Mi.Taishan scenic areas

The Azure Cloud Temple

At the eastern end of the Heavenly Street, and among the cloud and mist there is a solemn towering architectural complex above the stone steps. This is the Azure Cloud Temple. The bronze statue of the Supreme Lady, the Azure Cloud, is offered sacrifices in the main hall.

The bronze statues of the goddess of sending birth and the goddess of eyes stand at both sides. The supreme Lady, the Azure Cloud is the most well-known goddess in the north of China. In the 22nd year of Wanli (1593) of the Ming Dynasty, according to the record of "the Tablet for the Azure Cloud in the East Mountain", pilgrims traveling on the road toward Mt. Taishan walked for a thousand li. When people asked them why they walked with the calluses on foot for such a long distance, they answered to ask the Supreme Lady of the Azure Cloud for help, for "the Supreme Lady of the Azure Cloud has the ability to bring happiness to all living creatures and fulfill their wishes". The faith in the Supreme Lady of the Azure Cloud has a history of more than a thousand years. The goddess still stands above the summit of Mt. Taishan and enjoys the sacrifice and incense offered by the pilgrims, calling those who travel or reside far away from their homes and their countries. She will add luster to Mt. Taishan forever.

The Azure Cloud Temple was built in the first year of Dazhongxiangfu (1008 A.D.), at the order of Zhenzong, an emperor of the Song Dynasty. The construction area is limited by its local conditions. It is 70 meters long from south to north, and 35 meters wide from east to west. Mang buildings have been built in this small place such as the gate (entrance), the main hall, the side hall, the bell tower, drum tower, the Joss Stick Pavilion, the building for the emperor, the fireplace, the screen wall, the singing and dancing building and three divinity gates……But visitors can only feel its grander and austerity rather than its narrowness. The temple represents the wonderful construction art and the high techniques of the ancient Chinese builders who had learnt how to build houses according to the local conditions

The Heavenly Street

Passing the gateway of the South Gate to Heaven, one may go north and turn left to the east. There comes then "the Heavenly Street". The original stone memorial archway called "rising to the center" was destroyed. The rebuilt stone memorial archway has been named "the Heavenly Street". The street is between high rocks to the north and steep cliffs to the south. In the old times, poor mountaineers built up a row of small shops along the street, selling tea, joss sticks and candles and providing board and lodging for the Buddhist pilgrim devotees. Most of the mountaineers were illiterate and thus hung shop signs before the indoors with the carved wooden signs such as "gold bell", "parrot" and "gold or silver ingot" etc. These shops were then called "gold bell shop", "gold or silver ingot" etc. Now, the former shabby houses have been replaced by classical-style buildings. Shops, restaurants and hotels providing the modern travel necessaries have been built, but they still hand the carved wooden signs such as "The Gold Bell" and "The Goldor Silver Ingot" etc, before the shop doors in order to continue the ancient custom.

There are "Elephant Trunk Peak", "White Cloud Cave" and "Blue Cloud Cave" on the side of the steep cliff south of the Heavenly Street. Walking east along the street, there is one archway on the north side of the street entitled as "Looking over the Famous Historical Sites of the State of Wu", it is said that this is the place where Confucius and his student Yan Yuan looked over the State of Wu. One can see that the Confucius Temple is located just north of the archway when one walks up along the stone steps.

The South Gate to Heaven        

The South Gate to Heaven is also called "the Third Gate to Heaven", and is the most well-know symbolic Structure of Mt. Taishan. It is a tower with a stone arch gateway. There is a garret with double roofs above the Gate, known as the Skyscraping Garret. At the two sides of the gateway, a carved stone couplet is written "the gate keeps away the highest Heavens, facing upward the famous historical sites of Heaven; there are ten thousand worshipped steps and look upon one thousand marvelous spectacles of mountain peak." The outstanding aesthetic value of the South Gate to Heaven depends upon the appreciation of the beautiful. Some experts think that "the concept of the South Gate to Heaven can be said to be an example of combining human landscape with landscape."

The South Gate to Heaven is built at the lower level between the Flying Dragon Rock and the Flying Phoenix Ridge. The two ridges have set off by contrast its central position; joining with the blue sky, the structure's outline is very distinctive; the red wall is especially attractive with its ten thousand green clumps. The South Gate to Heaven is at the end of the long mountain-climbing stair, since visitors have walked all the way and passed the First Gate to Heaven, the Halfway Gate to Heaven and the Becoming Immortals Arch, they need a taller and bigger "Gate to Heaven" to climax ascending Mt.Taishan. The specially designed South Gate to Heaven brings acclaim as acme of perfection.

The Spectacular Wonder of the Opposing Pines Mountain        

On the sides of the steps north of the Halfway Gate to Heaven, the double peaks stand facing each other, covered by ten thousand pine trees. This is "the Opposing Pines Mountain" and also called "the Ten Thousand Pine Mountain". Because of the difference of altitude, the types of vegetation on Mt. Taishan are also different. Lower than 800 meters above sea level, the vegetation is mainly pagoda trees and cypresses; but higher than 800 meters above sea level, the vegetation remains the world of pine trees.

On the mountain, thousands of pines form various shapes in emerald green. The rustling pines and musical springs make a pleasant sound for the ear. Whennever the mountain breeze rise, the soughing of the wind in the pines blows like billows beating the shore, but when cloud and mist appears, the pines seem to be flying like the flood dragons. It is a very grand sight.

About the Opposing Pines Mountain, the ancients had many descriptive phrases. Li Bai said that "the pines might be as high as Heaven, but at a distance they seem to be shorter than a foot". Qianlong, an emperor of the Qing Dynasty wrote about it in this way, "The most charming scene of Mt. Taishan lies by the extremely marvelous Opposing Pines Mountain".

Although the two poets used different techniques, both pointed out the features of the Opposing Pines Mountain. In order to let visitors take a short rest at this place, appreciating the pines and listening to the sound, a pavilion called "the Pavilion for Watching the Opposing Pines Mountain" has been built on the western side of the path on the side of the pavilion, the ancients, the sight striking a chord in their hearts, left multitudinous inscriptions to express themselves.

The Guest Welcoming Pine

The Guest Welcoming Pine stands at the eastern side of Lanzhuyuan Hill, about 900 meters above sea level at the Halfway Gate to Heaven. It is up against a precipitous cliff with roots grasping bare rocks and the tree trunk leaning forward. The long branches stretch out above all others as if the pine tree is giving regards and waving to visitors.

 The pine is the symbol of Mt. Taishan and has bestowed life on Mt. Taishan, transferring the feelings of Mt. Taishan to each visitor. Mr. Yang Xin, professor of aesthetics at Peking University once wrote a poem "Ode to Mt. Taishan" and made such lines as "High but climbable, magnificent but lovable. Pines and rocks are the bones of the mountain, and springs and fountains the heart." He describes very aptly the relationship between the pine and Mt. Taishan.

The Guest Welcoming Pine has experienced various vicissitudes of life through wind and rain, yet it still stands loftily, making an imposing gesture as it has in the past. For several centruries, it has represented Mt.Taishan, head of the Five Sacred Mountains in China, greeting and encouraging each traveler to keep on climbing up the mountain. Now, whenever people see its unique posture, they will think of Mt.Taishan and feel welcome. It has become one of the most important symbols of Mt. Taishan.

The Cloud Step Bridge and Flying Waterfall

The Cloud Step Bridge, stretching over the Tongtian River, stands about one kilometer away from the Halfway Gate to Heaven. It is a well-known sight of Mt Taishan.

The Bridge is a one-arch stone construction. The pavilion to the east of the bridge, named "The Pavilion for Watching Waterfalls", is also made of stone. The river valley to the north rises steeply and the stone cliff leans forward while the rapid waterfalls pass. In the flood season, tourists walking on the bridge are usually surrounded by fog and mist and feel like they are walking in the clouds.

The ancients once praised it like this "in the clear weather of June one feels rainy here, late at night in quietness the stream itself plays and performs the bowstring". They meant it was a sort of fairyland. The rocky level ground under the Cloud Step Bridge is very wide, and is called "the Imperial Tent's Pitching Spot". It is said that in the year when Song Zhenzong, an emperor of the Song Dynasty, came to Mt. Taishan to make a pilgrimage and bestow honorable titles on it, he loved the place and set that up a tent to rest. Up to now one can see that the tent pitching spots still exist on the level ground.At the north of the Imperial Tent's Pitching Spot, a rock as big as a house lies on the left of the winding mountain paths. Since no one knows where it came from, some people have inscribed three words "the flying stone".

At the side of the rock there are the famous "Fifth Rank Pines" where Qinshihuang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, conferred on the pine trees the "Fifth Rank" title of the nobility for their meritorious services in protecting the emperor from rain.

The Halfway Gate to Heaven

If one wants to climb Mt. Taishan from the Mid-route one has to pass three well-known gates---the First Gate to Heaven, the Second Gate to Heaven and the Third Gate to Heaven. The Halfway Gate to Heaven is located on the Huangxian Ridge (the Yellow Mountain Range). The major symbol is the stone memorial archway, on which the three inscribed Chinese characters "the Halfway Gate to Heaven" have been collected from the Sutra Rock Valley. In the north there is a "Two-tiger Temple", about three rooms big.

To the west of the temple, there is a huge stone like a resting tiger, which is called "the Hufu Stone". Looking out from the Halfway Gate to Heaven, one sees the heads of peaks, and Mt.Culai which looks like a mound; one sees higher buildings standing aide by side in Tai'an City, and the trees that line the streets like rivers of green; one sees the highways like white belts in a distance disappearing gradually on the horizon… Looking northward, one sees waterfalls and forest in the Opposing Pines Mountain, the Path of Eighteen Mountain Bends hanging high like a cloud ladder.

One also sees the South Gate to Heaven crouching between "the flying dragon rock" and "the flying Phoenix mountain". It seems that a man may block thousands of other people if he stops in the pass. When one arrives here, though it is only "Halfway to Heaven", one feels the greatness of Heaven and Earth and the grandness of Mt. Taishan. Visitors can go to the South Gate to Heaven by cable-car or on foot.

Eighteen Bends

The antithetical couplet at the two sides of the gate reveals the idea:" Ascending halfway you are here at the Sky-in-the-Ewer Tower. There will be happier lands when you arrive at the summit." The meaning is that the way ahead is still very long, and only those who continue to climb hard can reach the peak and understand the artistic conception of "Come to the top and you see the world dwarfed". The ancients had already considered the human physical and psychological factors when they made the route to the mountain and had made short intervals in the long journey, such as the Feiyun Pavilion at the Red Gate Palace, the Ten Thousand Immortals Tower and so on. People are kept in suspense, like reading the chapters in a novel, and go on climbing the mountain for the more beautiful landscapes ahead. This represents the vivid embodiment of the ancient Chinese aesthetic thought: "leaving somebody at large in order to catch him" and "a winding path leads to quiet seclusion". Or in other words, the promise of a great achievement can lead you to make sacrifices.

The Sleeping-Dragon Pagoda Tree

The Sleeping-Dragon Pagoda Tree is located at the middle section of the mid-route, outside the west gate of the Doumu Palace (the Palace of Goddess Doumu). It was planted in the Ming Dynasty and was struck by lightning. The trunk topped to the ground, bred roots and grew the branches 8 meters away like the very image of the sleeping dragon holding up its head, and trying to fly. It is a well-known sight of Mt.Taishan.

 The pagoda trees are also called “the national trees”, and are as famous as the pine trees and cypresses on Mt. Taishan. There are altogether more than 30 ancient pagoda trees in the scenic spots on Mt. Taishan and are all called “the National Trees of the Tang Dynasty”. It was recorded in history books that the pagoda trees were favored in the Tang Dynasty. Both sides of the streets before the royal palaces were planted with pagoda trees, and arranging the formation just like ministers lined up to embark on a journey. Tang Gaozong and Tang Xuanzong, two emperors of the Tang Dynasty, made pilgrimages and bestowed honorable titles on Mt. Taishan and planted the pagoda trees throughout their journeys in order to demonstrate the emperor’s impressive power. The emperors of successive dynasties followed suit and constantly planted the Pagoda trees. New trees together with the old ones have formed the scenery of Mt. Taishan.

 The pagoda tree is strong in adaptability and long in life. The tree shape is thinly scattered, natural and unrestrained. So it is the tree for viewing and has been made the “City Tree” by Tai’an City. Planted along both sides of the streets and roads, the trees are very simple and naturally graceful.

Sutra Rock Valley        

Climbing the mountain along the mid-route, one can see a stone-paved path leading to the northeast at the Three Officer Temple. At the end of the path is the well-known scenic spot "Sutra Rock Valley". The valley is a huge level shelf of stone, which covers an area of about more than 2000 square meters.

The stone is engraved with characters, each one is about 35-50 centimeters wide. The text is a quotation from the Book of Buddha's Warrior. There were 2799 characters in the past. Because of the mountain torrents and the wind and rain erosion, 1067 characters remain now. The sculpture is powerful, and the characters are of vigorous strokes. Therefore, people call them "the originator of the big Chinese characters", "the ancestor of the Chinese proclamation". It is now one of the biggest sutra rock inscriptions in China and has been praised highly by the calligraphers of successive dynasties.

There has been continual argument about when the big characters were inscribed. Mr. Guo Moruo firmly believes, based on textual criticism in 1961, that they were inscribed in the north Qi Dynasty and has existed for more than 1400 years. There are multitudinous inscriptions, such as "the water flowing on the pillow stones", "coldness and quietness" and "Buddhist voiceless sound"  etc., inscribed around the big characters. One of them is the "stone for exposing the Buddhist Book under the sun". Each character is 2.8 meters wide. The clusters around the big characters seem to show that the moon is held by many stars.

 The sight of “the waterfalls between the three deep pools” is in the middle section of the middle stream. When the stream reaches here, it forms 3 waterfalls, and each one falls 3 meters and the pools are about 2 meters deep. The spray spatters in the deep pools, making rainbows under sunlight, together with the sound of the rich rhythm of very great waves like drums and musical instruments, producing the effects for poetry and paintings. The ancient people loved this place, and built “a building for listening to waterfalls” in the Palace to Goddess Dou Mu on the bank. When one looks through window in the building, one becomes a part of the beautiful scenery.

The Arch Marking Confucius’ Visit       

The emperors making pilgrimages and sacrifices to Mt.Taishan had made it become a "holy mountain". Meanwhile, the mountain had also formed a spirit of genuine humanity.

It had started having had the image in the mind of people who also strengthened gradually the human objective consciousness under the enlightenment of Mt. Taishan in the time of Confucius. The thinkers, represented by Confucius and Mencius, had relationships with Mt. Taishan very different from that of emperors, dukes and princes who were eager to make a pilgrimage to the mountain in the time of Spring and Autumn. They had new points of view on understanding Mt. Taishan, the world and themselves. The famous saying, "Ascend Mt.Taishan and you will see the world dwarfed". Is in fact their resolution of "taking the world as one's own responsibility" and their declaration of standing on the height of Mt. Taishan so as to observe society and life. Mt.Taishan had so huge and influence on Confucius that he mentioned Mt. Taishan in his "the Song of Approaching One's End" before he died: "It is ruined on Mt. Taishan! Beams and posts break! It is withered so as to break a man." Confucius passed away seven days after he made the song.

In order to commemorate this great thinker, the stone memorial archway, named as "The Arch Marking Confucius Visit", was built at the foot of Mt. Taishan in the Ming Dynasty

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