Alishan Sacred Tree Introduction
Alishan Sacred Tree is a red cypress tree that has two trunks intertwined and is over three thousand years old. It used to hold the record for both age and diameter in Asia and is located next to the 69 km mark of the Alishan Railway. It is often ranked alongside the sunrise, sea of clouds, high mountain railway, and cherry blossoms of Alishan as one of the five great wonders. In 1906, Japanese engineer Tomijiro Ogasawara discovered a group of giant trees in Alishan, with an average age of around two to three thousand years. However, due to plans to build a railway through the forest, three hundred thousand giant cypress trees were nearly all chopped down. The old red cypress that was left behind was completely eaten by lotus root fungus and was spared from being cut down because of its perceived "uselessness," even being revered as a deity. The solitary Sacred Tree, standing out among the crowd, was struck by lightning in the 42nd year of the Republic of China. The fire from the lightning burned through the hollow trunk to the ground, yet it continued to hold onto a thread of life. However, in the 45th year of the Republic of China, it was struck by lightning for the second time, which finally broke off the upper half of its branches, leading to its complete death. In July of the 86th year of the Republic of China, the entire Sacred Tree collapsed under the pressure of the wind and rain, breaking into four large pieces and damaging the adjacent Alishan Forest Railway. As a result, on June 6 of the following year, the Forestry Bureau decided to intentionally lay the Sacred Tree down at the original site, allowing visitors to pay their respects to the remains of this towering giant. To celebrate 2007 and showcase Taiwan's resilient spirit, a voting event for the second-generation Sacred Tree of Alishan was held. The original name "Guangwu Cypress" was chosen during the voting activity organized by the Chiayi County Government, Alishan National Scenic Area Administration, and Chiayi Forest District Office, receiving a total of 13,846 votes. The new Sacred Tree is over 2,300 years old, stands 45 meters tall, has a diameter of 3.92 meters, and a circumference of 12.5 meters, making it quite massive and majestic. It was thus selected as the second-generation Sacred Tree and was renamed "Alishan Xianglin Sacred Tree" on January 1, 2007.
