The Land of Russia and Ukraine - A Place Full of "Smiling Faces"

In 1888, Gauguin brought Van Gogh a yellow linen canvas and a new yellow pigment. Van Gogh was overjoyed and used these materials to paint many sunflowers. In a letter to his brother, Van Gogh once said:

Sunflowers are my flowers.

Sunflowers face the sun,

The sun symbolizes love.

He changed his gloomy painting style and left behind this set of golden masterpieces.

In the complicated Europe of the 19th century, sunflowers could bring people strength and hope, just as Van Gogh described them. The first flowers that children all over the world would draw were often sunflowers, and they would also be painted with smiling faces, as if they were enjoying themselves in the sun.

Do you know which country in the world has the most smiles?

The top two – Russia and Ukraine.

01

A small wild chrysanthemum

Sunflowers originated in the Americas, where dozens of species of the genus Helianthus are still found. About 5,000 years ago, early humans in what is now the United States began to domesticate sunflowers. The earliest wild sunflowers had much smaller inflorescences than today, and their achenes (sunflower seeds) were also much smaller, and did not look as tasty.

The North American woodland sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus) provides an idea of ​​what sunflowers might have looked like 5,000 years ago.

Image source: Tuchong Creative

Unlike most American crops that spread from south to north, after the sunflower was initially domesticated in the lower Mississippi River, it spread south to Mexico and South America, becoming a rare early oil crop. Without sunflowers, the Maya's corn and pumpkin would probably not be so sweet.

02

I don't know Aoi

Of course, sunflowers, like corn and pumpkins, were also introduced to Europe with the Age of Discovery. In 1510, sunflowers arrived in Spain, but they were not used as crops, but only for viewing. It can be seen that sunflowers at that time were still much smaller than they are today, which can be seen even from Van Gogh's paintings.

Image source: Tuchong Creative

Sunflower is called sunflower in the English world. This name is not because it rotates with the movement of the sun, but because its flower disk looks like the sun.

During the Wanli period, sunflowers came to China and were originally called "Sunflower". Later, in the "Qunfangpu" book, it was called "Zhangju" because of its tall stature.

Now it gets interesting. I don't know why the ancients in the West thought there was a circle of light around the sun. It was probably because it was dazzling. Anyway, our ancestors didn't dare to look directly at the sun. In our ancient paintings, the sun is always a red ball, like a salted duck egg yolk. So, we don't think this thing looks much like the sun.

However, the naming methods of the East and the West are the same. The Chinese think that this flower, which is as tall as a person and has large leaves swaying, is a bit like our ancient divine vegetable - sunflower, which is today's winter sunflower, or winter cold vegetable.

So, in the far east, the sunflower was simply called sunflower, which is as inexplicable as calling a Cantonese person Cuihua, or a Northeastern person Xiqiu.

Oh, the timeline is messed up. Sunflowers had not yet arrived in China at that time. That was 1697.

03

A living person cannot be suffocated by oil

Peter the Great was a wonderful man. Like his contemporaries Kangxi and Qianlong, he liked to make private visits. This year, he hid his identity and went to Western Europe with the Russian delegation to investigate. In the Netherlands, the Tsar saw the sunflowers and his eyes lit up. The Netherlands is at such a high latitude, and this thing is still alive and well. If it were brought to Russia, it might be able to do a lot!

Peter the Great

It’s no wonder that the Tsar had never seen sunflower seeds - this kind of seeds was later called "mao ke'er" by the people of Northeast my country, "a northern specialty that the Russians love to eat the most."

You have to know that the cold and bitter countries were short of oil crops at that time, and it was very difficult for Russia to import olive oil from the Mediterranean at a high price every year.

In the movie "Happy Life", people just twist the seeds off the sunflowers and eat them.

You may ask, why didn’t the equally cold Baishan and Heishui areas at that time grow with soybeans and sorghum all over the mountains, and why didn’t we see edible oil being shipped from the Mediterranean?

Hey, no need, we use animal oil! White meat, blood sausage, pig slaughtering dishes, there is no fat residue left.

Animal fat has always been an indispensable nutritional and seasoning product in my country.

Image source: Tuchong Creative

You may ask again, can't the Russians learn from us? Good question!

cannot.

Russians believe in the Orthodox Church, an ancient Christian sect that came from the Eastern Roman Empire. It has strict rules for its followers. There are about 180 days of fasting days every year. During these days, not only can you not eat meat, but you can also not eat animal oil, even animal butter. On some special fasting days, you can't even eat olive oil. Anyway, here's a list for you. All the oils on the list are prohibited.

Believers are devout, but they also need the six major nutrients, not to mention that it is a freezing cold place.

Therefore, after the Tsar introduced sunflowers, they became popular immediately - sunflowers were not on the list, as the old gods in Europe would never know about this foreign thing. So, fasting is still fasting, and frying pancakes is still frying, achieving the best of both worlds.

04

Second Home

Who would have thought that once sunflowers arrived in Russia, especially in the black soil of Ukraine, they would grow well. Although the winter there is freezing, the summer is quite warm. The growth period of sunflowers is short, three or four months is enough, without any delay.

Halva, a dessert that was popular in Eastern Europe at that time, was made with sunflower oil.

Image source: Tuchong Creative

Thanks to the efforts of farmers and agronomists, the combat sunflowers are becoming more and more popular. There is a variety called "Russian Mammoth", which is more than 3 meters tall and has a flower disk diameter of more than 30 centimeters. Russia has suddenly changed from a major oil importer to a major exporter.

Sunflower oil on the shelf in a supermarket

Image source: shutter

Russia not only exports oil, but also exports sunflowers, and even exports them to its hometown in North America.

North Americans were confused. What the hell is this? Sunflower? Are they trying to play tricks on us?

Following a global battle for germplasm resources, America has bred larger varieties, such as "Skyscraper", but most of these tall and fertile sunflowers carry the genes of the Russian players of that year.

On the other hand, the ornamental sunflowers that first arrived in Europe were specifically bred into short, colorful varieties, and are now also important ornamental plants. We will focus on them another day.

05

Country Flower

Sunflowers not only solved the problem of oil consumption for Russians, but also earned a lot of foreign exchange through exports. To this day, Russia and Ukraine are the top two producers of sunflower seeds and sunflower oil, far ahead of other countries and regions, including its native land.

Ukraine, in particular, has a large area of ​​fertile black soil, where everything is sweet. Its cherries and grapes are world-renowned agricultural products, but even if they are combined, they are not as good as sunflowers. According to statistics from the Soviet Union in 1956, the then Ukrainian Republic planted a quarter of the sunflowers in the Soviet Union. You have to know that Ukraine only has 600,000 square kilometers, while the Soviet Union has more than 20 million.

Global sunflower planting area in 2019

How much do the people of Russia and Ukraine love sunflowers?

Let's put it this way, there are only a few countries in the world that have sunflowers as their national flowers, including the Soviet Union. Peru is the hometown of sunflowers after all, so it's understandable. Only Russia and Ukraine love this distant visitor that has only been introduced for 300 years and can almost be called an "invasive plant".

I think, in addition to economic benefits, the Russian and Ukrainian people prefer the high spirits and smiling faces of sunflowers. For that innocent and fighting nation, being in a sea of ​​sunflowers brings both the power of the fragrant oil and the romance of the vast expanse of golden color.

After all, power and romance are their past and will be their future.

I hope that in this not-so-distant land, all lives are safe and everyone still smiles.

Written by | Xin Fuchen

Some pictures | Tuchong Creative

The picture has been copyrighted and is not authorized for reproduction

WeChat Editor | Ah She Shuang