The cruel story is that the cuckoo cries blood.

It is said that there was an emperor named Du Yu in the ancient Shu State, and he was very affectionate with his queen. Later, he was killed by a traitor and died miserably. His soul turned into a cuckoo, which crowed and wailed in the queen's garden every day. The tears it shed were drops of red blood, which dyed the beautiful flowers in the Queen's Garden red, so later generations named it azalea.

when the queen heard the cuckoo's cry and saw the deep red blood, she knew that it was her husband's soul. Under the sadness, I cried day and night, "the son returns, the son returns", and finally died of depression. Her soul turned into a flaming azalea, which bloomed all over Shan Ye and accompanied the cuckoo bird, so this azalea was also called Yingshanhong.

Extended information:

Legend about the cuckoo

The legendary cuckoo that cries blood should be the four-tone cuckoo commonly known as cuckoo. Because of careful study, the oral epithelium and tongue of rhododendron are red, and the ancients mistakenly thought that it was full of blood.

When the cuckoo sings, it is the time when the azaleas are in full bloom, so there is another saying that the color of the azaleas is dyed with the blood of the cuckoo birds: "The azaleas and the birds, what is the credit?" Suspected to be blood in the mouth, dripping into flowers on the branches. " ("Full Tang Poetry" Volume 759 Cheng Yanxiong's "Rhododendron" sentence) "Rhododendrons send cuckoos, like blood like Zhu. It should be that I can't stay in spring, and the wind and dew at night are also cold. "

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