The origin of Bingdilian

It is said that there was such a village a long time ago. There was a large pond in the village. The pond was full of lotus flowers every year. People called it lotus pond. There lived a member of the Communist Party of China named Hong in the east of this pond. His family was very wealthy, but he was over forty years old and had no children. This year, Yuan Wai's wife became pregnant. Hong Yuan Wai burned incense and worshiped the gods day and night, praying to the Bodhisattva to bless him with a son, but the baby was born a girl. Hong Yuan was unhappy outside. In order to comfort Yuan Wai, his wife discussed with Yuan Wai and raised the girl as a son. She told outsiders that she had given birth to a boy and named the child "Sai Lang".

As Sai Lang grew up, he always dressed like a boy. When he was twelve years old, Hong Yuanwai set up a library in front of the lotus pond and asked a private school teacher to teach Sai Lang how to read. People outside thought Sai Lang was a boy. Besides, there lived a family named Bai in the west of Tang Dynasty. The old couple lived a decent life, but they had no son. His wife had given birth to three sons, all of whom died before they reached the age of one. For this reason, Lao Bai had asked people to tell their fortunes several times, and they all said that the two of them were "destined to have no children." This year, his wife became pregnant again. Lao Bai thought to himself: He could still survive giving birth to a daughter, but he was afraid that he would not be able to survive if he gave birth to a boy. His wife thought of a way: "If you give birth to a son, just raise him as a daughter, and he will not die again." Later, another son was really born, and the couple put earrings on the child and named him Called "Zhen Niang".

When Zhenniang was thirteen years old, she was more beautifully dressed than girls. The old couple loved their son and tried their best to send Zhenniang to study. When they heard that Hong Yuan's wife's family had set up a library in Dongcun, they asked someone to intercede and offered her husband two buckets of rice per month to send Zhenniang to study. People outside thought Zhenniang was a girl. When Zhenniang arrived at the school, she got along very well with a dozen children, especially Sailang. They read at the same desk every day at school, and the two of them had to play by the lotus pond for a while before going home. Seeing how close the two were, the classmates made a joke one day while the teacher was away, asking Sailang and Zhenniang to worship in the flower hall. It wasn't until the teacher came back that they ran back to their desks to study. No one knows that Sailang is a girl and Zhenniang is a boy; Sailang also thinks that Zhenniang is really a girl, and Zhenniang also thinks that Sailang is really a boy.

Three years later, Sailang and Zhenniang are older, and they are getting closer when they study and play together. The teacher couldn't stand it and advised them not to run out to play hand in hand again, lest others gossip. Both of them agreed on the surface, but in their hearts they didn't want to listen. Zhen Niang thought: Sir, I don’t know that Sai Lang and I are both men. What does it have to do with two men being together? Sai Lang also thought: Sir, I don’t know that Zhenniang and I are both women, so what are we afraid of when others laugh at us? Although Hong Yuanwai often saw the two of them playing together, he felt that it would be better for his daughter to be with Zhenniang, lest she cause trouble with her male classmates. Of course Lao Bai and his wife had the same idea. Sailang was fifteen years old at this time, and Zhenniang was sixteen years old. The two of them often thought about playing in the Flower Worship Hall when they first entered school. Sai Lang thought to himself: Zhenniang is smart, kind, talented and well-educated. Whoever wants to marry her as his wife in the future will be really happy. Zhenniang also thought this way: if she were really a woman, she would definitely marry Sai Lang.

Besides, Sai Lang was so anxious that he fell ill when he heard that the Bai family had asked a matchmaker to propose marriage but was rejected by their parents. In order to make his daughter give up, Hong Yuanwai secretly asked people to drive the Bai family mother and son out of the village. When Sai Lang heard the news, he was so angry that he stopped eating. From then on, his condition became worse day by day. Besides, Zhenniang and her son were driven out of the village by the Hong family and moved to a city forty miles away. Soon after, Zhenniang's illness got better. Unexpectedly, her mother fell ill again, and her health became worse day by day. Zhenniang had to rely on doing small business every day to make ends meet. A few months later, her mother died. Zhenniang buried her mother and decided to return to the village to find Sai Lang. He sold the rags at home, bought some flower threads and other goods, packed them into bags, pretended to be a "seller", returned to the village, and lived in a dilapidated temple.

One day, while shaking the drum in his hand, he secretly walked around to the back garden gate of the Hong family. Sai Lang's maid heard the sound of drums and came out to buy flower thread. When she saw it was Zhen Niang, she was so surprised that she hurried in to tell Sai Lang. Sai Lang immediately wrote a letter and asked the maid to give it to Zhen Niang, telling him to leave here quickly. Zhen Niang ran back to the temple, opened the letter and saw that Sai Lang had asked him to meet at the lotus pond at midnight tonight. Zhenniang was so happy that she looked forward to darkening. At the third watch, by the lotus pond, Sai Lang and Zhen Niang hugged their heads and burst into tears as soon as they met. Crying and crying, Sailang said to Zhenniang: "Dad is cruel, it will be difficult for us to be husband and wife in this life. I hope you take care of yourself and don't worry about me anymore." After saying that, he jumped into the water. Zhenniang stepped forward to hold her, crying and saying: "We can't be together in life, but we would rather die together.

"After saying that, she picked up Sai Lang and jumped into the water together.

The maid waited until the rooster crow before Sai Lang came back. She knew she had repaid the debt but did not dare to say anything. The next day, the Hong family was everywhere. After searching, I found one of Sai Lang's embroidered shoes by the lotus pond. I knew it had jumped into the water. I quickly ordered people to fish it out. I saw Zhenniang and Sai Lang hugging each other tightly, and several people pulled hard. If they didn't open, Hong Yuanwai ordered someone to bury them by the lotus pond. There was thunder and lightning all night, and it rained heavily all night. At dawn, the water in the lotus pond was seen to have reached the graves of Sai Lang and Zhenniang. The tomb was surrounded; the lotus growing on the tomb had a stem thicker than a human thumb, and two flowers bloomed on the top, one red and one white, close together, so people called it "Tianlianlian". Later it was called "Bingdilian".