Samgoejeong, the Pavilion of Three Zelkovas: The Oga-ri Village Guardian Trees That Watched Over a Village for 800 Years

At a glance

Tree

Zelkova Trees of Oga-ri, Goesan

Age · era

Village founded about 800 years ago (per the column), designated a Natural Monument in 1996, column written in 2011 (the protected area was tidied about 5 years earlier)

Story

At the entrance of Uryeong Village in Oga-ri, Jangyeon-myeon, Goesan-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, stand three zelkova trees that villagers call Samgoejeong (三槐亭), meaning the "pavilion of three zelkovas". A column by Ko Gyu-hong in the Seoul Shinmun (2011) writes that Uryeong Village was founded on this spot 800 years ago and that the people who founded it planted trees along the stream. It says the three trees stand one at each corner of a large triangle at the village entrance, that the lowest one (Hagoemok) and the middle one (Sanggoemok) were designated together as Natural Monuments, and that the remaining one, on slightly higher ground, was left out because of its smaller size. The Korea Heritage Service portal records the designation date as 30 December 1996, estimates the age at about 800 years as of designation, and explains that there is no pavilion, but the three trees look like one, so they are called Samgoejeong. The reason for designation is the folkloric and biological value of trees that have lived "in the care and attention of their ancestors". For a long time the village held its dangsan rite at Hagoemok. As of the column, Hagoemok is 19 m tall and 9.4 m around at chest height; its trunk splits in three at about 2 m high, and the thickest trunk broke off long ago and was repaired. In front of the Hagoemok trunk is a stone altar, and a sacred rope (geumjul) is strung around it. One resident said that the dangsan rite is held on the evening before the first full moon of the lunar new year, and that because it is a Natural Monument the state helps with the offering food and ritual supplies. The Korea Heritage Service portal and the Korea Tourism Organization introduce a seonghwangje rite (spelled "seonangje" on the signboard) held every year on the first full moon under Hagoemok. The column judges Sanggoemok (25 m tall and 8 m around as of the column), with its typical zelkova form and branches spread evenly in all directions, to be fit to be named the most beautiful of all zelkovas in Korea. An old woman of the village in the column says that although there is no particular story attached to the tree, it is a village tree everyone in the village is proud of. About five years before the column was written, the sloping fields around it were turned into a protected area, with a parking lot, a simple toilet and a small pavilion near the trees. The column writes that even among zelkovas, the autumn color differs a little from tree to tree.