this version of SLF4J requires log4j version 1.2.12 or later.

org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'sessionFactory' defined in ServletContext resource [/WEB-INF/classes/applicationContext.xml]: Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Could not instantiate bean class [org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.LocalSessionFactoryBean]: Constructor threw exception; nested exception is java.lang.Error: This version of SLF4J requires log4j version 1.2.12 or later. See also http://www.slf4j.org/codes.html#log4j_version

错误提示的意思是：需要1.2.12或更高版本的log4j。

下载一个高版本log4j即可解决问题，如：
slf4j-api-1.5.8.jar
slf4j-log4j12-1.5.8.jar
log4j-1.2.15.jar