Fantastic Creatures of the Mountains and Seas: A Chinese Classic

by Anonymous, Jiankun Sun, Siyu Chen (Illustrator)

The gorgeously illustrated contemporary edition of an ancient Chinese text—for fans of fantastic beasts everywhere  

Fantastic Creatures of the Mountains and Seas is a new translation for contemporary readers of a classic Chinese text that is at once the geography of an ancient world, a bestiary of mythical creatures, and a book of cultural and medicinal lore. Illustrated throughout with more than 180 two-color drawings that are so sinuous they move on the page, it is a work for lovers of fantasy and mythology, ancient knowledge, fabulous beasts, and inspired art.  

The beings catalogued within these pages come from the regions of the known world, from the mountains and seas, the Great Wastelands, and the Lands Within the Seas that became China. They include spirits and deities and all sorts of strange creatures—dragons and phoenixes, hybrid beasts, some with human features, some hideous or with a call like wood splitting, or that portend drought or flood or bounty; others whose flesh cures disease or fends off nightmares, or whose pelt guarantees many progeny.  

Drawn from The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Fantastic Creatures is the work of two members of China's millennial generation, a young scholar and writer once known as the youngest "Genius of Chinese Cultural Studies" and an inspired illustrator trained in China and the United States, who together managed to communicate with the soul of a 4,000-year-old beast and have brought forth its strange beauty. Their work has been rendered into English by the foremost translator of modern Chinese literature in the West.

Genres: Mythology, China, Classics, Fantasy, Art, Folklore, Asia

378 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know very little about Chinese mythology and was very happy to find this classical text translated for the modern (English speaking) reader. The creatures in this book are fascinating: dragons with human heads, gods that continue to 'live' after death, creatures that call like infants crying to lure victims to their death, creatures that portend drought or other catastrophes - rich with allusions to classical Chinese deities and the wars that were fought in heaven and earth - the art is stunning.

[Wyatt Gatlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I praise the text itself, I wanna say that this book is stupidly gorgeous. The monochromatic illustrations by Siyu Chen are, without fail and on every single page, awe inspiring. Simply incredible stuff, which reflect the mystery and wonder of the ancient classic while also feeling modern and graced with the artists’s unique vision; my personal favorites are Fusang shu, Tianwu, Jingwei, and Sanzu shu. I can’t say enough about Siyu Chen’s contribution to this project.

This is, in essence, a bestiary of ‘fantastic creatures’ mentioned in the famous Chinese text ‘The Classic of Mountains and Seas’. I’ve only read portions of the 1999 translation by Anne Birrell, and nothing of Richard E Strassberg’s 2008 version, so I don’t know how these selections compare to what’s included in the full translations available. That said, what’s included here is striking, poetic, and conveys the sense of strange beauty that’s often associated with the original text.

This is also undoubtedly the most visually striking version of the book in English, if not the most visually striking book on Chinese mythology published outside of China. I cannot recommend it enough.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really cool and succinct bestiary of ancient China, with translations of the original Classic of the Mountains and Seas and really cool art. I'm using it as part of a research paper and the organization of the book is quite helpful for that. Of course, it isn't a particularly deep book - the creatures are described and depicted quickly - but still very good.

My biggest disappointment was with the introduction. For a book like this, especially when the description of the creatures is limited to translations and summaries of the original text, contextual information on the work itself is supremely important. Rather than providing that type of information, Goldblatt just includes a nothingburger of an introduction, describing how young the authors are.

I would recommend this book to my friends Tom and Russ.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the content of this book, but the formatting of the Kindle edition is kind of a nightmare. It prioritizes displaying the (admittedly stunning!) illustrations over the text, and is all but illegible on a phone screen. I couldn't change the font size, search the text, highlight or make bookmarks, which is a pity since it was very interesting and I would have liked to do all of that. I picked it up on sale at such a big discount that I have no regrets about the mild inconvenience of needing to have it fullscreen on a computer monitor, but if you're thinking of buying the full price version I'd recommend going for the hardcover instead.

I had a great time reading this, and especially loved the bestiary section. It's full of fascinating tidbits of folklore, and the illustrations are beautiful. I'm sure I'll come back to browse through it many times. As someone studying Mandarin I wish that the transliterated Chinese words had been written in Pinyin to clarify the pronunciation, but I know the translation was intended to be accessible to a wide audience of English speakers who may find that a bit intimidating.

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous book, filled with descriptions and drawings of fantastical creatures and gods from Chinese history. It's a quick book to get through as the descriptions are quite short, but you'll want to linger over the drawings, which appear to be pen and ink drawings with red highlights. Very dramatic and very detailed. The sinuous lines remind me somewhat of the psychedelic art I grew up with in the 1960s.

Many of the creatures are made up of combinations of well known animals, as is fairly common (think 'chimera'), and the descriptions often list the medicinal or health properties of the creatures, implying that they can be caught and eaten. Many of them are associated with extremes of fortune, whether it's weather (drought or flood), or luck (good or bad). Quite often the creatures have multiple appendages (heads, legs, arms, etc.)

I wish I could show you some examples of the illustrations. If you go to Amazon and select the hardcover edition, there are a few sample images posted.

[Cashie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the library just because I was curious—and I’m delighted that I did! The creature entries in this are informative yet succinct. Furthermore, the art in this book is absolutely stunning! Each picture was absolutely beautiful. It’s definitely a book I would spend money on.

[JP · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations are so incredibly gorgeous I am obsessed

[Chelsey Saatkamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a bestiary of the legendary creatures of Chinese folklore, full of STUNNING illustrations. Lots of creatures with extra limbs, human faces, snakes for hands, etc. Very cool stuff!! I recently watched Shang-Chi and it was fun to recognize some of the creatures. I think my favorite is the Nine-tailed fox. (I see you, Pokemon inspo).

[Zachary Littrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cool pictures and neat monsters. That's about all I got to say. It's an abridged adaptation of The Classic of Mountains and Seas (a fact the intro seems weirdly coy about? If you aren't careful, you might assume this is an actual translation). The author beefs up the creature descriptions with some context and related stories, which is cool and helps deal with the fact that a lot of these creatures are all samey (one eye, or one arm, or has a human face, or portends droughts, or if you manage to ride the sucker you get to live a thousand years).

Eh, whatever. It's mostly an excuse to look at cool pictures of monsters, and it delivers!



(Though there is a pernicious typo of the creator of humanity, Nuwa 女娲, being spelled Nuwo 女蜗. It's a very easy typo to make, but if I could catch that and hardly know Chinese, makes me wonder what other typos there are.)

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is so hard to find translations of The Mountain and Seas Classic or Shan Hai Jing. First the original is in ancient Chinese which needs to be translated to modern Chinese before it can be translated to English. This provided a wonderful intro and what really makes the book worth it is the absolutely stunning illustrations which brings the text to life.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are plenty of translations of this classic book, but this one is probably the most accessible for English readers. It only disappoints in the amount of content. Nowhere, for example, is the zouyu. The preface admits that content was cut, but the amount is by at least 100 entries. It's a shame.

[Tristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a unique book. It is a reimagining of an ancient Chinese classic by a young Chinese scholar and a young Chinese artist to celebrate their culture and bring it to a wider audience. The illustrations are beautiful and deserving of being contemplated time and again. The short commentaries are intriguing. Definitely a book to read again.

[H-zhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the illustrations and I formation in this book, and thanks to Siyu Chen, I have an idea for my AP Studio Art portfolio.

[sofi · Rating 5 out of 5]

holding this book must be like holding a brick of gold. drawings are stunning. go get it and be dazzled

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous book. Possibly more of a coffee, table, book or something you’re gonna snuggle up in bed with.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Believe me when I say that this book is GORGEOUS. Siyu Chen outdid herself, it’s a feast for the eyes.

[Dylan Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book, an ancient Chinese bestiary throughly translation and with beautiful art for each creature that blends the classic and contemporary.

[Magpie6493 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most beautiful books I own. Just the artwork alone was worth every penny. I'm really happy with the text itself and this books serves as a good introduction to at least a oart of chinese mythology.

If you're looking for a beautiful book and learning experience ti add to your shelf this is definitely one that I would recommend

[Bailing Lue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting sure for the collection of beasts and even some interesting people said to have lived in ancient times. Lots of descriptions of how these creatures looked and where they are located. Pictures are gorgeous as well and giving me tattoo inspirations

[Alan Bach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for its pictures and getting the names of creatures I have never heard before to do further research. The descriptions unfortunately are often barely substantive.