Mount Ararat H. F. B. Lynch (1893)—climbed the mountain. The first winter climb was by Turkish alpinist Bozkurt Ergör, the former president of the Turkish Mountaineering Federation, who climbed the peak on 21 February 1970. According to the fourth verse of the eighth chapter of the Book of Genesis (Genesis 8:4), following a flood, Noah's Ark landed on the "mountains of Ararat" (Biblical , "hare ararat"). Most historians and Bible scholars agree that "Ararat" is the Hebrew name of Urartu, the geographic predecessor of Armenia and referred to the wider region at the time and not the mountain today known as Ararat.
Way of the Gods according to the Confucian Tradition is worked on in a long process of "cultivating the Way" (Tao), that is the right mode of living through the basic virtues of benevolence ("ren"), righteousness ("yi"), propriety ("li"), and filial piety ("xiao"). Realising the virtues one reaches the state of continuous sincerity ("cheng") and peace and purity of mind ("jing"), proceeding successfully in the cultivation of one's inner numinous nature ("lingxing"). The cultivation of the Way is conceptualised as a path of learning. The symbol of the phoenix represents spiritual renewal of the disciple and the social community. The tradition of the phoenix halls started in 1853 when