Qin Shihuang wanted to carry forward his achievements by closing Mount Tai to the outside world. After Qin Shihuang unified China, he thought he was the king of the world. Unified writing, county system, unified measurement, so compare yourself to the first emperor, the first emperor. How to record this achievement? Only by going to Mount Tai to meditate can it be recorded, so Qin carved stones were left behind through meditation. Today's Taishan Rock has a history of 2.8 billion years and was formed in the Cenozoic era 30 million years ago. Mount Tai stretches for more than 200 kilometers on the south bank of the Yellow River. The main peak is towering in Tai 'an City, Shandong Province, and there are more than 200 inscriptions on Daimiao Temple in Taishan Mountain, among which there are many inscriptions left by emperors in previous dynasties, and there is a peculiar Tang monument. Its monument stands side by side with two stones, which are covered with stones. This is the year 660 of Wu Zetian.
Wu Zetian is a very successful woman in history. She was a little ambitious, too. She wants to express her inner thoughts in various ways. So, how does this monument express Wu Zetian's wishes? It is made up of two stones side by side, with a stone cap above and a stone base below, which means that they stand side by side in the world and rule in all directions. Although Wu Zetian was not an emperor at that time, she hoped that her status and rights were the same as those of the emperor, that is, in addition to political implications, because Wu Zetian was the queen of Emperor Gaozong and was a husband and wife relationship, this monument expressed the feelings between their husband and wife, so the people called this monument Yuanyang Monument, which was the meaning of Wu Zetian's sending someone to erect this monument at that time. Sure enough, after the monument was erected, about five years later, in 666 AD, she encouraged Emperor Li Zhi to meditate in Mount Tai.
At the top of Mount Tai, the pale rock is like a wall, and the cliff is like a cliff. There are dozens of cliff stone carvings, the most historic and spectacular of which is the cliff stone carving of the emperor's retreat. Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, personally wrote the inscription "Sacrifice to Mount Tai" in the 13th year of Kaiyuan. The inscription describes the reason and scale of meditation and records the process of the ceremony. The inscription on Mount Ji is majestic and tall, with 1000 gold-plated characters. The inscription is an eight-part official script, which has high artistic value of calligraphy and has attracted many feelings from future generations.
It is indeed a great invention of mankind to choose a rock with such lasting vitality to engrave the monument of merit and remember the achievements made by a generation of monarchs in politics, economy and culture. However, in front of the Jade Emperor Peak of Mount Tai, there stands a tombstone of Gu Zhuo, which is called "the tablet without words" and was erected by Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty when he worshipped Mount Tai. The ancients had different opinions about this wordless tablet. Some people say that the tablet without a word is an expression of the humility of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, because he thinks he is small, and when he became emperor, he was terrified. Others said that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty thought that his achievements were outstanding and it was difficult to express them in words, so it was impossible to set up a monument without words. Compared with the tablet with words, this tablet without words is still very valuable. The most famous stone carving of amenorrhea is Mount Tai in Qin Dynasty, which is not only the earliest stone carving of Mount Tai, but also the earliest stone carving of ancient emperors in China.
No matter these rich inscriptions or wordless stone tablets, facing them, everyone can really touch the historical context of Mount Tai's meditation.
The official royal ceremony should be said to have started from Qin Shihuang, because before Qin Shihuang, there were records of 72 generations of kings offering sacrifices to Mount Tai, but Qin Shihuang turned the past sacrifice of Chai Wang into an official ceremony of the country. In order to consolidate his rule and safeguard the unity of the country, Qin Shihuang had to turn to Mount Tai for help and achieve the purpose of consolidating his rule by meditation. Practice has proved that this goal really played a role by going to Mount Tai for meditation. There were six people who formally held the amenorrhea ceremony on Mount Tai: Qin Shihuang, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Tang Gaozong, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Song Zhenzong.
What kind of ceremony makes so many emperors yearn for? The so-called seal is that the emperor built an altar on the top of Mount Tai to worship heaven, which is called seal. The so-called Zen is that after the emperor sealed it, he went to a hill at the foot of Mount Tai, usually in Sheshou Mountain and Fuliang Mountain, both on the hills, and built an altar with earth. It is said that printing is heaven and Zen is earth. Why are there so many famous mountains and rivers in China that these emperors chose Mount Tai as the place where they held such a grand royal ceremony, instead of other mountains?
Long ago, when the world was formed, there was a man named Pangu who grew up between heaven and earth. The sky rises ten feet every day, the earth is ten feet thick every day, and Pangu grows ten feet every day. So day after day, year after year, he lived tenaciously. Later, Pangu slowly died of old age, and the giant suddenly fell to the ground, and his head became Mount Tai. Therefore, Mount Tai became the first of the five mountains. There is a tendency to rise from the ground and reach the sky, and there is also a gesture of holding the sun high. Therefore, people have regarded it as a symbol of lofty greatness since ancient times. From the seventy-two kings in ancient times, to the emperors of Qin, Han and Wu dynasties, and then to Kangxi Qianlong, the Taishan complex of emperors in past dynasties endowed it with sacred majesty and strength, attracting countless heroes to compete for beauty. Scholars of all ages have praised it, and the sage Confucius's "Climbing Mount Tai and Being Small in the World" is even more legendary. Sima Qian, a historian of the Western Han Dynasty, measured people's social ethics by "being more important than Mount Tai and lighter than a feather". Du Fu's "A glimpse of the top of the mountain shows that other mountains are dwarfed." Became an eternal swan song. The Lebanese people, with one heart and one mind, have great respect and worship for Mount Tai in order to pray for peace. Therefore, Mount Tai is a national mountain, a historical mountain, a cultural mountain and a symbol of the unity of the Chinese nation. 1978 Mount Tai was listed as the world's first natural and cultural heritage list by the United Nations.
Mount Tai was called Daizong in ancient times. It is famous for its magnificence. From men to strangers, from seclusion to Austria, everything is available. It walks along the middle road, caressing Gu Song all the way, listening to the flowing spring, crossing the secluded stream, looking at Tianmen, stepping into Tianjie, and wandering in the sky to the worse gate, Jade Emperor Temple and Yuan Jun Temple in Bi Xia. Roaming the top of the mountain, you can see the rising sun in Dongsheng, the sunset glow in the evening, the golden belt of the Yellow River and the jade plate of the sea of clouds. Known as "the human spirit should be unparalleled, the first mountain in the world."
Worship of Mount Tai is a cultural phenomenon formed in history. In ancient times, the culture in Haidai area was relatively developed. With the development, expansion and spread of developed culture in Haidai area, the status as a place of cultural development is of course high in people's minds, which is one of the reasons. The second aspect is the location of Mount Tai, which is located in the east of the motherland. This is where the sun rises. Generally speaking, the sun rises to give people warmth, light and the source of life.
Not all emperors are qualified to worship Zen, and their conditions are generally stipulated in this way. Basically, there are three conditions. The first condition is national reunification. The second condition is that when the emperor is in office, he must have outstanding achievements. He must be peaceful, prosperous and have political achievements. Everyone is convinced. This is the second condition. The third condition is to combine hard and soft, that is, to have auspicious signs. There is a mascot. For example, in the Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Huangong was a vassal of Nine Rivers who conquered the world. He wanted to worship Mount Tai, but Guan Zhong at that time strongly opposed it. Why does he object? Which means you're not qualified. At that time, Qi Huangong said, I conquered the world by nine princes, and my contribution was great enough. Isn't that enough? He said no, you lack good luck. In fact, there is nothing auspicious. In this way, Guan Zhong gave him several mascots, including the flounder in the East China Sea and the winged bird in the West Sea, which was impossible to get. Without this thing, you can't worship Zen. In fact, your merits are not enough.
In 2 19 BC, Qin Shihuang destroyed six countries and unified the world. In order to strengthen his rule, he made many national tours, and during the tour, he climbed Mount Tai to hold a retreat ceremony under the banner of retreat Zen. The ritual of amenorrhea means that the world is prosperous and has made outstanding achievements. After the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty and Tang Gaozong followed suit. By the time of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the social development reached its peak and the amenorrhea ceremony was unprecedented. So in 725 AD, one day at the turn of spring and summer, a huge Zen army set out from the capital Chang 'an. On this day, at the foot of Mount Tai in Tai 'an City, Shandong Province, in the air of Fiona Fang, between the relaxed and casual, quiet and dignified of the past, ancient music played, cars staggered, and Ma Xiaoxiao became more and more real from far to near. The mighty vassal team, civil and military officials armed with ceremonial weapons, thousands of riders and numerous guards, greeted one after another and surrounded by layers. This majestic momentum eclipsed any crusade in China's history.
Emperors of past dynasties should not only have outstanding political achievements, but also have the auspicious feeling shown by the Emperor of Heaven. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Zhenzong fought and lost many wars with the Khitan, and finally won the battle in qi zhou and established a humiliating alliance. In order to realize the desire to close the door to Zen, Song Zhenzong forged a good omen from a sealed book, so in A.D. 1008, Song Zhenzong and his party set out from Kaifeng House in a mighty way and arrived in Taishan in 17 days, and held a grand and solemn closing ceremony. It took 47 days to return to Kaifeng after the closing ceremony, and Song Zhenzong completed the last closing ceremony in the history of China.
After Song Zhenzong, Zen ended. Why did such a big Zen ceremony come to an end?
Song Zhenzong inherited the mantle of his father and uncle, but he was also afraid of soldiers and war. He is not timid, but afraid of losing * * *. Song Zhenzong's Zen is not completely qualified. Chen Yaomao and Wang Qinruo advised him to escape. One advised him to go to Sichuan and the other advised him to go to Nanjing. He said it wouldn't work and he had to find a way. The first way he came up with was to lead troops to fight in Hebei. He said no, no, no? He said that there is another way, that is, amenorrhea, which should have auspicious signs. He said I don't have auspicious signs, otherwise auspicious signs mean you make one for him, you just have to believe it. The emperor thought there was no problem and there was a theoretical basis, but how did Wang Dan deal with it? He felt that Song Zhenzong's achievements did not reach the level of meditation, and held an objection. The emperor invited Wang Dan to drink. Imperial wines are all imperial wines, and they are all good wines. Wang Dan said your wine is really delicious, and he said yes, I will send you a jar of wine to take home with your wife and children! This will make people feel that Huang Enweiwu and Wang Dan are flattered. When I came back, I opened an altar full of jewels and pearls. Wang Dan is also a veteran in politics. He knows these politics very well and his mind is clear. The next day he stopped talking in court. After Song Zhenzong died, they didn't think it was a solution, so they changed their appearance.
Since the Ming dynasty, every year, ministers have been sent to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to the emperor, that is, sacrifices. Sacrificial activities are actually the continuation of the original Zen, and the content and form have changed.
From the Ming dynasty, it was inconvenient for ministers to replace the emperor's memorial service and for the emperor to come in person. In order to facilitate the emperor to worship Mount Tai, the Ming Dynasty built a Temple of Heaven in Beijing. It is the Tiantan in Beijing. Several big stones were brought back and placed on the side of the Temple of Heaven, which symbolizes Mount Tai. The Tiantan in Beijing is actually a continuation of the emperor's meditation activities, which ended with the demise of the Qing Dynasty. However, the whole cultural phenomenon of Taishan worship did not end among the people.