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.