Commonly known as Mu Zi. Sapium sebiferum, belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae, is a deciduous tree with heights reaching up to 15 meters. It thrives in warm and damp climates and has strong soil adaptability. It can grow in alluvial soil along riverbanks, clay red soil in low hills, and mountainous red-yellow soil. It is widely distributed in southern China's forests. The region of Dawu County in Hubei Province has the largest quantity, with a coverage of 4.2 million trees, earning it the title of "Sapium sebiferum hometown." Its seeds are rich in oil, white after removing the shell, and are harvested at the beginning of December. The oil extracted from these seeds is used in high-grade paint and soap. Every late autumn, its red leaves resemble fire, not inferior to maple leaves, making it an excellent species for landscaping and horticulture.
In winter, entering the northeastern hills of Dawu County in Hubei Province, the remaining foothills of Dabie Mountain have only bare branches left on their poplar trees and low shrubs. Cold air from above and harsh winter winds leave no leaf behind.
In 1984, Sapium sebiferum was established as the county tree of Dawu, granting Dawu the reputation of "Sapium sebiferum hometown." With a planting area of 4.2 million Sapium sebiferum trees, in recent years, tourists have been coming to this impoverished county, ranked around 50th in GDP province-wide, just to see the vast red leaves of Sapium sebiferum. At the end of last month, the Sapium sebiferum Resource Protection Festival was held in Dawu, establishing the decision to "protect Sapium sebiferum resources and develop the Sapium sebiferum industry."
However, on the streets of the county town, one does not see the promotion of this "after frost falls, ten thousand flowers wither, ten thousand acres of Sapium sebiferum burn like fire" type of planting. Like other urban greenery tree species, they have been replaced by evergreen magnolias and camphor trees because they are too much trouble to clean up.
This article was written and photographed by Qian Ye.
More than 20 years ago, white chocolate extracted from Mu Zi was a favorite among children.
Sapium sebiferum, commonly known as Mu Zi, is locally called You Zi Tree and is widely found in the hills of various towns in Dawu County, mainly in Xin Cheng, Peng Dian, Si Gu, Liu Ji, He Kou, and Xuan Hua. After entering winter in December, the fiery red leaves of Sapium sebiferum fall cleanly, exposing the fruits growing at the ends of the branches. These fruits are black shells enclosing four or mostly three white oily seeds, about the size of peas.
By breaking open the outer layer, approximately 4 millimeters thick, of white wax-like substance, locals extract oil from the inner black kernels. The outer layer is called "skin oil" and is used to produce candles and soaps; the inner kernel, when separated, produces "Zi oil," a common industrial raw material and preliminary product for processing high-grade paints. In impoverished times, locals used it for lighting lamps, although it could also be eaten, but the taste wasn't good.
People in the county still remember that in the 1970s and 80s, there were some local Mu Zi processing plants. They could extract cocoa butter substitutes from "skin oil" and process them into white chocolate. This silver tin-wrapped white chocolate was very popular among children back then, smooth and delicious.
As food processing, both layers of fat from Mu Zi can produce high-grade paint and soap. Its bark has medicinal value, and even the residue after pressing can be processed into feed. Japanese scientists once praised it as a "green bullet." However, due to weak competitiveness, these companies collapsed in the 1990s.
Peanuts have replaced Mu Zi as the main source of income for local farmers.
Nowadays, it's hard to find Mu Zi processing oil mills in Dawu County. The main reason is the reduced number of planted Sapium sebiferum trees, and peanuts have become the primary source of income for local farmers. The county harvests about 250,000 mu (approximately 16,667 hectares) of peanuts annually, with Xin Cheng and Huang Zhan becoming the two largest peanut processing and distribution markets. These oil mills can be seen along the road from Dawu to Xin Cheng.
In Cheng Zi Dun, a place in Xiong Jia Wan Village in Xin Cheng Town, two oil mills serve as finished product acquisition stations. The oil-pressing machines are locked inside tile houses, and the former managers have turned to transportation. From his words, it became clear that acquiring Mu Zi trees for oil pressing was a thing of the past few years. The reduction in tree numbers and increased acquisition costs led him to abandon oil pressing in this land. "Previously, Mu Zi trees were everywhere along the fields and edges, now they've all been dug up to plant peanuts," said Manager Xiong.
The acquisition price for Mu Zi locally is 1.2 yuan per pound, which increases slightly to 1.3 yuan when resold to oil mills. During the oil pressing and selling process, Old Xiong would need to hire more than ten masters. The machine maintenance and costs made him feel increasingly burdened. "If I can't make money, who will still do it? I sell Zi oil, and I get only five to six thousand yuan per ton." Based on market conditions, if he wants to make a profit, he'll have to let the machine rest for a few more years.
A 30-year-old Mu Zi tree can yield 40 pounds of oil seeds.
Xin Cheng Town is the main production area for Mu Zi, but you still can't see the planting of this "county tree" on the streets. After some searching, we found a place called Xin Fu Village. Following the southbound road and stopping at a bridge, the end of the mountain road leads to Xin Fu Village Primary School.
Mu Zi grows in the surrounding towns of Dawu, in the low northeastern hills of Hubei Province. Their counterparts are widely distributed in southern mountains. Behind the school in Xin Fu Village, Mu Zi grows at a relatively low altitude and is not evenly distributed, generally spaced about 20 meters apart. In newly tilled peanut fields, a large tree root has been unearthed.
Jiang Liangqing was the first person I met who was climbing a tree to beat Mu Zi seeds. He lives south of the school, where 12 production teams are scattered throughout the nearby Dabie Mountains. He climbs the tree, while his wife picks up the cut Mu Zi branches below, using a bamboo pole about seven meters long (with a "sharp knife" head, shaped like a crescent-shaped iron shovel) sharpened and bound to the pole. His speech carries a slight Xinyang accent, as the distance to Henan is only about 30 kilometers.
Mr. Jiang's family owns 15 Mu Zi trees, and at his current efficiency, it will take him about five days to work on them. Above the branches is the setting sun, and the sunlight hitting the white waxy Mu Zi seeds makes them shine like dandelions. Such a 30-year-old Mu Zi tree can yield about 40 pounds of oil seeds, earning the elderly couple about 200 yuan based on current market prices, since many old trees no longer bear Mu Zi seeds well.
Most people left behind to collect Mu Zi are elderly and women.
The two-kilometer-long road connecting the school and the village runs deep into the mountains, branching off to other places. But the roads leading to the outside world converge right where Mr. Jiang cuts Mu Zi trees.
People who go to the city won't return to collect Mu Zi. A daily income of over 100 yuan allows them to leave more Mu Zi trees to the care of the elderly and women left behind. Yan Lifen lives in Group 11 and has now moved to the newly built street. The men have all gone out, and her brother's Mu Zi trees are also entrusted to her to collect together. Young people each have their own plans; the girls have gone to textile factories in Wuhan, while the boys have mostly gone to Guangdong to make their way.
A few days ago, Yan Lifen's daughter called to tell her mother that she had been transferred to the leather production line, earning over 2000 yuan a month, but worried that the leather would blacken her hands. Yan Lifen understands the rules of such production lines, but most of the time, she only hopes that her daughter can earn more money before getting married, as there is still a young man at home who hasn't yet married.
In Xin Fu Village, at the beginning of the 1990s, the first group of men went out, mostly heading to Guangdong to learn repair skills. Now, some have opened their own auto parts repair shops, prompting a large number of young people to seek distant relatives and friends. By the end of each year, Yan Lifen specifically entertains those who return home for a few days, thanking them for helping her son. This situation is extremely common locally. If there are no better options, locals generally send their young men out to learn a skill, then marry and have children.
Yin Headmaster, who came to give directions, expressed concern about the current state of Xin Fu Village Primary School. These schools scattered deep in the mountains house children from kindergarten to age 13, who live in schools built on slopes during class hours. Every weekend when school dismisses, many children from faraway places must walk five kilometers, even if they are under ten years old. "Most of the time, they share rides," said Yin Headmaster.
Close-up》》》
In winter,
the villages of Dabie Mountain
During the candle era, Xin Fu Village relied heavily on the oil extracted from Mu Zi, but this stopped during Zhou Guoying's youth. Her father had an oil press workshop, but she could no longer explain how the oil was pressed or what tools were used. The only thing she remembered was that Mu Zi seeds needed to be boiled to extract oil. Besides lighting lamps, excess Mu Zi seeds were sold in the county town, and cloth was exchanged.
Zhou Guoying married into Xin Fu Village in the 1970s. There was little difference between this Dabie Mountain village and her previous home. Her husband, Yan Qijun, was a native of Xin Fu Village, where most of the 12 groups were surnamed Yan. "Approximately six generations have lived here, and by the grandchildren's generation, they've all moved out."
From the collapsed adobe houses, the construction style leans towards the sturdy warmth of northern buildings. Pigs roam freely in the village. Old Yan placed the bundled Mu Zi branches in the pond in front of his house to soak for a day, then sat in his aged home smoking a pipe, closing his eyes to rest, while Zhou Guoying prepared lunch.
Lunch didn't take too long. In the middle of it, Zhou Guoying's daughter called to inform her father that she would be home in 12 days. Flipping through the yellowed calendar, it was still nearly two months until the New Year.
After feeding the pigs, Old Yan put on his straw hat and walked back along the path. He had the most Mu Zi trees, with about 50 of varying sizes on the surrounding ridges. He once thought about leaving, but his son was away for long periods, leaving him with too many responsibilities, unable to leave.
Mu Zi trees have been squeezed to the edges of fields, planted by the older generation. "Elders plant trees, descendants reap the seeds," said Old Yan. "Trees bear oil, bees make honey, silkworms spin silk," described as the three treasures of the folk in Xin Fu Village. On the Mu Zi tree he climbed, there was a bird's nest as big as a basin. After cutting down all the branches, the 40-centimeter diameter magpie nest appeared even larger. "Magpies love to build nests on Mu Zi trees and return in the evening," said Zhou Guoying.
Every March, when peanuts sprout, the magpies also hatch baby birds. Zhou Guoying detested the "magpies" at this time because they pecked at the peanuts planted in the fields. However, during such close proximity to the bird's nest, Old Yan did not knock it down, saying, "Birds are like humans; once the baby birds grow up, they're like the young people in the village who go out to work." Sometimes, Zhou Guoying would utter insightful remarks about life.
Until sunset, the elderly couple continued cutting branches on the Mu Zi tree. Old Yan clung to the tree trunk, while Zhou Guoying sat on the red mountain ridge ground, telling Old Yan not to hit branches too far away, careful not to fall. After cutting the fruit-bearing branches every winter, the Mu Zi tree will bear more fruit the following year. Some older Mu Zi trees, due to lack of management, have long branches drooping all over the canopy. Without fruit, it quickly dies.
Before leaving, Zhou Guoying pulled out two large handfuls of peanuts from an ancient wooden box and stuffed my pockets full. Old Yan said that this year's peanut harvest wasn't good, with only about 500 to 600 pounds collected from several ridges. "Not planning to sell them anymore, keeping them to press oil for consumption." Along with the recent harvest of Mu Zi seeds in the mountains, he and his wife will have a harvest of 2000 yuan this year, allowing them to give a small gift to their newly added grandson by the end of the year.
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