Castor Aralia of Gungchon-ri, Samcheok

The castor aralia, commonly called eomnamu, is found in Korea as well as in Japan, China, Manchuria and the southern part of the Russian Far East. Its tender leaves are eaten as a namul, a seasoned vegetable dish, and its thorny branches were used to ward off evil spirits. In the past, hexagonal ornaments were made from this wood and fastened onto children to keep evil spirits from entering them; this practice was called eum, said to be the origin of the tree's Korean name, eumnamu. This castor aralia is estimated, as of its designation, to be about 600 to 1,000 years old, and is a large, ancient tree 15.4 m tall with a girth of 5.9 m at breast height. A stone wall has been built around the tree to protect it; within the wall stand a date plum tree and a mulberry tree, while outside it stand a large date plum tree, a Chinese juniper and a pine tree. The villagers treasure all of these trees, and regard the castor aralia in particular as the guardian deity of the village, tying a sacred straw rope around it and keeping impure persons from approaching. Every year, at the first full moon of the lunar new year and at Dano, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, rites are held praying for the peace of the village, and at Dano the celebrations include swinging, seesawing and farmers'-band performances. The Castor Aralia of Gungchon-ri, Samcheok, has grown for centuries under the care and attention of the villagers' ancestors, giving it great value as folk material, and as one of the largest and oldest castor aralia trees in Korea it is also highly valued as biological material; for these reasons it is designated and protected as a natural monument.

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Where it is

Region

Samcheok, Gangwon

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물