"Together the text and illustrations gradually reveal many of the major themes and characteristics of Chinese painting. To "read" these works is to enter a dialogue with the past. Slowly perusing a scroll or album, one shares an intimate experience that has been repeated over the centuries. And it is through such readings that meaning is gradually revealed."--BOOK JACKET.

At the intersection of art and religious history, Susan Naquin’s richly illustrated history presents a fresh method for studying Chinese gods and sacred places as it tells the full story of Mount Tai and the premier female deity of North China.