Religious Daoists always had a particular affinity for great and majestic mountains, and for caves. Ge Hong (284-364) of the Jin dynasty wrote in his alchemical work Bao Pu Zi (The Master Who Embraces Simplicity), "The masters of the Dao all wander unseen in remote mountains and forests."
道教對名山勝地及洞穴亦情有獨鍾，提出內丹修煉理論的晉朝葛洪在《抱樸子》中寫「為道之士，莫不飄渺絕跡幽隱山林」。