The Classic of Mountains and Seas is one of the earliest geographical chronicles in China, which records the situation of mountains and rivers, myths and legends, and strange creatures in ancient times, and is regarded as a treasure in the treasure house of Chinese culture.
The origin and content of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" have left a lot of mystery for future generations. Next, we will discuss the history of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", the authorship, the geographical scope and whether the record is authentic.
There are two mainstream views on the birth of the Classic of Mountains and Seas. The first view is that during the period of Dayu's water control, his subordinate Boyi recorded what he saw during the trip, forming the prototype of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas". The second view is that the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" is the product of the oral inheritance of the ancestors and the accumulation of many people.
1) Dayu and Boyi said.
Dayu was a great leader in ancient Chinese history, who successfully controlled the flood and saved the people of the Central Plains from the suffering of the flood. According to records, there has been a relatively mature text in the Yu period.
Therefore, some scholars believe that when Dayu's subordinate Boyi followed Dayu to inspect various places, he recorded the situation of the mountains and rivers and strange creatures he saw, and gradually formed the content of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas".
This view was first found in the literature of Liu Xin in the Western Han Dynasty. Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty and Sima Qian, a historian of later generations, also had similar views. They believe that since Dayu went south and north, he saw and heard widely during the water control period, and Boyi, as a recorder, may accumulate the "Classic of Mountains and Seas".
However, this claim has also been met with skepticism. Because the current archaeological evidence shows that the earliest Chinese writing is still the oracle bone inscription of the Yin Shang period. If the time when the text appeared could not have been earlier than Yin Shang, then the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" is unlikely to be a work of the Dayu era.
2) The theory of accumulation of ancestors.
If we put aside the possibility of Dayu, we can also regard the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" as the crystallization of the collective wisdom of the ancestors of the past dynasties. Guo Pu, a scholar of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, believes that the process of the formation of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" is by no means "one person at a time", but the accumulation of thousands of years.
This view was shared by many later scholars. They split and verified the different chapters and contents of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", and judged that the age of the formation of the Classic of Mountains and the Book of the Sea is not the same, and the time span of the overall formation is hundreds of years.
This explains why the Classic of Mountains and Seas is rich in content, covering many fields such as history, geography, archaeology, and folklore. It is not a complete account by a single author, but a collective creation of many people and over a period of time.
1) The identity of the author is unknown.
Since we do not know the exact date of creation and the authorship of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, its authorship is a mystery. Historically, there have been many different views, which can be divided into two schools: explicit authorship and sub-regional authorship.
It is clear that the author believes that the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" was written by a person whose identity is known. The most common ones are Zou Yan said, Sui Weizi said, etc. However, with the deepening of research, these claims have basically been overturned. Regional authors say that people from somewhere in the north or south participated in the compilation of the Classic of Mountains and Seas. But these claims are equally difficult to conclusively prove.
Therefore, the question of the author of the Classic of Mountains and Seas is still inconclusive. All we know is that it is not the work of a single person, but the result of the brainstorming of generations of ancestors. This ancient book also shines with the aura of collective wisdom.
2) The recorded area is disputed.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas records a lot of information about mountains and rivers, myths and legends, and folk customs. An important point of contention is how broad the geographical scope of these accounts refersThere are two main different views.
The first view is that the place names and descriptions in the Classic of Mountains and Seas were confined to the territory of China at that time. The scope of "Kyushu" in ancient China basically included the Central Plains and the surrounding areas, which is basically consistent with the scope of the record of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas". After all, under the conditions of backward transportation in ancient times, the situation outside China was basically unknown.
However, there are also doubts. Through comparative research, the American historian Henriette Murtz found that the descriptions of a large number of mountains and landforms in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" are strikingly similar to the terrain and mountains of the Americas. This inspires us to think about whether the geographical depiction of the Classic of Mountains and Seas extends beyond China and covers a wider range of world geographic informationThis conjecture is still open to debate.
3) The authenticity of the species is doubtful.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas records a large number of magical creatures, such as multi-tailed tigers, long-armed savages, human-faced birds, etc. These species sound so absurd that some people have questioned whether they ever existed.
Sima Qian, the author of "Historical Records", expressed doubts about the content of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", saying that he "did not dare to say" these strange things. In this regard, another view has been raised.
These strange creatures may be the product of exaggerated rendering and imagination of the ancestors based on real flora, fauna and natural landscapes. They are based on some realities.
Regardless of their authenticity, these bizarre depictions of species in the Classic of Mountains and Seas have become a moving treasure in the treasure trove of Chinese culture. Just as we don't deny the cultural value of myths and legends because they are fictional, the imaginary worlds of these creatures also shine with unique charm in the literary space.
The origin of the Classic of Mountains and Seas is still a mystery to this day. It is difficult for us to give definitive answers to questions about its historical origins, the era of its creation, and its specific authors.
Even the space and species it records are unpredictable. However, this is precisely the unique charm of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" as an ancient group of books.