Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas)

Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas)

Shan Hai Jing, a mythological and geographical text, was compiled from the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.) to the early Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220). The extant text consists of 18 chapters, including five on mountains, nine on seas, and four on the wilderness. The book focuses on mountains, and provides detailed descriptions of their location and orientation as well as their flora and fauna and the distribution of minerals. It also documents the sources, flows, and distributions of major water systems and their tributaries.

Shan Hai Jing also records the living conditions and intellectual pursuits of ancient people, covering a wide range of subjects such as geography, history, mythology, astronomy, flora and fauna, medicine, religion, anthropology, ethnology, oceanography, and the history of science and technology. It outlines the civilization and culture of the ancient period and is regarded as an encyclopedia of ancient society. It also contains numerous ancient myths, witchcraft beliefs, and imaginative ideas, such as the stories of Kuafu chasing the sun, Nvwa mending the sky, Jingwei filling the sea, Houyi shooting the suns, Yu controlling the floods, and Huangdi fighting Chiyou. These stories embody the fantastic imagination of the ancient Chinese, and have been a source of inspiration for writers and artists of later periods.

《山海經》

《山海經》是一部神話地理志，成書于戰國時期至漢代初期，全書現存18篇，其中《山經》5篇、《海經》9篇、《大荒經》4篇。這一古籍以山為綱，詳細描述了每座山的地理位置、走向及動植物形態、礦產分布，記敘了河流發源、流向以及主要水系和支流的分布情況。

《山海經》還記錄了上古時期人們的生活狀況和思想活動，涵蓋上古地理、歷史、神話、天文、動物、植物、醫學、宗教、人類學、民族學、海洋學、科技史等方面內容， 勾勒出了上古時期的文明與文化狀態，被視為上古社會生活的百科全書。此外，《山海經》保存了大量的上古神話傳說、巫術信仰和種種奇思妙想，如夸父追日、女媧補天、精衛填海、后羿射日、大禹治水、黃帝戰蚩尤等故事，寄托了華夏先民奇幻瑰麗的想象，成為后世文學家、藝術家的靈感寶庫。