Mingshan, which literally means ""famous mountains"", refers to a group of mountains in China that have been set apart for special veneration since ancient times. Over the centuries, the ""famous mountains"" as a conceptual term has been continually (re)invented, (re)framed, and (re)appropriated by different ideological systems. This book examines sixteenth-century paintings of famous mountains by three major artists in the light of a diachronic account of the evolution of famous mountains over time and a synchronic account of the vogue for the grand tour in late Ming society.