Mount Taishan (1987)
China
The sacred Mount Tai ('shan' means 'mountain') was the object of an imperial cult for nearly 2,000 years, and the artistic masterpieces found there are in perfect harmony with the natural landscape. It has always been a source of inspiration for Chinese artists and scholars and symbolizes ancient Chinese civilizations and beliefs.
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The holiest Daoist mountain of China "Tai Shan" is situated in the Shandong [Shantung] province, some 400 km slightly southeast of Beijing. The public Chinese faith accepts mountains as living beings, because the mountains' stabilizing power eternalize the cosmic order and, further, the mountains create clouds and rain.
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Scans by courtesy of Mr. Mario Villena (Spain).
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In Chinese mythology it is told that Tai Shan raised
out of the head of Pangu, the creator of the world. The shamans,
and later the emperors, performed holy rites here for 4000 years. A few hundred meters north of the temple, the Daizong
Fang ("Doorway to God") marks the entry to a stairway of
stone, leading to the peak at 1545 meters altitude. The stairway has 6293 steps, and in older times the
emperors and the mandarins were lifted the whole way up in chariots,
carried by kulis. Today there is a modern mountain lift to the peak.
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A little bit off road on the way to the peak are Sutra-texts engraved directly in the cliffs. There are 1050 characters, each about 50 cm high; these characters are considered calligraphic masterworks.
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Mountaineering tourists overnight here, often open-air, hoping to see the fantastic sunrise over the Yellow Sea to the east, see stamp bottom right. Later they will continue to the nearby Qufu (on this site), where the Confucius-Temple is on the agenda for sightseeing.
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Sources and links:
Other World Heritage Sites in China (on this site). Inactive links are not described on stamps. Please refer to the UNESCO-listing, section China for further information about the individual properties.
Revised 24 jun 2007 |
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