| Mount Tai 泰山 | |
 | |
| State | China |
|---|---|
| Region | Northern China |
| Territory | Shandong |
| Height | 1,545 m a.s.l. |
Mount Tai is located in the Northern China.
To know
Flora and fauna
The vegetation covers 80% of the area, which is heavily wooded. The flora is very diversified and includes 989 species, of which 433 are species with arboreal habit. There are a total of 462 medicinal species. Some trees are very old, for example a cypress planted 2,100 years ago by Emperor Wu of the Han. There are over 300 species of animals (including 122 bird species).
Background
During the Zhou dynasty the mountain was a place of sacrifices celebrated in honor of the Ancestors. In 221 BC. Ying Zheng, king of Qin, imposed himself on the other rulers and assumed the title of "First Emperor". During his rule the country was unified, the construction of the Great Wall began and the imperial history of China began. The emperor chose the top of Mount Tai, to celebrate the "Cult of Heaven and Earth", proclaiming the unity of the empire. The fame of the mountain soon spread everywhere. If, as the people believed, the emperor was a son of Heaven and came from distant Beijing to see his father, it meant that T'ai Shan was the divine abode: for this reason all the Chinese began to consider it not only a simple mountain but the sacred embodiment of the "goddess of the emerald clouds". Since then, all religions of China have honored T'ai Shan.
