Zhangzhuang Folk Culture Pomegranate Manor

　　This is a quiet mountain village that has nurtured countless people across unknown years and generations; it is an ancient mountain village because the area around each house in the village is filled with pomegranate trees, which is why it's called Pomegranate Manor. Stepping into the manor feels like entering a paradise of pomegranate orchards. The quaint stone houses, thousand-year-old locust trees, gnarled and sturdy pomegranate trees, and the hospitable villagers… all form a serene and peaceful pastoral mountain scene.

　　 The little mountain village of paradise pomegranate orchards

　　 Zhangzhuang Pomegranate Manor is nestled against mountains and near water, elegant and tranquil, with pleasant scenery. As you enter the manor, dense pomegranate groves and winding paths lead to secluded spots, with clusters of pomegranate blossoms glowing enticingly. To the east of the village, Liuhuayu Valley is surrounded by mountains, where the Jade Spring, Holy Soil Spring, Sieve Spring, and Willow Spring bubble forth gently. The clear spring water is sweet and delicious, rushing down with splashing waves, creating a fairy-tale-like scene. The manor is home to many rare ancient trees and boasts a long history of pomegranate cultivation. Some pomegranate trees are over 400 years old, and there are more than a thousand trees over 100 years old. When I visited here in early winter, the pomegranate leaves had turned yellow and fallen under the trees. Each pomegranate tree displayed diverse shapes and styles, rugged and unique. The time-worn stone walls, green-tiled roofs, and thatched cottages were scattered among the pomegranate trees, while simple villagers sat leisurely at their doorsteps, smoking, in this naturally harmonious and peaceful mountain village. Pomegranate flowers, fruits, leaves, trunks, and roots are all beautiful and enjoyable to admire in every season. In early spring, tens of thousands of buds burst into bloom, filling the air with the vitality of spring; in midsummer, the sea of pomegranates sways, red as fire, competing in beauty; in late autumn, the branches are heavy with fruit, hanging from the trees and welcoming guests with a smile; and in deep winter, the twisted branches become rugged and intertwined, draped in snow and frost...

　　 In this ancient mountain village, there is one pomegranate tree with a uniquely striking shape—the “Pomegranate Empress Dowager.” It is over 600 years old, with a graceful form and a huge canopy. It is named “Nine Trunks and Eighteen Branches” because it has nine main trunks and eighteen offshoots. According to forestry department statistics, it is the king of pomegranate trees in southern Shandong. Regarding the history of this pomegranate tree, the Zhang Family Genealogy records: the ancestor of the Zhang family, surnamed Zhang and named Cai (courtesy name Huanbai), served as a senior official in the Ministry of Punishments in Nanjing during the Ming Dynasty. He resigned from his post to return to his hometown to avoid the corrupt court official Wei Zhongxian, and brought a pomegranate tree from the imperial palace to plant in Zhangzhuang Village at the foot of Shengtu Mountain. According to an elderly villager, this pomegranate tree was personally planted by the ancestor Zhang Cai. Not far from the Pomegranate Empress Dowager, there are two stone marks resembling a cane print and a footprint, which the local villagers have given a mythical twist and named “Immortal’s Fruit-Picking Stone.” Legend says that Tieguai Li, one of the Eight Immortals, was on his way to a gathering of immortals on Penglai Island when he passed through this area during the pomegranate harvest season. He picked a pomegranate to quench his thirst, and due to the force he used, he left a footprint and a cane print on the bluestone. When I heard this legend, I couldn’t help but smile—this ancient mountain village and its simple villagers always have various legends that nurture generation after generation in the village.

　　.

　　 In Zhangzhuang, besides the uniquely shaped pomegranate trees in front of and behind the houses, the most eye-catching are the locust trees with towering canopies and trunks so thick that one person can't encircle them. Locust trees, also known as “family locusts,” take their name phonetically as “home embrace,” symbolizing nostalgia for one’s hometown. Though they are planted in many villages, it is quite rare to find locust trees as old as those in Zhangzhuang Village in southern Shandong. The three most attractive locust trees in Zhangzhuang are the Auspicious Locust, the Reclining Dragon Locust, and the Thousand-Year Locust. The Auspicious Locust is located to the south of Pomegranate Manor, is over 700 years old, and stands 7 meters tall. It is said that during the Republican era, villagers often rested under the locust tree. One day, the weather suddenly changed—as changeable as a child’s mood—and a fierce storm broke out. A lightning strike hit a branch on the southern side of the tree, instantly breaking off half of the trunk. However, the spot where the villagers had been resting remained unharmed. People believed the tree was protected by divine forces, hence the name “Auspicious Locust.” Not far from the Auspicious Locust is the famous Reclining Dragon Locust, located in a villager’s yard. It is over 300 years old, with an aged trunk but lush branches and leaves. The main trunk leans northward, and a northern branch extends down to the ground, burrowing 2 meters underground before emerging again. The part above ground then grows two branches northward. Viewed from north to south, the main trunk resembles a giant dragon coiling and rising proudly into the sky. Based on the shape of this ancient locust tree, it has been named the “Reclining Dragon Locust.” About 300 meters north of the Reclining Dragon Locust lies the renowned Thousand-Year Locust. It has a history of over a thousand years and a trunk diameter of over 1 meter. It is said to have been personally planted by the Tang Dynasty general Xue Rengui when he camped in Zhangzhuang Village during his eastern campaign against Goguryeo. During the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty, the tree died for three years but then came back to life, and it remains lush and leafy to this day.