World Mixed Cultural and Natural Heritage: Mount Taishan (3)

Value of the cultural heritage:

Long history

Mount Taishan is one of the birthplaces of ancient culture in the Yellow River region. The Dafenkou culture at the southern foot of Mount Taishan and the relics of the Longshan culture at the northern foot prove that the ancestors of the Chinese started living in the region around Mount Taishan a long time ago. There are also the fossil remains of the Xintai people from 50,000 years ago and the fossil remains of the Yiyuan people from 400,000 years ago. The ruins of the 500-kilometer-long Great Wall along Mount Taishan to the Yellow Sea constructed during the Warring States Period still exist today. Scenic spots related to Confucius at mountain include the Confucius Mountain Ascending Archway, the Watching State of Wu Archway, the Confucius Belittling World Spot, Confucius Temple, Zhanlu Tai, and the Tiger Ditch. Mount Taishan, a sacred mountain and a treasure house of cultural heritage, is also known as the "First of the Five Sacred Mountains" and the "King of the Five Sacred Mountains," and the mountain was the symbol of state power in ancient times. Ancient emperors in China usually held sacred ceremonies and offered sacrifices to the heaven and earth at Mount Taishan after taking the throne or during peace time.

A total of 72 emperors during the pre-Qin Dynasty offered sacrifices to heaven there, and emperors from the Qin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty offered sacrifices there 27 times. Because many emperors made sacrifices there, and because of its grand and spectacular scenery, many ancient cultural scholars and artists wrote poems about Mount Taishan, and hundreds of thousands of poems and inscribed stone tablets remain today. Poems such as "Qiulingge" written by Confucius, "Fengshanshu" written by Sima Qian, "Feilongpian" written by Cao Zhi, "Taishanyin" written by Li Bai, and "Looking at the Mount Taishan" written by Du Fu are all famous poems handed down from ancient times. The mural paintings of the Song Dynasty at the Tiankuang Palace and the colored arhats' statues of the Song Dynasty at the Lingyan Temple are rare treasures. In addition, the inscribed stone tablets of Mount Taishan are the agglomeration of Chinese calligraphy in various character styles and groups. Therefore, the mountain is considered as the exhibition hall of ancient Chinese calligraphy and the art of stone inscriptions. The rich cultural heritage on Mount Taishan includes 97 intact ancient sites and 22 ancient architectural complexes (table 3), providing material evidence for the research of the history of ancient Chinese architecture.