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Han Ping, a retainer of King Kang of Song, married a woman of the He family. She was beautiful, and King Kang took her for himself. Han Ping resented him, so the king imprisoned him and sentenced him to hard labor building the city walls. His wife secretly sent him a letter, veiling her meaning in these words: “The rain falls without end; the river is broad, its waters deep; the sun shines upon my heart.” Before long, the king obtained the letter and showed it to his attendants, but none could decipher it. His minister Su He said, “‘The rain falls without end’ means that she grieves and longs for him. ‘The river is broad, its waters deep’ means that they cannot reach one another. ‘The sun shines upon my heart’ means that she has resolved to die.” Soon afterward, Han Ping killed himself. His wife then secretly weakened the fabric of her clothes until it would tear. When the king took her up onto a terrace, she threw herself from it. His attendants tried to catch her, but her clothes tore away in their hands, and she fell to her death. She left a letter tucked into her sash: “The king desires me alive; I desire death. I beg that my remains be given to Han Ping, so that we may be buried together.” The king was enraged and refused. He ordered the villagers to bury her, with the two graves facing one another. “You husband and wife will not cease loving each other,” he said. “If you can make your graves unite, I shall not stand in your way.” Overnight, great catalpa trees sprang up at the ends of the two graves. Within ten days their trunks had grown too thick to encircle with both arms. They bent toward one another, their roots entwining below and their branches interlacing above. A pair of mandarin ducks, one male and one female, made their home in the trees. Morning and evening they never left, but twined their necks and cried so mournfully that all who heard them were moved. The people of Song pitied the couple and called the trees “Trees of Longing.” The name “Trees of Longing” began with this tale. People in the south say that these birds were the spirits of Han Ping and his wife. To this day, there is a Han Ping City in Suiyang, and the ballads about him are still sung.