Explore all 42 Shan Hai Jing wisdom cards: mythic geography and creatures from ancient China's oldest bestiary.
📖 Complete Guide →九尾狐 — the nine-tailed fox from the Classic of Mountains and Seas (山海经). A creature of ambivalence: dangerous yet protect…
Yinglong dwelt at the southernmost pole. It slew Chiyou and Kuafu, and then could not ascend again. Therefore the lands …
There is a bird here whose form is like a chicken, patterned in five colors. Its name is Fenghuang. The pattern on its h…
There is a deity with a human face and a serpent's body, entirely red. Its eyes are straight and direct. When it closes …
There is a beast shaped like an ox, with a grey body and no horns. It has a single leg. When it enters or leaves the wat…
Qiongqi has the form of a tiger with wings. When it eats people, it begins from the head.…
There is a bird shaped like a crow, with a patterned head, a white beak, and red feet. Its name is Jingwei, and its call…
There is a bird shaped like a crane, with one leg, red markings on a blue-green body, and a white beak. Its call sounds …
In the Valley of Hot Springs there is the Fusang tree. One sun arrives, one sun departs — all carried on the backs of cr…
There is a bird shaped like a pheasant with five-colored patterning. Its name is the Luan bird. When it is seen, the wor…
The wing-matching birds are east of here. They are blue-green and red. Two birds must match their wings to fly. Another …
There is a beast shaped like a pig with tusks. Its call sounds like its own name. When it is seen, the world has a great…
The Kunlun Mound — this is truly the capital of the Celestial Emperor below. The god Luwu administers it. This god has t…
Three hundred li further east is the mountain called Qingqiu. Its southern slope has much jade. Its northern slope has m…
Below is the Valley of Hot Springs. Above the valley grows the Fusang tree, in which the ten suns bathe. Nine suns dwell…
There is a mountain that does not close around — its name is Buzhou.…
The floodwaters surged to heaven. Gun stole the Emperor's swelling soil to block the flood, without waiting for the Empe…
There is a tree with green leaves and a purple trunk, with dark blossoms and yellow fruit. Its name is Jianmu. For a hun…
There are ten deities. They are called the intestines of Nuwa. They transformed into gods and dwell in the wilds of Ligu…
Her form is like a human, but she has a leopard's tail and tiger's teeth. She is good at roaring. Her hair is unkempt an…
There is a woman named Xihe. She bathes the suns in the Sweet Abyss. Xihe is the wife of Emperor Jun. She gave birth to …
There is a woman bathing the moons. She is Changxi, wife of Emperor Jun. She gave birth to twelve moons. This is the beg…
There is a deity here. Its form is like a yellow sack. It is red like cinnabar fire. It has six feet and four wings. It …
In the east is Goumang. He has the body of a bird and a human face. He rides two dragons.…
Kuafu raced the sun, chasing it into the sunset. Thirsty, he drank the Yellow River and the Wei River, but they were not…
Xingtian contended with the Emperor for divine power. The Emperor cut off his head and buried it at Mount Changyang. Xin…
Gonggong had a minister named Xiangliu. Gonggong, in his rage, struck Buzhou Mountain. The pillar of heaven broke. The c…
In the south is Zhurong. He has the body of a beast and a human face. He rides two dragons.…
Emperor Jun bestowed upon Yi a vermilion bow and white-tipped arrows, so that he might aid the lands below. Yi then set …
In the north is Yuqiang. He has a human face and a bird's body, with two green snakes hanging from his ears and two gree…
Gonggong had a minister named Xiangliu. He had nine heads, each with a human face, and the body of a serpent. He coiled …
There is a person in blue-green robes named Ba. She is the daughter of the Yellow Emperor. When Chiyou raised an army ag…
There is a beast shaped like a wildcat with a white head. Its call sounds like 'liu-liu.' Its name is Tiangou. It can be…
There is a beast shaped like an ox with a white head, a single eye, and a serpent's tail. Its name is Fei. When it walks…
There is a beast shaped like a human but with bristles like a wild boar. It lives in caves and hibernates in winter. Its…
There is a serpent with one head and two bodies. Its name is Feiyi. When it is seen, the country will have a great droug…
The Country of Gentlemen lies to the north. Its people wear robes and caps and carry swords at their belts. They eat ani…
The Country of Giants lies to the north. The people are large. They sit and carve boats. Another account says it is nort…
The Undying People are east of here. They are black in color. They live long and do not die. Another account places them…
The Country of Women lies north of Wuxian. Two women dwell there, and water surrounds them. Another account says they dw…
The Long-Armed Country is east of here. They catch fish in the water, each hand holding a fish. Another account places t…
The Country of the One Eye is east of here. The people have a single eye in the center of the face. Another account says…