郭璞序

世之覽山海經者，皆以其閎誕迂誇，多奇怪俶儻之言，莫不疑焉。嘗試論之曰，莊生有云：「人之所知，莫若其所不知。」吾於山海經見之矣。夫以宇宙之寥廓，群生之紛紜，陰陽之煦蒸，萬殊之區分，精氣渾淆，自相濆薄，遊魂靈怪，觸象而構，流形於山川，麗狀於木石者，惡可勝言乎？然則總其所以乖，鼓之於一響；成其所以變，混之於一象。世之所謂異，未知其所以異；世之所謂不異，未知其所以不異。何者？物不自異，待我而後異，異果在我，非物異也。故胡人見布而疑黂，越人見罽而駭毳。夫翫所習見而奇所希聞，此人情之常蔽也。今略舉可以明之者：陽火出於冰水，陰鼠生於炎山，而俗之論者，莫之或怪；及談山海經所載，而咸怪之：是不怪所可怪而怪所不可怪也。不怪所可怪，則幾於無怪矣；怪所不可怪，則未始有可怪也。夫能然所不可，不可所不可然，則理無不然矣。案汲郡竹書及穆天子傳：穆王西征見西王母，執璧帛之好，獻錦組之屬。穆王享王母於瑤池之上，賦詩往來，辭義可觀。遂襲昆侖之丘，遊軒轅之宮，眺鍾山之嶺，玩帝者之寶，勒石王母之山，紀跡玄圃之上。乃取其嘉木豔草奇鳥怪獸玉石珍瑰之器，金膏燭銀之寶，歸而殖養之於中國。穆王駕八駿之乘，右服盜驪，左驂騄耳，造父為御，奔戎為右，萬里長騖，以周歷四荒，名山大川，靡不登濟。東升大人之堂，西燕王母之廬，南轢黿鼉之梁，北躡積羽之衢。窮歡極娛，然後旋歸。案史記說穆王得盜驪騄耳驊騮之驥，使造父御之，以西巡狩，見西王母，樂而忘歸，亦與竹書同。左傳曰：「穆王欲肆其心，使天下皆有車轍馬跡焉。」竹書所載，則是其事也。而譙周之徒，足為通識瑰儒，而雅不平此，驗之史考，以著其妄。司馬遷敘大宛傳亦云：「自張騫使大夏之後，窮河源，惡睹所謂昆侖者乎？至禹本紀、山海經所有怪物，余不敢言也。」不亦悲乎！若竹書不潛出於千載，以作徵於今日者，則山海之言，其幾乎廢矣。若乃東方生曉畢方之名，劉子政辨盜械之尸，王頎訪兩面之客，海民獲長臂之衣：精驗潛效，絕代縣符。於戲！群惑者其可以少寤乎？是故聖皇原化以極變，象物以應怪，鑒無滯賾，曲盡幽情，神焉廋哉！神焉廋哉！蓋此書跨世七代，歷載三千，雖暫顯於漢而尋亦寢廢。其山川名號，所在多有舛謬，與今不同，師訓莫傳，遂將湮泯。道之所存，俗之喪，悲夫！余有懼焉，故為之創傳，疏其壅閡，闢其茀蕪，領其玄致，標其洞涉。庶幾令逸文不墜於世，奇言不絕於今，夏后之跡，靡刋於將來；八荒之事，有聞於後裔，不亦可乎。夫蘙薈之翔，叵以論垂天之凌；蹏涔之遊，無以知絳虯之騰；鈞天之庭，豈伶人之所躡；無航之津，豈蒼兕之所涉：非天下之至通，難與言山海之義矣。嗚呼！達觀博物之客，其鑒之哉。

郭璞序

Those who read the Classic of Mountains and Seas all consider it absurd and exaggerated, filled with strange and contradictory statements, and none do not doubt it. I venture to discuss this. Zhuangzi said: "What people know is less than what they do not know." I have seen this in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Given the vastness of the universe, the multitude of living beings, the steaming of yin and yang, the differentiation of all things, the intermingling of vital energies, the mutual collision of spirits, the wandering ghosts and wondrous creatures that take form upon encountering objects, flowing through mountains and rivers, attaching to wood and stone — how could one speak of them all? Yet gathering the reasons for their strangeness, they can be unified in one sound; summarizing the processes of their transformation, they can be captured in one image. What the world calls strange, one does not know why it is strange; what the world calls not strange, one does not know why it is not strange. Why? Things are not strange in themselves — they appear strange only in relation to what I am accustomed to; the strangeness lies in me, not in the thing. Thus the Hu people see coarse cloth and doubt it is fine wool; the Yue people see felt and are horrified that it is fur. To take the familiar as ordinary and the unfamiliar as wondrous — this is the common blindness of human nature. Now let me briefly give examples that illustrate this: yang fire emerges from icy water; yin mice are born on burning mountains, yet common scholars find nothing strange about this; but when they speak of what is recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, they all find it strange — this is not finding strange what should be strange, and finding strange what should not be strange. If you do not find strange what should be strange, then there is almost nothing strange; if you find strange what should not be strange, then there is truly nothing strange. To be able to treat the impossible as possible and the impossible as impossible — then there is nothing that is not so. According to the Bamboo Annals and the Biography of King Mu: King Mu campaigned west and saw the Queen Mother of the West, presenting jade and silk, offering brocade and ribbons. King Mu feasted the Queen Mother above the Jade Pool, composing poems with beautiful language. Thereupon he ascended the Kunlun hills, wandered the Xuanyuan palace, gazed at the Zhongshan ridges, played with the treasures of emperors, carved stone on the Queen Mother's mountain, and left traces on the Mysterious Garden. He took the fine plants, beautiful grasses, strange birds, wondrous beasts, precious jades and stones, and the treasures of golden ointment and candle silver, and brought them back to cultivate in China. King Mu drove eight legendary steeds, with Daoli on the right and Luer on the left, Zaofu as charioteer and Benrong as aide, galloping ten thousand li to tour the four wastelands, ascending all famous mountains and great rivers. East he ascended the Hall of the Great Man, west he feasted at the Queen Mother's lodge, south he crossed the Bridge of Turtles, north he trod the Road of Accumulated Feathers. Only after exhausting pleasure did he return. The Records of the Grand Historian say King Mu obtained the horses Daoli, Luer, and Hualiu, had Zaofu drive him, toured west, saw the Queen Mother, and was so delighted he forgot to return — also matching the Bamboo Annals. The Zuo Zhuan says: "King Mu wished to gratify his desires, so that all under heaven would bear the ruts of his wheels and the tracks of his horses." The Bamboo Annals record precisely this. Yet Qiao Zhou and his followers, though considered learned scholars of broad knowledge, took issue with this, tested it against historical records, and declared it false. Sima Qian in his account of Dayuan also wrote: "Ever since Zhang Qian was sent as envoy to Bactria and traced the river source, who has seen the so-called Kunlun? As for the monsters in the Yu Benji and the Classic of Mountains and Seas, I do not dare speak of them." Is this not lamentable! Had the Bamboo Annals not been unearthed after a thousand years to serve as evidence today, the words of the Classic of Mountains and Seas would have been nearly abandoned. As for Dongfang Shuo who knew the name of Bifang, Liu Zizheng who identified the corpse of Dao Xie, Wang Qi who sought the two-faced guest, and the sea-dwelling people who obtained the clothes of the Long-Arm Kingdom — these are precise验证 and hidden correspondences across the ages. Alas! Can those who are confused awaken a little from this? Therefore the sage emperors traced the ultimate of transformation, represented things to responded to wonders, examined without obscurity the profound, and exhaustively expressed the subtle — how divine! How divine! This book spans seven generations, extending over three thousand years; though briefly revealed in the Han, it was soon abandoned. Its mountain and river names contain many errors, differing from today's; its commentaries were not transmitted, so it was nearly lost. Where the Way exists, custom perishes — how lamentable! Fearing this, I have therefore created this commentary, clearing its blockages, opening its wastelands, comprehending its profound meaning, and marking its depths. I hope that lost texts will not fall from the world, that wondrous words will not cease in our time, that the traces of Xia will not be carved away in the future, and that the affairs of the eight wilds will be heard by descendants — is this not acceptable? The creatures of the thicket cannot be used to discuss the soaring of great wings; the puddle fish cannot know the ascent of the crimson dragon; the Court of Heaven cannot be stepped on by musicians; the bottomless ford cannot be crossed by grey rhinos — unless one is the most penetrating person under heaven, it is difficult to discuss the meaning of the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Alas! Let those who observe broadly and know many things examine this.