The author and completion time of Shan Hai Jing have not yet been determined. It used to be attributed to Dayu and Boyi. Modern China scholars generally believe that Shan Hai Jing was not written in a short time, nor was it written by one person. It was written by people from Chu, Bashu, Shandong and Qi in the early Warring States to the early Han Dynasty, and it was not compiled into a book until the Western Han Dynasty. Many may come from oral legends.
The earliest edition of Shan Hai Jing was published by Liu Xiang and Liu Xin in the Western Han Dynasty. Guo Pu in Jin Dynasty annotated Shan Hai Jing, and the textual research notes include Wang Chongqing's Notes on Shan Hai Jing in Ming Dynasty, Yang Shen's Supplementary Notes on Shan Hai Jing, Wu Renchen's Wide Notes on Shan Hai Jing, Wu Chengzhi's Geographical Notes on Shan Hai Jing in Qing Dynasty, Bi Yuan's New School of Shan Hai Jing and Shan Hai Jing Notes. After the Republic of China, Yuan Ke's Notes on Mountains and Seas were sorted out.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas consists of eighteen volumes, including five volumes of Mountain Classic and eight volumes of Sea Classic, * * * about 3 1000 words. It records the geography, customs and products of more than 100 countries, 550 mountains, 300 waterways and national landscapes. Among them, Mountain Classic contains most reconnaissance records of wizards, alchemists and temple officials in past dynasties. After a long period of biography, it will be exaggerated, but it still has high reference value. There are a lot of data about offering sacrifices to gods in Mountain Classic, which was compared with the records in Zhou Li at first. It can be compared with the records of sacrifice and blessing in newly unearthed bamboo slips of Warring States, such as Baoshan bamboo slips, Wangshan bamboo slips and Xincai bamboo slips.
The basic source of the myth of China's ancient Nuwa is The Classic of Mountains and Seas, among which the most famous stories are: Kuafu chasing the sun, the goddess shooting for nine days, the Yellow Emperor fighting against Chiyou, the flood caused by angry workers in Zhoushan, the success of water control by guns stealing farmland, the success of water control by Huangdi seizing fields and killing guns, and finally the success of Dayu.
In addition, Shan Hai Jing also recorded some strange events in the form of a running account, and there is still a big debate about these events.
This book records these things one by one by region rather than by time. Most of the recorded things start from the south, then go west, then go north, and finally reach the central part of the mainland (Kyushu). Kyushu is surrounded by China's East Sea, West Sea, South China Sea and North Sea. This sequence of south, northwest and east is different from the sequence habit of later generations starting from east, southeast and northwest. According to textual research, it is related to the spatial concept of the ancient emperor's throne facing south and far from home.
In ancient China, The Classic of Mountains and Seas has always been regarded as a historical reference book for historians in China. Because it has been written for a long time, even Sima Qian thought when writing historical records: "I dare not say anything about Yu Benji and the monsters in the Classic of Mountains and Seas."
Lu Xun also wrote a special article "A Chang and Shan Hai Jing", describing the surprise brought to him by his servant, his mother, and mentioning "Hydra" twice.