Mountain Gods () are Asian

tutelary deities A tutelary (; also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety and ...

associated with mountains. They are related to

landlord deities Landlord deities () are a type of tutelary deity worshipped in the East Asian cultural sphere. They are low level deities that are considered below Sheshen and City God (China), City Gods. When people move into a new location they will ask the ...

and

tudigong A Tudigong ( zh, s=土地公, l=Lord of the Land) is a kind of Chinese tutelary deity of a specific location. There are several Tudigongs corresponding to different geographical locations and sometimes multiple ones will be venerated together in ...

s and City Gods. They are well-known in Korea and some prominent Chinese mountains have shrines to similar deities in the

Daoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...

traditions, called ''Shanshen''. The Japanese equivalent is the ''

Yama-no-Kami Mountain Gods () are Asian tutelary deities associated with mountains. They are related to Landlord deity, landlord deities and tudigongs and City God (China), City Gods. They are well-known in Korea and some prominent Chinese mountains have shri ...

'' (; also pronounced as ''yamagami'') and the Vietnamese equivalent is ).

Houtu Hòutǔ () or Hòutǔshén (), also known as Hòutǔ Niángniáng (in Chinese either or ), otherwise called Dimǔ () or Dimǔ Niángniáng (), is the deity of all land and earth in Chinese religion and mythology. Houtu is the overlord of all t ...

is the overlord of all the

Tudigong A Tudigong ( zh, s=土地公, l=Lord of the Land) is a kind of Chinese tutelary deity of a specific location. There are several Tudigongs corresponding to different geographical locations and sometimes multiple ones will be venerated together in ...

s ("Lord of Local Land"),

Sheji __NOTOC__ Soil and grain was a common Chinese political term in the Sinosphere for the state. Shejitan, the altars of soil and grain, were constructed alongside ancestral altars. Chinese monarchs of the Ming and Qing dynasties performed ceremon ...

("the State"), Shan Shen ("God of Mountains"), City Gods ("God of Local City"), and landlord gods worldwide.

China

In China, legends about ''Shanshen'' () have a long history. The

Classic of Mountains and Seas The ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', also known as ''Shanhai jing'' (), formerly romanized as the ''Shan-hai Ching'', is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. Early versions of the text may have existed si ...

(), which was written more than 2,000 years ago, has already recorded various legends about ''Shanshen''; specifically the Wuzang Shanjing () part contains a detailed description of the appearance of the mountain gods. The

Taiping Guangji The ''Taiping Guangji'' (), sometimes translated as the ''Extensive Records of the Taiping Era'' or ''Extensive Records of the Taiping Xinguo Period'', is a collection of stories compiled in the early Song dynasty. The work was completed in 978, ...

() also contains the story of Dayu, who imprisoned the Shangzhang clan and the Dulu clan, among other ''Shanshen''. Ancient Chinese people worshipped mountains by deifying them. From the ''Shanshen'''s title to see the mountain god worship is extremely complex, all kinds of ghosts and spirits are attached to the mountain. Eventually, the names and differences of the various ghosts and spirits disappeared, or they merged with each other. It evolved into a situation where the main peaks of each region were inhabited by personalised ''Shanshens''. According to the Law of Sacrifices in the

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

classic

Book of Rites The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The '' ...

, "the mountains, forests, valleys and hills, which can produce clouds, provide wind and rain, and see monsters, are all called gods." When Emperor Yu and Shun had the sacrificial system of "looking at the mountains and rivers, all over the gods", legend has it that Shun had a tour of Mount Tai, Mount Heng, Mount Hua and Mount Heng. Successive generations of the Son of Heaven Zen carry out sacrifices to heaven and earth, and also to the gods of the mountains. Most of the mountain sacrifices were made with jade and jade buried in the ground, and there were also the sacrificial methods of "casting" and "hanging", whereby offerings of chickens, goats, pigs or jade were thrown into the valleys or hung in the treetops. The deities of the Five Sacred Mountains of China are collectively known as ''Wuyue Dadi'' zh">:zh:五嶽大帝">zh(, lit. Great Kings of the Five Sacred Mountains): *

Chidi Chidi may refer to: *Chidi (god), an ancient Chinese deity People Given name *Chidi Ahanotu, American football player *Chidi Edeh, Nigerian footballer *Chidi Imoh, Nigerian sprinter *Chidi Iwuoma, American football player *Chidi Ngwaba, British m ...

of Mount Heng (South Mountain) *

Dongyue Emperor Emperor Dongyue (or ) is a Daoist deity of the sacred mountain Mount Tai. He is also believed to be the leader of a large bureaucratic celestial ministry overseeing the maintenance of the Book of Life (), a register of the due dates on which eac ...

Mount Tai Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the ''Jade Emperor Peak'' (), which is commonly reported as being t ...

(East Mountain) *

Heidi ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published between 1880 and 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' () and ''Heidi: How She Used What She Learned'' ( ...

of Mount Heng (North Mountain) * Huangdi of

Mount Song Mount Song (, "lofty mountain") is an isolated mountain range in north central China's Henan Province, along the southern bank of the Yellow River. It is known in literary and folk tradition as the central mountain of the Five Great Mountains of ...

(Center Mountain) * Xiyue Dadi of

Mount Hua Mount Hua () is a mountain located near the city of Huayin in Shaanxi Province, about east of Xi'an. It is the "Western Mountain" of the Five Great Mountains of China and has a long history of religious significance. Originally classified as ...

(West Mountain)

Other mountain deities

* Lishan Laomu, the goddess of

Mount Li Mount Li () is a mountain located in the northeast of Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, China. The mountain is part of the Qinling mountain range and rises to a height of 1302 metres (4271 ft) above sea level. It is one of the eight scenic spots of th ...

Yaoji Yaoji (), is a Chinese gods and immortals, Chinese goddess of Wu Gorge, Wu Mountain. A shaman and master herbalist, Yaoji is responsible for the presence of many medicinal herbs on Earth. She is a protective weather goddess who raises and soothes ...

, the goddess of

Wu Mountains Wuxia Gorge (), sometimes called Great Gorge (), is the second gorge of the Three Gorges system on the Yangtze River, People's Republic of China. Formed by the Wu River, it stretches from Wushan to Guandukou, and is located downstream of ...

Korea

''Sanshin'' or ''Sansin'' () are local mountain-spirits in

Korean Shamanism Korean shamanism, also known as () is a religion from Korea. Religious studies, Scholars of religion classify it as a folk religion and sometimes regard it as one facet of a broader Korean vernacular religion distinct from Buddhism, Taoism, Dao ...

and folk-beliefs. In South Korea, most

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...

s and major Shamanic-shrines, and some traditionalist villages, have a dedicated shrine called a ''sanshin-gak'' () or an altar called a ''sanshin-dan'' dedicated to the local ''sanshin''. This nature-deity is typically represented in the enshrined icons (paintings and/or statues) as an elder male (in rare cases, mature female) figure in royal-Confucian clothing, always accompanied by at least one

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

and a Korean Red Pine tree. There are many other symbols being held by the Sanshin, offered to him by servants or in the backgrounds of the more elaborate paintings, derived from Oriental

Daoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, which originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) i ...

, shamanic-folklore and Korean "spiritual-ethnic nationalism"—making these multi-religious icons unique in the entire world.Prof. David A. Mason maintains a gigantic website about Korean Sanshin Mountain-spirits, at http://san-shin.org/ The ''Sanshin'' faith is interpreted in the folk scene as a belief devoted to the mountain gods. The mountain's beauty, its mystery, and the perceived shape that soars toward the sky are combined to inspire

mountain worship is a faith that regards mountains as sacred objects of worship. Overview Mountain worship, as a form of nature worship, is thought to have evolved from the reverence that ethnic groups closely associated with mountains have for mountainous t ...

on an emotional level. The upper mountain slopes, cliffs and peaks are seen as is the realm of the spirits and the places to communicate with them and attain visions or enlightenment. The faith that the mountain is believed-in as a mystical body that provides abundance and protection is very ancient in all Korea, and continues today in public or private Sanshin-je (mountain-spirit ceremonies) Seonang-gut (tutelary-deity rituals). When the mountain is located between

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

and the earth where human beings live, and serves as a link between those two worlds, it is believed to be a representation of the universal world mountain, thought by traditional religions like

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

and

Geomancy Geomancy, a compound of Greek roots denoting "earth divination", was originally used to mean methods of divination that interpret geographic features, markings on the ground, or the patterns formed by soil, rock (geology), rocks, or sand. Its d ...

to rise at the center of the world. There are particular shamanic-folklore individual Sanshins, such as Eunje-san Seongmo (), who is the wife of ''Namhae Yong-wang'' or Dragon King of the South Sea, ''Jiri-san Seongmo Cheonwang'' () or Exquisite-Wisdom Mountain Holy-Mother Heaven-king, and ''Mireuk Sanshin Halmi'' () or Future-Buddha Mountain-spirit Grandma, to name just a few. Such deities are officially sanctioned symbols of

Korean reunification Korean reunification is the hypothetical unification of North Korea and South Korea into a singular Korean sovereign state. The process towards reunification of the peninsula while still maintaining two opposing regimes was started by the Ju ...

, and are possibly moving towards being used as symbols of environmental preservation

Japan

Yama-no-Kami () is the name given to a

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

of the mountains of the

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

religion of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. These can be of two different types. The first type is a god of the mountains who is worshipped by hunters, woodcutters, and charcoal burners. The second is a god of

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

who comes down from the mountains and is worshipped by farmers. This kami is generally considered as a goddess, or a female deity. A Kannabi is often associated with Mountain Gods. It is a natural area including a mountain which acts as a

Shintai In Shinto, , or when the honorific prefix ''go''- is used, are physical objects worshipped at or near Shinto shrines as repositories in which spirits or ''kami'' reside.''Shintai'', Encyclopedia of Shinto ''Shintai'' used in Shrine Shinto (Jin ...

for a Kami.

List of Japanese mountain gods

Yama-no-Kami appearing in

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...

include: *Hara-Yamatsumi () *Ha-Yamatsumi () *

Konohanasakuya-hime Konohanasakuya-hime is the goddess of Mount Fuji and all volcanoes in Japanese mythology; she is also the blossom-princess and symbol of delicate earthly life. She is often considered an avatar of Japanese life, especially since her symbol is th ...

(), the wife of

Ninigi-no-Mikoto is a deity in Japanese mythology. (-no-Mikoto here is an honorific title applied to the names of Japanese gods; Ninigi is the specific god's name.) Grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu, Ninigi is regarded according to Japanese mythology as the ...

and great-grandmother of

Emperor Jimmu was the legendary first emperor of Japan according to the and . His ascension is traditionally dated as 660 BC.Kelly, Charles F"Kofun Culture" * Shirayama-hime (), the goddess of

Mount Haku , or Mount Hakusan (commonly referred to as simply Hakusan), is a dormant stratovolcano in Japan. It is located on the borders of Gifu and Ishikawa, on the island of Honshu. Mount Haku is thought to have first been active 300,000 to 400,000 y ...

san.''Shirayama Hime Shrine history compilation committee edition'' "Hakusan Faith illustration" (Shirayama Hime Shrine, 2003)''Emperor Keishinkai Digital Collection'', National Diet Library "Kokuzai Chusha Hakusanjo Shrine" "National Famous Shrine Photographs," Imperial Keishinkai, December 1922 .''Morokami Divine Festival Deity Dictionary'' pp. 446-447 "Shirayama Hime Shrine"''Shinto Encyclopedia Volume One'' piece 264 (original 455 pages) Kukurihimenomomikoto　Kikurihime/ref> *Kura-Yamatsumi () *

Ōyamatsumi __FORCETOC__ Ōyama-tsumi or Ohoyama-tsumi (Kojiki: or Nihon Shoki: , , ), also Ōyama-tsumi-mi'oya-no-mikoto (), is a god of mountains, sea, and war in Japanese mythology. He is an elder brother of Amaterasu and Susanoo. His other names are Wat ...

(), the father of Konohanasakuya-hime. *Masaka-Yamatsumi () *Odo-Yamatsumi () *Oku-Yamatsumi () * Omonoimi no Kami () of

Mount Chōkai is an active volcano located on the border of Akita and Yamagata in the Tōhoku region of Japan, and is tall. Because of its (roughly) symmetrical shape and massive size, it is also variously known as , or depending on the location of the vi ...

. *

Ōmononushi Ōmononushi (; Historical kana orthography, historical orthography: ''Ohomononushi'') is a ''kami'' in Japanese mythology associated with Mount Miwa (also known as Mount Mimoro) in Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai, Nara Prefecture. He is closely linked in ...

Mount Miwa or is a mountain located in the city of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It has been an important religious and historical mountain in Japan, especially during its early history, and serves as a holy site in Shinto. The entire mountain is co ...

. *

Oyamakui no Kami Oyamakui no Kami () is a Japanese god highly significant in Sannō Ichijitsu Shintō, and worshipped in the Hiyoshi Taisha network of shrines

(), the god of

Mount Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by ...

. *Shigi-Yamatsumi () *To-Yamatsumi ()

Vietnam

Some of the most popularly worshiped mountain deities in Vietnam * Bà Chúa Xứ, the goddess of

Sam Mountain Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fiction ...

* Bà Đen, the goddess of

Black Virgin Mountain Black Virgin Mountain () is a mountain in Tây Ninh City, Vietnam. According to Gia Định Thành Thông Chí, the original name of Bà Đen Mountain was Bà Dinh. However, local elders believe the original name was Một Mountain. Around ...

* Bà Rá, the goddess of Bà Rá Mountain *

Mẫu Thượng Ngàn Lâm Cung Thánh Mẫu (Chữ Hán: ) or Mẫu Thượng Ngàn or Bà Chúa Thượng Ngàn (Princess of the Forest) is ruler of the Forest Palace among the spirits of the Four Palaces in Vietnamese indigenous religion. In legend the Princess of ...

* Tản Viên Sơn Thánh, Thần Cao Sơn and Thần Quý Minh, the gods of Ba Vì mountain range

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mountain God Japanese deities Japanese folk religion Nature deities Shinto kami Mountain gods Korean mythology Mountain faith Tutelary deities Vietnamese deities