Saturday, April 28, 2012

A Tale Of Two Lovers


Wow, so many of you knew what this fruit is!! And I knew you would! It is, indeed, a Lychee tree. Lychees are native to China and have been cultivated for 2,000 years. The fruit is said to be sweet and delicious, rich in vitamin C, with many health benefits. You can also get them canned in syrup or dried. The story goes that a Chinese emperor was in love with a lady named Yang. Her favorite fruit was lychee, so he had them delivered by fast messenger relay horses, whose riders took shifts day and night. As it happened, rebels wanted the emperors throne and claimed he was not doing his job because of being so infatuated with Yang. Rather than lose the throne, the emperor sent his love a piece of white silk to hang herself with. She was 38 years old when she died in 756.  The emperor wept bitterly, and later abdicated the throne. Lychee, anyone?

“Judas threw the silver coins into the Temple and left. Then he went out and hung himself.”
Matthew 27

44 comments:

SquirrelQueen said...

Ginny, that's a good mystery. If the fruit was smaller I would guess a Strawberry tree. I hope someone can answer your question.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ginny, it's a big mystery to me too, I have no clue what these fruits are...They look interesting though.
Have a lovely Day
Eva

Anonymous said...

Hi Ginny...great to see your beautiful pictures! At first glance I thought they were lychees...but they do look a bit different. I'd love to know what these attractive fruits are.

Have a great Sunday!

FilipBlog said...

Looks a bit like Lychee.

Greetings,
Filip

DawnTreader said...

Never seen anything like it!

MadSnapper said...

yep, its a lychee, they are really expensive down here, and my friend sells her tree fruit for hundreds of dollars, they pay and strip the tree so they can sell them. beautiful header shot of them. enjoy your day off.

Hootin Anni said...

I've never seen 'em before in my life!! But I see by other comments they're lychee...whatever the heck that is. I'll need to GOOGLE as soon as I leave my comment.

Thanks for stopping by to view our 'new' patio. And, hope your Sunday treats you well.

Alice said...

I've never seen anything like it. Have a nice rest:)

Ruth Hiebert said...

I guess we now know what they are. Just ask friends on the blog and you are sure to get an answer.Have a fabulous,restful day.

From the Kitchen said...

Yes, lychees. Never seen them that far north.

Best,
Bonnie

Shug said...

morning ginny....yep, my sweetie says it is in Soapberry family....it is a tropical fruit and it's native is southern china. It is called a Lychee...
Gorgeous fruit..

Linda said...

I will take a stab and say that it is Lychee. Lovely photos.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Never seen anything like it, Ginny... If it's a Lychee (as others say), I've still never heard of it... Pretty tree though. Thanks for sharing.
Hugs,
Betsy

Kim@stuffcould.... said...

I have no idea what these are??? Enjoy your rest!! you deserve it!!

Tanna said...

Asked and answered! So glad you did. I had no idea what they were. Rest well. blessings ~ Tanna

George said...

I hope you're enjoying your day of rest. I will also go with lychee, although it's been years since I've seen them on a tree.

Ann said...

Well it looks like the verdict is that they are Lychee but I've never seen them before or even heard of them.

momto8 said...

interesting at the least! i tell my kids never to "try" mystery fruit!!

Dawning Inspiration said...

I don't know what they are - we have them here, too. Hope someone knows!

S. Etole said...

I've never heard of them but what unusual looking fruit they are.

Bobbie said...

Not a clue, but apparently some of your followers knew. I hope your day was restful. So looking forward to seeing you and Phil tomorrow on our way through!! Please email me your # so I can call when we are close..

Mary Bergfeld said...

We saw a lot of these trees in Taiwan. They are indeed lychees. I hope you have a great weekend. Blessings...Mary

Karin said...

What a lovely lychee tree! I googled it! I've only had sweet lychees once for dessert. We're not too familiar with this fruit and probably don't know how to use it! Lovely photos and learned something new!

LC said...

I am glad too see these and their identity. Our local coffeeshop offers lychee fruit smoothies. All their smoothies are made with real fruit and the lychee smoothy is a great favorite of their Asian customers. Now I know a little more. Thanks, Ginny and Ginny's readers!

Chatty Crone said...

Can you eat them? I have never seen anything like that before. Pretty. sandie

Reena said...

I've seen them in the stores but never bought them ... lychee.

MadSnapper said...

what a story, hubby loves these things, they make me gag to look at them and the one time i tasted one, i spit for a while. peeled they look like slimy eyeballs. bob eats them anyway and people pay a lot of money for them. to each his own, but i do LOVE the way they look in your photos. no lychee for me, thanks, but i like the post

George said...

I heard several variations of that story when I was in China, but had forgotten about them. Thanks for the memories.

Remington said...

That was certainly interesting....sad....but interesting....thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

I had no idea what this fruit was but it's beautiful enough to frame that first picture and hang on the wall! I've had lychee fruit before, probably canned, and had no idea how beautiful it is on the tree! Such a sad story!

Annie Jeffries said...

I've never tried lychee nuts, Ginny, but I will certainly give them a try now.

The story of the lovers is very dramatic and sad. The emperor did not understand what love really was until it was too late. Life has a way of teaching us the hard lessons in most unexpected ways. Judas was the perfect example of not recognizing true love.

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

I like lychees - I've had them in Chinese restaurants before. They're mild but have a good flavor.

Cheryl @ TFD said...

I had no clue what this was. I wonder what they taste like? The photos are beautiful.

Becky Jane said...

This is an interesting tale...not much of a Prince Charming was he. I Googled the tree hoping they would grow here, but not so. We're too dry and cold. Oh Well!

Anonymous said...

Hi Ginny, I have eaten Lychee before once when I was in Japan on a two-week long trip. It is good tasting when properly prepared. I really like the variety of subjects you include here on you blog. Always interesting. Have a super good Tuesday tomorrow!

Rose said...

I had not heard of them, so had no idea what they were.

Stephanie V said...

You always find such great stories. Lychee fruit is DELICIOUS!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

This was an interesting story, Ginny. So many unusual events, both good and bad, have happened in history because of love.

I like lychee fruit..it is very sweet.

photowannabe said...

Ginny, thanks for commenting on my post.
Sorry to burst your bubble but the Hare and the coyote are large tin figures. I see them every time we head to the mountains on highway 50. This time I had my hubby drive in the slow lane and I snapped the picture as we drove by.
You asked about the "ladder" in the shot. Its a lighting structure that has been lowered to be the "net" for the volleyball craziness. We do lots of very inventive things in our multi purpose room, besides having church in there.

Glenda said...

I learn new things from you, Ginny! I had never heard of lychees!

Hope you have a great week!

Anonymous said...

What fascinating fruit!! Lovely pictures! I've missed visiting you lately, Ginny. Haven't had much computer time, but I always get such a warm and uplifting feeling when I read your blog. Thanks so much for the inspiration!! =)

Ann, Chen Jie Xue ้™ˆๆด้›ช said...

Where is it? I was told an American missionary brought Lychees back to USA. And if you eat a Lychee, it is most likely a Brewster lychee.

Lynn said...

Ginny, I cheated since I had missed this post, went to look at this first and then back to the diner post. I would not have known what these were, even though I believe you had posted something similiar before. (I immediately thought it had to be your blog cause you post the most fascinating items all thet time) As for the emperor sending his "love" white silk to hang herself.......Yikes. Yes, I know a long, long, long time ago but still selfish man.

Lynn said...

Ginny, I cheated since I had missed this post, went to look at this first and then back to the diner post. I would not have known what these were, even though I believe you had posted something similiar before. (I immediately thought it had to be your blog cause you post the most fascinating items all thet time) As for the emperor sending his "love" white silk to hang herself.......Yikes. Yes, I know a long, long, long time ago but still selfish man.

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