The Traitor-Striking Cypress at the Confucius Temple (触奸柏)

Peking · China · Historic building

The 700-year-old cypress knocked the hat off the empire's greatest traitor – a tree said to know wicked men and punish them with its branches.

Before the Dacheng Hall of Beijing's Confucius Temple stands a cypress planted seven hundred years ago, by tradition at the hand of the scholar Xu Heng. In the Ming dynasty, Grand Secretary Yan Song – the empire's most notorious abuser of power – came to sacrifice to Confucius in the emperor's stead. As he strode beneath the tree, a branch caught and knocked the black official's hat from his head in front of his whole retinue. Yan Song never dared enter the hall. When the feared eunuch Wei Zhongxian later visited the temple, a thick bough is said to have torn loose in a sudden gust and crashed down towards his head. The tree has been called Chujianbai, the traitor-striking cypress, ever since: a tree with a spirit that knows loyal servants from villains – and still stands guard over the temple courtyard.

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Where is The Traitor-Striking Cypress at the Confucius Temple (触奸柏) located?

The Traitor-Striking Cypress at the Confucius Temple (触奸柏) is in Peking, China.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.