岱 (Dài): another name for Mount Tai (泰山)…

Meanings

1 another name for Mount Tai (泰山) in Shandong
2 (also written 岱宗 or 岱岳) the Eastern Sacred Mountain
3 (rare) Chinese surname Dai

Characters

岱

dài

Mount Tai (literary)

Examples

岱宗夫如何？齐鲁青未了。

Dàizōng fú rúhé? Qí Lǔ qīng wèi liǎo.

What is mighty Daizong (Mount Tai) like? — across Qi and Lu its green is unbroken. (Du Fu, 'Gazing at Mount Tai')

登岱观日出是历代文人的一大愿望。

Dēng Dài guān rìchū shì lìdài wénrén de yī dà yuànwàng.

Climbing Mount Tai to watch the sunrise was a great wish for scholars throughout the ages.

Tips

culture

岱 is the classical literary name for 泰山 (Tài Shān, Mount Tai), the easternmost and most revered of China's Five Sacred Mountains (五岳, wǔ yuè). Emperors performed the 封禅 (fēngshàn) imperial sacrifice here. Du Fu's 望岳 ('Gazing at Mount Tai') opens with 岱宗 — knowing the name unlocks the line.

history

The name dates to the 《尚书》 (Book of Documents). 岱宗 (Dàizōng, 'ancestral Dai') marks Mount Tai as the 'patriarch' of the sacred mountains — the place where the eastern sun returns each morning.