Hahoe Samsindang Tree

Quick facts

Address

Hahoe-ri, Pungcheon-myeon, Andong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do

About this place

The Samsindang is a zelkova more than six hundred years old standing at the centre of Hahoe village in Pungcheon, Andong, North Gyeongsang. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture defines Samsin as the deity who grants children and oversees childbirth and nursing. The village rites fall on the first full moon of the year and on the Buddha’s birthday: on the night of the full moon the rites are held at the upper and middle shrines, and the following morning an offering is made at the Samsindang. Hahoe was designated a National Folklore Cultural Heritage on 14 January 1984.

Origin and history

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture describes Hahoe as a single-clan village established in late Goryeo by the Pungsan Ryu family in Hahoe-ri, Pungcheon, Andong, and describes the Samsindang as a zelkova more than six hundred years old at the centre of the village.

The village rites are held each year on the first full moon and on the Buddha’s birthday. On the night of the full moon, rites are performed at the upper and middle shrines; the next morning an offering is made at the Samsindang.

The village was designated a National Folklore Cultural Heritage on 14 January 1984.

What it is locally associated with

• Power spotFamily & Home

  The deity who grants children

  The encyclopedia defines Samsin as the deity who grants children and oversees childbirth and nursing. This tree is Samsin’s shrine.

  folk tradition

• Origin

  A zelkova of six hundred years

  It stands at the centre of the village and is recorded as more than six hundred years old.

  documented history

• What people do here

  The offering comes the next morning

  Rites are held at the upper and middle shrines on the night of the first full moon; the offering here is made the following morning.

  documented history

What this tree is responsible for is in its name. The encyclopedia defines Samsin as the deity who grants children and oversees childbirth and nursing, and records that when a child is born a table is set for Samsin to pray for the health of mother and infant. The Samsindang, then, is the place of mothers and children.

What the record does not set down is what was asked at this particular tree, or how. This page can say what kind of deity Samsin is, and that this tree is Samsin’s shrine, and no further.

The village has more than one shrine. The upper one, also called Grandmother Kim of the Seonangdang, is the deity of the Hahoe byeolsingut; the middle one is the Guksadang, on the right of the slope leading up to it. The Samsindang is the third, apart from both, and its offering comes a day later, in the morning.

Sources

1. 안동 하회마을(安東 河回마을) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 — Academy of Korean Studies (accessed 2026-08-12)
2. 삼신(三神) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 — Academy of Korean Studies (accessed 2026-08-12)