Of Ancient Mountains and Seas: The Mountains Volume 1-5 (TEXT ONLY) 山海经 (Shan Hai Jing): 五藏山经 卷一至五

By Ink-It Lee

This is a translation of the text in volumes 1 to 5 of Shan Hai Jing (山海经). Shan Hai Jing is a historical text on geography that describes the animals and plants of the lands in and around today's China in ancient times. Some of these creatures and plants do not exist today as they are probably mythical or they are extinct. Nevertheless, this is an interesting piece of natural history text. Only 18 of the original 22 volumes exist today. The earliest known existence of the text was traced to the Jin dynasty (266 to 420 AD). This casual translation only covers the first 5 volumes which focus on the mountains.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ink-It Lee
• Release date: Apr 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9789811449499

Ink-It Lee

Translator/writer who likes to read, delves into superstitious and beliefs,and who is curious about many things.

Book preview

Picture Credits/图片

[1] Book Cover

山庄高逸, 李在(明)

Mountain Hamlet, Lofty Retreat by Li Zai (Ming Dynasty)

(http://tech2.npm.gov.tw/cheschool/zh-tw/index.aspx?content=c_2_20)

via Wikimedia Commons.

Disclaimer/免责声明

This publication is intended as a casual English translation of the subject matter covered. It is conceptualized with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If you require legal advice or other professional assistance, you should instead seek the services of a competent professional person or entity. 

As this is a casual translation of an ancient text where validation of the contents mentioned is not possible (unless one can travel back in time) and where many people have different interpretations and understanding, the vague nature of the subject means that there are many ways to interpret a particular line, and the translation offered here is just one suggested by the publisher and is not the true translation for the text concerned. Plus, there may be mistakes or errors both typographically within the content itself and during the recording of the source content. Another point to note is how the meanings of individual Chinese characters may have evolved over time from when the source was conceived to its numerous revisions and versions to the more common edition in use today.

Therefore, the text here should be used only as a casual reference of how one may interpret the material and not as an ultimate source of the subject matter covered. 

The author and the publisher shall not be liable nor responsible to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by the information and translation in this publication.

Table of Contents

Picture Credits/图片

Disclaimer/免责声明

Foreword/序言

Volume One: Southern Highlands/ 卷一·南山经

Part I/南次一经

Part II/南次二经

Part III/南次三经

Volume Two: Western Highlands/ 卷二·西山经

Part I/西次一经

Part II/西次二经

Part III/西次三经

Part IV/西次四经

Volume Three: Northern Highlands/ 卷三·北山经

Part I/北次一经

Part II/北次二经

Part III/北次三经

Volume Four: Eastern Highlands/ 卷四·东山经

Part I/东次一经

Part II/东次二经

Part III/东次三经

Part IV/东次四经

Volume Five: Central Highlands/ 卷五·中山经

Part I/中次一经

Part II/中次二经

Part III/中次三经

Part IV/中次四经

Part V/中次五经

Part VI/中次六经

Part VII/中次七经

Part VIII/中次八经

Part IX/中次九经

Part X/中次十经

Part XI/中次十一经

Part XII/中次十二经

Notes

Foreword/序言

Shan Hai Jing (《山海经》) is a Chinese classical text that describes lands and seas, animals and plants, sometimes mythical or magical, as well as divine beings.

Some notes about the text in Shan Hai Jing:

While every effort has been made to check that the Chinese text and interpretation is meaningful with minimum or no deviation from the general understanding of the source text (including its numerous contradictions and mythical contents) today, there may be some errors and omissions due to my own oversight or my lack of access to the proper references. If that is indeed the case, please do write to [e-mail] to inform me.

Translation of Chinese names

Where there is a defined and equivalent English translation for a particular character or set of characters, that English translation is used, particularly for the names of certain plants and animals. An example will be the Chinese word for 虎 which is generally accepted as tiger. Otherwise the Hanyu Pinyin phonetic is used. This is usually for names of mountains, rivers, seas and lakes while the same phonetic with an apostrophe separator is used for names of people, animals and plants.

For the names of countries, a more casual approach is adopted where the English name is intended to evoke the same images as suggested by the original by the Chinese name. An example will be the following:

不死民在其东，其为人黑色，寿，不死。

Translation: The Undying Mortals lived on its east. They had black skin, long lives and would not die.

Phonetics

The Hanyu Pinyin (with the specific tone) is included for certain more uncommon Chinese characters.

Please make sure your reader supports CJK characters. Note that the Unicode equivalent for some older (and less used) Chinese characters may not be available in your reader and you may get a instead. The font that the authors used to display the Chinese characters correctly on their screens is either SimSun-ExtB or MingLiU-ExtB while Microsoft Yahei can display most characters but not the really obscure ones.

Also note that for certain characters in this particular section, the author is not aware of the actual phonetic in today’s Hanyu Pinyin format (those marked with [11]). A guess of the approximate sound was made and presented here. Such guesses are entirely the author’s own and do not represent the opinion of any authorities, organizations or agencies, and have not been endorsed or verified by any linguistic authorities. Readers are encouraged to do their own research.

山海经：卷一至五

Of Ancient Mountains and Seas

Volume 1 to 5: The Mountain Series

卷一·南山经

Volume One: Southern Highlands

南次一经

Southern Highlands

Part I

南山经之首曰鹊山。

The Southern Highlands began first with the Magpie Mountains.

其首曰招摇之山，临于西海之上，多桂(guì)，多金玉。有草焉，其状如韭(jiǔ)而青华，其名曰祝(zhù)余(yú)，食之不饥。有木焉，其状如榖(gǔ)而黑理，其华四照，其名曰迷(mí)榖(gǔ)，佩之不迷。有兽焉，其状如禺(yú)而白耳，伏行人走，其名曰狌(xīng)々，食之善走。丽麂(jǐ)之水出焉，而西流注于海，其中多育沛(pèi)，佩之无瘕(jiǎ)疾。

The Magpie Mountains started with Mount Zhaoyao at the Western Sea, where one might find many osmanthus trees, gold and jades. On the mountain, there was a plant that looked like chives and bore blue flowers called Zhu’Yu where a single bite could cure any hunger. There was also a tree called the Mi’Gu that looked like a mulberry tree but had a bark with a striped pattern, its flowers dazzled when they bloomed and were said to help their wearers find their way. An ape-like creature, Xing’Xing, with white ears and walked upright like a man lived there; whoever ate its meat may walk swiftly and walk far. The Liji River flowed westwards into the sea, and was filled with Yupei, a substance that one could wear to prevent swelling in the abdomen.

又东三百里，曰堂庭之山，多棪(yán)木，多白猿，多水玉，多黄金。

Another three hundred leagues eastwards lay the Tangting Mountain, a mountain filled with many Yan trees, white apes, crystals and gold.

又东三百八十里，曰猨翼(yuán yì)之山，其中多怪兽，水多怪鱼，多白玉，多蝮(fǔ)虫(huǐ)，多怪蛇，多怪木，不可以上。

Another three hundred eighty leagues eastwards lay Mount Yuanyi. Many strange beasts roamed its land and unusual fishes swam in its waters. The mountain was also filled with white jades, strange worms, strange snakes, and weird trees. One should never attempt to climb this mountain.

又东三百七十里，曰杻(chou)阳(yáng)之山，其阳[1]多赤金，其阴[2]多白金。有兽焉，其状如马而白首，其文如虎而赤尾，其音如谣，其名曰鹿(lù) 蜀(shǔ)，佩之宜子孙。怪水出焉，而东流注于宪(xiàn)翼(yì)之水。其中多玄龟，其状如龟而鸟首虺(huǐ)尾，其名曰旋(xuán)龟，其音如判木，佩之不聋，可以为底。

Mount Chouyang was another three hundred seventy leagues eastwards. Its sunny side was paved with gold while its shady side was filled with silver. There lived a beast shaped like a horse with a white head and tiger stripes on its body that ended in a red tail. Known as the Lu’Shu, its call was like that of a beautiful melody, and whoever wore its skin would be blessed with many descendants. Weird waters flowed eastwards from here into River Xianyi, where the Xuan Turtles lived. Each had the body of a turtle, the head of a bird, the tail of a snake, and a call that sounded like the splitting of logs. Bearer of its shell would never be deaf, and never suffer from calluses again.

又东三百里柢(dǐ)山，多水，无草木。有鱼焉，其状如牛，陵(líng)居，蛇尾有翼，其羽在魼(qū)下，其音如留牛，其名曰鯥(lū)，冬死而夏生，食之无肿疾。

Another three hundred leagues eastwards lay Mount Di which was always flooded with water but had no vegetation. A strange fish shaped like an ox with feathers under its gills and a snake-like tail that ended in wings, dwelt on the slopes. It called like a yak and was known as the Lu Fish. It died every winter only to live again in summer. Whoever ate its flesh would never experience swelling in the body.

又东四百里，曰亶爰(dǎn yuan)之山，多水，无草木，不可以上。有兽焉，其状如狸而有髦(máo)，其名曰类(lèi)，自为牝牡(pìn mǔ)，食者不妒。

Another four hundred leagues eastwards stood Mount Danyuan with lots of water bodies but no vegetation. No human could ascend this mountain. There was Lei, a creature that looked like a raccoon but had a mane and was androgynous, and whoever fed on it would never know what jealousy is.

又东三百里，曰基山，其阳多玉，其阴多怪木。有兽焉，其状如羊，九尾四耳，其目在背，其名曰猼(bó)訑(yí)，佩之不畏。有鸟焉，其状如鸡而三首六目、六足三翼，其名曰𪁺(chǎng) 𩿧 (fū)，食之无卧。

Mount Ji was another three hundred leagues eastwards. Its sunny side was filled with jades while its shady side had many weird trees. There was the Bo’Yi, shaped like any goat except that it had nine tails, four ears and its eyes grew at the back of the head. Wearer of its skin would never know fear. A bird that looked like a chicken with three heads, six eyes, six feet and three wings, known as the Chang’Fu, also lived in the mountain. Whoever ate its meat would no longer crave rest nor sleep.

又东三百里，曰青丘之山，其阳多玉，其阴多青雘(huò)。有兽焉，其状如狐而九尾，其音如婴儿，能食人。食者不蛊。有鸟焉，其状如鸠(jiū)，其音若呵(hē)，名曰灌(guàn)灌(guàn)，佩之不惑。英水出焉，南流注于即翼之泽。其中多赤鱬(rú)，其状如鱼而人面，其音如鸳鸯，食之不疥。

Another three hundred leagues eastwards lay the Blue Hill. Its sunny side was full of jade while its shady side was filled with blue ocher. In the mountain, there was a creature shaped like a fox with nine tails and cried like a baby that loved to feast on humans, and whoever ate its meat would never yield to poisons and spells. There was a bird shaped like a turtledove and which sounded like people shouting. It was known as Guan’Guan. Whoever carried its feathers would never be confused. The Ying Waters flowed from here southwards to the Jiyi Marsh. Red salamanders dwelt here. These had bodies like fishes and faces like humans, and cried like a pair of mandarin ducks while their meat was good for keeping scabies at bay.

又东三百五十里，曰箕(jī)尾之山，其尾踆于东海，多沙石。汸(fāng)水出焉，而南流注于淯(yù)，其中多白玉。

Another three hundred

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