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ISBN: 0520218442 9780520218444 Year: 2002 Publisher: Berkeley: University of California press,
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'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. 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. This beautiful volume, compiled by a well-known specialist in the field, provides a fascinating window on the thoughts and beliefs of an ancient people, and will delight specialists and general readers alike.
Mythology, Chinese. --- Folklore --- Mythologie chinoise --- Mythology, Chinese --- China --- Description and travel --- Description and travel. --- Chinese mythology --- Folklore - China --- China - Description and travel
ISBN: 0520914864 0585108285 9780520914865 9780585108285 9780520078468 0520078462 9780520085800 0520085809 Year: 1994 Publisher: Berkeley (Calif.) : University of California press,
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Alongside the scores of travel books about China written by foreign visitors, Chinese travelers' impressions of their own country rarely appear in translation. This anthology is the only comprehensive collection in English of Chinese travel writing from the first century A.D. through the nineteenth. Early examples of the genre describe sites important for their geography, history, and role in cultural mythology, but by the T'ang dynasty in the mid-eighth century certain historiographical and poetic discourses converged to form the "travel account" (yu-chi) and later the "travel diary" (jih-chi) as vehicles of personal expression and autobiography. These first-person narratives provide rich material for understanding the attitudes of Chinese literati toward place, nature, politics, and the self. The anthology is abundantly illustrated with paintings, portraits, maps, and drawings. Each selection is meticulously translated, carefully annotated, and prefaced by a brief description of the writer's life and work. The entire collection is introduced by an in-depth survey of the rise of Chinese travel writing as a cultural phenomenon. Inscribed Landscapes provides a unique resource for travelers as well as for scholars of Chinese literature, art, and history.
Regions & Countries - Asia & the Middle East --- History & Archaeology --- East Asia --- S03/0210 --- China: Geography, description and travel--Chinese geography, description and travels: before 1840 --- China --- Description and travel. --- Description and travel --- Chine --- Descriptions et voyages --- LITERARY CRITICISM / Asian / General.
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Year: 1979 Publisher: Paris Arthaud
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