Everyone carefully observed the details of the ancient locust tree. Most of the main branches and trunks were thicker than a human waist, and the surface was covered with gray and black mottled rough bark. At the ends of the branches, the branches were lush and shiny. They were even more vigorous than the branches in midsummer. It could be said that Blocking out the sky and sun, half of the cave was covered. Such a large ancient locust tree must be at least ten thousand years old. Maybe the history of Kyushu is not as old as this ancient locust tree.
Even more bizarre are the human-shaped arms at the top of the branches. These arms are made of tree bark and trunks are fingers. The surface is wrapped with vines, with countless roots running through them. They are piled up and disappear between the leaves of the locust tree, like thousands of branches. Thousands of hands were running around in the canopy.
This scene made everyone puzzled and confused, and they didn't know what the ancient locust tree was.
"Brother, why are there hands growing on this locust tree?"
Yue Erpao's words made everyone's hearts sink as they watched. These black claws were like ghost claws, scratching people's hearts like a bird's nest.
"Is the hand still uncertain?"
Yue Qingshan raised his old eyes and looked at the ancient locust tree and explained: "Since ancient times, the locust tree has been able to communicate with ghosts. It is the number one spiritual tree in the world. Its flowers, leaves, fruits and fruits can be used as medicine, and even the bark of the locust tree can be ground into powder. Steamed buns are used to satisfy hunger. Once a famine occurs, the old locust tree can save the lives of many people. Among the people, next to an old locust tree, there are often Sophora temples and Chenghuang temples, where common people set up platforms. Worship and offer incense continuously.”
"Don't you think it's strange that there is such a locust tree in such a place?"
Yue Guanchao became suspicious after listening to his second uncle's words. He had also seen old locust trees that were thousands of years old. Although they were older, they were only much thicker than ordinary ancient trees. The old locust trees in front of him were as thick as a house. They were really old. It is likely that it has existed for tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of years. This also means that this ancient locust tree was not planted during the Li and Tang Dynasties, but was most likely left by the ancestors of ancient Chu.
Song Siyuan stared at the ancient locust tree and said: "Second Uncle Yue, I have also heard what you said. There was also a sketch in the Ming Dynasty's "The Amazing Case"."
During the Jiajing period of the Zhu Dynasty, there once was a scholar who came to Beijing to take the exam and lived in Huaishu Lane. He was curious about why the street was named Huaishu. After asking the waiter about it, the waiter took him to the end of the street, which was far away. I saw the old locust trees spreading around the streets. "
It is said that this old locust tree existed during the previous dynasty. It has been growing for about four to five hundred years. During this period, it was struck by lightning once. The heart of the tree was burned out, but it was still living on a thick layer of bark. It even became more and more branches. Ye Mao gradually covered the houses on both sides of the street. Everyone said that the old locust tree survived the catastrophe and had a spirit.
Since then, this ancient locust tree has been worshiped as the old locust tree god by the surrounding people, and a carriage-sized locust tree temple has been built under the tree. In April and May, when the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming, the surrounding people will hold the meat to eat meat. Incense is offered to the locust tree god, and pots full of offerings can fill several streets.
I heard that the old locust tree at that time was really like a god. Whenever the people knelt down and worshiped devoutly, the tree would sway without any wind, and several baskets of locust flowers would fall down. After they ate it, even their ailments disappeared. It can be seen that His spiritual power gradually spread from one person to another, and even an entire street was named after a locust tree.
Stories like this can be seen everywhere. In the Jin Dynasty, Liang Wenyan, a scholar from the Northern Dynasty, stayed at the Sophora Tree Temple at night and met a Sophora Tree Girl by chance. She built a temple, and there are so many legendary stories about the ancient locust tree. The locust tree is both a god and a ghost in Eastern mythology. It does good deeds as a god and does bad things as a ghost. This belief is very similar to the witch sacrificial culture.
The locust tree is probably related to the witchcraft culture before the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. At that time, the productivity was not developed, and the branches and leaves of the locust tree were edible. For the ancient ancestors, they were equivalent to food, giving the locust tree spirituality and connecting with the mountains and rivers. There is no difference between being a god and the river being a god. It is a myth about the living environment.
It is said that during the witch sacrificial period before the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, tribal witches often planted large trees in areas where ethnic groups lived together. Sophora trees with many seeds, many flowers and edible flowers were often chosen as sacred trees. Once the trees flourished, When Ye Mao grows tall, a temple for the tall matchmaker mother will be built under the tree, and then the population begins to gather, thus forming an ancient tribe or village community.
This temple of the Gaomei Mother is very similar to the ancestral halls and ancestral halls of future generations. Every spring, the young men and women in the tribe will, under the auspices of Wu Xian, thank the gods for blessing them with offspring and hold a fertility ceremony.
Generally speaking, the High Matchmaking Mother Temple has the responsibility of offering sacrifices and reproduction. It enshrines either the ancestor of the entire ethnic group or the originator of the ethnic group. The matchmaking god worshiped by the Xia Dynasty people is Nuwa, and the matchmaking god of the Yin merchants’ mother temple is Jian. Di, the Zhou people's mother temple matchmaking god is Jiang Yuan. No matter who is invited into this mother temple, he will become the high matchmaking god of the ethnic group.
After Song Siyuan said this, she observed the ancient locust tree and her tone became mysterious: "I think the ancient locust tree here also has this meaning. As for why there are so many hands, it is probably related to the customs of the ancestors."
