Mount Hua
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| Hua Shan | |
|---|---|
 Hua Shan's West peak. |
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| Elevation | 2160 metres (7087 feet) |
| Location | Shaanxi, China |
| Coordinates | 34°29′N 110°05′E / 34.483°N 110.083°E |
| Easiest route | Cable Car |
Hua Shan (simplified Chinese: 华山; traditional Chinese: 華山; pinyin: Huà Shān, sometimes spoken Huá Shān) is located in the Shaanxi Province, about 100 kilometres east of the city of Xi'an, near the city Huayin in China. The mountain is one of China's Five Sacred Daoist Mountains, and has a long history of religious significance. The mountain has five main peaks, of which the tallest is the South Peak at 2160 m.
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[edit] Geography
Huashan is located in the Qinling Mountain Range, which lies in southern Shaanxi province.
[edit] History
As early as the second century BCE, there was a Daoist temple known as the Shrine of the Western Peak located at its base. Daoists believed that in the mountain lives a god of the underworld. The temple at the foot of the mountain was often used for spirits mediums to contact the god and his underlings. Unlike Taishan, which became a popular place of pilgrimage, Huashan only received local pilgrms, and was not well known in much of the rest of China.[1] Huashan was also an important place for immortality seekers, as powerful drugs were reputed to be found there. Kou Qianzhi (365-448), the founder of the Northern Celestial Masters received revelations there, as did Chen Tuan (920-989), who lived on the mountain prior to receiving immortality. In the 1230s, all the temples on the mountain came under control of the Daoist Quanzhen School.[2] In 1998, the management committee of Huashan agreed to turn over most of the mountain's temples to the China Daoist Association. This was done to help protect the environment, as the presence of monks and nuns deters poachers and loggers.[3]
[edit] Temples
Huashan has a variety of temples and other religious structures on its slopes and peaks. At the foot of the mountain is the Cloister of the Jade Spring (玉泉院), which is dedicated to Chen Tuan.[2]
[edit] Ascent Routes
There are three ways up to Huashan's North Peak (1613 m), the lowest of the mountain's major peaks. The most popular is the also the original route, which winds for 6 km from Hua Shan village to the north peak. There is also the cable-car, as well as a path that follows the cable car to the North Peak. From the North Peak, a series of paths rise up to the four other peaks, the West Peak (2038 m), the Center Peak (2042 m), the East Peak (2100 m) and the South Peak (2160 m).[4]
Huashan has historically been a place of retreat for hardy hermits, whether Daoist, Buddhist or other; access to the mountain was only deliberately available to the strong-willed, or those who had found 'the way'. With greater mobility and prosperity, Chinese, particularly students, began to test their mettle and visit in the 80s. The inherent danger of many of the exposed, narrow pathways with precipitous drops gave the mountain a deserved reputation for danger. As tourism has boomed and the mountain's accessibility vastly improved with the installation of the cable car in the 90s, visitor numbers surged. Despite the safety measures introduced by cutting deeper pathways and building up stone steps and wider paths, as well as adding railings, fatalities continued to occur. The local government has proceeded to open new tracks and created one-way routes on some more hair-raising parts, such that the mountain can be scaled without significant danger now, barring crowds and icy conditions. Some of the most precipitous tracks have actually been closed off.
The former trail that leads to the South Peak from North Peak is on a cliff face, and it was known as being extremely dangerous; there is now a new and safer stone-built path to reach the South Peak temple, and on to the Peak itself. The infamy and perilousness of the original route can be enjoyed in a story put on the web page of a person called Rick Archer with the title "The Deadly Huashan Hiking Trail"[5]. The author claims it was written by an American couple who visited the trail in 2003.
The origin of the story is not known. The spread and popularity of the story was aided by many videos showing the most dangerous parts of the trail[6][7]. Notice however that the man in the second video is wearing a climbing harnesses and continually secures himself to the rock using rope, thereby effectively protecting himself from falling.
Many Chinese still climb at nighttime, in order to reach the East Peak for the dawn - though the mountain now has many hostels. This is also a hangover from when it was considered safer merely not to be able to see the extremes of danger and exposure of the tracks during the ascent, as well as to avoid others descending down what at many points were pathways with scarcely room for one to pass along.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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[edit] Notes
- ^ Goosseart (2008), 516.
- ^ a b Goosseart (2008), 517.
- ^ Palmer (2006).
- ^ Harper (2007) 433-434.
- ^ "The Deadly Huashan Hiking Trail"
- ^ Youtube video of South peak
- ^ Youtube video of South peak
[edit] References
- Goossaert, Vincent. "Huashan." in Fabrizio Pregadio, ed., The Encyclopedia of Taoism (London: Routledge, 2008), 481-482. TO FIX
- Harper, Damian. China. London: Lonely Planet, 2007.
- Palmer, Martin (October 26, 2006). "Religion and the Environment in China." Chinadialogue. Retrieved on 2008-08-27.
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