Mount Li, with outstanding people, has not only left extremely rich and precious Qin relics for the Chinese nation, but also cultivated colorful pomegranate culture flowers for China. The emergence, development and maturity of pomegranate culture in China embodies the meaning of "taking famous foreign flowers and achieving great domestic achievements", shows the love and yearning of Shaanxi people for beautiful and auspicious things in past dynasties, and inspires Lintong people's desire and pursuit for modern cultural life. Lintong, the authentic pomegranate in China, is the birthplace of pomegranate culture in China.
Documentary record
Pomegranate planting in Sanqin originated in Han Dynasty. Relevant documents recorded the historical fact that Zhang Qian brought pomegranate seeds back from the Western Regions in the Western Han Dynasty.
Zhang Hua's "Natural History" in the Western Jin Dynasty says: "Money goes to the Western Ocean, and you get an andesite pomegranate seed in Tulin." (Turing is a transliteration of Sanskrit pomegranate)
"Brother He", a land machine in the Western Jin Dynasty, said, "Zhang Qian spent eighteen years in a foreign country and got a pomegranate in Tulin Temple. "
Wang Ming's Fang Qunpu said: "Pomegranate originated in the history country of Turing 'an, and money made the western regions belong to its species."
Chen Qing's "Flower Mirror" says: "Pomegranate is actually an Anshi country, which was brought back to China by Korea and Zhang Qian, so it was named An Pomegranate."
Pomegranate seeds from Zhang Qian were introduced into the mainland from the Silk Road, and were first planted in Shanglinyuan and Lishan Hot Spring Palace in Chang 'an, the imperial capital at that time. According to Yu Yuan, commander-in-chief of Shanglin in Han Dynasty, there were 3,000 kinds of exotic flowers and grasses planted in Shanglin Garden at that time, including "ten pomegranate plants". Loved by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he later ordered pomegranate planting in Lishan Hot Spring Palace.
Zhang Qian, a city dweller in the Western Han Dynasty, was an official. In the third year of Jianyuan (BC 138), he was ordered by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to send envoys to Da Yue to join forces with * * * to attack the Huns. In the third year of Yuan Shuo (before 126), he returned to Han, was detained by Xiongnu on the way, and lived abroad *** 13. In the fourth year of Yuanshou (former 1 19), he was ordered to send envoys to Wusun (now Ili Valley in Xinjiang), and successively sent envoys to Dawan, Kangju and Daxia to rest in peace. History says that Zhang Qian's second mission to the Western Regions refers to this.
The western regions are the general name of the areas west of Yumenguan after the Han Dynasty. In a narrow sense, it refers to the east of Conglin Mountain, and in a broad sense, it refers to the accessible area west of Yumenguan, including Central and Western Asia, Indian Peninsula, Eastern Europe and North Africa. Anshiguo is now Iran and Afghanistan in Central Asia, and it is the origin of pomegranate. The first pomegranate seed in China was brought back by Zhang Qian during his second mission to the Western Regions, and returned in March of BC 165438 (the second year of Emperor Ding Yuan). From then on, Chang 'an arrived at the east coast of the Mediterranean, and the 7000-kilometer "Silk Road" was opened, bringing back grapes, walnuts, watermelons, gourds and other fruits. Zhang Qian died soon after he returned to Han. In memory of this industrious diplomat and the pioneer of the Silk Road, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty named him Prince Bo.
folklore
There is also a magical legend about the origin of Lintong pomegranate. According to legend, The goddess patching the sky lost a ruby at the foot of Mount Li. One year, when Prince Anshi was hunting, he saw a golden-winged bird that was about to freeze to death in the forest, and hurriedly brought it back to the palace to feed and cure the disease. After the golden-winged bird was saved, in order to repay the prince for saving his life, he took the ruby at the foot of Mount Li to the imperial garden of Anshiguo not far from Wan Li, and soon grew a strange tree with red leaves and green flowers, which was named "An Pomegranate" by Anshiguo.
In BC 1 19, Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions and came to Anshi State (Anguo refers to Buhaila today, and Shiguo refers to Tashkent). At that time, there was a drought in Anshi country, thousands of miles of bare land, crops were yellow, and even pomegranate trees in the imperial garden died. So, Zhang Qian told them about the experience of building water conservancy projects in the Han Dynasty, which saved a crop and pomegranate tree. Pomegranate flowers are particularly red this year, and the fruit is particularly big. When Zhang Qian returned home, King Anshi gave him many gold, silver and jewels, but he didn't want them. He only collected some pomegranate seeds and took them back as souvenirs. Since then, pomegranate, which evolved from "Ruby" of Mount Li, began to settle and multiply at the foot of Shanglinyuan and Mount Li in Chang 'an, becoming the pomegranate in Lintong today.
natural cause
People can't help asking, why can pomegranate planted in Shanglinyuan and Lishan Hot Spring Palace survive in Lintong for a long time? This is not surprising. The area around the northern foot of Lishan Mountain is "red silt" with gravel and loess, which has good permeability and abundant light resources, and the four seasons are cold and warm, and dry and wet alternately. There is less dust in the air and good visibility in the light. All these have adapted to the characteristics of pomegranate, such as temperature, light, drought and thin ridge. "Natural selection, survival of the fittest", so the pomegranate in Lishan has become one of the top ten famous flowers in China in the past two thousand years. The longer the fruit grows, the bigger it is, and some single fruits can reach more than 1 kg; Breeding is becoming more and more common and has spread to many parts of the country. Pomegranates from other places, regardless of sweetness, size and appearance, are incomparable to those from Lishan.
General situation of development
From folklore to literary works, from natural factors to reproduction, it goes without saying that Lintong pomegranate is the fruit of pomegranate in China and an important witness of the ancient "Silk Road". 2/kloc-for more than 0/00 years, with the economic and cultural development of China and the southeast shift of China's economic center of gravity, pomegranate has gradually moved eastward and southward, and has been planted in Anhui, Henan, Shanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shaozhou. Various cultures around pomegranate are gradually taking shape.
In the Western Jin Dynasty, pomegranate was endowed with great prosperity. Pan Yue's poem "An Pomegranate Fu" said: "Pomegranate is a strange tree under the tree and the fruit of Kyushu. Flashy and beautiful, the taste is different. Shangqiu, the people are angry and accept, thousands of rooms are the same, and thousands of children are like two. Colorful and standing, shining, soaked in taste and overflowing with aroma. " The poet described the state, color, taste and fragrance of pomegranate vividly with the wonderful pen of the wizard.