In the remote antique, the terrains in central Shandong were dissevered by two groups of faults into several independent mountains, i.e., Mount Tai, Yishan, Mengshan and Lushan mountains, which are  known as the mountains in central Shandong. The rivers in the land go deep into the mountains, and the mountain ridges often rise straight from the ground, so that all the mountains in central Shandong are fairly precipitous. Of them Mount Tai is the steepest, reaching up to the sky.
Also known as the Eastern Sacred Mountain, Mount Tai is located in Tai'an City, Shandong Province. Rising 1,545 meters above sea level, Mount Tai, a symbol of loftiness and grandeur, ranks first in China's five sacred mountains and enjoys the reputation of being 'No.1 Mountain on earth'. In Chinese, Taishan (Mount Tai) means the 'large mountain'. Confucius once said: 'At the top of Eastern Mountain, the state of Lu seems small; and at the summit of Mount Tai, the whole country looks small.'
Mount Tai is the symbol of the Chinese nation, the epitome of the eastern civilization, and the birthplace of the theory that man is an integral part of nature. |
