Mt Mian
| Mount Mian | |||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | |||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | |||||||||
| Literal meaning |
Cotton(y) Mountain Downy Mountain |
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Miánshān |
| Wade–Giles | Mien Shan |
| Former names | |||||||||
Statues of qilins
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| Chinese | |||||||||
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| Mount Jie | |||||||||
| Literal meaning | Jie's Mountain | ||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Jièshān |
| Wade–Giles | Chieh Shan |
Mount Mian, also known by its Chinese name Mianshan, is a mountain in the town of Mianshan in Jiexiu, Jinzhong, in central Shanxi Province in north China. Its official scenic area opened in the year 2000 and covers 75 km2 (29 sq mi), with about 400 attractions grouped into 14 tourist areas.
Mount Mian is supposedly named for the resemblance of its long, unbroken ridgeline to a piece of cotton. In ancient Chinese, however, mián did not refer to cotton but to silk floss. It was then used by extension for the ideas of "weak", "soft", and "downy", before coming to be used in modern Chinese as the usual word for cotton.
Mt Mian is a branch of the Taihang Mountains south of the Fen River. Its official scenic area covers 75 km2 (29 sq mi), with about 400 attractions grouped into 14 tourist areas. The chain's ridgeline stretches for over 100 miles (160 km), with its highest peak reaching 2,440 meters (8,010 ft).
The vegetation in the area has been a focus of study at Shanxi University. Geographical features of note include Buddha Embrace Rock, Tiesuo Ridge, Yinkong Cavity, and the Mosta Dome.
Mt Mian is usually credited as the place of the retreat where Jie Zhitui and his mother were burnt alive in a forest fire begun by his lord, Duke Wen of the state of Jin, in the 7th century BC. Duke Wen's remorse prompted him to erect a temple in Jie's honor, with sacrifices funded by designated lands in nearby Mianshang. By the middle of the Han dynasty, people around Taiyuan Commandery were treating Jie as a tutelary deity and observing a taboo against lighting fires for five days around mid-winter. By the mid-2nd century AD, it was being observed for an entire month and causing hardship on the young and elderly to the point that Cao Cao and other leaders began attempting to ban Jie's Cold Food Festival altogether, despite its having moved by that point to Qingming in early spring. Commoners continued to ignore these provisions and to particularly revere a stand of blackened trees, one looking as though it were held in a man's arms, where various miracles were reported. A compromise under the Northern Wei was to restrict it to the area surrounding Mt Mian in 496 but its popularity was such that it continued to spread until it was observed by most of China under the Sui and transformed into the Tomb Sweeping Festival under the Tang and Song.
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