Illustrated Compendium of Materia Medica (Vol. 30)

The Mengzi Cinnamon Tree

The cinnamon produced in Anbian a location in Annam and Qinghua Thanh Hóa, Vietnam both lie within the borders of Jiaozhi northern Vietnam. Those produced in China are limited to the cinnamon of Mengzi. It is also produced in the territory of the Tusi local tribal chieftain in Fengchunli. I sought and obtained a specimen six or seven feet tall. Its branches and trunk are entirely unlike the Muxi Osmanthus fragrans. Its skin is smooth and lustrous; its branches and leaves sprout in pairs, the leaves are green and strong, with exactly three veins—the face of the leaf is concave and the back is convex, with no fine wrinkles. Its pointed, square shape resembles a gui a jade tablet of authority. This is how I realized that the ancient name for cinnamon was based on the gui shape, a statement that has a factual basis. Later researchers who attempted to distinguish it only argued about the fatness of its bark and flesh; they never actually observed what kind of tree the cinnamon was. Before the cinnamon bark matures, it has a slight spicy scent, like that of agarwood or sandalwood. As the years pass, the cinnamon forms and becomes increasingly pungent as it ages. We must wait for this time. Therefore, even though there are thousands of miles of cinnamon forests, the formation of high-quality cinnamon is as rare as a unicorn's horn. In the mountains of Jiangnan, there may not necessarily be a lack of trees like this one. It is a pity that there is no one who recognizes them as cinnamon. When they are used as firewood, their fragrant scent fills the hearth. It is tragic that they are treated as mere wood left for others to lament.