Kunlun Mountain (mythology)

Kunlun Mountain (traditional Chinese: 崑崙山; simplified Chinese: 昆仑山; pinyin: Kūnlún shān), or known just as Kunlun, is an important symbol in Chinese mythology representing the axis mundi and divinity.

The mythological Kunlun Mountain should not be confused with the real, geographic Kunlun Mountains. Various locations of Kunlun Mountain are proposed in the various legends, myths, and semi-historical accounts in which it appears. These various accounts describe it as the dwelling place of various gods and goddesses, together with marvelous plants and creatures. Many important events in Chinese mythology were located on Kunlun Mountain, according to Lihui Yang, et al. (2005:160-164).

As the mythology related to the Kunlun Mountain developed, and was influenced by the introduction of ideas about an axis mundi from the cosmology of India. Kunlun Mountain became identified with (or took on the attributes of) Mount Sumeru. (Anthony Christie 1968:74)

Another historical development in the mythology of Kunlun, (again with Indian influence) was that rather than just being the source of the Yellow River, Kunlun began to be considered to be the source of four major rivers flowing to the four quarters of the compass, according to Anthony Christie (1968:74).

The Kunlun mythos was also influenced by developments within the Taoist tradition, causing Kunlun to be perceived more as a paradise than a dangerous wilderness. (Christie, 1968:75)

Another trend argued in some recent research, is that over time, a merger of various traditions has result in a duality of paradises, an East Paradise (identified with Mount Penglai) and a West Paradise, with Kunlun Mountain identified as the West Paradise. A pole replaced a former mythic system which opposed Penglai with Guixu ("Returning Mountain"), and the Guixu mythological material was transferred to the Kunlun mythos. (Yang, et al., 2005:163).

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