Pine Tree of Hwayang-ri, Hapcheon

The Pine Tree of Hwayang-ri, Hapcheon stands amid the paddies of Nagok village in Hwayang-ri, at an altitude of about 500 metres, and is estimated (as of its designation) to be around 500 years old. The tree is 17.7 m tall with a girth of 6.15 m at breast height; its branches divide at a height of 2.5–3.3 m and then develop drooping back downward, giving it a very distinctive and beautiful form. Because its bark is cracked like a turtle's shell and its branches resemble a dragon, it is also called Guryongmok (龜龍木, "turtle-dragon tree"). According to tradition handed down among the descendants of the Yeonan Kim clan, in 1613, the fifth year of King Gwanghaegun, Kim Je-nam, Buwongun of Yeonheung, was falsely accused of plotting to enthrone Prince Yeongchang and was branded a traitor, resulting in the extermination of his family to the third degree of kinship; a sixth-cousin of Kim Je-nam is said to have fled here and built a thatched hut beneath this tree to live in. Villagers have long regarded the Pine Tree of Hwayang-ri, Hapcheon as a guardian tree protecting the village and have preserved it for generations. It has been designated and protected as a natural monument for its great value as folkloric, historical and biological material.

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Where it is

Region

Hapcheon, Gyeongnam

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물