康熙十六年(1677)，一支由聖祖親下論令的朝聖隊伍啓動了種種封祭儀式。清初〈長白山賦〉不僅詳記此事，同時對此神聖地景想像展演，從而帶出巨麗炫耀的帝國圖像，為正面臨危機的政權，再次凝聚認同意識。本文採取文化地理學的觀點，將「長白山」視為可供解讀的文本，一套由信仰與實踐所塑造的表意系統。賦篇看似對「長白山」自然徵實的鋪陳，實乃藉由神聖而被教畏的刻意光環，提供堅實的起源論述，構築族群自我稱謂的正當性。至於往東北移動的封祀埸域，則以長白山足可取代泰山的聲明，指喻大清皇權的合法承續。此種說法又與康熙論證長白山為龍首，泰山為龍尾的主從意圖不謀而合。長白山變成家國認同的象徵隱喻，與帝國威儀依存與共，相互烘襯而彰現成義。在地景上書寫帝國圖景，無疑是清初以長白山為題材之賦篇所拍搬演的一場文學與文化的精彩對話。

In 1677, a group of pilgrims sent by the Kangxi emperor held sacrificial ceremonies on the Changbai Mountain. These ceremonies were recorded in detail in the various “Changbaishan fu” (Rhapsodies on the Changbai Mountain) of the early Qing. By engaging the imagination about this sacred land and enlarging the image of the magnificent empire, the authors forged a sense of identification among the subjects of the then crisis-ridden empire. In the light of theories of cultural geography, this article explores the textuality of the rhapsodies on Changbaishan. These rhapsodies are marked by a descriptive realism in which naturalistic details of the mountain are labored over. Nevertheless, glorification of the empire and fostering a sense of identification with it are also innate in these works. Shifting the location of the sacrificial ceremonies from traditional Mt. Tai to Mt. Changbai can be seen as a political metaphor implying the legitimacy of the shift in regime. This sheds light on the Kangxi emperor’s argument that Mt. Changbai was the head, whereas Mt. Tai the tail, of a dragon. Mt. Changbai, as a metaphor of political identification, became an integral part of imperial glory. Writing about Mt. Changbai was thus the same as writing about the Qing empire for the fu authors of this politically nuanced, culturally sophisticated theme.