# Mountain God

Mountain Gods (山神) are Asian tutelary deities associated with mountains. They are related to landlord deities and tudigongs and City Gods.
They are well-known in Korea and some prominent Chinese mountains have shrines to similar deities in the Daoist traditions, called Shanshen. The Japanese equivalent is the Yama-no-Kami (山の神; also pronounced as yamagami) and the Vietnamese equivalent is Sơn thần (山神).
Houtu is the overlord of all the Tudigongs ("Lord of Local Land"), Sheji ("the State"), Shan Shen ("God of Mountains"), City Gods ("God of Local City"), and landlord gods worldwide.

## China

In China, legends about Shanshen (山神) have a long history. The Classic of Mountains and Seas (山海经), which was written more than 2,000 years ago, has already recorded various legends about Shanshen; specifically the Wuzang Shanjing (五藏山经) part contains a detailed description of the appearance of the mountain gods. The Taiping Guangji (太平广记) also contains the story of Dayu, who imprisoned the Shangzhang clan and the Dulu clan, among other Shanshen.
Ancient Chinese people worshipped mountains by deifying them. From the Shanshen's title to see the mountain god worship is extremely complex, all kinds of ghosts and spirits are attached to the mountain. Eventually, the names and differences of the various ghosts and spirits disappeared, or they merged with each other. It evolved into a situation where the main peaks of each region were inhabited by personalised Shanshens. According to the Law of Sacrifices in the Confucian classic Book of Rites, "the mountains, forests, valleys and hills, which can produce clouds, provide wind and rain, and see monsters, are all called gods." When Emperor Yu and Shun had the sacrificial system of "looking at the mountains and rivers, all over the gods", legend has it that Shun had a tour of Mount Tai, Mount Heng, Mount Hua and Mount Heng. Successive generations of the Son of Heaven Zen carry out sacrifices to heaven and earth, and also to the gods of the mountains. Most of the mountain sacrifices were made with jade and jade buried in the ground, and there were also the sacrificial methods of "casting" and "hanging", whereby offerings of chickens, goats, pigs or jade were thrown into the valleys or hung in the treetops.
The deities of the Five Sacred Mountains of China are collectively known as Wuyue Dadi [zh] (五嶽大帝, lit. Great Kings of the Five Sacred Mountains):
* Chidi of Mount Heng (South Mountain)
* Dongyue Emperor of Mount Tai (East Mountain)
* Heidi of Mount Heng (North Mountain)
* Huangdi of Mount Song (Center Mountain)
* Xiyue Dadi of Mount Hua (West Mountain)

### Other mountain deities

* Lishan Laomu, the goddess of Mount Li
* Yaoji, the goddess of Wu Mountains

## Korea

Sanshin or Sansin (Korean: 산신; Hanja: 山神) are local mountain-spirits in Korean Shamanism and folk-beliefs. In South Korea, most Buddhist temples and major Shamanic-shrines, and some traditionalist villages, have a dedicated shrine called a sanshin-gak (Korean: 산신각; Hanja: 山神閣) or an altar called a sanshin-dan dedicated to the local sanshin. This nature-deity is typically represented in the enshrined icons (paintings and/or statues) as an elder male (in rare cases, mature female) figure in royal-Confucian clothing, always accompanied by at least one tiger and a Korean Red Pine tree. There are many other symbols being held by the Sanshin, offered to him by servants or in the backgrounds of the more elaborate paintings, derived from Oriental Daoism, Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism, shamanic-folklore and Korean 'spiritual-ethnic nationalism' -- making these multi-religious icons unique in the entire world.
The Sanshin faith is interpreted in the folk scene as a belief devoted to the mountain gods. The mountain's beauty, its mystery, and the perceived shape that soars toward the sky are combined to inspire mountain worship on an emotional level. The upper mountain slopes, cliffs and peaks are seen as is the realm of the spirits and the places to communicate with them and attain visions or enlightenment. The faith that the mountain is believed-in as a mystical body that provides abundance and protection is very ancient in all Korea, and continues today in public or private Sanshin-je (mountain-spirit ceremonies) Seonang-gut (tutelary-deity rituals). When the mountain is located between Heaven and the earth where human beings live, and serves as a link between those two worlds, it is believed to be a representation of the universal world mountain, thought by traditional religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and Geomancy to rise at the center of the world.
There are particular shamanic-folklore individual Sanshins, such as Eunje-san Seongmo (Hangul: 운제산성모; Hanja: 雲梯山聖母), who is the wife of Namhae Yong-wang or Dragon King of the South Sea, Jiri-san Seongmo Cheonwang (Hangul: 지리산성모천왕) or Exquisite-Wisdom Mountain Holy-Mother Heaven-king, and Mireuk Sanshin Halmi (Hangeul: 미륵산신할미) or Future-Buddha Mountain-spirit Grandma, to name just a few.
Such deities are officially sanctioned symbols of Korean reunification, and are possibly moving towards being used as symbols of environmental preservation

## Japan

Yama-no-Kami (山の神) is the name given to a kami of the mountains of the Shinto religion of Japan. These can be of two different types. The first type is a god of the mountains who is worshipped by hunters, woodcutters, and charcoal burners. The second is a god of agriculture who comes down from the mountains and is worshipped by farmers. This kami is generally considered as a goddess, or a female deity.
A Kannabi is often associated with Mountain Gods. It is a natural area including a mountain which acts as a Shintai for a Kami.

### List of Japanese mountain gods

Yama-no-Kami appearing in Japanese mythology include:
* Hara-Yamatsumi (原山津見神)
* Ha-Yamatsumi (羽山津見神)
* Konohanasakuya-hime (木花之開耶姫), the wife of Ninigi-no-Mikoto and great-grandmother of Emperor Jimmu.
* Shirayama-hime (白山比咩神), the goddess of Mount Hakusan.
* Kura-Yamatsumi (闇山津見神)
* Ōyamatsumi (大山津見神), the father of Konohanasakuya-hime.
* Masaka-Yamatsumi (正鹿山津見神)
* Odo-Yamatsumi (淤縢山津見神)
* Oku-Yamatsumi (奥山津見神)
* Omonoimi no Kami (大物忌神) of Mount Chōkai.
* Ōmononushi of Mount Miwa.
* Oyamakui no Kami (大山咋神), the god of Mount Hiei.
* Shigi-Yamatsumi (志藝山津見神)
* To-Yamatsumi (戸山津見神)

## Vietnam

Some of the most popularly worshiped mountain deities in Vietnam
* Bà Chúa Xứ, the goddess of Sam Mountain
* Bà Đen, the goddess of Black Virgin Mountain
* Bà Rá, the goddess of Bà Rá Mountain
* Mẫu Thượng Ngàn
* Tản Viên Sơn Thánh, Thần Cao Sơn and Thần Quý Minh, the gods of Ba Vì mountain range