Selling his body to bury his father refers to the story of Dong Yong, who lost his mother at a young age and later sold himself to a wealthy family as a slave in exchange for funeral expenses. On the way to work, I met a woman under the shade of a locust tree who claimed to be homeless. The two of them got married. The woman wove 300 pieces of brocade in one month to redeem Dong Yong’s debt. On her way home, she arrived in Huaiyin and told Dong Yong that she was the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor and was ordered to help him repay his debt. After finishing his words, he flew away in the air. Therefore, Huaiyin was renamed Xiaogan.
卖身葬父是指董永，少年丧母，其后父亲亡故，董永卖身至一富家为奴，换取丧葬费用这个故事。上工路上，于槐荫下遇一女子，自言无家可归，二人结为夫妇。女子以一月时间织成三百匹锦缎，为董永抵债赎身，返家途中，行至槐荫，女子告诉董永：自己是天帝之女，奉命帮助董永还债。言毕凌空而去。因此，槐荫改名为孝感。
《二十四孝·董永卖身葬父》
汉董永，家贫。父死，卖身贷钱而葬。及去偿工，路遇一妇，求为永妻。俱至主家，令织缣三百匹乃回。一月完成，归至槐荫会所，遂辞永而去。
诗曰：
葬父将身卖，仙姬陌上迎。
织缣偿债主，孝感动天庭。
Dong Yong Sold Himself to Bury His Father
Dong Yong of the Han Dynasty was very poor. When his father died, he had to borrow money to have his father buried. In return for the debt, he had to work for the creditor. One day on his way to work, he met with a young lady who begged to marry him. They both went to the creditor’s house, and the woman was supposed to weave three hundred bolts of silk cloth before she could leave for home. After a month’s hard work, they both returned to the locust tree, where they first met each other, and the lady bade adieu to Dong Yong and was gone forever.
