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The monkey business behind Jiading white garlic
October 31, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
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THE white garlic of Jiading District has rooted itself firmly in foreign and domestic markets with its heavenly taste.
But do you know that the first seed of Jiading white garlic originated in Heaven?
Legend has it that Monkey King in the classic novel "Journey to the West" stole the seeds from the heavenly palace while creating havoc in the celestial sphere.
According to the tale, the Queen Mother of the West was in charge of the heavenly palace's Jade Pool, where various treasured plants grew. The Queen Mother sprinkled the plants every day with heavenly water.
Among the treasure plants was one kind that collected the essence of the heavenly palace, bloomed once every 3,000 years and bore nine fruits. The Queen Mother only granted this fruit to the Buddha and other gods as award when they came to worship her. Eating one piece of it could cure all diseases and help you live as long as the sky. The Queen Mother called it garlic.
In that year, the Queen Mother held her Flat Peach Banquet at Jade Pool. She invited all the gods, but not the Monkey King. The Monkey King was angry, and rushed into the peach garden and ate the flat peaches. Then, he pretended to be a god and drank the heavenly wine from Jade Pool.
As he went out drunk, he smelled the garlic. He had learned about its good properties and had always wanted to plant it in his hometown - the Mountains of Flowers and Fruits. Therefore, he picked the garlic and hid it in his coat. Then he went to the house where the Supreme Lord was making the elixir pill, he stole the pill and ate it up, then fought his way out of the heavenly palace and returned to the Mountains of Flowers and Fruits.
However, his behavior enraged the Jade Emperor who sent divine troops to catch him. While the Monkey King was fighting God Erlang, he was hit by the Supreme Lord's hidden weapon and bitten by Erlang's Xiaotian Dog. As a result, the garlic he held in his coat fell down to the mortal world and dropped onto Jiading.
Later, the Queen Mother found the lost garlic in Jiading, but she learned that the garlic was no longer pure after the Monkey King had touched it. Although the garlic was still effective, it could no longer exist in the heavenly palace.
When the Monkey King came back from the West with the Monk Tang, he found that the garlic in Jiading growing well and thought it unnecessary to take the plant to the Mountains of Flowers and Fruits. The place where he fought the God Erlang, and lost the garlic, is called Jianbang in Jiading. Jianbang means a creek called Jian, which was the given name of the God Erlang, whose full name was Yang Jian.
But do you know that the first seed of Jiading white garlic originated in Heaven?
Legend has it that Monkey King in the classic novel "Journey to the West" stole the seeds from the heavenly palace while creating havoc in the celestial sphere.
According to the tale, the Queen Mother of the West was in charge of the heavenly palace's Jade Pool, where various treasured plants grew. The Queen Mother sprinkled the plants every day with heavenly water.
Among the treasure plants was one kind that collected the essence of the heavenly palace, bloomed once every 3,000 years and bore nine fruits. The Queen Mother only granted this fruit to the Buddha and other gods as award when they came to worship her. Eating one piece of it could cure all diseases and help you live as long as the sky. The Queen Mother called it garlic.
In that year, the Queen Mother held her Flat Peach Banquet at Jade Pool. She invited all the gods, but not the Monkey King. The Monkey King was angry, and rushed into the peach garden and ate the flat peaches. Then, he pretended to be a god and drank the heavenly wine from Jade Pool.
As he went out drunk, he smelled the garlic. He had learned about its good properties and had always wanted to plant it in his hometown - the Mountains of Flowers and Fruits. Therefore, he picked the garlic and hid it in his coat. Then he went to the house where the Supreme Lord was making the elixir pill, he stole the pill and ate it up, then fought his way out of the heavenly palace and returned to the Mountains of Flowers and Fruits.
However, his behavior enraged the Jade Emperor who sent divine troops to catch him. While the Monkey King was fighting God Erlang, he was hit by the Supreme Lord's hidden weapon and bitten by Erlang's Xiaotian Dog. As a result, the garlic he held in his coat fell down to the mortal world and dropped onto Jiading.
Later, the Queen Mother found the lost garlic in Jiading, but she learned that the garlic was no longer pure after the Monkey King had touched it. Although the garlic was still effective, it could no longer exist in the heavenly palace.
When the Monkey King came back from the West with the Monk Tang, he found that the garlic in Jiading growing well and thought it unnecessary to take the plant to the Mountains of Flowers and Fruits. The place where he fought the God Erlang, and lost the garlic, is called Jianbang in Jiading. Jianbang means a creek called Jian, which was the given name of the God Erlang, whose full name was Yang Jian.
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