ABSTRACT
The maeulsup, the Korean village grove, is a wooded area that was planted when a village was established. Most village groves are believed to have been planted during the Joseon dynasty, when the Confucian belief system dominated and society largely depended on agriculture. The village grove has long played an essential role, not only sustaining the daily lives of villagers but also promoting a sense of attachment and unity within the community. Modern researchers have tended to explore and intellectualize their ecological benefits, but these would surely not have been recognized as such by the rural communities that conceived them, where self-sufficiency of mental and physical needs was the key objective. In the traditional belief system, communication with gods is made possible through a medium, sometimes described as the cosmic tree, and in a place which provides the means to distinguish between the sacred and the profane.
