Legend of Mount Tai

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Legend of Mount Tai

Applicant: Tai'an City, Shandong Province

Project No.: 1048

Project No.: i-104

Time of publication: 2011 (the third batch)

Category: Folk Literature

Region: Shandong Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Tai'an City, Shandong Province

Protection unit: Taishan Scenic Area Education Center, Tai'an City

The legend of Mount Tai

Applicant: Tai'an City, Shandong Province

The legend of Mount Tai is an oral literature created by the people around Mount Tai for thousands of years. It has a long history, diverse themes, rich content and wide spread. The legend of Mount Tai is narrated by mountain dwellers, farmers, sedan bearers, Taoists, monks, scholars and handicraftsmen, etc. with a wide audience, it has become the spiritual sustenance and mentor of the old people of Mount Tai, and is one of the most important intangible cultural heritages in Mount Tai scenic area.

Taian city is located in the middle of Shandong Province, with a population of 5.48 million. Mount Tai, originally named Dai and also named Daizong, is the first famous mountain in China, known as "the first mountain in the world", with a total area of 426 square kilometers. The highest peak, Yuhuangding, is 1545 meters above sea level. In December 1987, it was listed in the "world cultural and natural heritage list" by UNESCO.

The legend of Mount Tai originated from the nature worship of Chinese primitive religion, and the most influential and popular one is the legend of mountains and rivers. It is mainly spread by word of mouth, and there is almost no written record before the founding of new China. Influenced by the integration and infiltration of the culture of emperor Fengchan sacrifice, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, folk belief culture and other factors, Taishan legend has a wide range of categories, a large number and rich content. From the collected legends of Mount Tai, we can infer that the folk tales of Mount Tai originated in ancient times. According to the book of mountains and seas written in the pre Qin period, "Mount Tai is rich in jade above and gold below. There is a beast, which looks like a porpoise and has beads. It's called "Li Li, whose song comes from" which is the earliest written record of the legend of Mount Tai. A large number of Taishan legends have been recorded in the general meaning of Customs in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Soushenji in the Jin Dynasty, jiyiji in the Tang Dynasty, jishenlu, shuyiji and taipingyulan in the Song Dynasty, jiandengyuhua, Taishan chronicle and chaxiangshicongchao in the Ming Dynasty. Taishan chronicle is the first collection of Taishan legends.

The content of Mount Tai legend includes five aspects: myth, legend, story, ballad and proverb, including myth of natural change, hero myth, legend of historical figures, legend of religious figures, fairy tale, legend of mountains and rivers, legend of special products, legend of customs, legend of animals, legend of plants, story of ghosts and foxes, story of animals, story of life, proverb of life and proverb of local customs There are more than 9600 stories of witty characters, folk jokes, idioms and allusions. In 2009, the legend of Mount Tai was listed as the second batch of intangible cultural heritage in Shandong Province.

The characteristics of Mount Tai legend are as follows: first, oral inheritance and vivid language; second, the time and place of narration are not fixed; third, the stratum composition of narrators is diversified; fourth, Buddhism and Taoism have distinct characteristics. It has literary value, historical value and aesthetic value.