舌尖上的美食 第17期:木棉傳說 (the second version)

Huaping Specialty— A Legend of Kapok in Panzhihua (the second version)

華坪特色菜—攀枝花-木棉傳說（版本二）

In Zhuang culture, there exists the worship for several kinds of trees: camphor, maple, kapok, and banyan tree. In Zhuang myths, camphor trees were the first trees that appeared after the creation of the world, being the pillars supporting the sky. Maple trees were the origin where people got the seed of fire from, being meritorious for offering fire. kapok trees were the warriors of Bu Luo Tuo, the first ancestor of Zhuang ethnic group, fighting against the enemies bravely with torches in hand. Even when being killed, they still stood straight, finally transformed into kapok trees full of red flowers. The banyan tree, flourishing with luxuriant foliage, symbolizes the blessing of many descendants. Consequently, all of these trees are planted around the Zhuang villages, particularly around the shrines of their tutelary gods.

在壯族民間中就普遍存在着崇拜幾種樹木，即樟樹、楓樹、木棉樹、榕樹。在他們的神話傳說中，樟樹是宇宙開闢時最早出現的樹木，有頂天之功；人們從楓樹身上找到了火種，它有獻火之功；木棉是壯族始祖神布洛陀的戰士，在與敵人戰鬥時，它們手執火把，英勇頑強，就連犧牲時也都站立着，變成了滿身紅花的木棉樹；榕樹則枝繁葉茂，象徵子孫昌盛。因此, 在壯族的村寨邊都種有這些樹木，各村寨所建立的社亭（敬奉村寨保護神之地）周圍，也要種植這些樹木。