Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 18. (Budapest, 1999)

Györgyi FAJCSÁK: The hun soul's wanderings. A pair of Chinese burial jars from the 13th century

mounted one on the west side of the deceased, whose head would have been to the north.

9 THE CULT OF MOUNTAINS IN CHINA Depiction of hun souls' journey to heaven in Chinese art enjoys a close relationship with the cult of mountains. This connection was linked to that fact that the path of the hun soul to heaven passed through mountains, where the soul met with innumerable vicissitudes. The cult of mountains as the representation of the eternal and mystic heavenly power in China was a significant element in the cult of the state. Rulers and emperors from the beginning of the Zhou period (llth-lOth c. B. C.) up to the end of the reign of the Qing dynasty (1912 A. D.) worshipped the mountains at the imperial altars of sacred mountains and offered sacrifices for the prosperity and welfare of their empire. The cult of mountains was a part of the sacrifice to Earth, one of three components of cosmic power in Chinese religious belief (heaven, earth and ancestral souls). In the early periods (1 lth-3rd c. B. C.) mountains were not merely revered but were considered strictly forbidden places where gods and mysterious creatures resided. The concept of the cosmic pillar, often in the form of a cosmic mountain, can be found in several mythologies of ancient cultures. In early shamanistic cosmological beliefs, mountains served as intermediary realms in man's communications with heaven or with heavenly spirits. In the Neolithic cultures (particularly in the Yangshao culture) Chinese religion developed from totemism combined with ancestor worship, which through magicoreligious phases (animistic and shamanistic elements) had merged into a cosmic religion by the end of the Zhou period. Mountains were worshipped as dwelling place of gods and mythical beings, and this belief strongly reflects the strong correlation of ancestor worship and totemism in the early cultures. In spite of archaeological findings, the roots of the cult of mountains are uncertain. Only some particular mountains were worshipped and the cult was not linked to a single peak but rather to a range of mountains. Neither the shape, nor the height but rather the topographical features of the area determined the mountains worshipped in the cult of mountains. Two ideas were outlined in the Chinese mountains cult in the Zhou period (1127256 B. C). On the one hand five sacred mountains were worshipped which were mentioned in Zhouli (the five sacred mountains identified with the five main directions), and on the other hand there was another cult of a mythical, conceptual mountain. The worship of the five sacred mountains was linked to the particular mountainous area, sacrifices were offered at altars, and these mountains were the place where emperors communicated with heaven. Acceptance and declaration of the heavenly mandates given to Chinese rulers were also a part of the sacrifices offered to particular sacred mountains. In ancient times the mountains were, however, not only the place for establishing contact with heaven: the mountains had strong links with the deceased as well. According to an idea in ancient times the souls of the dead rested beneath the most venerable mountain, Mount Tai (Shandong province)/

0 The mythical, conceptual mountain of the Zhou period was identified with Kun 1 un mountain. It was located on the northwestern border of the central region of China but Kunlun mountain as a mythical place and as the western end of the Chinese world was much more important than its geographical position. Kunlun was the end of the world, the far west and a mystical, fabulous resort. The Chinese poet, Qu Yuan (4th

—3rd c. B. C.) put questions about Kunlun in his poem, "Heavenly Questions