The mustard seed, also known as the spicy vegetable seed, is the seed of the Brassicaceae family's mustard and oil mustard plants. Its diameter is measured in millimeters, earning it a reputation for its minuscule size. In the past, scholars often humbly referred to themselves as “a mere three-foot life, a mustard seed scholar,” ordinary people described themselves as “a mustard seed commoner,” small households were likened to “a household the size of a mustard seed,” and tiny boats were called “a mustard seed boat”… The mustard seed is but a speck of dust in this vast world, a synonym for all that is slight, delicate, insignificant, and humble. Life may be as small as a mustard seed, yet it contains a universe; a heart as tiny as dust can hold multitudes. The person who best embodied being a “mustard seed” was Li Yu of the Qing Dynasty. In his sixties, Li Yu insisted on using all his resources to build a garden named “Jiuzi Garden” in Nanjing.
However, planting a single mustard seed is not an easy task. While most plants are sown in spring and harvested in autumn, the mustard seed differs. It is sown in late autumn and harvested the following summer, with the greatest fear being fierce storms and heavy snow during the process. The mustard seed absorbs the spiciness of autumn and the warmth of summer, gestates through winter, and nurtures during spring. It sprouts, grows, flowers, pods, and bears fruit, unhurriedly passing through all four seasons. When mustard seeds flower, they are just like rapeseed flowers, covering the ground with a sea of golden yellow, very beautiful under the blue sky and white clouds.
Freshly harvested mustard seeds are best when ground into mustard paste. Freshly prepared mustard paste is a tender yellow color, quite attractive. My first experience eating mustard was due to the allure of this tender yellow hue, lightly dipping some in a cold dish. I did not expect it to be so spicy and pungent, almost overpowering, causing me to instantly tear up and cry. It was precisely from that moment that I started to enjoy eating mustard, missing it immensely if I didn't have it for a while, yearning for that feeling of invigoration after the “spicy stimulation.”
The mustard seed is also a type of traditional Chinese medicine. According to “Compendium of Materia Medica,” “(Mustard seed) warms the center and dispels cold, clears phlegm and opens the orifices. It treats cold-induced vomiting, cold coughs, wind-cold pain, locked jaws and tight lips, and helps to dissipate swellings and blood stasis.” Generally, mustard seeds are used in medicine after stir-frying, which moderates their properties and enhances their ability to warm the lungs, clear phlegm, and benefit qi. Mustard seeds can also be applied externally. As recorded in “Fujian Pharmacopoeia,” mustard seeds washed and finely pounded, mixed with boiling water to form a paste, and applied to the affected side of the face, can treat facial nerve paralysis.
The mustard seed, though small and unassuming, is not weak or lowly, consistently offering its humble contributions. “The universe is hidden within a mustard seed, and a mustard seed contains the universe,” even a tiny mustard seed holds the mysteries of heaven and earth.