Beijing News (reporter Wang Jixin) Throughout the ages, osmanthus and the Mid-Autumn Festival have the closest relationship. However, in reality, osmanthus flowers will not open due to the arrival of the Mid-Autumn Festival. According to media reports, in the mid-autumn of this year, the main osmanthus production area was affected by high temperature and drought, and there was no scene of osmanthus blossoming everywhere. Garden experts said that only when the average temperature is around 20 ° C and the rain is abundant, the osmanthus flowers will meet the cool bloom. Although the aroma of osmanthus may be absent from the full moon day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, it does not affect people's taste of osmanthus wine, and only osmanthus wine that has been aged for more than three years can have a mellow taste and full aroma.
Osmanthus is most closely related to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Courtesy of respondents
The "Green Bank" of Ten Mile Guixiang
"Osmanthus not only has a sweet aroma, but it is said that osmanthus belongs to the golden bean tree and is deeply loved by people." Folklorist Wang Zuoyu told the Beijing News reporter, "In the legend, Wu Gang 'landed on the moon' just for the 'golden bean', cut the osmanthus tree with an axe, saw the 'golden beans' fall one after another, reluctant to stop the axe, continue to cut, and the result was lost the opportunity to come back." "Although it is a persuasive legend, it is enough to prove the tenacious vitality of the osmanthus tree."
China has a long history of planting osmanthus trees, especially in the Yangtze River Basin. Hubei Xianning, Suzhou Wu County, Guangxi Guilin, Hangzhou Manjuelong, Sichuan Xin are china's top 5 well-known osmanthus production areas.
China has a long history of planting osmanthus trees. Courtesy of respondents
In the Xindu District of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, there is even a song of osmanthus flowers, "Rose fragrance, jasmine, not as good as the hometown osmanthus fragrance ... Bloom that little flower golden yellow. For this reason, Xindu also has another name, called Xiangcheng, and similarly, the well-known tourist city of Guilin is also named after the osmanthus flower.
In Beijing, the best place to see osmanthus flowers is the Summer Palace. Unlike the southern osmanthus flowers that grow wild throughout the mountains, the osmanthus flowers of the Summer Palace are planted in broad-mouthed pots and placed in the royal garden in a potted manner.
Most of these osmanthus seedlings are also transplanted from the south to the north, that is to say, in the main production areas, rural farmers call the planting and sale of osmanthus seedlings and osmanthus flowers "green bank".
"When the price of saplings is not high, villagers can keep osmanthus trees and sell osmanthus flowers in the eighth month of the lunar calendar, which has more economic income." Jia Ziyan, the inheritor of Jia's Osmanthus wine in Chongqing's Non-Heritage and Nan'an District, told reporters: "The distillery buys gold and silver gui from Shiniu Village in Nanshan Street every year, and the price per kilogram ranges from 20 yuan to 30 yuan, the average osmanthus tree can harvest about 20 kilograms of osmanthus flowers, the income of a single tree can reach 400 yuan to 600 yuan, and each family will have hundreds of trees, so osmanthus has become a stable income for villagers." ”
Osmanthus wine polished in time
"The temperature in autumn is gradually cooling, and osmanthus wine has the effect of warming up, so the Mid-Autumn Festival family banquet is mainly based on tasting osmanthus wine." Folklorist Wang Zuoyu told reporters that according to the tradition of Beijing, the brewing of osmanthus wine is not to soak osmanthus in wine, but to use half a altar wine, filled with osmanthus flowers in a yarn bag, hanging on the liquid surface, smoking the wine body, the osmanthus wine that comes out, the fragrance is soft, the wine body is clear, and it is not turbid.
Also produced from Beijing osmanthus wine, the base wine is selected from wine, osmanthus is selected from The golden gui of Wuzhong District of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, and the Beijing osmanthus aged wine brewed with these two raw materials has become a warm memory of the daily life of many Beijingers. Cui Caihong, a senior winemaker and member of the Portuguese Fruit Wine Expert Committee of the China Food Industry Association, told the Beijing News reporter: "Ancient winemaking was gradually developed on the basis of farming and planting. According to reports, the osmanthus that brews Beijing osmanthus old wine has strict requirements for the picking time, and only the golden gui that enters the flowering period after August 15 is selected, and on the day of picking, the harvest must be completed before the sun comes out. Cui Caihong said, "The osmanthus flowers picked in the morning will not bloom, the fragrance is the most full, the osmanthus flowers should be picked as soon as possible to keep fresh, and the preservation method used by Beijing osmanthus Chen is to dip, and collect the fragrance essence in the osmanthus flowers in this way." ”
The same is the extraction of osmanthus flavor, Chongqing Intangible Cultural Heritage, Jia Ziyan, the inheritor of Jia's osmanthus wine in the South Bank District, told the Beijing News reporter, "I only use the second stubble of golden gui, and after picking, I will mix well with sugar within 3 hours, put it into wooden barrels, and ferment." "The fermented osmanthus honey and the sorghum-brewed liquor are mixed and sealed in the altar.
Although the base wine used in the north and south of the river is different, after adding osmanthus flowers, it will be cellar aged. "Aged osmanthus wine, the aroma will become more and more intense." Jia Ziyan said.
A traditional festival with farming culture
Every important festival, there will be one or two kinds of flowers and plants to match, such as calamus and mugwort leaves corresponding to the Dragon Boat Festival, chrysanthemums corresponding to chongyang festival, osmanthus flowers corresponding to the Mid-Autumn Festival. The difference is that osmanthus and the Mid-Autumn Festival are more closely linked.
Whether in myths and legends, or in real life, you can see the figure of osmanthus flowers. At the moment of family reunion, osmanthus flowers appear in the wine specially brewed for this festival, using natural ingredients to add a taste of happiness to people.
Osmanthus flowers are indispensable in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Courtesy of respondents
According to folklorist Wang Zuoyu, the folk offerings during the moon worship are very exquisite, and everything placed is the freshest fruit picked from the field. For example, the peach, which symbolizes the peach offering a thousand years of life, and the pomegranate, means unity and blessings. In addition, the placement of persimmons and apples represents the safety of everything, and the guiyuan means that you are in the reunion. What is unexpected is that when worshiping the moon, there is also a edamame with branches and leaves, because that is the favorite of the Moon Palace Jade Rabbit. It can be said that in the folk moon worship activities, the fruits of farming play an important role.
Beijing News reporter Wang Jixin
Edited by Zhang Shujing Proofreader Lucy