Meishan culture (梅山文化) names the hunting, herbal, martial and ritual tradition of the hill country between Xinhua and Anhua counties. Its bearers were the 'cave people' of the Song chronicles, who lived outside Chinese administration until the hills were opened by force in 1072. Their hunters' deity Zhang Wulang entered national literature among the Seven Sages of Meishan, and practices from mountain songs to shigong rites survive in Loudi's villages and festivals. Han migration later folded the culture into Huxiang identity, of which it is counted a component.
In the hills of Xinhua and Anhua, a hunting, herbal and song culture older than Han settlement survives under the name Meishan. The mountains, the culture's practices and its present are the three faces of a way of life the Song state opened up in 1072.