山西 洪洞 大槐树 【Hongdong Great Pagoda Tree】

Hongtong Great Pagoda Tree Ancestor Seeking and Worship Park is a tourist attraction located in Hongtong County, Shanxi Province. It is the only national folk sacrificial site with the themes of "seeking roots" and "ancestor worship," and is a national 5A-level tourist attraction, as well as a key cultural relic protection unit of Shanxi Province. In 2008, the ancestor worship customs of Dahuaishu were listed in the national intangible cultural heritage register.
The park is divided into five main thematic areas: "Immigration Relics Area," "Ancestor Worship Area," "Folk Custom Tourism Area," "Fen River Ecological Area," and "Root Ancestor Culture Square." It features over 60 scenic and cultural spots, including the Stele Pavilion, the second and third generation Dahuaishu trees, the Millennium Pagoda Tree Root, the Ancestral Worship Hall, the Guangji Temple, the Stone Sutra Pillar, the Immigration Relief Map, and the Chinese Surname Garden.
The migration from Hongtong Pagoda Tree began in the late Northern Song Dynasty when the Song court moved southward, reaching its peak during the Hongwu and Yongle periods of the Ming Dynasty, and continued until the mid-Qing Dynasty. This migration spanned approximately 700 years, from the first year of Jianzhong Jingguo in the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty (1101) to the 25th year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1820). The large-scale migrations during the Hongwu and Yongle periods of the Ming Dynasty were the largest, most widespread, organized, and planned relocations in Chinese history. To strengthen the economic foundation of Ming rule, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang implemented policies encouraging immigration and the reclamation of land by civilian, military, and commercial settlers. These migrations played a significant role in restoring production, increasing population, developing the economy, opening up border areas, and facilitating cultural exchanges. Over fifty years, involving 1,230 surnames, millions of descendants of these immigrants are now spread across various regions.
From the third year of Hongwu to the fifteenth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, there were 18 large-scale official migrations under the Dahuaishu tree, spreading across more than 500 counties in 18 provinces, including Henan, Shandong, and Hebei. After 600 years of migrations and generations of descendants, the offspring of the Dahuaishu immigrants can be found wherever there are Chinese people around the world.