Respect for Nature

Stories with the Respect for Nature theme:

• The Story of the Banyan Tree Spirit Jul 12, 2025

  

  In the heart of the Red River Delta, where fertile rice paddies stretch toward distant mountains and water buffalo wade through peaceful streams, stood the village of Dong Xuan. It was a prosperous community known throughout the region for its harmony, wisdom, and the unusual longevity of its residents.

  At the center of the village grew an enormous banyan tree, so ancient that no one could remember when it had first taken root. Its massive trunk required twenty people holding hands to encircle it, and its branches spread so wide they provided shade for the entire village square. The aerial roots that dropped from its branches had grown thick as smaller trees themselves, creating natural pillars that formed a living temple around the great trunk.