Looking Back at the Past and Knowing the Future | Jianmen Shu Road Cuiyun Corridor Spans Over Thousands of Years of Green and Like Ancient Cypress | Jianmen Shu Road

On the afternoon of the 25th, General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected the Cuiyunlang Ancient Shu Road in Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province, to learn about the local promotion of historical and cultural heritage and strengthening the construction of ecological civilization.

For thousands of years, the Shu Road, which is difficult to ascend to the blue sky, and the Jianmen Pass, which cannot be opened by ten thousand people, have attracted the attention of the world. Poets such as Li Bai have praised it throughout history.

This is a schematic diagram of the ancient Shu Road and Jinniu Road displayed on site at Cuiyun Corridor.

The Jianmen Shu Road was formerly known as the Jinniu Road. For thousands of years, numerous myths, legends, and historical allusions have occurred on this ancient road, such as Wuding Kaishan and Jiang Wei Shou Dang, and have been widely circulated to this day.

The Cuiyun Corridor, which coexists with the Jianmen Shu Road and is interdependent with each other, exudes a "green" imprint of a thousand year history with another calm and heavy temperament.

"Who are the two rows of ancient cypresses planted? Three hundred thousand trees grow in the distance. The Cuiyun Corridor is protected by green smoke, with moss and flowers shading and rain wetting clothes, and returning to Ke Chui leaves to cool the demeanor." The Cuiyun Corridor is named after this poem by Qiao Bo, the governor of Jianzhou in the Qing Dynasty.

Recently, a cleaner picked up dead branches and fallen leaves at the Cuiyunlang Scenic Area in Jiange County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Kun

In the Cuiyun Corridor, ancient cypresses are secluded, and cicadas chirp in waves.

The Jiange section of the Cuiyun Corridor on the Shu Road is centered around the ancient city of Jianzhou, with a three line distribution in a herringbone shape. It stretches from Zhaohua in the north, Langzhong in the south, and Zitong in the west, with a total length of 151 kilometers.

There are currently 7803 ancient trees in Cuiyun Corridor of Jianmen Shu Road, including 7778 ancient cypresses. The average age of ancient cypresses is 1050 years, and the oldest "Jiange cypress" and "Shuai Da cypress" are about 2300 years old. They are known as "Wonders of Shu Road" and "Forest Living Fossils".

The ancient people planted cypress on the Shu Road, which can be traced back to the Qin Dynasty, with the intention of planting trees to show the way and calculating the distance with trees.

Since ancient times, there has been a tradition of planting and protecting cypresses along the Sichuan Road.

This is a statue of Zhang Fei planting cypress taken recently in Cuiyun Corridor, Jiange County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Xi

According to the "Tang Huiyao", in the seventh month of the eighth year of the Dali reign of Emperor Zong of the Tang Dynasty, an edict was issued: "All official roads are not allowed to be cultivated or cut down trees, and they have official positions to be filled."

According to the "Essential Compilation of the Song Dynasty", in the sixth year of the Zhenghe reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, an edict was issued: "Officials from various factions in the mountains and forests, those who frequently engage in logging, shall have a staff of eighty."

The Ming Dynasty also issued a decree prohibiting officials and civilians from cutting trees; In the Qing Dynasty, each ancient cypress tree was also hung with wooden plaques and numbered.

This is the ancient cypress that was recently photographed in Cuiyun Corridor, Jiange County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Xi

Under the protection of various dynasties, the ancient cypress in Cuiyun Corridor is full of vitality and lush greenery.

Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Jiange County has followed the ancient system of relay protection, inherited and carried forward the historical practice of "officials leaving and handing over", and made the quantity and growth status of ancient cypresses an important part of the handover of county and township party and government leaders and one of the scope of natural resource auditing.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the local government has completed two transfers of county heads and more than 20 transfers of township heads.

The concept of "one tree, one stall", "one tree, one person", "one tree, one policy", and "planting cypress to protect the environment" has deeply rooted in people's hearts.

This is a 2300 year old sword cypress tree captured recently in Cuiyun Corridor, Jiange County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Xi

The secluded and emerald cloud corridor spans over thousands of years, verdant as ever, just like the ancient and tenacious Chinese civilization.

Visual | jointly produced by Xinhua News Agency's domestic department and Xinhua News Agency's Sichuan branch