During the Qing Dynasty, Yushan was known in Chinese as Mugangshan (Wooded Mountain) from its surrounding forests. Other Chinese names included Batongguan, transcribing its native Tsou name Patungkuonʉ; Baiyushan (White Jade Mountain); and Xueshan (Snowy Mountain). It was previously known in English as Mount Morrison, a name sometimes mistakenly thought to honor the missionary Robert Morrison, but actually simply the name of an American captain who sighted it.