Linfen, Nov. 11 (CNN) -- The big locust tree seeks its roots: 29 years of acacia has been at home and abroad
Written by Gao Ruifeng
Under the big locust tree, say goodbye to your homeland, hold hands, turn back three times one step at a time, and set foot on the road to leave your hometown... A live-action drama reproduces the scene of the ancestors leaving the big locust tree and migrating.
On the 28th, the "Picturesque Rivers and Mountains" online theme publicity activity (Shanxi) interview group visited Hongdong, Shanxi, the "hometown of the Chinese", and asked the ancestors to trace their origins in the footsteps of "seeking roots". Many people blurted out: "Ask me where my ancestors came from, the big locust tree in Hongdong, Shanxi, what is the name of the ancestors' former residence, and the old stork's nest under the big locust tree." ”
Shanxi Hongdong big locust tree root-seeking ancestral garden ancestral hall. Photo by Gao Ruifeng
More than 1370 years ago, the "Great Migration of Shanxi" in the early Ming Dynasty, the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1417 AD) to the fifteenth year of Yongle (50 AD), the population migration lasted for nearly <> years, and the "Shanxi Hongdong Big Locust Tree" became the symbol of "family" in many genealogies and chronicles.
"According to our research, there are 1230,18 surnames involved in migration, and the migration destinations are <> provinces." Li Lingling, a staff member of the Hongdong Big Locust Tree Root-Seeking Ancestral Garden, introduced that the ancestor worship ceremony held every year during the Qingming Festival, the Zhongyuan Festival and the Winter Clothes Festival, tens of thousands of descendants of immigrants at home and abroad gathered, with their attachment to their "hometown" and a sense of homesickness.
Shanxi Hongdong big locust tree to find the root of the ancestral garden of the ancient big locust tree. Photo by Gao Ruifeng
In the ancestral worship hall, 1230,10 tablets with the surnames of immigrant ancestors are enshrined in <> offering cabinets. "What is the number of the closet surnamed Liu?" "What is the number of the Wang closet?" The group inquired about the offering cabinet of their respective surnames, and under the guidance of the staff, they burned incense and worshipped. A reporter from Beijing paid homage to himself, his wife, and his mother's surnames.
In the incense burner, wisps of incense mist slowly rise, and on the futon, the worshippers are pious and purified, full of affection, with the expectation of a better life in the future, as well as the continuous blood and family affection and historical inheritance.
Shanxi Hongdong big locust tree to find the root of the ancestral garden millennium locust roots. Photo by Gao Ruifeng
The big locust tree when the ancestors migrated was destroyed as early as in the natural disaster, a stele pavilion stands at the ancient locust ruins, a stone tablet is passed in the pavilion, the front is engraved with the five characters of "the ancient big locust tree", the back is engraved with a brief memory of the major events of immigration, and the visitors are more here to detour and watch.
On the side of the stele pavilion, an ancient acacia tree that has been bred is strong and upright. "This locust tree is the third generation of ancient locust trees." Li Lingling introduced that every year during the Qingming Festival ancestor worship ceremony, a kind of bird will fly, perched on the locust tree and the trees in the park, fly at dusk and leave early in the morning, people affectionately call it "homesick bird".
Shanxi Hongdong big locust tree root-seeking ancestral garden "ancient big locust tree fu". Photo by Gao Ruifeng
There is a stone scripture building behind the stele pavilion, built in the fifth year of Cheng'an in the Jin Dynasty (1201 AD), it is the oldest cultural relic in the Hongdong big locust tree root-seeking ancestral garden, and it is also the only historical witness of the existing Ming Dynasty big locust tree immigration. There are visitors who go around the prayer building in a clockwise direction, touch the stone and recite the text, and pray for blessings.
After more than 600 years of multiplication, their descendants have been scattered all over the world, and the unique cultural customs and cultural connotation of the Hongdong Big Locust Tree Root-Seeking Ancestral Garden have also become the "spiritual home" for Chinese people at home and abroad to seek their roots and worship their ancestors, and have won the reputation of "Chinese hometown" and "ancestral holy land".
On the 28th, the "Picturesque Rivers and Mountains" online theme publicity activity (Shanxi) interview group visited Hongdong, Shanxi, the "hometown of Chinese". Photo by Wu Junjie
"Since 1991, the ancestor worship ceremony has been held for 33 consecutive sessions, and more than 100 million travelers at home and abroad have participated in the ancestor worship ceremony," Li Lingling said.
The first generation of ancient acacia in the Han Dynasty has been destroyed, the second generation of ancient acacia has withered, and the third generation of ancient acacia that has been bred has been scattered for nearly a hundred years. Now, although I don't hear the sound of the old stork, the big locust tree has deeply rooted the roots of recognizing the ancestors and returning to the ancestors in the hearts of the descendants of Yan and Huang: the branches spread, and there is a period of returning to the roots; The same clan and the same family, the world is one family. (ENDS)