Tu Mountain

　　Tu Mountain, anciently known as ?T Mountain and now called Tu Mountain, is located north of Tushanji Village in Yandianlou Town, Cao County. To the south of the mountain lies the Temple and Tomb of King Tang of Shang. In the early years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the mountain was more than five meters higher than the surrounding land. However, due to soil extraction by residents and erosion from rainwater, it now stands only about one to two meters above the flat ground.

　　Tu Mountain has a long history and is the birthplace of the Tushan tribe. When Yu the Great was taming the floods, he traveled through the area around Tu Mountain. On the road, he met a woman of the Tushan clan, and they fell in love at first sight. Yu, realizing that he had not yet married by the age of thirty, resolved to wed this woman upon his return from taming the floods. Upon completing the task and returning, he found the Tushan woman waiting for him, and thus they married on Sangtai. Just four days after their wedding, Yu was ordered to leave again to continue flood control. The “Annals of Music – Early Chapters” in Lüshi Chunqiu states: “When Yu achieved merit, he encountered a maiden of Tushan. Not yet united with her, he toured the southern lands. The maiden of Tushan then instructed her handmaid to wait for him on the sunny side of Tu Mountain, and the maiden sang: ‘Waiting for him, oh!’” It also says: “Yu, who had not married by the age of thirty, reached Tu Mountain and, fearing he had waited too long and missed the proper time, declared: ‘If I am to marry, there must be a sign.’ Yu therefore took Tushan as his wife, and she was called Nü Jiao.” Another passage reads: “Yu married Tushan, but did not let private matters interfere with public duty; from the day of Xin to Jia, just four days later, he returned to taming the floods.” Qu Yuan’s “Heavenly Questions” asks: “When Yu exerted his efforts and presented his achievements, descending to inspect the lands below, how did he come to meet the maiden of Tushan, and unite with her at Taishang?” After successfully taming the floods, Yu was enthroned as king by Emperor Shun. He held a grand assembly of feudal lords at Tu Mountain. As recorded in Zuo Zhuan, Year 7 of Duke Ai: “Yu assembled the feudal lords at Tu Mountain, and ten thousand states came bearing jade and silk.” By the end of the Xia Dynasty, Tang of Shang led his tribe to move to the sunny side of Tu Mountain, to the area known as Bo, where he built a city called Bo (Bo is another name for Shang capital). After the establishment of the Shang Dynasty, the area southwest of Tu Mountain served as the early capital of Shang, becoming the political, economic, and cultural center of the time. After King Tang of Shang passed away, he was buried on the sunny side of Tu Mountain, where a majestic tomb, palace, and Tong Palace stood. During the Zhou Dynasty, King Mu made an eastern tour and held a covenant with feudal lords at Tu Mountain. Zuo Zhuan, Year 4 of Duke Zhao, records: “Mu held a covenant at Tu Mountain.”

　　Information source: Heze Municipal Office of Local Chronicles