Tree Spirit Tower Introduction
The creation of the Tree Spirit Tower was due to the Japanese development of the Alishan forestry, which involved extensive logging, including numerous trees aged over a thousand years. The Japanese believed that everything has a spirit, so they built the Tree Spirit Tower to honor the tree spirits and to stabilize the mentality of the forestry workers. The construction of the Tree Spirit Tower expresses the Japanese reverence for nature, which was quite rare at that time. The design of the Tree Spirit Tower is based on a deformed pagoda, consisting of a base, a tower body, and a tower top. The base is a six-tiered circle, where the circular steps represent the growth rings of the trees, with each tier representing five hundred years, implying the meaning of three thousand years for sacred tree spirits. The tower body represents a thick tree trunk, symbolizing strength, and the body directly inscribes "Tree Spirit Tower," without any other inscriptions. The base of the tower features small columns of varying heights radiating in three directions, representing the gaps created after the trees were cut down, emphasizing the pain of the trees being felled. The belief that all things have spirits cannot be overlooked, making it quite rare at that time, which led to its designation as a county-designated historical monument.
