Alishan Sacred Tree (阿里山神木) beside Alishan Forest Railway, Taiwan
Collection
Identifier
Mx01-103
Notes
University of Bristol - Historical Photographs of China reference number: Mx01-103. Cadbury Research Library archive finding number: DA26/2/2/4 (John Preston Maxwell Papers). Mt. Ari is Alishan 阿里山, in Jiayi County, southwestern Taiwan. The ‘Alishan Sacred Tree’ (阿里山神木) or ‘Shenmu’ (神木) or ‘Alishan Giant Tree’ was an ancient Taiwan red cypress (Chamaecyparis formosensis). The famous tree was also photographed by the plant hunter and botanist Ernest Henry Wilson (1876-1930), known as ‘Chinese Wilson’, in 1917. See ‘Wilson’s China, A Century On’ by Mark Flanagan and Tony Kirkham (Kew Publishing, 2009), page 16. This tree was struck by lightning in 1956, damaged by heavy rain in 1997, and finally cut down in 1998, the trunk now lying in situ beside the railway line.
Caption in album or on mount
Celebrated tree on Mt. Ari / Said to be 2000 years old.
Location
Estimated Date
1912-1925
Material
Paper
Media
Black and white photograph
Repository
Cadbury Research Library (Special Collections), University of Birmingham
