Legends of Mountains and Rivers in Jinggangshan

Long ago, a brother and sister fled from Anhui Province and came begging to Huangjia Village in Jinggangshan. A couple named Huang Kaiming took them in and raised them as family. They had lost their parents in a catastrophic mountain flood back home. The elder brother, Du Ji, was twelve years old, while his little sister Du Lian was only three. Huang Kaiming had a son named Huang Lai, who was born on exactly the same year, month and day as Du Ji. The two boys got along wonderfully and sworn to be lifetime sworn brothers, nearly always staying together. The family also had a gentle and beautiful daughter named Huang Yuan. The Huang couple treated Du Ji and his sister as their own children. The whole family of six lived happily in harmony.

Jinggangshan orchids give off a rich, refreshing fragrance that touches the heart. When Zhu De revisited Jinggangshan in 1962, he composed a poem Ode to the Orchid:

There is a folk tale behind the Jinggangshan orchid.

According to legend, Goddess Nüwa in ancient times was an empress who loved cleanliness and kept herself well-maintained. She washed her face three times a day: morning, noon and evening. She summoned all the master craftsmen in heaven and spent countless years making three basins: a golden basin, a silver basin and a jade basin, also known as the first basin, the second basin and the last basin. She used the golden one in the morning, the silver one at noon, and the jade one at night.

In some unknown dynasty, an elderly couple ran a tofu shop. Their tofu was snow-white, tender and delicious, winning wide popularity among locals. They treated every customer warmly and kindly, never cheating anyone, young or old. For poor families struggling to make ends meet, they would often give away extra tofu free of charge. Their business boomed all year round, and they gradually saved up a substantial sum of money.

In old days, there were no herbal doctors in this area. Only a sorceress pretended to communicate with ghosts and deities to cure people of evil spirits. Whenever villagers fell ill, they would turn to her for help. She would set up an incense burner, light joss sticks, put on a black robe and recite incantations with dramatic gestures. After jumping and shouting wildly, she would bring out pre-boiled herbal soup (or prepared pills), claiming it was immortal medicine bestowed by Goddess Guanyin for the sick to take.

Elders say there were no lotus flowers on earth in ancient times. Lotuses only grew in the Jade Pool belonging to the Queen Mother of the West. These celestial blossoms were treasures of heaven, out of sight for ordinary immortals. Only high-ranking, virtuous meritorious gods such as the Jade Emperor, Venus Taibai, Heavenly King Li and Lord Laozi were permitted to behold them.

Old folks tell stories about the Dragon King of the East China Sea. He acted arbitrarily without caring about the sufferings of mortal people. He would bring either severe drought or devastating floods to the mortal world. Sometimes he poured rain for forty-nine straight days, submerging farmland and destroying houses and bringing widespread misery. At other times, he withheld rainfall for eighty-one consecutive days, withering all crops and plants and filling people with bitter complaints.