Trip to Mount Tai

Author: Li Cunxiu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-10-01
Features:
Fragment: Mount Tai stands abruptly on the eastern side of the North China Plain in the ancient state of Qi and Lu. To the east, it faces the vast, boundless sea; to the west, it relies on the long and flowing Yellow River, which never returns to its source; to the south, it is surrounded by the waters of Wen, Si, and Huai. Surveying the vast coastal region in the east, Mount Tai dominates the surrounding Qi and Lu hills, truly becoming the "Eastern Pillar of the Sky" in the endless plains. As a result, ancient people felt that Mount Tai was the center of the world. The climate around Mount Tai is temperate and the land is fertile, making it the central area for the proliferation and survival of ancient humans and an important birthplace of ancient culture. For thousands of years, it has been the center of politics, economy, and culture in the East. In the early days of the Xia Dynasty, Yu divided the nine regions, and five of them—Ji, Yu, Qing, Yan, and Xu—were located here. During the Warring States period, six of the seven major states had their capitals here, making Mount Tai the symbol of Eastern civilization, grand and solemn.
Mount Tai, in addition to its profound cultural significance, also possesses rich natural beauty. If we summarize the aesthetic features of natural landscapes as majestic, extraordinary, perilous, elegant, secluded, mysterious, and vast, then Mount Tai, apart from its overall grandeur, also embodies the beauty of being extraordinary, perilous, elegant, secluded, mysterious, and vast. Over thousands of years of development and construction, Mount Tai has become a typical representative of famous mountain landscapes in China—a regional spatial complex that combines aesthetically pleasing natural landscapes with cultural landscapes. According to traditional Chinese landscape aesthetics, it organically integrates natural landscapes with high aesthetic and scientific value with a long-standing national culture, forming a landscape with greater value and richer content. The city of Tai'an at the foot of Mount Tai also developed due to the ancient emperors' sacrificial ceremonies, the people's pilgrimage and worship, and tourism. The Daimiao Temple, the main axis of Tai'an City, extends from the southern gate of Tai'an to the Dai Zong Fang, then connects to the mountain climbing paths leading to the "Heavenly Court." This creates a functional and architectural spatial unity between the mountain and the city. The sequence follows the order of mountain climbing and sacrificial ceremonies, embodying a transition from "entering the realm" to "reaching the immortal world."
The ancient architecture of Mount Tai primarily preserves the style of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Its value lies not only in the integration of architecture with painting, sculpture, rocks, and trees, serving as an example of ancient Chinese culture, preserving a vast sequence of sacrificial ceremonies and a three-dimensional scroll recording history, but also in leaving us architectural masterpieces that adapt to nature. These masterpieces use their unique artistic forms to harmonize and enhance natural beauty, as well as to express and deepen the natural environment. Every visitor to Mount Tai can easily and clearly feel that it is precisely because of these solemn and magnificent ancient buildings that the natural and cultural landscapes of Mount Tai complement each other, making the towering Mount Tai deeply resonate with the hearts of 12 generations of Chinese people and gain worldwide fame.
Daimiao Temple
Daimiao Temple, formerly known as "Dongyue Temple," is commonly referred to as "Tai Temple." It is a Taoist sacred site where emperors of past dynasties held sacrificial ceremonies and worshipped the god of Mount Tai. It is the largest and most complete ancient architectural complex on Mount Tai, adopting the style of an imperial palace city and being the highest in temple architecture. Daimiao Temple is located in the northern part of Tai'an City, precisely on the central axis that runs from the old southern gate of Tai'an in the south to the southern gate of Dai Peak in the north. It is 405.7 meters long from north to south, 236.7 meters wide from east to west, and rectangular in shape, covering a total area of 96,000 square meters, approximately 160 acres. The temple contains over 160 ancient and replica buildings. In front of the temple stands the Yaoshan Pavilion and Dai Temple Archway. Along the central axis of the temple, from north to south, are the Zhengyang Gate, Peitian Gate, Ren'an Gate, Tianhuan Hall, the Rear Palace, and Huzai Gate. To the east areed by the Han Cypress Courtyard, Dongyuzuo, and Dongdaoyuan; to the west are assisted by the Tang Maple Courtyard and Yuhua Daoyuan.
Daimiao Temple has a long history. It had sacrificial sites for heaven and earth during the Qin Dynasty and palaces during the Han Dynasty. Although it has been expanded, renovated, and rebuilt throughout the dynasties, it has experienced both prosperity and decline. In the Annotations to the Waterways Classic by Li Daoyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, he quoted The Records of the Expedition to say: "Mount Tai has three temples—the lower, middle, and upper temples—each with strict walls and gates. Cypress trees flank the rain-streaked steps, each over twenty circles in diameter, likely planted by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The gates and pavilions are triple-tiered, with four bridges and one altar."
The main tourist attractions in Daimiao Temple are as follows:
Yaoshan Pavilion
This is the starting point for visiting Daimiao Temple and its front pavilion. Whenever ancient emperors had matters concerning Mount Tai, they would first perform a simple offering before entering...