Research Catalog
A Chinese bestiary : strange creatures from the guideways through mountains and seas = [Shan hai jing]
- Title
- A Chinese bestiary : strange creatures from the guideways through mountains and seas = [Shan hai jing] / edited and translated with commentary by Richard E. Strassberg.
- Publication
- Berkeley : University of California Press, 2018.
- ©2002
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| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person. | Text | Use in library | JFF 18-1126 | Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315 |
Details
- Additional Authors
- Strassberg, Richard E.
- Description
- xxii, 313 pages : illustrations, maps; 27 cm
- Summary
- "A Chinese Bestiary presents a fascinating pageant of mythical creatures from a unique and enduring cosmography written in ancient China. The Guideways through Mountains and Seas, compiled between the fourth and first centuries, B.C.E., contains descriptions of hundreds of fantastic denizens of mountains, rivers, islands, and seas, along with minerals, flora, and medicine. The text also represents a wide range of beliefs held by the ancient Chinese. Richard Strassberg brings the Guideways to life for modern readers by weaving together translations from the work itself with information from other texts and recent archaeological finds to create a lavishly illustrated guide to the imaginative world of early China." "Unlike the bestiaries of the late medieval period in Europe, the Guideways was not interpreted allegorically; the strange creatures described in it were regarded as actual entities found throughout the landscape. The work was originally used as a sacred geography, as a guidebook for travelers, and as a book of omens. Today, it is regarded as the richest repository of ancient Chinese mythology and shamanistic wisdom. The Guideways may have been illustrated from the start, but the earliest surviving illustrations are woodblock engravings from a rare 1597 edition. All seventy-six of those plates are reproduced here for the first time, and they provide a fine example of the Chinese engraver's art during the late Ming dynasty"--Back cover.
- Uniform Title
- Shan hai jing (Chinese classic). English.
- Alternative Title
- Shan hai jing
- Subject
- Note
- "A Philip E. Lilienthal book."
- Parallel title in Chinese characters.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-292) and index.
- Call Number
- JFF 18-1126
- ISBN
- 9780520298514
- 0520298519
- OCLC
- 1005687156
- Title
- A Chinese bestiary : strange creatures from the guideways through mountains and seas = [Shan hai jing] / edited and translated with commentary by Richard E. Strassberg.
- Publisher
- Berkeley : University of California Press, 2018.
- Copyright Date
- ©2002
- Type of Content
- text
- Type of Medium
- unmediated
- Type of Carrier
- volume
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-292) and index.
- Added Author
- Strassberg, Richard E., editor, translator.
- Research Call Number
- JFF 18-1126