Xuelian, a beautiful woman living deep in the mountains of the south, fell in love with Gangzai, a young hunter from a neighboring village. But Langya, a powerful local tyrant, also coveted Xuelian and wanted to take her as his concubine.
To get what he wanted, Langya plotted to kill Gangzai, then deceived Xuelian by telling her that Gangzai had fallen off a cliff while hunting. Xuelian was filled with doubt. She could not believe Gangzai would simply leave her like that.
She went to the place where Gangzai had died and wept day and night, consumed by grief. When her tears ran dry, she somehow began to weep blood. Her blood fell beneath a tree, and the following year, a tree laden with red, heart-shaped beans miraculously grew there.
Each bean had a tiny black spot, just like Gangzai's eyes. People said the red beans had come from Xuelian's heart's blood and longing, and so they called them "love peas."
At the heart of this tragedy is a pure love destroyed by Langya's scheming and abuse of power. Xuelian's blood transformed into beans, the most vivid symbol of her undying love for Gangzai, giving the story a raw and heartrending sense of tragedy!
