Introduced in Shugaisho (Compendium of fragments, attributed to Kintaka TOIN) written in the period of the Northern and Southern Courts (of Japan) is a story that azuki-gayu is derived from a Chinese legend: people received an oracle of the spirit of silkworm that they would get a hundredfold of silkworms if they worshiped the silkworm spirit making an offering of porridge in the middle of the New Year period.
日本の南北朝時代(日本)に書かれた『拾芥抄』には中国の伝説として、蚕の精が正月の半ばに糜（粥）を作って自分を祀れば100倍の蚕が得られるという託宣を残したことに由来するという話が載せられている。