Chinese Bestiary

Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas

2022

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Artists

Xiyan Chen

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The Classic of Mountains and Seas, also known as Shanhai jing, is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. The book is not a narrative, as the "plot" involves detailed descriptions of locations in the cardinal directions of the Mountains, Regions Beyond Seas, Regions Within Seas, and Wilderness. The descriptions are usually of medicines, animals, and geological features. Many descriptions are very mundane, and an equal number are fanciful or strange.

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This series of works attempts to portray the Chinese mythological beasts in a partly blurred and partly clear form through various creative techniques and media, such as painting, illustration, creative programming, etc., interpreting the "Eastern Mountain and Sea Spirit" of the new era.