjin County, at the east end of Shibogu Village, there is a sand dune. On the sand dune there is an ancient wild jujube tree that cannot be hugged with both arms. It is said that , Yanjin was called Suanzao County in ancient times, which is why it got its name. There are still many touching stories circulating here.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, a favored empress in the palace fell ill. After being diagnosed and treated by the imperial physician, the illness was not serious. Emperor Taizong issued an edict and visited famous doctors all over the world, but the disease still did not improve. Many people were beheaded for this. Xu Maogong, the military adviser of the imperial court, had a dream at night. In the dream, he saw an old man saying to him: "If you want to cure your mother's disease, you need to use the jujube kernels on the jujube mountain as medicine." At dawn, Xu Maogong reported the matter to the court, and Taizong then Someone was sent to Yanjin to collect wild jujube kernels. The empress took the Chinese patent medicine made from wild jujube kernels, and her illness was indeed cured.

After the empress recovered from her illness, the King of Tang Dynasty felt that this tree was a wonder in the world, so he sent Yuchi Jingde to the Jujube Mountain to build temples and pavilions to thank the gods. Jingde leads the decree. He led the craftsmen and horses to Yanjin. The Dongyue Temple was built first, and then another one was built according to the shape of the tree. The magnificent and yellow pavilion has a thick branch exposed in the northeast corner of the pavilion, which is known as the "dragon head". It is said that "when the pavilion was built, Jingde used a steel whip to The two beams hanging on the branches and on the top of the pavilion are red thorn roots obtained by a monk from Huazhai. They were repaired by Lu Ban and sent here overnight.

It is said that at that time, jujubes like this were sent here. There are about twenty trees. The others are growing outside the pavilion and are slowly dying. Only one jujube tree is left, which is three to four times larger than ordinary thorns. The seeds are transparent and shiny, and look like a pair of twin doll heads. If you pick the jujube leaves and hang them in the house, no matter how long they are left, the peel will not wrinkle. He came to burn incense and offer some wild jujubes as medicine, which really cured his illness. Later, some dignitaries traveled thousands of miles to come here to pay their respects. When they saw that there were no wild jujubes to be found, they ordered their family members to scrape some bark and bring them back. Over time, only the remaining jujubes were left. One of the precious trees was also blown to death. In the Ming Dynasty, the Dongyue Temple and the Pavilion collapsed one after another, but new ones sprouted from the roots of the dead trees. At that time, people from the three surnames of Yao, Gao and Chen funded the construction of walls to protect them. Later, in order to protect the tree trunk, a square attic with a length of eight feet, a width of more than two feet, and a height of more than two feet was built. There was a small door on the south side of the attic, and a small window on the upper part of the east and west gables. There is a stone tablet inlaid in the north wall, and the words "Hanging Whip Place" are engraved on it. There is also a stone tablet inlaid on the north wall of the downstairs, which is engraved with "Ancient Jujube Records" written by Li Dai, the official secretary of the Ming Dynasty. The jujube tree is located in the middle of the pavilion, like a strange stone wall. Although it has been repeatedly chopped with knives and axes, it still has a chest length of 1.92 meters, but no trace of the new plant remains.