Besides its unique natural attractions, the region has always had great cultural traditions. Many historians have penned poems about this mountain. Lying beside the ancient Silk Road, the mountain has witnessed the thriving moments and the abandonment of the ancient commercial road that has linked the East and West for hundreds of years. The famous poet Cen Sen of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) once presented a poem when passing by: "The mountain abruptly appears at the mouth of Chiting; the cloud of the flames pileups in May. The mountain is yet to be inhabited, even birds dare not fly by." In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the famous traveler Chen Cheng also composed a poem on his way through the region: "It's only early spring, but the weather is no different from midsummer." These two lines vividly depict the indistinctive climate in the four seasons on Flaming Mountain.

  Legends

People have created abundant legends about the emergence of this natural wonder.

The most famous story about Flaming Mountain comes from one of the four major classic novels, Pilgrims to the West by Wu Cheng'en of the Ming Dynasty.

In the novel, Tang Xuanzang and his disciples meet tremendous hardships when they pass by Flaming Mountain on their way to the west. They cannot penetrate the flames and Sun Wukong, Tang's oldest disciple, procures a magical palm-leaf fan from Princess Iron Fan, wife of the Ox Demon King (two fictional figures in the novel) and waves it 49 times, causing heavy rains to extinguish the fire. 

To commemorate Tang Xuanzang and his companions who have made great contributions to Flaming Mountain's reputation, serial statues featuring the mythological figures have been erected under the mountain in 1998. Sun Wukong is positioned in the front, carrying the magic palm-leaf fan; Tang and his other disciples are also vividly portrayed, bringing the mythological story to tourists.

According to a famous Uygur legend, there was once an evil dragon hidden deep in Tianshan Mountain who liked to eat young children. The top local governor sent Halahezhuo to bring the dragon under control. After a heated and breathtaking battle that lasted for three days and nights, Halahezhuo conquered the dragon and cut it into 10 pieces. The dead dragon was then transformed into a mountain and his wounds became valleys; the creature's blood turned all of the rocks deep red. In Uygur, the mountain is therefore called "red mountain."