T'AI, MOUNT

WadeGiles T'ai Shan, also called Yu-huang Shan, Pinyin Tai Shan or Yuhuang Shan principal peak of the range of the T'ai Shan (mountains); it lies to the north of T'ai-an city in Shantung Province, China. The T'ai range consists of a much shattered fault block, mostly composed of archaic crystalline shales and granites and some ancient limestones. Mt. T'ai itself reaches a height of 5,000 ft (1,524 m). It was originally known as Tai-tsung or T'ai-yeh. Since Ch'in times (221206 BC) it has also been known as Tung-yeh (Eastern Peak), one of the five holy peaks of China, and has usually ranked as the first among them. Its name was changed from Mt. T'ai to Mt. Yu-huang by the Chinese Communists. Historically an object of continuous veneration in the cult of the official state religion, Mt. T'ai was also the site of the most awesome of all the state rituals of the traditional Chinese Empire, the sacrifices called Feng and Shan, which symbolized the absolute establishment of a dynasty's fortunes. They were carried out at rare intervalsby the Former Han dynasty (206 BCAD 8) in 110, 106, 102, and 98 BC; by the Later Han dynasty (AD 23220) in AD 56; and by emperors of the T'ang dynasty (618907) in 666 and again in 725. These sacrifices announced to Heaven and Earth alike the accomplishment of dynastic success. But Mt. T'ai was not only the seat of this imposing state ceremonial but was also a deity in its own right, to which prayers were offered in spring for a good harvest and in autumn to give thanks for a harvest completed. Since Mt. T'ai was the chief regional deity of eastern China, prayers were also offered to it in case of floods or earthquakes. The mountain also became associated with a wide range of folklore beliefs connected with Taoism, a philosophy integral to Chinese life and thought for 2,000 years. It was considered to be the centre of the Yang (male) principle, the source of life, and from the Later Han period onward it was believed that the spirit of Mt. T'ai commanded all human fates and that after death the souls of men returned to Mt. T'ai for judgment. The name of the deity, originally Lord of Mt. T'ai (T'ai Shan Fu-chn), was, with the emergence of organized Taoism, changed to Grand Emperor of Mt. T'ai (T'ai Yeh Ta-ti). In Ming times (13681644) the centre of the popular cult was transferred from the god himself to his daughter, T'ai Shan Niang-niang (The Lady of Mt. T'ai)also called Pi-hsia Yan-chn (The Goddess of the Variegated Clouds)whose cult began to grow from about 1000 and who became a northern Taoist equivalent to the Buddhist Kuan-yin (Goddess of Mercy), whose cult was powerful in central and southern China. The slopes of Mt. T'ai have remained covered with temples and shrines dedicated to the complex pantheon of minor deities with whom it is associated. In former times vast numbers of pilgrims visited it annually, and a great festival was held in the third month of the Chinese year.