法苑珠林 63.92

63.92

In the third year of the Jianping era of Emperor Ai of the Han, in Lingling there was a tree whose circumference measured at the ground was one zhang and six chi, and its length was fourteen zhang and seven chi. The people severed its trunk, which was over nine chi long, and it was entirely withered for three months; yet the trunk of the tree stood up on its own in its original place. In Suixiang of Pingyang in Runan, there was a tree that grew branches and leaves along the ground like a human figure, with a bluish-yellow body, a white face, and hair growing gradually to six cun and one fen. Jing Fang's Yizhuan states: "When the royal virtue is about to decline and men from below are about to rise, trees will grow in the shape of humans." Subsequently, there was the usurpation by Wang Mang.