"Shan Hai Jing" is an ancient Chinese anthology book, roughly 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 a fantastic book.
The author of the book is unknown, but the ancients believed that the book was "the curious person in the Warring States period who took "Mu Wang Zhuan" and miscellaneously recorded "Zhuang", "Lie", "Li Sao", "Zhou Shu", and "Jin Cheng" to complete it". Modern scholars also believe that the writing of a book is not a one-time event, and the author is not one person.
There are 18 chapters in the book of "Shan Hai Jing", and the contents of the remaining chapters have long been lost. The original total of 22 articles was about 32650 words. There are 5 Cantonese Classics, 4 Overseas Classics, 5 Domestic Classics, and 4 Great Wilderness Classics. "Han Shu·Yiwenzhi" has 13 chapters, not counting the Dahuang Jing and Hai Nei Jing that came out late. 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. Many well-known ancient myths, legends, and fables have been preserved, including Kuafu chasing the sun, Nuwa mending the sky, Jingwei reclamation, Dayu's flood control, etc.
"Shan Hai Jing" has extraordinary literature value. It is a reference for the study of ancient Chinese history, geography, culture, Chinese and foreign communication, folklore, mythology, etc. The mineral records in it are the earliest related documents in the world.
The version of "Shan Hai Jing" is complicated, and the earliest version that can be seen is Jin Guopu's "Shan Hai Jing Zhuan". However, the title of "Shan Hai Jing" is mentioned in "Historical Records", and the earliest bibliography included is "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi". As for its real author, the predecessors believed that it was Yu, Boyi, and Yijian who were edited and edited by Liu Xiang and Liu Xin in the Western Han Dynasty to form the handed-down book. Now it is mostly believed that the specific date and author of the book have not been confirmed.
For the nature of the content of Shan Hai Jing, ancient and modern scholars have different understandings. For example, Sima Qian bluntly said that its content is too absurd and nonsensical, so he dare not take it as a reference when writing history.
Most scholars now believe that "Shan Hai Jing" is an early valuable geographical work.
