According to relevant documents, the title of Shan Hai Jing first appeared in Sima Qian's Historical Records of Dawan Biography. It is clearly stated in the original text that "the monsters in Benji and Shan Hai Jing are afraid to speak", indicating that Shan Hai Jing has been recorded in books before, but because the description in the book is too absurd, Sima Qian dared not take it as a reference when making history.
Liu Xin of the Western Han Dynasty was the first person who was responsible for sorting out The Classic of Mountains and Seas. He clearly pointed out that the creator of The Classic of Mountains and Seas was Yu Heyi. Liu Xin recorded in the Balance Sheet: "The Classic of Mountains and Seas written by those who have already written the Classic of Mountains and Seas published in the Tang Dynasty ... and I bid farewell to Kyushu, offering soil as a tribute to others for the good and evil. "Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty added in Lun Heng. He thinks that Yu and Yi control water together, Yu mainly controls water, Yi mainly keeps records, and then compiles what he has seen and heard into Shan Hai Jing. Since then, the view of "what Yu Yi wrote" has been widely supported by scholars such as Zhao Wei and Guo Pu.
By the middle of the 20th century, the old Yu Yi theory was gradually overthrown, and Zou Yan theory and Sui Chaozi theory appeared. Zou Yan, a native of Qi Linzi in the Warring States Period, has a word forever. It claims that China has Kyushu, which is surrounded by an endless sea. Although this view is somewhat similar to the overall world outlook of Shan Hai Jing, as a creator, it is not enough as a supporting basis. Nesting theory was put forward by Juxian Wei. Juxian Wei believes that this book was written by Mozi's disciple Jichao, but there are few supporters of this view. After a more in-depth exploration of the source of Shan Hai Jing, scholars even broke through the limitations of traditional thinking and reached an important conclusion that "it took a while to write a book, but the author was different". The research angle is no longer limited to the creation of a specific person, but gradually forms a basic trend pointing to the creation of a specific group. As the focus of long-term debate, northerners and southerners have also derived new ideas such as Ba people's theory or Shu people's theory. Northerners mainly say Qin people and Luoyang people, while southerners mainly say Chu people.