While Magu folktales are familiar in East Asia, the sociologist Wolfram Eberhard was the first Western scholar to analyze them. He categorized Magu under a cultural chain of Yao love songs and festivals. Based on references in Chinese texts, Eberhard proposed two centers for the Magu cult, in the present-day provinces of Jiangxi and Hubei. Evidence for an original cultic center near Nancheng () county in southwestern Jiangxi includes several place names, including two mountains. The famous Magu Shan ( Magu Mountain) is located in Nancheng, and Taoists regard its Danxia Dong ( Cinnabar Cloud Grotto), as the 28th of 36 sacred dongtian Grotto-heavens, heaven-reaching grottos) The famous Tang Dynasty Daoist calligrapher Yan Zhenqing visited Mt Magu and inscribed the Magu Shan Xiantan Ji ( Record of the Mountain Platform where Magu Ascended to Immortality). A second Magu Mountain is located in Jianchang county (, near Nanfeng ). Magu Wine () is made in Jianchang and nearby Linchuan. In addition, Magu is an alternate name for Huagu ( flower maid) Mountain in Xuancheng county of Anhui. Evidence for a secondary area for the Magu cult in Hubei includes the Song dynasty temple near Hankou, along with the Magu Temple on Mount Heng. Several early folktales from Sichuan province associate Magu with caves and one describes a shaman who invoked her. Regarding the traditions that she was born in Jiangxi and became an immortal xian in Shandong, says, This ascent to heaven, typical of Taoists, connects her with the immortal saints, and indeed she is regarded as a symbol of long life and rebirth, and therefore in the Chinese drama, appears a good omen during birthday celebrations.