‘Thousand Years of Charm’: Exploring the Aesthetic Characteristics of the Mount Tai Landscape from the Cross-Textual Perspective

Abstract

With accelerating urbanization, Mount Tai is increasingly at risk of homogenization with other scenic spots, losing its landscape aesthetic characteristics as ‘the Most Revered of the Five Sacred Mountains’, which poses a growing threat to the long-term sustainable development of Mount Tai. Accordingly, this study takes texts written by different social groups as the research material and analyses the aesthetic themes and spatial distribution of the elements in the texts to determine the aesthetic characteristics of the Mount Tai landscape from multiple perspectives and long time series. This study complements the research on the Mount Tai landscape, which focuses on specific research material and time. The results of the study can help to raise awareness of the complexity and multiple values of Mount Tai landscapes and have implications for research and practice of other heritage landscapes.

1. Introduction

In many countries, mountains hold more than just physical significance; they often carry sacred meanings [1,2,3]. Examples include the Greek sacred mountain Olympus, the Buddhist god mountain Kailash Rinpoche, and Japan’s active volcano Mount Fuji [4,5,6]. Regarding China, Historian Liu Yizheng noted that, ‘Our civilization had its origins in the mountains’, further illustrating that the mountains serve as the highest vehicle for ethical and moral existence. Mount Tai, revered as China’s national mountain, is often described as ‘the Most Revered of the Five Sacred Mountains (五嶽獨尊)’ (‘the Most Revered’ hereafter) and recognized in the World Natural and Cultural Heritage List in 1987. Researchers and scholars have long focused on its natural and cultural heritage value, while often overlooking its landscape aesthetic value and significance [7]. While the tangible heritage landscape of Mount Tai is currently well-preserved, the acceleration of processes means that, like other scenic areas, economic benefits in its development are being actively pursued [8]. As a result, the landscape structure has become homogenized, with some sites closely resembling one another. Visitors often move in large numbers and tend to have brief sightseeing stays rather than deeply perceiving the cultural significance of Mount Tai’s landscape [9]. This potential loss is not merely an aesthetic deficit for the Mount Tai landscape but also raises concerns for its sustainable development as a heritage site. If the aesthetic appeal of Mount Tai, regarded as ‘the Most Revered’ in China, continues to decline, its allure as a unique tourist destination may diminish, subsequently affecting its long-term sustainability. Therefore, it is imperative to trace back to the essence of Mount Tai’s landscape aesthetics, discerning the differences and similarities in people’s aesthetic appreciation of the mountain over the long time series. This approach will help anticipate and balance potential future changes, ensuring the creative development and transformation of Mount Tai’s landscape, and subsequently contributing to the construction and preservation of national heritage landscapes.

Landscape is the feeling of (aesthetic subject) towards certain landscape elements that (aesthetic objects) evoke in human beings [8]. The space represented by landscape is not only material space but also contains deep aesthetic meaning. For example, it is often said that ‘the saints walk around with the Tao (圣人含道暎物)’, which means that the saints (aesthetic subject) walk around the mountain-river landscape (aesthetic object) and perceive the beauty of the landscape through their understanding of the ‘Tao (道)’. Berque mentioned in his LA PENSÉE PAYSAGÈRE that landscape is a dynamic connection between subjectivity and objectivity [9], and this connection involves the aesthetic process. The aesthetic process involves four elements: the aesthetic subject, the aesthetic object, the cultural consensus, and the aesthetic outcome [10]. Aesthetic subjects are groups of people who develop an aesthetic consciousness by combining their past aesthetic experiences and experiences of travelling in landscapes, and they are the creators of aesthetic outcomes. These subjects construct aesthetic standards based on their past aesthetic experiences and perceptual experiences, and ‘select landscapes’ from the environment according to these standards [11], giving them profound meanings and values. Therefore, the aesthetic subject subjectively promotes the presentation and change of the aesthetic value of regional landscape. The aesthetic object is the landscape that integrates historical memory and emotion and meets the value orientation of the subject. The choice of aesthetic objects reflects the aesthetic pursuit of the subject in different periods. The aesthetic outcome marks the completion of the aesthetic process, which serves as a communication medium, influences the formation of cultural consensus, and continues to shape aesthetic activities. Texts, landscape paintings, and photography are all important parts of aesthetic outcomes, which reflect the aesthetic experience and cultural consensus of the aesthetic subject about the landscape.

Landscape text is the result of systematic theorization that conveys the landscape aesthetic subject’s perception of landscape and aesthetic interests [12]. Compared with other research materials such as landscape paintings and photographs, texts can be detached from the limitations of time and space, and accurately express the creator’s present views and intentions. Moreover, it is easier to provide readers with an immersive experience perception and landscape mood [8,10,11]. To date, landscape studies have relied primarily on diverse textual data sources such as ancient documents, poems, big data analysis, interviews, garden travelogues, and academic papers [8,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21]. The research methods and contents can be summarized into the following three aspects. ➀ Through traditional methods, text content is combined with other research materials and methods such as landscape painting, ancient maps, or field investigation to summarize, compare, and verify. This research method is relatively qualitative and focuses on spatial composition, landscape significance, and the vista view of a landscape [22,23,24,25,26,27]. ➁ The combination of text mining and statistics to analyze data is widely used at present. The research has focused on the visual expression of landscape aesthetics and perception, landscape character assessment, analysis of spatial and temporal evolution and influencing factors, and prediction of research themes among others [17,19,20,21,28,29,30]. ➂ Following the development of information technology and interdisciplinary integration, the combination of text data with natural language processing and machine learning among others has emerged in recent years, attracting attention from of the academic community. The research has focused on exploring the landscape preferences and clustering features of tourists, combined with geographic information, literary geography, digital humanities, and other disciplines to realize the spatial-temporal mapping of literary emotions and the construction of a landscape data system [18,31,32,33,34,35]. Scholars have utilized textual data to explore landscapes comprehensively, but almost always based their landscape analysis on a specific research material (landscape aesthetic stance) or a specific period. However, a comprehensive exploration that encompasses different aesthetic stances and spans a lengthy period is still uncharted territory.

To fill this gap, this study attempts to explore the aesthetic characteristics and perceptual experiences of different aesthetic subjects regarding the aesthetic object (Mount Tai landscape) by analyzing the aesthetic outcomes (poems, guide books, and big data) written by different landscape aesthetic subjects (landscape enlighteners, landscape propagandists, landscape appreciators) to sort and identify the aesthetic values and evolving characteristics of the Mount Tai landscape retained in the rich texts in the long term. Among these, the poems are texts created by ancient poets or notable figures during their excursions into natural landscapes, capturing the archetypal scenery. The landscapes depicted in these poems gradually became renowned scenic spots celebrated through the ages, subtly influencing subsequent generations’ appreciation of these landscapes. Therefore, we regard the poets and notable figures who composed these texts as the initial enlighteners and discoverers of beautiful landscapes, hence termed ‘landscape enlighteners’ [8,36]. Guidebooks are representative texts produced by scenic area managers to promote attractions. These guidebooks elucidate what ’landscape propagandists’ are promoting and emphasizing as the typical landscape of a scenic area, reflecting the aesthetic and promotional strategies of the area’s managers. Therefore, we refer to the compilers of guidebooks as ‘landscape propagandists’. User comments are texts spontaneously generated by modern individuals on social media, offering insights into the most direct and authentic landscape preferences of the public, embodying the aesthetic perceptions of modern tourists. Therefore, we refer to modern tourists who write user comments as ‘landscape appreciators’.

2. Materials and Methods

Figure 1 shows the overall research framework of the aesthetic characteristics of the Mount Tai landscape. First, the data were obtained. Considering the history of social development, the poem data in the official website of Mount Tai scenic spot and Mount Tai Poetry Collection from the Pre-Qin period (770 BC during the Chun-Qiu period) to the Qing dynasty (1912), the data of guidebooks from 1949 to 2010s for Mount Tai scenic spot and officially published by Shandong or China Tourism Publishing House, and the data of tourists’ spontaneous comments on the websites of Dianping and Tripadvisor, which have a high click-through rate among tourists from 2010 to 2021, were collected. To limit the acquired data to the Mount Tai landscape, a series of pre-processing steps was performed on the data. Second, the data were analyzed. The processed data were analyzed separately for landscape clustering and spatial distribution, and time series were added to each type of text to master the landscape aesthetic characteristics of different social groups accurately. Finally, a comprehensive analysis was performed to holistically determine the characteristics of Mount Tai’s landscape aesthetics. This analysis focused on three key aspects: the commonalities and distinct characteristics of landscape aesthetics across different social groups, the continuity and transmutation over a long time series, and the influencing factors of such evolution. Additionally, the targeted optimization for the protection and construction of Mount Tai scenic spots in the future was suggested.

2.1. Study Area

Gradually, the perception of the regional composition of Mount Tai has also undergone monumental changes. Mount Tai scholar Zhou Ying said the study of the history and origin of Mount Tai should cover the ‘Great Mount Tai (大泰山)’ area under the historical culture of the mountains in Tai’an and Jinan [37,38]. This area is influenced by Mount Tai culture and landscape architecture and is taken as the reference area by Mount Tai scholars in researching Mount Tai history and culture. It includes Mount Culai in Tai’an City, Mount Liangfu, Mount Yunyun and other mountains, and Mount Lingyan in Jinan City [39]. The modern Mount Tai scenic spot includes Mount Tai in Tai’an City, Haoli Mountain, Lingying Palace, and Lingyan Temple in Licheng District, Jinan City. This study focuses on exploring the aesthetic characteristics of Mount Tai’s landscapes from ancient times to the present in a long time series and, therefore, limits the scope to the historical and cultural ‘Great Mount Tai’ area (Figure 2).

2.2. Setting Up and Acquisition of Research Materials

2.2.1. Setting of Research Materials

This study aims to elucidate the aesthetic characteristics of the Mount Tai landscape from the perspectives of different social groups under a long time series. Therefore, representative text data were selected according to the social attributes of different periods. The text data characteristics as well as the corresponding social groups and time ranges are listed in

Table 1. Characterization of the research material and the corresponding time.

Research Materials	Creators of Texts	Standpoint	Characterization	Time	Social Attribute
Poems	poets and celebrities	landscape enlightenment	famous or original landscapes	ancient (Pre-Qin~Qing Dynasty)	slave society and feudal society
Guidebooks	management directors	landscape promotion	landscape promotion	modern (1949–2010s)	socialist society
Big data	modern tourists	landscape appreciation	personal landscape perception	modern (2010~2021)	socialist society

.

Slavery and feudal societies were present from the Pre-Qin period to Qing dynasties. During this time, mountain-river landscapes were not popular due to limited social development. Specifically, the economy and politics as well as emperors, bureaucrats, and literati were the main ornamental subjects. Traditional literature can reflect the national characteristics and regional landscape in its original flavor, of which poetry and literature are representative of traditional Chinese literature. The poets used concise words to describe the first experience of the landscape [36,40]. Therefore, poems written by poets or celebrities (landscape enlighteners) who had a great influence on society from Pre-Qin period to the Qing dynasty were used as research material.

As China enters a modern socialist society, tourism is becoming increasingly popular. The guidebook is a representative text officially produced by landscape propagandists describing the landscape of Mount Tai, and it is an instruction manual for the introduction of specific events and landscapes in the scenic area. For travelers, the guidebook is the encyclopedia of the travel destination [41,42]. Therefore, the guidebook compiled by the management directors (landscape propagandists) who promoted and disseminated the landscape of Mount Tai during this period was selected as the research material.

In recent years, social media has become increasingly popular, and people are free to post their perceptual experiences of the landscape on social media. These online comments are real landscape perceptions spontaneously shared by tourists, from which tourists’ objective perception of the landscape can be obtained [16,43]. Therefore, online comments written by modern tourists (landscape appreciators) from 2010 to 2021 were selected as research material.

2.2.2. Acquisition of Research Materials

To delve deeply and objectively into the landscape characteristics of Mount Tai, we have collected a wide range of relevant literature as extensively as possible. In the selection of text, we focus not only on works directly related to Mount Tai but also consider those widely recognized in official or academic circles.

Our selection of poems primarily comes from esteemed anthologies such as Selected Poems of Mount Tai in Past Dynasties (泰山历代诗选), Collection of Poems of Sages Chanting Mount Tai in Past Dynasties (历代先贤咏泰山诗文集), and Collection of Poems on Mount Tai (全泰山诗集) (see Appendix A). These collections were reviewed and compiled by experts in Mount Tai studies, scholars in Chinese poetry and literature, and chairpersons of the Chinese Calligraphy and Painting Art Exchange Association, who specialize in related fields such as history and literature studies. Further, to provide a comprehensive view of aesthetic values across various eras, we included classic poems associated with gardens, landscapes, and rural settings, composed by influential poets who have shaped Chinese literary and societal landscapes. Chronologically, we adopted an equidistant sampling approach, ensuring a balanced representation of aesthetic sensibilities from the Pre-Qin dynasty to the Qing dynasty. A total of 175 poems were chosen—35 from each era.

We exclusively sourced guidebooks from credible publications, notably those released by the Mount Tai Scenic Area Administration and the esteemed Shandong Tourism Publishing House to ensure the authenticity and reliability of our references. Our study covers the period from the 1950s to the 2010s and is dedicated to examining the evolving aesthetic perceptions and appreciation of Mount Tai’s landscape as seen by contemporary scenic area managers and operators, which in turn enhances the contextual depth of our research.

Addressing big data and acknowledging the recent surge in internet influence, we targeted data from January 2010 to December 2021 to capture timely, vibrant, and emblematic user feedback. We drew insights from high-traffic platforms, namely Dianping and TripAdvisor, to guarantee a diverse and genuine array of reviews. During this period, we collected 11,990 reviews, each representing a visitor’s authentic experience of Mount Tai, encompassing both praise and criticism. We documented and analyzed all these reviews to ensure the data were as comprehensive as possible, thereby presenting readers with a truthful analysis of Mount Tai’s landscape characteristics.

2.3. Pre-Processing of Data

To ensure the accuracy of the analyzed data, the collected text data were pre-processed. First, the text data were separated into words and then pre-processed according to the prior research. The pre-processing was based on the following principles: (1) exclude sentences or words that are not relevant to the description of the landscape, including descriptions of transportation routes or promotional texts; (2) exclude grammatical conjunctions, modal auxiliaries, and adverbs, among others, that have no specific meaning, including ‘if’, ‘oh’, and ‘very’; (3) uniformly replace acronyms, neologisms, and synonyms, among others, as they appear in the text [8,16,20,33,41,43]; for instance, although the names of ‘Wu pine’, ‘Wu Dafu pine’, ‘Qin pine’, and ‘Dafu Pine’ are different, the object of description is ‘Five Dafu Pine’, so we redefined them as ‘Five Dafu Pine’. The textual data obtained and the data processing performed in this study are listed in

Table 2. Data preprocessing.

Text Type	Collected Data	Words Unrelated to Landscape	Meaningless Grammatical Words	Synonyms	Pre-Processed Data
Poems	2962	1261	699	264	738
Guidebooks	32,858	19,886	2875	2528	7569
Big data	11,990	3461	2721	2559	3249

, and the number of landscape elements in the pre-processed poems, guidebooks, and big data were 738, 7569, and 3249, respectively. The example of the data pre-processing process in this study can be found in

Table A1. Example of pre-processing process.

Text Types	Original Text	Translations	Pre-Processing	Data Statistics
				D	Removed Data			P
					a	b	c
Poems	五大夫松下看流泉 我寻古松树, 爱此岩下泉. 横泻珠帘静, 斜飞瀑布悬. 积寒生石发, 落日动山烟. 辇道除荒草, 长悲封禅年.	Beneath the Five Dafu Pine, I gaze upon the flowing spring In search of ancient pine trees (Five Dafu Pine), Fond of the spring beneath the rock. The water spills silently like a beaded curtain, And the waterfall cascades obliquely, suspended. The accumulated cold generates moss on the stones, The setting sun animates the mountain’s smoke. Clearing wild grass from the imperial road, Long lamenting the years of Fengshan rituals.	Beneath the Five Dafu Pine, I gaze upon the flowing spring In search of ancient pine trees (Five Dafu Pine), Fond of the spring beneath the rock. The water spills silently like a beaded curtain, And the waterfall cascades obliquely, suspended. The accumulated cold generates moss on the stones, The setting sun animates the mountain’s smoke. Clearing wild grass from the imperial road, Long lamenting the years of Fengshan rituals.	32	12	1	3	16
Guidebooks	顺着仙鹤湾的足迹，听着溪里峪的泉水奏鸣，大家前面看到的就是长寿桥景点了。长寿泉座落在后石峪景区东入口的石牌坊旁，附近有一个扫帚峪村，扫帚峪村中百岁以上的长寿老人很多，据说是他们常年引用长寿泉所致。	Following the footprints along Xianhe Bay, and listening to the symphony of springs in Xi Li Yu, what you see ahead is the Changshou Bridge attraction. Changshou Spring is located next to the stone archway at the eastern entrance of the Houshiyu scenic area, near Saobuyu village. In Saobuyu village, there are many centenarians, and it is said that their longevity is attributed to the regular consumption of water from Changshou Spring.	Following the footprints along Xianhe Bay, and listening to the symphony of springs in Xi Li Yu, what you see ahead is the Changshou Bridge attraction. Changshou Spring is located next to the stone archway at the eastern entrance of the Houshiyu scenic area, near Saobuyu village. In Saobuyu village, there are many centenarians, and it is said that their longevity is attributed to the regular consumption of water from Changshou Spring.	45	22	5	7	11
Big data	来到泰山山顶 ⛰️，古人所言 “一览众山小”, 体验后方知此言 非虚。连峰尽收眼底, 站在泰山顶上这么高的地方, 瞬间心情舒畅, 视野开阔ˏˋ❤ˎˊ。反观最近经历的鸡毛蒜皮的小事和苦闷,简直不值一提。	Upon reaching the summit of Mount Tai ⛰️, one truly comprehends the ancient saying, “I must ascend the mountain’s crest, it dwarfs all other hills”. Only through experience can one realize the truth of these words. With a panorama of peaks beneath, standing atop Mount Tai (the summit of Mount Tai) offers an uplifting sensation, a broadening of one’s horizons, filling the heart with joyˏˋ❤ˎˊ. In contrast, the trivial troubles and grievances recently experienced seem utterly insignificant.	Upon reaching the summit of Mount Tai ⛰️, one truly comprehends the ancient saying, “I must ascend the mountain’s crest, it dwarfs all other hills”. Only through experience can one realize the truth of these words. With a panorama of peaks beneath, standing atop Mount Tai (the summit of Mount Tai) offers an uplifting sensation, a broadening of one’s horizons, filling the heart with joyˏˋ❤ˎˊ. In contrast, the trivial troubles and grievances recently experienced seem utterly insignificant.	34	22	2	2	8

Note: the word counts in this study are based on Chinese words. D: collected data. a: not relevant to the description of the landscape. b: grammatical conjunctions. c: acronyms, neologisms, and synonyms, among others. P: pre-processed data.

of the Appendix B.

2.4. Cluster Analysis

Clustering is a technique for identifying the inherent structure among data. It is a statistical method of grouping data according to their similarity or correlation and is used to quickly grasp the theme and central idea of the data [44]. VOSviewer(1.6.19), which was used in this study, is one of the most popular software for drawing visual maps of co-occurring relationships in large amounts of data, which are obtained by minimizing the weighted sum of the squared Euclidean distances of all item pairs. It effectively mitigates the problem of overlapping label names by distinctly presenting each element. This approach not only visually elucidates the clustering themes but also depicts the relationships among the objects within the text [45]. Specifically, from the extensive and complex textual data, encompassing poems, guidebooks, and big data, it pinpoints the aesthetic activities, favored elements, and utilization patterns that define the aesthetic subject. The algorithm is outlined as follows:

$$v\left(x_{1, }{x}_{2, }\dots \dots ,x_{n, }\right)={\sum }_{i<j}{s}_{ij}||x_i-x_{j }||$$

(1)

where the vector $X_i=\left(X_{i1,}{X}_{i2,}\right)$ denotes the position of node i in the two-dimensional space.

2.5. Spatial Distribution Analysis

Patterns where elements are concentrated or discrete in their distribution rather than being uniformly spread are common in spatial studies. This type of distribution greatly influences the spatial characteristics of these elements. The kernel density estimation (KDE) method and the standard deviation ellipse are essential for understanding these spatial patterns.

KDE, introduced by Silverman, focuses on the attribute-weighted spreading of point elements in space [46]. One of the primary challenges with spatial data is the difficulty of visually interpreting discrete point data when plotted directly. KDE provides a solution by transforming these discrete data points into a visual representation of density variation. This method emphasizes continuous spatial transitions and accentuates regions of high (‘peaks’) and low (‘troughs’) data density [47]. The equation for KDE,

$$f\left(x\right)=\frac{1}{nh}{\sum }_{i=1}^{n}k\left(\frac{x-x_i}{h}\right)$$

(2)

is crucial, as it offers a continuous measure of density. Here, n represents the number of elements, and h, the threshold, plays a pivotal role in determining the granularity or smoothness of the density representation. The significance of this equation lies in its ability to capture and showcase the underlying spatial patterns, allowing for an intuitive understanding of the data’s distribution.

The standard deviation ellipse method was proposed by Lefever to analyze the directional distribution of point data [48]. The study used an ellipse with a standard deviation of 1.0, which included 68% of the data. The azimuth reflects the primary trend direction of the element distribution (that is, the angle of the due north direction rotated to the long axis of the ellipse clockwise), and the long and short axes denote the degree of dispersion of the elements in the primary trend direction and the secondary direction, respectively. Its azimuth angle θ, x-axis standard deviation, and y-axis standard deviation are calculated as follows, respectively.

$$\tan \mathsf{\theta }=\frac{({\sum }_{i=1}^n{w_i^2\tilde{x}}_i^2-{\sum }_{i=1}^n{w_i^2\tilde{y}}_i^2)+\sqrt{({\sum }_{i=1}^n{w_i^2\tilde{x}}_i^2-{\sum }_{i=1}^n{w_i^2\tilde{y}}_i^2{)}^2+4{\sum }_{i=1}^n{w_i^2\tilde{x}}_i^2{\tilde{y}}_i^2}}{2{\sum }_{i=1}^n{w_i^2\tilde{x}}_i^2{\tilde{y}}_i^2}$$

(3)

$${\mathsf{\rho }}_{x }=\sqrt{\frac{{\sum }_{i=1}^n(w_i{\tilde{x}}_i\cos \mathsf{\theta }-w_i{\tilde{y}}_i\sin \mathsf{\theta }{)}^2 }{{\sum }_{i=1}^n{w}_i^2}}$$

(4)

$${\mathsf{\rho }}_{y }=\sqrt{\frac{{\sum }_{i=1}^n(w_i{\tilde{x}}_i\sin \mathsf{\theta }-w_i{\tilde{y}}_i\cos \mathsf{\theta }{)}^2 }{{\sum }_{i=1}^n{w}_i^2}}$$

(5)

In these equations, (x_i, y_i) denotes the element coordinates, w_i represents the element frequency, and deviations x_i and y_i represent how each element deviates from the mean center. These equations are valuable because they offer a precise measure of data spread and orientation, which can be vital for numerous spatial applications, including urban planning or resource allocation.

Both these methods, when used in conjunction, offer comprehensive insights into spatial data, aiding in more informed and effective decision-making in various domains.

3. Results

3.1. Landscape Clustering Characteristics from the Cross-Textual Perspective

To understand the clustering relationship of landscape elements, a co-occurrence matrix was established for the extracted landscape elements according to their co-occurrence frequency. Considering that there are many co-occurrence relationships, the Pareto principle was used to filter the frequency and facilitate the overall elucidation of the combinatorial relationship between the elements. Moreover, the co-occurrence frequency of all co-occurring words was arranged in descending order, and the co-occurring elements with a cumulative co-occurrence frequency of up to 80% were retained [49]. The filtered co-occurrence relationship data were then imported into VOSviewer (1.6.19) to build a co-occurrence network diagram, where each landscape element is represented by a circle, the diameter of the circle and the size of the label indicate the frequency of occurrence of the element, the distance connecting the other circle and the thickness of the line indicate the frequency of co-occurrence (degree of correlation) of the two elements, and the color denotes the clustering to which the element conceptually belongs according to the correlation between the elements.

3.1.1. Landscape Clustering Characteristics in Poems (Landscape Enlighteners)

The clustering results formed by the co-occurrence frequency of the elements in the poems (Figure 3) indicate relatively large differences in the clustering themes in each period. In the Pre-Qin period (770 BC–220) and Sui-Tang dynasty (581–907) (Figure 3a), the frequency of the elements ‘emperor’, ‘Fengshan’, ‘summit’, and ‘immortals’ is higher, and the clusters to which they belong (Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth and Seeking Immortality and Enlightenment) contain a relatively large number of landscape elements, reflecting the main method of aesthetic expression of the Mount Tai landscape in this period. Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth shows the landscape formed by the emperor’s ritual activities, such as offering sacrifice to Heaven (封天) and sacrifice to Earth (禅地), relying on mountains such as Mount Tai and Mount Liangfu, as well as the legend of the Huang Di’s imperial dragon. Seeking Immortality and Enlightenment shows the scenery of Taoist priests who live in seclusion, cultivate themselves, and realize the way of seeking immortality and becoming immortal. During the Sui-Tang dynasty (Figure 3b), the sunrise landscape began to debut as an independent theme of the cluster, and the elements in the cluster of Climbing for Scenery increased significantly compared to that in the Pre-Qin period; that is, the Sui-Tang dynasty began to appreciate the meteorological landscape of Mount Tai and the mountain-river landscape gradually began to develop. In the Song-Yuan dynasty (960–1368) (Figure 3c), although the types of landscape clusters were consistent with those of the Sui-Tang dynasty, the core elements changed significantly. Among them, the frequency of elements such as ‘climbing’, ‘summit’, ‘continuous peaks’, ‘temples’, and ‘monks’, increased significantly, and the cluster to which they belonged contained more elements of Climbing for Scenery and Buddha-worship and Enlightenment, reflecting the main method of aesthetic expression of Mount Tai landscape in this period. Climbing for Scenery shows a fairyland-like landscape and the majestic landscape formed by the ‘continuous peaks’, ‘streams’, and ‘clouds’ on the way to the ‘summit’ of Mount Tai. Buddha-worship and Enlightenment depict scenery of ‘monks’ and ‘Taoist priests’ practicing Buddhism and attaining enlightenment at temples in valleys and distant mountains. In addition, the elements contained in the Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth in this period are significantly fewer, and the location has changed to a relatively marginal position. In the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing dynasties (1644–1912) (Figure 3d,e), the elements ‘climbing’, ‘summit’, ‘peaks’, and ‘overlooking’ appeared more frequently, and the cluster Climbing for Scenery to which they belonged contained more landscape elements, reflecting the main expression of landscape aesthetics of Mount Tai in this period. Compared with the duration from the Pre-Qin period to the Song-Yuan dynasty, the clustering of Literati gatherings and having fun and Pilgrimage for Incense were added. Literati gatherings and having fun shows friends enjoying the beautiful scenery, drinking, and playing chess and music in the valley and by the streams. Pilgrimage for Incense shows the landscape of common people bringing incense to Mount Tai to pray for blessings and make wishes. Noticeably, the aesthetic subject of landscape in the Ming and Qing dynasties was no longer limited to emperors, literati, Taoist priests, and monks but gradually tended to civilianization [50,51]. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, influenced by the imperial examination system, there was a significant rise in the scholar-official class, who were influenced by Confucian education and focused on cultural cultivation. They also pursued the expression of personal emotions and the appreciation of natural and artificial landscapes. Consequently, in this period, activities like Climbing for Scenery and Literati gatherings and Having fun occupied a relatively larger proportion. Additionally, during this period, the influence of Bixia Yuanjun in the folk beliefs of Mount Tai surpassed that of Dongyue Dadi. Incense society activities became prevalent at Mount Tai, and this period also marked the formation of Mount Tai’s local customs [52]. This socio-cultural background explains why, during this period, the common people’s Pilgrimage for Incense landscape clustering at Mount Tai began to emerge and gained prominence.

On the whole (Figure 3f), the clustering of the poems can be summarized as Climbing for Scenery, Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth, Buddha-worship and Enlightenment, Pilgrimage for Incense, Sunrise View, Common People’s Life, Literati Gatherings and Having Fun, in which the more frequent elements ‘summit’, ‘emperor’, ‘Fengshan’, ‘immortals’, and ‘clouds’ belonging to Climbing for Scenery, Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth, and Buddha-worship and Enlightenment reflect the main landscape aesthetic theme of the poems.

3.1.2. Landscape Clustering Characteristics in Guidebooks (Landscape Propagandists)

From the clustering results formed by the co-occurrence frequency of the elements in the guidebooks (Figure 4), the clustering theme of each period changed relatively little, but the core elements in the clusters changed significantly. In the 1950s and 1980s (Figure 4a,b), the elements of ‘summit’, ‘Fengshan’, ‘cliffs’, ‘streams’, and ‘steles’ appeared more frequently, and the clusters to which they belonged (Climbing for Scenery, Cliffs and Streams, Relics of Fengshan, and Steles and Temples) contained the highest number of landscape elements. The publicity of the period focused on the natural landscapes formed by the ‘cliffs’ and ‘streams’ of Mount Tai, as well as the humanistic landscapes formed by ‘emperors’, ‘Fengshan’, ‘stone tablet’, and ‘stone inscription’. After the 1990s (Figure 4c–e), the elements ‘stream’, ‘cliff’, ‘continuous peaks’, ‘climbing’, and ‘stone inscription’ appeared more frequently, and the landscape aesthetics reflected in the clusters to which they belong are like those of the 1950s and 1980s, which are all based on the promotion of Mount Tai’s natural and humanistic landscapes. However, compared with the 1950s and 1980s, the label size of ‘the Most Revered’, ‘climbing’, and ‘overlooking’ in the Climbing for Scenery cluster became significantly larger, becoming the core element, whereas the label size of ‘Fengshan’ and ‘emperor’ became significantly smaller. This is attributable to the scenic area emphasizing the natural and historical and cultural values of Mount Tai in the early years of the founding of the country and during the period when Mount Tai was listed in the World Natural and Cultural Heritage List (1950s and 1980s). It is also related to the fact that the Tai’an government has been organizing the Mount Tai International Mountaineering Festival to build up Tai’an city’s image as an international city and emphasize Mount Tai’s status as ‘the Most Revered’ since the beginning of the 1990s [53]. In addition, the 2000s–2010s (Figure 4d,e) added a new modern entertainment cluster centered on ‘tourists’ compared to the 1950s–1990s (Figure 4a–c). This cluster shows the development of modern entertainment programs such as ‘skiing’ and ‘rafting’ in the Mount Tai scenic area relying on natural elements such as valleys and lakes. During this period, the label size of ‘tourists’ was significantly large, as tourists had gradually been attracting the attention of the developers and managers of the Mount Tai scenic area. On the whole (Figure 4f), the landscape clustering in the guidebooks can be summarized as Climbing for Scenery, Cliffs and Streams, Steles and Temples, Relics of Fengshan, Common People’s Life, and Pilgrimage for Incense, in which the more frequent occurrence of ‘cliffs’, ‘streams’, ‘stone inscription’, ‘stone tablet’, and ‘summit’ belonging to Cliffs and Streams, Climbing for Scenery, and Steles and Temples can be said to be the main landscape aesthetic theme of guidebook promotion.

3.1.3. Landscape Clustering Characteristics in Big Data (Landscape Appreciators)

The clustering results of the co-occurrence frequency of the big data elements (Figure 5) reveal that the clusters of Climbing for Scenery, Cliffs and Streams, Steles and Temples, and Pilgrimage for Incense are similar to the clusters of the guidebooks, which focus on the landscape enjoyment of the natural landscapes consisting of ‘continuous peaks’, ‘cliffs’, and ‘streams’ as well as humanistic landscapes, such as ‘stone inscription’, ‘stone tablet’, ‘temples’, and ‘Fengshan’. However, they differ in a new cluster of landscapes ‘savoring and recording’. This cluster comprises many famous quotes composed by the ancients, such as ‘it dwarfs all other hills (一览众山小)’, ‘he is not brave until he reaches the top of the mountain (不到山顶非好汉)’, and ‘I must ascend the mountain’s crest (会当凌绝顶)’. Among them, ‘savoring’ and ‘it dwarfs all other hills’ have the strongest connection and greatest correlation, which is the exclamation of modern tourists who resonate with the spirit of the ancients when they visit famous scenes celebrated by celebrities of the past.

3.2. Spatial Distribution of Landscape Elements from the Cross-Textual Perspective

To determine the characteristics of the spatial distribution of landscape aesthetic elements, kernel density and standard deviation ellipse analyses were performed on the elements for which geographic coordinates were available according to their frequency, which were then used to determine the characteristics of their spatial concentration and directional distribution.

3.2.1. Spatial Distribution of Landscape Elements in Poems (Landscape Enlighteners)

The spatial distribution of landscape elements in the poems is shown in Figure 6, which shows marked variations from the Pre-Qin period to the Qing dynasty. First, the KDE results show that in the Pre-Qin period (Figure 6a), landscape elements were mainly distributed in the space from the summit of Mount Tai to Mount Haoli and in the areas of Mount Yunyun, Mount Tingting, and Mount Xinfu. During the Sui-Tang dynasty (Figure 6b), landscape elements were mainly distributed in the space from the summit to the Dai Temple (also known as the Red Gate Mountaineering Road, hereinafter referred to as RG Mountaineering Road), as well as in areas such as Mount Yunyun, Mount Tingting, and Mount Liangfu. In the Song-Yuan dynasty (Figure 6c), landscape elements were mainly distributed in the RG Mountaineering Road, as well as areas such as Lingyan Temple and Mount Culai. In the Ming and Qing dynasties (Figure 6d,e), landscape elements were mainly distributed in RG Mountaineering Road and the areas of Mount Culai.

From the results of the distribution of the standard deviation ellipse direction, the direction of the long axis of the ellipse favored the east–west direction in the Pre-Qin period (Figure 6a), and the ellipse span is relatively large. In the Sui-Tang dynasty (Figure 6b), the ellipse direction was largely the same as that of the Pre-Qin period; however, the value of distributional concentration (see Appendix A) in this period was relatively small, and the distribution of landscape elements was relatively scattered. Compared with the Pre-Qin period and Sui-Tang dynasty, the long axis of the ellipse in the Song-Yuan to Qing dynasties (Figure 6c–e) exhibited a northwestern–southeastern orientation, and the value of the distributional concentration increased with time, gradually approaching 1. This reveals the strong directionality and relatively concentrated distribution of landscape elements.

Overall (Figure 6f), the landscape elements appearing in the poems are mainly concentrated in the RG Mountaineering Road, Mount Haoli, Mount Culai, Mount Yunyun, and other mountains, presenting a relatively wide spatial distribution in the northwest–southeast direction. Regarding the long time series from the Pre-Qin period to the Qing dynasty (Figure 6a–e), the spatial distribution pattern shifted from a widely scattered (east–west oriented) to a linearly concentrated (northwest–southeast oriented) distribution pattern.

3.2.2. Spatial Distribution of Landscape Elements in Guidebooks (Landscape Propagandists)

The spatial distribution of landscape elements in the guidebooks is shown in Figure 7, and the differences in the distribution of elements in different periods are relatively marked. The KDE analysis results reveal that in the 1950s and 1980s (Figure 7a), the distribution was concentrated in the RG Mountaineering Road, as well as the Mount Culai area. After the 1990s (Figure 7c–e), the elements were not only concentrated in RG Mountaineering Road and Mount Culai area but also began to appear in the Underground Karst Cave in Tai’an City, Sun Tribe, and Tianyi Lake, which are modern entertainment sites.

The directional distribution results of the standard deviation ellipse show that the direction of the long axis of the ellipse is skewed in the northwest–southeast direction from the 1950s to the 2010s (Figure 7a–e). However, the eccentricities are significantly larger in the 1950s and 1980s (Figure 7a,b) than after 1990s (Figure 7c–e). This implies that the landscape elements of 1950s and 1980s are more directional and relatively centralized, whereas the landscape elements of 1990s onwards are relatively scattered.

Overall (Figure 7f), the landscape elements appearing in the guidebooks are concentrated in RG Mountaineering Road and Mount Culai, as well as modern entertainment sites such as Tianyi Lake and Underground Karst Cave, showing a directional distribution in the northwest–southeast direction. In terms of time series, from the 1950s to 2010s (Figure 7a–e), the landscape elements were concentrated in RG Mountaineering Road, and the spatial distribution pattern changes from concentrated distribution (northwest–southeast direction) in the Mount Tai area to a scattered distribution pattern (northwest–southeast direction), which includes Mount Tai and Tai’an City.

3.2.3. Spatial Distribution of Landscape Elements in Big Data (Landscape Appreciators)

The spatial distribution of landscape elements in the big data is shown in Figure 8. The analysis results of the KDE show that the landscape elements are concentrated in RG Mountaineering Road from 2010 to 2021, whereas there is almost no distribution of landscape elements in Mount Haoli, Lingyan Temple, and Lingying Palace, which constitute the modern Mount Tai scenic spot, presenting a vertical distribution in the south–north direction.

4. Discussion

4.1. Landscape Clustering Characteristics of Mount Tai

Although the time and the social groups represented by different texts differ, each text contains more than three types of landscape clusters, which shows that Mount Tai has good landscape resources to meet the diverse needs of different people. As listed in

Table 3. Landscape clustering characteristics in a cross-textual perspective.

Text Type	Time Period	Core Elements (Frequency of Occurrence)	Clustering Themes	Function
Poems (historic material)	Pre-Qin	emperors, Fengshan, summit, immortals, Huang Di	A, B, C, D	ⅰ, ⅱ, ⅳ, ⅴ
	Sui-Tang	emperors, Fengshan, immortals, clouds, summit	A, B, C, E	ⅰ, ⅱ, ⅳ
	Song-Yuan	summit, climbing, monks, temples, seclusion	C, Ba, D, E, A	ⅳ, ⅱ, ⅰ
	Ming	summit, climbing, overlooking, majestic, continuous peaks	C, Ba, D, E, Aa, F, G	ⅳ, ⅲ(ⅱ), ⅴ
	Qing	summit, climbing, majestic, continuous peaks, overlooking	C, Ba, D, E, Aa, F, G	ⅳ, ⅲ(ⅱ), ⅴ
Total		summit, emperor, Fengshan, immortals, clouds	C, A, B(Ba), D, E, F, G	ⅰ, ⅱ, ⅲ, ⅳ, ⅴ
Guide- books	1950s	summit, cliffs, Fengshan, stone tablet, emperors	C, H, Aa, I	ⅳ, ⅱ, ⅲ
	1980s	cliffs, streams, stone tablet, stone inscription, springs	C, H, Aa, I	ⅳ, ⅱ, ⅲ
	1990s	streams, cliffs, stone inscription, overlooking, climbing	C, H, Aa, I	ⅳ, ⅱ, ⅲ
	2000s	aged-pine, streams, valleys, cliffs, continuous peaks	C, H, Aa, I, J	ⅳ, ⅱ, ⅲ
	2010s	climbing, cliffs, continuous peaks, streams, overlooking	C, H, Aa, I, J	ⅳ, ⅱ, ⅲ
Total		cliffs, streams, valley, stone inscription, summit	C, H, Aa, I, J	ⅳ, ⅱ, ⅲ
Big data (social media)	2010~2021	summit, sunrise, climbing, savoring, majestic	C, K, I, H, G	ⅳ, ⅱ, ⅲ

Notes: A: Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth; Aa: Relics of Fengshan; B: Seeking Immortality and Enlightenment; Ba: Buddha-worship and Enlightenment; C: Climbing for Scenery; D: Common People’s life; E: Sunrise View; F: Literati gatherings and having fun; G: Pilgrimage for Incense; H: Cliffs and Streams; I: Steles and Temples; J: Modern Entertainment; K: Savoring and Recording. ⅰ: political; ⅱ: religious (Pursuing Knowledge to the End); ⅲ: religious (social customs); ⅳ: scenery appreciation; ⅴ: Production and Life.

, in terms of text types, poems (landscape enlighteners) mainly emphasize the elements of ‘summit’, ‘emperors’, ‘Fengshan’, ‘immortals’, and ‘clouds’, guidebooks (landscape propagandists) emphasize the elements of ‘cliffs’, ‘streams’, ‘valleys’, ‘stone inscription’, and ‘summit’, and big data (landscape appreciators) emphasize the elements of ‘summit’, ‘sunrise’, ‘climbing’, ‘majestic’, and ‘savoring’. Notably, ‘summit’ is an element emphasized in poems, guidebooks, and big data. Poems and big data emphasized the external behavioral activities based on ‘Fengshan’ and ‘climbing’, as well as the internal perceptual imagery of ‘immortals’, ‘majesty’, and ‘savoring’, whereas guidebooks emphasized the natural and humanistic landscapes of ‘cliffs’, ‘streams’, and ‘stone inscription’. In other words, both landscape enlighteners and landscape appreciators emphasize external behavioral activities (‘Fengshan’ and ‘climbing’) in Mount Tai, as well as the physical and mental purification and internal perception (‘immortals’, ‘savoring’) brought about by these activities. In contrast, landscape propagandists emphasize the physical landscape of Mount Tai’s topography, streams, and so on. During the Pre-Qin period, emperors regarded Mount Tai as a conduit to the heavens, conducting Fengshan ceremonies there. From the Song-Yuan dynasty onwards, ancient scholars cherished visits to Mount Tai, viewing the landscape not merely as an object of aesthetic appreciation but also as a significant academic foundation for broadening philosophical thought. They introspectively examined themselves through nature, seeking the power of the landscape to realize the ultimate truth or ‘Tao’ [54]. Modern tourists, while visiting these historically acclaimed scenic spots, experience a spiritual resonance with the ancients across time and space in these shared settings. Visitors savor the mood of the famous quotes of the past and the spirit of positivity they contain while allowing themselves to feel the power of positivity and spiritual comfort [44]. As one tourist remarked, ‘Now, standing atop Mount Tai, overlooking the continuous rolling hills below, I suddenly feel enlightened, truly grasping the essence of poet Du Fu’s sentiment: “I must ascend the mountain’s crest, it dwarfs all other hills.” Reflecting on recent trivial matters, they seem utterly insignificant in comparison. This reflects that, with the popularity of the Internet, modern tourists are in pursuit of personalized experiences and record memories compared with the past, and the unique significance and commemorative value of the landscape itself is becoming increasingly attractive to people [55,56,57]. Moreover, the label of sunrise is relatively more prominent in big data than in poems and guidebooks. Specifically, modern tourists (landscape enlighteners) emphasize the sunrise landscapes of Mount Tai. This is attributed to the influence of sun worship and eastward reverence among ancient Chinese, where the sunrise symbolizes the emergence of new entities, commonly representing vigor, vitality, and the future. Geographically, Mount Tai holds a special position as it is in the easternmost part of China, making it the first place in the country to witness the sunrise. Consequently, observing the sunrise at Mount Tai becomes a metaphorical action, laden with people’s aspirations and expectations for the future. This act resonates with the symbolic attributes traditionally associated with Mount Tai—hope, light, and power [58,59].

As listed in Table 3, the landscape of Mount Tai can be categorized into 12 types of clustering themes, including Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth, Seeking Immortality and Enlightenment, and Climbing for Scenery. This reflects the fact that the landscape of Mount Tai has the functions of politics, religion (Pursuing Knowledge to the End and social customs), scenery appreciation, and social life. In terms of the time series (Pre-Qin~2021), the clustering theme has evolved from being dominated by Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth and Seeking Immortality and Enlightenment during the Pre-Qin and Sui-Tang dynasty to being dominated by Climbing for Scenery, Buddha-worship and enlightenment, and cliffs and Streams after the Song-Yuan dynasty. The main utilization groups and functions of Mount Tai have evolved from the political functions of emperors for the sake of national unity and religious functions (Pursuing Knowledge to the End), to the scenery appreciation and religious functions (Pursuing Knowledge to the End and social customs) of literati and common people after the Song-Yuan dynasty. This is essentially the cognitive process of people’s perception from fear, to faith, to the use of Mount Tai. In addition, with the rapid spiritual civilization and development of social media, modern tourists not only pay attention to visual landscape objects such as cliffs, sunrises, and streams but also the intrinsic spiritual significance of the landscape, emphasizing the maverick landscape experience and spiritual needs.

Notably, Climbing for Scenery clustering runs through all the texts and periods, except for the place element of the ‘summit’, the ‘continuous peaks’, ‘majestic’, or ‘towering’ in the cluster. Moreover, it is prominent in almost all the texts (in all the periods), and it can be regarded as the core element of the landscape aesthetic of Mount Tai (Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5). This is attributable to ‘continuous peaks’ referring to the fact that Mount Tai is surrounded by endless peaks, that is, Mount Tai stands in a posture of ‘continuous peaks arching over Dai (群峰拱岱)’ and ‘proudly looking at the herd (傲视群雄)’, symbolizing the central position of Mount Tai among the peaks. ‘Towering’ and ‘magnificent’ accord with the lofty beauty, the magnificent beauty, and masculine beauty in the category of ancient Chinese aesthetics. Meanwhile, in Chinese traditional consciousness, these types of lofty beauty, magnificent beauty, and masculine beauty relate to the stability and prosperity of national society. In addition, there is a popular saying that ‘when Mount Tai is at peace, the whole world is at peace (泰山安，四海皆安)’, so Mount Tai is often interpreted as a symbol of stability and prosperity of the country [59]. This explains why Mount Tai, despite not being the highest mountain in China is ‘the Most Revered’ from the symbolic meaning of its ‘central position’ and ‘national stability’.

4.2. Characterization of the Spatial Distribution of Landscape Elements

In terms of text types, RG Mountaineering Road is the space where all texts are concentrated, so it can be considered that RG Mountaineering Road is the key area for landscape protection and restoration in Mount Tai. Compared to landscape enlighteners (poems) and landscape propagandists (guidebooks), landscape appreciators (big data) are characterized by a lack of awareness of spaces such as Mount Haoli, Lingyan Temple, and Lingying Palace. In other words, the landscape of Mount Haoli, Lingyan Temple, and Lingying Palace is not very attractive to modern tourists, a finding consistent with the current utilization patterns of the Mount Tai scenic area [43]. This may be attributed to tourists’ limited understanding and perception of the cultural significance of these spaces, or to the growing prevalence of modern transportation encouraging quick-touring, such as one-day or two-day sightseeing trips. Consequently, tourists tend to focus primarily on sightseeing tours of Mount Tai, leaving little time to explore other culturally relevant areas.

As shown in Figure 9, the Mount Tai landscape shows a distributional change pattern from widely scattered (Pre-Qin period and Sui-Tang dynasty), to linearly concentrated (Song-Yuan dynasty~1980s), to clustered concentrated (after the 1990s). To our knowledge, this study marks the inaugural systematic observation and study of Mount Tai’s landscape transformation over an extensive time series. Compared to landscape perception, the degree of physical transformation in the landscape is relatively limited, primarily reflected in the increased significance of specific locations and changes in their usage. However, with the continuous development of social culture, people’s perceptions of and values attributed to Mount Tai’s landscape have undergone significant changes. It is precisely this transformation that has continuously reshaped people’s cognition and utilization methods of Mount Tai’s landscape and culture. Specifically, the elements are concentrated in the RG Mountaineering Road and other neighboring mountain areas in the Pre-Qin period and Sui-Tang dynasty, thus exhibiting a widely dispersed distribution pattern. During this period, the physical transformation of the landscape was relatively minor, with more significant changes occurring in cultural and spiritual aspects. This is related to the purpose of the people’s visit and transportation mode in ancient times. On the one hand, this is attributable to the emperors offering sacrifice to Heaven at the summit of Mount Tai and sacrificing to Earth in mountains such as Mount Liangfu, Mount Haoli, and Mount Yunyun during the Pre-Qin period and Sui-Tang dynasty. On the other hand, because of the relatively slow transportation in ancient times, the ancient tourers, due to the length of their roaming, appreciated the landscape and explored the philosophy of life to realize the spirit of support. During the Pre-Qin and Sui-Tang periods, emperors performed ‘sealing the heavens’ rituals at the summit of Mount Tai and ‘sanctifying the earth’ ceremonies in mountainous regions like Liangfu Mountain, Haoli Mountain, and Yunyun Mountain. As a result, during this era, many landscape elements were predominantly distributed on the peak of Mount Tai and the smaller hills on its southern side [39]. On the other hand, due to the relatively slower pace of ancient transportation and daily life, ancient visitors placed greater emphasis on spiritual interactions with nature during their travels. They often dedicated more time to fully immerse themselves in the appreciation of landscapes, seeking deeper philosophical insights and spiritual solace [54]. During this period, Mount Tai was not only a symbol of natural beauty but also a center for emperors to realize national political unity, as well as a focal point for people’s spiritual pursuits and cultural activities.

From the Song-Yuan dynasty to the 1980s, the landscape elements were concentrated in the space composed of the RG Mountaineering Road–Mount Culai, showing a narrow linear distribution pattern. During this period, a notable shift occurred compared to the pre-Qin and Sui-Tang dynasty, with a significant reduction in the physical space covered and a tendency towards concentration in cultural aspects and visual landscape construction. The space from RG Mountaineering Road–Mount Culai was the former emperor’s parade road for Fengshan. Moreover, it was the most preferred landscape space for celebrities to view the famous scenery [59,60]. In addition, Mount Tai and Mount Culai are far apart across the Dawen River, which is known as the opposite landscape (对景) in terms of landscape technique; that is, Mount Tai and Mount Culai overlook each other from this space [61]. This is also reflected in ancient poems; for example, Su Zhe in the Song-Yuan dynasty wrote in ‘Four Songs of Touring Mount Tai the Fourth Under Yue (游泰山四首 其四 岳下)’, ‘Looking back at the highest peak (回瞻最高峰), and from afar Mount Culai reciprocates (远谢徂徕对).’ This line captures the essence of the mutual gaze shared between Mount Tai and Mount Culai. Simultaneously, with the widespread propagation of the belief in the Goddess of Mount Tai, Bixia Yuanjun, during the Ming and Qing dynasty—as depicted by Qiu Jiasui in his poem ’Feelings under the Mountain (岳下感怀)’— ‘More to match the Lady of Bixia (更配碧霞君), temples spread across the land (庙貌遍天壤). Couples come to offer incense (结对称进香), men and women in constant throng (男女纷来往)’—the incense offering activities at Mount Tai surged, with people flocking to the mountain for pilgrimage. With the rise of the scholar-official class and the common people’s practice of pilgrimage to Mount Tai, landscape appreciation tended towards democratization during the Song-Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. In the 1950s and 1980s, following China’s turbulent wartime period and a relatively stagnant economic construction, the country was in an era of protecting and restoring its inherent physical landscapes while gradually developing its economy [62]. Therefore, guidebooks promoting Mount Tai’s landscape during this period also placed a stronger emphasis on the existing quintessential scenes, namely the imperial pilgrimage routes and the landscape spaces favored by celebrities. In conclusion, during this period, Mount Tai served as a vital site for both following ancient trails to experience natural scenery and for the common populace to engage in pilgrimage rituals.

After the 1990s, landscape elements were concentrated in spaces such as the RG Mountaineering Road in Mount Tai, Tianyi Lake, and the Underground Karst Cave Grand in the city of Tai’an, exhibiting a distribution pattern of a small-scale cluster concentration. During this period, not only did the physical space undergo considerable change, but there was also a significant transformation in how people utilized the landscape of Mount Tai. This transformation is attributed to rapid urbanization. The Tai’an government has championed an integrated mountain-city and holistic tourism development strategy, steering Mount Tai’s evolution from a sole cultural sightseeing destination to a premier international cultural wellness tourism destination. Within the Mount Tai scenic area, capitalizing on its abundant cultural tourism resources, new attractions have been inaugurated, innovative projects have been introduced, and various cultural tourism activities have been orchestrated (such as thematic parks and the Underground Karst Cave). By harnessing external technological advancements, the visitor experience has been enriched, fostering immersive cultural tourism. Concurrently, there has been a methodical expansion of the tourism developmental scope, introducing tourism projects in the vicinity of the scenic area and promoting rural tourism and educational travel, thereby forging the comprehensive Mount Tai tourism development framework [9]. In addition, with the popularity of modern transportation and the development of one-day or two-day travel, tourists have been paying attention to the connectivity and attractiveness of nearby landscape resources. Thus, after the 1990s, a concentrated distribution pattern of clusters has been observed at Mount Tai, which has largely served as a site for appreciating both natural and cultural landscapes, as well as for connecting surrounding scenic spots.

5. Conclusions

This study took the poems, guidebooks, and big data from different social groups as research materials, and by analyzing the landscape clustering and the spatial distribution of the elements, identified the aesthetic characteristics of Mount Tai’s landscapes under a long time series of landscape enlighteners, propagandists, and appreciators. The results of the study are summarized as follows: first, poems (landscape enlighteners) and big data (landscape appreciators) highlight the external behavior of ‘Fengshan’ and ‘climbing’, as well as the internal perception of ‘immortals’ and ‘savoring’ in Mount Tai, whereas guidebooks (landscape propagandists) highlight natural and cultural landscapes, such as ‘cliffs’, ‘streams’, and ‘stone inscription’. This underscores that future efforts should not solely emphasize the preservation and promotion of Mount Tai’s inherent allure but also prioritize fostering visitor engagement with the scenic area. It is crucial to augment the visitors’ experiential connection with the landscape and facilitate a temporal dialogue spanning antiquity and modernity, with the aim of deepening the cultural profundity of the landscape and enhancing the visitor experience.

Second, in terms of long time series, the change in the dominant cluster from Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth (Pre-Qin period and Sui-Tang dynasty, the functional value of politics and religion) to Climbing for Scenery (after Song-Yuan dynasty, the functional value of landscape appreciation) reflects the cognitive process of Mount Tai from fear, to faith, to use. The study also analyzed the symbolic significance of ‘centrality’ and ‘national stability’ suggested by the recurring motifs of ‘continuous peaks’ and ‘majestic grandeur’ throughout the texts, thus offering an explanation as to why Mount Tai is ‘the Most Revered’. This revelation underscores that our perception of landscapes evolves with time and sociocultural shifts. A deeper understanding of historical and cultural transformations is essential to truly grasp the value of landscapes and anticipate and harmonize potential future changes. Furthermore, when undertaking restorative and enhancement measures for Mount Tai’s landscape, it is paramount to integrate its cultural essence and symbolic significance while safeguarding and perpetuating Mount Tai’s heritage as the ‘national mountain’ and its unparalleled prestige among ‘the Most Revered’.

Finally, in terms of spatial distribution, landscape elements across all texts are concentrated in the RG Mountaineering Road, which can be seen as an important space of the Mount Tai landscape. However, modern tourists exhibit a notable lack of awareness regarding spaces such as Mount Haoli and Lingying Palace. In terms of long time series, the Mount Tai landscape exhibits a distributional change pattern from widely scattered (Pre-Qin period and Sui-Tang dynasty), to linearly concentrated (Song-Yuan dynasty~1980s) to clustered concentrated (after the 1990s). These insights suggest that, in terms of the long-term development of Mount Tai and Tai’an City, it is not only necessary to protect Mount Tai’s RG Mountaineering Road but also strengthen the connection between the physical, visual, and cultural aspects of the landscape. Mount Tai and Mount Culai can overlook each other in the landscape, and the landscape overlook axis of Mount Tai and Tai’an City should be strengthened, the unique historical and cultural landscape space of Mount Tai by formed by connecting the pilgrimage routes of the ancient emperors’ Fengshan, and enjoyable and meaningful landscape experiential activities created, which, we believe, not only promotes tourists’ understanding of the connotation of landscape and culture of Mount Tai but also alleviates the problem of insufficient knowledge among modern tourists regarding Mount Tai spaces such as Mount Haoli and Lingyan Temple, which is reflected in the big data. In addition, it is also necessary to protect the overlooking horizon of the important landscape elements of Mount Tai (‘continuous peaks’, ‘summit’, and ‘sunrise’) with the view of perfecting the typical landscape.

This study aimed to define the aesthetic characteristics of the Mount Tai landscape from the perspectives of different social groups over a long time series. This methodology enabled us to effectively deconstruct, amalgamate, and visualize intricate landscape information, facilitating a more holistic understanding of Mount Tai’s multifaceted functional value in terms of landscape theme clustering and spatial utilization. The novelty of our research lies in the comprehensive observation of the multiperspective and long time series evolution of the Mount Tai landscape rather than being confined to specific texts and periods. Additionally, we analyzed the present utilization and challenges of the Mount Tai landscape, offering relevant suggestions to foster its holistic and sustainable conservation. These insights are critical for the transmission, protection, and restoration of other Chinese heritage landscapes from diverse viewpoints and over extended timeframes. However, due to the methodologies employed and the sample size constraints in the study, the conclusions drawn inevitably possess a degree of subjectivity and selectiveness. On the one hand, the differences in the aesthetic mode, historical environment, cultural level, and instantaneous feelings of the social groups represented by different texts lead to different degrees of perceived inspiration of scene elements, which also directly affect the landscape aesthetic experience. How this intrinsic role affects the landscape aesthetic experience microcosmically still has scope for further research in the future [28]. On the other hand, under the long time series, only the poems, guidebooks, and big data were used as the research materials, and the number of texts was limited, which was insufficient in terms of the comprehensiveness and wholeness of the results. Therefore, the collection of texts will be further expanded in the later stage, and mutual evidence will be used to enhance the scientific rigor of the research results. Additionally, we intend to conduct questionnaires or interviews to obtain direct feedback from visitors. This approach will help us understand the obstacles visitors face during their visits, explore ways to enhance their experiences and understanding of the space, and ultimately enrich and deepen our understanding of the Mount Tai scenic area.

We wish to underscore that the primary objective of this research is to explore the historical trajectory and evolution of the Mount Tai landscape from the perspectives of different social groups under a long time series. Our endeavor is rooted in deepening the comprehension and appreciation of Mount Tai’s scenic aesthetics. The emphasis does not pivot on the implications of these evolutionary trajectories for sustainable development.