A Study on the Values and Meanings of Sancheondan in Jeju As Shrine Garden and Sacred Grove

The objective of this study is to understand the history, location and spatial features of the Sancheondan in Jeju and based on that understanding, clarify that such garden relics encompass the features of shrine garden and sacred grove.As an intangible heritage that reflects human thinking ability, creativity and tradition, a shrine altar is a significant cultural remain; likewise, a sacred grove is an artificially created and protected biological relic as well as being the boundary distinguishing the sacred grove, which is a sacred realm. Therefore, shrine gardens and sacred groves can be regarded as ruins of the archetypes which have been transmitted through religio-cultural history and remaining in the deep part of society. Based on such recognition, we have developed a logic tree in which we set the initial hypothesis of supposing the Sancheondan in Jeju to be a shrine garden or sacred grove and examine the hypothesis in a logical way. The ‘sacrificial meaning of mountain worship and ‘material evidence of the belief of heavenly god are presented as the basis for the shrine garden hypothesis. The ‘existence of sacred grove that identifies a sacred realm and ‘trace of artificially created forest are suggested as the logical bases for the sacred grove hypothesis. The logic tree then, was extended by the literature and on site study to sub issues and completed as the final logic tree with evidence. The core evidences for the shrine garden hypothesis are the directional setting toward the top of the Mt. Hanra, the existence of offering facilities(cornerstone, artificial mound) as part of territorial expression, traces of spring water and a sanctuary(So-rim temple), and an offering event such as the Mt. Hanra offering. On the other hand, the value of the Japanese black pine grove around the shrine garden which is the largest and oldest natural treasure in Korea has been appreciated with the symbolic feature that is the grove and traces of efforts to protect the grove. In summary, the Japanese black pine grove composed of great old trees is sufficient to hold a position as the symbolic tree that represents the existence of a shrine garden. In addition, it is necessary to maintain the spatial features of the shrine garden. Moreover, both the altar sanctuary facility of the Sancheondan and the Japanese black pine grove are in the necessary and sufficient relationship with each other and have the correct spatial status to represent the representative shrine garden and sacred grove.