During the Three Kingdoms Period, there was a famous physician named Dong Feng. He had a kind heart, and often treated the poor for free. He would also look after the nearby animals whenever they got sick. So, he became friends with all the nearby animals. Sometimes, squirrels would climb onto his shoulder to play, and birds would eat the food on his hand.

One night, as Dong Feng was studying, he heard crying outside his window. So, he opened his door and asked,“Is anyone there?” A little tiger cub walked towards him, sat on the ground, and looked at him with pleading eyes. Dong Feng patted the tiger’s head and said,“Little tiger, is someone back home ill? Lead me there.”The little tiger turned around happily and led Dong Feng back to his cave. When Dong Feng entered the cave, he saw that Mama Tiger had an injured leg and there was another little tiger crying beside her. Dong Feng quickly walked over to Mama Tiger and said,“Don’t worry! I will help you.”After he bandaged Mama Tiger’s leg, Mama Tiger and her two cubs gratefully escorted Dong Feng to the entrance of the cave.

As time passed, everyone knew that Dong Feng did not charge money for his services. So, someone asked Dong Feng,“Physician, you do not accept money as payment for curing our illness. But we are very grateful for your help. Please tell us how we can repay your kindness.”Dong Feng thought for a while and said,“Well, I really like apricot trees. You may plant an apricot tree nearby if you really want to thank me.”And so, everyone who came to Dong Feng for help planted an apricot tree beside his house. In time, the number of apricot trees grew and became a huge forest. As the story of Dong Feng spread, people used “Apricot Forest” to refer to good physicians.

　　三國時代，有一個有名的醫生叫做董奉，有一顆仁慈的心，常常免費替貧苦的百姓看病。就算是附近的動物生病了，他也會幫忙治療，所以附近的動物都是他的朋友。有時候，小松鼠還會爬上他的肩膀玩耍，小鳥兒也會吃他手上的食物。
　　有一天晚上，董奉正在看書，突然聽到窗外傳來嗚嗚的叫聲。董奉走到門外問說：「有人在外面嗎？」只看到一隻小老虎走出來，坐在地上，用眼神哀求董奉。董奉摸摸小老虎的頭說：「小老虎，是你家有人生病了嗎？你帶我去看看吧！」小老虎就高興地轉頭帶著董奉走到一個山洞裡。董奉看見山洞裡躺了一隻腳受傷的母老虎，旁邊還有一隻更小的老虎在嗚嗚叫著，董奉趕緊走過去說：「別擔心，我會幫你治療的。」傷口包紮好後，母老虎帶著兩隻小老虎在洞口送董奉離開。
　　後來，百姓都知道董奉幫人看病一文不取，就有人跑去問董奉說：「大夫，您幫我們看病卻不收費用，我們都很感謝您，希望可以報答您。」董奉想了一想說：「不然，我很喜歡杏樹，以後來看病的病人，只要在附近種植杏樹就好了。」因此，來看病的人都會在董奉家的旁邊種上一棵杏樹，杏樹越來越多，成為一大片的杏林。故事流傳下來後，「杏林」也變成了稱讚醫生的用語。