Ginkgo Tree of Yongmunsa Temple, Yangpyeong

Ginkgo trees are so ancient that they are sometimes called living fossils, and they grow across Korea, Japan and China. In Korea they are said to have arrived from China together with Confucianism and Buddhism. Because of their splendid autumn colour, their resistance to pests and disease, and the wide, dense shade they cast, they have long been planted as pavilion trees and along roadsides. The ginkgo of Yongmunsa Temple is estimated to be about 1,100 years old, standing 42.0m tall with a trunk girth of 11.0m at breast height. It holds the record among Korea's ginkgo trees for both age and height, and is notable for a large burl at the base of its trunk. Legend holds that it was planted by Crown Prince Maui, son of King Gyeongsun (r. 927–935) of Unified Silla, as he journeyed toward Geumgangsan Mountain bearing the sorrow of a lost kingdom, while another story tells that it grew from a walking stick planted in the ground by the great monk Uisang. Other tales recount that blood once flowed from the spot where a saw was set to cut the tree, that during the Righteous Army uprising of 1907 Japanese troops set fire to Yongmunsa Temple yet this tree alone did not burn, and that it cried out whenever a great event was about to befall the nation. The ginkgo of Yongmunsa Temple, Yangpyeong, was held in such regard that under King Sejong (r. 1418–1450) of Joseon it was granted the court rank of dangsanggwan, a senior third-rank title, and it has lived on through the long attention and care of generations of ancestors. Being also of high value as biological data, it is designated and protected as a natural monument.

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Where it is

Region

Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물