《岱史》Vol. 12

The twelfth volume of The History of Mount Tai (Dai Shi) is dedicated to recording the mountain's natural products. The introduction explains why such documentation matters: among all landscapes, mountains are richest in natural resources, and Mount Tai stands as a particularly fertile ground for all living things. The Classic of Documents (Shangshu) in its "Tribute of Yu" chapter mentions silk, hemp, lead ore, rare pines, and peculiar stones from Mount Tai's valleys; the Divine Farmer's Materia Medica (Shennong Bencao Jing) catalogs various medicinal herbs native to the mountain; the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing) describes abundant fine jade on its slopes and metallic ores with water sources below; while the Daoist text Register of Blessed Lands (Fudi Zhi) also highlights Mount Tai's exceptional lingzhi mushrooms and jade. These represent the mountain's natural bounty as documented in ancient texts.

Some claim ancient Shandong's legendary prosperity owed much to Mount Tai's resources—an assertion not without merit. Yet today, bare rocky slopes show scant dense forests; fierce mountain winds rarely shelter migratory birds; icy caves harbor no herds of wild beasts; and where are the fine jades and celestial mushrooms that once graced its cliffs and ravines? Only medicinal herbs still cling to the precipices, filling the valleys with plants like gastrodia tuber, green lingzhi, red halloysite, and purple quartz—their quality surpassing counterparts from other regions, eternally preserving health and prolonging life. Can gold, silver, or jade compare to such treasures? Mount Tai's gifts remain as precious today as in antiquity. The ancients practiced restrained utilization, sustaining abundance across generations, while modern excess sees governments levying harsh taxes and commoners squandering resources—even exhausting mountains and seas cannot sustain such waste. Shandong's diminished prosperity stems precisely from this. The thought grieves me deeply.

Regarding Mount Tai's trees, records mention the famed "Qin Pines": at Huangxian Ridge, the First Emperor of Qin (Qin Shihuang) took shelter under a pine during a storm while ascending the mountain, subsequently bestowing upon it the title "Fifth Rank Grandee" (a ninth-grade Qin nobility rank). Tang poet Lu Zhi's verse mentions "envying not the five ennobled trees"—though the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) clearly documents only one tree's ennoblement, leaving Lu's "five" unexplained. Li Shangyin's poem "Five Pines Station" writes of "seeing no five pines, only firewood," while Li Bai's "Seeing Off a Traveler to Peach Spring Pavilion" states "though five pines received titles." Wang Anshi's (Duke of Shu) ode to cypresses offers the most accurate line: "the aged pine first obtained the grandee's rank." Today only two pines remain—likely later replacements, not Qin originals—their gnarled, swollen trunks bearing little resemblance to their former majesty.

This passage describes the natural landscape and products of Mount Tai (Dai Zong), divided into several sections:

First, it discusses the ancient pines of Mount Tai. Near the Five Grandee Pines (which received imperial titles during Qin Shi Huang's Fengshan rituals), there stands an exceptionally shaped ancient pine with twisting branches forming a cloud-like canopy, appearing even more luxuriant and vigorous than the titled pines. Ming Dynasty official Fang Yuanhuan inscribed "Recluse Pine" on a stone wall, praising its noble solitude—like a hermit unconcerned with imperial honors.

Next comes the ancient trees on the southern slopes. Outside the Dengfeng Gate grows the Han Dynasty cypress, said to have been planted during Emperor Wu's Fengshan ceremonies. The Dai Temple houses a uniquely shaped Tang Dynasty scholar tree. These ancient trees possess forms so distinctive that even master painters would struggle to depict them. Though Mount Tai also has common species like chinaberry, phoenix tree, and catalpa, the area around the Fengshan platform lacks tall, dense groves—likely due to rocky terrain, thin soil, and exposure to strong winds and sun.

The third section introduces Mount Tai's fruit trees. Cultivated varieties at the mountain's base include pear, chestnut, jujube, and persimmon, while wild mountain species feature pomegranate, kiwi, and crabapple.

Following this is a description of floral varieties. Mount Tai boasts over a hundred species, including peonies and Chinese herbaceous peonies. The trailing wisteria flowers are edible, while daylilies—though considered delicacies elsewhere—are locally disdained and never served to guests.

Finally, the text lists thirty-nine renowned medicinal products from Mount Tai, including lucid ganoderma (Ganoderma lucidum), gastrodia tuber (Gastrodia elata), stonecrop (Sedum erythrostictum), and thinleaf milkwort (Polygala tenuifolia), alongside mineral-based medicines like stalactite and mica. All are documented in the geographical compendium Illustrated Classics of Mount Tai.

This passage primarily documents the abundant natural resources of Mount Tai (Daiyue) region, categorized into four major types: medicinal herbs, grains, cash crops, and minerals.

The medicinal herbs section lists 49 unique Mount Tai varieties, notably highlighting Adenophora root (shashen) as the finest quality, and stone flower (shihua) effective for treating heart conditions and knife wounds. Some herbs like "Maiden Tea" (young Chinese parasol tree buds) and "Immortal Tea" (wild vegetables growing near shaded springs), though unrecorded in formal pharmacopeias, possess distinctive fragrances surpassing southern teas. The text also records numerous edible wild shoots - wolfberry buds, toona sprouts among others - commonly pickled or cooked into porridge by locals.

Grains documented include three varieties of panicled millet (yellow, white, black), two types of broomcorn millet (yellow, black), rice (red, white), wheat, legumes (green, yellow, red, green, black), and over a hundred millet varieties, with "Nine-Mile Fragrance" and "Blossom Yellow" considered premium.

Cash crops encompass silk textiles (silk, cotton, kudzu cloth), hemp, beeswax, etc. Special mention goes to wild tea growing in mountain crevices - occasionally gathered by monks but rarely available commercially. Pine moss tea is particularly prized.

Mineral resources mainly come from Mount Tai's eastern branch, Huangshan in Laiwu, yielding five metals (gold, silver, copper, iron, tin), two types of clay (yellow, white), coal and coke. The coke proves especially suitable for smelting, earning Huangshan its local nickname "Eight-Treasure Mountain." Silver mines were historically worked in Taohuayu on the western foothills.

These records showcase Mount Tai region's exceptional natural wealth, particularly the unique quality of medicinal herbs and teas, alongside minerals' economic contributions. Repeated emphasis on certain products being "uniquely fine" or "supreme" underscores the historical significance of Mount Tai's specialties.

This passage from The History of Mount Tai (Daishi) documents the flora and fauna distribution around Mount Tai (historically called "Daiyue").

Regarding jade and minerals: Classical texts state that the mountain's lower regions contain abundant metal ores while its upper slopes hold plentiful jade, though these are no longer visible today. Locals report occasional luminous flashes atop the peak, possibly caused by hidden jade deposits refracting light.

Avian species: Wild pigeons nest abundantly in the mountain's rocky caves, while turtledoves and sparrows inhabit the eaves of the Temple of Mount Tai (Yue Miao). Birds of prey like sparrowhawks coexist with crows and magpies—yet curiously, no crows dwell within the temple grounds. Notable species include:

• The tiny "Clever Weaver" bird (called "Peach Insect" in Erya)
• The "Mountain Monk" whose calls resemble Buddhist chanting
• The crimson-feathered "Scarlet Lady"
• The "Trailing Scarlet Ribbon" and "Trailing White Ribbon" named for their distinctive tail plumage

Other residents include pheasants, hill partridges, orioles, quails, kingfishers, cuckoos, and hwamei songbirds. The nearby Wen River basin hosts mandarin ducks, egrets, cormorants, wagtails, and wild ducks.

Terrestrial mammals: Roe deer, Chinese water deer, badgers, and hares populate the area. Among them exists a remarkable "jumping hare" with elongated hind legs incapable of running—it propels itself in bounds covering 3–6 meters. Deeper forests shelter yellow weasels, gray foxes, and white wolves, though these never appear near imperial sacrificial sites. The Classic of Mountains and Seas mentions a boar-like creature called "Tongtong" said to bear internal pearls, but modern observers never encounter it—likely due to ecological changes over millennia.

A peculiar fish species measuring 12–15 cm with striped patterns appears exclusively in northern mountain streams during April and May, vanishing completely in other seasons.

About 5 km north of the summit lies a perpetually shadowed valley called "Heaven's Prison" (Tianlao) where ice never melts. This sunless hollow maintains perennial frost naturally, requiring no artificial preservation.