Mt. Taishan-the Origin Of No.1 Among The Five Holy Mountains In China

Eastern Mount Taishan, Western Huashan, Mid-Songshan, Southern Hengshan (in Hunan) and Northern Hengshan (in Shanxi) are famous mountains in China. Among the five celebrated mountains, Mt. Taishan isn't higher than Mt. Heng (in Shanxi), less beautiful than Mt. Heng (in Hunan) and far less precipitous than Mt. Hua. Why Mt. Taishan is rated as the " No.1 among the Five Holy Mountains"? "the Mount that dominates China", " No. among the famous mountains in the world"? Whenever does Mt. Taishan come from and however does Mt. Taishan become No.1? Many specialists and scholars of China and the other countries have constantly studied and researched its implications and profundities for long. There are many research results about Mt. Taishan's stele inscriptions, the culture of Mt. Taishan , religions of Mt. Taishan etc., especially the articles are numerous to introduce Mt. Taishan , but the articles demonstrating Mt. Taishan—the Origin of No.1 among the Five Holy Mountains in China are very few. Besides this is also very difficult to say so. Some scholars thought that Mt.Taishan was the big mountains, but not a certain mountain's proper noun , the reason is "Tai (泰) ,tai (太) ,big" the three words to exchange in usage. Mt.Taishan's original meaning is big mountain. Therefore, Mt. Taishan is general terms of big mountains but not a proper noun. The name of Mt. Taishan had once moved in history, Mt. Taishan was Meng mountain which lied in the joint of Pingyi, Mengyin and Feixian in Xizhou , the early year of Chunqiu. The viewpoint is the new but no evidence. That the original meaning of Mt. Taishan is big mountains is right, but we can't say Mt. Taishan is general terms of big mountains , but not a proper noun. There is only the word "big", but not the words "tai(泰), tai(太)". The latter is different from the word "big" to innovate promising and budding words. Mt. Taishan is separate from the other big mountains to become a proper noun, that is Mt. Taishan which is in Taian City, Shandong Province. The name had once moved because of metastasis of the cultural center. That the area of Shandong has small Taishans in Xintai, Feicheng, Linqu etc. is credible, but not the evidence to say its name having once moved. Because mountains can be named the same name, but the name cannot be allowed to move. Such as Beijing has Nanjing Road , Shanghai Road, but we can not say Nanjing , Shanghai are in Beijing. Besides small Mt. Taishan is small Mt. Taishan, but it isn't big Mt. Taishan after all. Therefore the awe-inspring of it can be seen in the example. Probably because the conditions of traffic, economy, culture, living standard etc. are limited that time, common people offer a sacrifice to Heaven on the small Mt. Taishan instead of Mt. Taishan. So as to the saying of Mengshan was Mt. Taishan in Xizhou, the early Chunqu, Mr. Wang Entian had tested it in his "East Mt. Taishan Recognizing " and said the saying without any evidence.Why is Mt. Taishan called the Origin of No.1 among the Five Holy Mountains in China? First, Mt. Taishan has peculiar geographic location and natural landscape. Our ancestors existed in multiplying along the Huanghe River. The Huanghe River flows through Mt. Taishan from the headstream to lower areas, it is hindered by Mt. Taishan, it must change its flowing course into the Bohai Sea to become the covering of a fan structure. Secondly, Dongyi tribe is our oldest tribe in the east of China. People of Dongyi took birds, dragons, tigers etc. as their totems. With the data of archaeological studies increasing, academic circles have the common view that prehistoric culture of Haidai area belongs to Shaohao and Taihao. According to the document records, the descendants of Shaohao lived in the vicinity zones of Shandong. It is identical with the culture distribution range of Dawenkou. Third, the most important is that Mt. Taishan is full of "magical myth legend mountain " in ancient times. With historical material records , there are 72 emperors adored Mt. Taishan, regarding it as the magical mountain and sage Mountain , giving Buddhist unceasingly offering sacrifices to it so. Fourthly, the culture formatting and developing of Mt. Taishan is that the other four mountains have no way to compare. The culture of Mt. Taishan mainly includes: landscape culture, Buddhist culture, religion culture, humanity culture and building culture etc. Its culture marrow is: Mt. Taishan's subject is developing all the things on earth, high and steep to the Heaven; Mt. Taishan's spirit is indomitable spirit, inspiring awe by upholding justice; Mt. Taishan's individuality is constantly strive to become stronger, form and indomitable; Mt. Taishan's morality is modest and open-minded , giving help to others.In short, myth legend period of Mt. Taishan is all right, the past dynasties feudalism emperors held a memorial ceremony for it is well, Mt. Taishan is always in existence as the symbol of the Chinese nation. In those days of chaos and disasters caused by war, misery and suffering greeted the eyes everywhere on Mt. Taishan because of then destruction and devastation. It was not until the founding of the People's Republic of China that the appearance of Mt. Taishan began to change. In 1982, the State Council promulgated Mt. Taishan on the list of the National Key Famous Scenic Spots and Historical Sites. A lot of specialists and scholars made a multi-scientific overall survey and study of Mt. Taishan in geology, paleontological stratum, landform, climate, hydrology, plant ecology, history, literature, aesthetics, art of stone sculpture, architecture, religion, gardening and tourism etc. As a laurel, the " World Cultural and Natural Heritage", the UNESCO ( United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) granted the award to Mt.Taishan in the meeting of Paris, France on December 11, 1987. In the named document, Mr. Lucas, expert of the world heritage, said: " Mt. Taishan has natural, historical and cultural value. This is a smash feature. This means China makes a contribution of special, unparalleled heritage to the world". " Mt. Taishan specially combines nature and culture and broadens people's outlook about the idea of human and nature. That is to say China makes the enormous contribution to human heritage". The Committee of the World Inheritance appraised: Solemn sacred Mt. Taishan has been the object which the emperors worshiped over the past 2000 years. Its humanity masterpieces integrate its natural landscapes perfectly. Mt. Taishan is always the source of Chinese artists and scholars' spirits. It's the symbol of Chinese civilization and belief in the ancient times. So that's why historians say that Mt. Taishan is partial and local epitomes of the Chinese nation's history; Philosophers say that the culture of Mt. Taishan is the best image representative of the idea " Heaven and Human Integration" in Chinese traditional culture; Archaeologists say Mt. Taishan is a huge historical relic; Literati say that Mt. Taishan is a spirit homeland; Common people say Mt. Taishan is a Divine Mount.From Mt. Taishan's geographical position, audio-visual image and culture of Mt. Tai etc., I want to test " Mt. Taishan—the Origin of No. 1 among the Five Holy Mountains in China", according to historical documents, the data of historical relics and archaeology. Mainly discussing the characteristics of Audio-visual image of Mt. Taishan in the following: Mt. Taishan's geographical position, geology and landform, it is undergoing the evolution from the Archaeozoic Era to the Cenozoic Era. That is: Ancient Mt. Tai form stage—the period of evolution from sea to land—now Mt. Tai form stage. Mt. Taishan stands in the east of the world at its special geographical position. It's admired by the people in the whole world. There are imposing, rare, precipitous, elegant, secluded, profound vast sceneries of enchanting beauty in natural and cultural sides of Mt. Tai. It also has ten natural marvelous spectacles, such as the Sun Rising in the East, Sea of Clouds and Jade Plate, Sunset Clouds and Evening Glow, Yellow River Golden Belt, Bixia Niumbus, Soft Rime and Rain Rime, Yunmen Ladder to Heaven, Yunlong Three Appearances, Shiwu Pine Trees, Ice Hole in Later Summer, and ten natural landscapes, such as Black Dragon's Pool, Fan-shaped Cliffs, Tianzhu Peak, Peach Flower Valley, Double Pine Trees Mount, Three Pools with Waterfalls, Yunbu Bridge, Hutiange Tower, Xiaodongtian, Scenery of Valley Mount. Especially Eighteen Winding Paths in the climbing process of Mt. Taishan, each step will test the climbers' will and the climbers will savor the meaning of life. From South Gate to Heaven, passing the Heaven Street and reaching the Top of Emperor Zhang, you can feel the great sense of success and you are carefree and happy in the fairyland without any tiredness.The cultures of Mt. Tai mainly include landscape culture, culture of stele marking the occasion of conferring titles on, religious culture, humane culture and architectural culture etc. Although people with different professional knowledge understand and annotate it in different degrees, the social historical value of Mt. Taishan's culture makes a shame to the other Four Mounts and the other famous mountains of the world. Its value of academic research lies in the research problems bringing a lot of rich significance to the fields of social science, such as archaeology , study of religion , science of culture , aesthetics and history etc..Mt. Tai affects the common people. People on the earth require " state prosperous and people at peace". Just " the spirit of Mt. Tai" constantly encourages common people to create the common home for the splendid tomorrow.