Alishan Sacred Tree Introduction
The Alishan Sacred Tree is a red cypress that is over 3,000 years old and features two trees growing together. It held the record for both age and diameter as the largest tree in Asia. Located at the 69-kilometer mark of the Alishan Railway, it is often listed among the five great wonders of Alishan, alongside the sunrise, sea of clouds, mountain railway, and cherry blossoms. In 1906, Japanese engineer Tomijiro Ogasawara discovered a group of giant trees in Alishan with average ages between two to three thousand years. However, due to plans to extend the forest railway through the area, approximately 300,000 towering cypress trees were cut down. The old red cypress that was left standing survived because its heartwood was completely hollowed out by lotus root fungi, making it "useless" and thus spared from the axe, even being revered as sacred. The solitary tree, standing out among its peers, was struck by lightning in 1953, causing a fire that burned through its hollow trunk down to the surface, yet it clung to life. However, a second lightning strike in 1956 finally severed the upper branches and led to its complete death. In July 1997, the entire tree could no longer withstand the wind and rain and collapsed, shattering into four large pieces that damaged the Alishan Forest Railway adjacent to it. The Forestry Bureau decided to lay the tree down artificially on June 6 of the following year, allowing visitors to pay their respects to the remains of this towering giant. In 2007, to celebrate Taiwan's enduring spirit, a selection was held for the second-generation Alishan Sacred Tree, originally named "Guangwu Cypress." This event, co-hosted by the Chiayi County Government, the Alishan National Scenic Area Administration, and the Chiayi Forest District Office, garnered a total of 13,846 votes. The selected tree, which is over 2,300 years old, stands 45 meters tall, with a diameter of 3.92 meters and a circumference of 12.5 meters. Its impressive stature led to its designation as the second-generation Sacred Tree, and on January 1, 2007, it was renamed "Alishan Xianglin Sacred Tree."
