Yuanke was a native of Jiying. He had an attractive appearance and good character, and many people in his hometown offered to marry their daughters to him, but Yuanke never accepted any of them. He often planted five-colored fragrant herbs as part of his Taoist cultivation, accumulating this practice for several decades, and ate their fruits. One day, a five-colored moth landed on the tip of his fragrant tree; Yuanke collected it and placed it on a piece of cloth, from which mulberry silkworms were born. When the time for raising silkworms arrived, a beautiful woman came at night and introduced herself as Yuanke's wife, describing the condition of the silkworms — a motif familiar in the lives of great Taoist figures who attract divine companions through virtue. Yuanke gathered the silkworms with her and obtained 120 cocoons, all of which were as large as jars. It took sixty days to spin out a single cocoon completely. Afterward, they both left together to achieve Taoist immortality, and no one knew where they went. Therefore, the people of Jiying have passed down the tradition of honoring mulberry silkworms, establishing a sacred shrine for them. Some say it was the Ji Yang clan of Chenliu.

How admirable is Yuanke, whose beauty rivals the morning bloom! He looked upward to absorb the essence of heaven and downward to pluck five-colored flowers. Fragrant herbs filled with fragrance, elegant moths in graceful array. A virtuous lady descended at night, uniting virtue and ascending to a higher realm.