Liu Xiaofeng: Professor Zhang Xushan has written a thesis on the place wherein the Queen Mother of the West lives. Also, according to this section there is a place in the northeast called Tang-gu, adjacent to the East Sea, which is believed to be the “Chengshantou,” the easternmost point of the Shandong Peninsula, where the sun rises at the earliest hour. Obviously, this state refers to the Qi state (1046–221 BCE) in present-day Shandong. For example, “The Classic of the Great Wildness” records that in the north, there is a state called Northern Qi bordering on the North Sea. The names of several places in “The Classic of the Great Wildness,” a section in The Classic of Seas, are sufficient to connect the book with the landscape of Shandong. In ancient times, there was also a “sea” to the west of Shandong, which referred to the many lakes formed by the flooding of the Yellow River. The Shandong Peninsula is flanked to the north by the Bohai Sea, and to the east and south by the Yellow Sea. Consequently, readers tend to believe that much of the book is fabricated and therefore of little scientific value.Īlthough China is not surrounded by sea on all sides, in ancient times, there was a place within China’s territory that was in fact surrounded by sea on all sides-the area where Shandong Province is located today. Specifically, it depicts a world surrounded by sea, whereas China isn’t flanked to the west and north by sea. Therefore, some scholars consider the book full of imagination and fabrication, with limited geographical value. However, although the names of some mountains and rivers in The Classic of Mountains and Seas correspond to the actual landscape of the Warring States Period, most of them are completely different in direction and distance. Many places documented in the text can be found in other ancient geographical books, so mainstream scholars generally believe that the territorial scope described in this book most closely reflects that of China during the Warring States Period (770–476 BCE). The problem comes down to the confusing records in the book. Liu Zongdi: There are various speculations regarding the territorial scope and geographical locations mentioned in The Classic of Mountains and Seas, and no final conclusion has yet been reached. Liu Xiaofeng: If we admit that The Classic of Mountains and Seas is an ancient geographical book derived from reality, a question then arises: what geography does it record? The value of The Classic of Mountains and Seas as a work of geography is beyond doubt. The section of The Classic of Seas records dozens of fang-guo across the country, with details of their state names, family names, lineages, and fragmentary records of their resources and products, customs, and mythological figures. A section of the book known as The Classic of Mountains records many mountain and river formations, as well as the animals, plants, and minerals therein it is clearly a document of natural landscapes and creatures based on facts. The book is considered the oldest Chinese geographical record in existence. Scholars mainly focus on the mythological components and tend to underestimate the value of this book as an archive of ancient history. Typical readers generally read the book to satisfy their curiosity, interested primarily in the strange creatures depicted within it. It is rather a work of geography, and a source of important historical material for studying ancient history and geography. Liu Zongdi: The Classic of Mountains and Seas is not a bestiary. Can this book, with powerful mythological overtones, really be regarded as a geographical work? Liu Xiaofeng: The Classic of Mountains and Seas not only records some of the oldest Chinese geography, but also preserves some of the oldest myths and histories in the early stages of Chinese civilization. Recently, Liu Xiaofeng, a professor from the Department of History at Tsinghua University, invited Liu Zongdi, a professor from the School of Chinese Language and Literature at Beijing Language and Culture University, and Zhang Xushan, a professor from the Department of History at Tsinghua University, to share their opinions on issues interpreting geographical knowledge as depicted in The Classic of Mountains and Seas. The Shan Hai Jing, or The Classic of Mountains and Seas, is a singular book written in ancient China that has remained popular reading for thousands of years. An illustration from a Ming-Dynasty edition of The Classic of Mountains and Seas Photo: CFP
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