“大樹王國”西天目

天目山以樹而名，踏進這片由1000余公頃森林構成的植物王國，幽幽古木遮天鋪地，排排綠浪撲面而來。這里萃集著2160余種植物，其中以“天目”命名的37種，列為國家保護的35種。這方80年代以前就是浙江省“獨生子”的國家級自然保護區，如今依然保持著原生態模樣。

天目山的靈魂是樹，當家樹種首推柳杉。那一株株三四人才圍得攏的巨木，像一尊尊衛士，守在路畔道旁，長在谷內峽中，威風凜凜，從山麓一直逶迤綿延到開山老殿。柳杉又名“千秋樹”，一般都有千兒八百高齡。“獅子口”上方的“大樹王”更是天目山的標志，相傳清代乾隆皇帝游覽此山時，曾解下御袍玉帶圍量過這棵樹，并敕封它為“大樹王”。誰知道皇帝的金口一開，這棵胸徑2.40米的大樹卻遭受了厄運：樹枝樹椏被那些善男信女當作至寶隨意掠奪，樹皮樹殼亦被作為“有病治病、無病健身”的良藥剝蝕殆盡，于是這棵千年古杉由此慘死于距今70多年前的秋天。不過大樹的繼承者層出不窮，最魁偉的6號柳杉至今材積竟達81立方米之多！

高大雄健的野銀杏稱得上是植物界的“老古董”，它和1.7億年以前的恐龍同時誕生，是種子植物中最為古老的孑遺樹種。恐龍因經不起冰川嚴寒的襲擊早已在地球上絕跡了，銀杏大家族的其他成員也沒能在第四紀冰川中熬過，先后被自然淘汰，唯有西天目山的野銀杏飽經滄桑幸存下來，重新染綠于世界。走上山巔，當你看到盤生在“倒掛蓮花峰”一隅的老、壯、青、少、幼“五世同堂”野銀杏，你會領略“活化石”的風騷，也一定會產生悠遠而又浪漫的聯想！

天目金錢松屬世界五大庭院觀賞樹種之一，被譽為“天目驕子”；在海拔1000米的深山老林中，一批一批金錢松直沖云霄，最氣派的那株竟有56米，比十層樓房還高，在同類樹種中居世界之冠；還有被稱為“地球獨生子”的天目鐵木以及名目繁多的天目杜鵑、天目領春木、天目夏臘梅等等，它們有的虬枝旺發，有的灑脫挺拔，有的婀娜多姿，使人目不暇接，流連忘返。

西天目是個大樹王國，還是古代宗教名山，西漢時即有道人在此修煉，被譽為道教大宗的張道陵就出生于天目山，山上至今留有“張公舍”的遺跡；在天目山還可尋覓得到晉代煉丹術士葛洪的遺蹤，至于天目山的佛事興起，則始于晉代，后又為臨濟正宗中興之地，建于宋末元初開山老殿的正宗神寺，歷代累積寺院庵堂50多座，最盛時僧侶多達1000余人。山麓那掩映于柳杉林中的禪源寺，則建于清代康熙四年，300多年過去了，盡管其主體部分于1941年4月15日被日本侵略者的飛機炸毀，但禪源寺那莊嚴的山門、那古色古香的天目殿、韋馱殿經歷多次重建后，依然讓人生出濃濃的思古之情……

A Kingdom of Huge Trees

By Yang Jusan

The Western Tianmu (Western Heavenly Eyes) Mountain， nearly 100 kilometers west of Hangzhou， the capital seat of eastern China’s coastal Zhejiang Province， is famed for its forest of aged-old huge trees. The mountain spreads over an area of 1，000 hectares where ancient but thriving trees tower and spread. According to scientists， of the 2，600 plus plant species seen there， 37 have Tianmu in their academic names and 35 are under the protection of the state government. Designated as a national nature reserve in the 1980s and the only one in the province for a long while， the mountain area has kept its primitive ecology intact.

Trees are the soul of the Western Heavenly Eyes. The huge Cryptomeria trees， the symbol of the mountain， look like heavenly guards that flank zigzagging paths and loom huge in precipitous valleys and on undulating slopes. According to folk legends， Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) measured the perimeter of the thickest tree with his belt only to find that his belt was not long enough. The emperor named the tree ’King of Trees? Unfortunately， however， the royal tree， measured 2.4 meters in diameter， suffered a pathetic fate: those who wished to enjoy health and longevity tried to absorb the royal blessing from the tree. They began to steal barks， leaves， and twigs from the huge tree until the king did not have any bark left. The king of trees died more than 7 decades ago， after a long painful torturing over centuries. Fortunately， after the demise of the last king， a new king has succeeded to the throne in the Western Heavenly Eyes. It is so gigantic that some pragmatic and using-data-to-convey-vivid-messages killjoys calculate that this king is equal to 81 cubic meters of timber. According to them， none of the other trees in the mountain has that much of timber to offer.

Gingko trees in the mountain are the very antique left over from a period of 170 million years ago when dinosaurs were first roaming the wild planet. Dinosaurs disappeared but some seeds of the gingko trees in the Western Tianmu Mountain somehow managed to survive the Quaternary ice age. They geminated and by now， some seedlings have grown into the world’s oldest gingko trees.

Pseudolarix amabilis is another plant wonder in the Western Tianmu Mountain. One of the five major species of landscaping trees in the world， this special cypress flourishes in the forest at 1，000 meters above sea level in the Western Tianmu Mountain. The tallest one measures 56 meters in height， taller than a ten-storied building. It is said to be the tallest of the same species in the world.

The Western Tianmu Mountain is more than a kingdom of trees. It is a sacred place of religions. In the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD)， some Taoists tried to seek nature’s help in this mountain in order to find a way to become immortal. Zhang Daoling， a sect leader of Taoism， was born in the Tianmu Mountain. Buddhism began to flourish here during the Jin Dynasty (265-420). Over centuries， more than 50 temples came and went. The most flourishing period saw over 1，000 monks reside there. The Chenyuan Temple， nestled against the woods of towering Cryptomeria at the foot of the mountain， was first built in the 4th year of Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It is more than 300 years old now.

(Translated by David)