Xu Xiake 徐霞客 (1587–1641), a great travel writer of the Ming dynasty, once remarked of the spectacular Five Sacred Mountains that ‘trips to China’s five great mountains render trips to other mountains unnecessary’ (wuyue guilai bu kan shan 五岳归来不看山).
So what is the origin of the Five Sacred Mountains?
In the ancient world, our ancestors were unfamiliar with science and couldn’t explain the phenomena they witnessed. Therefore, they began to believe that the mountains they saw had spirits. The Book of Rites (Liji 礼记), for example, reports that ‘mountains, forests, streams, valleys, hills and mounds, which are able to produce clouds and bring about winds and rain, were all regarded as spirits’ (shanlin chuangu qiuling, neng chu yun, wei fengyu, jian guaiwu, jie yue shen 山林川谷丘陵，能出云，为风雨，见怪物，皆曰神) – which effectively means everything in nature. As a result, people offered sacrifices to the mountains. According to the same text, ‘those [sacrifices] at the altars of the hills and streams served to mark their intercourse with the spirits’ (shanchuan, suoyi bin guishen ye 山川，所以傧鬼神也). Inscriptions on oracle bones also include expressions like ‘praying to the mountains for a good harvest’ (qinian yu yue 祈年于岳).
As the ancients worshipped and revered their mountains, the concept of the Five Sacred Mountains emerged. It was first recorded in the Rites of Zhou (Zhouli 周礼) of the pre-Qin period, which mention ‘sacrific[ing] blood to the soil and grain, the five deities and the Five Sacred Mountains’ (yi xueji ji sheji, wusi, wuyue 以血祭祭社稷、五祀、五岳). At that time, though, there was no clear definition as to which five mountains they were.
In 61 BCE, under the Han dynasty, the Five Sacred Mountains were formally recognised when Emperor Xuan (Han Xuandi 汉宣帝 91–48 BCE) issued an edict establishing the Eastern Mountain as Mount Tai (Taishan 泰山), the Central Mountain as Mount Song (Songshan 嵩山), the Southern Mountain as Mount Heng in the South (Hengshan 衡山), the Western Mountain as Mount Hua (Huashan 華山) and the Northern Mountain as Mount Heng in the North (Hengshan 恒山).
After the Han, Chinese emperors continued to bestow titles on the Five Sacred Mountains. They were honoured with the titles of King, Emperor, Emperor (again) and God under the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, respectively. In other words, the Five Sacred Mountains were highly esteemed by the emperors, especially Mount Tai and Mount Song.
The most important of all mountains, Mount Tai was an ideal place for emperors to realise fengshan 封禅, the practice of paying homage to heaven and earth. However, due to the challenging conditions required to perform the ritual on the mountain, only six emperors ever achieved it: Qin Shihuang 秦始皇 (259–210 BCE), Wu of Han (Han Wudi 汉武帝 156–87 BCE), Guangwu of Han (Han Guangwudi 汉光武帝 5 BCE–57 CE), Gaozong of Tang (Tang Gaozong 唐高宗 628–683), Xuanzong of Tang (Tang Xuanzong 唐玄宗 685–762) and Zhenzong of Song (Song Zhenzong 宋真宗 968–1022). Meanwhile, Mount Song was chosen for fengshan by the only female emperor in Chinese history, Wu Zetian 武则天 (624–705).
The Five Sacred Mountains were valued not only by the emperors but also by the literati, who wrote extensively about them.
For example, the ‘poet–sage’ (shisheng 诗圣) Du Fu 杜甫 (712–770) wrote admiringly of Mount Tai:
Gazing on Mount Tai, byDu Fu
O, peak of peaks, how high it stands!
One boundless green overspreads two States.
A marvel done by Nature’s hands,
Over light and shade it dominates.
Clouds rise therefrom and lave my breast;
I stretch my eyes to see birds fleet.
I will ascend the mountain’s crest;
It dwarfs all peaks under my feet.
The ‘poet–Buddha” (shifu 诗佛) Wang Wei 王维 (692–761) wrote affectionately of Mount Song:
Bound Home to Mount Song, by Wang Wei
The limpid river, past its bushes
Running slowly as my chariot,
Becomes a fellow voyager
Returning home with the evening birds.
A ruined city-wall overtops an old ferry,
Autumn sunset floods the peaks.
...Far away, beside Mount Song,
I shall close my door and be at peace.
Han Yu 韩愈 (768–824), who was listed first among the ‘Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties’ (Tang Song Ba Dajia 唐宋八大家), wrote a poem marvelling at Mount Heng in the South:
Stopping at the Temple on Heng Mountain and Posting a Poem on the Gate Tower (extract), by Han Yu
The Fifth Sacred Mountain venerates all Three Gods.
The Four other mountains ring this one, Songshan is center-most.
Fire rules the South, a Land full of barefooted monsters,
Where Heaven has bestowed its gifts to deities.
Their faces half hidden by clouds and mists,
In such extremity, who is poor?
I came in autumn, as the rain began to fall,
The sky was dark and gloomy, without a breeze.
The ‘immortal poet’ (shixian 诗仙) Li Bai 李白 (701–762) wrote a poem about the majesty of Mount Hua:
The Song of the Cloud Table on Mount Hua Addressed to Yuen Tan-k'iu (extract), by Li Bai
How grand Mount Hua, that guards the West!
Beneath whose brow and rugged breast
The Yellow River seems a thread,
From Heaven’s margin downward led.
But though unfelt on mountain’s height,
There rolls the Ho with gathered might,
Increasing still through all its course;
And miles unnumbered from its source,
The dashing, whirling, thundering River
E’en makes the hills of Ts’in to quiver…
As mentioned above, the Five Sacred Mountains were officially established during the Han dynasty. They are also associated with the five elements due to the strong promotion during that period of the Theory of the Five Elements.
Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒 (179–104 BC), a philosopher of the Han dynasty, wrote in The Meaning of the Five Elements (Wuxing Zhi Yi 五行之义) that Heaven keeps the five elements in order: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. In terms of orientation, ‘wood occupies the left; metal occupies the right; fire occupies the front; water occupies the back; and earth occupies the centre’.
In the anonymous Han-period River Chart and the Inscription of the Luo (Hetu Kuodexiang 河图括地象), we find a relationship between the Five Sacred Mountains and the five planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter (the Chinese characters for the five planets and the five elements are the same): ‘There are five planets in Heaven; there are Five Sacred Mountains on the Earth’ (tian you wuxing, di you wuyue 天有五行，地有五岳). Combined with the Lunheng 论衡 of Wang Chong 王充 (27–ca. 97 CE), which states that ‘there are five planets; they are the essence of the five elements’ (xing you wu, wuxing zhi jing 星有五，五行之精), this lets us see the correspondence between the Five Sacred Mountains and the five elements.
Each of the Five Sacred Mountains, then, corresponds to a planet and is located in a specific region since four of the planets have affinity with one of the directions of the compass, whereas Saturn has affinity with the ‘centre’, also viewed as a spacial direction. Mount Tai corresponds to Jupiter, so it is in the East; Mount Song corresponds to Saturn, so it is in the centre; Mount Heng in the South corresponds to Mars, so it is in the South; Mount Hua corresponds to Venus, so it is in the West; and Mount Heng in the North corresponds to Mercury, so it is in the North.
Over the millennia, the Five Sacred Mountains have earned the respect of the populace, poets and emperors. Thanks to historical developments, they are also related to the five elements. How will the tradition of the Five Sacred Mountains develop? We can’t wait to find out.
Translations
Gazing on Mount Tai was translated by Prof. Xu Yuanchong 许渊冲 (1921–2021) and published in 300 Tang Poems (in Chinese & English). The original poem reads as follows:
望岳 杜甫
岱宗夫如何？齐鲁青未了。
造化钟神秀，阴阳割昏晓。
荡胸生曾云，决眦入归鸟。
会当凌绝顶，一览众山小。
Bound Home to Mount Song was translated by Witter Bynner (1881–1968) and published in The Jade Mountain. The original poem reads as follows:
归嵩山作 王维
清川带长薄，车马去闲闲。
流水如有意，暮禽相与还。
荒城临古渡，落日满秋山。
迢递嵩高下，归来且闭关。
Stopping at the Temple on Heng Mountain and Posting a Poem on the Gate Tower was translated by Witter Bynner and published in The Jade Mountain. The original poem reads as follows:
谒衡岳庙遂宿岳寺题门楼（节选） 韩愈
五岳祭秩皆三公，四方环镇嵩当中。
火维地荒足妖怪，天假神柄专其雄。
喷云泄雾藏半腹，虽有绝顶谁能穷？
我来正逢秋雨节，阴气晦昧无清风。
The Song of the Cloud Table on Mount Hua Addressed to Yuen Tan-k'iu was translated by John Chalmers (1825–1899) and published in The China Review [1872, 1(3): 2]. The original extract reads as follows:
西岳云台歌送丹丘子（节选） 李白
西岳峥嵘何壮哉！黄河如丝天际来。
黄河万里触山动，盘涡毂转秦地雷。
References
BOKUOTO, Yasuko 卜音安子 (2017). ‘Exploration and Analysis of the Formation of the Five Sacred Mountains and the Respective Reasons’ 五岳体系的形成及其形成原因探析, Journal of Tianshui Normal University 《天水师范学院学报》 37 (1): 34–38.
LIU, Xingshun 刘兴顺 (2021). ‘A Historical Investigation of the First among the Five Sacred Mountains under the Philosophical Concept of the Five Elements’ 五行哲学观念下五岳之长的历史考察, Journal of Taishan University 《泰山学院学报》 43 (2): 15–23.
