Recently, the results of the second national ancient trees and famous trees resource census were announced. There are a total of 5.0819 million ancient trees and famous trees within the census in my country. Among them, there are 10,745 trees with a tree age of more than 1,000 years old, and 5 trees with a tree age of more than 5,000 years old.
Students who have good history may be shocked: What is the concept of 5,000? The Xia Dynasty was established in 2070 BC, and it is only a little over 4,000 years ago. These trees are not only much older than Qin Emperor and Han Wu, but are also hundreds of years older than Yao Shun Yu , which is so amazing.
According to the reporter of " China Flower News ", these five ancient trees over 5,000 years old are all cypress , and they all grow in Shaanxi Province. Let's see their true appearance now.
01
Xuanyuan Huangdi hand-planted cypress
The world-famous Xuanyuan Huangdi hand-planted cypress grows in the Xuanyuan Temple courtyard of Huangling County, Yan'an City at an altitude of 1,050 meters. It is about 20 meters high, with a bust circumference of 7.6 meters and a canopy area of 189 square meters.
According to legend, it was planted by Xuanyuan Huangdi himself, so it is also called Huangdi hand-planted cypress and Xuanyuan cypress . It has grown for more than 5,000 years ago. The branches are like dragons coiling in the air, vigorous and upright, with a crown covering the sky, and dense layers, like a huge green umbrella.
1982, British forestry expert Roppier inspected cypresses in 27 countries and believed that only Huangdi hand-planted cypresses were the thickest and oldest. The "Chinese Famous Trees Public Selection and Maintenance Committee" rated it as "the first of the 100 Famous Trees in China". It is praised by the world as the "Crown of the World's Cypress". The local proverb describes its stubbornness in this way: "Seven hugs and eight hugs, and the lumps in the veins are not enough." In other words, seven people hold hands and hold hands and cannot hold the tree trunk, and there are more than eight hugs left.
Huangdi's hand-planted cypress has been bathed in the ups and downs of more than 5,000 years, witnessing the glory, disgrace and rise and fall of the Chinese nation. It is still green and tall, with lush branches and leaves, demonstrating the strong vitality of the Chinese nation and the inheritance of the national lineage.
02
Cangjie Handplanted cypress
This cypress tree grew in Cangjie Temple in Baishui County, Weinan City. It has aged more than 5,000 years, a bust circumference of 7.28 meters, a root circumference of 9.3 meters, and a height of 17 meters.
From the southeast direction of the tree, the main trunk of the cypress tree is like a huge stream pouring down. After hitting a branch that looks like a stone, countless water splashes are rolled up, so it is also called "waterfall cypress".
Cangjie created characters, and there were ghosts crying at night. Humans who had words gained the power to make ghosts afraid. Cangjie's tomb is located in Cangjie Temple . According to legend, Cangjie chose this place as a cemetery and planted this cypress tree, which people call Cangjie's hand-planted cypress. This cypress tree is also the largest and oldest cypress tree in the temple, comparable to the "Huangdi Hand-planted Cypress".
03
Luan Gu Cypress
Luan Gu Cypress grows in Nan Village, Gucheng Town, Luonan County. It is also known as the Jeshan Da Gu Cypress and Qixia Cypress. It is listed as one of the eight major landscapes of Luan . Its tree is as high as 23.16 meters, taller than Xuanyuan cypress; its bust circumference is 7.73 meters, thicker than Xuanyuan cypress, so many people think it is older than Xuanyuan Huangdi's hand-planted cypress and Cangjie cypress.
980, after visiting the Great Gu Cypress, experts believed that it grew up in primitive society, and has been around for thousands of years.
This cypress tree is still lush now. When the flowers bloom in spring, birds fly over it, rising and falling, like the shadows of sails on the green waves; in winter, snow covers the slopes, snowflakes cover the tree crown, mottled, like the flaws in the jade. What's even more magical is that at the forks of its two branches, two short branches extend out from one east and the other west. The tree branches look like dragon heads, and the west branches look like dragon tails. Looking up, it looks like a dragon walking through the clouds and mists, appearing in silver waves. The white cypress on the branches is like dragon scales.
04
Huangling Emperor Wu Cypress
Huangling Huangling Emperor Wu Cypress is also known as "Laojun Cypress". It was originally grown in front of the Laojun Temple in Shijiahe, Adang Town, Huangling County, hence the name. Because the construction of Nangoumen Reservoir is in a flooded area, this cypress was transplanted in Qianchuanzhuang Village, Nangoumen Reservoir on March 26, 2011.
Legend In 110 BC, Emperor Wu of Han Liu Che rushed to Shuofang in the north and returned victoriously. After worshiping the tomb of Emperor Huangdi, he heard that there was a "Laojun Temple" in the ancient Shangdao Hulu River, and merchants gathered and the incense was very popular. Emperor Wu respected the study of " Huang Lao ", so he went to Laojun Temple to burn incense and worship, and planted a cypress tree in front of the temple, taking this as his ambition to promote the national road. According to legend, when Emperor Wu planted cypresses, he suddenly saw purple air coming from the east, and auspicious clouds lingered. The ministers, soldiers and the people took their heads and bowed, saying that this cypress was the spiritual energy of Laojun! Emperor Wu was overjoyed and named him "Laojun Bai".
But careful friends will find that it has only been more than 2,000 years since Emperor Wu of Han was born to the present. How could this cypress tree planted by Emperor Wu of Han be over 5,000 years old?
According to the relevant person in charge of the Ecological Protection and Restoration Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Forestry Bureau, when calculating the age of ancient trees, in addition to local county chronicles, word-of-mouth transmission, tree age estimation model, carbon 14 determination method, etc., there is also an analog method . "Ancient trees in the same environment have roughly the same growth rate. The age of other trees can be calculated based on trees with known age." He said that the growing area of Emperor Wu cypress and Xuanyuan cypress are very close, about 30 kilometers, and it can be said that they are in the same environment. But Emperor Wu's cypress is thicker and taller than Xuanyuan cypress, so researchers believe that its tree age should be larger than Xuanyuan cypress.
From this we can see that in fact, Emperor Wu's cypress was not planted by Liu Che himself. The name of this tree is just a way for people to miss Emperor Wu of Han.
05
baoshengbai
This ancient cypress grew up in the Huangdi Mausoleum scenic spot in Huangling County, Yan'an City. It has no fame or legend. Huangling County census results give the name of the ancient tree No. 212, which is called Baosheng Cypress by the Huangdi Mausoleum Administration. For thousands of years, it has stood there silently, leaving the wind and rain to stand still.
The age of the cypress is from the census results of Huangling County. Because no one pays attention to it, it does not have outstanding pictures. The photos published in this article are from the database, so the clarity is not high.
Other tips for ancient trees
Generally speaking, whether a tree has a longevity is inversely proportional to its growth rate. Faster growth generally has short lifespan, such as poplar , willow, ash, etc.; the slower it grows, the longer the lifespan, such as pine, cypress, etc.
Everyone knows about Huangshan Welcoming Pine. People say that it is very old, but its specific age is a mystery. Experts speculate that it has lived for thousands of years.
About Poplar There is a legend: live for a thousand years and never die for a thousand years and never die for a thousand years and never die for an immortal. But in fact, the lifespan of poplar is generally only 100 to 300 years, and the maximum is no more than 500 years.
Currently, one of the oldest creatures that humans can find is called Populus tremuloides, which is Pando in English. It is a forest with an area of about 43 hectares, with a total of more than 47,000 trees. It is located in Utah, North America, and is known as "Pandolin". Scientists have discovered that the forest developed from a seed, and the roots of each tree are connected together. So, they look like a forest, but they are actually a tree, and the tree is about 80,000 years old.
Single-forming trembling poplar
Scientists explain that trembling poplar is a clonal plant whose stems can grow lateral roots and their upright lateral roots extend out of the ground, looking like a separate tree.
Through this ancient tree survey, we can know that the five old trees with the largest age are all in Shaanxi, but the most ancient tree resources are Yunnan Province, with more than 1 million trees, accounting for 1/5 of the country.
In addition to the five ancient trees mentioned above, the famous ancient trees in my country include the big locust tree in Hongdong, Shanxi, the "Phoenix Pine" in Jiuhua Mountain, Anhui, the "Five Doctors Pine" in Wusong Pavilion in Taishan, Shandong, the " General Cypress " in Songyang Academy, Dengfeng, Henan, the "Hong Kong Louguantai, Shaanxi, Laozi Hand-planted ginkgo, the "Ginkgo King" in Ci'en Temple, Dahongshan, Hubei, the "Emperor Ginkgo" in Tanzhe Temple, Beijing, the "Nine Hu and Eighteen Branches" in Miyun, Beijing, the Ancient Banyan Tree in Tianma River, Guangdong, Yufeng Temple Mountain Tea in Lijiang, Yunnan, and the "Shadow Hou" in Beihai Park, Beijing, etc.
What have you seen of the ancient trees mentioned here? In addition, what other ancient trees do you know? Welcome to leave a message.
(written by our reporter Li Xin , the picture comes from Shaanxi Provincial Forestry Bureau and Museum)
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