Zelan is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine, mainly used for promoting blood circulation and regulating menstruation. It has a good effect in relieving menstrual pain in women. There is also a legend about Zelan!
Picture of Zelan
In the deep valley of Dabie Mountain, there lived a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. The mother-in-law always accused her daughter-in-law, Lan, of being lazy and not doing any work, so she often refused to give her food and water and punished her with heavy labor.
One morning, Lan was pounding rice on a stone mortar outside the door, and a piece of rice cake on the stove was taken away by a cat. The wicked mother-in-law immediately accused Lan of stealing and forced her to confess.
Unable to force a confession, the mother-in-law beat Lan severely and punished her to pound nine dou of rice within a day. Lan, with an exhausted body, had to keep treading the heavy stone mortar. When the sun set, Lan, who hadn't even had a drop of water all day, was hungry and thirsty, and collapsed next to the stone mortar. She instinctively grabbed a handful of raw rice and chewed on it.
Hearing no sound from the stone mortar, the wicked mother-in-law ran out and was so angry that she jumped up and down: "You damn wretch, you stole the rice cake and now you're stealing the raw rice!" She picked up a wooden stick and beat Lan until she fainted on the ground. The wicked mother-in-law still couldn't let go of her anger and said that Lan was pretending to be dead to scare her.
She tore off Lan's foot-binding cloth, tied her tightly to the supporting stake of the stone mortar, then pried open Lan's mouth, pulled out her tongue, and pulled out a hairpin, mercilessly poking Lan's tongue, poking it until it was bloody and mangled...
Poor Lan, she died silently like this.
No one knows how many years or generations later, in the secluded valley where Lan died, a small flower grew, with a light and elegant appearance, jade branches and green leaves, silently emitting a fragrance. People say that this flower is the incarnation of Lan, with its curled flower bud resembling a tongue, and the red spots on the flower bud are the marks of blood stains.
