Journal For Class English Learning Skills in Academic Contexts
Recently, I am reading a book called the classic of mountains and seas. In wikipedia, it is described as a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and myth. Versions of the text have existed since the 4th century BC, but the present form was not reached until the early Han dynasty a few centuries later. It is largely a fabulous geographical and cultural account of pre-Qin China as well as a collection of Chinese mythology. The book is divided into eighteen sections; it describes over 550 mountains and 300 channels.
The book is very interesting because there are many strange animal and plant lives. Some of them are familiar to us, however, most of them are imaginative. For example, Bifang is a bird with human’s face; Yujiang owns human’s face and bird’s body; Qiongqi is similar to a tiger with wing. While reading the book, I can draw the image of them in my head which is rather interesting thing.
What’s more, I can also find out something different from my opinions. For example, Shuniao is to the south of Kaiming, which owns six heads whose names are Jiao, Fu, She, Zhui, Bao and Niao. At first, I think it is another peculiar living thing. However, after searching for it through the Internet, it is told that it is euivalent to the guideboard in modern society, and the six heads means six different tribes.
At last, I think the book is different from the other ancient books. The book describes different mountains and seas objectively and the language is even a little plain and boring. But in another perspective, the book is highly concise and we can easily find the relations between different objects. In north America, some geographer moves along the book’s description, and it is amazing that the position of the mountains and seas are rather similar to that in the book. As a result, some people believe that the book not only describes the geographical situation of ancient China, but also includes the whole world’s natural environment.
Anyhow, the book attracts me a lot, I can find various imaginative things in it. Maybe I can buy some other relevant books and know more about the mysterious book.