Mount Tai - History

History

Traces of human presence at Mount Tai date back to the Paleolithic period. Human settlement of the area can be proven from the neolithic period onwards. During this time, two cultures had emerged near the mountain, the Dawenkou culture to the south and the Longshan culture to the north. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the mountain lay on the boundary between the competing States of Qi (north of the mountain) and Lu (south). In the ensuing Warring States Period, the State of Qi erected a 500 km-long wall to protect itself against an invasion. Ruins of this wall are still present today. The name Tai'an of neighboring city is attributed to the saying "If Mount Tai is stable, so is the entire country" (both characters of Tai'an, "泰" and "安", have the independent meaning of "peace").

Religious worship of Mount Tai has a tradition of 3,000 years, it has been practiced from the time of the Shang to that of the Qing Dynasty. Over time, this worship evolved into an official imperial rite and Mount Tai became one of the principal places where the emperor would pay homage to heaven (on the summit) and earth (at the foot of the mountain) in the Feng (Chinese: 封; pinyin: Fēng) and Shan (Chinese: 禪; pinyin: Shàn) sacrifices respectively. The two sacrifices are often referred to together as the Fengshan sacrifices (Chinese: 封禪; pinyin: Fēngshàn). Carving of an inscription as part of the sacrifices marked the attainment of the "great peace".

By the time of the Zhou dynasty sacrifices at Mount Tai had become highly ritualized ceremonies in which the head of a local feudal lord would travel there to make sacrifices of food and jade ritual items. These items would then be arranged in a ritually correct pattern before being buried on the mountain. Because both Lu and Qi bordered Mount Tai for most of their respective histories, both feudal lords made sacrifices on Mount Tai independently. According to Zhou ritual belief, the spirit of Mount Tai would only accept those sacrifices that were offered by a feudal lord, leading Confucius (in Analects 3.6) to criticize the ministers who offered state sacrifices here after usurping power. In 219 BC, Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, held a ceremony on the summit and proclaimed the unity of his empire in a famous inscription. During the Han Dynasty, the Feng and Shan sacrifices were considered the highest of all sacrifices.

Mount Tai has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. In 2003, it attracted around 6 million visitors. A renovation project was completed by late October 2005, which aimed at restoring cultural relics and the renovation of damaged buildings of cultural significance.Tai mountain has widespread fame for its special ceremonies and sacrifices,besides, lots of poets and literary scholars traveled Tai mountain in order to gain inspiration. And they leave grandiose temples, many stone inscriptions and stone tablets.Mt. Tai played an important role in the development of Buddhism and Taoism.