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Classic of Mountains and Seas

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Shanhaijing illustration of Nüwa
Shanhaijing illustration of Nine-tailed Fox, companion of Xi Wangmu

Shan Hai Jing (Shan-hai Ching; simplified Chinese: 山海经; traditional Chinese: 山海經; pinyin: Shānhǎi Jīng; Wade–Giles: Shan1-hai3 Ching1; lit. 'Classic of the Mountains and Seas" or "Collection of the Mountains and Seas" or "Canon of Mountains and Seas')[1] is a Chinese classic text, and a compilation of early geography and myth. Versions of the text have existed since the 4th century BC,[2][3] and by the early Han Dynasty it had reached its final form.[3] It is largely a fabled geographical and cultural account of pre-Qin China as well as a collection of mythology. The book is about 31,000 words long, and is divided into eighteen sections; it describes over 550 mountains and 300 channels. The oldest part of the present book is sometimes referred separately as Wuzang Shanjing (五藏山經).

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.

The first known editor of the Shan Hai Jing 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 Shan Hai Jing.

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. The most famous ancient Chinese myth from this book is that of the ancient Chinese figures, such as Great Yu (大禹), 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.

Evaluation

Generally, the book is considered to be a mythological classic. Earlier Chinese scholars referred to it as a bestiary, but apparently assumed it was accurate. In the field of Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact, one author, Henriette Mertz (1958) proposes that the Shan Hai Jing records ancient Chinese travels in the Americas, and associates the mythical Fusang with Mexico. Aside from this self-published book, the hypothesis had been refuted by sinologists in the later 20th century.[4]

Contents

The Shan Hai Jing 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 Pinyin Translation
1 南山经 Nanshan jing Classic of the Mountains: South
2 西山经 Xishan jing Classic of the Mountains: West
3 北山经 Beishan jing Classic of the Mountains: North
4 东山经 Dongshan jing Classic of the Mountains: East
5 中山经 Zhongshan jing Classic of the Mountains: Central
6 海外南经 Haiwainan jing Classic of Regions Beyond the Seas: South
7 海外西经 Haiwaixi jing Classic of Regions Beyond the Seas: West
8 海外北经 Haiwaibei jing Classic of Regions Beyond the Seas: North
9 海外东经 Haiwaidong jing Classic of Regions Beyond the Seas: East
10 海內南经 Haineinan jing Classic of Regions Within the Seas: South
11 海內西经 Haineixi jing Classic of Regions Within the Seas: West
12 海內北经 Haineibei jing Classic of Regions Within the Seas: North
13 海內东经 Haineidong jing Classic of Regions Within the Seas: East
14 大荒东经 Dahuangdong jing Classic of the Great Wilderness: East
15 大荒南经 Dahuangnan jing Classic of the Great Wilderness: South
16 大荒西经 Dahuangxi jing Classic of the Great Wilderness: West
17 大荒北经 Dahuangbei jing Classic of the Great Wilderness: North
18 海內经 Hainei jing 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). Shan Hai Jing has 31000 words in total. It recorded more than 100 diplomatic related realms, 550 mountains and 300 rivers; along with the geographic and cultural information of the near by realms. Shan Hai Jin 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 still have a certain degree of authority, because they were generally written by sorcerers and Fangshi based on the experiences they gained from their trips. The ancient Chinese had treated Shan Hai Jing as history[5], Shan Hai Jing had been 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. Shan Hai Jing is also the source and origin of the ancient Chinese mythology , some of them are really popular and well-known in Asian culture, such as KuaFu, Nüwa, Houyi and Yellow Emperor. There were up to 450 gods and deities mentioned in Shan Hai Jing, they used something called JingMi [精米(糈)] which is similar to sorcery. It particularly remarked about a monster, "nine-headed snake (九頭的蛇), twice in the book. The creature is believed to be Kuzuryū (nine-headed dragon. 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)[6]. The Zhulong is, according to Shan Hai Jing, "red, with a human face and a snake body that is thousand mile long. It is the god of Zhong Mountain." The description matches with the characteristics of aurora. Henrietta Mertz, a American researcher pointed out that the Chinese had already been to America in the ancient eras after his researching voyage to China. One of the prove is that the myth of Fusang matches with Mexican local mythologies [7] [8].

See also

Chinese Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Media related to Shan Hai Jing at Wikimedia Commons

Notes

  1. ^ Mark Edward Lewis (2009). China's cosmopolitan empire: the Tang dynasty, Volume 4 (illustrated ed.). Harvard University Press. p. 202. ISBN 0-674-03306-X. Retrieved February 2012 8. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ Leo Bagrow, R. and A. Skelton (2009). History of cartography. Transaction Publishers. p. 204. ISBN 1-4128-1154-6.
  3. ^ a b Lust, John (1996). Chinese popular prints. Brill Publishers. p. 301. ISBN 90-04-10472-0.
  4. ^ Joseph Needham; Ling Wang; Gwei-Djen (1971). Science and civilisation in China: Vol. 4, Physics and physical technology. Pt. 3, Civil engineering and nautics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 540–542. ISBN 978-0-521-07060-7.
  5. ^ 《孔子家語·執轡篇》有「子夏曰：商聞《山書》曰：地東西為緯、南北為經 」一語，呂子方指出，「在《家語》成書時人們已承認《山海經》是一部地理書了 (Chinese scholar Zi Feng Lui pointed out, "during the era of Confucius, people already viewed Shan Hai Jing as a book of geography.")」（呂子方:《讀〈山海經〉雜記》，第5頁）
  6. ^ 成都市：四川省社會科學院 (1986) 山海經新探 (pg 308-314) 後收錄《學林漫錄》第8集
  7. ^ Childress, Lost Cities of North & Central America, p. 565. "Other ancient inscriptions on the Milk River include the Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park carvings south of Lethbridge. Here can be found all kinds of "writing" though no one may ever decipher these strange glyphs. Henriette Mertz in her book Pale Ink, about two Chinese voyages to the Americas, mentions the Milk River inscriptions by name, and claims that they are Chinese glyphs made by one of the exploration parties. The book "Fu-Sang," traditionally said to have been written in 499 A.D. is said to mean "Fir Tree" when translated from Chinese. Asks Mertz, Did the ancient Chinese know British Columbia as the land of the fir tree?"
  8. ^ 連雲山著《誰先到達美洲》：「美國學者墨茲博士研究了《山海經》，根據經上所說《東山經》在中國大海之東日出之處，他在北美，試著進行按經考察，經過幾次失敗，他一英里一英里地依經上記過的山系走向，河流所出和流向，山與山間的距離考察，結果勝利了。查驗出美國中部和西部的落基山脈，內華達山脈，喀斯喀特山脈，海岸山脈的太平洋沿岸，與《東山經》記載的四條山系走向、山峰、河流走向、動植物、山與山的距離完全吻合……」

Further reading

  • Birrell, Anne. 2000. The Classic of Mountains and Seas. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-044719-9
  • 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.
  • Mertz, Henriette. 1972 [first published in 1958]. Pale Ink: Two Ancient Records of Chinese Exploration in America. 2nd ed. Swallow Press. ISBN 0-8040-0599-0
  • 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
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