![]() ![]() In the first part of this paper I evaluate a supposition widespread in sinological literature that such maps existed in remote antiquity and then disappeared. However, in contrast to pictures, there is an almost total absence of traditional maps attached or related to the SHJ made prior to the diffusion of Western cartography in China. Thus, modern studies of the geographical background of the SHJ, and, especially, the WZSJ, represent the geographical information derived from the text in the form of maps. Yet, whatever the nature of the description of terrestrial space in the SHJ and its accuracy, one is immediately led to think of some sort of maps that might accompany the text. I define this representation of terrestrial space as a “spiritual landscape”. This means that the itineraries are delineated according to the spatial dispersion of divine powers indicating the sacred nature of the terrestrial space thus represented. An itinerary is comprised of mountains that submit to similar guardian spirits. The nucleus of this structure is the system of 26 itineraries marked by 447 mountains. Rather, the SHJ conveys an ideal organisation of terrestrial space characterised by a quite complex, yet remarkably regular structure. The text actually deals with matters markedly different from those considered in modern geography, and, in particular, is not aimed at conveying topographically accurate information. ![]() Elsewhere, I have demonstrated the elusiveness of the topographical accuracy of this text. The lack of precision in describing far-away lands seems, therefore, to be quite natural. Indeed, in contrast to the Shan jing, which features the centre of the world (roughly corresponding to the basins of the Yellow and Yangzi rivers), the Hai jing is focussed on peripheral parts of the world – mostly countries populated by “exotic” peoples, but also far-away mountains and rivers. Although precise distances between landmarks are not given in the second part, the Hai jing 海經 (“Itineraries of Seas”), this does not really affect the overall impression of general topographical accuracy of the text. It is characterised by the impression of topographical accuracy, providing details of precise distances and cardinally-oriented directions between the 447 mountains described in the first part of the text, the Shan jing 山經(“Itineraries of Mountains”) or the Wuzang shanjing 五臧山經(“Itineraries of Mountains: the Five Treasuries”, hereafter WZSJ), and the directions and confluences of rivers emanating from these mountains. ![]() The Shan hai jing 山海經(“Itineraries of Mountains and Seas”, hereafter the SHJ) is a comprehensive and systematised description of the inhabited world compiled no later than the beginning of the 1st century BC, the largest of the terrestrial descriptions to have survived from Ancient China. ![]()
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