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| Sacred mountains of China | |
|---|---|
| Name | Five Great Mountains and other sacred peaks |
| Location | China |
| Highest | Mount Tai (Taishan) 1545 m |
| Type | Cultural, Religious |
Sacred mountains of China
Sacred mountains in China are clusters of peaks and ranges venerated across Chinese folk religion, Daoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and imperial rites, serving as focal points for pilgrimage, state ritual, and artistic production. Major complexes such as Mount Tai, Mount Hua, Heng (Hunan), Heng (Shanxi), and Mount Song—often called the Five Great Mountains—sit alongside regional sacred sites like Mount Wutai, Mount Emei, and Mount Putuo, all embedded in networks of temples, monasteries, shrines, and imperial roads.
The corpus of sacred peaks encompasses the canonical Five Great Mountains associated with the five directions in classical cosmology and numerous regional sanctuaries tied to Buddhist and Daoist lineages. Pilgrims travel along historic routes including the Silk Road, provincial roads and stone stairways to reach abbeys such as Dazu Rock Carvings-era sanctuaries, cliffside temples like Hanging Monastery, and monastic complexes at Shaolin Temple, Longmen Grottoes, and Mogao Caves. Imperial patronage from dynasties such as the Han dynasty, Tang dynasty, Song dynasty, Ming dynasty, and Qing dynasty established sacrificial altars and state rituals at plateau sites linked to rulers like Emperor Wu of Han, Qin Shi Huang, and Emperor Gaozu of Tang.
From the Eastern Zhou period through the Republic of China era, mountains have functioned as loci for cosmological rites, state investiture, and spiritual retreat. Daoist orders including the Quanzhen School and Zhengyi Dao founded cloisters and conducted inner-alchemy practices at sites like Mount Qingcheng and Mount Longhu. Buddhist schools such as Chan Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism, and Tiantai established monasteries at Mount Wutai, Mount Emei, and Mount Putuo respectively, attracting pilgrims, scholars, and artists including Zongmi and Huineng. Confucian ritualists associated with Kong Fuzi observances performed sacrifices at sacred precincts tied to filial and state cosmology. Literary figures like Li Bai, Du Fu, Su Shi, and Wang Wei composed poetry at mountain temples; painters of the Song dynasty and Yuan dynasty produced landscape canons that reinforced the sacred status of peaks.
The Five Great Mountains are geographically and cosmologically stratified: east Mount Tai (sacrifice and sunrise rites), west Mount Hua (ascetic hermitage), south Mount Heng (Hunan) (fertility and southern rites), north Mount Heng (Shanxi) (martial and frontier rites), and center Mount Song (ritual axis). Imperial processions by emperors of the Han dynasty, Tang dynasty, and Qing dynasty performed feng and shan offerings at summits and altars, recorded in stelae and court annals. Key monuments include the Dai Temple at Mount Tai, the cliffside gates of Mount Hua, the temple clusters of Mount Song with Shaolin Temple, and ritual stairways commissioned under emperors like Kangxi Emperor and Qianlong Emperor.
Beyond the Five Great Mountains, peaks such as Mount Wutai, Mount Emei, Mount Putuo, Mount Jiuhua, Mount Lu, Mount Huangshan, Mount Lushan, Mount Taihang, Mount Taishan (Alternate), Mount Dinghu, Mount Qingcheng, Mount Maoer, Mount Sanqing, Mount Dabie, Mount Fanjing, Mount Xiqiao, Mount Wuyi, Mount Nanwu, Mount Yandang, Mount Nanshan, Mount Taihang, Mount Laoshan, Mount Tongluo, Mount Shouyang, Mount Songshan (alternate), Mount Huashan (alternate), Mount Jianning, Mount Luofu, Mount Meishan, Mount Emeishan (alternate), Mount Qingliang, Mount Jiaoshan, Mount Zhou, Mount Hengshan (other), Mount Cangshan, Mount Mogan, Mount Yaji, Mount Wujiang, and Mount Datun serve as centers for local cults, monastic orders, and natural conservation.
Mountains appear centrally in Chinese painting, classical Chinese poetry, and garden design; artists and literati from Guo Xi and Fan Kuan to Shen Zhou and Dong Qichang depicted sacred peaks to express moral and cosmological ideas. Travelogues and pilgrimage accounts by figures like Xuanzang, Hsuan-tsang, Li Bai, Su Shi, and Yuan Haowen influenced aesthetic canons; imperial commissions such as the Four Great Books of Song-era compilations and imperial atlas projects documented sacred sites. Sculptural programs at Longmen Grottoes, Yungang Grottoes, and cliff temples merged Buddhist iconography with native mountain worship, while theatrical and operatic repertoires preserved pilgrimage narratives in Kunqu and Peking opera.
Pilgrims follow routes established by monks, hermits, and imperial messengers, often visiting temple complexes like Dai Temple, Shaolin Temple, Baoguo Temple, Fahua Temple, Jinci Temple, Nanchan Temple, and Pilgrimage Shrines maintained by Buddhist sanghas and Daoist fangs. Ritual practices include circumambulation, prostration, mantra recitation by Buddhist monks, and Daoist rite-work by daoshi of Quanzhen and Zhengyi lineages. Monastic academies and scriptural libraries such as those at Shaolin, Tengwang Pavilion-area cloisters, and Xiangguo Temple preserved sutras and Daoist texts; lay confraternities and guilds organized festivals like the Lantern Festival, mountain processions, and seasonal observances.
Modern management involves cultural heritage agencies, provincial bureaus, and UNESCO recognition for sites like Mount Huangshan, Mount Wutai, and Mount Taishan, intersecting with conservation of biodiversity in reserves such as Wulingyuan and Wuyi Mountains National Nature Reserve. Contemporary issues include balancing pilgrimage, mass tourism, and preservation of temples and grottoes, with stakeholders like the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, provincial tourism bureaus, and local monasteries implementing visitor quotas, restoration programs, and archaeological surveys. Environmental concerns involve endemic species protection, erosion control, and integrating intangible heritage protections into management plans alongside initiatives by organizations such as ICOMOS and regional conservation NGOs.
Category:Mountains of China