CHAPTER XII! 



VARIETIES OF THE LYCHEE 



A fair indication of the interest and attention which the Chinese 

 have given the lychee is manifested in the great number of varieties 

 one finds listed in the literature of China and in the careful classifica- 

 tion of the fruit on the markets of the country. The varieties are far 

 too numerous for commercial culture, but a standardization has not 

 been developed, due chiefly to ths lack of intercourse between 

 sections producing this fruit and of organization among nurserymen 

 and growers. The varieties also run to grades which the wholesale 

 markets are quick to recognize, often to the disadvantage of the 

 grower. Numerous Chinese writers have carefully listed these 

 varieties. 



Writers from Fukien, and they have been by far the greater, 

 have striven to prove that Fukien produces the best lychee, but those 

 describing Kwangtung varieties just as strongly assert that this section 

 produces the best. Residents of the two provinces are to-day equally 

 as emphatic in their claims for the home-grown product. Wu Ying 

 K'uei l in his Ling Nan Li Chili P'u tried to settle the argument 

 interestingly by asserting that the Emperor Han Wu Ti ($n&ffr), 

 when he wished to transport lychee to Ch'ang An (&'), took all 

 from "ChiaoChou" (Coc hin China). , He also proved his claim 

 in favor of Kwangtung by showing that in the time of the T'ang 

 dynasty, T'ien Pao (39f), the queen, was very fond of lychee. 

 If secured from Szechwan or Fukien the way would have been much 

 nearer, but instead "flying riders" were provided and the "Nan 

 ftai" (r^tfc) district in Kwangtung provided the Queen with the 

 best in the land. She did not get any from Fukien. On the other 

 hand the Pen Ts'ao Tu Ching ^^@|.l), as pointed out in the 

 Annals of Fukien, places Fukien first, Szechwan second, and Ling 

 Nan last. But as a matter of fact Szechwan hardly deserves to be 

 ranked as a lychee producing province. 



WU YING K'UKT (&&), Ling Nan Li Chili P' 



aalSAu (*flfiHt), Book 59 (3-bJi#), section 5 (#!), 

 2 -KftnK)- 



