《岱史》Vol. 1

The Daishi (History of Mount Tai) is a gazetteer concerning Mount Tai (Daizong). Its preface begins by saying: among all the mountains under heaven, more than ten thousand in number, the Five Sacred Peaks are the most honored; among the Five Sacred Peaks, Mount Tai is the most honored, and so it is called “Daizong.” From Huangdi and Yu Shun onward, Mount Tai’s name and title have not changed; therefore, from antiquity, rulers who received Heaven’s mandate and rose to power—none failed to go to Mount Tai to perform sacrifices. But regarding the Feng and Shan sacrifices of the Qin and Han (imperial ceremonies of sacrificing to Heaven and Earth), gentlemen avoided the topic and did not discuss them; only the Ming dynasty rejected Feng and Shan and the doctrines of the false, absurd, and bizarre, truly no longer commending them. The wangsi rites it performed (distant sacrifices to mountains and rivers), the regulations governing jade gui tablets, silk and offerings, and sacrificial announcements and prayer texts, and the designations of titles and ranks—all washed away recent errors and restored the original antiquity. Thus more than seventy-two rulers have sacrificed at Mount Tai since antiquity, and the Ming was the most flourishing.

In earlier dynasties, for the most part Mount Tai did no more than present wondrous scenes and extraordinary phenomena and draw spirits and prodigies to reveal omens in worldly affairs; only when the Ming established its capital in the north did Mount Tai stand towering east of the capital, with the Wen and Ji rivers converging here. Distant vassal states pack tribute in baskets, small boats come in unbroken succession, and people arriving from the ends of heaven and earth number in the tens of thousands, while the many springs of Mount Tai gather and carry them, as if a regional lord of the sacred peak were marshaling the tribute of the Nine Provinces into the court treasury. Therefore Mount Tai brings blessings to the state and protection to the people, without cease even for countless ages; in this too the Ming was most flourishing. Mount Tai is already the most majestic and precipitous of the Five Sacred Peaks, and the Ming’s regulations for sacrificing to Mount Tai, together with the ways Mount Tai has benefited the Ming, were also the most flourishing in a hundred generations. As for other marvelous, extraordinary, and peerless landscapes and the vestiges of ascents and inscribed poems, recorded in immortal scriptures, geographical gazetteers, and broken steles and fragmented stones, other famous mountains often borrow such things to lend themselves weight, but all are trivial and cannot compare with Mount Tai. The preface repeatedly emphasizes that the reasons Mount Tai surpasses other famous mountains lie precisely in these aspects.

The reason Mount Tai is the most honored among the famous mountains, and the reason our dynasty surpasses a hundred generations, lies in that and not in this (presumably referring to fundamentals such as the court’s sacrificial statutes and the sage dynasty’s virtue and destiny, not merely the scenic configuration of mountains and waters); this is what the compiler of a history should record in detail. In the past I received an imperial rescript and managed salt administration in the Jishang region. On official business I climbed Mount Tai once, lingered in all directions, and sought the traces of the ancient emperors and sage spirits; but the years are long past, and there was no way to find them, so I could not help sighing. Moved by the gradual decay of the old gazetteer of Mount Tai, I asked my colleague Transport Commissioner Zha to recompile it. Mr. Zha pruned and selected from the old edition, made judgments according to his own discernment, modeled the work on the format of the Three Histories (works such as the Shiji, Hanshu, and Hou Hanshu), gathered materials from the hundred schools, and compiled several volumes of examinations, tables, annals, and treatises. As for the landscapes called marvelous and extraordinary, and the traces of climbers’ poems and recitations, whatever was recorded in immortal scriptures, geographical gazetteers, or damaged and abandoned steles, he gathered the essentials without omission. Moreover, from the Yellow Emperor and Yu Shun onward, the sacrificial activities related to Mount Tai, and the points at which our dynasty’s ritual institutions and itemized regulations surpass those of Qin and Han and restore the beginnings of antiquity, he especially compiled and distinguished according to the format, so as to accord with the principle of “writing it large and recording it specially.” He therefore changed the title to Dai shi (History of Mount Tai), and its meaning became clear. Just as this book was printed and completed, the emperor, then praying for a good year because of drought, specially issued a gracious edict and dispatched ministers separately to sacrifice and pray to the Five Peaks, seeking blessings for the common people (yuanyuan) and performing rites and paying homage, with Mount Tai first. There should be auspicious omens and correlative responses to answer the emperor’s intent, so that later scholars who search out wonders and examine anomalies may see that in the sage-divine age all the hundred spirits receive their offices, and that our emperor is the most extraordinary of all. Then this would be not only a glory to this history; Mount Tai would truly be more revered because of it. I respectfully write this prefatory essay at the beginning to await confirmation. As for other editorial principles, Mr. Zha has his own account, and I may omit them. On an auspicious day, New Year’s Day of the Dingxuan year of Wanli, Tan Yao of Dongguan in Lingnan (present-day Dongguan, Guangdong) completed this writing. (The last four characters, “Dai shi gong yi,” are a document-type section title.)

Zha Zhilong, Vice Commissioner of the Binle Branch of the Shandong Salt Transportation Commission, on the matter of supplementing and continuing the gazetteer: On the eighteenth day of the sixth month of the fourteenth year of Wanli, he received a dispatch issued by Tan Xian, Investigating Censor of Zhili and other places by imperial commission, to handle the aforesaid matter. The dispatch stated: The Taishan Gazetteer is specifically devoted to recording the visits and excursions, poems and chants of famous worthies throughout the realm; these have followed one after another, growing anew with each day and month. It has now been found that materials from after the jia-yin year have all not been included, and moreover the manuscript was finalized long ago and many re-engraved editions exist; textual errors are severe and too poor to look at, which deeply troubles this office. A dispatch has therefore been issued ordering this official, upon arrival of the new transcript, to compile and collect it together, strictly observing the Three Excellences—historical talent, historical learning, and historical judgment—so that it may be transmitted as a permanent canonical register, etc. Later, this office also received a memorandum stating: The four volumes of earlier records that this office is about to send should be collated, excised, and finalized properly and compiled completely; the engraving and printing must be fine and the characters regular and correct, so as to be transmitted forever; the silver required for craftsmen and other items shall be separately reported and disbursed by the said office, etc. Beyond accepting the order and complying with it, I considered that Mount Tai is the chief of the Five Sacred Peaks, standing like a pillar of Heaven and establishing the axis of the earth; maps and records can be transmitted forever through ten thousand generations, manifesting the dynasty’s institutions and preserving documents. Thus Daizong is listed first for the distant sacrifice in the Canon of Emperor; the state of Lu prized “how lofty is Mount Tai” in the Book of Songs (the Pajing); the guardian mountain of Yanzhou appears in the Office of Regions; and the name of the Eastern Peak appears in the Erya. All these are clearly recorded in the classics and documents, and everyone recites the “lofty” line. All this is to make manifest the great numen of the realm—how could it be merely to boast of fine scenic spots for excursions? Moreover, in this sagely enlightened age, Mount Tai lies close to the imperial capital; the Ji and Wen rivers flow in a hundred channels, moistening the land, while water transport hauls supplies; it commands the ridges and mounds of the Three Qi and screens the capital region. What power of creation could compare with such great merit? Yet without a dedicated record, how could its wonders be comprehensively grasped? Without relying on those in authority, who would consult the maps and records? This office, while inspecting the east and viewing the sights at Mount Tai, accordingly examined books and investigated according to maps, and specially ordered officials to take up the brush and compile.

The old gazetteer was judged and selected by the former bureau (the official office that formerly presided over gazetteer compilation), and more than thirty years have passed since then; the surviving draft compilations have been left for later generations to arrange, which is truly not the work of a single morning or evening. Someone as mediocre and shallow as I, having gone east to inspect customs and climbed to view the famous scenery of Mount Tai (Jieqiu, another name for Mount Tai), thereupon consulted maps and registers, searched according to the maps, and was ordered to take up the brush and compile. Since the old gazetteer had already been edited and settled by the former bureau more than thirty years before, and the remnant compilation had waited for later men for no mere day or two, how could a person like me bear this entrustment? Although in early years I inherited family learning and know a little of books and documents, for half my life I have given my feelings to mountains and waters; how would I dare hope to resolve doubts and inquire into wonders? Only occasionally have I dipped into the various masters and hundred schools to while away leisure, so how could I presume to possess the “three excellences” of historical talent, historical learning, and historical insight, as the explicit command expected? Fortunately I have met with a peaceful age; holding office is like living in reclusion, and I have idly passed the days, ashamed to eat my salary in vain. Thinking that even my meager salary is bestowed by the ruler, perhaps through this book I may exert a tiny effort like a drop or a mote. Therefore I have exhausted my eyesight and mind: not only have I read broadly in the classics, histories, and masters, but I have repeatedly climbed steep and dangerous places and traveled all over the high and deep recesses of Mount Tai; facing the scenery I wielded the brush, feeding on wind and bathing in mist, continuing night and day, at the morning window and by the night candle. It was the prosperous era of Wanli bingxu (1586); I began work in mid-summer and completed it in the first month of winter, forcing myself to compile it into volumes and naming it Dai Shi. Its format follows old reports, divided into three Examinations, two Tables, four Annals, and five Treatises, altogether eighteen juan and more than two hundred thousand characters. How dare I say it should be stored in famous mountains or vainly dream of an imperishable grand undertaking; perhaps it can only be compared to something fit to cover a sauce jar, used to repay my slight labor in an idle post, hoping that in the hidden realm I may not fail the spirit of Mount Tai and in the visible realm I may not fail what was entrusted to me. With these words I announce its completion at the Yue Shrine (the Mount Tai temple); only, within the three or four months of compilation, I have dealt with events spanning a thousand years above and below, without interruption through cold and heat, and the wind and dust of travel were still unavoidable.

The gist of this petition is as follows: the content submitted may not all accord with the regular format; moreover, human energy and attention are limited, so even with diligent effort, omissions are unavoidable. Among these, errors of the “Lu for Yu” and “Hai for Shi” kind—textual errors caused by similar character forms—I vow in the end to collate and correct item by item; but I still hope that literary masters of the caliber of “carving dragons and spitting phoenixes”—an image for superb literary talent—will arbitrate and settle them at an early date. I therefore submit this to this office and request a ruling for implementation. Dated the first day of the eleventh month of the fourteenth year of Wanli.

The General Principles of the Daishi sets out the compilation format:

The so-called Daishi: “Dai” is the name for Daizong (Mount Tai), seen in the Yudian, a classic recording the affairs of Yu Shun; it actually begins with the Yellow Emperor, so the ancient name “Dai” is retained. What this book compiles and records slightly imitates the principles of historians, and hence it is called a “history” (shi). There have also been cases among former worthies of naming their own works Lushi.

The old map of Mount Tai was very sketchy. I traveled personally, pointed out mountains, rivers, and scenic sites, and ordered painters to make drawings, expanding it fourfold compared with the old map, and preserved it together with the old map. The old map gives a general outline, while the new map lays out and displays the specific scenic features; most of the other maps are newly created.

Three categories of “kao” (examination) are established: the Illustration Examination, the Astrological Field Examination, and the Topographic Examination. “Kao” means to verify, referring to cross-checking works from the Masters, Histories, and Hundred Schools. These matters were mostly brief in old gazetteers, so they are newly created here in imitation of the principles of the Tongkao.

Two categories of “biao” (table) are established: the Table of Mountains and Waters and the Table of Territories. “Biao” means to mark clearly. The scenic areas of mountains and waters stretch on continuously, and territorial boundaries and their evolution have repeatedly changed; if they are not set out, how can they be shown clearly? Therefore they are newly created in imitation of the historians’ chronological tables.

Four categories of “ji” (records) are established, such as the Record of the Shou Ritual and the Record of the Wang Ritual (shou refers to inspection tours; wang refers to the sacrifice to mountains and rivers), used to record the relevant ceremonies.

The Dai History (a gazetteer describing Mount Tai) contains four “Annals” (ji): “Annals of the Imperial Tour Rites” (recording the rites of emperors’ tours of inspection of Mount Tai), “Annals of the Distant Sacrifice Rites” (recording the rites of distant sacrifice to mountains and rivers), “Annals of Traces and Remains,” and “Annals of Numinous Shrines” (recording shrines and temples of spirits and deities). The so-called ji means to record; historical works have “basic annals” of emperors, which is what is meant by recording something in large letters and with special emphasis. What is recorded here consists of sacred and numinous matters and institutions established by emperors, while the imperial compositions and imperial prayers of the present dynasty (the Ming) are especially illustrious; for this reason they are kept separate from ordinary gazetteers.

It contains five “Treatises” (zhi): “Treatise on Palaces and Buildings,” “Treatise on Local Products,” “Treatise on Incense Tax” (recording taxes on pilgrims), “Treatise on Disasters and Auspices,” and “Treatise on Ascents and Views.” The so-called zhi means to note and record, writing down minute matters so that they are not forgotten. What these treatises record consists of human affairs and things that are scattered and varied; although the material is drawn from old gazetteers, times have shifted and matters have changed, so corrections of errors and supplements to what was lacking predominate. As for the incense tax, the old gazetteers did not touch on it; it is only now specially drafted for the first time.

A short preface is added at the beginning of each volume to summarize the main purport and clarify the intent of the work. Whenever, within the range of my seeing and hearing, I have occasionally had some insight into the advantages and harms of the time, I add a few words, though I myself do not know whether they are worth selecting and recording.

I am by nature dull and poorly informed, and moreover I rush about in the mud (a metaphor for lowly affairs), with no leisure. Whenever I have a little spare time, I borrow famous compilations ancient and modern from gentry families and search them out, but such famous compilations are not often to be obtained. Although I have personally traveled through scenic landscapes and ancient remains, how could I observe them all? As for the inscriptions and poems by famous officials and men of letters of the present dynasty, some follow old gazetteers, some are taken from steles and plaques, and some from various collected works; what lies beyond my seeing and hearing will inevitably be lost, and I dare not make deletions; broad collection and extensive selection must still await another day.

Zha Zhilong of Haichang in western Zhejiang (present-day Haining area, Zhejiang), courtesy name Mingzhi Fu, inscribed this at the Liyin Studio in Lixia (present-day Jinan, Shandong).

General Contents of the Dai History: Zhi-label, first fascicle; juan one is “Textual Research on Maps” (an examination of maps and topographical features).

This is the arrangement of juan headings and fascicle numbers in the Daishi (a gazetteer recording the history and geography of Mount Tai). Juan 2, “Investigation of Astral Domains,” examines, according to the ancient doctrine of astral field-allocation (fenye), the astronomical-geographical correspondence to which Mount Tai belongs; juan 3, “Investigation of Notable Sites,” has an appended “Lizhi” (Distances), tabulating famous sites and appending mileage and route distances; juan 4, “Table of Mountains and Waters,” lists entries on mountains and waters; juan 5, “Table of Territorial Boundaries,” lists the extent of the territory. “The second fascicle under the character Zhu” is a fascicle number. Juan 6, “Record of the Rites of the Imperial Tour,” with an appended “Fenghui,” records the ceremonies of imperial tours of inspection and appends related feng-sacrifice content; juan 7, “Investigation of Illustrations,” is a textual study of maps and plates. In the table of contents, juan 2 through 7 and the fascicle numbers are recorded redundantly. Thereafter, juan 7, “Record of the Rites of Distant Sacrifice,” with an appended “Zhong: Writings of Various Officials through the Ages,” records the rites of distant sacrifice and essays by officials of successive dynasties. “The third fascicle under the character Gui.” Juan 8, “Record of Traces and Relics,” records ancient sites and remains; juan 9, “Record of Numinous Edifices,” records temples of gods and Buddhas, that is, divine temples, Buddhist monasteries, and Daoist abbeys. “The fourth fascicle under the character Shen.” Juan 10, “Record of Numinous Edifices,” records temples and shrines to sages and worthies; juan 11, “Treatise on Official Buildings”; juan 12, “Treatise on Local Products”; juan 13, “Treatise on Incense Taxes”; juan 14, “Treatise on Calamities and Omens.” “The fifth fascicle under the character Er.” Juan 15, “Treatise on Ascents and Views,” collects poems from successive dynasties; juan 16, “Treatise on Ascents and Views,” collects poems from the early Ming through before the Jiajing jiayin year (1554). “The sixth fascicle under the character Wu.” Juan 17, “Treatise on Ascents and Views,” collects poems from after the Ming Jiajing jiayin year. “The Yi-label Xiangzhi.” Below “the fifth fascicle under the character Er,” the preceding entries appear again. “The seventh fascicle under the character Yi.” Juan 18, “Treatise on Ascents and Views,” collects rhapsodies, records, and miscellaneous writings from successive dynasties.

This passage is Zha Zhilong’s explanatory note for the Daishi (Gazetteer of Mount Tai). The compilation principles for the Daishi above number fourteen items and are divided into eighteen juan; the middle juan vary in length, and the work was ultimately made into seven fascicles. The phrase from the Zhongyong, “to submit a matter to the ghosts and spirits and have no doubt,” was taken to name the fascicles. What is meant by “to submit a matter to the ghosts and spirits and have no doubt” is to know the Dao of Heaven. The mountain spirit of Daizong (Mount Tai) is the most exalted among ghosts and spirits. In this compilation, I purified my thoughts and took up the brush to write, facing the spirits with solemn reverence; climbing the mountain to pay homage and searching out extraordinary sights, I hurried about without slackening—was this not submitting matters to the ghosts and spirits for verification? Yet my own mind is ordinary and shallow: how could I know the Dao of Heaven? How could I attain freedom from doubt? I am deeply ashamed of this. However, Mencius discussed “exhausting the mind and knowing one’s nature” and concluded with “knowing Heaven”; thus the learning of knowing Heaven must be sought from “exhausting the mind.” I recite and emulate the ancients and engage in brush-and-ink work, placing myself at the service of the spirits; how would I dare not exhaust my mind to communicate with the spirits and seek to reach a state without doubt? How could this naming be arbitrary and without meaning? Respectfully recorded by Zha Zhilong.

The table of contents for fascicle one of the Daishi, the “Zhi” (Verification) fascicle: Juan 1 is “Illustrated Examination,” listing the Star-Field Map, Old Map of Mount Tai, New Map of Mount Tai, Map of the Eastern Peak Temple, Map of Bixia Palace, True-Form Diagrams of the Five Peaks, Diagram of the Zhou Bright Hall, and Diagram of the Confucius Hall. Juan 2 is “Examination of Star Fields,” listing the Zhengyi Commentary on the “Treatise on Astronomy” in the Records of the Grand Historian; the Treatise on Astronomy of the Former Han; the Treatise on Geography of the Former Han; Wei Taishi Jin’s Treatise on Astronomy; the Tang Treatise on Astronomy; the Song Treatise on Astronomy; the Record of the Song Restoration; the Tianyuan Fawei; and Wang Ziqing’s discussion in the Tongzhi. Juan 3 is “Examination of Terrain and Scenic Features,” with an appendix on “Distances” (mileage and routes), listing the Canon of Shun, Tribute of Yu, Odes of Lu, “Officers of the Regions” in the Rites of Zhou, the Erya, the Gongyang Commentary, the Han Guan Yi, the History of the Later Han, the scriptures of the Daozang (Daoist Canon), Guo Pu’s writings, the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the Fayuan Zhulin, Zeng Gong’s “Record of the Two Halls,” Su Dongpo’s preface, Wei Zhuangqu’s “Record of Daizong,” the “Biography of Lord Mao” in the Tongzhi, the Bowen lu, the Record of the Five Peaks, the Record of Blessed Lands, and the Biographies of Immortals.

These are the catalog-like table-of-contents materials of Daishi (History of Mount Dai): first they list the books and chapters consulted or cited in its compilation, including Shizi (a Warring States work by Shi Jiao), Bowuzhi (Zhang Hua’s Western Jin miscellaneous compendium), Daoist scriptures and kanyu works (books on fengshui and geography), the Daozang jing (Daoist Canon scriptures), works by Guo Pu (an Eastern Jin scholar), the Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), the Fayuan Zhulin (A Grove of Pearls in the Garden of the Dharma, a Buddhist encyclopedia), Zeng Gong’s (Northern Song literatus) Er Tang Ji (Record of the Two Halls), a preface by Su Dongpo (Su Shi), Wei Zhuangqu’s (the Ming scholar Wei Xiao) Shu Daizong Ji, the Tongzhi (Comprehensive Treatises), the Maojun Zhuan (Biography of Lord Mao, a hagiography of the immortals of Mount Mao), the Bowen Lu (Record of Broad Learning), the Wuyue Ji (Record of the Five Sacred Peaks), the Fudi Ji (Record of Blessed Lands), the Liexian Zhuan (Biographies of Immortals), the Shenglan (Scenic Overview), the Lizhi Ji (Record of Routes and Distances), and so on. Thereafter come the classifications of juan 4, the Shanshui Biao (Table of Mountains and Waters): mountain peaks; stone caves; valleys, ridges, and zhang (the original catalogue has this character); cliffs and rocks; terraces and gates; stockades and gardens; springs and pools; rivers, streams, and ravines; bays and wells; bridges with stone inscriptions; and archways. Juan 5, the Jiangyu Biao (Table of Territories), is divided into categories such as Debu, commanderies, prefectures, and counties. Finally, it indicates that juan 1 of Daishi is the Tukao (Illustrated Investigations), that is, a treatment of the geographical features and scenic configuration of Mount Tai using plates or illustrations and critical, evidential text.

The so-called “illustrated investigation” means examining the topographical features and scenic strengths of Mount Tai and rendering them in illustrations. When heaven and earth first opened, the myriad things were numerous, but flowing water and standing mountains were the grandest; among standing forms, the Five Peaks are the most honored. All Five Peaks are lofty, but Mount Tai is the greatest. Nearby it runs through Qi and Lu and stretches across the Jiang and Huai; farther off it towers over the utmost distances (the phrase “nine strings” broadly refers to distant regions). It raises clouds and rain for the four seas, and is truly a vast spectacle viewed alike by Chinese and non-Chinese, a stabilizing mountain revered in ancient and modern times. To mark its names and gather its full panorama within a square inch of paper—how could that be easy? Yet since antiquity, the investigation of directions and territories has always relied on maps; otherwise, even a complete tour could not exhaust its beauties, and books could not record its details. Even lofty-minded men who wish to travel would have no way to view it. Therefore, drawing evidence from antiquity and verifying it in the present, the illustrations are placed at the beginning of the volume.

First one paints the astral field (the ancient correspondence between star lodges and terrestrial regions), because it is tied to celestial patterns; one paints Mount Tai, because it is like the axis of the earth; one paints the Yue Temple, because it is where the spirits reside; one paints Bixia Palace (Bixiagong), because it is what people revere; one paints the Zhou Mingtang (Bright Hall), because it is a relic of emperors’ governance; and one appends the True Forms of the Five Peaks (Wuyue Zhenxing Tu), because Mount Tai is the chief of the Five Peaks and should gather their excellences. The mountain sent down its spirit and gave birth to Confucius, whom ten thousand generations revere as they revere Mount Tai; therefore his temple is painted and honored with sacrifices, to display the sage’s traces and to honor the mountain’s numen. Heaven opens a picture, earth pours forth pigments—how could this be human power? This painting imitates creation, so that when viewers open the scroll it is as if they face Mount Tai (Jieqiu), as if the spirits descend and earnestly wish to receive sacrifice—not merely to delight the eyes and please the heart or to provide the pleasure of sightseeing.

This chapter examines the xingye (astral field) corresponding to Mount Tai—the ancient doctrine that paired celestial regions with terrestrial provinces and districts. The author asks: Why investigate xingye? It is to determine Mount Tai’s fenye (field allocation), to attach it to its corresponding stars (fenxing), and to hold that above it resonates with celestial patterns. The essential Qi of Yin-Yang is originally on earth and manifests upward in heaven; the twenty-eight celestial lodges above and the twelve provinces below each have their governing correspondences, and even a single hill or mound corresponds to a stellar lodge. Mount Tai, moreover, is the ancestor of all the sacred peaks, so its celestial patterns and standards are naturally grand. After the Baozhangshi (the Zhou-dynasty office in charge of astronomy and celestial signs) ceased to fulfill its duties, the establishment of commanderies and kingdoms changed through successive dynasties. Over the centuries, those who discussed xingye have said variously that Mount Tai is governed by the Heart and Room lodges, by the Bond and Stomach lodges, or by the Emptiness and Rooftop lodges; opinions diverge, leaving no firm ground. Yet although the canonical texts are numerous, one should still test credibility against antiquity. In ancient astronomy, Horn and Neck were the field allocation of Yanzhou, and in the lands of Xu and Yan described in the Yugong (Tribute of Yu), Mount Tai originally belonged to Yanzhou; thus there is no need to doubt that Mount Tai corresponds to Horn and Neck. Monk Yixing (a Tang astronomer) put it well: the patterns of the mountains and rivers under heaven are contained in the “Two Boundaries” (Liangjie); by observing the patterns of the Two Rivers and the beginning and end of the Cloudy River (the Milky Way), the field allocations can be known. The Tongzhi also says: Shandong lies where mountains and rivers converge, attaining the center of ascent and descent; Mount Tai stands between them—this is a consensus reaching back a thousand years. Therefore the author sets out in full the records of the various histories and awaits broadly learned and well-informed gentlemen to weigh and adjudicate them.

This section gathers ancient theories of fenye (“field allocation,” the correlation of celestial lodges with terrestrial provinces and states for divining auspiciousness and inauspiciousness). The “Treatise on the Celestial Offices” in the Records of the Grand Historian says: Jiao, Kang, and Di (names of lunar mansions among the Twenty-Eight Mansions) correspond to Yanzhou; Fang and Xin to Yuzhou; Xu and Wei to Qingzhou. In the Yan and Qi regions, Chenxing (Mercury) was used for prognostication, with observers watching Xu and Wei; in the Song and Zheng regions, Suixing (Jupiter) was used for prognostication, with observers watching Fang and Xin.

The Zhengyi commentary says: Among the seven eastern mansions, Jiao and Kang are the fenye of Zheng and belong to Yanzhou; Di, Fang, and Xin are the fenye of Song and belong to Yuzhou; Ji and Wei are the fenye of Yan and belong to Youzhou. Among the seven northern mansions, Dou and Nü are the fenye of Wu and Yue and belong to Yangzhou; Nü and Xu are the fenye of Qi and belong to Qingzhou; Wei, Shi, and Bi are the fenye of the state of Wei and belong to Bingzhou.

The “Treatise on Astronomy” in the Former Han History records similar material: Dou and Nü are the fenye of Wu and Yue, belonging to Yangzhou; Nü and Xu are the fenye of Qi, belonging to Qingzhou; Wei, Shi, and Bi are the fenye of the state of Wei, belonging to Bingzhou. It also says that Jiao, Kang, and Di belong to Yanzhou; Fang and Xin to Yuzhou; Wei and Ji to Youzhou; Xu and Wei to Qingzhou. It further correlates the heavenly stems with regions: Bing and Ding govern the Jianghuai and Haidai areas; one account says Jia governs Qi, Shen governs Qi, and You governs Lu.

The “Treatise on Geography” in the Former Han History says: the land of Qi is the fenye of Xu and Wei. To the east of Qi were Zichuan, Donglai, Langya, Gaomi, and Jiaodong; to the south were Taishan and Chengyang; to the north were Qiansheng, the area south of Qinghe, and Gaocheng, Chonghe, and Yangxin in Bohai Commandery; to the west were Jinan and Pingyuan—all were the fenye of Qi.

Chen Zhuo, Grand Astrologer of Wei (the official in charge of astronomy and calendrical matters), said: Mount Tai falls within six degrees of the Jiao mansion. The “Treatise on Astronomy” in the Book of Jin says: Mount Tai falls within twelve degrees of the Jiao mansion (referring to the degree of the Mount Tai region within the fenye of the Jiao mansion; the two accounts differ).

The Tang ... Treatise on Astronomy says: Jianglou and Xuanxiao (two of the twelve star-chronograms) have deities presiding over Daizong (Mount Tai), and the Year Star (Jupiter) is located there. The three lunar mansions Nü, Xu, and Wei occupy the zi position and are the field allocation (fenye) of Qi. Nü, Xu, and Wei are Xuanxiao; along the north of the Taiyue ranges, their land lies downstream of Juzi, and in celestial appearance it manifests as Tianjin (Celestial Ford), stretching across the south of the Milky Way. All stars that govern human affairs and the registers of the assembled officials are assigned to Xu and Wei. Kui and Lou occupy the xu position and are the field allocation of Lu; Kui and Lou are Jianglou; along the south of the Taiyue ranges, in the downstream of Juzi and the tract of Lou and Wei.

The Song ... Treatise on Astronomy says: The seven lunar mansions of the Azure Dragon of the East—Horn, Neck, Root, Room, Heart, Tail, and Winnowing Basket—have as their deity the Green Emperor, who governs spring, Wood, and Mount Tai.

The Song Zhongxing Treatise on Astronomy records Wang Yi as saying: Mount Tai enters the Horn mansion by twelve degrees. The degrees of motion recorded in Ma Duanlin’s Xiangwei Zhoujun are the same as this.

The Tianyuan Fawei says: The mountain ranges of the world are divided into four branches, which above correspond to the Twenty-Eight Mansions. In the lands that turn their backs to the sea and abound in produce, the region from the lower reaches of the Northern River south to Mount Tai is Sanqi, and from the lower reaches of the Southern River north to Mount Tai is Zou-Lu; these are all sea-backed states.

The Tongzhi says: Shandong extends from the southern cardinal point toward the west and precisely receives the ascending Qi of the Milky Way; it extends from the northern cardinal point toward the east and precisely receives the descending Qi of the Milky Way. Shandong therefore lies exactly where mountains and rivers meet, and so it may be said to obtain the central harmony of the ascending and descending Qi.

Wang Ziqing said: On examining the Shandong Tongzhi, which cites the Book of Jin, the northern side of the Daiyue mountains corresponds to the two mansions Xu (Emptiness) and Wei (Rooftop), and the southern side to Lou (Bond) and Wei (Stomach); it also cites the Book of Tang, according to which the Jiyin and Qi-Lu regions correspond to the three mansions Xin (Heart), Fang (Room), and Di (Root; the original text writes Shi, but it should be Di). The present dynasty’s Qinglei Fenye determines the order of the astral-territorial correspondences (fenye) on the basis of these two books, and the Tongzhi follows this as well. The author holds that to speak of Daiyue in terms of Xin, Fang, and Di is relatively close; but Xu and Wei are northern mansions, and Lou and Wei are western mansions—how can they be treated as referring to an eastern place? Further examining ancient astronomical books and charts: Jianglou is the fenye of Lu, and Xuanye (probably Xuanxiao) is the fenye of Wu-Yue and Yangzhou. The Year Star completes a circuit of the heavens in twelve years and has no fixed position; yet the Tang Treatise and the illustrated explanations repeatedly speak of it—probably they mean only that its deity presides over Daiyue, not that it indicates the location of the star station. In governing affairs, emperors and kings base themselves on the Xuanji (the Northern Dipper, by extension astronomy); this cannot be unknown, yet it is also not easy to know. Therefore this gazetteer takes the views of Wang Yi and Ma Duanlin as correct, leaves the rest as doubtful, and awaits those who are expert in astrology and astronomical calculation.

The speaker “Shu” in the text says: Why should one examine the terrain and topographic excellence of Mount Tai? It is in order to examine how people through the ages have praised Mount Tai. Since the opening of Heaven and Earth, no terrain has surpassed Mount Tai’s; therefore, since the existence of writing, no praises of terrain have surpassed those of Mount Tai. Its earliest appearance in the classics is as the two characters “Daizong” in the Yudian (the “Shundian” chapter of the “Yushu” in the Shangshu). The Yudian records each of the peaks with its directional position; only Mount Tai is not given a direction but is called “Dai,” and is not called a “peak” but a “zong.” This precisely means that Mount Tai occupies the eastern Zhen position and is paired with Heaven; it is the place where the myriad things first begin their succession and transformation, containing the virtue of Kun and lying coiled in continuous extension, revered by the Five Peaks, and its topographic excellence has no second under Heaven. Thereafter the Shijing calls it “Lu Zhan” (what Lu looks up to), the Li calls it the “Zhen of Yanzhou,” and the Erya calls it the “Eastern Peak”; all of these merely praise it to the utmost on account of the reverence it receives in one region. Others, such as philosophical works, histories, the Hundred Schools, Buddhist scriptures, and Daoist records, follow one another without break, with abstruse and wondrous phrases: the so-called Heavenly Grandson and divine chambers, cave heavens and blessed lands, and golden beds and jade tables—such sayings are the hardest to exhaust. Yet the ancients did not discard even works that search out spirits and record anomalies, or the petty officials and unofficial histories (folk rumors and miscellaneous histories). Even if there were in the world people skilled at praising terrain, they might not surpass these, and so all that has been seen and heard has been compiled for reference. As for Mount Tai’s climate of cold and heat being utterly different from that below the mountain, and the long journey and difficult climb—these are all things the world wants to know; therefore I have not minded supplementing these trivial details.

The Shundian says “Daizong.” According to the explanation in the Wujing Tongyi: “Daizong” means that when emperors change dynasties, receive Heaven’s mandate, and report their achievements and announce completion, they must go to Daizong. The East is where the myriad things begin to alternate; “zong” means chief, meaning that Mount Tai is the chief of all the peaks.

The meaning of Daizong as recorded in the Yugong likewise says that when emperors change surnames and receive the mandate, and report achievements and announce completion, they must go to Daizong; the East is where the myriad things begin to hand over and replace one another, and “zong” is the chief of the peaks.

The Yu Gong says: between the sea and Mount Tai (Dai, another name for Mount Tai) lies Qingzhou (one of the ancient Nine Provinces); it also says that the region from the sea and Dai as far as the Huai River is Xuzhou (one of the ancient Nine Provinces). The Commentary on the Documents explains: Qingzhou’s territory reaches the sea in the northeast and Mount Dai in the southwest; south of Mount Dai and east of the Ji River is Xuzhou; north of Mount Dai and east of the Ji River is Qingzhou.

The Odes of Lu says: Mount Tai is lofty and towering, looked up to by the state of Lu. The Shuoyuan explains: “mountain” means “xuan,” referring to the spreading forth of the earth’s Qi and the growth of the ten thousand things; “Tai” means height and greatness reaching their utmost. The Erya speaks of “the right mound, Taiqiu” (the name of a kind of high mound); some say “Tai” is “Tai” (great), referring to the harmonious Qi of heaven and earth unfolding in the east.

The Zhifang chapter of the Rites of Zhou says: east of the Yellow River is Yanzhou (one of the ancient Nine Provinces), and its zhen mountain (the principal mountain of a region) is Mount Dai; “zhen” conveys the sense of weightiness and guarding.

The Erya says: east of the Yellow River is Dai; it also says Mount Tai is the Eastern Marchmount (one of the Five Sacred Mountains); it also says that in the center is the Dai Marchmount, where the five grains, fish, and salt are produced. The commentary on the Odes says: “yue” denotes the senior among mountains; the east governs the life-giving Qi of heaven and earth, and the Five Marchmounts are distinguished according to direction; Mount Tai is therefore the eastern pillar of heaven.

The Gongyang Commentary says: clouds and Qi strike the rocks and emerge; within a mere few inches they gather, and before a single morning has passed they rain upon the whole world—only Mount Tai is like this.

The Han Guan Yi says: the winding path ascends with more than fifty bends, passing the Small Heavenly Gate and the Great Heavenly Gate (passes on Mount Tai’s winding path); looking up at the Heavenly Gate is like viewing the sky from a cave—only Mount Tai is like this.

The Han Guan Yi records: The winding mountain road up Mount Tai has more than fifty bends. Passing Small Heaven Gate and Great Heaven Gate, one looks up at Heaven Gate as if gazing at a skylight from inside a cave. From the foot of the mountain to the site of the ancient Fengshan sacrifices is forty li. The western crag of the summit is called Xianren Shiwen, the eastern crag Jieqiu, and the southeastern crag Sun Observation. On Sun Observation Peak at first cockcrow, one can see the sun about to rise, some three zhang long. Further southeast is Qin Observation; from Qin Observation one can gaze toward Chang’an; from Hao Observation, toward Kuaiji; and from Zhou Observation, toward the Qi region. The Yellow River is more than two hundred li from Mount Tai; gazing at it from the sacrificial shrine, it looks like a ribbon, as though it lay on flat ground among the mountains. South of the mountain is a temple, planted all around with more than a thousand wutong trees; the large ones are fifteen or sixteen arm-spans in girth, and tradition says they were planted by Emperor Wu of Han. At Small Heaven Gate are the Five Great Officers Pines of the Qin dynasty (the pines ennobled by Qin Shi Huang), which still survive.

The Book of the Later Han records: When Emperor Guangwu performed the Fengshan sacrifices at Mount Tai, the clouds and vapors formed the shape of palace gate towers.

A book in the Daoist Canon says: Mount Tai is one hundred sixty li and fifty paces in circumference, forty li on each side. Guo Pu’s book says: Mount Tai lies northwest of Fenggao County; from the foot of the mountain to the summit is forty-eight li and one hundred paces.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas says: the Huan River rises in Mount Tai and flows east into the sea.

The Fayuan Zhulin says: East of Mount Tai is Li Spring (a sweet spring), shaped like a well, its basin entirely of stone. Anyone who wishes to drink the water must purify the mind and kneel to scoop it up; then the spring gushes forth. If someone is foul and disrespectful, the spring shrinks back; presumably a spirit governs it.

Both Zeng Gong's Record of the Two Halls and Su Shi's Record of Sending Off Yang Jie state: the waters north of Mount Tai, together with the various waters southeast of Qi, flow northwest into Black Water Bay and then northwest into Wuyai. Su Shi's Preface to the Poem "Sending Off Yang Jie" says: Wuweizi (Yang Jie, whose sobriquet was Wuweizi) once received orders on a mission and climbed to the very summit of Mount Tai; at the first crow of the rooster he saw the sunrise.

In Wei Zhuangqu's writings it says: On Mount Tai there is Sun-Viewing Peak, where at midnight one can gaze at the sun bathing forth from the sea; what fills the eyes like spread-out gold is the sea, and what resembles lightning amid the faint green blur is the intermingling of sea islands and stream-filled mountains. As the golden hue gradually fades and the sun floats, it looks in the water like a great jade disk; such is the sea-sun seen from the seaside. Only after climbing Huading Peak of Mount Tiantai does one realize that this is but a small sea, and that beyond the encircling ring of mountains lies the great sea. Mount Tai has a Sun View, for viewing the sun before it has risen; a Moon View, for viewing the moon after it has set; a Chang'an View, from which one looks west at the various mountains in the Qin region; and a Yue View, from which one looks south at the various mountains of Kuaiji. The seventy-two peaks of Mount Heng also have Sun View and Moon View, but they are not the equal of Mount Tai, because Mount Tai lies precisely at the mao position (the east, the direction of sunrise).

The Daizong Ji says: Mount Liangfu and Mount Changbai are the auxiliary sacred mountains of Mount Tai (famous mountains that assist Mount Tai).

The Tongzhi says: the mountains of Jinan are Mount Tai's northern foothills, the mountains of Yanzhou are its southern foothills, the mountains of Qing and Qi by the sea are its left wing, and the mountains of Hedong are its right wing. This is roughly how Mount Tai presides over the host of mountains, is it not? As for the south side of the mountain, there is the Wu left by Emperor Wu of Han (the name of an ancient site); at Tianmen there are the Wudafu Pines; at the summit is the wordless stele of the Qin dynasty; and on the cliffs are the Kaiyuan inscriptions of the Tang dynasty. These are the finest among the ancient relics of Mount Tai.

The Biography of Lord Mao says that among the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens (dongtian) recognized in Daoism, Mount Tai, with a circumference of more than thirty li, is called the “Heaven of the Three Palaces and Empty Cavern.”

The Bowen lu says that Mount Tai is also called “Pengxuan Taikong Grotto-Heaven” and is the dwelling place of the Mountain Emperor (Yuedi, the deity of Mount Tai). It is four thousand zhang high, encircled by a thousand mountains, and about thirty li in circumference; it is also called the “Heaven of the Three Palaces and Empty Cavern.” Another record gives its circumference as one thousand li.

The Record of the Five Peaks says that the Eastern Peak, Mount Tai, has as its deity Tianqi Wang, who commands ninety thousand immortal officials and immortal maidens. The mountain is two thousand li in circumference and lies in Fengfu County, Yanzhou (in the area of present-day Tai’an, Shandong).

The Record of Blessed Lands says that the Mount Tai Grotto-Heaven is three thousand li in circumference and is a mansion where ghosts and spirits gather.

The Biographies of Immortals says that in the stone chambers of Daizong (another name for Mount Tai), the heights and depths are perilous and sheer, and within are golden couches and jade tables. Shizi (Shi Jiao, a Warring States scholar) says that within Mount Tai there are divine chambers and pillared pavilions.

The Bowu zhi says that Mount Tai is also called the “Heavenly Grandson,” meaning the grandson of the Heavenly Emperor, and that it governs the summoning and gathering of human souls. The east is where the myriad things first come into being, and therefore it can know the length or shortness of human lifespans.

The Daoist Scripture says that the deities of the Five Peaks each govern the people and creatures of the world, and each has its own jurisdiction. Mount Tai (Daizong) is the grandson of the Heavenly Emperor and the mansion of all spirits, governing worldly people’s official posts, life and death, nobility and baseness, and similar matters.

Geomancers (fengshui specialists) say that at the foot of Mount Tai the waters converge, and the Kong Forest (the cemetery of Confucius and his descendants) alone flourishes. This means that Confucius’s birth was not accidental; therefore, when Confucius was near death, he dragged his staff and sang of Mount Tai. The descendants of the Kong clan flourished, and their hereditary stipends continued without interruption, showing that the favor of Mount Tai’s deity toward the Kong clan is boundless and inexhaustible.

Volume 4 of the Daishi, the “Shanshui Biao” (Table of Mountains and Waters), a section of the Mount Tai gazetteer, quotes the Shenglan: someone once climbed Mount Tai in the twelfth lunar month, braving the snow. When he reached Yuzhang, mist and clouds were thick; at the Eighteen Bends, the sky suddenly cleared, and looking down at the mountainside he could still see cloud vapor. On the descent, heavy snow came again as before. At the turn between winter and spring, mist rose from the cliffs and valleys and it was very cold; at first one could still make out the scenery, but soon thick fog covered everything and all mountain forms were lost. When it cleared slightly, the woods in the ravines and the eaves and roof corners of pavilions were covered with ice flowers, like linked pearls and jade, decorated with powdery points, exactly like a painting. On spring mornings, looking at the mid-mountain, one saw a flat, dense layer of clouds whose brilliant colors made it seem as if one were looking at the sky upside down. After the fourth month, damp heat steamed through the mountains, making them unsuitable for dwelling; in the fifth and sixth months it was still cold, requiring cotton garments, and when going out one still needed warmth, with mornings and evenings like late autumn. During summer rainstorms, at mid-mountain the wind stirred and clouds surged, while thunder and lightning were all below the mountain; the foot of the mountain could faintly be seen, with white waves churning like the sea. After a while the clouds rose to the summit, and then it rained both above and below. Most of the springs among the cliffs on the mountain rush down swiftly; only a few springs—Yaochi (Jade Pool), Baihe (White Crane), Shuilian (Water Curtain), Yuhua (Jade Flower), and Yunü (Jade Maiden)—are sweet. On the eastern cliff of Yuanjun Shrine, dedicated to Bixia Yuanjun, there is an aperture where spring water drips like pearls, producing about one hu—an ancient unit of capacity—each day and night, and its taste is especially good. In this section the text asks why a table should be made for mountains and waters, and then immediately takes sweet springs such as Yuhua and Yunü as examples.

Shu says: Why record mountains and waters? It is to record those mountains and waters that cling to and surround Daiyue (Mount Tai). Daiyue is originally a mountain—why then also speak of water? Because springs emerge at the foot of the mountain, and this is the source of water; therefore, when speaking of the mountain, one must necessarily speak of water. Today, in the mountains, those named for mountains include peaks, crags, caves, ridges, cliffs, terraces, gates, valleys, stockades, and gardens—these belong to the mountain; those named for water include springs, pools, wells, streams, rivers, and bays—these belong to water; others such as bridges, archways, inscriptions, and engraved stones are all used to mark the scenic wonders of mountains and waters. In sum, all are scenic wonders of Daiyue. The fine mountains and waters of the world can be praised by people ancient and modern; that the benevolent and the wise find joy in them—could this be an empty saying? But the mountains and waters here cannot be judged by ordinary mountains and waters. Above, it corresponds to Tianqi (the deity of Mount Tai / Mount Tai’s Tianqi) and is chief of all mountains; the sun and moon hide here, clouds and rain gather and spread their transformations here, emperors begin sacrifices here, countless people rush here in pilgrimage, and the myriad things multiply and grow here. Even a stone the size of a fist embodies numinous excellence and harbors the mechanism of creation; a handful of spring water can moisten the Ji and Wen rivers and extend to the Mei and Si (ancient river names)—are its achievements and transformative nurturing not vast? It is not only clouded peaks and wind-swept ravines, sheer cliffs and tiered peaks, high pavilions a thousand xun tall, precipitous gates ten thousand ren high, flying currents rushing down, jade-green waves flowing like rainbows, five colors shining together, and all four seasons fully present, leaving the eye no time to take it all in and the feelings no leisure to enjoy—only these count as scenic wonders. I once commented: The mountains and waters of Daiyue excel especially in grandeur, not in ingenious oddity; therefore they are called supremely scenic. Peaks and stones—that is, peaks, ridges, rocks, and boulders—are also a category of Mount Tai’s scenery.

Phoenix Mountain lies southwest of the summit of Mount Tai (Yueding) and is the main mountain of Baiyun Cave. Tianzhu Peak is southwest of the summit of Mount Tai, behind Yangzhi Pavilion. Yuedian Rock stands in front of Wangdi Abbey; Vice Minister Wan Gong inscribed it with the words “Marking the Summit of Mount Tai.” Xiang Mountain is below Phoenix Mountain. Riguan Peak is east of the summit of Mount Tai; at the fifth watch one can see the sunrise over the sea, and today there is the Sea-Viewing Pavilion. Wanghai Rock is northeast of Riguan Peak; when the sun first rises at the fifth watch it can be seen there—this is what is meant by “seeing the sea.” Shiwen Mountain is south of Tai’an Prefecture; Emperor Wu of Han once performed Fengshan (imperial sacrifices to Heaven and Earth) there. Da Mountain is below Phoenix Mountain. The entries for Riguan Peak, Wanghai Rock, and Shiwen Mountain duplicate earlier passages and have the same meaning. Daxuan Rock stands piled up west of the summit of Mount Tai. Jieshi Mountain is fifty li south of the prefecture; Emperor Zhenzong of Song once performed Fengshan there. Yueguan Peak is west of the summit of Mount Tai, facing Riguan Peak, taking the idea that the moon wanes in the geng direction (west); here it is also called Yueguan. Xiaoxuan Rock is also west of the summit of Mount Tai, facing Daxuan Rock. Immortal Bridge Rock is west of Sheshen Cliff; two cliffs face each other about five chi apart, and three rocks prop up like a bridge. Yizheng Yizi Mountain is fifty li south of the prefecture; the Yellow Emperor once performed Fengshan there. Qinguan Peak is west of the summit of Mount Tai. Test-the-Heart Rock is west of Immortal Bridge Rock; two rocks are linked together and overhang a precipice of ten thousand zhang. When people step on it, it shakes and frightens them; popular lore says it does not move only if one’s heart is sincere. Liangfu Mountain is one hundred li south of the prefecture; the First Emperor of Qin once performed Fengshan there. As for Zhouguan Peak, the old gazetteer says that on investigation Zhouguan should be west of the summit of Mount Tai; now Censor-in-Chief Hu Zuanzong has inscribed a stone marker to the left of Bixia Archway. Yishi Yishi Mountain is east of Liangfu Mountain; in ancient accounts, many of the Seventy-two Lords (legendary ancient rulers who came to Mount Tai to perform Fengshan) performed Fengshan here. Sword-Casket Rock is west of Dayu; there is a square rock like a casket, and according to legend it contained a precious sword that was taken away by an immortal. Aolai Mountain is east of Mount Tai; in ancient accounts, many of the Seventy-two Lords performed Fengshan here. The entry for Sword-Casket Rock duplicates an earlier passage and has the same meaning.

Aolai Mountain lies southwest of the summit of Mount Tai (the Yue summit, that is, the summit of Mount Tai), where the rocks around Zhulin Temple rise steeply and stand upright; looking down from Yuzhang (a place name on Mount Tai), the scenery is even more wondrously extraordinary. Haoguan Peak is now no longer known to be located; it is surmised that it should have been east of the Mount Tai summit. Sword-Testing Stone is at Dayukou. According to legend, an immortal took a precious sword from a stone casket and split this stone, and half of the stone fell to the ground; looking today at the veins of the two pieces, they seem to have been parted down the middle. Zhangren Peak is southwest of the Mount Tai summit, standing alone and towering high, like an aged old man. Qingshan is at the southeastern foot of Mount Tai, northeast of the Han Mingtang (the site of the Han dynasty Mingtang). The Immortal’s Shadow Stone is beside Sword-Testing Stone; the shadow on the stone has a headcloth and a sword, and shows a figure seated with one foot stretched out. The stone surface is flat like a whetstone, and the shadowed part of the cliff looks as if it had been incised and engraved, but in fact it is not man-made; legend says that the immortal who took the sword and split the stone is this very figure. Huangshan is forty li west of the Mount Tai summit; it is called Huangshan after a local place name, and together with Qingshan it is one of the supporting mountains on either side of Mount Tai. Yinglong Peak is in front of Aolai Peak; old accounts say it was named for its resemblance in form. East Shenxiao Mountain is ten li east of the Mount Tai summit. Hanging Stone Peak is southwest of the Mount Tai summit. West Shenxiao Mountain is ten li west of the Mount Tai summit. Huiya Peak is west of the Mount Tai summit. Dragon-Pattern Stone is on the south side of Mount Tai (Yueyang, meaning the sunlit/southern side of Mount Tai), and its veins resemble a dragon. Shihou Mountain is ten li west of the Mount Tai summit; because there are many huge rocks in front of it, it got its name. Duxiu Peak is on the south side of Mount Tai, towering and outstandingly graceful; the ancients inscribed the peak’s name on the rock. Hufu Stone is also on the south side of Mount Tai and is shaped like a tiger. Longkou Stone consists of two rocks leaning against each other, with clear spring water gushing out between them. Gushan is ten li north of the Mount Tai summit, high, steep, and prominently protruding. Shizi Peak is on the south side of Mount Tai and is named for its lion-like shape. Niuxin Stone is likewise named for its ox-heart-like shape. Yunü Mountain is about ten li northeast of the Mount Tai summit; below the mountain there is a stone cliff where, according to legend, the Jade Maiden cultivated the Dao (self-cultivation). Yanglanpi Stone is traditionally said to be a place where immortals grazed their flocks. Lianhua Peak is east of Duxiu Peak; its peaks are strangely clustered like a lotus. Fangzheng Stone is square and upright in shape, hence its name. Shima Mountain is fifteen li northwest of Yanding.

The Rouge Stone lies on the north side of the Yue (that is, Mount Tai), its color like applied cinnabar. Ouwu Mountain (Gull Nest Mountain) is fifteen li west of the Mount Tai summit; its cliffs hold many nests, hence the name. Xuandao Peak (Hanging Knife Peak) stands beside the West Stream (Xixi, a valley name) southwest of Mount Tai. The Red Gate Stone is red, and seen from afar it resembles a red vermilion gate. The Five Women's Circle Stones are northwest of Mount Tai. Legend says that at night cries for mutual aid were heard, and at dawn the next day only stones arranged in a circle were seen—presumably the work of five immortal maidens. Tui Mountain is ten li north of Mount Tai, shaped like a camel carrying its young. Furong Peak (Lotus Peak) is also beside the West Stream. Crane Mountain is ten li north of the Mount Tai summit; its woods are lush, and wild cranes nest there, hence the name. Feiya Peak (Flying Crow Peak) is also beside the West Stream. Laoya Peak (Old Crow Peak) is north of the Mount Tai summit; many crow nests are in the trees, and old lore says the five immortal maidens once made them. Tingchan Mountain, also called Gaoli and otherwise Haoli, joins Sheshou Mountain and lies three li south of Mount Tai. Longquan Peak (Dragon Spring Peak) is northeast of the Doumu Temple (a Daoist temple); the right side of the peak is steep and towering, very much worth viewing. Sanjian Mountain (Three Peaks Mountain) is ten li west of the Mount Tai summit. Linghan Mountain lies behind Puzhao Temple (a monastery on Mount Tai). Junzi Peak (Gentleman Peak) is at the Mount Tai summit. Zulai Mountain (that is, Culai Mountain) is thirty li south of Mount Tai and is the “case mountain” in front of Mount Tai (the mountain faced in feng shui); on the mountain are Ziyuan Pool, Linglong Mountain, Duxiu Peak, and the Tianhu East and West Stockades, while below the mountain are Baihe Bay and Bamboo Stream. During the Tang dynasty, Li Bai, Kong Chaofu, Han Zhun, Pei Zheng, Tao Wu, and Zhang Shuming once lived in seclusion here and were known as the “Six Idlers of the Bamboo Stream.” Tang Shi Jie built a house and wrote books on the old site; scholars called him “Mr. Zulai.” There is a Stone House on Yunü Mountain and another at the foot of the mountain; according to legend, these were places where the Jade Maiden cultivated the Dao, and the scenery is the most extraordinary. The Lazy Zhang Stone House is on the northern foot of the Mount Tai summit; legend says the Daoist Lazy Zhang once practiced cultivation here. There is a Stone Boat at White Dragon Pool and another at Chuanjia Village on the southeastern foot of Mount Tai; its shape is just like a small boat. Babao Mountain (Eight Treasures Mountain) is at the northern foot of the peak one hundred li east of the Mount Tai summit; according to legend, the Daoist Lazy Zhang once practiced cultivation here.

There are two Stone Boats: one at White Dragon Pool, and one at Chuanjiazhuang on the southeast foot of Mount Tai (the “Yue” here means Mount Tai); their shape is just like a boat. Babaoshan is 100 li east of the Mount Tai summit, belongs to Laiwu, and is also called Huangshan. Candle Mountain is north of Yunü Mountain, where a single rock stands alone like a candle.

Caves, ridges, and valleys: White Cloud Cave is below Phoenix Mountain; a few steps south from Fenghai Fang, one descends steep stone steps, and white clouds often emerge from the cave. Censor-in-Chief Li Dai inscribed “Rain over All Under Heaven,” taking the sense of the Gongyang Commentary’s phrase “before a whole morning passes, it rains over all under heaven.” Censor Tan Yao also had inscriptions carved here; the pavilions and chambers he built occupied the finest scenic position. Water Curtain Cave is above Gaolao Bridge. Yingyang Cave, also called Yunyang Cave, can hold more than twenty people; Minister Zhu Heng carved on Qianshi Cliff the name “Chaoyang Cave.” Huanghua Cave is at the Jade Girl’s place of cultivation on the north side of Mount Tai. Lü Gong Cave, also called Jinmu Cave, is beside Jade Girl Pool at the southern foot of Mount Tai. Guoguan Cave is south of Mount Tai; the cave is high and deep, and travelers rest here and can view the surrounding mountains. Ghost Immortal Cave is at the northern foot of Haoli Mountain; it is secluded, deep, and dark, and people dare not enter. White Crane Foothill is beside Jade Girl Pool. White Crane Cave is 40 li west of Mount Tai and can hold more than thirty people. Huang Boyang Cave is 15 li west of the Mount Tai summit; during the Warring States period, Huang Boyang lived here in seclusion and cultivated. Golden Silk Cave is 90 li north of Mount Tai and can hold more than a hundred people; it is where Qiu Changchun (that is, Qiu Chuji, an eminent Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoist master) refined elixirs. Peach Blossom Cave is below the stone cliff of the Tangmo Stele at the Mount Tai summit and has a spring. Langranzi Cave is about one li east of the Imperial Tent halfway up Mount Tai and can hold several people. Guanyin Cave is behind Zhulin Temple. Lou Jing Cave is 100 li west of the Mount Tai summit and was the retreat of Lou Jing in the early Han; nearby there is a cave that produces saltpeter. Qinglan Ridge is southwest of the Mount Tai summit. At Huima Ridge the stone steps gradually become steep; horsemen reaching here cannot go farther up. Huangxian Ridge has mostly yellow soil and very precipitous terrain; after passing it there is a level stretch of road called Kuaihuo San (Happy Three). Yanfei Ridge is Huige Peak, southwest of the Mount Tai summit; wild geese flying south often stop here to rest. West Cross Ridge is west of the Mount Tai summit, with steep cliffs stretching for several tens of zhang. Xiang Ridge is west of the Mount Tai summit; folk legend says that after death souls return here and feel homesick. Ten Peaks Ridge is to the right of the Jade Emperor Temple.

Watershed Ridge lies east of the summit of Mount Tai, behind the Han Mingtang, and west of Yanglao Garden. Ascension Ridge lies east of the summit of Mount Tai; the eastern wall of the Eastern Han Mingtang stretches across it for several dozen zhang, though some say it is at the northeast corner of the Eastern Han Mingtang. Xiang Ridge lies west of the summit of Mount Tai; folk tradition says that after death human souls and spirits return here, and for this reason people feel homesick. Ten Peaks Ridge is to the right of the Jade Emperor Temple. Great Wall Ridge lies northwest of Mount Tai and is a remnant of the ancient Great Wall, a massive defensive work. Sigou Ridge lies south of Gushan Temple. Xiantai Ridge is sixty li north of Mount Tai. Mingyue Ridge—a mountain-ridge name—lies north of Mount Tai, where lovely peaks are arrayed like a screen. Zhaojun Ridge lies southwest of the summit of Mount Tai, in front of Aolai Mountain. Small Dragon Valley was anciently called Small Dragon Mouth; its stone gorge is where all the waters gather, and its flying springs spray like a dragon spouting water. Great Dragon Valley was anciently called Great Dragon Mouth. Peach Blossom Valley lies twenty li southwest of the summit of Mount Tai and south of Peach Blossom Cave; today many peach trees are planted there. Immortal Footprint Valley, also called Horse Hoof Valley, is about one li behind the mountain of Zhulin Temple; there are an immortal’s straw-sandal prints more than one chi long, as well as horse-hoof prints about five cun long. Stone Sutra Valley lies south of Mount Tai; there is a flat rock of about half a mu, on which the Diamond Sutra was carved in regular script in ancient times. Some characters approach bafen script, a form of clerical script; the large ones are about one chi, and it is traditionally said to have been written by Wang Youjun, that is, Wang Xizhi. Stone Wall Valley lies south of Mount Tai and is as steep as a wall. Great Valley lies below Zhulin Temple on Aolai Mountain, on the road of the Middle Stream; within it are such wonders as White Dragon Pool, Hundred-Zhang Cliff, and Heavenly Sash Spring, and poems of the Song and Yuan dynasties are carved on the rocks. Dengdu Valley lies south of Mount Tai; folk tradition says it is the seat of the underworld office, and today there is a Dengdu Temple south of the valley. Gui’er Valley lies south of Mount Tai; folk tradition says that after death human souls and spirits return here—this notion originally comes from Zhang Hua’s Bowuzhi. Buddhist Temple Valley lies forty li northeast of Mount Tai, that is, at Gushan Temple, and has a stone Buddha. Pepper Valley lies south of Mount Tai; in former times an extraordinary person planted pepper there, and it received its name for this reason.

Xili Valley lies north of Mount Tai (the “Yue” in the scripture is Mount Tai). Its rock caves are deep and secluded, and above them is a spring that never dries up throughout the four seasons.

Cliffs, Rocks, and Terraces: Confucius Cliff is southwest of the summit of Mount Tai. Sheshen Cliff (Body-Sacrificing Cliff) is north of it and connects below with Riqin Peak; its other three sides are precipitous walls several hundred zhang high, with a rock projecting more than one zhang in the middle. Ignorant common people often leapt from here to sacrifice their bodies, seeking karmic blessings in the cycle of rebirth. The Minister He Qiwu set up railings and barriers to prohibit this and had a stone inscribed naming it “Aishen Terrace” (Cherish the Body Terrace). East Baizhang Cliff is southwest of the summit of Mount Tai; its waterfall flows down and collects into Tianshen Spring (Heavenly Sash Spring). West Baizhang Cliff is three hundred paces from the East Cliff and ten times its height; the East Cliff faces south, while the West Cliff faces east. Xianying Cliff (Immortal Shadow Cliff) is on Aolai Peak southwest of the summit of Mount Tai; the mountain consists entirely of dark blue-green rock, except that the immortal shadow is like white paper. Wuhua Cliff (Five-Flower Cliff) is south of the summit of Mount Tai; looking up from the city walls, one cannot see the summit because it is obscured by the cliff. Chunzhe Cliff (Quail-Partridge Cliff) is on a precipitous wall north of Mount Tai, where wild partridges build their nests. Mapeng Cliff (Horse-Shed Cliff) is south of Mount Tai and is named for its shape, which resembles a horse shed. It is also called Sanzi Cliff because on the cliff are three strokes written in ink that wind and rain cannot wear away; tradition says they were written by Lü Dongbin. Yuzhang Cliff (Imperial Tent Cliff) is near the Imperial Tent.

Liangfeng Rock is west of the Mount Tai summit (Yueding); two peaks stand facing each other, and below them is a cave like a room. Xianwen Rock: according to the “Annals of Emperor Wu” in the Book of Han, the western rock of the Mount Tai summit was called “Xianwen.” Jiaoxian Rock is on the south side of Mount Tai; tradition says that the Hanlin scholar Wang Congzhi sat cross-legged and passed away here. Yuan Haowen (a Jin dynasty poet), in his poem “Sending Off Zhang Tianni,” wrote, “On Tuoxian Rock I would willingly linger”—this refers to this place. Guyun Rock is at Huima Ridge. The four rocks below Nongyue Rock are now no longer known. Kanyue Rock, Migao Rock, Suoyun Rock, and Fenghuang Terrace are all on the south side of Mount Tai. Dengxian Terrace is south of the Mount Tai summit; legend says Lü Chunyang (Lü Dongbin) once climbed this terrace. Nangong Terrace is on the north side of Mount Tai; steep rocks arch upward and stand facing one another, while the top is flat, hence the name “Terrace.” Beigong Terrace is also on the north side of Mount Tai. Yaoguan Terrace is ten li northeast of the Mount Tai summit; on the top of Yunü Mountain there is a flat stone like a terrace, and tradition says Yao climbed here to perform the chan sacrifice. Dushu Terrace is in the rear mountain northwest of Puzhao Temple; passing the foot of Toushu Ravine, there is a rock about four or five zhang square—this was where Sun Taishan (Sun Fu), Shi Zulai (Shi Jie), and Hu Anding (Hu Yuan) of the Song dynasty studied, and Li Guo of Gusu had it carved in stone in bafen script (a kind of clerical script). Zhanlu Terrace is on Sheshen Cliff.

Menyuan Stronghold is the name of a stronghold.

Yitian Gate, with its archway, is on the south side of Mount Tai, and there is the Daizong Archway. At the Song-dynasty study site of Sun Taishan, Shi Zulai, and Hu Anding, there is a stone inscription in bafen script by Li Guo of Gusu. Zhanlu Terrace is on Sheshen Cliff. Menyuan Stronghold is the name of a stronghold.

The First Heavenly Gate has an archway and is located on the south side of Mount Tai (Yueyang, here referring to the yang, or south, side of Mount Tai), about one li inside the Dai Zong Archway. The Red Gate is also on the south side of Mount Tai; its plaque is inscribed “Flying Cloud Pavilion,” and it is also called “Cloud Ladder.” The Second Heavenly Gate has an archway and is also called the Little Heavenly Gate; it is the “Imperial Tent,” where Emperor Zhenzong of Song once stayed (a term for an emperor’s temporary stop while traveling). Chengyi (Sincerity) Gate is about half a li above the Imperial Tent. The Third Heavenly Gate is a stone gate, also called the South Heavenly Gate, at the end of the Eighteen Bends. The East Heavenly Gate is east of the Mount Tai summit, the West Heavenly Gate is west of the summit, and Xuanwu Gate is at the northern foot of Mount Tai. Yanglao Garden is on the south side of Mount Tai, where rocky cliffs form dangerous barriers; tradition says that Old Man Yang once took refuge here from war. The Herb Garden is southeast of Mount Tai; tradition says that cultivators of truth (Daoist practitioners) planted medicinal herbs here. Water Immortal Stockade is west of the Mount Tai summit and could accommodate a thousand people; Immortal Stockade is north of the summit and could also accommodate a thousand people. Nine Maidens Stockade is west of the Mount Tai summit below Sanyan Mountain; on a high peak, tradition says that nine maidens took refuge here from soldiers. Linghan Stockade is on the south side of Mount Tai and could accommodate several hundred people. Tiansheng Stockade is in front of Aolai Mountain and could accommodate ten thousand people; Liu Penzi (the emperor installed by the Red Eyebrows at the end of Wang Mang’s Xin dynasty), Chi Fu, and others once assembled troops here, and above it are Zhaojun Ridge, Zhangqi Rock, Cuishuo, and similar sites. In the Daishi (History of Mount Tai), “Springs, Pools, and Rivers” is the name of a category recording Mount Tai’s springs, pools, and rivers.

To the east of Guangsheng Hall on the summit of Mount Tai is Bitian Spring. Niantuo Spring lies below Guoren Peak, and the residents of the summit all draw their water from here. Tianshen Spring lies below Baiyou Cliff on Aolai Mountain; the cliff top is about ten zhang high, and the water pours down suspended in midair like a hanging sash. White Crane Spring is at the southern foot of Mount Tai; its water is clear, cold, and sweet, and compared with the wells and springs in the city, its weight is also different (the ancients often judged water quality by its weight). Hujia Spring lies below the Imperial Tent on Huangxian Ridge. Shengshui Spring is at Huima Ridge. One Shuilian Spring is at West Baizhang Cliff. Dichen Spring is inside Houtu Temple at the southern foot of Mount Tai; visitors often cup the water to wash their eyes, so it is also called Yanguang Spring. Feiluan Spring is to the right of Wangmu Pool; its water is very clear and cold and flows into the pool.

One Li Spring is at Tianshu Temple—the very one that Wang Qinruo reported to Emperor Zhenzong of the Northern Song; although the spring has not dried up, it is now no different from ordinary water. The Li Spring mentioned in the Fayuan (a book title) is now unknown in location. Wangmu Pool, also called Yaochi, is at the southern foot of Mount Tai; the source of the pool is the ravine water of Mount Tai, which gathers to form the pool. Legend says that in former times the Yellow Emperor built a Daoist temple on Daiyue and sent seven people wearing cloud caps and feather robes to tend the incense and offerings and welcome the Queen Mother of the West; hence the name. Wangnü Pool is to the right of Yuanjun Shrine (Bixia Yuanjun Shrine) on the summit of Mount Tai; its water is sweet and cold and does not dry up through the four seasons, and it is also called the Small Pool of the Holy Mother. Xie Tingjie of Yuzhang (present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi) once had a stone inscription made to record this. White Dragon Pool is on Aolai Mountain; the pool site is several xun wide (one xun is about eight chi) and unfathomably deep, and above the pool is a Dragon God Shrine; in drought years prayers are often answered. Surveillance Commissioner Huang Bie inscribed a stone with the title “Linyuan.” Fengjia Pool is in Fengjia Villa at the southern foot of Mount Tai, connected with the lower reaches of White Crane Spring; trickling streams gather to form the pool.

The Liang River rises southwest of the summit of Mount Tai; waters from the various valleys converge into the West Stream, which flows from White Dragon Pool out through Dayukou, then south into the Fu River, joining the Wen River and reaching the Cao River. The Shuxi River rises at Huangxian Ridge; valley waters converge into the Middle Stream, which flows through the Wangmu Pool area, and the river takes its name from this; southeast of the prefectural city it joins the Fu River and the Great Wen River. The Fu River originates from the various waters of Taohua Valley west of Mount Tai, winds around, and enters the Wen River twenty li southeast of the prefectural seat. The Wen River has three sources: one branch comes from Yuan Mountain in Laiwu County at the eastern foot of Mount Tai, and one from Zhaizi Village in Laiwu; these waters all pass Culai Mountain and flow south for thirty li to a place called Dawenkou, then southwest through the north of Wenshang County and reach the Cao River.

The Daishi records the streams and ravines, wells and bays in the Mount Tai region. The source of the East Stream emerges below Dengxian Terrace at Yueyang, at the southern foot of Mount Tai; it gathers the waters of Culai Mountain, southeast of Mount Tai, and Qingshan, flows past the Han Mingtang—the site of the Mingtang built when Emperor Wu of Han performed the Fengshan sacrifice at Mount Tai—flows south for thirty li to Dawenkou, and then runs southwest past the north side of Wenshang County to the Cao River, a canal-transport waterway. The source of the West Stream emerges west of the summit of Mount Tai, and its waters converge at Baizhang Cliff, Bailong Pool, and Dayu. The source of the Middle Stream lies below Huangxian Ridge on Mount Tai and collects the waters of the various valleys. Yingchou Ravine lies below Shipan. Toushu Ravine lies below Linghan Peak; it takes its name because Hu Anding—the Northern Song scholar Hu Yuan—once sent a family letter from here. In former times, three large characters for the ravine’s name, written by Li Guo in bafen script, a type of clerical script, were engraved in the Donglu region. The Xiang Well is at the ancient Yue Temple south of Mount Tai; its water is extremely fragrant and cold, unlike ordinary water. Zhu Rifan’s poem says, “Before the temple, the fragrant well is known by the coins cast into it,” and this refers to this well. The Tian Well is about ten li east of Mount Tai and several mu wide; it collects water from the various valleys into the Wen River and is also called Tianjing Bay. Guier Bay is at Yueyang. Heishui Bay is west of Mount Tai. Hulei Bay is in the West Stream; when rain is about to come, thunder is often heard sounding sharply from here. Yinma Bay is in the West Stream. One Tianjing Bay lies north of Mount Tai and another to the southwest. This bay above Wangmu Pool has charmingly strange rocks; the words on Lü Chunyang’s—Lü Dongbin’s—poem stele, such as “the mischievous dragon and rainbow know me,” refer to this very place. Luogu Bay is in the West Stream at Dayu; folk legend says that on the Zhongyuan Festival, the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, sounds like gongs and drums are heard here. Among local inscriptions, some are on erected steles, some are carved on cliff faces, and others are inscribed on bridges.

This passage records the memorial archways, cliff inscriptions, and bridges along the route to the summit of Mount Tai. The Daizong Archway is the starting point for climbing Mount Tai and was jointly built by Censor-in-Chief Luo Fengxiang and others. The plaque of the Yitianmen Archway was inscribed by Administration Commissioner Long Guang, and the archway was built by Assistant Prefect Wang Zhigang. The Archway at the Place Where Confucius Ascended was inscribed by the Yuzhang zhuangyuan Luo Hongguang and built by Minister Zhu Heng. The Daxie Archway was built by Censor Gao Yingfang. The Gaolao Bridge Archway was rebuilt by Prefect Li Bochun and others, having previously been built by Subprefect Zhai Tao. The Shuiliandong, Huimaling, Huangxianling, and Ertianmen archways, among others, were built and rebuilt under the same circumstances as the Gaolao Bridge Archway. The Yingtian Archway was built by the Chong Mansion. The Xiaolongyu, Dalonggong, Shibapan, and Pengxuan archways were also built in the same way as the Gaolao Bridge Archway. The Baiyundong Archway was built by Censor-in-Chief Li Dai. The Jishi, Anmin, and Jinjian Bixia archways were built by Censor-in-Chief Li Fu, Censors Hao Ding and Han Yinggeng, and others. Of the Shengzhong Archway, only the name survives.

As for inscriptions, “Zhengda Guangming” and “Wuyue zhi Zong” were both stones erected by Dai Xi, and both steles are below the Daizong Archway. “Tianxia Qiguan” was erected by Supernumerary Yang Keda north of Yitianmen. “Diyi Shan” was erected by Censor Li Fuchu below the Tianzeng Archway. “Zhongliu Dizhu” was carved on the cliff by jinshi Chen Ganyu. “Zhichi Shiqi” was carved on the cliff by Reviewing Editor Ma Yilong; “Tiandasong” was erected by Fan Zonghao on the right side; “Zhichi Youqi” was again carved in stone by Ma Yilong; “Feiquan Pubu” was carved in stone by Subprefect Zhai Tao; “Zhichi Yuqi” was again carved in stone by Ma Yilong; and “Fengtao Yunhe” was also carved on the cliff. “Xiongzhi Liangwen” was erected outside Santianmen, and “Fukui Liuhe” was also erected at the same place. “Shanhe Yilan” was carved below the Pengxuan Archway. “Hairi Qiguan” was written by Bureau Director Hao Tongchun on the precipitous cliff southeast of Riguan Peak. “Daibei Ao Qu” was written by an earlier person on the rock wall of Huanghua Cave.

As for bridges, Gaolao Bridge is about five li above Hongmen; tradition says that a man surnamed Gao who studied Huang-Lao teachings first opened this route. Zhushuiliu Bridge is below Shuiliandong. Shengxian Bridge is below Mapeng Cliff, and there is also a bridge at Xiaolongyu. Butian Bridge is at Ertianmen. Shuwang Bridge is on the road through Shijingyu, and the bridge name is carved on the stone. Wangmu Bridge is above Wangmu Pool; east of the bridge is Lügong Cave, and west is the old site of the Yue Temple; this place is called the First Scenic Wonder. Nahe Bridge is on the Na River; southwest of the prefectural city is the Hejin Jinyin Bridge.

Volume Five of the Dai Shi, the “Table of Territorial Boundaries,” records the administrative territory to which Mount Tai belongs. To the west is the old site of the Yue Temple, the first scenic site; the Na River Bridge is on the Na River, at the Hejin Jinyin Bridge southwest of the prefectural city.

Why make a “Table of Territorial Boundaries”? It is to mark the territory to which Daizong (Mount Tai) is subordinate. Its land was successively subordinate to counties and prefectures, commanderies, and regional divisions. Mount Tai rises elegant and towering; its spiritual responses reach the eight directions; it nourishes and transforms the myriad things and stands for a thousand ages—how could a single territory confine it? Yet from antiquity, when lands and surnames were granted to establish states and regions were marked out to govern territory, people invariably relied on famous mountains and great rivers as boundaries. Thus, among the Nine Provinces divided in the “Yu Gong” of the Shangshu, the Hai-Dai region belonged to Qingzhou; the Zhouli records the system of a region’s guardian mountain, and Yanzhou’s guardian mountain was called Dai—this is the beginning of records of Mount Tai’s territory. After Qin and Han, governors were appointed, provincial domains were divided, land was partitioned, and offices were repeatedly abolished and established. Han’s Fenggao, Tang’s Qianfeng, and Song’s Fengfu all used county names to refer to the area at the foot of Mount Tai. When the Ming fixed its capital in Yanji (the Beijing region), Mount Tai was the nearest of the sacred peaks; it dominantly occupies eastern Huaxia, screens the capital, like the multitude of stars paying homage to the North Star; and the water sources for canal transport and the lifeline of state finances also depend on it, so the so-called foundation as firm as rock is perhaps to be found here. At the foot of Mount Tai no county was established but a prefecture, so that it could undertake the annual sacrifices; the prefecture was named Tai’an for a reason. Therefore the ancient and modern changes and dates are recorded in detail and tabulated below.

The table lists: in the Tang-Yu period the Hai-Dai region belonged to Qingzhou; Xia and Shang followed this; under Zhou it belonged to Yanzhou and was Lu territory—the “Lu Song” says “Mount Tai is towering,” and its guardian mountain was called Dai; in the Warring States period it belonged to Qi’s Boyi; under Qin it belonged to Qi Commandery’s Boyi; Han established Fenggao County, under Taishan Commandery; under the Western Han it belonged to the Yanzhou regional division; in the first year of Yuanfeng of Emperor Wu of Han, he came to Fenggao and established Fenggao County.

This passage from the Daishi (a gazetteer of Mount Tai) mainly traces the administrative evolution of the commanderies and counties near Mount Tai and a catalogue of Fengshan (imperial sacrifices to Heaven and Earth at Mount Tai) documents. In the Eastern Han, Taishan Commandery belonged to the Yan Province division. Emperor Guangwu once went to Fenggao (a county under Taishan Commandery in Han times and an important site for sacrifices to Mount Tai), and in the second year of the Yuanhe era Emperor Zhang also personally visited Fenggao. During the Jin, Liu Song of the Southern Dynasties, and Northern Wei, Fenggao County still belonged to Taishan Commandery in the Yan Province division. Later this place was also called Daishan County of Lu Commandery; in the sixth year of Kaihuang of the Sui, Fenggao was renamed Daishan, and at the beginning of the Daye era it was transferred to Lu Commandery. Under Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Daishan County was again renamed Qianfeng County and belonged to Lu Commandery of Yanzhou in Henan Circuit. In the Song it belonged to Fengfu County of Xiqing Prefecture in Yanzhou, Jingdong West Circuit; during the Xiangfu era of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, sacrifices were offered here to the Eastern Peak. In the Jin it belonged to the Shandong East and West Circuits; in the twenty-third year of Dading, Tai'an Jun was elevated to Tai'an Zhou, which still governed Fengfu County. In the Yuan it belonged to the Shandong East and West Circuits, and the Mount Tai deity was granted the title "Tianqi Dasheng Rensheng Di" (Heavenly Equanimity, Great Birth, Benevolent Sage Emperor). In the Ming it belonged to Tai'an Zhou of Jinan Prefecture under the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission; during the Hongwu era the title of Mount Tai was redefined and corrected to "God of the Eastern Peak," and Fengfu County was abolished and merged into Tai'an Zhou.

What follows is the catalogue of the second fascicle of the Daishi, the "Zhuzi" (various labels) section; fascicle 6 is "Shoudian ji" (Record of the Royal Progress and Statutes), with appended Fengshan material. The listed entries include Tang and Yu, the Xia Hou clan, and the Zhou; the Fengshan stone inscription of Qin Shi Huang (in Li Si's seal script); the Fengshan edict of Emperor Wu of Han and excerpts from Sima Qian's "Treatise on Fengshan"; excerpts from Ban Gu's Baihutong; Emperor Guangwu's edict declining Fengshan; the Fengshan stone inscription; and excerpts from edicts by Emperor Zhang, Emperor An, Emperor Ming of Wei, and Emperor Wen of Sui declining Fengshan; Emperor Taizong of Tang's discussion declining Fengshan; Emperor Gaozong's Fengshan jade tablet text (the document announcing to Heaven during Fengshan); Luo Binwang's text on behalf of the elders of Qizhou requesting permission to accompany the Fengshan; Emperor Xuanzong's Fengshan jade tablet text and imperially composed preface and inscription; and so on. The catalogue reflects the edicts, stone inscriptions, and ritual documents of successive dynasties' emperors performing Fengshan at Mount Tai.

This is an outline of the chapter titles of the Daishi (History of Mount Tai), a specialized work recording the history of Mount Tai, the Fengshan sacrifices, and sacrificial rites. It mainly lists documents from successive emperors’ Fengshan sacrifices at Mount Tai, discussions remonstrating against Fengshan, and the ceremonies and prayer texts for sacrifices to Mount Tai.

The first category of chapter titles includes: the stone inscription by Emperor Taizong of Song on the Fengshan sacrifice; relevant records concerning Emperor Zhang, Emperor An, and Emperor Ming of Wei; an abridged edict of Emperor Wen of Sui refusing the Fengshan sacrifice; memorials on Emperor Taizong of Tang’s refusal to perform the Fengshan sacrifice; the jade tablet text of Emperor Gaozong of Tang’s Fengshan sacrifice (a document announcing to Heaven during the Fengshan), and the text by Luo Binwang written on behalf of the elders of Qizhou requesting to accompany the Fengshan sacrifice; the jade tablet text of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang’s Fengshan sacrifice and an imperially composed preface and inscription; an abridged excerpt concerning Emperor Taizong of Song’s not permitting the Fengshan sacrifice; the jade tablet text of Emperor Zhenzong of Song’s Fengshan sacrifice, Sun Shi’s memorial remonstrating against Fengshan, and an imperially composed preface and inscription; an abridged excerpt from the Yongle era of the Ming on refusing the Fengshan sacrifice, and the “Quefeng Huisong” inscribed by Wang Zhi (as in the original; it presumably concerns declining the Fengshan sacrifice). Appended afterward are essays by Confucian officials of successive dynasties discussing Fengshan; the authors listed include Sima Hu of the Han (as in the original), Xu Mao of Liang, the Song writers Hu Zhitang, Zhang Junqing, and Ma Duanlin, and Qiu Jun of Ming, among others.

Volume 7, “Wangdian Ji” (Record of the Wang Sacrifice Rites), records the rites of the Wang sacrifice to Mount Tai and is arranged by period: Tang and Yu; Zhou (with Lu appended); Qin; Han Gaozu, Emperor Wu, and Emperor Xuan; Emperor Guangwu and Emperor Zhang; Emperor Wen of Wei; Emperor Cheng of Jin; Liang; the Northern Wei text sacrificing to Dai (Dai being Mount Tai); the Wude and Zhenguan eras of Tang; the Kaiyuan era, when Mount Tai was granted the title Yuewang (Marchmount King) and sacrifices and prayers were offered; the Tianbao and Zhenyuan eras; the stele inscription by Emperor Zhenzong of Song on granting Mount Tai an imperial title (composed by Chao Jiong); and the Jin and Yuan. After this, another section is appended, running from Emperor Zhang to the Jin and Yuan, continuing the same content. For the Ming, it lists the Hongwu announcement text and the system of marchmount titles, an imperially composed text on Mount Tai, the Yongle announcement text, and the announcement texts of the Xuande, Zhengtong, Jingtai, Chenghua, Hongzhi, Zhengde, Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli reigns. Finally, it appends sacrificial prayers by ministers of successive dynasties, listing Gao Yun of Wei; Ouyang Xiu and Zeng Gong of Song; Ming officials Chen Fengwu, Xu Yingyuan, Yang Weicong, Lu Wenzhi, Duan Tingshe, Zheng Yun, Wang Shu, Shen Yinglong, Zhu Heng, Feng Jian, Yong Chuo and others, Gu Yan and others, Zhang Jian, Chuan Xizhi, Lu Shude, Li Fu, Li Dai, Zha Zhilong, and others.

At the end, the editorial principles are explained: the above are arranged chronologically, not by rank of nobility; all are recorded by name, following the format of previous gazetteers, so that these records may be transmitted far into the future.

Volume Six of the Daishi, “Record of the Shoudian (Statutes of the Royal Inspection Tour),” with an appendix on Fengshan: The author poses a question: why record the Shoudian? It is to record the great ceremonies by which emperors made inspection tours at fixed times. Why append an account of Fengshan (the imperial sacrifices to Heaven and Earth)? It is to record its irregular precedents, and also the extravagance of rulers and the flattery of ministers at the time, as a warning. The five-year inspection tour begins in the Book of Yu; the twelve-year tour is seen in the Zhou system. Midspring is the month when the myriad things grow, and Mount Tai is the direction of growth; at this time the Son of Heaven sat in the Bright Hall, received the feudal lords, and examined government orders—all for the sake of the people. This was not like later rulers who carved stones and inscribed mountains to magnify their achievements, used golden mud and jade seal-covers to seek blessings from spirits, traveled for pleasure and harmed the people, with a thousand chariots and ten thousand riders, while absurdly claiming the old precedent of the seventy-two rulers of high antiquity who performed Fengshan. From Qin and Han onward, even rulers reputed to be wise could not avoid this. Emperor Chengzu Wen of our dynasty (Ming Chengzu, Zhu Di) was clear-sighted and refused Fengshan, handing down the standards of our dynasty—does this not surpass all ages? Therefore I append one or two Fengshan texts from former dynasties, and at the end append the accounts and discussions of earlier worthies, so that readers may use them as a mirror and a warning.

In the Tang and Yu (Yao and Shun) period, in the second month of each year there was an eastward inspection tour to Daizong (Mount Tai). Chai and Wang sacrifices were performed, and sacrifices were offered to mountains and rivers according to rank; the eastern feudal lords were received, the four seasons, months, and days were rectified, pitch standards and weights and measures were unified, the Five Rites were cultivated, and the Five Vessels were standardized; every five years there was one inspection tour, and the feudal lords came to court four times. This is seen in the “Canon of Shun.” The House of Xia inherited this system. In the Zhou dynasty there was an inspection tour every twelve years: in the second month the king toured east to Daizong, performed the rites of audience, cultivated the Five Rites, and standardized the Five Vessels. The quoted “Canon of Shun” also says, “Every five years there is one inspection tour, and the assembled lords have four audiences”; the Xia dynasty followed it.

Under the Zhou system, the Son of Heaven toured the realm once every twelve years; each year in the second month he made an eastern tour, reached Daizong (Mount Tai), and at the Mingtang—a ritual building where the Son of Heaven convened the feudal lords and proclaimed government and teaching—received the feudal lords in audience. This is recorded in the Rites of Zhou; accounts of the Mingtang are found in the Record of Vestiges.

In the twenty-eighth year of Qin Shi Huang, the emperor made an eastern tour inspecting commanderies and counties, ascended Mount Zouyi, set up a stone, consulted with Confucian scholars of Lu about engraving a stone to praise Qin’s merits and virtues, and discussed the Feng and Shan sacrifices (Feng being the sacrifice to Heaven and Shan the sacrifice to Earth) and the distant sacrifices to mountains and rivers. He then ascended Mount Tai, set up stones, built an altar, and performed sacrifices. On descending the mountain he encountered a sudden violent storm; he rested beneath a tree and conferred on that tree the title “Fifth Grandee” (Wudafu), a Qin noble rank. He afterward performed the Shan sacrifice at Liangfu, a small hill near Mount Tai, and had an inscription carved on the stone he had set up. This is recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian. Wang Zhongyan (Wang Tong) held that the Feng and Shan sacrifices were not ancient rites but began in the Qin and Han, and therefore records of Feng and Shan begin with Qin.

Of the seal-script stone inscription written by Li Si (Qin chancellor, skilled in seal script), twenty-nine characters survive today; see the Record of Vestiges for details.

The stone inscription says: Revere Heaven with ritual propriety, establish oneself with righteousness, serve one’s father with filial piety, and bring others to fulfillment with benevolence. All within the Four Seas have become commanderies and counties; the barbarians of the four quarters all come to present tribute and discharge their duties; the population multiplies, and all forever enjoy blessings and emoluments bestowed by Heaven. The present emperor, having ascended the throne, brings others to fulfillment with benevolence; all within the Four Seas have become commanderies and counties; the barbarians of the four quarters all come to present tribute and discharge their duties; the population multiplies, and all forever enjoy blessings and emoluments bestowed by Heaven. After the emperor ascended the throne, he established clear laws, and his ministers were rectified. In the twenty-sixth year, he first unified all under Heaven, and none did not submit. He personally inspected the people of distant regions, ascended Mount Tai, and surveyed the eastern extremity. The attending ministers, reflecting on the fundamental achievements, respectfully praised the emperor’s merits and virtues; the Way of governing operates, the myriad things each attain their proper place, all have standards, and the great principles are beautiful and bright, setting a model for later ages that should be followed without alteration. The emperor himself is sage and enlightened; having already pacified the realm, he still does not slacken in governance, rising early and retiring late, establishing long-term benefits, devoting himself to carrying out instruction, so that teachings and the meaning of the classics are proclaimed and understood, and near and far are all well governed, all receiving the sage will. The noble and the base are clearly distinguished; men and women observe ritual propriety and harmony; they carefully attend to their duties; inner and outer are made bright, and all is pure; this extends to descendants, and moral transformation is inexhaustible. They respectfully obey the testamentary edict and forever receive its important admonitions.

In the first year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Wu of Han traveled east on a tour of inspection to the seacoast. In the fourth month of summer, he ascended Mount Tai and performed the Feng rite, sacrificing to Heaven. After descending, he took his seat in the Mingtang (Bright Hall). He issued an edict saying: I, with a humble body, have inherited the most honorable position; I am cautious and fearful, forever bearing the great solemn charge, only fearing that my virtue is shallow and that I am not versed in ritual and music; therefore I carried out the rituals of sacrificing to the Eight Spirits and other ceremonies (the original text says “Eight Rites”). It happened that Heaven and Earth bestowed blessings and displayed portents, and I seemed faintly to hear something; awed by these strange phenomena, I wished to stop but did not dare, and so I ascended Mount Tai to perform the Feng rite, went to Mount Liangfu, then ascended the altar and performed the Shan rite, sacrificing to Earth, solemnly renewing myself, and wishing to make a fresh start with the officials and scholars. Accordingly, I fixed the tenth month as the first year of Yuanfeng. In the places visited on the tour—Bo, Fenggao, Sheqiu, Licheng, Liangfu, and others—the people’s arrears of land rent, taxes, and loans were all remitted; to orphans and widows aged seventy and above he additionally bestowed silk, two bolts per person; the four counties were exempted from this year’s poll tax; throughout the empire the common people were granted one grade of noble rank, and to women, for every hundred households, cattle and wine were bestowed. He also issued an edict saying: In ancient times the Son of Heaven made a tour of inspection once every five years and sacrificed at Mount Tai; when feudal lords came for audience, they had places to lodge; let the feudal lords each build their own lodges at the foot of Mount Tai.

In the autumn of the second year of Yuanfeng, the Mingtang was built at Mount Tai.

In the tenth month of winter in the first year of Taichu, the emperor went to Mount Tai.

In the third month of spring in the fourth year of Taishi, he went to Mount Tai. On the Renwu day, he sacrificed to Gaoqi (as the original text has it; perhaps an ancestral tablet for joint sacrifice) in the Mingtang, to be paired with the Supreme God, and received the local accounts (reports of households and taxes). On the Guiwei day, he sacrificed to Emperor Xiaojing in the Mingtang. On the Jiashen day, he again performed the Feng rite. On the Bingxu day, he performed the Shan rite at Shiwen (i.e., Shilü).

In the third month of spring in the fourth year of Zhenghe, the emperor personally plowed at Juding and on the return journey went to Mount Tai. These records are abridged from Sima Qian’s “Treatise on the Feng and Shan Sacrifices.”

From antiquity, among those who received the Mandate of Heaven and became emperors and kings, did any fail to hold the grand Fengshan ceremony? There were indeed some who lacked the corresponding auspicious omens yet still performed it, but there was never one who, having seen an auspicious omen appear, did not go to Mount Tai to perform Fengshan. After Duke Huan of Qi became hegemon and convened the feudal lords in alliance at Kuiqiu, he too wished to perform Fengshan. Guan Zhong, whose given name was Yiwu, said: “In antiquity, those who performed the Feng sacrifice to Heaven at Mount Tai and the Shan sacrifice to Earth at Mount Liangfu numbered seventy-two houses, of which I remember twelve. Formerly, Wuhuai performed Feng at Mount Tai and Shan at Yunyun; Fuxi performed Feng at Mount Tai and Shan at Yunyun; Shennong performed Feng at Mount Tai and Shan at Yunyun; Yandi performed Feng at Mount Tai and Shan at Yunyun; the Yellow Emperor performed Feng at Mount Tai and Shan at Tingting; Zhuanxu performed Feng at Mount Tai and Shan at Yunyun; Diku performed Feng at Mount Tai and Shan at Yunyun; Yao performed Feng at Mount Tai and Shan at Yunyun; Shun performed Feng at Mount Tai and Shan at Yunyun; Yu performed Feng at Mount Tai and Shan at Kuaiji; Tang performed Feng at Mount Tai and Shan at Yunyun; and King Cheng of Zhou performed Feng at Mount Tai and Shan at Sheshou. All of them were able to perform Fengshan only after receiving the Mandate of Heaven.” Duke Huan said: “I campaigned north against the Shanrong and passed through Guzhu; west against Daxia, I crossed the shifting sands, strapped the horses and suspended the chariots, and climbed Mount Beier; campaigning south to Zhaoling, I climbed Mount Xiong’er and gazed afar at the Yangtze and Han rivers. I presided over two meetings of war chariots and six meetings of traveling carriages, assembled the feudal lords nine times, and brought the world into order once; none of the lords went against me. In former times, how were the three dynasties of Xia, Shang, and Zhou, who received the Mandate of Heaven, different from me?” Seeing that he could not persuade Duke Huan with words, Guan Zhong used concrete conditions to dissuade him, saying: “In ancient Fengshan, millet from Haoshang and grain from Beili were used as the offerings placed in sacrificial vessels; spiritual cogon grass with three ridges from between the Jiang and Huai was used as the matting; the East Sea had to send flatfish and the West Sea had to send the biyi bird; and then there were fifteen kinds of auspicious creatures that came without being summoned. Today the phoenix and qilin do not come, fine grain does not grow, while fleabane and weeds flourish and owls come repeatedly; yet you wish to perform Fengshan—I fear this may not be acceptable.” Only then did Duke Huan give up.

More than a hundred years later, Confucius discussed the Six Arts—ritual, music, archery, chariot-driving, writing, and numbers, the Confucian classics and skills—and the transmitted commentary says in outline: If weeds grow thick and owls repeatedly fly in, yet one still wishes to perform the Fengshan sacrifices—the Feng sacrifice to Heaven on Mount Tai and the Shan sacrifice to Earth at Liangfu—I fear it would not be permissible, would it? Thereupon Duke Huan of Qi gave up the plan. The commentary also says: those who changed their surnames and became kings, performed the Feng on Mount Tai and the Shan at Liangfu, numbered more than seventy rulers, but the ritual vessels and ceremonies they used are no longer clear, so it is difficult to explain them in detail.

In the third year after the First Emperor of Qin ascended the imperial throne, he toured the commanderies and counties to the east, sacrificed at Mount Zouyi, and extolled Qin’s achievements. He then summoned seventy Confucian scholars and erudites from Qi and Lu to the foot of Mount Tai. Some of the scholars discussed the matter, saying: in ancient times, for the Fengshan they used carts with wheels wrapped in rushes, fearing harm to the soil, stones, grass, and trees on the mountain; they swept the ground clean for sacrifice and used mats woven from straw, which shows that the rite was easy to carry out. When the First Emperor heard that their proposals were all different and difficult to implement, he dismissed the scholars. He then had carriage roads repaired, ascended to the summit from the south side of Mount Tai, set up a stone inscription praising the First Emperor’s achievements and virtue to declare that he had been granted the right to perform the Fengshan, then descended by the road on the north side and performed the Shan sacrifice at Liangfu. In its rites he largely adopted the ceremonies used by the Grand Invocator when sacrificing to the Lord on High at Yong, but the sealing and burial involved in the Fengshan were kept secret, so people of the world could not record them.

When the First Emperor ascended Mount Tai, he encountered a violent storm halfway up and rested under a large tree. Since the scholars had not been allowed to take part in the Fengshan ceremony, when they heard that the First Emperor had met with wind and rain, they mocked him. Twelve years after the First Emperor performed the Fengshan, the Qin dynasty perished. The scholars bitterly hated Qin for burning the Poems and Documents and executing men of letters; the common people resented Qin’s laws; and when the realm turned against the dynasty, they all put about the story that the First Emperor, while ascending Mount Tai, had been struck by violent wind and rain and had failed to complete the Fengshan. Was this not the so-called case of performing the Fengshan without virtue? The present emperor—Emperor Wu of Han—having himself obtained a precious tripod, then deliberated with the high ministers and feudal lords about performing the Fengshan.

Fengshan—the ceremony in which the emperor sacrificed to Heaven on Mount Tai and to Earth at a nearby hill—was rarely performed; it had long been discontinued, and no one knew its exact rites. The Confucian scholars therefore collected old rites such as the wangsi (sacrifices to distant mountains and rivers) and she-niu (shooting the ox) from the Shangshu, Zhouguan, and Wangzhi. Ding Gong of Qi, more than ninety years old, said: “Fengshan is the ancient expression for immortality.” Emperor Wu of Han then ordered the scholars to practice the shooting of the ox and draft the Fengshan ritual. Several years later it was about to be carried out. The emperor, hearing the alchemists Gongsun Qing and others say that the Yellow Emperor and more ancient emperors had, through Fengshan, summoned wondrous things and established contact with spirits, wished to imitate them in order to connect with immortals and Penglai (the mountain isle in the sea), rise above the ordinary world, and match his virtue with the Nine Sovereigns, while at the same time adopting some Confucian learning to embellish the matter. The scholars, however, could neither clarify the Fengshan rites nor, bound as they were by the ancient wording of the Shi and Shu, develop them. The emperor showed them the sacrificial vessels he had made for Fengshan, and in the end dismissed all the scholars and did not employ them.

In the third month, the emperor went east and ascended Mount Tai. Its plants and trees had not yet put forth leaves, so he ordered men to carry stones and set them up on the summit. The emperor reflected that the scholars and alchemists each spoke differently about Fengshan and that their accounts were not in accord with ordinary principles and difficult to put into practice. When he reached Liangfu, he sacrificed to the Earth God. On the Yimao day, he ordered the Confucian scholars among the Palace Attendants to wear leather caps, insert their tablets of office, and let down their sash ends, and to perform the shooting-the-ox rite. Below Mount Tai, on its eastern side, he performed the Feng sacrifice according to the rites of the suburban sacrifice to Taiyi. The Feng altar was one zhang two chi broad and nine chi high; beneath the altar was buried a jade tablet document, whose contents were kept secret. When the rite was finished, the emperor alone, with the Palace Attendant Fengche Zihou, ascended Mount Tai and also performed the Feng sacrifice; all these matters were kept secret. The next day he descended by the road on the north side of the mountain. On the Bingchen day, at Suran Mountain, northeast of the foot of Mount Tai, he performed the Shan sacrifice and sacrificed to Houtu. During the Fengshan sacrifices, at night there seemed to be light, and by day curling cloud vapor rose from the Feng altar.

After Emperor Wu of Han returned from the Feng and Shan sacrifices, he sat in the Bright Hall, and the assembled ministers came forward in turn to congratulate him. In the summer of the following year there was a great drought. Gongsun Qing said: “When the Yellow Emperor performed the Feng and Shan sacrifices, he too encountered drought; it was meant to make the sealed earth dry for three years.” Emperor Wu then issued an edict saying: “The drought—could it be that Heaven intends the sealed earth to dry?” He therefore regulated and carried out the Feng and Shan sacrifices according to the earlier ritual system of one sacrifice every five years, and added a sacrifice at Shilü. Shilü—a place name at the southern foot of Mount Tai, called by the fangshi the Gate of Immortals—lay at the southern foot of Mount Tai. Most fangshi said that this was the gate and entrance to the dwelling place of immortals, and so Emperor Wu went in person to perform the Shan sacrifice there. The Grand Historian Sima Qian said: I followed the emperor on his tours of sacrifice to Heaven and Earth, the various spirits, and the famous mountains and great rivers, and took part in the Feng and Shan sacrifices; I entered the Shou Palace—the palace where the spirits were sacrificed to—and attended the sacrifices and the utterances of the spirits, deeply observing the intentions of the fangshi and shrine officials. Thereafter I withdrew and discussed the practices of serving ghosts and spirits from ancient times onward, so that both their outer and inner circumstances might be fully set forth for later gentlemen to read. As for the details of sacrificial vessels and offerings such as the zu and dou stands, jade tablets and silk offerings, and the rites of presentation and reciprocal toasting, these were preserved by the responsible officials. What is marked at the end of the chapter as Ban Gu’s Baihu Tong is an abridgment.

When ancient rulers changed dynasties and rose by receiving the Mandate of Heaven, they invariably ascended Mount Tai to perform the Feng rite in order to report to Heaven. On first receiving the Mandate, they reformed institutions to comply with Heaven’s will; when all under Heaven was at peace and their achievements were complete, they performed the Feng and Shan sacrifices to announce the accomplishment of peace to Heaven. Why must it be at Mount Tai? Because Mount Tai is where the ten thousand things alternate and converge. Why on the summit? It is to rely on a high place to report to Heaven on high, in accord with the principle that like responds to like. Thus “ascending to perform the Feng” means increasing height; performing the Shan sacrifice below the mountain at Liangfu, a small hill near Mount Tai, is to emulate the broad and deep foundation of the Earth. Inscribing stones to record achievements and titles was to make one’s merits clear and present them to Heaven. Heaven takes height as its honor and Earth takes thickness as its virtue; therefore they increased Mount Tai to repay Heaven and relied on Liangfu’s foundation to repay Earth, manifesting the charge conferred by Heaven and Earth. When works were accomplished and affairs completed, benefiting Heaven and Earth, it was like adding height to the high and thickness to the thick.

Some say the Feng rite used gold mud and silver cords; others say it used stone mud and gold cords, sealed with seals. Confucius said: Ascending Mount Tai and observing the rulers who changed surname and received the Mandate, those who can be counted number more than seventy. “Feng” means broadening and increasing; “Shan” means making clear that success is transmitted to later generations. Why at Liangfu? The Three Sovereigns performed the Shan sacrifice at Mount Yiyi, an ancient mountain name, declaring their success and reporting to Heaven, letting the virtuous occupy their places; “yiyi” has the meaning of inexhaustible. The Five Emperors performed the Shan sacrifice at Mount Tingting, an ancient mountain name, to measure and examine, making virtue conspicuous and clear. The Three Kings performed the Shan sacrifice at Mount Liangfu because “liang” means trustworthiness and “fu” means assistance, indicating assistance in carrying out the Way of Heaven and Earth. Only when all under Heaven is at peace should one perform the Feng and report to Heaven; this is a matter of course. Why at Daizong, another name for Mount Tai? It is to clearly announce the change of dynasty, inscribe stones to record the title, and announce that one is recorded among the hundred kings. The Liao sacrifice, burning firewood as an offering to Heaven, is the meaning of repaying Heaven. The Book of Songs says, “How glorious is this Zhou; it ascended its high mountains,” which speaks of the Zhou performing the Feng at Mount Tai when all under Heaven was at peace.

In the tenth month of the twentieth year of Jianwu, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han made an eastern tour to Mount Tai (Daizong). In the thirtieth year of Jianwu, the assembled ministers submitted a memorial requesting the performance of Fengshan—the Feng sacrifice to Heaven at Mount Tai and the Shan sacrifice to Earth at Mount Liangfu. Guangwu issued an edict saying: I have occupied the throne for thirty years, and the people’s resentment fills their bellies; whom can I still deceive? Would I deceive Heaven? Is the spirit of Mount Tai less versed in ritual propriety than Lin Fang? Why should I defile the records of the seventy-two rulers of past ages who performed Fengshan? When Duke Huan of Qi wished to perform Fengshan, Guan Zhong opposed it. If commanderies and counties send officials from afar to offer congratulations and loudly proclaim false virtues, they shall certainly be subjected to the kun punishment—having their heads shaved—and sentenced to garrison farming. After this, the ministers dared not raise the matter again.

In the thirty-second year of Jianwu, Guangwu read at night the Hetu Huichang Fu, which says, “Red Liu’s ninth will receive the mandate at Daizong”—the ninth generation of the Liu clan of Fire Virtue was to receive the mandate at Mount Tai. Moved by this, he issued an edict ordering Liang Song to examine passages in the charts and prophecies concerning Fengshan by the ninth generation. After Liang Song and others itemized their findings and submitted a memorial, only then did he permit Fengshan. They further examined the precedent of Emperor Wu of Han’s Fengshan in the Yuanfeng era and discussed the institutions to be used. The responsible office memorialized that the altar should be built by piling up square stones, and that there should be jade tablets, jade covers, gold mud, and stone covers, each with its own specifications. Guangwu considered the stonework arduous and also wished to perform Fengshan in the second month, so he issued an edict ordering Liang Song simply to seal again over the empty space in the old sealed stone. Liang Song submitted a memorial arguing that this was impermissible.

In the first month he arrived at Fenggao and sent the Attendant Censor and the Lantai Director to lead the craftsmen up the mountain first to carve the stone. On the xinmao day he performed the Feng sacrifice at Mount Tai; on the jiawu day he performed the Shan sacrifice at Mount Liangfu. On the jimao day of the fourth month he declared a general amnesty and changed the thirty-second year of Jianwu to the first year of Jianwu Zhongyuan. The text of Guangwu’s stone inscription is omitted here.

In the second month of Jianwu 32 (the first year of Guangwu’s Zhongyuan era), Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu made an eastern tour and came to Mount Tai (Daizong). He burned wood in the chai sacrifice to Heaven, offered the wang sacrifices to mountains and rivers according to rank, sacrificed to all the gods, and then met the lords of the East. Among the accompanying ministers were Grand Commandant Xian and Specially Advanced Deng Yu, Marquis of Gaomi, acting as Minister over the Masses; descendants of the two former kings were present as guests of Han; the descendant of Confucius, the Marquis of Baocheng, was ranked after the eastern lords; and twelve vassal kings all came to assist at the sacrifice.

The Chenwei (Han dynasty prophetic-apocryphal texts), such as the Hetu Chidai Fu, said: Liu Xiu raised troops to seize the unrighteous; from all quarters they gathered like clouds, and dragons fought in the field; “at the juncture of four and seven,” the Fire Virtue was due to rise. The Hetu Huichang Fu said: The Red Emperor (since Han is the Fire Virtue) in the ninth generation, his tour inspections accord with the middle Dao; the ninth generation of the Liu surname receives the mandate at Daizong; with a sincere heart and good use of Heaven’s mandate, treachery and falsehood will not sprout. The Red Han’s virtue and destiny flourish; the ninth generation will meet with prosperity; touring Mount Tai is timely; Heaven and Earth support the ninth generation and honor the constant Dao of warp and weft; the Dao of Han’s great flourishing lies with the ninth-generation king. Thereupon he performed the Feng sacrifice at Mount Tai and carved stone to record it; performed the Shan sacrifice at Liangfu (a small hill below Mount Tai); and then withdrew to examine and assess the Five Virtues. These statements are transmitted in the classical apocrypha such as the Hetu Hegu Pian, the Luoshu Zhenyao Du, and the Xiaojing Gouming Jue.

In former times Emperor Yao, wise and deeply perceptive, yielded the world to Shun, and his descendants held the mandate of Heaven. Wang Mang, relying on the power of a consort clan and of the Three Excellencies and chief ministers, falsely invoked the names of the Duke of Zhou and Huo Guang in assisting a young ruler and returning governance to the sovereign, and in the end usurped and rebelled, assuming a usurper’s title and setting himself up independently. As a result, the ancestral temples were destroyed, the altars of soil and grain perished, and for eighteen years [the dynasty] could not enjoy blood sacrifices. Yangzhou, Xuzhou, and Qingzhou first fell into great chaos; weapons and war ran rampant and spread to Jingzhou; local strongmen annexed one another, and within a hundred li troops and horses were gathered; often they usurped titles and called themselves kings. In the north, the Yi and Di invaded; for a thousand li there was no smoke of human habitation, and the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking could not be heard.

August Heaven looked upon him with favor: the emperor, though of commoner origin, received the Mandate of Heaven and restored the imperial enterprise. He raised arms at twenty-eight and campaigned for more than ten years, finally subduing the guilty. The people were able to return to their fields and dwell securely in their homes. Throughout All Under Heaven he unified the script, the wheel gauge, and moral and civilizing instruction. Wherever carts and boats could reach and human traces could arrive, none failed to pay tribute and perform their duties. He built the Mingtang (the ritual hall where the Son of Heaven proclaims governance and instruction), established the Biyong (Imperial Academy), erected the Lingtai (a ritual terrace for observing celestial phenomena), and set up Xiangxu (local schools). He unified laws and decrees and weights and measures. He revised the Five Rites and the ritual regulations concerning sacrificial jades, silks, and victims—such as the five jades, three silks, two victims, and one dead offering. Officials each kept to their duties, and the old statutes were restored. He reigned for thirty-three years and lived to sixty-one. He was diligent without cease; even when the sun had declined in the west, he did not dare abandon himself to ease. He underwent hardships and dangers, personally inspected the people, reverently sacrificed to the spirits, showed kindness and sympathy to the aged, governed the people according to ancient institutions, and was intelligent, discerning, and tolerant. The emperor was especially reverent and cautious regarding the main text of the Hetu and Luoshu (ancient books of auspicious omens). On the xinmao day of this month, he burned firewood in sacrifice to Heaven and ascended Mount Tai. On the jiawu day, he sacrificed to Earth at Liangyin. In this way he received the numinous blessings and auspicious responses, prayed for blessings for the myriad people, and sought forever to preserve the unity of All Under Heaven and transmit it to later generations. The hundred officials and accompanying ministers, the commandery governors and chief administrators, all received blessings without end.

In the first month of the second year of Yuanhe, Emperor Zhang made an eastern tour of inspection; he burned firewood to announce the sacrifice to Daizong (Mount Tai). He arrived at Fenggao and sacrificed to the Five Emperors at the Mingtang on the Wen River. On the bingzi day of the second month of the third year of Yanguang, Emperor An made an eastern tour of inspection. On the xinmao day, he burned firewood to announce the sacrifice to Daizong. Emperor Ming of Wei made eastern tours of inspection and reached Daizong three times; wherever he passed, he inquired after the aged and relieved the suffering, sometimes granting grain and cloth.

In the ninth year of Kaihuang, Emperor Wen of Sui, both court and countryside requested the Fengshan (the great state ceremony of sacrificing to Heaven at Mount Tai and to Earth at Liangfu and other sites). An edict said in substance: “To seal a famous mountain on account of slight virtue, and to seek the Supreme God with empty words—this is not what I have heard. Henceforth, any further talk of Fengshan should be immediately prohibited.” In the fourteenth year of Kaihuang, the hundred officials submitted memorials urgently requesting Fengshan. Emperor Wen ordered Niu Hong and others to create the ritual regulations. When they were completed, Emperor Wen looked at them and said: “This matter is of great weight; what virtue do I have to bear it? I should only make an eastern tour and incidentally sacrifice at Mount Tai.”

In the early years of the Zhenguan era under Emperor Taizong of Tang, all the ministers requested the performance of Fengshan—the “Feng” sacrifice to Heaven on Mount Tai and the “Shan” sacrifice to Earth on a lesser hill below it—but only Wei Zheng considered it inadvisable. In the sixth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said: “This matter is of great importance; what virtue do I have to undertake it? I should merely make an eastern inspection tour and take the opportunity to sacrifice at Mount Tai.” In the sixth year of Zhenguan, because they had just pacified the Turks, a powerful northern enemy, and because his abundant virtue covered all within the seas and there had been successive years of good harvests, the civil and military officials submitted a memorial requesting the Feng sacrifice at Mount Tai. Taizong said to his attending ministers: “I have often heard people discuss Fengshan as a grand affair and repeatedly urge me to perform it. But according to my own mind, if only the world is at peace and every household is well-off, then even without the rites of Fengshan I may be compared in virtue to Yao and Shun; if the common people are not provided for and the barbarians invade, then even if I perform the Fengshan ceremonies, how would I differ from Jie and Zhou? Formerly, Qin Shi Huang was a cruel and tyrannical ruler, while Emperor Wen of Han was a virtuous lord; from this it follows that one need not rely on Fengshan. Moreover, the Ritual Classics say: ‘Sweep the ground and sacrifice, to express the utmost sincerity.’ Why must one climb far up a high mountain and seal a three-foot mound of earth?” Although Taizong adopted Wei Zheng’s words, the feudal vassals still submitted memorials earnestly requesting it. In the fifteenth year of Zhenguan, Taizong made an eastern tour to Huizhou and Luoyang; just then a comet appeared, and so the matter was stopped.

In the second year of the Linde era under Emperor Gaozong, he went to Mount Tai, the Eastern Peak. In the first month of the first year of Qianfeng, he performed the Feng sacrifice to Heaven on Mount Tai and the Shan sacrifice to Earth at Mount Sheshou, having Empress Wu perform the second libation and Lady Yan, the Grand Consort of Yue, perform the final libation; their tents were lavishly adorned with brocade and embroidery. When the assembled ministers looked from afar, many secretly laughed.

The yudie prayer text was the prayer inscribed on the jade document used in the Fengshan sacrifice. It began: “The succeeding Son of Heaven of the Tang, subject so-and-so, ventures to report clearly to Haotian Shangdi (August Heaven Supreme Deity).” What follows recounts the Feng sacrifice to Heaven at Mount Tai and the Shan sacrifice to Earth at Mount Sheshou, with Empress Wu as the second libation and Consort Yan as the final libation, the tents brocaded and embroidered, and the ministers secretly laughing—corresponding to the preceding account of Emperor Gaozong’s Fengshan.

This is the declaration to Heaven drafted by Luo Binwang on behalf of the elders of Qi Zhou when they requested to accompany the Fengshan sacrifice: Your subject, so-and-so, Son of Heaven who has inherited the imperial throne of the Tang dynasty, ventures to report to Haotian Shangdi (the Supreme God of Heaven): the Sui dynasty’s mandate had tottered and its allotted span was exhausted; the common people were plunged into hardship, and the Sui state perished. Gaozu (Li Yuan, Emperor Gaozu of Tang) grasped the yellow battle-axe (the authority to punish and campaign) to rescue the people, and received the dark jade tablet (the auspicious token of Heaven’s mandate) to save those who were drowning; Taizong (Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of Tang) achieved merit as vast as Nüwa smelting stones to mend Heaven, again commanded armies to pacify the realm, and his achievements stood majestic like cutting off the giant turtle’s legs to establish the four poles, his spirit swallowing the vast sea in a single breath. I am ashamed to inherit the residual enterprise of the former emperors and reverently receive their accumulated blessings, thereby causing the fires of Kunshan to be quelled and the waves of the flaming sea to be clarified; although this is the flourishing of my dynasty’s ancestral temple foundation, it is truly Heaven’s descent of spiritual protection. Now I respectfully announce completion at Mount Tai and ascribe the merit to Heaven, wishing that the imperial throne become ever more exalted and the great foundation forever firm, that virtue and grace gather and nurture the myriad people, and that civilizing teaching reach the eight directions and the farthest limits.

This memorial is a text in which the assembled officials praise the merits and virtues of Tang Xuanzong and request to accompany the Fengshan sacrifice at Mount Tai (Fengshan: sacrificing to Heaven at Mount Tai to announce the completion of the imperial task). At the beginning it says: Round Heaven displays the celestial patterns; the Purple Palace (the abode of the Heavenly Emperor) above connects to the honor of the North Pole; the Heavenly Emperor fixes the charts and registers, and far-reaching plans cause the rite of the eastern inspection tour to proceed smoothly. Thus one knows that the enterprise of the Dao (the Way) is flourishing and its radiance shines universally. Having already held the jade-collecting rite at the Cloud Terrace and inherited the achievements of the ancestors, His Majesty must surely perform the gold-smearing ceremony at Riguan Peak. We respectfully reflect that His Majesty rides Qian and grasps the norm, continues the Three Sequences (the system of calendrical legitimacy upon receiving the mandate) and renews their light, ascends the pivot of the imperial throne, and is in accord with a thousand spirits and the sage kings of successive ages. That is why the Five Elders emerged from the Yellow River and revealed red writings at the time of the emperor’s reception of the mandate; the sea offered the Four Spirits and presented cinnabar documents at the royal assembly; the auspicious omen of the three-ridged [grass] opened, and the auspicious five-colored clouds harmonized. Afterward he arranged the old documents of the Zongzhang and inherited the precedents of the Biyong. Auspicious clouds guarded the procession; the jade carriage was moved to Liangyin, like the moon bearing its wheel; on the carriage road of Mount Tai, gold ropes and other Fengshan ritual objects were secretly stored. We, your servants, are by nature like straw dogs (sacrificial straw dogs, a metaphor for the lowly), and our years are already like the evening scene at mulberry and elm. Fortunately, we have met the sage brightness that shines universally like Yao’s mirror; we have been touched by its residual light and may follow and accompany the grand rite. The old lands of Zou-Lu and Linzi all received Zhou teaching, and their praising customs are unified; the territory borders green fields and overlooks the field where the qilin was captured; the mountains open in emerald color and slantingly join the peak of distinguishing horses. How could we let the remnant people of Jixia and the elders of Yanzhong be kept outside the accompanying sacrifices of the Fengshan rite and only vainly submit the old ceremony of announcing completion? Therefore we, your servants, approach the sunlight and offer our sincere loyalty; gazing at the clouds, we send our thoughts, and our voices reach the Ninth Heaven (the Son of Heaven). If our humble sincerity is granted and we are permitted to accompany the great rite, then even our twilight and remnant souls will joyfully leap to follow to Mount Tai.

In the twelfth year of Kaiyuan under Xuanzong, many officials spoke of Fengshan; Zhang Yue, the director of the Secretariat, again firmly requested it, and Xuanzong then issued an edict that in the thirteenth year he would go to Mount Tai to perform the Fengshan sacrifice.

In the twelfth year of the Kaiyuan era of Tang Xuanzong, many court officials advocated performing the Fengshan (the grand imperial sacrifices to Heaven and Earth), and Zhang Yue, director of the Secretariat, firmly requested it as well. An edict was therefore issued fixing the Fengshan at Mount Tai for the thirteenth year of Kaiyuan. Xuanzong personally composed and wrote out the Inscription Recording Mount Tai.

Jade Tablet prayer text (the document announcing to Heaven during the Fengshan):

The Son of Heaven who succeeds to the Tang throne, your subject [name omitted], ventures to declare plainly to Haotian Shangdi (the Supreme Deity of Heaven): Heaven opened the Tang dynasty of the Li clan, and its dynastic fortune arose from the virtue of Earth (in the theory of the succession of the Five Powers, Tang corresponded to Earth). Gaozong and Taizong received the Mandate of Heaven and established the imperial enterprise. Gaozong performed the Shengzhong rite (the Fengshan announcement to Heaven), and the realm was abundant; Zhongzong inherited and restored it, but the line of succession was unsettled. The Supreme Deity looked down and protected us, bestowing on your subject loyal martial valor (referring to Xuanzong’s use of loyalty and martial force to pacify internal troubles), settling internal disorder, and supporting the sage father. I reverently inherited the imperial throne, and it is now thirteen years; I respectfully comply with Heaven’s will, and the Four Seas are at peace. Now at Daiyue (Mount Tai) I perform the Feng sacrifice, thanking Heaven for success and praying that my descendants enjoy a hundred blessings and the common people receive blessings.

Xuanzong’s preface to the Inscription Recording Mount Tai:

The stone engraving at Mount Tai—the cliff stele—is described in detail in the Record of Remains.

I have occupied the imperial throne for fourteen years. Reflecting on myself, my virtue is insufficient and I do not understand the ultimate Dao; I bear a responsibility difficult to bear and occupy a position difficult to occupy. I do not know whether I have incurred guilt toward those above and below; my heart is vast and uneasy, as if crossing a great river. Relying on the Supreme Deity’s blessings and the auspiciousness accumulated over time, the chancellor and the hundred officials together cultivate and clarify the imperial standard (the central and correct way of governance); the Four Seas are united, the Five Norms (the teachings of the Five Constants) flourish, the yearly grain ripens twice, and the people are harmonious. The hundred officials deliberated and proposed that I perform the Fengshan, saying that no filial piety is greater than honoring one’s father and no rite is more honored than announcing to Heaven. Heavenly tallies (auspicious omens) had already arrived, human hopes had accumulated, and their insistent requests would not stop; my firm refusals did not win approval. Together with two or three ministers, I examined the Canon of Yu and elaborated the Han system; we displayed the six armies and shook the Nine Provinces. Banners and flags were in order; officers and horses made no sound. Solemn and harmonious, reverent and majestic, we arrived at the summit of Daizong (Mount Tai). The Erya says: Mount Tai is the Eastern Marchmount. The Zhouguan says: the guardian mountain of Yanzhou is in truth the grandson of the Heavenly Emperor; the assembled… Only the character qun (“assembled/group”) survives in the final sentence; it probably refers to the assembled ministers or assembled deities, but the exact meaning is unclear.

Mount Tai is the residence of the spirits and gods. It stands where the myriad things first come into being; hence it is called “Dai” (Dai refers to Mount Tai; the ancients regarded the east as the beginning of all things). It ranks first among the Five Sacred Mountains; hence it is called “Zong” (zong means ancestral lord, the chief honored one). Since antiquity, when emperors received the Mandate of Heaven and dynasties changed, they would inaugurate here the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, report their accomplishments, set forth in order the charts, registers, and tally-mandates of Heaven, and record the dynastic name. I have succeeded the former kings and followed this canonical statute, truly in order to repay the gracious mandate of Dark Heaven (Heaven above) and to seek blessings for the common people—how would I dare exalt myself above all ages and compare myself to the Nine Sovereigns of remote antiquity (the Nine Sovereigns are the nine legendary rulers of high antiquity)? Therefore I established an altar ground below the mountain to receive the assisting sacrifices from all quarters, and personally went up the mountain to perform the Feng-liao rite (burning brushwood as a sacrifice to Heaven), hoping that the sincerity of a single offering might reach the gods. This is also the meaning of relying on the high mountain to revere Heaven and drawing near the vast earth to make Earth more substantial. Accordingly, on the Gengyin day of midwinter, I sacrificed to the Eastern Sacred Peak, performed the lei sacrifice to August Heaven Supreme God, with my high ancestor as co-sacrificer; all heavenly spirits descended. On the next day, at Mount She Shou (a small mountain below Mount Tai), I performed the Shan rite of sacrifice to Earth, with the former sages as co-sacrificers, and sacrificed to the August Earth Deity (the earth god); all earthly spirits received their sacrifices. On the Renchen day, I held audience with the assembled lords. The chief duke addressed me, saying: The Son of Heaven has received Heaven’s tally and accepted great blessings; the assembled ministers bow with hands to the ground and knock their heads, wishing him a reign of ten thousand years, joyfully celebrating and declaring their sincerity, so that by virtue the great transformation of Heaven and Earth, the order of human relations, and the Three Affairs (government) are all brought to peace. That the hundred officials each keep to their duties is your merit; that the myriad things each attain their place and the common people are able to flourish—this is the merit of the local governors and all officials. That brothers earnestly practice filial piety and fraternal love and extend this virtue to all nations is a splendid thing. That the Confucians establish rites and the historians compose music, so that Heaven and Earth are harmonious, is a splendid thing. That the Man, Yi, Rong, and Di peoples come through multiple translations to present tribute is the result of the civilizing influence of successive sage kings—how would I dare boast of it? That the Five Numinous Beings and a hundred treasures come daily and gather monthly is due to a flourishing destiny—how would I dare take it as my own achievement.

From now on, even when occupying the ruler’s position, one must not be arrogant. Rather, one should unify the kingly standards, bring all statutes and decrees into order, abolish old harmful regulations, and remedy neglected government affairs; retain what is concise and easy to practice, remove what is cumbersome and harsh; and think to establish the highest norms of human relations so as to manifest the laws of the Dao of Heaven. Alas! Heaven gives birth to the multitude of people, and the ruler governs them in due season. To be able to bestow excellent benefits upon the world is to serve the Dao of Heaven and be radiant; the great earth, with its profound virtue, sustains all things, and the ruler assists Heaven and Earth. To be able to nurture the myriad people with the way of abundant life is to serve the Dao of Earth and be clear-sighted. When Heaven and Earth are clear-sighted, the ghosts and spirits also become manifest.

My founding ancestor (Yizu) and my late father (Wenkao) have their spirits in Heaven, and they will approve, saying: “Excellent! This young grandson of mine can sacrifice to God on High (Shangdi) and present fragrant offerings on time.” Thereupon they greatly send down a decree: “Join with my great-grandson, who is accomplished in both civil and martial virtues; greatly bestow a new mandate; inherit my former enterprise; forever preserve the royal emolument, and may descendants for generations inherit it.” I, this small one, dare to proclaim the beautiful mandate of God on High, and I will also, together with the hundred officials, pacify the myriad people, cause achievements to surpass those of predecessors, and carefully deal with later troubles. If even one person does not find his proper place, the blame for all regions rests on me; I will hold to this with a single heart to the end, and Heaven knows my heart.

I treasure and practice three virtues: compassion, frugality, and humility. The compassionate can walk in boundless auspiciousness, with blessings enduring long; the frugal revere admonitions concerning the future; the self-satisfied will be diminished by others, while the self-humble will receive increase from Heaven. If one can be like this, the course is easy to follow and the foundation easy to maintain. Therefore I polish and engrave the stone wall and cast a metal record, so that later generations may hear these words and see this heart, observe the branches and know the root.

The inscription says: Heaven gives birth to the people and establishes rulers to govern them. The ruler receives the Mandate of Heaven and is honored as the Son of Heaven. Dynasties pass and do not remain; people come without end. Those whose virtue has grown cold and thin—the original reads “frozen”—perish; those high in the Dao rise. The illustrious Gaozu (Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan) and the enlightened Taizong (Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin) thereupon abolished the government of the Sui dynasty and possessed the myriad states.

Gist of the inscription: Under all Heaven the celestial canopy is spread, and throughout the earth domains are enfeoffed; martial achievements pacify distant regions, while civil governance brings harmony to the age. Gaozong (Emperor Gaozong of Tang) investigated ancient institutions and broadly bestowed grace and virtue; the vast Nine Yi were pacified in a single campaign. The rites of Fengshan (the grand rite in which the sovereign sacrifices to Heaven and reports his achievements) were complete, and his merits equaled those of Shun and Yu. The towering Mount Tai extends and protects the sacred fortune of our dynasty. Zhongzong (Emperor Zhongzong of Tang) inherited the dynastic fortune and renewed the old realm; Ruizong (Emperor Ruizong of Tang) inherited the light, and the world returned to benevolence. The sovereign, reverent and self-restrained, faced south and governed, making customs pure and generous; the Fengshan rite for announcing completion to Heaven was left to later generations. I (the sovereign speaking in the inscription) cherish the memory of my predecessors and inherit the foundation of the Five Sages; I dare not boast of lofty achievements and abundant virtue, but only reverently follow the great sacrificial rites and grandly receive the eternal mandate. With utmost sincerity I move Heaven to bless the myriad people. Since antiquity, seventy-two rulers have performed the Feng sacrifice at Mount Tai; some performed the Shan rite at Mount Sheshou, others at Mount Yunyun (both small mountains near Mount Tai). Though their traces can no longer be seen, their names can still be heard. Reverently emulating Wen Zu, the Accomplished Ancestor, we illuminate the old merits. The fangshi were given to absurdities, and Confucian writings were mired in trifles; later emperors, seeking immortality, recklessly used the jade documents of Fengshan and thereby deceived the spirits. The Qin Fengshan met with the calamity of wind and rain; the Han Fengshan left a blot in the historical records. When virtue did not accord with Heaven, they instead suffered disgrace. The great Dao lies in examining government affairs; reputation should not follow private desire. Therefore this inscription is carved on the high cliff, to proclaim it to all the mountains.

Historical events: In the eighth year of Taiping Xingguo of Emperor Taizong of Song, more than a thousand elders of Mount Tai came to the palace gates to request that he go east to Mount Tai to perform Fengshan. Taizong modestly declined and would not consent; ministers within and outside the court presented songs and praised his merits and virtues, and those requesting Fengshan were too numerous to count. In the first year of Yongxi, the ministers three times submitted memorials setting forth the request, and Taizong issued an edict setting the eleventh month of that year for the Fengshan at Mount Tai. Soon afterward, because fires broke out in the Qianyuan and Wenming Halls, he issued an edict stopping the Fengshan.

In the first year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era of Emperor Zhenzong of Song (1008), Lü Liang and 1,278 elders of Yanzhou came to the palace gates to request the performance of the Fengshan (the great state ceremony of sacrificing to Heaven and Earth at Mount Tai). Zhenzong said, “This is a great matter and must not be discussed rashly.” The prefect Shao Hua then led his subordinate officials and the Yanzhou jinshi Kong Wei and others to prostrate themselves before the palace gates and submit the request; Chancellor Wang Dan led the civil and military officials, officers of the various armies, prefectural and county officials, envoys of foreign and tribal peoples, Buddhist and Daoist clergy, and venerable elders—24,070 people in all—to the Dongshanghe Gate, a palace gate, to request the Fengshan at Mount Tai. The emperor issued an edict refusing. Only after four earnest memorials did he decree that the Fengshan would be held at Mount Tai in the tenth month of that year. Previously, the Palace Censor Zhao Xiang had also requested the Fengshan, and the emperor made a cupped-hand salute but gave no answer. Wang Dan and the others said, “The Fengshan rite has long fallen into disuse. Had it not been a sage and enlightened age of Great Peace, how could it be revived and performed?” Wang Qinruo had already used the “treaty beneath the city walls”—referring to the Treaty of Chanyuan—to disparage Kou Zhun, and from then on the emperor was often sullen and displeased. One day he asked Wang Qinruo, “What is to be done now?” Wang Qinruo, surmising that the emperor was weary of using troops, said insincerely, “Only if Your Majesty sends out troops to attack and take Youzhou and Jizhou—the present-day Beijing area—can this shame be washed away.” The emperor told him to think of a lesser plan, and Wang Qinruo therefore proposed the Fengshan, so as to overawe the realm and make a display before the Yi and Di peoples. The emperor said, “I am afraid Wang Dan will not agree.” Wang Qinruo told Wang Dan of the emperor’s intention, and Wang Dan reluctantly complied.

On the Xinyou day of the tenth month, he set out from the capital. On Dingwei, he encamped at Fenggao. On Gengxu, he ascended the mountain in a hand-carried sedan chair. On Xinhai, at the Tutai, the Altar of Heaven, he sacrificed to Haotian Shangdi, the Supreme Heavenly God, and the Vice Minister of the Secretariat read the jade-register text, the document for sacrificing to Heaven engraved on jade tablets. That same day he returned to the Fenggao Palace. Five-colored clouds appeared beside the sun. All the rare birds and strange beasts presented from the four quarters since the preceding reigns were released at the foot of the mountain. On Guichou, he ascended the Chaoguan Altar, the altar for receiving audiences after the Fengshan, and granted a general amnesty throughout the realm. Qianfeng County was renamed Fengfu, and the summit of Mount Tai was renamed Taiping Summit. The jade-register prayer text was the prayer wording on the jade register used in the Fengshan.

After the Song successor ruler, Emperor Zhenzong, ascended the throne, he released at the foot of the mountain all the rare birds and exotic beasts that had been presented from the four quarters since earlier reigns. On the Guichou day, he personally attended the Chaojin Altar (the altar used for the Fengshan rites), proclaimed a general amnesty throughout the realm, renamed Qianfeng County Fengfu, and renamed the summit of Mount Tai Taiping Peak.

The Jade Tablet prayer text (the document announcing to Heaven when an emperor performs the Fengshan rites) states: The subject of the Song dynasty who has inherited the position of Son of Heaven (the emperor’s humble self-designation, with his personal name omitted) ventures to proclaim to Haotian Shangdi (the Supreme God): The dynastic fortune has opened the Great Harmony, and the Song has received Heaven’s mandate; Taizu founded the enterprise, and his achievements were completed and order established; Taizong received the charts and registers, and generation after generation flourished. I, with a humble designation, have inherited the foundation of the successive sage rulers. It has now been one ji (twelve years); distant regions of the four quarters come to court; Heaven bestows extraordinary auspicious omens; the Six Treasuries (metal, wood, water, fire, earth, grain, and other resources for the people’s livelihood) are brightly manifest; the seasons are harmonious and the harvests abundant; and all living beings have their wishes fulfilled. Thereupon it was decided to hold the great Fengshan ceremony, to set forth and announce it to Heaven. I personally ascended Mount Tai and made my declaration before Heaven; I pray that blessings may extend down to the common people, with my ancestors joined in sacrifice to the spirits and offerings made to the former kings. May Heaven’s blessings be boundless, the spirits’ favor be made manifest, the imperial enterprise flourish, and pure, generous blessings be forever preserved.

Emperor Zhenzong’s imperially composed preface and inscription (a preface and inscription written by the emperor himself) once again reiterated the themes of harmonious seasons and abundant harvests, all living beings fulfilling their wishes, the decision to carry out the great Fengshan sacrifice, his personal ascent of Mount Tai, praying for blessings and honoring ancestors, and Heaven’s blessings without limit.

I have heard that unifying all under Heaven, broadly extending virtuous teaching, settling the myriad things, and bringing about the Great Peace—this is the great enterprise of the state. To examine the grand rites, offer utmost sincerity, and ascend Mount Tai to repay Heaven’s pure and generous blessings—this is how emperors manifest their reverence for Heaven. Matters before the age of knotting cords to record events are dim and hard to know; what is preserved in canonical records, however, is clear and verifiable. There was none who did not open the blessings transmitted from earlier generations, harmonize through successive ages, accumulate auspiciousness, bring forth enduring omens of good fortune, and pray that Heaven bestow blessings upon all beings. Thus they could sacrifice to God on High, broadly gather the many lords, cherish the distant footprints of the ancient sage kings, and accord with the joyful hearts of countless people. Therefore King Wu of Zhou destroyed the lone tyrant (King Zhou of Shang) and unified all under Heaven, and King Cheng accordingly made an eastern tour; Emperor Gao of Han pacified the three rebellious forces (the disorders of the three quarters) and inaugurated Heaven’s mandate and blessings, and Emperor Wu of Han accordingly performed the Feng and Shan sacrifices at Mount Tai. In former times, when the Five Dynasties (the turbulent age of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms) declined, the four quarters split apart, the people of the Nine Provinces cried out in grief, looked to their shadows for survival, and the multitudes cried to Heaven and looked up in appeal. Without divine wisdom and martial strategy, how could the many calamities have been pacified? Without flourishing civil culture and education, how could the Great Peace have been restored? Reverently I reflect on Taizu (Zhao Kuangyin, Emperor Taizu of Song), who inaugurated the dynastic destiny and established the norms, possessing heroic martial power, sage-like civility, divine virtue, and profound merit. The Great Filial Emperor accumulated good virtue from the very beginning, received the Heavenly Mandate without end, and was repeatedly tested amid hardships.