God of vegetables

于進士則，謁外親於汧陽，未至十餘里，飯於野店。旁有紫荊樹，村民祠以為神，呼日「紫相公」。則烹茶，因以一杯置相公前，策馬徑去，是夜夢峨冠紫衣人來見，自陳紫相公，主一方菜蔬之屬。隸有天平吏掌豐，辣判官主儉。然皆嗜茶，而奉祠者鮮供此品。蚤蒙厚飲，可謂非常之惠。因口占贈詩，有「降酒先生豐韻高，攪銀公子更清豪」之句。蓋則是日以小分鬚銀匙打茶，故目為「攪銀公子」。則家蔬圃中祠之，年年獲收。菜室中宜設此像。

Presented Scholar [1] Yu Ze, on his way to visit his relatives in Qianyang, ate at a country inn some ten miles from his destination. By the inn stood a redbud tree which received the villagers’ offerings as a deity called “Mr. Purple” [2]. Yu Ze brewed some tea and took the occasion to serve Mr. Purple a cup before riding away. That night, he dreamt that a man dressed in purple and wearing a tall cap visited him. [The visitor] introduced himself as Mr. Purple, master of local vegetables. Among his subordinates were Officer Scales, in charge of abundance, and Judge Spicy, in charge of frugality. But they all loved tea, something that seldom appeared among the offerings. [Yu Ze’s] generous offering earlier was an extraordinary treat indeed. Thereupon, [Mr. Purple] chanted a poem as a gift, part of which reads, “Admirable as Master Sobriety’s graceful demeanour is, / More impressive still is Sir Silver-Stir’s refreshing gusto.” That day, [Yu Ze] apparently used a small silver whiskered spoon to froth the tea, which was regarded as “Sir Silver-Stir”. Yu Ze made offerings to Mr. Purple in his home garden and had a good harvest every year. A figure [of Mr. Purple] should be placed in [every] vegetable room. 

* Feng Menglong 馮夢龍 (1574-1646) ed., Gujin tangai 古今譚概 (Beijing: Zhonggua shuju, 2008), 73.

[1] The degree or status on passing the palace exam, i.e., the final round of the imperial examination.

[2] Unlike the English term “redbud”, the term zijing for the Chinese redbud (Cercis chinensis) signals the colour purple.

The Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum), a European cousin of the Chinese redbud, near my vegetable plots