Abstract
Mount Tai, a paramount symbol in Chinese civilization, embodies a complex synthesis of political, religious, aesthetic, and ethical values. This paper traces the transatlantic journey of Mount Tai culture into the United States, examining its reception and transformation across different historical periods. It argues that its perception evolved through distinct phases: from an exotic and often misunderstood “Oriental” spectacle in early missionary and traveler accounts, to an object of academic knowledge systematized by sinologists, and finally to a malleable cultural resource appropriated within American literature, art, and popular culture. Throughout this process, core Chinese significations—particularly its imperial political theology and intricate folk religious systems—were largely filtered out or diluted. In their place, attributes such as its natural monumentality, spiritual sublimity, and metaphorical stability were selectively emphasized and reconfigured to align with American cultural paradigms, including individualism and consumerism. This study illuminates the dynamic interplay of power, selective interpretation, and creative adaptation in the global circulation of non-Western cultural symbols.
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