"Litchi is everywhere in Licheng" is the first sentence written by Guo Moruo 1962 when he came to Putian. The meaning profoundly expressed the poet's first feeling about Putian in Licheng.
When litchi was planted in Putian is not clearly recorded in local chronicles, but Cai Xiang, a local resident, said in the Lychee Book: "Lychee trees in Song Dynasty have been passed down for 300 years and originally belonged to Wang. When Huang Chao crossed Pupu, the soldiers hoped to have their wages cut. Wang Shi cried with the tree and hoped to die with it. If the nest pities it, don't cut it. " It is inferred that this right was planted 300 years before Cai Xiang wrote the score, about the same time as Yang Guifei. It can be seen that litchi cultivation in Putian existed as early as the Tang Dynasty. This kind of "Song Gong Litchi", commonly known as Song Jiaxiang, still exists today and is listed as an ancient tree under cultural relics protection.
Litchi is also called Danli, Dali and Jinli (China Native Products Dictionary and Compendium of Materia Medica are also called Litchi). ): "If this fruit leaves this branch, the color will change on the first day, the fragrance will decrease on the second day, and the taste will change on the third day. After four or five days, its color and fragrance are exhausted. " This is probably why one of them left the branch. Litchi is scientifically classified and belongs to Sapindaceae. Evergreen trees, pinnately compound leaves, leathery leaflets, lanceolate. Flowers are green and white or yellow. The fruit is like a newborn pine cone, covered with scales, but wrinkled, green, ripe red, light as jade, very sweet. There are many varieties.
Putian litchi, full of color and flavor, has won people's love since ancient times. Cao Xuequan's Lychee Song said: "Fresh litchi is the best in the world." Su Dongpo said: "300 lychees a day, I don't want to grow up to be a Lingnan person." Song Huizong also has a song "Litchi in Xuanhe Temple": "Densely move to Fujian Mountain, prohibit new planting of Zidan, the jade liquid will first coagulate the fairy palm dew, and the crimson bud will begin to bear crystal pills. The wine is gorgeous but not vermicelli, and the wind is fragrant but not fragrant. Why should the world of mortals fly? The incense is counted on this seat. " From the poem quoted above, it is not difficult to see. I like litchi from the emperor to the bachelor of arts. Moreover, in ancient times, some people painted tigers because they loved them, calling them "tiger idiots" (Puyi's brother), while Song Jue, a Puyi man, called them "litchi idiots": "There are thousands of people who love litchi in Qian Qian, and no one can compare them in ancient and modern times. When you taste a beautiful woman, you will find a hundred bodies. People who spit are different in shape and lick differently. The ending is a combination of poetry and excellent color. Every time Lizi wins, she has to take it from below, and then it's salty. " ("Xiao Minji") There is a litchi custom in ancient Putian: for example, "If a woman is gorgeous, she must be like a poinsettia crown." Those people whose bodies are called smooth are like broken lychees. If you call it plump, it will be like a charred plum. ""Anyone who asks questions to relatives and children will get a number of champion incense, which means that the champion is the first. "Some people even take the plum curtain hanging between the window and the screen and close the door to hang the curtain, which will last for a long time. "At first, the whole room was filled with incense sticks (Xiao Min Ji)."
Litchi can also be processed into dried litchi, canned litchi, litchi fruit method, litchi preserves, litchi wine and so on, and can be used as medicine. According to Compendium of Materia Medica, its fruit "can quench thirst, benefit people's color, educate people and strengthen qi"; Shells can cure "acne and relieve litchi fever"; Nuclear energy can treat "spleen pain, women's blood gas, hernia swelling and pain, yin kidney swelling, kidney swelling like a bucket"; The roots of flowers and bark can cure "sore throat" and tannins can also be extracted from shells and roots; Wood is solid and can be used as furniture. A person's reputation is full of treasures, not empty.