As a "post-70s" who grew up in a remote mountain village, the first time I knew about Taishan was through the "Mountain Picker" in the primary school Language textbook. This is a Taishan-style essay created by the famous writer Mr. Feng Jicai in 1981, and is called "Taishan Four Famous Essays" together with Yao Nai's "DengtaiShan", Li Jianwu's "Climbing Taishan in the Rain", and Yang Shuo's "Taishan Extreme". It is through This essay of Mr. Feng that I remember the mountain pickers who carry the weight forward and climb silently, and also have the idea of when to climb Mount Tai.
In the blink of an eye, more than thirty years have passed, and I have also changed from an ignorant child to a middle-aged man, during which I have drifted around, traveled south and north, gone to many places, and climbed some famous mountains and rivers, from Qingcheng to Emei, from Huangshan to Changbai Mountain, from Xiyue Huashan to Beiyue Hengshan, although I have experienced different famous mountain styles, but I have always wanted to find opportunities to climb Mount Taishan in Dongyue.
With the increase of age and experience, the understanding of Tarzan gradually deepened. In the eyes of the Chinese people, Mount Taishan is by no means just a simple "dignity of the Five Peaks", but a spiritual symbol of the Chinese nation and a microcosm of Chinese history and culture.
In ancient times, Mount Tai was regarded as a paradise that "leads directly to the throne" and became a sacred mountain worshiped by the people and sacrificed by the emperor, and there has always been a saying that "Taishan is safe, and all the seas are safe". For thousands of years, Confucius of Wensheng "climbed the Eastern Mountains and Xiao Lu, climbed Mount Tai and the small world", Ma Qian of the Taishi Company "is inherently dead, or heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than Hong Mao", Li Bai "The Gate of Heaven is a long roar, and the breeze comes from a thousand miles", Du Fu "will be the top of the mountain, overlooking the mountains and small", Su Shi and Su Rui brothers regretted because they could not climb Mount Taishan, "hated the king not to go to the top of the east, and watched the golden wheel out of the Nine Shadows at night", the self-proclaimed "poet loves the mountain and loves the bones", many celebrities tried their best to express their feelings, and raised the historical and humanistic significance of Mount Tai to the extreme.
In fact, not only the literati and inkers, but also the Qin Emperor Han Wu and Guangwu Xuanzong have come to Mount Taishan to seal Zen, 13 emperors have ascended to Mount Taishan in Chinese history, and 24 generations of emperors have sent officials to sacrifice 72 times, and there are countless meritorious generals who have come to pay homage. In modern times, successive national leaders have climbed Mount Tai. Perhaps it can be said that whether it is ancient or modern, whether it is proud or frustrated, it has always been a very symbolic thing to climb Mount Tai and stop to look at it, to accept the influence of China's five-thousand-year history and culture here, and to feel the powerful spiritual power of "people's hearts are united, Taishan moves".
Taishan, also known as Daishan, Daizong, Daiyue, Dongyue and Taiyue, is one of the five mountains, located in the central part of Shandong Province, between the three cities of Tai'an, Jinan and Zibo, with a total area of 24,200 hectares, and the main peak Of the Jade Emperor is 1532.7 meters above sea level. Mount Taishan is now a dual heritage of world culture and nature, and it is also a national 5A-level tourist attraction, which gives this famous mountain and river more connotations, and has also become an important reason for Chinese and foreign tourists to visit here.
At about 10 a.m. one day in mid-November 2020, my lover and I drove to the foot of Mount Tai. As previously agreed, we abandoned the cable car and decided to hike the mountain. I think it is that the attraction of the Jade Emperor Peak is too great, the lover who has always been difficult to climb the mountain is extremely interested, full of vitality like chicken blood, the spiritual head is more than me, a mountaineer, and from time to time challenges me to see who can climb a certain stone step in the shortest time.
We chose the classic mountaineering route, starting from the Dai Temple, climbing up along the red gate and the Middle Heavenly Gate line, passing through eighteen plates, passing through the South Heavenly Gate, and finally reaching the Jade Emperor Peak. Although from time to time there are ancient buildings and stele stone carvings for us to stop and watch, but climbing Mount Tai is indeed not so easy, breathless, sweaty, underwear wet and dry, dry and wet, during the period to constantly replenish energy and water, if there is not enough patience and perseverance, it is really difficult to climb to the South Heavenly Gate.
After passing through the South Heavenly Gate, the Jade Emperor's Peak was close at hand. In terms of my experience, in terms of its steepness and architecture, the scenery of the top of Mount Taishan seems to be inferior to that of Mount Hua, nor to the golden peak of Emei, including the sky street of more than 100 meters, the newly built commercial facilities, a snack street built on the top of the mountain, and its cultural heritage is far inferior to the stone carvings on the way to the mountain.
In Yufu's view, the most characteristic of Taishan is not the mountain itself, but those stele stone carvings and celebrity calligraphy with different styles.
Compared with the famously dangerous Xiyue Huashan, Mount Tai seems to be less difficult to climb, but the road is relatively far, but this does not hide the dazzling brilliance of the thousands of stele and cliff carvings.
It is precisely because of these stele and cliff carvings that Taishan is known as the "Natural Museum of Chinese Calligraphy Art". According to statistics, in the ancient buildings of Mount Taishan and on both sides of the mountain road, there are 823 stele and cliff carvings in the mountain road from Daimiao to Daiding alone. From the perspective of time, these inscriptions range from the Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties to modern times; from the perspective of content, there are short inscriptions such as "Steep in the Sky" and "In Xiaohan", and there are also long inscriptions praising the majesty of Daiyue, praising the magnificence of the motherland's rivers and mountains, and the greatness of the national spirit. This unique cultural landscape has given Taishan a unique position in China and even the world's famous mountains.
Some people say that in the process of climbing Mount Tai, the taste is culture, the purification is the soul, the exercise is the physique, and the precipitation is life. Judging from Yufu's personal experience, this statement is indeed very reasonable.
On October 25, 2021, the evening grass was drafted in Hedong, Tianjin, and revised and improved on the morning of October 28