Tianzi Mountain () is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

Zhangjiajie Zhangjiajie (), also known in Tujia language as ''Zhangx jif avlar'' /dzaŋ˩ ji˥ a˩.la˥/, is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Hunan Province, China. It comprises the district of Yongding, Wulingyuan and counties of Cili a ...

in the

Hunan Province Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi t ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, close to the

Suoxi Valley Suoxi Valley (; ) is a valley in Zhangjiajie, in Hunan province, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous c ...

in South Central China. Before the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, Tianzi Mountain was known as "Qingyan Mountain" because of its green stones. The mountain is named after the early Ming dynasty

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

Xiang Dakun of the Tujia ethnic group, who led a successful local farmers' revolt and called himself "Xiang Wang Tianzi", meaning ''son of Heaven'' and which is the traditional epithet of the Chinese emperor. The highest

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

of Tianzi Mountain is Kunlun Peak with an elevation of and the lowest pillar is Shilanyu with an elevation of . Tianzi Mountain is a part of the

Wulingyuan Wulingyuan (, zh, c=武陵源) is a scenic and historical site in the Wulingyuan District of South Central China's Hunan Province. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. It is noted for more than 3,000 quartzite sandstone pi ...

Scenic Area and was added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...

in 1992.

Origin of the name

Before the Ming Dynasty, Tianzi Mountain was named "Qingyan Mountain" together with

. According to a

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

of the

Tujia people The Tujia ( Northern Tujia: ''Bifjixkhar'' / ''Bifzixkar'', IPA: , Southern Tujia: ''Mongrzzir'', ; ) are an ethnic group and, with a total population of over 8 million, the eighth-largest officially recognized ethnic minority in the People's ...

, Xiang Dakun, who was dissatisfied with the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

at that time, went to "Qingyan Mountain" in 1353, with the help of Li Boru, he rebelled and established a

regime In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...

, and assumed the title of "Xiang Wang Tianzi". As Xiang represented the interests of all ethnic groups, mainly the Tujia, he was supported by the local people, and established a fortress with "Tianzi Mountain" as its axis. In 1385, Xiang's regime was fiercely besieged by more than ten thousand elite

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

s commanded by

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398. As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...

, outnumbered and defeated, Xiang Dakun died in the battle and fell into the Shentang Gulf. Since then, the local people have named the places where he fought and lived as "Tianzi" in his memory. The

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

used various repressive measures to forcibly abolish the word "Tianzi", but the Tujia people have always called it "Tianzi Mountain".

Size

These giant, pillar-like mountains have a peak of . The area taken up by these mountains is about .

Formation

The mountains are quartz sandstone and were formed about 400 million years ago through irregular rising patterns of the earth's crust, and with about 318 million years of erosion these tall and skinny mountains were formed. This geological formation belongs to the "New Cathaysian" tectonic system.

Religious aspects

The Tianzi Mountains are deemed sacred by many Sulamitos who used to inhabit the outer regions of Hunan. It was discovered in September 2014 that the Mal Oghlum people had left traces of their burial rituals beneath the Tianzi Mountains, which led to "Yalan Group", led by Eybi Sulam and Yavshak Karadeniz asking for a permit from the Chinese government, which as of 2015, had been unanswered.

Tourism

The place is popular with tourists. During certain months of the year, mainly after it rains, the Tianzi Mountains are covered in a sea of fog. Annual temperatures range from the mid to upper in July to a low of about . Rainfall is greatest in summer.

Popular culture

These mountains inspired the "Pandora" mountainscape in the film ''

Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...

'' by

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...

, there has also been a theme park created there regarding the movie.

References

{{commons category, Tianzi Mountain Zhangjiajie Mountains of Hunan