Confucius climbed the Dongshan Mountain and made the world small; he climbed the Mount Tai and made the world small.
Following in the footsteps of Confucius, I chose a classic Mount Tai hiking route for this walk, the middle line of which is the Dengfeng Royal Road. It starts from the Red Gate, passes through the Zhongtian Gate, Shibapan, passes through the Nantian Gate, and reaches the top of Mount Tai, the Jade Emperor Summit.
Many people will choose this traditional route. There are steles and stone carvings all the way, pavilions and temples all the way. This is the cultural accumulation of thousands of years, and it is also a concrete manifestation of the "Five Sacred Mountains" in the historical dimension. Of course, in order to save energy, tourists can also take a bus from Tianwai Village to Zhongtianmen, and then take the mountain cableway to the top of the mountain. For those with an adventurous spirit, there are many routes to consider on Mount Taishan.
For a long time, I have always scorned the behavior of taking shortcuts in elevators, cable cars and buses, thinking that this is laziness. Without taking one step at a time, there will be no leisure and leisure along the way. , you can’t get the real pleasure of mountain climbing. If the results of the process are omitted, the meaning will be greatly reduced.
But in Taishan, this idea is subverted.
For example, you are a gray-haired old man, a weak person with limited mobility, or a toddler who is unable to crawl across the 18th plate on your own due to physical reasons. , have you lost the right and qualification to come to the top of Mount Tai, admire the sea of ??clouds, and watch the sunrise? Do you have to measure a mountain with your feet, go to Zen temples, and read textual research on monuments to be a so-called elegant poet?
Landscape is also a very personal product in a certain sense. Each eye chooses a different composition, and the scenery harvested in the heart is different. The purpose is very important. As for the method and process chosen to achieve this purpose, we cannot insist on uniformity. As long as you think it is worth the gain, the part is also the whole. So some people climb Mount Taishan at night, sacrificing the scenery along the way, just for the fun of running at night.
Habitual thinking will make life become a kind of conformity, confusing needs, and treating others as oneself.
At 8 o'clock, Red Door, the sun came out, but the temperature was obviously lower than the previous two days. Before I officially climbed the mountain, I saw the first temple, Guandi's dojo. There was a well at the door. It is said that the water veins come from the depths of Mount Tai. On the shelf beside the well, there are three hundred-year-old Lingxiao flowers entwined. It has a very nice name. .
Dou Mu, Tian Guan, and Grandma Taishan all appear less often than the God of Wealth. Even the trees planted by emperors are attached with the meaning of getting rich. Chinese people are relatively simple and direct. Since the power of faith can stabilize the soul and cleanse the soul, there seems to be nothing wrong with increasing wealth. It is all about paying worship and receiving gifts from the gods. It is nothing more than the difference between spirituality and materiality. Is there anything worthy of comparison between heaven and earth?
I saw many small animals along the way, including free-range chickens foraging among the rocks, a few goats wandering silently in the grass, and three milk dogs hugging each other for warmth on the stone steps before sleeping. In the middle of the road, someone was playing with them with his feet, but they ignored him. Birds were jumping around on the persimmon trees, and a cold white cat sat on the golden leaves, watching the hikers one after another.
Guanyin Hall, just next to Yaowang Hall, is said to be the only Buddhist palace in Mount Tai. There are also many Taoist temples in Songshan Mountain, but I don’t know if the same is true for the other three mountains. It seems that local religion also has its own advantages. For example, if you build an ordinary small house, you can call it a palace. It is simple and simple, and the entrance and exit of immortals and mortals are right there. There is less separation, and the mass base is naturally strong.
The mountain became steeper and steeper, the walking speed slowed down, and everyone unconsciously walked in a zigzag pattern. When we are tired, we sit on the ground, look at the scenery, and cheer each other up. There is a couple in front of me. The boyfriend always takes two steps quickly, then turns around and extends his hand to his girlfriend to encourage them. A father who is energetic, shirtless, and walking as fast as flying in this autumn.
When we walked to Nantianmen, the sky became overcast and foggy. Carrying 10 kilograms of equipment on my back, without using hiking sticks, I stopped and walked along the way, choosing scenes and compositions, and posting on Weibo. Departing at 8 a.m. and arriving at 5 p.m., the entire climbing trip took a full 9 hours, twice as long as ordinary people.
Walking from the morning light into the sunset, it was a day’s trek, but we didn’t stay at the top of the mountain for too long. The most direct reason is that it was cold, cold, cold on the top of the mountain at this time. It was difficult to change the lens with hands without gloves, let alone take the time to think and compose the picture. Moreover, night was approaching and the sunset did not stay long. However, the significance of this trip is to challenge the summit, and we have achieved our goal.
Standing on the top of Mount Tai in the cold wind and looking into the distance, your mood becomes broader. At this time, I suddenly felt that some of the entanglements in the past were so ridiculous, some trivial matters were not worth mentioning, and the fears of the future were actually not that serious. Some challenges may be very interesting, as long as you take the initiative to meet them. The turmoil in life will turn into passing smoke and become the echo of life.
Then, I made a willful decision and started going down the mountain at 5:30. This idea is too crazy. There are no street lights, no companions, and the dark mountain road. Will there be wild animals? Not considered at all. Others climb Mount Taishan at night, but I want to descend from Mount Taishan at night. Or, this is also a special experience that left Taishan with a different meaning for me.
Go out of the mountain at 8 o'clock in the evening.
Pictures and Text｜Shihai Location｜Mount Tai
Welcome to read the Shihai Cultural Walk Special Topic:
"Poems from Distant Places, Walking in China"