Culture And Industrial Development Of Litchi And Longan In China

Litchi and longan which originated in China have been cultivated for more than 2,000 years. They are of significant economic status among the southern fruits. In the 17th century they spread into other countries. The culture of litchi and longan is a part of our traditional culture, at the same time other countries don't have it. There are many productive scientific researches of litchi and longan. However, few systematical studies on cultural value and industry of litchi and longan have been conducted.On the foundation of data collected from sociology,history,agronomy and economics, this study discussed the economic value, planting and cultural history of litchi and longan, analyzed the cultural manifestation and industrialization of litchi and longan. This thesis gave the proposal of advancing industrial competitiveness on the basis of cultural value of litchi and longan. The main results were as follows:1. The study defined the culture of litchi and longan. Culture of litchi was the sum of material wealth and spiritual wealth, which was an outcome of combining people and litchi as a carrier. Culture of longan was the sum of material wealth and spiritual wealth, which was an outcome of combining people and litchi as a carrier. The culture of litchi and longan have taken on the characteristics of diversification, such as edibility, medication, symbolism, regionalization, multilayer, etc.2. Arranged in order of time,this thesis explained the planting history. In details it contained the origin, the cultivation, the variety type, the distribution of litchi and longan in historical period,the edible and medical history of litchi and longan. Finally it propounded that the exploitation of litchi and longan was potential in food service industry and pharmaceuticals industry.3. In this thesis, cultural development process of litchi and longan was divided into three stages: the first stage was the cultural generation and development period of litchi and longan before Tang Dynasty; the second stage was the cultural prosperous development period of litchi and longan from Tang Dynasty to Qing Dynasty; the third stage was the cultural inheritance and redevelopment of litchi and longan from"Peoples Republic"to now.4. This thesis summarized the cultural manifestation of litchi and longan in every historical period. The cultural manifestation contained literature, folk-custom, legend, painting, carving, drama, film, cultural festival and old tree of litchi and longan. It was obvious that our traditional culture of litchi and longan was diverse and abundant.5. This thesis elaborated the present industrial status of litchi and longan. Especially, Specialized Farmers Cooperatives played a significant role in industrial development of litchi and longan. This thesis summarized the industry development patterns and some problems.6. This thesis gave the proposals of advancing industrial competitiveness. The proposals contained design of production, mark of commodity, new symbol, local feature, publicity of media, Cultural Festival and Tourism Festival, co-operation with research facilities,etc.