Forest of Japanese Torreyas at Baegyangsa Temple, Jangseong

Torreyas grow in Korea south of Naejangsan Mountain, as well as in Japan. The tree's attractive form makes it widely planted as an ornamental, and its fruit is used to make an anthelmintic (a worm-expelling medicine), a remedy for constipation, and oil. The Forest of Japanese Torreyas at Baegyangsa Temple, Jangseong, is a forest of about 5,000 torreya trees, 8 to 10m tall, growing around Baegyangsa Temple in Jangseong, Jeollanam-do. When this forest was designated a natural monument, its value lay in being the northernmost forest where torreyas grew, but a torreya forest has since been found further north, on Naejangsan Mountain. According to tradition, the forest originated when State Preceptor Gakjin, during the reign of King Gojong of Goryeo (r. 1213-1259), planted torreya trees around the temple to save nearby villagers, using the fruit, at the time the only available anthelmintic; indeed, as late as the 1970s monks are said to have gathered the fruit and distributed it to the people. The Forest of Japanese Torreyas at Baegyangsa Temple, Jangseong, is of great value as material offering a glimpse into an aspect of our ancestors' living culture, their use of torreya fruit as medicine. It has also been recognised for its value to the study of plant distribution, as a representative forest standing at the northern limit for torreya growth at the time of its designation, and is accordingly designated and protected as a natural monument.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jangseong, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물