Japanese - Ume Blossom

[Yaezakura]

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The Japanese plum or ume (sometimes referred to as a Japanese apricot) has played an important role in Japanese culture for many centuries. It was originally introduced from China.

The plum is associated with the start of spring, because plum blossoms are some of the first blossoms to open during the year. In the Tokyo area, they typically flower in February and March. The event is celebrated with plum festivals (ume matsuri) in public parks, shrines and temples across the country.

Like cherry trees, plum trees come in many varieties, many of which were cultivated by humans over the centuries. Most plum blossoms have five petals and range in color from white to dark pink. Some varieties with more than five petals (yae-ume) and weeping branches (shidare-ume) have also been cultivated. Unlike cherry blossoms, plum blossoms have a strong fragrance.

Umeboshi
The actual ume fruit is more sour than the western plum or apricot, and is usually processed in various ways before eaten.

The most popular processed form is the umeboshi, a sour, pickled plum, which is usually enjoyed with cooked rice. Umeboshi is one of the most typical Japanese flavors. Umeshu, a sweet alcoholic beverage made of plums, is also very popular.

 

[Yaezakura]

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The plant is known by a number of different names in English. Arguably the most widely accepted is Japanese apricot. Other variants include Japanese plum and Chinese plum (both names also used for Prunus salicina). An alternative name is ume, from the Japanese name, or mume, from the scientific name, also ultimately based on an older, alternative Japanese pronunciation—possibly the original—of "mme" (んめ), which was written "mume" (むめ). Another alternative is mei, from the Chinese name, which is usually seen in the context of Chinese art and cuisine, and imports from Chinese-speaking regions.

Sometimes names such as ume plum and umeboshi plum (the latter referring to Japanese pickled ume) are also seen. For the tree and flower, names like Japanese flowering apricot, flowering plum, and winter plum may be used, the latter specifically with regard to depiction of the flower in Chinese painting.

In Chinese it is called méi (梅) or méizi (梅子) [1] The Japanese name is ume (kanji: 梅; hiragana: うめ) while the Korean name is maesil (hangul: 매실; hanja: 梅實). The Japanese and Korean terms derive from Middle Chinese, in which the pronunciation is thought to have been muəi.[2]. The Vietnamese name is mai (although mai may also refer to a different plant, Ochna integerrima, in the south of Vietnam).

Vietnam

In Vietnam, due to the beauty of the tree and its flowers, the word mai is used to name girls. In Confucianism, mai is named in the group of Four Gentlemen (四君子) : lan (orchid), cúc (chrysanthemum), trúc (bamboo), and mai. The largest hospital in Hanoi is named Bach Mai ("white plum blossom&quot<!--emo&--><img src='./images/1/smilies/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->, another hospital in Hanoi is named Mai Huong ("the scent of plum&quot<!--emo&--><img src='./images/1/smilies/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->, situated in Hong Mai ("pink plum blossom&#39;&quot<!--emo&--><img src='./images/1/smilies/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo--> street. Hoang Mai ("yellow plum blossom&quot<!--emo&--><img src='./images/1/smilies/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo--> is the name of a district in Hanoi. Bach Mai is also a long and old street in Hanoi. All these places are located in the south part of Hanoi, where, in the past, many Prunus mume were grown.

Due to its characteristics, beautiful flowers and a tall, slender tree, mai is used to describe the beauty of women in expressions such as "Mình hạc xương mai" - crane&#39;s body, plum&#39;s bones, and "Gầy như mai" - as slender as a plum tree.

Hồ Quý Ly wooed and won Princess Nhất Chi Mai of the Trần king after seeing a parallel couplet

Thanh Thử điện tiền thiên thụ quế
Quảng Hàn cung lý Nhất Chi Mai.

meaning: Thanh Thử palace, thousands of cinnamon trees here

Quảng Hàn palace, Nhất Chi Mai there".

Nhất Chi Mai is the name of the princess, but also means a branch of mai, implying a beautiful girl.

The Zen monk Thiền sư Mãn Giác monk composed a poem "Cáo tật thị chúng" (meaning: Report of my illness).

Xuân khứ bách hoa lạc Spring goes, hundreds of flower fall
Xuân đáo bách hoa khai Spring comes, hundreds of flowers blossom.
Sự trục nhãn tiền qúa In front of the eyes, everything goes on ever
Lão tùng đầu thượng lai On the heads, showing the year of age soon comes.
Mạc vị xuân tàn hoa lạc tận Who can say when spring ends, all flowers fall down?
Đình tiền tạc dạ nhất chi mai Last night, in front-yard, a branch of plum flower blossomed.

In this poem, nhất chi mai serves as a metaphor for hope (similarly to the last leaf in the short story "The Last Leaf" by O. Henry).

The mai used to celebrate the new year in the south, similar to the peach in the north, is in fact a different plant from Prunus mume