"The Classic of Mountains and Seas" is an ancient Chinese book about strange things. It was generally written by the people of Chu or Bashu from the middle and late Warring States Period to the early and middle Han Dynasty. It is also an absurd and strange book. The author of the book is unknown. The ancients believed that the book was "written by curious people during the Warring States Period who took the "Biography of King Mu" and miscellaneously recorded "Zhuang", "Lie", "Li Sao", "Book of Zhou" and "Jin Cheng". Modern scholars also believe that the book was not written at one time and the author was not one person. [1][2]
There are 18 existing chapters in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", and the content of the remaining chapters has long been lost. The original *** has 22 articles with approximately 32,650 words. ***5 chapters of the Zangshan Sutra, 4 chapters of the Overseas Sutra, 5 chapters of the Haineijing Sutra, and 4 chapters of the Great Wilderness Sutra. "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi" contains 13 chapters, not counting the late Dahuang Jing and Hai Nei Jing. The content of Shan Hai Jing is mainly geographical knowledge in folklore, including mountains and rivers, roads, ethnic groups, products, medicines, sacrifices, witch doctors, etc. It has preserved many popular ancient myths, legends and fables, including Kuafu chasing the sun, Nuwa patching up the sky, Jingwei reclaiming the sea, and Dayu controlling floods.
"The Classic of Mountains and Seas" has extraordinary documentary value. It is a reference for the study of ancient Chinese history, geography, culture, Chinese and foreign transportation, folk customs, mythology, etc. The mineral records in it are the earliest in the world. of relevant literature. [1][2]
The version of "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" is complicated. It can be seen that the earliest version is "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" by Guo Pu of Jin Dynasty. However, the title of "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" is mentioned in "Historical Records", and the earliest book included in it is "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi". As for its real author, the predecessors believed that it was Yu, Boyi, and Yijian. It was edited and edited by Liu Xiang and Liu Xin of the Western Han Dynasty before it became a handed down book. Now many believe that the specific year and author of the book cannot be confirmed. [1][2][3]
As for the nature of the content of "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", ancient and modern scholars have different understandings. For example, Sima Qian bluntly said that its content was too absurd and nonsense, so he did not dare to use it as a reference when making history[ 4], such as Lu Xun believed that "the book of witches and alchemists". Most scholars now believe that "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" is an early and valuable geographical work. [1][5]
Title of work
"The Classic of Mountains and Seas"
Foreign language title
the Classic of Mountains and Rivers
p>Era of creation
Pre-Qin period
Literary genre
Prose
Author
Anonymous< /p>
There are 18 chapters in the book, and the five chapters of "Shan Jing" are a group, with mountains and rivers in all directions as the outline, and the recorded content includes ancient history, vegetation, birds and beasts, mythology, religion, etc. It is divided into chapters according to the orientation order of south, west, north, east and center, and each chapter is divided into several sections. The previous section and the following section are connected by related sentences, so that the relationship between the sections is very clear.
The "Overseas Classic" in "Hai Jing" is a group of five chapters, which mainly records the strange features of overseas countries; the "Hai Neijing" is a group of five chapters, which mainly records the magical things in the sea. The Dahuang Jing is a group of five chapters, which mainly records many important mythological materials related to the Yellow Emperor, Nuwa and Dayu, etc., reflecting the heroic spirit of the Chinese nation. The organizational structure of each group above in "Hai Jing" has its own beginning and end, is connected from front to back, and has an order and purpose. In addition to recording the geographical location, it also records the appearance and customs of foreign people in distant countries. Chapter 18 "The Classic of Seas and Seas" is a summary of the geographical conditions in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas". It summarizes the geographical divisions, mountain systems, water systems, and development of regional distribution in China; crop production; the invention of wells; musical instrument production; ethnic migration; river development and China The basic pattern formed by the stable development of the continent.
The "Book of Mountains and Seas" records about 40 states, 550 mountains, 300 waterways, more than 100 historical figures, and more than 400 gods, monsters and beasts. The book is generally organized according to region and not according to time. Record these things one by one. Most of the things recorded start from the south (the "Great Wilderness Sutra" starts from the east, so some scholars believe that the order of south, west, north, and east is the same as that of south, down, and north in ancient times. Therefore, the "Great Wilderness Sutra" starts from the east, so it is possible that It is the modification and adjustment of later generations), then westward, then northward, and finally reaches the middle of the mainland (Kyushu). Kyushu is surrounded by the East China Sea, the West China Sea, the South China Sea, and the North Sea.
There have always been divergent opinions regarding the geographical scope and related matters covered by the Book of Mountains and Seas. Many scholars believe that they are documentary records after a national geographic census. Some of them can indeed be determined, such as the Yellow River, Wei River, Huashan, etc. The geographical locations are generally consistent with reality. In fact, even the "Wuzang Mountain Sutra" is inconsistent with the overall pattern and the actual mountains and rivers. So far, no one has been able to convincingly establish these mountains and rivers one by one. Even when Sima Qian wrote "Historical Records", he believed that the contents in "Yu Benji" and "Shan Hai Jing" were too absurd, so he did not dare to use them as references when writing history. He also pointed out in "The Biography of Dawan" that "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" was inconsistent with the actual geography at that time. However, some of the mountains and rivers described in the "Wuzang Mountain Sutra" do exist, especially the mountains in the "Zhongshan Sutra". The "Wuzang Mountain Sutra" (i.e., the "Mountain Sutra") is originally based on some real mountains and rivers. It is narrative, but when it comes to the remote and meaningless polar regions, there is nothing you can do, and you can only rely on your imagination to make up the wall. When the Qing Dynasty compiled "Sikuquanshu", they said that he "talked about gods and monsters without any truth, and he was the ancestor of straight novels. He was not allowed to join the History Department"; so he was changed to the Liezibu novelist category.
Chapter Structure
Listen to the Voice
In Ban Gu's "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi", there are "Thirteen Chapters of "The Classic of Mountains and Seas"", and It is listed as the first in the "form method" category in "Shu Shu Lue", but it is only listed and the content is lost early. The handed down book "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" is not large in length, less than 32,000 words, and includes two parts: "The Classic of Mountains" and "The Classic of Seas".