Shan Hai Jing records many rivers, which is the key to decipher the location of Kunlun Mountain. "Shan Hai Jing ·Xi· Shan Jing" records: "The river flows out, while the south flows east and the water flows east. Chishui flows out and floods in the southeast. The ocean water flows out and the southwest flows into the ugly water. Black water flows out and the west flows into Da _. What a strange bird and beast. " Shan Hai Jing Huang Da Xi Jing records: "South of the West Sea, on the shore of quicksand, behind Chishui and before Heishui, there is a mountain named Kunlun Mountain."
Obviously, there are four rivers here: River, Chishui, Ocean and Heishui, which originated in Kunlun Mountain. The river here is today's Yellow River. The ancients called the river "water", and the river specifically referred to the Yellow River in ancient times. It can be seen that Kunlun Mountain refers to the birthplace of the Yellow River. After Zhang Qian discovered the Western Regions in Han Dynasty, people mistakenly thought that the Yellow River originated from Lop Nur in the Western Regions, so the mountain between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Tarim Basin was named "Kunlun Mountain", which was caused by geographical misunderstanding. The present Kunlun Mountain is still named after the Han Dynasty.