Mount Heng in Hunan is believed to be a remainder of Pangu's right arm, Mount Heng in Shanxi of his left arm, Mount Song of his belly, and Mount Hua of his feet. In accordance with its special position, Mount Tài is believed to have been formed out of Pangu's head. Due to this interpretation, it is often regarded as the most sacred of the Five Great Mountains.
Because of its eastern location, Mount Tài is associated with the rising sun which signifies birth and renewal.
There are also various Buddhist temples and Confucian academies built on these mountains.Īlternatively, these mountains are sometimes referred to by the respective directions: the "Northern Great Mountain" ( 北岳 北嶽 Běi Yuè), "Southern Great Mountain" ( 南岳 南嶽 Nán Yuè), "Eastern Great Mountain" ( 东岳 東嶽 Dōng Yuè), "Western Great Mountain" ( 西岳 西嶽 Xī Yuè), and "Central Great Mountain" ( 中岳 中嶽 Zhōng Yuè).Īccording to Chinese mythology, the Five Great Mountains originated from the body of Pangu ( 盘古 盤古 Pángǔ), the first being and the creator of the world. Although the Five Great Mountains are not traditionally canonized as having any exclusive religious affiliations, many of them have a strong Taoist presence, thus the five mountains are also grouped by some as part of "Sacred Taoist Mountains". The Five Great Mountains have become places of pilgrimage where hundreds of pilgrims gather in temples and caves. In the 2000s formal sacrifices both in Confucian and Taoist styles have been resumed. But just to be safe, he also made an offer to the god of the northern Mount Heng.
Barring a number of interruptions, this imperial custom was preserved until the end of the last dynasty, when, after the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, Yuan Shikai had himself crowned as emperor at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. With every new dynasty, the new emperor hurried to the Five Great Mountains in order to lay claim to his newly acquired domains. The emperors, starting with the First Emperor of Qin, formalized these expeditions and incorporated them into state ritual as prescribed by Confucianism. The excursions were hunting trips and ended in ritual offerings to the reigning god. Every visit took place at the same time of the year. The first legendary sovereigns of China went on excursions or formed processions to the summits of the Five Great Mountains. The five mountains are among the best-known natural landmarks in Chinese history, and since the early periods in Chinese history, they have been the ritual sites of imperial worship and sacrifice by various emperors. In Chinese traditional religion they have cosmological and theological significance as the representation, on the physical plane of earth, of the ordered world emanating from the God of Heaven ( Tian– Shangdi), inscribing the Chinese territory as a tán ( 壇 'altar'), the Chinese concept equivalent of the Indian mandala. The grouping of the five mountains appeared during the Warring States period (475 BC – 221 BC), and the term Wuyue ("Five Summits") was made popular during the reign of Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty 140-87 BC. The Five Great Mountains or Wuyue are arranged according to the five cardinal directions of Chinese geomancy, which includes the center as a direction. A Han Dynasty tile emblematically representing the five cardinal directions.
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