"Where Is My Wū-Mù (Ebony)?!" (Kew London Inspired II)

 




I am in fact taking this opportunity to post about a very dark wood  commonly known as 烏木 (wū mù) and the significant role it played in Taiwanese culture.


Its fruit  'velvet persimmon' 毛柿 in several indigenous language is kamaya - possibly a loan word from the Philippines (Tagalog).

Its timber precious 'Ebony'  used for making most expensive furniture.


During an Eastern Taiwan trip in 2021 - a local Taiwanese friend shouted out "That's wū mù! The darker the wood the more expensive!" - I, of course, immediately took a photo. To add - the tree was very tall and it wasn't fruiting season. I have also seen it  on a number of occasions in different parts of Taiwan.



A major scene in TV drama "Seqalu: Formosa 1867", Paljalim (who triggered The Rover Incident) shouted out (in claiming leadership/territory, from my recollection)

"WHERE is my 烏木 wū mù!?" 


PUPPET FLOWER (A novel of1867 Formosa) - 
"A gripping work of historical fiction, Puppet Flower is a powerful revisionist narrative of a formative moment in Taiwan's past"  has been published by Columbia University in April 2023. 

 


During this Kew Herbarium visit, Motoko who was present blogged about this very interesting Japanese sweet. Read HERE. 


------------------------------------------------------

(Kew London Inspired)  List

I. JUTE Economy, Specialty Soup, and Jute Bags for Rice and Sugar HERE.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mongolian BBQ History Taiwan - Created by a Chinese Comedian 1951

Image
Photo Update (June 10 2020)  Source - 'Remembering Taiwan' Facebook Group Mongolian BBQ mobile vendors in the late 1950s on the east bank of Tamsui River  Credit to Mr A Zoraster who stationed at Taipei Air Station from Aug 64 until Dec 66  Credit to Mr A Zoraster who stationed at Taipei Air Station from Aug 64 until Dec 66  “In Mongolia, you won’t find Mongolian Barbeque.   But, you do in Taiwan.   It’s just as you won’t find Fuzhou Noodle in Fuzhou.   But, you do in Taiwan.   Neither would you find Sichuan Braised Beef Noodle Soup in Sichuan.   Again, you do in Taiwan.   They are created by Taiwanese food industry to reflect the chefs’ imaginations of the regions and creativities.” In my forthcoming book with Steven Crook “The Culinary History of Taipei” Chapter 6: Supplying the Consumer (Taipei’s Markets) . We included an anecdote of Mongolian BBQ mobile vendors in the late 1950s on the east bank of Tamsui River : “…… and that cooked in the op
Read more

Sweet thirty hour stay - Taitung

Image
1. Our host  Aeles (tears in the Rukai language) at her restaurant Dawana ( a place of rest) 2. Buddha's head (fruit) in a bowl bought from a Paiwan wood-craftsman  3. The wood artist's most famous work - lily (flower) 4. Green Island on the horizon 5. Taiwan red quinoa  6. Ancient 'hot stone technique‘ soup My original plan was to go to Miaoli for a vegetable dyeing and weaving workshop with 林淑莉 Lin Shu-li a Taiwanese married into Atayal family and who demonstrated her skill in London in 2018. The workshop was closed until further notice. I therefore contacted Lily Wen (or Aeles Lrawbalrate in Rukai and 溫秀琴 in Mandarin) in Taitung if I could pay a long overdue visit - cancelled two years ago by typhoon. She readily welcomed and there I went with a friend. (Note -  For the Paiwan and Rukai peoples, lilies signify virtue and beauty in women as well as bravery and hunting power in men) We were greeted by a local friend and taken to
Read more

Saartje Specx (17th Century Dutch-Japanese, Famous Prisoner Batavia, Wife of First Missionary Fromosa) and Her Grave by Pineapple Stretch

Image
Terrence Ying-Tai Lai  賴英泰 in a recent talk I attended mentioned 'Sara's Grave 莎拉之墓' in Tainan.  Saartje Specx story, unknown to many including myself, is most fascinating.  A 17th-century watercolor drawing of the Dutch East India Company’s Fort Zeelandia, present-day Tainan, taken from the Eugenius-atlas, which was commissioned by Laurens van der Hem, a Dutch lawyer and map collector. (Wikipedia) Saartje's grave in green circle.  Pineapple stretch, women prison, graveyard, Amsterdam (a farm) clearly labelled. (Terrence Ying-Tai Lai  賴英泰 talk at Linking Publishing    聯經書房) Page one of a piece I found online. Saartje Specx (1617–1636) was the daughter of Jacques Specx, governor of the North Quarter of the Dutch East India Company's (VOC's) Asian trading empire, and a Japanese concubine. Saartje (Sara in English) was born at the Dutch trading base on the island of Hirado. In 1629, aged 12, she was living at Batavia in Java under the protection of Jan Coen, gov
Read more