Wuyishan Legend
There is a beautiful legend about Yunu Peak. Yunu, a fairy maiden, fell in love with Dawang, an earthly king. She came to Mt. Wuyi and enjoyed its fantastic natural beauty very much together with the king. So she decided to stay there. However, a demon named Tieban (Iron Plate) informed the Jade Emperor.
The Jade Emperor flew into a rage and turned the demon into a peak, known as Tieban Peak, to separate Dawang Peak from Yunü Peak. Therefore, the two lovers couldn't see each other though they were only a short distance away.
The name of the mountain comes from a story about a legendary person called Qian Keng who lived during the shang Dynasty (c.16th century-11th century B.C.), believed to be the eighth generation descendant of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor. Because of Qian Keng's outstanding achievements, King Yao gave him the title of lord of Pengcheng (present-day Xuzhou in Jiangsu) and thus he became known by the surname Peng.
His descendants referred to him as Peng Zu (Ancestor Peng). To escape from wars occurring at that time, Peng Zu took his two sons, Peng Wu and Peng Yi, to a scenic mountain area in northern Fujian. They settled down there, worked the land and lived as farmers.
Later, in memory of these first settlers to the region, people name the mountain range after the two sons, Wu and Yi, and thereafter also used the name Wuyi to refer to Peng Zu. Later Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty (r.140-87 B.C.) sent out envoys who travelled long distances in order to confer on Wuyi the honorific title of Master.