[Source: Hainan Provincial Forestry Department_Work News]
Farmers hold betel nut fruits in their hands. Hainan Daily reporter Zhang Jie Photo
text\Specially written by this magazine Zhou Yadong
"The cheeks are red and the tide increases the charm, but I know that I am drunk betel nut ." In 1097 AD, Su Dongpo was demoted to Hainan, and the local people of Li people treated betel nut. After eating, Su Dongpo left behind this poem that passed down through the ages.
betel nut, as an imported product, has a long history in my country. It is said that it has been introduced to China in about in the 4 years of the Western Han Dynasty. Betel nut, also known as Ximi Dan, Qingzai , Binmen , Big Belli , etc., is a tree of the genus Betel nut in the genus of the Palmaceae family. The fruit is oval or round, with a hard outer skin and contains a betel nut .
In 2012, Wanning, Hainan was awarded the reputation of "China's Betel Nut Hometown" for its long history of betel nut cultivation and the largest area in the country.
A
Why is the name of betel nut coming from?
The word betel nut is derived from the transliteration of Malay "pinang". However, Ji Han of the Jin Dynasty explained in "Southern Plants and Trees" that it originated from the ancient social customs: "Anyone who is in contact with noble families must present this fruit first. If you encounter it, you will hate each other. Then the name of betel nut is taken here." From this we can see that offering betel nut in the south is a kind of etiquette for guests, and betel nut is the most important thing to entertain guests. "Familiarity and friends are exchanged, and betel nut is not a gift."
In ancient times, "miasma" and "gu" on Hainan Island were popular among the people, and betel nut is a practical medicine, "can prevent fishy fish, eliminate food, and eliminate miasma." There is also a legend among Hainan folk sayings about the origin of the name betel nut.
Legend a long time ago, there was a big mountain called Wenying Mountain in Yazhou Bay, Hainan Island. There were three banshees named Plague, Miasma, and Gu, which lived in the mountains, which were called Plague, Miasma, and Gu, which specifically harmed the people of the Li people. The news reached Jade Emperor , and Bin, the youngest son of a very powerful martial arts, volunteered to attack and eliminate harm to the people. Bin came to the Peace Camp Mountain without fear of hardships and dangers, and killed two banshees, Miasma and Gu, but unfortunately was deceived by the Peace and died. Seeing that his beloved son had not returned, the Jade Emperor sent heavenly soldiers and generals to look for him. They walked around every corner of Hainan Island and found no Bin. Finally, the Li people took them to Wenying Mountain to find them. In the mountains, they saw a strange fruit tree growing among a pile of rocks. The stems were straight and branches were not divided, like a handsome warrior. The generals recognized this as Bin's incarnation. In order to commemorate the Bin who eliminated demons and subdued demons, the people named this tree "Binlang", and over time, it gradually evolved into "betel nut".
In China, there are more than 10 plants with the name "betel nut", several of which have economic cultivation value. Here we mainly talk about two types of betel nut: one is horse betel nut, the white cauliflower is a woody vine, which is a specialty of Guangxi and Yunnan and can be used as a substitute for betel nut; the other is mountain betel nut , a plant of the Palm family, which is rare in the past. It mainly grows in the Luofu Mountain area of Guangdong (also available in Hainan). The fruit is smaller than betel nut, and is known in history as "betel nut grandson". Local residents weave cloth with their leaves. In fact, betel nuts are very common in valleys and waterside forests at an altitude of 200 to 1,000 meters in Hainan, and are distributed in South China and Yunnan Province. There are also in Vietnam.
Betel nut has very unique stems. It was said in ancient times: "There are joints in plants and trees, and they must be hollow. If they are not empty, they must be branches. If they are not hollow and there are no branches and tillage, then only betel nut." There is a saying that betel nut usually draws 7 new leaves in one year, 7 old leaves fall off, and 7 leaf marks are left. Divide the number of leaf marks on the stem by 7 plus 3, and you can calculate the age of betel nut tree .
B
betel nut is the first of the four major southern medicines
There are more than 200 traditional Chinese medicines used as medicine in my country, and there are 51 Chinese patent medicines containing betel nut in the 2015 edition of " Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China ".
betel nut mainly contains alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, fatty acids, terpene and steroids, and has the effects of insecticide, elimination, qi promotion, diuresis, phlegm reduction, and malaria. It ranks first among the four major southern medicines in China. The other three are 六子子 , Amomum villossus, and Morinica 黄游戏 游戏 游戏 游戏 游戏 游戏 游戏 游戏 游戏 游戏 游戏 游戏 游戏 游戏 游戏 游戏
There was a saying in ancient medicine: "Betel nut can be kept and you can forget your worries." betel nut flower can be used as medicine, which can clear heat and relieve cough and strengthen the stomach.It is said that betel nut flowers on the unfruited are better.
In ancient times, Hainan was a miasma area. Tang Dynasty Yang Yan had the sorrow and worry of "A thousand miles away, thousands of miles will not return." Yazhou Where is it, and you will survive the gates of hell." In fact, " malaria " refers to malaria , which is an infectious parasitic disease caused by the transmission of malaria parasite by Anopheles. Betel nut has a unique anti-mias function and is a medicinal fruit for medical practitioners throughout the ages. Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty said, "The people of Lingnan eat it as fruits. It means that the south is wet, and if you don't eat it, you can't get rid of miasma." This should be the reason why betel nut is also called "Miscema Washing Pill".
Li Shizhen recorded in "Compendium of Materia Medica" that betel nut can "treat severe post-digestion, heart and abdomen pain, constipation of urination and defecation, phlegm and asthma, cure malaria, and prevent miasma."
C
Betel nut has been popular for two thousand years
Among the people, the people regard betel nut as a auspicious thing for love, wedding, promotion and wealth. In Vietnam, betel nut is a token of love. In Hainan, the Li people also have the custom of "letting betel nut" for engagement. The Ming Dynasty Tang Zhou recorded it more specifically in the "Qiongtai Zhi": "When the wedding matchmaker first came, they asked for betel nut. The rich brought silver boxes to their daughter's house. They would not open the box if they were allowed to marry, but they would take one in the box as a preceptor. Any woman who was hired was called eating betel nut of a certain family." The use of betel nut as a token of engagement comes from an ancient legend. It is said that a long time ago, there was a good girl from Li people named Bai Liao at the foot of Wuzhi Mountain in Hainan. She proposed to her. Bai Liao does not love property, but only loves people who are brave and loyal to love. She said, "Whoever can pick the betel nut from Wuzhishan will marry whoever I can." As a result, only a young Li tribe named Coconut fruit overcomes the difficulties and picks back a bunch of betel nuts and gives them to Bai Liao. So the two became husband and wife. Nowadays, there must be two strings of dried betel nuts in the betrothal gifts for the Li people, commonly known as "putting betel nuts" or "giving betel nuts".
In the Ming Dynasty, Gu Yi said in "Haicha Yulu": "Betel nut is produced in Hainan, but most of the prefectures and counties in Wanya, Qiongshan, Huitong, and Lehui, while fewer are in other places. Every relative and friend meets and brings each other as a gift. As for marriage, you don't need to use the New Year post, just betel nut." Betel nut is single and straight, can resist typhoons, has a long and noble life, and has many seeds, so "putting betel nut" means "one heart", "a happy marriage", "elegant and auspicious", and "many children and many blessings". The time for delivering betel nuts is generally chosen on the double days of June or August. The number of betel nuts must also be even, indicating "pairs and pairs". Now, a betel nut love song "Creating betel nuts on tall trees, whoever climbs up first will taste it first" has sung the land of China, allowing more people to know betel nuts. In addition to marriage and making friends and entertaining guests, betel nut also plays a special role in other aspects, and thus leads to some special betel nut culture. For example, in Hainan, people use betel nut to ease the conflict. If there is a fight between A and B and A presents betel nut to B, then B will be angry and resolve, "I will be able to enjoy ghosts and gods, and I will respect you before General Erfubo."
Plant Archives
Betel nut, also known as Xijiandan, Qingzai, Binmen, Big Belle, etc., is a tree of the betel nut in the family Palm family, up to 12~15 meters high; Meat spike inflorescence , flowering period in summer, planting for about 5 years to bear fruit. The fruit is oval or round, with a hard outer skin and contains a betel nut; the harvest period is about August to November each year.
As of the end of 2021, the Hainan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs planting area was 2.5946 million mu, and the output accounted for more than 95% of China's.
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