Once upon a time, in a village, there lived a mother and a son. The son's name was Mingzi, smart and handsome, and he loved to work. But Mingzi's family was very poor, and his greatest wealth was a smart little yellow bird.

Mingzi and Little Cai fell in love with each other, and later reached the age when it was time to talk about marriage. Mingzi's mother personally came to Little Cai's house to propose marriage, but Little Cai's mother thought that Mingzi's family was poor, so she deliberately gave a problem: "As long as Mingzi can get the three golden hairs on the head of the Tathagata Buddha in the Western Heaven, I will agree to marry Little Cai to him!"

Mingzi knew and said firmly, "Since she has put forward the conditions, then I will go to Xitian and get three golden hairs!" Mingzi also asked Little Cai to wait for him for three years, and Little Cai agreed.

Mingzi and the little yellow bird set out together and walked all the way west over the mountains. That evening Mingzi and the others came to a village and found it strange to find people working in the fields at night with lights on. An old man said, "Everything was normal here, but a few years ago, from nowhere, a golden rooster flew in. It slept during the day and crowed at night, so that we couldn't rest. We had to be like it, sleeping during the day and working at night. Aren't you going to the west? I beg you to ask the Buddha how to cure this golden rooster?" Mingzi agreed.

After crossing another mountain, Mingzi came to another village. The crops here are very good, but the people are very thin, and Mingzi thinks it is very strange. An old woman said: "We used to live a good life, but a pair of phoenixes flew from the sea and came here every day to eat rice and eat all our food. The villagers wanted to shoot them with bows and arrows, but when they came, they were shining and dazzling. Not only did they not shoot, but they also ruined the crops. Aren't you going to the west? I beg you to ask the Buddha, how to cure this pair of phoenixes?" Mingzi agreed.

Mingzi and the little yellow bird came to the seaside and wanted to find a boat to ferry. The ferry man told him: "The wind was calm here, but I don't know what happened, but recently a monster has come to this sea, which makes the river overturn every day, and the boat can't go. Aren't you going to the West Heaven? I beg you to ask the Buddha how to cure this monster?" Mingzi agreed again.

After finally crossing the sea, Mingzi continued to walk westward after going ashore, and finally arrived at the Western Heaven Paradise. He went straight to the place where the Tathagata Buddha lived, but the two monks guarding the gate told him that the Tathagata Buddha was preaching, and it would take three years at the soonest.

Ming Zi quickly thought of an idea. After a while, the little yellow bird suddenly flew up and flew over the heads of the two monks. The two monks came to catch the bird, and Ming Zi took the opportunity to sneak into the gate and came to the huge lecture hall. Ming Zi recognized that the tall and large Bodhisattva was the Tathagata Buddha. Ming Zi quietly circled behind the Tathagata Buddha and jumped, like a monkey, onto the shoulder of the Tathagata Buddha and climbed to the top of his head.

Tathagata Buddha was so tall that he didn't feel anyone climbing on top of his head at all. When Mingzi pulled out his hair, he felt the pain like a mosquito sting. He asked, "Who is biting me?" Mingzi had an idea and replied, "It's the golden rooster that can sing on the other side of the mountain." The Buddha said absently, "I will bind you with a golden hair." Mingzi pulled out another one, and the Buddha asked, "Who is biting me again?" Mingzi replied, "It's the phoenix that always eats people and crops on the other side of the mountain." The Buddha said absently, "I will bind you with a golden hair." Mingzi pulled out another one, and the Buddha asked again, "Who is still biting me?" Mingzi replied, "I'm from the sea..." Before Mingzi could finish speaking, the Buddha raised his hand high. Mingzi quickly jumped off his head and escaped with the three golden hairs. The little yellow bird soon followed him.

Mingzi went back to the sea and put the end of the golden hair into the sea. The golden hair immediately became very long, swimming around like a golden snake, and caught a mermaid with a human tail. The mermaid begged Mingzi and said, "From now on, I will never make trouble again. As long as you let me go, if you have any difficulties in the future, just call me three times where there is water, and I will come." Mingzi let it go. From then on, the sea became calm again.

Mingzi returned to the small village on the other side of the mountain, and happened to bump into Phoenix flying over to eat rice. Mingzi took out golden hair, which immediately became very long, emitting a dazzling light like lightning that pierced Phoenix's eyes. Mingzi flicked the golden hair again and tied Phoenix up. Phoenix begged Mingzi, "From now on, we will never come here to eat rice again. As long as you let us go, if you have any difficulties in the future, just take these two golden eggs and call us three times at the golden eggs, we will give you ten pieces of gold and ten pieces of silver." Mingzi let them go. From then on, Phoenix really never came to eat rice again.

Akiko went back to the village on the other side of the mountain. In the evening, the golden rooster came out again and crowed loudly. Akiko took out the golden hair, which immediately grew very long, gave a lightning-like dazzling light, pierced the golden rooster's eyes, and caught it. The golden rooster begged Akiko and said, "I will never crow at night again. If you let me go, I will go back with you, and as long as you give me three golden rice a day, I will lay you three golden eggs a day." Akiko took it away. The people there were very grateful to Akiko.

Three years passed, and Mingzi returned home. Little Cai's mother was very surprised to see the three golden hairs, but she put forward a new condition. She wanted Mingzi to take out another bucket of pearls and a large pile of gold and silver treasures, but this was not difficult for Mingzi at all.

Mingzi called the merman in the water, and the merman quickly brought a bucket of pearls for Mingzi.

Mingzi shouted at the golden egg, and ten pieces of gold and ten pieces of silver appeared in front of him.

Mingzi fed the golden rooster three grains of golden rice, and the golden rooster laid three golden eggs for him.

This time, Xiaocai's mother was dumbfounded and forced Mingzi to take out all the treasures. For Xiaocai, Mingzi gave her the golden rooster bird and the phoenix egg. Unexpectedly, the greedy Xiaocai mother forced the golden rooster bird to eat golden rice, wanting to make the golden rooster bird give birth to more golden eggs. The golden rooster bird wanted to escape, but accidentally broke the phoenix egg. Xiaocai's mother held a stick to chase after him, but ended up killing the golden rooster bird again. The pearls that the mermaid got turned into water in Xiaocai's mother's hands.

Little Cai's mother was in a hurry, so she simply ate the golden rice for the golden rooster, which quickly swelled to death.

Mingzi came and found that there was nothing left. He was very sad. He buried Xiao Cai Ma, the golden rooster, and the phoenix egg together. Soon a big tree grew there, and the fruit it bore was like a golden egg, and it tasted delicious. People call this fruit "the golden egg."

This is the origin of the Golden Egg Tree.