A father promises his daughter’s hand in marriage to the Dragon King

The Chinese legend of the  Lotus Girl and the Dragon King reminded me of the western tale of the Beauty and the Beast. In this version, the father of the beautiful girl is blind and falls into a water hole. The Dragon King agrees to rescue the father from drowning in exchange for the daughter’s hand in marriage. The Dragon King proves to be a better husband than one would expect, but the daughter misses her father. In a loving gesture, The Dragon King returns the girl to Earth as a lotus flower so she can be with her father again.

The daughter, returned to earth as a lotus flower

Lotus flowers bloom for a very short time at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Here’s a photo I took a few years ago when I managed to get to the Garden on the right day.

Lotus flowers bloom in June, often for just a few days

This is my third in a series of posts about the representations of flowers in the Lantern Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden this summer.

• Peonies
• Cherry Blossoms

Next week — chrysanthemums!

The Lantern Festival continues at the Missouri Botanical Garden through August 23, open nightly and with extended hours some nights. Information about the Lotus Girl and the Dragon King came from the guide, Lantern Festival: Magic Reimagined.

Check out West Metro Mommy Reads today for more Saturday Snapshots.

[Added] Check out a more detailed version of this story that Carol wrote up for her Thursday’s Tales feature on Carol’s Notebook.