Population of Black Pines near Sancheondan Altar, Jeju

The black pine belongs to the pine family; its needles are stiffer than those of the Korean red pine, and while the red pine's winter buds are reddish, the black pine's are greyish-white. Because it grows along coastlines it is also called haesong, meaning "sea pine", and because its bark is darker than the red pine's it is also called heuksong, meaning "black pine". Resistant to sea wind and salt, it is widely planted along coasts as a windbreak or tide-break forest. The black pines at Sancheondan Altar, Jeju, are estimated to be 500-600 years old (as of the date of designation), with an average height of 29.9m and an average girth at breast height of 3.66m. Eight black pines stand here, with hackberry, Mallotus japonicus, and chinaberry trees growing nearby. From ancient times, people on Jeju climbed Hallasan Mountain to Baengnokdam crater lake to hold rites to heaven; when the path was too difficult or the weather too poor, the rites were instead held at Sancheondan Altar, where these black pines stand. Our ancestors believed that when the spirit of heaven descended to the human world it would rest briefly in a great tree, and the villagers appear to have regarded these black pines as trees standing on the spirit's path to earth, holding them sacred and protecting them well. The Population of Black Pines near Sancheondan Altar, Jeju, is designated and protected as a natural monument for its great biological value as very old and large pines, and for its great value as material showing how our ancestors thought about the natural world.

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Where it is

Region

Jeju City, Jeju

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물