Feng-shan (English spelling)

Japanese: 封禅 - ほうぜん（英語表記）Feng-shan

A ritual to reward the heavens performed by emperors in ancient China. Feng was a ceremony to worship the heavens, performed on an altar on Mount Tai, while Zen was a ceremony to worship the earth gods, performed on the land at the foot of the mountain. It is said to have begun when the First Emperor of Qin Shi Huang performed Fengshan on Mount Tai in the 28th year of his reign (219 B.C.), and it has been performed on a grand scale by many emperors, including Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Guangwu of the Later Han, Emperor Ming of Wei, Xuanzong of the Tang, and Zhenzong of the Song. The significance of Fengshan originally lay in praying to the mountain and earth gods for eternal youth and longevity and the prosperity of the nation, but because it was a national ritual performed at the expense of a huge amount of national funds, it gradually changed into a political ritual to show off the might and power of the emperor.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

中国古代に帝王が行なった報天祭儀。封は天を祀る儀式で，泰山の上に土壇をしつらえて行い，禅は地神を祀るもので，ふもとの地でなされた。秦の始皇帝 28 (前 219) 年泰山において始皇帝が封禅したのが始りとされ，漢の武帝，後漢の光武帝，魏の明帝，唐の玄宗，宋の真宗ら多くの帝王によって盛大に営まれている。封禅の意義は，初めは山神，地神に不老長寿や国運の長久を祈願するところにあったが，膨大な国費を投じて行われる国家的祭儀であったため，のちには次第に帝王の威武を誇示する政治的な祭儀へと形を変えていった。

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