General Wu and the Ancient Ginkgo

General Wu and the Ancient Ginkgo

On the west bank of Wuzhen, there stands an ancient ginkgo tree. Tall and massive, it takes three people holding hands to encircle its trunk. Sturdy and weathered, its treetop can be seen from ten li away. This ancient ginkgo has been around since the Tang Dynasty, boasting a history of a thousand years.

This ginkgo is associated with a hero of the Tang Dynasty. During the Yuanhe era of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, there was a courageous general named Wu Zan, commonly referred to as General Wu. General Wu was patriotic, loved the people, possessed outstanding martial skills, and was valiant in battle. After the An Lushan Rebellion, the central authority of the Tang Dynasty gradually weakened, and local officials became increasingly arrogant and overbearing.

They began carving out their own territories and proclaiming themselves kings.

At that time, Li Qi, the governor of Zhejiang, also sought to dominate the region and launched a rebellion, throwing the area into chaos and making life unbearable for the common people. The emperor then ordered General Wu Zan and his deputy, General Wu Qi, to lead troops to suppress the revolt. They pursued the rebels relentlessly, forcing them to flee at the mere sight of the imperial army. When the troops chased the rebels to the Chexi River in Wuzhen, Li Qi suddenly displayed a “pardon-for-surrender” banner and requested a ceasefire. General Wu set up camp on the spot, waiting for the right moment to fight again. But who would have thought that late that very night, the rebels launched a surprise attack on the camp. General Wu rose to the challenge and fought back. Li Qi retreated toward the Chexi River and fled hastily across a stone bridge. As General Wu charged onto the bridge on horseback, he and his steed, the Azure Dragon Horse, were shot dead by a volley of arrows.

It turned out that Li Qi had set a trap beneath the bridge, using it to assassinate General Wu.

Wu Qi arrived, drove back the rebels, and buried General Wu on the west bank of the Chexi River in Wuzhen. He erected a grave mound and a memorial stele for him. Strangely enough, that very night, people reported seeing flickers of red light emanating from the new grave of General Wu,

along with the sounds of warhorses neighing. The next day, a green-leaved ginkgo tree sprouted from the grave and quickly grew into a towering giant. Curiously, this ginkgo never bore fruit. Everyone said the ginkgo was the reincarnation of General Wu.

Thanks to the suppression of Li Qi’s rebellion, the people were spared the horrors of war. To commemorate this patriotic general, the people of Wuzhen built a temple dedicated to General Wu,

and hung a plaque inside the temple inscribed with five characters: “The Great Tree Belongs to the General.”

Since then, General Wu has become a local deity protecting the people.