CHAPTER 14 · 36 passages
The Great Wilderness: East
大荒東經
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English
Beyond the eastern sea lies a great ravine, the country of Shàohào [少昊]. Here Shàohào [少昊] reared Emperor Zhuānxū [顓頊], and here his Zhuān Xū Zhī Qín Sè were cast aside. There is a Mount Gān [甘]; the Gān [甘] River rises there and forms the Gān [甘] Pool.
Translator’s note
The terse wording does not clearly identify whose zithers were abandoned.
English
Beyond the eastern sea, among the waters of the Gān [甘], is the country of Xīhé [羲和]. A woman named Xī Hé [羲和] is bathing the suns in the Gān [甘] Pool. Xī Hé [羲和], wife of Dìjùn [帝俊], gave birth to ten suns.
English
In the southeastern corner of the Great Wilderness stands a mountain named Pímǔdìqiū [皮母地丘].
English
Beyond the eastern sea, in the Great Wilderness, stands a mountain named Dàyán [大言], where the sun and moon rise.
English
There is a Mt. Bō Gǔ [波谷] and a country of Dà Rén [大人]. There is a market of the Dàrén [大人], named the Hall of the Dàrén [大人]. A giant squats upon it, stretching out both arms.
English
There is a country of small people named Jìng People [靖人].
English
There is a deity with a human face and a beast's body, named the corpse of Lí Líng [犁𩵀].
English
There is a Mount Yù [潏], where the Yáng [楊] River rises.
English
There is a country of Wěi [蒍]. Its people eat millet and command four birds: Hǔ, Bào, Xióng, and Pí.
Translator’s note
The source calls these four creatures “birds,” despite listing mammals. This wording recurs in the following passages; some interpreters understand 鳥 here more broadly as creatures.
English
In the Great Wilderness stands a mountain named Héxū [合虛], where the sun and moon rise.
English
There is a country of Zhōng Róng [中容]. Dìjùn [帝俊] begot Zhōngróng [中容]. The people of Zhōng Róng [中容] eat beasts and tree fruits, and command four birds: Bào, Hǔ, Xióng, and Pí.
English
There is a Mount Dōngkǒu [東口]. There is a country of Jūn Zǐ [君子]; its people wear robes and caps, and bear swords at their belts.
English
There is a country of Sī Yōu [司幽]. Dìjùn [帝俊] begot Yàn Lóng [晏龍], and Yàn Lóng [晏龍] begot Sī Yōu [司幽]. Sī Yōu [司幽] begot Sī Tǔ [思士], who took no wife, and Sī Nǚ [思女], who took no husband. They eat millet and beasts, and command four birds.
English
There is a Mount Dà'ā [大阿].
English
In the Great Wilderness stands a mountain named Míngxīng [明星], where the sun and moon rise.
English
English
English
There is a country of Hēi Chǐ [黑齒]. Dìjùn [帝俊] begot Hēichǐ [黑齒]. They bear the surname Jiāng [姜], eat millet, and command four birds.
English
There is a country of Xiàzhōu [夏州]. There is a country of Gàiyú [蓋余].
English
There is a divine being with eight human heads, a tiger's body, and ten tails, named Tiān Wú [天吳].
English
In the Great Wilderness are mountains named Jūlíngyútiān [鞠陵于天], Dōngjí [東極], and Límào [離瞀], where the sun and moon rise. There is one named Shé Dān [折丹]; in the east he is called Zhé [折], and the wind that comes is called Jùn [俊]. He dwells at the eastern extremity and brings the wind forth and in.
Translator’s note
The mountain names and their division are uncertain in the received sentence.
English
Among the islets of the eastern sea is a deity with a human face and a bird's body. He wears two Huáng Shé through his ears and treads upon two Huáng Shé. His name is Yú Xiāo [禺䝞]. Huáng Dì [黃帝] begot Yú Xiāo [禺禺䝞], and Yú Xiāo [禺禺䝞] begot Yú Jīng [禺京]. Yú Jīng [禺京] dwells in the northern sea, and Yú Xiāo [禺䝞] in the eastern sea: these are sea gods.
English
There is a Mount Zhāoyáo [招搖], where the Róng [融] River rises. There is a country called Xuán Gǔ [玄股]; its people eat millet and command four birds.
English
There is a country of Kùn Mín [困民]. Its people bear the surname Gōu [勾] and eat millet. There is a man called Wánghài [王亥], holding birds in both hands and eating their heads. Wánghài [王亥] entrusted his oxen to Yǒuyì [有易] and Hébó [河伯]. Yǒuyì [有易] killed Wánghài [王亥] and took the oxen. Hébó [河伯] took thought for Yǒuyì [有易]; Yǒuyì [有易] secretly departed and founded a country among beasts, which they were eating. They were called the people of Yáo [搖]. Emperor Shùn [舜] begot Xì [戲], and Xì [戲] begot the people of Yáo [搖].
Translator’s note
The clauses concerning entrusting the oxen and 河伯's response are compressed and disputed. This follows one possible reading without supplying motives or events absent from the text.
English
English
In the Great Wilderness stands a mountain named Nièyáoyūndī [孽搖頵羝]. Upon it grows the Fú [扶] tree, whose trunk rises 300 li and whose leaves resemble mustard leaves. There is a valley called Wēnyuán [溫源]. Above Tāng [湯] Valley stands the Fú [扶] tree. As one sun arrives, another goes forth, each borne by a crow.
English
There is a deity with a human face, dog's ears, and a beast's body. He wears two blue-green Shé through his ears and is named Shē Bǐ Shī [奢比尸].
English
There are Wǔ Sè Niǎo, facing one another and scattering sand. Dìjùn [帝俊] alone comes down to befriend them. The emperor has Divine Emperor's Sacred Altars below, which the coloured birds tend.
Translator’s note
The wording about sand and the two altars is obscure; the translation follows a literal reading.
English
In the Great Wilderness stands a mountain named Mt. Yī Tiān Sū [猗天蘇門], where the sun and moon are born. There is a country of Xūn Mín [壎民].
English
There is a Mount Qí [綦], and also a Mount Yáo [搖]. There is a Mount Zèng [䰝], and also a Mount Ménhù [門戶]. There are also Mount Shèng [盛] and Mount Dài [待]. There are Wǔ Sè Niǎo.
English
In the eastern wilderness stands a mountain named Hèmíngjùnjí [壑明俊疾], where the sun and moon rise. There is a country of Zhōng Róng [中容].
English
Beyond the northeastern sea there are also Sān Qīng Mǎ, Sān Zhuī, and Gānhuá [甘華]. Here are Yí Yù [遺玉], Sān Qīng Niǎo, Sān Zhuī, Shì Ròu [視肉], Gānhuá [甘華], and Gānzhā [甘柤]; all the grains are found here.
Translator’s note
騅 ordinarily means a piebald horse. 甘華 and 甘柤 are named plants, and 遺玉 a named jade or precious stone; these names are retained.
English
There is a country of Nǚ Hé Yuè Mǔ [女和月母]. There is one named Yuān [𪂧]; in the north he is called Yuān [𪂧], and the wind that comes is called Yǎn [𤟇]. He dwells in the northeastern corner to restrain the sun and moon, so that they do not rise and set out of sequence, and governs the length of their courses.
Translator’s note
The exact sense of 無相閒 and the division of the country-name are uncertain.
English
In the northeastern corner of the Great Wilderness stands a mountain named Xiōnglítǔqiū [凶犁土丘]. Yìng Lóng [應龍] went forth to the southern extremity and killed Chī Yóu [蚩尤] and Kuā Fù [夸父], but could not return above. Thus drought often afflicts the world below. In drought, an image of Yìng Lóng [應龍] is made, and great rain is obtained.
English
In the eastern sea stands Mount Liúbō [流波], 7,000 li out into the sea. Upon it is a beast shaped like an ox, blue-green in body, without horns, and with one leg. Whenever it enters or leaves the water, wind and rain must follow. Its radiance is like the sun and moon, and its voice like thunder. Its name is Kuí [夔]. Huáng Dì [黃帝] obtained it and made a drum from its hide, striking it with a bone of the thunder beast. The sound could be heard for 500 li, and with it he awed all beneath heaven.