Osmanthus flowers, cassia bark, cassia leaves, longan, cassia wood...what is the relationship between these "osmanthus" things?

At this time of year, the streets and alleys of the city begin to be filled with the refreshing aroma of osmanthus, which gradually spreads to our dining tables and continues to our taste buds. Osmanthus cakes, osmanthus wine, osmanthus wine... The addition of osmanthus flavor adds a different flavor to the food. And when we pay close attention, we will find that there are many ingredients named "gui" in the kitchen: cinnamon bark, cinnamon leaves, cinnamon powder... Do they also come from osmanthus trees? What is the relationship between these "gui" characters?

In fact, the Chinese people’s understanding and familiarity with “Gui” is a long and poetic process.

1. The earliest representative of the word "Gui": not osmanthus, but cassia bark

The earliest person to record "osmanthus tree" was Qu Yuan, a poet of the Chu State during the Warring States Period. In his poems "Li Sao" and "Nine Songs", there are lines such as " Pei Wu Cheng Xi Gui Zhou ". The earliest "Gui" character discovered by archaeologists so far was unearthed from the Baoshan Chu Bamboo Slips in the Chu Tomb in Jingmen, Hubei. Although Chinese characters have undergone many changes in fonts, the "Gui" character more than 2,000 years ago is not much different from today.

From these records, we can see that the "Guishu" came from the Chu State in the south. In the pre-Qin period, the "Guishu" was mainly used to make boats or houses, and the "Guishu" also had a fragrance. This feature shows that the "Guishu" at that time was not the Osmanthus fragrans we are familiar with today, but mainly the Lauraceae Lauraceae Laurus, which includes Cinnamomum cassia. This is because the whole body of the cinnamon tree has a fragrance, while the osmanthus only has a fragrance when it blooms.

(Cinnamon, photographed by Zhou Hongyi. Image source: China Plant Image Library)

Cinnamon is a tall tree, and the cinnamaldehyde and other substances contained in its trunk have certain bactericidal and antiseptic effects. After Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms, people in the Central Plains became more familiar with the high-quality wood of "cassia". Cinnamon is abundant in today's Guangxi, so it was named "Guilin", and this name has been passed down to this day. In the Han Dynasty, cinnamon trees had been transplanted in the Shanglin Garden, a royal garden in Chang'an. Later, the Guidian and Guigong, built with cinnamon wood, appeared in the imperial palace. Among the people, the legend of "there is a cassia tree in the moon" appeared at this time, and the picture bricks of the Han Dynasty depicted "cassia trees" and toads in the moon.

At that time, the sweet-scented osmanthus tree was still "hidden in the boudoir and unknown to the world". In different regions of the south, it had many names such as "Osmanthus fragrans", "Gui Li Xiang", "Golden Millet", etc. "Osmanthus fragrans" was just another name for it in some regions. Although in our view today, the two species are very distantly related and have obvious differences in morphology. But for people at that time, these two plants came from the far south, were evergreen all year round, had fragrance, and lived on hills and slopes, so they were confused at that time.

2. Wu Gang cut down the cassia tree: He didn’t cut down the osmanthus tree, but the cinnamon tree

During the Three Kingdoms and Jin Dynasties, as people observed more deeply, they began to realize that the two were not the same species. In the "Description of Southern Plants" by Ji Han of the Western Jin Dynasty, three kinds of "Osmanthus trees" were recorded. Cao Zhi, who was known for his ability to compose poems in seven steps, even wrote a poem called "Osmanthus Tree": "Osmanthus tree, osmanthus tree. How beautiful is the osmanthus tree! Its red flowers and green leaves spread its fragrance to the ends of the earth." This is generally recognized as the first poem that explicitly describes osmanthus, which means that osmanthus began to enter the public's field of vision.

It takes a long process to go from understanding to familiarity. The Tang Dynasty was an era of poetry, and it was also an era that particularly loved "osmanthus". According to incomplete statistics from the Complete Tang Poems, Tang Dynasty poets wrote at least 1,350 poems describing "osmanthus trees", many of which are still familiar to people today: "When people are idle, osmanthus flowers fall, and the spring mountains are empty at night" (Wang Wei's "Birds Singing in the Stream"), "Looking for osmanthus in the moonlight in the mountain temple, watching the tide on the pillow in the county pavilion" (Bai Juyi's "Remembering Jiangnan"), "Orchid leaves are luxuriant in spring, and osmanthus flowers are bright in autumn" (Zhang Jiuling's "Twelve Poems of Feelings and Encounters·No. 1")... In the eyes of poets, "osmanthus trees" are not only fragrant, but also endowed with the symbolic meaning of not fearing the severe cold and being steadfast and unyielding: "I say that I am cold in the cold, and I don't know dew and frost" (Wang Ji's "Six Poems of Ancient Meaning").

(Copyrighted library images, reprinting and use may cause copyright disputes)

There is also the well-known story of " Wu Gang Cutting the Cassia Tree ". Duan Chengshi's "Youyang Miscellaneous Records" records that there is a huge "cassia tree" on the moon, which can never be cut down and always has luxuriant branches and leaves. In the Tang Dynasty, there was also a saying of "winning the laurel", which means passing the imperial examination. It can be seen that the "cassia tree" at this time was given more spiritual and cultural attributes.

However, later researchers discovered that some of these poems described sweet-scented osmanthus, while others actually described cinnamon. Due to the relatively warm weather in the Tang Dynasty, sweet-scented osmanthus trees, which originally lived in southwest my country, could be transplanted into the courtyards of Chang'an as ornamental plants, but cinnamon trees were still an important resource at the time, so the two had to share the name of "gui" during this period.

3. Osmanthus became a favorite of scholars and writers since the Song Dynasty.

People in the Song Dynasty also loved "osmanthus trees". It was from this time that the object of osmanthus poetry changed from cinnamon to osmanthus flowers, and cinnamon could only hide in the kitchen. One of the people who had the most profound influence on him was Li Gang, a national hero who saved the country from collapse during the transition between the two Song dynasties. He was a staunch anti-Jin faction at the time and organized the "Battle of Tokyo" to protect the capital. Li Gang loved osmanthus flowers throughout his life. He not only wrote many poems and articles describing osmanthus flowers, but even named his study "Guizhai". Later, Lin Zexu, a famous official in the Qing Dynasty, named his study "Guizhai" in order to express his inheritance of Li Gang's patriotic legacy.

At the same time, poets no longer just regarded osmanthus as an embellishment of autumn, but began to describe it in more detail. "The tender leaves are like jade-like green, and the broken gold and yellow are cleverly woven together. The wood is like a rhinoceros rhinoceros, and the texture is firm and solid, and it emits the fragrance of sandalwood that spreads ten miles away" (Li Gang's "Rock Osmanthus"), "The osmanthus stands tall under the rocks, and it is fragrant in the late year" (Zhu Xi's "Ode to Rock Osmanthus"). The literati of the Song Dynasty were willing to compare osmanthus to a gentleman and sing praises of its noble character.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, osmanthus began to "fly into the homes of ordinary people". During this period, osmanthus trees were always indispensable in garden landscaping. The "Wen Muxi Xiang Xuan" in Suzhou's Liuyuan Garden, the "Xiaoshan Conggui Xuan" in Wangshi Garden, and the "Qingxiang Pavilion" in Canglang Pavilion are all named after osmanthus. Even in the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace where the royal family lived, the fragrance of osmanthus is indispensable every August 15th of the lunar calendar. In the long-term cultivation and domestication process, osmanthus has gradually been cultivated from the wild light yellow color to varieties with different flower colors and flowering periods such as "Dangui", "Jingui", "Yingui" and "Sijigui".

(The origin of the name of longan is also related to the osmanthus tree. Copyright library pictures, reprinting and using may cause copyright disputes)

More smells and tastes have also begun to be described as osmanthus fragrance. Longan (Dimocarpus longan) grown in the Lingnan region did not have the nickname "Guiyuan" in the Ming Dynasty's "Compendium of Materia Medica", but it was clearly recorded in the Qing Dynasty's "Supplement to Compendium of Materia Medica". The "Guiwei" variety of lychee (Litchi chinensis) is also named because of its osmanthus fragrance.

4. Bay leaves are actually the leaves of the "alien species" laurel

In addition to the domestic "laurel tree", with China's gradual opening up and exchanges, foreign plants also have competitors for the "laurel crown". Laurel (Laurus nobilis) is native to the Mediterranean region. It may have been introduced to China along the "Silk Road" very early, but laurel became well-known only with the popularity of modern Western cuisine. The ancient Greeks especially liked laurel trees, and would weave its branches and leaves into crowns to award to the champions of the Olympic Games, so "laurel crown" became synonymous with the winner. Coincidentally, Westerners also like to praise laurel trees with poems, and the Eastern "winning the laurel crown" and the Western "winning the laurel crown" are similar in nature and both symbolize victory.

(Laurel, the "fragrant leaves" we are familiar with are the leaves of laurel. Copyright library pictures, reprinting and using may cause copyright disputes)

Bay laurel lives up to its name "Gui". Its leaves can enhance fragrance and eliminate strange smells, so it even appears directly under the name of "bay leaves" in spice bags for cooking meat or in hot pot bases.

In addition, Western pastries also like to use the brown powder of Ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) as a seasoning. Although this plant and our domestic cinnamon are both plants of the genus Lauraceae, and the cinnamon produced is also very similar, it is native to South Asia and tastes lighter and sweeter than cinnamon.

(Fruits of Cassia tree, photographed by Su Lifei. Image source: China Plant Image Library)

In the vegetable markets in Guangdong, Hainan, Yunnan and other places, you can sometimes see the fruits of Artocarpus parvus. They look like small pomelo, and the flesh inside is sour and sweet. It is a wild fruit with great development potential.

Having said so much, what does the “Gui” taste like in your memory?

References:

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Author: He Huizhong, Master of Agronomy, Science Popularizer

Reviewer: Wang Kang, Director of the Science Museum of the National Botanical Garden, Professor-level Senior Engineer

Produced by: Science Popularization China