When the Japanese took control of Taiwan in 1895 and began logging the forests in the island’s interior, they discovered this 3,000-year-old cypress tree. They immediately set it apart as a sacred tree due to its size and age and preserved it, even as they logged most of the surrounding old-growth trees. Though the Japanese transferred control of the island to the Republic of China in 1945, the tree’s sacredness was respected by the island’s new leaders. In 1956, however, the tree was struck by lightning and the inside caught…
