Gejin and Yuban

This is a story from Strange Tales from Make-Do Studio. Chang Dayong of Luoyang loved peonies very much. He went to Caozhou when he learned that the peonies there were the best of all. He resided in a big garden to wait for the peonies to blossom. When the peonies were budding and redy to blossom, he was already broke, so he pawned all his valuables to wait to see the peonies blossom. One day, Dayong saw a beautiful girl and they fell in love at first sight. The girl followed Dayong to Luoyang and married him. She was Gejin. Later, her younger sister, Yuban, married to Daqi, Dayong's younger brother. One year alter, both of them gave birth to boys. The sisters never talked about their family background. When asked time and again about their father's family, they said,"His family name is Wei and his mother was named Lady Cao." Dayong felt strange at the word because there was no Wei family in Caozhou and moreover, how could such a distinguished family not send people out to find their missing daughters. With these questions in mind, Dayong went to Caozhou again to see the owner of the big garden. He asked the owner whether there was a Lady Cao in the vicinity. The owner took him to a big peony plant and said, "This is Lady Cao."At the work, Dayong began to realize that his wife and her sister were peony flower goddesses. When he returned home, Gejin said to him, "Three years ago, when I saw you loved peonies so much that I was noved and turned into a girl to marry you. Now that you know everything, I have to go."Saying this, she and Yuban, putting the children on the ground, disasppeared. A few days later, two peony plants grew out of the place where the two boys had been put. They bore plate-size beautiful flowers, one in purple and the other in white. That is how the two famous peonies, Purple Gejin and White Yuban took their names.

葛巾玉版

洛阳常大用酷爱牡丹。听说曹州牡丹天下第一，他就跑到曹州，住在一个大花园内，天天等着牡丹开放。待牡丹含苞欲放时，大用已身无分文了，他将值钱的东西和衣服典卖，仍等着看花。一天，大用碰到一艳丽女子，二人一见钟情，那女子跟着大用回到洛阳，嫁给大用，她就是葛巾。后来，葛巾又把妹妹玉版嫁给了大用弟弟大器。一年后各生一子。二位女郎从不说自己的身世，在大用兄弟再三追问下她们才说：自己姓魏，母亲被封为曹夫人。大用听了更是奇怪。一是曹州没有魏姓，二是这样大的家族丢两个女儿怎么没人找。带着这两个谜，大用又来到曹州，找到那座花园的主人，问起当地可有曹夫人。主人领他到一株大牡丹前说：“这就是曹夫人。”大用这才知道自己的妻子和弟妹都是牡丹花神变的。大用回到家后，葛巾告之：“三年前，看到你对牡丹情深，很感动，便变为女子嫁你，现在你知道真情，我要走了。”说完和玉版把孩子往地上一放，就无影无踪了。几天后，在放儿子的地方长出两株牡丹，一紫一白，花朵像盘子大，花色艳丽。后人将这两种名花叫“葛巾紫”、“玉版白”。