History
Cultivation of lychee began in the region of southern China, going back to 1059 AD, Malaysia, and northern Vietnam.[3] Unofficial records in China refer to lychee as far back as 2000 BC.[9]
Wild trees still grow in parts of southern China and on Hainan Island. There are many stories of the fruit's use as a delicacy in the Chinese Imperial Court.[citation needed] It was first described and introduced to the West in 1656 by Michal Boym, a Polish Jesuit missionary (at that time Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth).[10][3]
In the 1st century, fresh lychees were in such demand at the Imperial Court that a special courier service with fast horses would bring the fresh fruit from Guangdong. There was great demand for lychee in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), according to Cai Xiang, in his Li chi pu (Treatise on Lychees). It was also the favourite fruit of Emperor Li Longji (Xuanzong)'s favoured concubine Yang Yuhuan (Yang Guifei). The emperor had the fruit delivered at great expense to the capital.[6]
The Chinese classical work, Shanglin Fu, states that the alternate name, meaning leaving its branches, exists, because once the fruit is picked it deteriorates quickly.[citation needed]
The lychee attracted attention of European travelers, such as Juan González de Mendoza in his History of the great and mighty kingdom of China (1585; English translation 1588), based on the reports of Spanish friars who had visited China in the 1570s gave the fruit high praise:[11]
[T]hey haue a kinde of plummes, that they doo call lechias, that are of an exceeding gallant tast, and neuer hurteth any body, although they shoulde eate a great number of them.
The lychee was scientifically described by Pierre Sonnerat (1748–1814) on a return from his travels to China and Southeast Asia.[citation needed] It was then introduced to the Réunion Island in 1764 by Joseph-François Charpentier de Cossigny de Palma.[citation needed] It was later introduced to Madagascar which has become a major producer.
vitamin: C, B6
Cultivation of lychee began in the region of southern China, going back to 1059 AD, Malaysia, and northern Vietnam.[3] Unofficial records in China refer to lychee as far back as 2000 BC.[9] Wild trees still grow in parts of southern China and on Hainan Island. There are many stories of the fruit's use as a delicacy in the Chinese Imperial Court.[citation needed] It was first described and introduced to the West in 1656 by Michal Boym, a Polish Jesuit missionary (at that time Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth).[10][3]
In the 1st century, fresh lychees were in such demand at the Imperial Court that a special courier service with fast horses would bring the fresh fruit from Guangdong. There was great demand for lychee in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), according to Cai Xiang, in his Li chi pu (Treatise on Lychees). It was also the favourite fruit of Emperor Li Longji (Xuanzong)'s favoured concubine Yang Yuhuan (Yang Guifei). The emperor had the fruit delivered at great expense to the capital.[6]
The Chinese classical work, Shanglin Fu, states that the alternate name, meaning leaving its branches, exists, because once the fruit is picked it deteriorates quickly.[citation needed]
The lychee attracted attention of European travelers, such as Juan González de Mendoza in his History of the great and mighty kingdom of China (1585; English translation 1588), based on the reports of Spanish friars who had visited China in the 1570s gave the fruit high praise:[11]
[T]hey haue a kinde of plummes, that they doo call lechias, that are of an exceeding gallant tast, and neuer hurteth any body, although they shoulde eate a great number of them.
The lychee was scientifically described by Pierre Sonnerat (1748–1814) on a return from his travels to China and Southeast Asia.[citation needed] It was then introduced to the Réunion Island in 1764 by Joseph-François Charpentier de Cossigny de Palma.[citation needed] It was later introduced to Madagascar which has become a major producer.
vitamin: C, B6
