Population of Pagoda Trees in Changdeokgung Palace

The pagoda trees of Changdeokgung Palace are eight old trees growing side by side along both sides of the visitor's path just inside Donhwamun Gate, ranging from 5.0 to 20.0 metres in height and 2.3 to 3.5 metres in circumference at breast height. Pagoda trees have long been planted and tended at palace entrances for a particular reason. The area around Donhwamun Gate corresponds to the oejo (外朝, "outer court"), one of the samjo (三朝, "three courts") of a palace, where the government offices in which court officials carried out their duties were arranged; pagoda trees were traditionally planted around palace entrances in accordance with the Rites of Zhou (周禮), the text that set the standard for Chinese palace architecture. According to the Rites of Zhou, the outer court was the place where the king met the Samgong (三公, the Three Ducal Ministers), the Gogyeongdaebu (孤卿大夫, high ministers and grandees) and various other officials and nobles; pagoda trees (槐) were planted at the seats of the Samgong to mark their places, and for this reason the tree came to signify the rank of the Samgong itself. ("Facing three directions, three pagoda trees mark the seats of the Three Ducal Ministers" — Rites of Zhou, Book of Autumn Offices, Chapter on Court Officials.) The Population of Pagoda Trees in Changdeokgung Palace is presumed to be among the pagoda trees planted in front of the palace for the reasons described above; since they are depicted as old trees in the Donggwoldo (東闕圖, Painting of the Eastern Palaces), produced in the mid-1820s, they are estimated to be 300 to 400 years old. These eight pagoda trees are also important old trees through which the standards and meaning of tree-planting in Joseon-period palaces can be examined, and for their great historical and cultural value they are designated and protected as a Natural Monument.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물