Cheonnyeonsong Pine Tree in Jirisan Mountain

Cheonnyeonsong Pine Tree in Jirisan Mountain is a pine estimated to be about 500 years old, standing 20.4 m tall with a trunk circumference of 4.6 m at breast height, and branches spreading 18 m in every direction. It is looked after by 15 residents of Waun Village — named for the way clouds over Jirisan Mountain seem to lie down there — and thanks to their care the tree is in good condition and has a very beautiful form. The tree is said to have grown naturally on the hill behind Waun Village since before the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598). Two pines stand about 20 m apart, known as the "Grandfather Pine" and the "Grandmother Pine"; the larger and older of the two, the Grandmother Pine, has long been called by the villagers "Cheonnyeonsong" ("thousand-year pine") and has been the object of a dangsanje, a ritual to a village guardian spirit. Every year on the third day of the first lunar month, the villagers hold this ritual to pray for the village's peace and a good harvest. The person chosen as ritual officiant refrains from leaving the village from New Year's Eve, purifies himself by bathing in a valley beyond the hill behind the village (known as Sanjijjo), prepares three sets of clothes, and observes especially strict self-restraint. In recent years the ritual has been held on the tenth day of the first lunar month. Cheonnyeonsong Pine Tree in Jirisan Mountain, shaped as if an open umbrella, has a beautiful form and is a venerable old tree bearing a touching legend; for its rarity and its folkloric value it has been designated and protected as a Natural Monument.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Namwon, Jeonbuk

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물