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Within the Seas: South海內南經

Shanhaijing (The Classic of Mountains and Seas) 山海經 · Unknown · commentary by Guo Pu · Warring States to Western Han (commentary, 4th century) · 18 passages · 429 Chinese characters · reading time 1.7 min

Shanhaijing (The Classic of Mountains and Seas) Classic of the Seas — Within the South The oldest geography of the lands beyond the mountains and outside the seas, and a storehouse of myth. No single hand made it: it took shape from the Warring States down to the Han through many hands, and in the fourth century Guo Pu set his commentary to it. The nine-tailed fox, the jingwei bird, Kuafu, Xingtian and Xiwangmu all come from here. "Within the Eastern Sea, in a corner of the Northern Sea, there is a land named Joseon" — one of the earliest records in which the name Joseon survives stands in this book.

海內東南陬以西者。

These are the things from the southeastern corner within the seas westward.

甌居海中。閩在海中,其西北有山。一曰閩中山在海中。

Ou lies in the sea. Min lies in the sea, and to its northwest there is a mountain. One account says that Mount Minzhong lies in the sea.

三天子鄣山在閩西海北。一曰在海中。

Mount Santianzizhang lies north of the sea west of Min. One account says it lies in the sea.

桂林八樹在番隅東。

The eight trees of Guilin lie east of Panyu.

伯慮國、離耳國、雕題國、北朐國皆在鬱水南。鬱水出湘陵南海。一曰相慮。

The land of Bolü, the land of Li'er, the land of Diaoti, and the land of Beiqu all lie south of the Yu River. The Yu River rises from the southern sea at Xiangling. One account calls it Xianglü.

梟陽國在北朐之西,其為人人面長脣,黑身有毛,反踵,見人笑亦笑;左手操管。

The land of Xiaoyang lies west of Beiqu. Its people have human faces and long lips, and their bodies are black and hairy. Their heels are turned backward. When they see a person laugh, they laugh as well. In the left hand they hold a tube.

兕在舜葬東,湘水南,其狀如牛,蒼黑,一角。

The si rhinoceros lies east of the burial place of Shun, south of the Xiang River. It is shaped like an ox, dark and black, with a single horn.

蒼梧之山,帝舜葬于陽,帝丹朱葬于陰。

This is Mount Cangwu. Shun is buried on its south side, and Danzhu is buried on its north side.

氾林方三百里,在狌狌東。

Fanlin, three hundred li square, lies east of the xingxing.

狌狌知人名,其為獸如豕而人面,在舜葬西。

The xingxing knows people's names. As a beast it is like a pig with a human face. It lies west of the burial place of Shun.

狌狌西北有犀牛,其狀如牛而黑。

Northwest of the xingxing there is a rhinoceros. It is shaped like an ox and is black.

夏后啟之臣曰孟涂,是司神于巴,人請訟于孟涂之所,其衣有血者乃執之,是請生。居山上,在丹山西。

A vassal of Qi, the Xia sovereign, was called Mengtu, and he took charge of the gods in Ba. When people came to bring a suit before Mengtu, he seized the one whose clothes had blood on them. This was to ask that a life be spared. He lives on a mountain, west of Mount Dan.

Interlinear notes 1

一作:居山上,在丹山西。丹山在丹陽南,丹陽居屬也。

Some texts write, "He lives on a mountain, west of Mount Dan. Mount Dan lies south of Danyang, and Danyang belongs to Ba."

窫窳龍首,居弱水中,在狌狌之西,其狀如貙,龍首,食人。

Yayu has a dragon's head and lives in the Ruo River. It lies west of the xingxing. It is shaped like a jackal, with a dragon's head, and it eats people.

Interlinear notes 1

一作:在狌狌知人名

Some texts write, "It lies where the xingxing knows people's names."

有木,其狀如牛,引之有皮,若纓、黃蛇。其葉如羅,其實如欒,其木如蓲,其名曰建木。在窫窳西弱水上。

There is a tree shaped like an ox. Pull it and the bark comes away, like a hat cord or a yellow snake. Its leaves are like netting, its fruit is like the goldenrain tree, and its wood is like the lacquer tree. It is called jianmu. It lies west of Yayu, on the bank of the Ruo River.

氐人國在建木西,其為人人面而魚身,無足。

The land of Diren lies west of Jianmu. Its people have human faces and the bodies of fish, and they have no feet.

巴蛇食象,三歲而出其骨,君子服之,無心腹之疾。其為蛇青黃赤黑。一曰黑蛇青首,在犀牛西。

The bashe swallows an elephant and after three years puts out its bones. A gentleman who eats this has no illness of the heart or belly. That snake is green, yellow, red, and black. One account says it is a black snake with a green head, and that it lies west of the rhinoceros.

旄馬,其狀如馬,四節有毛。在巴蛇西北,高山南。

The maoma is shaped like a horse, with hair at its four joints. It lies northwest of the bashe, south of the high mountain.

匈奴、開題之國、列人之國並在西北。

The Xiongnu, the land of Kaiti, and the land of Lieren all lie in the northwest.