Nine trees per thousand years at Voi Phuc Temple

Hanoi capital is a city with many green trees, in which there are many old trees associated with land, historic sites, famous temples.
Over the past decade, the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Nature and Environment (VACNE) has awarded the certificate of “Vietnam Heritage Tree” to a number of valuable old trees, considering it as one of the iconic images. represents the ancient civilized Thang Long land. Spring, Tet, planting trees, discussing heritage trees towards 1 billion green trees are the right thing to do.

Period 1: Nine trees per thousand years at Voi Phuc temple Elephant Phuc is a temple in Thang Long, the four towns of the old Thang Long citadel. Outside the temple gate, there are two elephants kneeling on the ground, so it is called Voi Phuc Temple. In the temple, there are nine trees which are handed down to be planted after the construction of the temple. Up to now, it is over a thousand years old. These are trees recognized by VACNE as the first Vietnamese heritage tree of Hanoi. Mr. Nguyen Van Tung is in the only living “old” man at the Elephant Phuc-Thuy Khue Temple. Photo: Kien Nghia honors When coming to find out about these “tools”, we determined that we need to go to Voi Phuc Temple on Thuy Khue street. Because Hanoi has two Voi Phuc temples, one in Thuy Khue street (the old relic of Thuy Chuong village) and one on Kim Ma street (in the past in Thu Le village). Mr. Nguyen Van Tung, 88 years old, Head of the Management Board of Elephant Phuc – Thuy Khue said that this temple was built to worship Linh Lang Dai Vuong, the fourth prince of King Ly Thanh Tong. Legend has it that in the past, Prince Linh Lang, who had made merits in the resistance war against the Song invaders, died in the 11th century. After the prince died, people set up Linh Lang Dai Vuong temple in many places. on Thang Long land, including Voi Phuc – Thu Le temple and Voi Phuc – Thuy Khue, up to now, they have a lifespan of nearly 10 centuries. “Elephant Phuc-Thuy Khue Temple is ranked as a national architectural and artistic relic in 1986” – Mr. Tung said. Mr. Nguyen Van Tung said that, according to the tradition of our country, when building a communal house, a temple or a pagoda, the elders always plant trees such as banyan, bodhi and mum. At Voi Phuc-Thuy Khue Temple, after building the temple, the elders chose to plant a tree, because it is a kind of tree that is easy to live, shade and suitable for the soil here. “The reason of planting here is 9 trees, because according to the concept of Eastern culture, number 9 is eternal, symbolizing the fullness and fullness of the sacred temple” – Mr. Tung said. Then the Head of the Management Board of Elephant Phuc Temple – Thuy Khue shared that he was born again in this land, so from a young age, he saw the lush green trees, standing tall in the temple. Later, having the opportunity to stand on a high-rise building looking down, Mr. Tung saw the vast canopy of these ancient trees as if they were to adhere to adulthood (nine dragons painting pearls). The gem here is the temple of Linh Lang Dai Vuong. Nearly a thousand years ago, the trees in Voi Phuc not only made majesty but also brought shade and fruit to the ancient temple. In the summer, the temple courtyard has almost no sunlight because of the interlocking canopy, only when it is very sunny, can a little sunlight slip through the leaves. There was a time when the heat was over 40 degrees, everyone sitting in the temple still did not need a fan. In the spring, the flowers bloom white, giving off a faint scent. Whenever there is a strong wind blowing from West Lake, flowers fall white on the roof of the temple, the temple courtyard and the front and back grounds. By the time it is ripe, the fruit is plump, it looks beautiful. Before coming to the Elephant Phuc Thuy Khue Temple, we went to VACNE to work to know about the trees honored as “heritage trees” in the capital area. Mr. Phung Quang Chinh, Vice President of VACNE said: “In 2010, to celebrate 1,000 years of Thang Long- Hanoi, we have examined the old trees in the capital to honor them as heritage trees. Vietnam. VACNE sees that the nine trees in Elephant Phuc temple stand out above all, so it is honored as the first Vietnamese heritage tree of Hanoi ”. Following Mr. Tung, we visited the last tree that was still alive. The tree is currently healthy, with a few people hugging its base, and the leaves are green. “Through testing, this tree does not suffer from pests and diseases like other plants. After eight trees died, we planted new trees in them. New saplings grow well and bear fruit every year ”- shared Mr. Tung. Regret At the meeting with Mr. Nguyen Van Tung that day, just entering the story, he told us that for old trees, the direction to protect trees is very important. Then, sadly, the head of the Management Board with 35 years of supervision of the Elephant Phuc Temple – Thuy Khue shared that they are not knowledgeable about forestry or cultivation, so they do not know how to take care of trees. For many years, the tree still lived in the temple, the men only watched over and prevented outsiders from picking fruit, breaking branches …, not knowing the “health” situation of the tree. Mr. Tung said, after 9 trees were honored, a year later, they began to find out that there were trees that did not grow as well as before. As of 2013, several other trees showed similar symptoms, so Mr. Tung reported the incident to VACNE. VACNE sent people to check, discovered the fungal condition on the trunk, so it took samples to check. After that, VACNE introduced experts from the Vietnam Forest Institute to treat trees. Through the review, the Vietnam Forest Institute proposed to invite an Australian expert to deal with the condition of the tree. Experts have injected drugs directly into the stem to kill pests and provide more nutrients for plants. Initially, the plants were green again, but after a while they wilted and then shed all their leaves. At the same time, some other plants also wilted their leaves and were treated again like the previous plants. But by 2014, eight diseased trees could not be cured, so there is only one tree left alive. Listening to the above story, we asked in 2011, the Elephant Phuc-Thuy Khue temple was greatly restored, will this affect the trees? Hearing that, Mr. Tung answered that the restoration, if any, would also have a negligible impact, and the main reason was due to the old trees, many trees were eaten by worms inside without knowing. “After the tree dies, we ask the responsible authorities to lower the tree to replace the new saplings in that position. When sawing the tree, it was revealed that many of the trunks were hollowed out by worms. We are just the custodians of the temple, have no expertise in taking care of the trees, so when the tree was eaten by worms, we could not detect it. The experience is that it is necessary to have solutions to take care of and detect pests and diseases in order to prolong the life of old trees ”- Mr. Tung said. (There’s more)