The National Reunification Fruit
By Quynh Thu
The lychee not only is a very enjoyable good fruit but also has gone down in history with a mystery whose truth may not be known forever
When the mid-June summer heat is still lingering in Saigon, a woman in her late 30s—just call her Tuy Dan—indulges herself with a tropical fruit coming to her city all the way from the north: lychee. To Tuy Dan, lychee is a special treat as its season lasts for only one month. The first lychees appear in Saigon in early June, and one month later in early July, this lady will feel sad when her beloved fruit is all gone.
Tuy Dan’s first experience of fresh lychees dates back to many years ago when she spent her girlhood in the central city of Danang. It was the years following Vietnam’s reunification in 1975. In her memory, before that time, fresh lychees had not been available in the city in the occupied South Vietnam.
In the then Saigon, things were not much different. Saigonese at that time had rare chances to taste fresh lychees. Instead, only dried or canned lychees were available on the market.
But fresh lychees have become a fruit delight of Tuy Dan’s since lychees began to make their way to Danang and other provincial markets in the south. When Tuy Dan moved to Saigon, she didn’t forget to bring with her the love for the fruit. Today, when seeing the fresh lychees in Saigon during the year, Tuy Dan knows that the summer of her 12-year-old son has also arrived.
The lychee is by no means the number-one fruit in this tropical country. It is not as popular as pineapple and watermelon which are almost always available all the year round. Nor is it comparable to the dragon fruit as far as export revenues are concerned. However, to Tuy Dan and lovers of this fruit, lychee may be unique in that it can be named “the reunification fruit” because it is arguably the best domestic fruit for them—the people in the south—to enjoy after Vietnam has reunited.
As a rule, soon after the first lychees ripen in early June, they are transported to markets nationwide. Saigon is one of the major destinations for the northern fruit. Early-season lychees always taste less sugary, and are much more expensive and available only at fruit stalls at big markets in town. But when the lychee season comes to its peak, lychees are easy to find and their prices drop to half of the previous levels.
In the north, about 50,000 hectares of lychee trees are grown in the provinces of Bac Giang and Hung Yen, of which Bac Giang alone accounts for 40,000 hectares. Luc Ngan and Thanh Ha are the two most prestigious “brand names” of lychee in Bac Giang.
Adjacent to Bac Giang is Bac Ninh Province. In the 15th century in a Bac Ninh lychee orchard happened one of the most infamous injustices in Vietnam’s history. The incident involved Nguyen Trai, a great politician at his time. Nguyen Trai was the chief advisor of Le Loi, the first emperor of the Later Le Dynasty.
In 1442, on a field trip, King Le Thai Tong—son and successor of Le Loi—dropped by Nguyen Trai’s residence named L chi viên (Lychee Garden). The king, who had a weakness for women, spent the night with Nguyen Thi Lo, a concubine of Nguyen Trai’s, and died unexpectedly. Being accused of treason, Nguyen Trai and his entire family were executed. Twenty-two years later, King Le Thanh Tong completely vindicated Nguyen Trai posthumously.
Who was behind all the conspiracy that killed Nguyen Trai remains a mystery in history. However, several historians blamed Nguyen Thi Anh, Le Thai Tong’s second wife, for the gruesome plot.
King Le Thai Tong was only 20 at his death, but he had already had four sons. The king nullified his first son as the crown prince to prefer the second, whose mother was Nguyen Thi Anh. The king was later crazy about another wife who also gave birth to another prince. Fearing that Le Thai Tong might reject her son just like the way he had treated the first crown prince, Nguyen Thi Anh organized the conspiracy to kill Le Thai Tong to ensure the throne for her son. Nguyen Thi Anh’s son later became King Le Nhan Tong.
Some historians have even cast doubt on the legitimacy of Le Nhan Tong because they suspect that he might not be Le Thai Tong’s son. The truth about this controversy may remain a mystery in history forever. But put in the current context, something impossible in the past may become possible at the present due to modern advanced technology. If this royal case happened now, a simple DNA test would provide a clear answer!
Tuy Dan doesn’t care much about whether Le Nhan Tong was the biological son of Le Thai Tong or about the DNA paternity testing. In comparison with Vietnamese in Nguyen Trai’s era, she can now enjoy lychee in form of canned fruit for the rest of the year in addition to the month-long fresh lychee season. In her opinion, however, no processed lychees can taste like the fresh ones!
She and other lychee-lovers may be happy to know that over the past two years, local farmers and agronomists have been successful in growing grafts that bear early-ripening lychees. The grafted lychees ripen half a month earlier than normal varieties do.