Mountains are large part in various aspects of Chinese culture. The art of them is known around the world. They also serve a mystical purpose in Chinese myths and folklore. They are far from normal society so they are believed to be the home of many mythical creatures and spirits. Sometimes the creatures would be based off of animals they saw directly or other creatures they just imagined lived in the wild and inhospitable mountains. Their influence on the minds of all the people should not be underestimated. The classes from the rich to the poor had spiritual apparatuses to deal with the demons and spirits that they believed to inhabit the mountains. One way they would do this is that when demons were believed to be causing trouble, an exorcist would be summoned. The exorcist would draw the problem and ask for help on an amulet which would serve as a request for assistance from mountain gods that would hunt demons. While the mountains had demons, they also had gods and their servants who would help humanity if they needed it. This continues the long running theme of seeing life as something that could not be controlled and the necessity of asking for help from supernatural beings.The gods did not do this out of selflessness though. The mountain gods as a whole were not as approachable as the average gods the people were used to. The mountain gods still had a wildness to them that fit in well with the ideal of the mountains themselves being wild places that were separated from average society.
