Zhou Huai

Zhou Huai

　Zhou Huai is located in Xixu Village, about fifty kilometers southeast of Lingshi County. To the east stands the majestic and splendid Gypsum Mountain; to the west lies the expansive, winding Renyi River Valley; to the south faces the Wenbi Pagoda on Cuiping Mountain; and to the north leans the age-old, legendary Hanxin Ridge. Surrounded by green hills and traversed by mountain streams, this spot serves as the essential gateway to the Gypsum Mountain Scenic Resort and can also be called the premier scenic sight before the mountain. Zhou Huai stands approximately 18 meters tall with a trunk diameter of over 7 meters. Its hollow center is large enough to accommodate five or six people. Beneath the tree stands a stone stele erected in the 39th year of the Qianlong reign during the Qing Dynasty (1774). According to the inscription: this ancient locust tree “was planted in the early Zhou Dynasty, endured through the Qing era; though once felled, it remained standing, and the land became public property through reconciliation.” A two-meter-high square platform made of bluestone and bricks has been built around the tree’s roots within a three-meter radius, with the tree planted right at its center. Locals regard this place as “crucial to the village’s feng shui” and as a sacred tree capable of “restoring vitality and continuity.” Despite having weathered 3,000 years of history, the ancient locust tree still sprouts fresh branches and leaves every year, full of vitality. Zhou Huai predates both the Zhou Cypress of the Jin Temple in Taiyuan and the Qin Cypress of the Qin Tree in Jiexiu, making it the oldest and most precious tree in the province. There is a hole about 40 centimeters in diameter on the trunk, two meters above the ground. Crawling through the hole leads into a space resembling a small room. During the Anti-Japanese War, important documents and ammunition of the Nanhe Branch of the Communist Party were hidden here, and several crucial secret meetings were also held in this spot. On multiple occasions, underground party members evaded capture by Japanese invaders here. Today, visitors come to admire and linger, drawn by its 3,000-year-old legacy and its extraordinary, almost mythical history.

In 1993, the county government constructed an antique-style, rolled-roof revolutionary memorial pavilion to the north of the ancient tree, further enhancing Zhou Huai’s charm. In 1994, the county government designated it as a county-level key cultural relic protection unit and allocated special funds to build a revolutionary memorial pavilion nearby, in honor of the revolutionary martyrs who fought bravely and sacrificed their lives during the Anti-Japanese War and the Liberation War.