How old is the first ginkgo tree in the world?
According to research, the tree has a history of more than 4000 years. According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period, Jun Zi, the monarch of Ju State, and Lu Hou, the monarch of Lu State, formed an alliance under the ginkgo tree. Although the exact age of the tree was not recorded at that time, it was already called "Big Tree". According to experts' research, this ginkgo tree had existed for 20 dynasties before Dayu's flood control. It is a "living history" and is called a "living fossil".
How thick is the trunk of the first ginkgo tree in the world?
Here is a story of "seven hugging eight feet and one wife".
According to legend, in the Ming Dynasty, a scholar went to Beijing to take the exam. It rained on the road, so he took shelter under this huge ginkgo tree. Suddenly, he was interested in seeing how thick the tree was, so he measured the circumference of the tree in the form of cuddling. The scholar actually hugged him seven times and didn't turn to the starting point. Just when he wanted to hug the eighth, he was startled by the scene before him. A young woman stood at the starting point of the scholar tree. It turns out that young women also come under the tree to shelter from the rain. Because the tree was too big, neither of them saw it. What shall we do? The scholar wanted to let the young woman out of the way, but he was too embarrassed to speak and didn't want to give up his measurement, so he had to change the technique and quietly walked beside the young woman. When he counted to the eighth, he just came to the young woman's side, and the young woman didn't even notice. However, how to measure the position of a young woman's body? The scholar couldn't think of any other way, so he had to measure the young woman's body width into length. So the tree circumference of ginkgo tree becomes "seven hugs, eight feet and one daughter-in-law". In fact, there is another saying called "big eight hugs, small eight hugs". In other words, the big man holds eight and the small man holds eight. The trunk is thinner because it is slightly upward.
Over the years, the world's first ginkgo tree has been flourishing and fruitful for thousands of years. It has witnessed the changes of the world for more than 4000 years. Under this ancient ginkgo tree, the writer Liu Xie once wrote the famous book Wen Xin Diao Long. Today, the Wenxin Pavilion in front of Ding Lin Temple is still full of books. This old but flourishing ancient ginkgo tree is telling visitors its history and touching stories one after another.