한국 경상남도 고성의 오래된 나무들

A 700 year old tree?? So I’ve been living in Goseong for years, but only recently became observant of the old trees around.

Background

Many of these trees are found in a gathering place of a village, such as near the “town hall”, or a resting place between rice fields. They were planted in central locations for reasons other than shade and convenience, however.

Since ancient times in Korea, these trees have been thought to represent protection over a village. Still today, though not as much as in the past, rituals and ceremonies are held at the tree.

There is almost always some kind of gazebo or resting platform under the tree. They make for a shaded, casual meeting area, but also a space for prayer and offerings to the tree. As a Christian, I do not feel good or amused about that, but I see the tree as simply an old and majestic piece of God’s creation that ultimately grew as allowed by His hand alone, and therefore it is interesting to me.

Goseong has a few old forests such as Jangsan Forest, but this post focuses on individual trees that have been granted a “protection” status by a special agency that helps manage the tree, along with a designated caretaker in the community, such as the village head. These trees under conservation are assigned an identification number, and this info is all posted next to the tree. This is how I got the ages, height, etc for this post.

I will list these trees from youngest to oldest, according to the signs posted next to the tree. (I factored the designation date into the age.)

Let me know in the comments which one is your favorite! 😀

Index of 33 Old Trees

^____
Select one of the tree “cards” below to jump to more photos and details!

고성나무 카카오맵

#1

송계리 소나무

수령: 약160년
수고: 8M

수종: 소나무

주소: 고성군 대가면 송계리 485-4

#2

금산리 팽나무

수령: 약190년
수고: 20M

수종: 팽나무

주소: 고성군 대가면 금산리 1039-2

#3

상리면 느티나무

수령: 약200년
수고: 15M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 상리면 척번정리 443-1

#4

왕버들 용산리

수령: 약215년
수고: 12M

수종: 왕버들

주소: 고성군 거류면 용산리 431-1

#5

연당리 느티나무

수령: 약215년
수고: 25M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 영오면 연당리 968-1

#6

척정리 모과나무

수령: 약215년
수고: 13M

수종: 모과나무

주소: 고성군 대가면 척정리 1053

#7

신촌리 느티나무

수령: 약260년
수고: 15M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 상리면 신촌리 85

#8

화당리 팽나무

수령: 약265년
수고: 20M

수종: 팽나무

주소: 고성군 거류면 화당리 419-2

#9

우산리 이팝 나무

수령: 약270년
수고: 18M

수종: 이팝 나무

주소: 고성읍 우산리 190-15

#10

은월리 팽나무

수령: 약270년
수고: 15M

수종: 팽나무

주소: 고성군 거류면 은월리 362

#11

봉암리 느티나무

수령: 약270년
수고: 25M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 동해면 봉암리 1111

#12

삼덕리 느티나무

수령: 약290년
수고: 20M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 회화면 삼덕리 1391-6

#13

좌연리 느티나무

수령: 약310년
수고: 20M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 개천면 좌연리 581

#14

미룡리 돌배 나무

수령: 약315년
수고: 16M

수종: 돌배 나무

주소: 고성군 삼산면 미룡리 1032

#15

감서리 팽나무

수령: 약315년
수고: 30M

수종: 팽나무

주소: 고성군 거류면 감서리 산 5-1

#16

당동리 팽나무

수령: 약320년
수고: 14M

수종: 팽나무

주소: 고성군 거류면 당동리 304-1

#17

삼덕리 느티나무

수령: 약320년
수고: 20M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 회화면 삼덕리 1546-1

#18

두포리 팽나무

수령: 약320년
수고: 18M

수종: 팽나무

주소: 고성군 삼산면 두포리 1588-3

#19

저연리 느티나무

수령: 약370년
수고: 20M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 구만면 저연리 600-10

#20

고봉리 느티나무

수령: 약400년
수고: 15M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 상리면 고봉리 652-1

#21

월흥리 팽나무

수령: 약410년
수고: 25M

수종: 팽나무

주소: 고성군 하이면 월흥리 산 124

#22

삼봉리 푸조 나무

수령: 약415년
수고: 12M

수종: 푸조 나무

주소: 고성군 삼산면 삼봉리 620-3

#23

용와리 느티나무

수령: 약415년
수고: 22M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 구만면 용와리 401-1

#24

상리면 느티나무

수령: 약420년
수고: 13M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 대가면 금산리 296-2

#25

신분리 느티나무

수령: 약440년
수고: 35M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 영현면 신분리 870

#26

청광리 느티나무

수령: 약440년
수고: 17M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 개천면 청광리 620

#27

삼락리 팽나무

수령: 약440년
수고: 25M

수종: 팽나무

주소: 고성군 마암면 삼락리 108-2

#28

나선리 느티나무

수령: 약510년
수고: 20M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 개천면 나선리 892-10

#29

내곡리 느티나무

수령: 약540년
수고: 40M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 동해면 내곡리 566

#30

금산리 팽나무

수령: 약550년
수고: 22M

수종: 팽나무

주소: 고성군 대가면 금산리 660

#31

상리면 느티나무

수령: 약550년
수고: 18M

수종: 느티나무

주소: 고성군 개천면 가천리 480

#32

송산리 팽나무

수령: 약740년
수고: 26M

수종: 팽나무

주소: 고성군 거류면 송산리 124-1

#33

척정리 은행 나무

수령: 약840년
수고: 35M

수종: 은행 나무

주소: 고성군 대가면 척정리 1052

This is the only pine in the list. I guess there are really two trees.

I happened across this tree while driving down a road I haven’t driven down before.

It is next to a random warehouse on the side of the road with a little gazebo under the tree.

Although one of the youngest in the list, this tree is super cool to stand under. It feels so majestic the way its branches stretch so far out, like arms reaching out in a deliberate way.

This zelkova tree is just a minute drive from 상리 연꽃 공원. It’s in a valley surrounded by mountains and always seems to be misty and foggy and rainy every time I am in this area.

The tree just looks so strong and full of life.

Even Noah liked the tree.

It took a lot of time to put this together, not to mention all the time spent driving and walking through many villages, but that helped me become even more familiar with Goseong in Gyeongsangnamdo and more aware of how people are living here.

Surrounded by buildings, this tree is labeled as a kind of willow.

Nothing special with this tree, compared to others.

It’s on the side of a somewhat main road with rice fields on the other side.

Quince is used in traditional Chinese medicine, and in Korea, people make a kind of jelly out of the hard fruit which can be mixed with water to drink as a “tea”.

The tree is actually next to the oldest tree in this list. The blue arrow in the photo marks the quince tree.

I am not sure how healthy the tree is, as many of the leaves were down in late September, while most other trees still had full leaves.

A row of 3 trees are here, with a fairly large bell hanging from one of them.

They are surrounded by rice fields and the mountains.

A pair of domes of stacked rocks are next to this tree.

There are also gravestones which look more like what the USA uses for graves.

The sea is just across from the tree. A sign here also talks about Yi Sun-shin, a cherished Korean war hero, having some presence here around this village.

A sign here indicates a “chionanthus retusus” tree, or Chinese Fringe tree. Supposedly they have beautiful white flowers. I am not sure if this sign is referring to the tree across the street, or just many of the trees in general along the road.

The trees along the road are aged in general. Perhaps this road looks beautiful during spring blossoms.

This one has a dome of stacked stones next to it.

The branches protruding in an odd shape from certain angles.

It’s surrounded by crops in a village near the mountains.

This tree is short with a wide stump.

I found this tree in front of a store selling stone products.

Not much to say about this one. The benches would be a decent place to read a book if it weren’t for the barking dogs.

This is a group of 3 trees along a country road along rice fields.

They are in a pretty setting. But we have more interesting trees to look at, so moving on…

This is the only Korean Pear (AKA Asian Pear) tree in the list. It’s next to a hanok, a traditional Korean style house.

Though the pears are rather small, there are quite a few on the tree.

The old hanoks appear to be still in use as more of a warehouse than an actual house of living in.

The tree is a bit up along the mountainside on the edge of a village. The sun was setting when I was here.

Up on the mountainside of Georyusan mountain, this very cool looking tree sits above a village.

To get to it, I walked to the edge of the village and followed this driveway through bamboo and between two walls of stacked rocks.

I spotted a deer in the bamboo.

Around the corner on the left sits the tree.

It has some nice moss growth and sort of looms over the village.

The other interesting thing is this abandoned (I think) hanok sitting in the middle of weeds around the bamboo and rock wall.

It feels like going back in time. I imagine the person who used to live here and what life might have been like.

And I’m not sure what this little structure is next to the old tree.

This tree is not far from a trail leading up Georyusan Mountain. I found it on accident by following a small road along a stream.

The mountain in the background is Georyusan Mountain. The tree has apparently received a lot of care with some kind of cement filling in the branches which are also shackled to suspension cables.

A burial mound and gravestone are next to the tree.

This tree leans over a stream running through a village.

The tree apparently has been damaged with a severed or fallen branch due what seems to be natural causes. The stump still looks cool and the tree appears otherwise healthy.

It looks like the area near the tree received a lot of infrastructure updates, including new exercise equipment.

Near a marina in the sea sits this tree under which construction workers appeared to be working on a new parking lot and a walkway.

The symmetrical shape of this tree makes me think it has been carefully pruned to have the appearance it has.

And how about that network of branches?

This reminds me of lightning bolts. Or veins in human organs. Or a river network viewed from far away…

Surrounded by rice fields, this tree is fairly typical of some other old trees in this list.

The covered shelter next to the tree looks out over the rice fields and villages next to the mountains in the distance.

This tree has quite fat, wide trunk.

I tried to show its width using my hand as a reference.

The tree is right next to the road at a building that I believe is the town hall meeting place.

I found it interesting how the lamp was set up on the tree.

One of the most interesting to me in this list is this group of five trees on the edge of a village on a mountainside.

There are farms around the trees.

The trees face this view of the village and rice paddies below from the mountainside.

Here is another view of the golden, unharvested rice paddies below on the morning of September 26, 2021.

The group of 3 trees behind the 2 larger ones also look kind of eerie.

These trees are actually common locations for people to practice shamanism, and there is a sign warning people to not do this here.

I climbed the rock between the two larger trees and took a few photos.

Some paths led through the thicket behind the trees, but I didn’t investigate. They probably lead to tombs.

I had some fun experimenting with editing photos.

As trees age, their trunks can begin to hollow out, as can be seen with this one.

As I understand, this Peugeot tree produces edible fruit like ginko nuts and the tree is sometimes used to make paper. In South Korea, this tree is grown primarily in Jeolla and Gyeongsangnamdo.

The tree grows right up along the edge of the road in a thicket of bamboo.

I could see through the other side.

This tree’s circumference is larger than others around its age.

It’s bordered by rice fields and greenhouses in a village. It’s also next to some gravestones. These pictures were taken on a misty morning.

This zelkova is just down the street from the 190 year old hackberry. I found it a few minutes later.

Some rice grows next to the tree with (of course) a little gazebo next to it.

Next to this tree is an American-style house with siding and a grassy yard.

The trunk has some large knots.

It’s fairly tall and just burly in general.

I happened to drive by it in the fall one day while exploring Yeonhwasan Provincial Park.

This one is behind a village up on a round deck next to some rice fields.

One of the large branches is starting to hollow out and is being used to stash a water bottle.

This tree I can remember from early on in Korea as it is along a main road and the supporting stack of bricks was noticeable from the road.

As I understand, trees tend to get hollow as they get advanced in age. You can see that in this one, and there is more of that cement-like stuffing on some of the trunk.

These trees stick out on a rural road between rice fields. They’re in a historic kind of area with other temples and things.

This tree is in the middle of a village.

I found a praying mantis on the trunk.

Here is an example of people leaving an offering for the tree. This is a rice cake and a bottle of something.

This tree is probably my favorite. I love how it’s up on a hill overlooking a very countryside view of a small village.

It just looks so cool and unusual.

Bamboo grows behind the tree.

A stone tower supports this leaning tree.

It’s it the middle of a bunch of rice fields. Across the fields is a village at the foot of a small mountain.

This one appears to be two trees. I am not sure if it’s one tree that split or not, because each of the trunks don’t look comparable to the sizes of the other trees in this list.

This tree (or trees) are along a tiny country road.

This ginko tree is the oldest tree in Goseong that I am aware of.

It is growing in a bunch of tall grass on the edge of a village.

The bark appears to almost be dripping from the tree.

While I was taking pictures of this tree, a giant “murder hornet” flew by my head. This is not unusual here in the mountainous countryside, so after running away, I crept back to get more photos.

I heard the sound of a chainsaw in the distance…but soon I realized this was actually the sound of a giant hornet nest in the tree! The hornets were coming and going from the trunk. I feel lucky I have these pictures before I realized this.

Maybe this fall or winter when the hornets are less active, I’ll muster up some courage to get a few more photos. UPDATE: Here they are!

One more thing to note is if you walk around the corner you will come to Je Jeong-gu’s grave (and the house he grew up in is in the area too). I found this by accident strolling with Noah. Je Jeong-gu is a National Medal of Honor recipient and dedicated his life to helping the poor. The award-winning (for its architecture) Je Jeong-gu Community Center includes a memorial hall for him and was built in his honor in 2021 at Daega Reservoir.