Tai was real, visible and close at hand. However, although its majestic breadth and height and its status as the first among China's mountains made it appear magical, it was not as mysterious as Penglai or Kunlun, "says Liu Tseng-kui, a research fellow at Academia Sinica's Institute of History and Philology, who has researched Handynasty beliefs concerning Mt.
蓬萊若隱若現，昆崙渺遠飄忽；「境內的泰山卻是現實的存在，雖以其廣大高峻、群岳之首身份顯現神靈，神秘性畢竟不如蓬萊、昆崙」，中研院史語所研究員劉增貴曾經研究漢代泰山信仰。