Time: 2015/10
Place: Alishan town (阿里山) and Shanlinxi town （杉林溪）, Nantou
Difficulties: **(1.5/5)
We are now continue on the section of A Xi trekking trail, after Songshan mt.
I visited Divine Tree in my second time comeback to Shuiyang forest, entering from the other end: Shanlinxi. It took us two hours around from the lakeside camp to the tree. Therefore, only if you made arrival at campsite before 13:00pm in advance, additional journey to old divine tree was such an enjoyable leisure activities in afternoon. It was a bit steep from the start with all big rocks and roots. Keep hiking up for half an hour; after then the path was quite flat, however, it was stacked with falling tree trunks after several vigorous tropical storms. You can cross over them easily, just a little sad that uphills there were less and less tree rooted in soils.
Taiwan has her own term for a great giant ancient tree: Shenmu (神木), which literally means trees of God, Divine trees. Deification phenomenon was settled on two conditions: whether the trees were a sacred worship of indigenous to God and Goddesses in ritual ceremonies, or whether the trees are old enough to be Deity themselves. Basically, any tree that was more than 1000 years old, It would be respectfully and sincerely called Shenmu.
And guess what? This giant 4100-year-old tree seems to be Taiwan oldest cypress tree (menoki). Not kidding? 4100 years? Yeah, I double check its information and it stated that way. Despite of the years, Mianyue Divine tree was not at first rank for its size. Nevertheless, 48 m height and 17.8 m of radiation were quite impressive numbers, the tree looks like a big wall in middle of forest, especially when you compare it with surrounding newly raising small tree trunks.
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| Harmony of water - blue sky and misty forest in morning. |
Mianyue - Sleeping under Moonlight
First, let me come back with he myths telling origin of the term Mianyue, which was name under Japanese rule time; before the forest nam was named Bopizai (薄皮仔林, which mean cypress forest). Although we now moving from Songshan Mt. to Shuiyang, getting further and further from Mianyue Area, but later, we're gonna pay a visit to Mianyue Divine tree, and you'd definitely regret if missing this fantasy story.
Photo credit: Max
Kawai Shitarō（河合鈰太郎） had arrived first time at this area of forest in 1906 in a project of forest exploration and exploitation. It was told that he lied on a big rock platform near Shigupan stream and enjoyed that terrific moonlight, which shone through thick dense giant trees' top and illuminated the silent woods. Every breathing life was sank in extremely beautiful quietness. I bet that every camper would desperately want to experience this moment, a peaceful and harmony night with moonlight and quiet forest.
13 years later he came back exactly the same area, which then already a well- developed logging camp. It was no doubt that's his expectation of being embraced by moonlight and natural forest hardly came true. Bemoaning for the old beauty now only exist in his memories and dreams, he wrote a poem which literally means:
"Axes now entering the green hills, felling all the thousand-year-old ancient trees, old days stone bed covered with lush green mosses is now traceless, harmony of the stream was only moaning from past glory time..."
His poems were an exact prediction of what had happened later, years of poor planning forest exploitation leave us many giant tree roots. Photo credit: Max
The area was later named Mianyue - Sleeping under the Moonlight, as a sweet memories of Shitaro's pleasant experience of sleeping in juggle under moonlight. As usual, we'd never treasure anything until we missed it. It can be a attractive fantasy to tell about the woods, or a painful lesson of over exploitation.
Mianyue Divine Tree (Mianyue shenmu, 眠月神木)
First, let me come back with he myths telling origin of the term Mianyue, which was name under Japanese rule time; before the forest nam was named Bopizai (薄皮仔林, which mean cypress forest). Although we now moving from Songshan Mt. to Shuiyang, getting further and further from Mianyue Area, but later, we're gonna pay a visit to Mianyue Divine tree, and you'd definitely regret if missing this fantasy story.
 |
| Photo credit: Max |
Kawai Shitarō（河合鈰太郎） had arrived first time at this area of forest in 1906 in a project of forest exploration and exploitation. It was told that he lied on a big rock platform near Shigupan stream and enjoyed that terrific moonlight, which shone through thick dense giant trees' top and illuminated the silent woods. Every breathing life was sank in extremely beautiful quietness. I bet that every camper would desperately want to experience this moment, a peaceful and harmony night with moonlight and quiet forest.
"Axes now entering the green hills, felling all the thousand-year-old ancient trees, old days stone bed covered with lush green mosses is now traceless, harmony of the stream was only moaning from past glory time..."
 |
| His poems were an exact prediction of what had happened later, years of poor planning forest exploitation leave us many giant tree roots. Photo credit: Max |
I visited Divine Tree in my second time comeback to Shuiyang forest, entering from the other end: Shanlinxi. It took us two hours around from the lakeside camp to the tree. Therefore, only if you made arrival at campsite before 13:00pm in advance, additional journey to old divine tree was such an enjoyable leisure activities in afternoon. It was a bit steep from the start with all big rocks and roots. Keep hiking up for half an hour; after then the path was quite flat, however, it was stacked with falling tree trunks after several vigorous tropical storms. You can cross over them easily, just a little sad that uphills there were less and less tree rooted in soils.
 |
| On the way from campsite to Divine tree. Photo credit: Max |
Taiwan has her own term for a great giant ancient tree: Shenmu (神木), which literally means trees of God, Divine trees. Deification phenomenon was settled on two conditions: whether the trees were a sacred worship of indigenous to God and Goddesses in ritual ceremonies, or whether the trees are old enough to be Deity themselves. Basically, any tree that was more than 1000 years old, It would be respectfully and sincerely called Shenmu.
 |
| Photo credit: GoforWild |
And guess what? This giant 4100-year-old tree seems to be Taiwan oldest cypress tree (menoki). Not kidding? 4100 years? Yeah, I double check its information and it stated that way. Despite of the years, Mianyue Divine tree was not at first rank for its size. Nevertheless, 48 m height and 17.8 m of radiation were quite impressive numbers, the tree looks like a big wall in middle of forest, especially when you compare it with surrounding newly raising small tree trunks.
 |
| Photo credit: Max |
