The Yellow Mountain: A Mountain of Art

The Yellow Mountain assumes a very special status in China’s history and culture, and was reputed as being"the most beautiful mountain in China"for a long period of time.
Located in the southern mountainous region of Anhui Province, the Yellow Mountain was also called"Mount Yishan" in ancient times. It is said that the legendary common ancestor of the Chinese, the Great Emperor of Xuan Yuan, meditated and performed magic here until he became immortal and joined the ranks of celestial beings. The Great Emperor of Xuan Yuan was also known as the Yellow Emperor, so an emperor of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) ordered Mount Yishan to be renamed the"Yellow Mountain"in memory of the country's common ancestor.
The Yellow Mountain boasts a host of marvelous peaks,72 of which are of great renown. Among them 36 are of bigger size and look steep and magnificent, while the other half are smaller but appear charming and lovely. Each of the peaks has a large quantity of unusual rocks. which exist in tens of thousands of fantastic shapes.

Co-existing with the wonderful peaks and unusual rocks are the famous "Yellow Mountain Pines, "which can be found everywhere--from the cliffs to the summits. With stretching, twisting branches, flat crowns, and dark green leaves that are short, thick and dense, these pine trees are deeply rooted in the cracks of the rocks and have managed to survive in the bare soil between the cracks, Standing firm on the cliffs or steep slopes and braving gusts and blizzards, the Yellow Mountain Pines have demonstrated a persistent, strong life force. thus becoming synonymous with"endurance"and“perseverance"in the Chinese culture. People who visit the Yellow Mountain not only enjoy its charming beauty. but gain spiritual revelation and inspiration.
If rocks and pines are the bones and flesh of the Yellow Mountain, then the sea of clouds is where the grace and elegance of the Yellow Mountain lie. When the clouds and mists accumulate, the body of the Yellow Mountain is enshrouded in a white sea, with only the high peaks still apparent. Watching the peaks disappear and emerge from the sea of clouds is like being in a dreamland. During the moments of sunrise and sunset, the sea of clouds looks even more brilliant with a spectrum of amazing colors.

The Yellow Mountain is blessed with a mixture of beauty that can be found in its mountain scenery marvelous peaks, unusual rocks, pine trees, waterfalls, a sea of clouds and rosy sunrays. After touring the Yellow Mountain, Xu Xiake, a renowned Chinese traveler of the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644), wrote the famous verses "One shall see no other mountains after seeing the Five Great Mountains, but after returning from the Yellow Mountain one will even lose interest In any of the Great Mountains. xu's Poem indicates that after touring the be impressed by the Yellow Mountain, one will no longer sight of any other mountains in the country.
The beautiful scenery of the Yellow Mountain has Inspired the artistic creation of poets and painters for generations and the Yellow Mountain itself has become the most described and eulogized mountain in china's art history. Incomplete statistics show that in the 1.200 years between the mid-tang Dynasty and late Qing Dynasty, Chinese poets wrote more than 20,000 works of poetry to sing the praise of the Yellow Mountain. In Chinese painting, the landscape of the Yellow Mountain has also been a major influence on the development of China's traditional landscape painting, even inspiring the birth of a new painting school-the Yellow Mountain Painting School, which focuses on the landscape of the Yellow Mountain and aims to reflect the mountain's graceful nature.
Today, the Yellow Mountain remains one of the leading tourist attractions in China. In 1990, it was listed by the United Nations as a site of world natural and cultural heritage.