New Classic of Mountains and Seas

         I need to start this post with the old Classic of Mountains and Seas.  Shanhai jing is a Chinese text from the early Han dynasty (about 200-1 BCE), although the earliest versions may have been started as long ago as the fourth century BCE.  It takes the form of a geography book describing the strange creatures that can be found in areas spreading across more than 500 mountains and 300 waterways.  As such it functions much like a medieval European bestiary: the creatures are described primarily in their use or danger to humans, with many magical properties and a lot of ancient Chinese mythology.  As such, I’ve referred to it many times in my posts about fabulous creatures, including quite a few of them listed in Y is for Yonder.

        With that background, let me introduce New Classic of Mountains and Seas, which is a project by artist Qiu Anxiong (China, b. 1972).  Apparently Qiu has worked on this idea in multiple media over many years, including an ink animation film, as well as paintings and wood block prints.  The concept in all of them is to describe modern technologies as if they were mythical creatures.  I encountered some of his wood block prints, made to mimic the

look of early printed editions of the original Classic of Mountains and Seas, at the Philadelphia Art Museum and was quite taken with them.  Just like the texts which they mimic, these pieces come with a description of a creature along with the illustration.  The first one above says, “To the west of the great wasteland there is a kind of bird with four wings and a tail.  A single toe grows on each of its four feet that are connected to one another.  It makes a loud sound like thunder.  It is called ‘Xuanbei.’”  That name means “swirling bird” and it represents a whirlybird helicopter.

        Ten years after the set of twelve wood block prints (which was about 12 years after his first animated films on the same theme) Qiu continued to explore the idea with paintings.  Here’s a fun one with text that says “It moves at the speed of electricity,  It storms off like a rolling thunder;  It travels thousands of miles in the wind;  Unfettered between heaven and earth.  New Classic of Mountains and Seas; Ha Lei.”  The name of the creature, “Ha Lei,” is a phonetic approximation of “Harley.”

        Qiu’s 2008 portfolio had a particular emphasis on weapons, and some of them are quite poignant.  The “Bitu” bird, for example, is described “On the American continent there is a kind of giant bird with no head.  Its wings are long and large, suitable for flying high above the

clouds.  It does not rest anywhere but its nest.  Rarely can people see it.  It lays eggs in the sky, which strike thunders when hitting the ground and turn everything they touch into ashes.  It is called ‘Bitu’.”  This is the B-2 bomber.  Like all the best fantasy, Qiu prompts us to look again at our own world with fresh eyes and hearts.

        On the other hand, I also like the pieces that are simply whimsical.  Here is the “Kang Pu Si Shou” (computer) from the 2008 series.  And among the more recent paintings I particularly like the Moon Walker, and this tiny bee helicopter, “Ke Feng,” whose name I don’t know how to interpret.  It’s a lovely image, though.

        I love the whole concept of these works because they bring their meaning in two directions.  On the one hand, they use an ancient format to shed light on our modern world, and at the same time they shed light back on the ancient world by reminding us that those people, too, were trying to make sense of their world.  It’s also an excellent reminder that descriptions that sound crazy and fantastical to us often make a lot more sense when we realize what people were actually trying to describe.  If you like how this twists your brain, you may enjoy my game of Guess That Medieval Beast.  

You can play at

     Episode 1                    Episode 6

     Episode 2                    Episode 7

     Episode 3                    Episode 8

     Episode 4                    Episode 9

     Episode 5

[Pictures: Xuan Bei (Whirlybird), woodcut by Qiu Anxiong from New Classic of Mountains and Seas, 2008 (Image from MoMA);

Ha Lei (Harley), ink and color on paper by Qiu from New Classic of Mountains and Seas, 2018 (photo by AEGN at Philadelphia Art Museum, on loan from collection of Beningson and Arons);

Bi Tu (B-2), woodcut by Qiu from New Classic of Mountains and Seas, 2008 (Image from MoMA);

Kang Pu Si Shou (Computer), woodcut by Qiu from New Classic of Mountains and Seas, 2008 (Image from MoMA);

Moon Walker, ink and color on paper by Qiu from New Classic of Mountains and Seas, 2019 (Image from Artsy);

Ke Feng, ink and color on paper by Qiu from New Classic of Mountains and Seas, 2019 (Image from Artsy).]