In the 1940s, he played a key role, along with Wan Chun Cheng, in identifying and naming a new living species of Metasequoia previously known only from fossils, in Sichuan, China.
Today the range of trees is more remarkable, including a rare sequoia discovered in 1960 and a snake-tailed spruce.
The island, especially the Metasequoia path, was one of the main filming locations of Korean Broadcasting System 2002 television drama series Winter Sonata, starring Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo.