The Story of Dainty Blossom, a Chinese Nobleman's Daughter Who Lived in the Song Dynasty

My name is Dainty Blossom. I was born right after my brother Great Mountain. My father Dan Bian was an astrologer at the palace of the Emperor, not the most important one though. Mother says I was very quiet as a baby, but I don't remember much of anything until I was five years old and father's older brother Bao Hu was coming home from a trip abroad.

Father had just bought me new shoes and a new dress. My shoes were much smaller than Great Mountain's; his feet weren't bound. Bao Hu had a daughter my age called Shining Eyes. Mother told me about her. There was a thunderstorm at her birth, and her eyes reflected it like a mirror. As soon I met her I was amazed: her eyes glowed. Mother told me to go look after my little sister Lily Petal, and Shining Eyes asked to help. Mother smiled at such filial piety, so she nodded, yes. Lily Petal was asleep so the rest of day was uneventful.

It was some time after this, eleven years really, when I got married. My husband, Han Yu, is an Astrologer under my father. At the wedding I only remember thinking (I know it isn't right, but its true) that I was to spend the rest of my life with a man I hardly knew. I got to know him much better because the following year I gave birth: twin boys. The elder of the two we called Strong Tiger, the smaller we named Golden Spear. Golden Spear looked so small, so fragile.

It was two years later when I gave birth again to a beautiful baby girl. Han Yu said we should call her Jade Tigress. However, shortly after I gave birth Golden Spear died. Still, we placed Jade Tigress under her crib, gave her a pottery shard to play with and announced her birth to the ancestors with an offering. Then we had Golden Spear's funeral. One year later another funeral; this time my father's. Mother said that, as he lay dying, he spoke "Dainty Blossom, yes, she's my daughter isn't she?" Mother believes I must have been a very filial child: he didn't mention any of my brothers or sisters, not Great Mountain, Bright Lightning, Golden Pearl, Silver Moonlight, Lily Petal, not even Falling Star. I am very honored. I stayed at my old home for three months. Then I returned to Han Yu's dwelling. When I came back I wept, just a little. Not long after this I gave birth again; a boy we called Springing Wildcat. 

Thirteen years later my mother died. I could not stay and mourn for long; I stayed for little more than a week. It made me sad to be so near to her spirit, in the home where I grew up. When I returned home I wept a lot. For Father, for Mother, for Golden Spear.

When I was 45 years old Strong Tiger married Emerald River, a magistrate's daughter. There were lotus flowers everywhere and Emerald River's feet were TINY. Good for her, I thought. Jade Tigress' feet weren't that small, neither were mine, even at that age.

Four years after the wedding I was riding in a cart to visit Jade Tigress and her twin daughters, Lotus and Jasmine. Suddenly another cart came rushing around a curve in the road. Those horses were panicked. Our horses veered to the side of the road. Unfortunately, we were a few feet from a cliff. The driver yelled, but it was too late: we were plummeting over the edge. The horses struggled to get free, all to no avail. A farmer found the wreckage in the morning. My name was Dainty Blossom, and that is my story.




The Photo is From This Website