Village Guardian Grove in Gupo-dong, Busan

The hackberry is a tree of the elm family, known in the southern regions by names such as ppaengnamu or pogunamu. It grows to a very great size, and since ancient times such trees have often been planted as biborim, groves positioned according to geomantic principles to reinforce a site's fortune, or as windbreak groves. The hackberry of the Village Guardian Grove in Gupo-dong, Busan is estimated to be about 500 years old. It grows on a spot from which the Nakdonggang River can be seen in its entirety, on the way from Gupo Station toward Baegyangsan Mountain. Strange protrusions on its lower trunk and its many-branched, far-spreading crown give it a majestic presence. The tree was held sacred as a guardian of the village's peace and of good catches from the sea, with a rite performed every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month (Daeboreum). The hackberry itself has since died, leaving only its stump standing. The Village Guardian Grove in Gupo-dong, Busan has lived amid the care and attention of generations of villagers, and holds high conservation value as folkloric and biological material, and is therefore designated and protected as a natural monument. Note on the change of heritage name: the designation was changed from "Hackberry of Gupo-dong, Busan" to "Village Guardian Grove in Gupo-dong, Busan" on 12 December 2008. Near what was once a harbour village, this grove has long been venerated as a place to pray for the village's peace and a good catch. Because it still retains the form of a village guardian grove and its village rite survives, the scope of the natural monument designation was changed to cover the whole grove — including pine trees and the shrine building — together with the original hackberry.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Buk-gu, Busan

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물