![]() Rare creatures, their appearances and functions, receive much attention. The Hai Jing and the Huan Jing (The Classic of Wilderness) first recount myths of ancient emperors, then describe distant foreign countries, and eventually depict mythology and folk religions. ![]() Next it catalogues types of wood, animals, and minerals, explaining their practical uses, especially in terms of medicinal and supernatural value. The Shan Jing mainly documents mountains and treasures, first by describing the topography of significant mountains and rivers. What we see today are illustrations created much later on. Unfortunately, the illustrations they saw did not survive. ![]() Thus the Jin Dynasty poet Tao Yuan-Ming wrote of “browsing through the Shan Hai illustrations,” while Guo Pu from the Jin Dynasty had occasion to pen the Shan Hai Jing Tu Zan (Illustrated Shan Hai Jing with Eulogies). The original Shan Hai Jing was illustrated, and accordingly known as the Shan Hai Tu Jing (The Illustrated Classic of the Mountains and Seas). People have made further annotations or researches in every dynasty since, and the most popular version now is the Shan Hai Jing Jiao Zhu by Yuan Ke from the age of the Republic. The earliest existing edition of Shan Hai Jing was revised and edited by father and son Liu Xiang and Liu during the Western Han Dynasty. It is generally believed that Shan Hai Jing originated from geographical files as documented by Zhou Dynasty officials. However, it’s more likely that this authorship was an homage paid to the grand masters in the old days. Rumor credits authorship of the Shan Hai Jing to Xia-Yu and Buo-Yi. Fusing fantasy of worlds apart with true-to-life descriptions of the near-at-home, the Shan Hai Jing is a marvelous mixture of dream and reality. The Hai Jing is further split into different sections, with four chapters detailing ‘Regions Beyond the Seas,’ four on ‘Regions within the Seas,’ four covering ‘The Great Wilderness,’ and a short chapter on ‘Regions within Seas.’ With limited transportation and little communication between regions, in ancient times the average person still harbored fantastic visions of exotic countries and distant lands. With a total of over thirty thousand words in eighteen chapters, Shan Hai Jing is divided into five Mountain chapters (Shan Jing) and thirteen Sea chapters (Hai Jing). A wondrous book of ancient myths and legends, it serves as a record of geography, regional products and produce, ethnography, and folk customs. The Shan Hai Jing (The Classic of Mountains and Seas) is the earliest cultural and geographical record in China. The Shan Hai Jing - Domain of Deities, Spirits, Monsters, and Beasts
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