During the reign of King Huai of Chu, Qu Yuan was framed by imperial officials and dismissed from office. He returned to his hometown in Guizhou, which is now Zigui County, Hubei Province. He lived on the south bank of Niugan Mafei Gorge and by the Jiuwan River at the foot of Fairy Mountain. He set up a school and taught his disciples himself. It is said that the poem "I am nourishing the orchids and the nine winds are coming" in "Li Sao" comes from this.
It is said that one day, the Orchid Lady of Fairy Mountain was traveling and passed by here. She found that Qu Yuan was giving a lecture, so she lowered the clouds from the sky and stood outside the window to listen. Qu Yuan waved his hands and passionately stated the principles of revitalizing the Chu State. His unswerving patriotism moved Lady Orchid. She knew that Qu Yuan usually liked orchids, so before leaving, she specially used a spell to turn the three orchids he planted under the window into essence. Orchids are of noble character, with light green or light yellow flowers; Qu Yuan was tireless in teaching others, and he preached and taught without selflessness. During one class break, he fell ill and talked about the situation where the country's traitors were in power and the people were suffering. Because he was overly excited and filled with righteous indignation, a mouthful of blood spurted out of his mouth, which happened to splash on the roots of the orchid outside the window. When the disciples saw the teacher working so hard to teach and educate, they were so heartbroken that they burst into tears! The three orchids, nourished by Dr. Qu's hard work, grew into a large bush overnight. The students counted dozens of orchids. Qu Yuan smelled the fragrant fragrance and his condition improved a lot. Everyone was overjoyed and started transplanting orchid branches to the open space around the school.
Strangely enough, the orchid took root on the first day it was put into the soil, wilted and sprouted on the second day, stretched out its branches and leaves on the third day, and bloomed and bloomed on the fourth day. On the fifth day, each plant sprouted new shoots. Qu Yuan led his students to transplant the orchids by the stream and on the mountain, so the orchids spread. The old farmer in the mountain said happily: "Twelve acres here are called a band, and the orchids planted by Dr. Qu are probably three bands! Our mountain village should really be renamed Zhilan Township."
Then , orchids developed from three to six, and then gradually expanded from six to nine. From then on, the clear stream at the foot of Fairy Mountain was called Jiuwan River. The orchids beside the Jiuwan River are blooming every year, and their intoxicating fragrance fills the entire Xiling Gorge. The fragrance spreads all over the state, until it fills half of Chutian!
Finally, riding on a small boat carrying the fragrance of flowers in the stream, Qu Yuan came out of the mountain. However, in May of that year, all the lush orchids on the banks of Jiuwan River and in Zhilan Township suddenly withered and died, leaving only a faint fragrance. The villagers had a premonition that something ominous was about to happen, and they felt worried. Uneasy. A few days later, the bad news came. On the day when the orchid withered, Doctor Qu had committed suicide by throwing himself into the Miluo River. People were filled with grief, and the Orchid Lady on Fairy Mountain also had her eyes swollen from crying. Doctor Qu's school was then rebuilt into Zhilan Temple, where orchids were widely planted, as a permanent memorial to future generations.
The elegance, discipline, indifference, and independence of orchids have also become a symbol of Confucian moral cultivation and an indicator of conduct in society in later generations. Since later generations respected the original orchid flower god, they regarded orchids as the source of righteousness to express their resentment against evil, resentment against power, and grief and indignation over the destruction of the country and the family. At present, there is a Qujia Village in Baobu, Changhua City, Taiwan, where nearly a hundred descendants of Qu Yuan live in more than 30 households, including Qu Zhongji. Every household has one thing in common, that is, they all like to grow orchids.