Classic of Mountains and Seas
Classic of Mountains and Seas | |||
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Traditional Chinese | 山海經 | ||
Simplified Chinese | 山海经 | ||
Literal meaning | "Classic of Mountains and Seas" | ||
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The Classic of Mountains and Seas (Chinese: 山海经), also known as Shan Hai Jing,[1] formerly romanized as the Shan-hai Ching,[2] is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography[3][4] and beasts. Versions of the text may have existed since as early as the 4th century BC,[5][6] but the present form was not reached until the early Han dynasty a few centuries later.[6] It is largely a fabulous geographical and cultural account of pre-Qin China as well as a collection of Chinese mythology.[citation needed] The book is divided into eighteen sections; it describes over 550 mountains and 300 channels.
Authorship[]
The exact author(s) of the book and the time it was written are still undetermined. It was originally thought that mythical figures such as Yu the Great or Boyi wrote the book. However, the consensus among modern Sinologists is that the book was not written at a single time by a single author, but rather by numerous people from the period of the Warring States to the beginning of the Han dynasty.[citation needed]
The first known editor of the Classic was Liu Xiang from the Western Han, who among other things cataloged the Han imperial library. Later, Guo Pu, a scholar from the Western Jin, further annotated the work.
Overview[]
The book is not a narrative, as the "plot" involves detailed descriptions of locations in the cardinal directions of the Mountains, Regions Beyond Seas, Regions Within Seas, and Wilderness. The descriptions are usually of medicines, animals, and geological features. Many descriptions are very mundane, and an equal number are fanciful or strange. Each chapter follows roughly the same formula, and the whole book is repetitious in this way.
It contains many short myths, and most rarely exceed a paragraph. A famous ancient Chinese myth from this book is that of Yu the Great, who spent years trying to control the deluge. The account of him is in the last chapter, chapter 18, in the 2nd to last paragraph (roughly verse 40). This account is a much more fanciful account than the depiction of him in the Classic of History.
Purpose[]
Earlier Chinese scholars referred to it as a bestiary, but apparently assumed it was accurate. In fact the information in the book is mythological. It is not known why it was written or how it came to be viewed as an accurate geography book.
Contents[]
The Classic of Mountains and Rivers has 18 chapters (巻). Chapter 4 has 12 subsections (次一), 2 and 4 have four, and chapters 1 and 3 have three.
Chapter | Chinese | Mandarin Pinyin | Translation |
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1 | 南山經 | Nánshān Jīng | Classic of the Mountains: South |
2 | 西山經 | Xīshān Jīng | Classic of the Mountains: West |
3 | 北山經 | Běishān Jīng | Classic of the Mountains: North |
4 | 東山經 | Dōngshān Jīng | Classic of the Mountains: East |
5 | 中山經 | Zhōngshān Jīng | Classic of the Mountains: Central |
6 | 海外南經 | Hǎiwàinán Jīng | Classic of Regions Beyond the Seas: South |
7 | 海外西經 | Hǎiwàixī Jīng | Classic of Regions Beyond the Seas: West |
8 | 海外北經 | Hǎiwàiběi Jīng | Classic of Regions Beyond the Seas: North |
9 | 海外東經 | Hǎiwàidōng Jīng | Classic of Regions Beyond the Seas: East |
10 | 海內南經 | Hǎinèinán Jīng | Classic of Regions Within the Seas: South |
11 | 海內西經 | Hǎinèixī Jīng | Classic of Regions Within the Seas: West |
12 | 海內北經 | Hǎinèiběi Jīng | Classic of Regions Within the Seas: North |
13 | 海內東經 | Hǎinèidōng Jīng | Classic of Regions Within the Seas: East |
14 | 大荒東經 | Dàhuāngdōng Jīng | Classic of the Great Wilderness: East |
15 | 大荒南經 | Dàhuāngnán Jīng | Classic of the Great Wilderness: South |
16 | 大荒西經 | Dàhuāngxī Jīng | Classic of the Great Wilderness: West |
17 | 大荒北經 | Dàhuāngběi Jīng | Classic of the Great Wilderness: North |
18 | 海內經 | Hǎinèi Jīng | Classic of Regions Within the Seas |
All 18 chapters can be classified into 4 categories: Classic of the Mountains (contents 5 chapters), Classic of the Seas (contents 8 chapters), Classic of the Great Wilderness (contents 4 chapters), and Classic of Regions Within the Seas (contents 1 chapter). It recorded more than 100 diplomatically related realms, 550 mountains and 300 rivers, along with the geographic and cultural information of the nearby realms. The Classic of Mountains and Seas also recorded up to 277 different animals. Scholars believe the records of animals in Classic of the Mountains are somewhat exaggerated due to the long history of people compiling them in different dynasties; yet they still have a certain degree of authority, because they were generally written by sorcerers and Fangshi ("method masters") based on the experiences they gained from their trips.
The ancient Chinese treated the Classic as a record of geography.[7] The Classic was classified under the category of geography in both Book of Sui and Comprehensive Examination of Literature of Duanlin Ma. It was also an important reference material of Chinese historians through the long history of China.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas is also the source and origin of the ancient Chinese mythology. Some of them are popular and well known in Asian culture, such as Kua Fu, Nüwa, Houyi and Yellow Emperor. There were up to 450 gods and deities mentioned in Classic, and they used something called Jingmi (精米) or Jing (糈) which is similar to sorcery.
Chinese scholar Ming Hua Zhang claimed that the Zhulong, which was a mythical creature mentioned in Classic of the Great Wilderness: North, is symbolizing the aurora (northern light).[8] The Zhulong is (according to Classic) "red, with a human face and a snake body that is thousand mile long. It is the god of Zhong Mountain." He believes that this description matches with the characteristics of aurora.
See also[]
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Chinese Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- Bai Ze - titular figure of the lost treatise on demonology which has similarities to some of the Shanhaijing.
- Shi Yi Ji (拾遺记) by Wang Jia - a 4th-century work containing "apocryphal" versions of some of the stories in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
References[]
- ^ "Shan Hai Jing". Chinese Text Project.
- ^ Jonathan H. Ping; Brett McCormick (14 December 2015). China's Strategic Priorities. Routledge. pp. 40–. ISBN 978-1-134-59229-6.
- ^ Lewis, Mark Edward (2006). The Flood Myths of Early China. State University of New York. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-7914-6663-6.
- ^ Mark Edward Lewis (2009). China's Cosmopolitan Empire: the Tang dynasty, Vol. 4 (illustrated ed.). Harvard University Press. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-674-03306-1. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ Leo Bagrow, R. & A. Skelton (2009). History of cartography. Transaction Publishers. p. 204. ISBN 978-1-4128-1154-5.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Lust, John (1996). Chinese popular prints. Brill Publishers. p. 301. ISBN 90-04-10472-0.
- ^ 「在《家語》成書時人們已承認《山海經》是一部地理書了 」 "During the era of Confucius, people already viewed the as a book of geography."(Lui, Zi Feng. (1997.) 讀〈山海經〉雜記. pg.5. )
- ^ 四川省社會科學院 (1986) 山海經新探 (pg 308-314) 成都市. 後收錄《學林漫錄》第8集
Further reading[]
- Birrell, Anne, ed. (1999). The Classic of Mountains and Seas. Translated by Anne Birrell (illustrated ed.). Penguin. ISBN 0140447199. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- Davydov, Andrey (July 2013) [Composed 2002]. "Шань Хай Цзин" и "И Цзин" - Карта Психофизиологической Структуры Человека? ["Shan Hai Jing" and "I Ching" - Map of Human Psychophysiological Structure?] (in Russian). ISBN 9781301510009.
- Fedoruk, V. V.; Davydov, A. N. (1998) [Composed 1997]. Corr. of RAO L. A. Verbitskaya; Assoc. Prof. B. G. Sokolova (eds.). Шань Хай Цзин - Своеобразный Каталог Психо-Физической Структуры Человека? [Is Shan Hai Jing The Original Catalog Of Psychophysiological Human Structure?]. First Russian Philosophical Convention. Human Being – Philosophy – Humanism (in Russian). Volume VII. Philosophy and Human Problem. St. Petersburg: SPSU Publishing House. p. 355, p. 488. ISBN 9785288018947. B4231.R6751997. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
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has extra text (help) Alt URL - Fracasso, Riccardo. 1996. "Libro dei monti e dei mari (Shanhai jing): Cosmografia e mitologia nella Cina Antica." Venice: Marsilio. ISBN 88-317-6472-1
- Mathieu, Remi. 1983. "Etude sur la mythologie et l'ethnologie de la Chine Ancienne." Vol I, "Traduction annotee du Shanhai Jing." Vol. II, "Index du Shanhai jing." Paris: College de France, Institut des hautes etudes Chinoises.
- Schiffeler, John Wm. 1978. The Legendary Creatures of the Shan hai ching. Hwa Kang. ASIN B0007AP1OI
- Strassberg, Richard. 2002. A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways Through Mountains and Seas. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21844-2
External links[]
Media related to Shan Hai Jing at Wikimedia Commons
- Original text (Traditional / Simplified)
- The Original Text (in Simplified Chinese)
- Shanhaijing 山海經, ChinaKnowledge
- Chinese literature
- Locations in Chinese mythology
- Flood myths
- Bestiaries