泰山称东岳，以“五岳独尊”的盛名享誉古今。按照“五行学说”，东方属木，主生发，有生命之源、万物之本的含义。这就是古代帝王通常在自己登基或晚年时到泰山封禅祭拜的原因。泰山拔地通天，气势磅礴，汉语又有“稳如泰山”、“重于泰山”之说。1987年，联合国教科文组织将泰山列为世界自然与文化遗产。
Mount Tai, called “East Yue”, has a great reputation for the most important mountain of the Five Holy Mountains. According to the theory of five elements, the East belongs to mu, which means liveliness. Therefore, the East is a place where nature regulated and adjusted its procedures. This explains why important emperors made pilgrimages mostly to Mount Tai when they were crowned or in their later years. It is a symbol of loftiness and might, hence, there are the Chinese idioms: “as firm as Mount Tai” and “as weighty as Mount Tai”. Mount Tai was proclaimed world natural and cultural heritage by UNESCO in 1987.