Fantastic Creatures of the Mountains and Seas

Download Fantastic Creatures of the Mountains and Seas PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1951627644
Total Pages : 368 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (516 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Fantastic Creatures of the Mountains and Seas by : Anonymous

Download or read book Fantastic Creatures of the Mountains and Seas written by Anonymous and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The gorgeously illustrated contemporary edition of an ancient Chinese text—for fans of fantastic beasts everywhere Fantastic Creatures of the Mountains and Seas is a new translation for contemporary readers of a classic Chinese text that is at once the geography of an ancient world, a bestiary of mythical creatures, and a book of cultural and medicinal lore. Illustrated throughout with more than 180 two-color drawings that are so sinuous they move on the page, it is a work for lovers of fantasy and mythology, ancient knowledge, fabulous beasts, and inspired art. The beings catalogued within these pages come from the regions of the known world, from the mountains and seas, the Great Wastelands, and the Lands Within the Seas that became China. They include spirits and deities and all sorts of strange creatures—dragons and phoenixes, hybrid beasts, some with human features, some hideous or with a call like wood splitting, or that portend drought or flood or bounty; others whose flesh cures disease or fends off nightmares, or whose pelt guarantees many progeny. Drawn from The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Fantastic Creatures is the work of two members of China's millennial generation, a young scholar and writer once known as the youngest "Genius of Chinese Cultural Studies" and an inspired illustrator trained in China and the United States, who together managed to communicate with the soul of a 4,000-year-old beast and have brought forth its strange beauty. Their work has been rendered into English by the foremost translator of modern Chinese literature in the West.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas

Download The Classic of Mountains and Seas PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 9780140447194
Total Pages : 340 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (471 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Classic of Mountains and Seas by :

Download or read book The Classic of Mountains and Seas written by and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This major source of Chinese mythology (third century BC to second century AD) contains a treasure trove of rare data and colorful fiction about the mythical figures, rituals, medicine, natural history, and ethnic peoples of the ancient world. The Classic of Mountains and Seas explores 204 mythical figures such as the gods Foremost, Fond Care, and Yellow, and goddesses Queen Mother of the West and Girl Lovely, as well as many other figures unknown outside this text. This eclectic Classic also contains crucial information on early medicine (with cures for impotence and infertility), omens to avert catastrophe, and rites of sacrifice, and familiar and unidentified plants and animals. It offers a guided tour of the known world in antiquity, moving outwards from the famous mountains of central China to the lands “beyond the seas.” Translated with an introduction and notes by Anne Birrell.

A Chinese Bestiary

Download A Chinese Bestiary PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520922786
Total Pages : 338 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (29 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A Chinese Bestiary by : Richard E. Strassberg

Download or read book A Chinese Bestiary written by Richard E. Strassberg and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-11-03 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Chinese Mythology

Download Chinese Mythology PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 9780801861833
Total Pages : 350 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (618 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Chinese Mythology by : Anne Birrell

Download or read book Chinese Mythology written by Anne Birrell and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 1999-04-26 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Chinese Mythology, Anne Birrell provides English translations of some 300 representative myth narratives selected from over 100 classical texts, many of which have never before been translated into any Western language. Organizing the narratives according to themes and motifs common to world mythology, Birrell addresses issues of source, dating, attribution, textural variants, multiforms, and context. Drawing on exhaustive work in comparative mythology, she surveys the development of Chinese myth studies, summarizes the contribution of Chinese and Japanese scholars to the study of Chinese myth since the 1920s, and examines special aspects of traditional approaches to Chinese myth. The result is an unprecedented guide to the study of Chinese myth for specialists and nonspecialists alike.

Sea Monsters

Download Sea Monsters PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226925188
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (269 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Sea Monsters by : Joseph Nigg

Download or read book Sea Monsters written by Joseph Nigg and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-01-03 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mythic creature expert and author of Phoenix takes readers through a bestiary of sea monsters featured on the famous 16th century map Carta Marina. In the sixteenth century, sea serpents, giant man-eating lobsters, and other monsters were thought to swim the waters of Norther Europe, threatening seafarers who ventured too far from shore. Thankfully, Scandinavian mariners had Olaus Magnus, who in 1539 charted these fantastic marine animals in his influential map of the Nordic countries, the Carta Marina. In Sea Monsters, mythologist Joseph Nigg brings readers face-to-face with these creatures and other magnificent components of Magnus’s map. Nearly two meters wide in total, the map’s nine wood-block panels comprise the largest and first realistic portrayal of the region. But in addition to its important geographic significance, Magnus’s map goes beyond cartography to scenes both domestic and mystic. Close to shore, Magnus shows humans interacting with common sea life—boats struggling to stay afloat, merchants trading, children swimming, and fisherman pulling lines. But from the offshore deeps rise some of the most terrifying sea creatures imaginable—like sea swine, whales as large as islands, and the Kraken. In this book, Nigg draws on Magnus’s own text to further describe and illuminate these inventive scenes and to flesh out the stories of the monsters. Sea Monsters is a stunning tour of a world that still holds many secrets for us land dwellers, who will forever be fascinated by reports of giant squid and the real-life creatures of the deep that have proven to be as bizarre and otherworldly as we have imagined for centuries. It is a gorgeous guide for enthusiasts of maps, monsters, and the mythic. “[A] beautiful new exploration of the Carta Marina.”—Wired

Handbook of Chinese Mythology

Download Handbook of Chinese Mythology PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195332636
Total Pages : 309 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (953 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Handbook of Chinese Mythology by : Lihui Yang

Download or read book Handbook of Chinese Mythology written by Lihui Yang and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2008 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Compiled from ancient and scattered texts and based on groundbreaking new research, Handbook of Chinese Mythology is the most comprehensive English-language work on the subject ever written from an exclusively Chinese perspective. This work focuses on the Han Chinese people but ranges across the full spectrum of ancient and modern China, showing how key myths endured and evolved over time. A quick reference section covers all major deities, spirits, and demigods, as well as important places, mythical animals and plants, and related items.

The Mountain in the Sea

Download The Mountain in the Sea PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MCD
ISBN 13 : 0374605963
Total Pages : 322 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (746 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Mountain in the Sea by : Ray Nayler

Download or read book The Mountain in the Sea written by Ray Nayler and published by MCD. This book was released on 2022-10-04 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *WINNER OF 2023 LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL * FINALIST FOR THE NEBULA AWARD, and THE LOS ANGELES TIMES RAY BRADBURY PRIZE “The Mountain in the Sea is a wildly original, gorgeously written, unputdownable gem of a novel. Ray Nayler is one of the most exciting new voices I’ve read in years.” —Blake Crouch, author of Upgrade and Dark Matter Humankind discovers intelligent life in an octopus species with its own language and culture, and sets off a high-stakes global competition to dominate the future. The transnational tech corporation DIANIMA has sealed off the remote Con Dao Archipelago, where a species of octopus has been discovered that may have developed its own language and culture. The marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, who has spent her life researching cephalopod intelligence, will do anything for the chance to study them. She travels to the islands to join DIANIMA’s team: a battle-scarred securityagent and the world’s first (and possibly last) android. The octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence. As Dr. Nguyen struggles to communicate with the newly discovered species, forces larger than DIANIMA close in to seize the octopuses for themselves. But no one has yet asked the octopuses what they think. Or what they might do about it. A near-future thriller, a meditation on the nature of consciousness, and an eco-logical call to arms, Ray Nayler’s dazzling literary debut The Mountain in the Sea is a mind-blowing dive into the treasure and wreckage of humankind’s legacy.

The Legends of Mountains and Seas

Download The Legends of Mountains and Seas PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781660979189
Total Pages : 148 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (791 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Legends of Mountains and Seas by : Hong Yuan

Download or read book The Legends of Mountains and Seas written by Hong Yuan and published by . This book was released on 2020-01-15 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shan Hai Jing (The Legends of Mountains and Seas), commonly titled The Classic of Mountains and Seas or Guideways Through Mountains and Seas per Richard Strassberg, was a book that was juxtaposed to the later book Shui Jing (classic or canons on 137 rivers) written by Sang Qin of the Cao-Wei dynasty (220-265 A.D.). For the absurdities and strange things in the book, such as folklore monsters, weird animals, ancient clan genealogies and strange lands (i.e., terra incognita), scholars of different dynasties felt troublesome to determine the genre in the imperial bibliography. In the Manchu Qing dynasty, Ji Xiaolan treated the book as fiction; during the Republic of China, Lu Xun treated the book as sorcery; and subsequently, Yuan Ke treated the book as mythology. Anne Birrell, author of The Classic of Mountains and Seas, pointed out that the book was taken to be of different genre in history, such as geomancy, geography and cosmology, etc., with the Westerners and Japanese going astray in different directions as well, including the claims of cosmography per M. Nazin (1839), geography per Léon de Risny (1890s), tribal peoples per Gustav Schlegel (1892), deities per Edward T. C. Werner (1923), materia medica per Bernard E. Read (1928-39), religious and medical per Ito Seiji (1969), ethnographic per Rémi Mathieu, folk medicine per John William Schiffeler (1977, 1980), gendered motif per Riccardo Francasso (1988), and bestiary per Richard Strassberg (2018), etc. Today, in the context of China's assertion of the grandiose imperial past, the book was wrongly treated by the Chinese to be about ancient geological exploration records, a theme also seen in Henriette Mertz's Pale Ink (1958). The Legends of Mountains and Seas, which would be expounded in this book to be about two different kinds of fortune-telling, sorcery and divination, should not be taken as a Han-dynasty equivalent philosophical 'jing' [canons or classic, i.e., longitude/28 lodges' asterism] learning edited by Confucius and his disciples, nor the nature of the derivative sets of interpretation and commentary books that were known as the Han dynasty 'wei' ['latitude' or "five planets' divination"] series, nor the 'chen-wei' (ch'an wei) prophecy and argot books (i.e., implicit prophecy or cryptology that Jacques Gernet called by esoteric commentaries). While the mountain part of the book could be termed 'guideways' as proposed by Yuan Ke and Richard Strassberg, the 'jing'-suffixed seas' components could not be qualified with this tag. The mountains' part was actually the ancient Shi-fa stalk divination. The Legends of Mountains and Seas was compiled by Liu Xin (53 BC - 23 AD). The book, totaling 18 chapters nowadays, apparently developed the different contents throughout the Zhou, Qin, Han and Jinn dynasties. It was deduced that Liu Xin combined the five chapters of the book on the "mountains" (Wu Zang San Jing) with the chapters on the "[over-]seas" contents to become a consolidated mountains and seas' book. The seas or overseas' components could be further separated into two groups, i.e., the "inner seas" and the "outer seas" sections that were compiled by Liu Xin and the "within-seas" and the "overseas wilderness" sections that were possibly collected by Guo Pu (A.D. 276-324), with the former two sections possibly synchronizing with the Han empire's military expansion, and the latter two sharing similar contents as Lian-shan Yi (divination on concatenated [undulating] mountain ranges), Gui-cang Yi (returning-to-earth hoarding divination), A.D. 279 Ji-zhong tomb divination texts, and the 1993 Wangjiatai excavated divination texts.

Tales of the Teahouse Retold

Download Tales of the Teahouse Retold PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : iUniverse
ISBN 13 : 0595254195
Total Pages : 478 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (952 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Tales of the Teahouse Retold by : Katherine Liang Chew

Download or read book Tales of the Teahouse Retold written by Katherine Liang Chew and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2002 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tales of the Teahouse Retold is based on the author's original translation of Feng Shen Yan Yi, an important volume of Chinese mythology first published during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It is the story of the overthrow the Shang Dynasty (circa 1766-1122 BC) and the founding of the Chou Dynasty (1122-249 BC). Combining historical facts, folklore, mythology, and legends, these tales describe a time when gods and men, beasts and monsters, and spirits and specters mingled with each other in peace and war. The saga begins when King Zhou of Shang offends the Snail Goddess, who sends three specters to bewitch the king in retribution. The kingdom falls into chaos and civil war ensues, with gods and other supernatural beings taking sides. In the end, many of the slain heroes are invested as gods. For centuries, the tale was told in successive story-telling sessions as teahouse entertainment. The author has faithfully kept to the original style and ambience in retelling these tales. Tales of the Teahouse Retold will be of interest to fans of oriental mythology, philosophy, and literature. It is suitable for recreational reading as well as supplemental reading for students of Chinese history and culture.

China Imagined

Download China Imagined PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 1787380165
Total Pages : 255 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (873 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis China Imagined by : Gregory B. Lee

Download or read book China Imagined written by Gregory B. Lee and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If 'China', as Lee argues, is a product of Westernisation, then the West is itself in a process of becoming China. How did China become China? And where is it leading us? We talk as if it had always existed: eternal China with its 5,000 years of uninterrupted history. But the name 'China' was first used by 16th-century Europeans, and its Chinese equivalent, Zhongguo, only gained currency in the mid-1800s. 'China Imagined' is a thoughtful exploration of the idea of China, from the naming and mapping of its territory and peoples to the creation and rise of the modern nation-state.

Fairyland

Download Fairyland PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Gateway
ISBN 13 : 0575088354
Total Pages : 377 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (75 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Fairyland by : Paul McAuley

Download or read book Fairyland written by Paul McAuley and published by Gateway. This book was released on 2010-12-30 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 21st century. Europe is divided between the First World bourgeoisie, made rich by nanotechnology and the cheap versatile slave labour of genetically engineered Dolls and the Fourth World of refugees and homeless displaced by war and economic upheaval. In London, Alex Sharkey is trying to make his mark as a designer of psychoactive viruses, whilst staying one step ahead of the police and the Triad gangs. At the cost of three hours of his life, he finds an unlikely ally in a scary, super-smart little girl called Milena, but his troubles really start when he helps Milena quicken intelligence in a Doll, turning it into the first of the fairies. Milena isn't sure if she's mad or if she's the only sane person left in the world; she only knows that she wants to escape to her own private Fairyland and live forever. Although Milena has created the fairies for her own ends, some of the Folk, as fey and dangerous as any in legend, have other ideas about her destiny ...

Asian Supernatural

Download Asian Supernatural PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Mutual Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9781566479240
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (792 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Asian Supernatural by : Alex Paman

Download or read book Asian Supernatural written by Alex Paman and published by Mutual Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art with Special Reference to Their Use in British Heraldry

Download Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art with Special Reference to Their Use in British Heraldry PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art with Special Reference to Their Use in British Heraldry by : John Vinycomb

Download or read book Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art with Special Reference to Their Use in British Heraldry written by John Vinycomb and published by . This book was released on 1906 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Remarkable Creatures

Download Remarkable Creatures PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101152451
Total Pages : 206 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (11 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Remarkable Creatures by : Tracy Chevalier

Download or read book Remarkable Creatures written by Tracy Chevalier and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2010-01-05 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling novelist, a stunning historical novel that follows the story of Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot, two extraordinary 19th century fossil hunters who changed the scientific world forever. On the windswept, fossil-strewn beaches of the English coast, poor and uneducated Mary learns that she has a unique gift: "the eye" to spot ammonites and other fossils no one else can see. When she uncovers an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near her home, she sets the religious community on edge, the townspeople to gossip, and the scientific world alight. After enduring bitter cold, thunderstorms, and landslips, her challenges only grow when she falls in love with an impossible man. Mary soon finds an unlikely champion in prickly Elizabeth, a middle-class spinster who shares her passion for scouring the beaches. Their relationship strikes a delicate balance between fierce loyalty, mutual appreciation, and barely suppressed envy, but ultimately turns out to be their greatest asset. From the author of At the Edge of the Orchard and Girl With a Pearl Earring comes this incredible story of two remarkable women and their voyage of discovery.

Liang and the Magic Paintbrush

Download Liang and the Magic Paintbrush PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 9780805008012
Total Pages : 36 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (8 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Liang and the Magic Paintbrush by : Demi

Download or read book Liang and the Magic Paintbrush written by Demi and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 1988-07-15 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A poor boy who longs to paint is given a magic brush that brings to life whatever he pictures.

Love Spell

Download Love Spell PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Kristen Strassel
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 155 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Love Spell by : Kristen Strassel

Download or read book Love Spell written by Kristen Strassel and published by Kristen Strassel. This book was released on with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My grandmother promised me to a hot, cursed dragon who happens to be her mortal enemy. Why does she want me to spend the rest of my life with a man she calls ‘lizard breath’? She’s an enchantress and she cast a love spell over Tyson Drake fifty years ago. It failed pretty spectacularly, and he’s been trapped in his human form ever since. But she's convinced I can change things. That the magic she’s been teaching me about is enough to make the spell come true. Now Tyson’s willing to give Gran’s magic one more try and take a chance on me. I can’t stop thinking about him, but will becoming Tyson’s mate be enough to make him finally shift into his dragon form, or will my magic be the death of him?

Ink Art

Download Ink Art PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Metropolitan Museum of Art
ISBN 13 : 1588395049
Total Pages : 210 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (883 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Ink Art by : Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)

Download or read book Ink Art written by Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) and published by Metropolitan Museum of Art. This book was released on 2013 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Featuring 70 works in various media--paintings, calligraphy, photographs, woodblock prints, video, and sculpture--that were created during the past three decades, Ink Art: Past as Present in Contemporary China will demonstrate how China's ancient pattern of seeking cultural renewal through the reinterpretation of past models remains a viable creative path. Although all of the artists have transformed their sources through new modes of expression, visitors will recognize thematic, aesthetic, or technical attributes in their creations that have meaningful links to China's artistic past. The exhibition will be organized thematically into four parts and will include such highlights as Xu Bing's dramatic Book from the Sky (ca. 1988), an installation that will fill an entire gallery; Family Tree (2000), a set of vivid photographs documenting a performance by Zhang Huan in which his facial features--and his identity--are obscured gradually by physiognomic texts that are inscribed directly onto his face; and Map of China (2006) by Ai Weiwei, which is constructed entirely of wood salvaged from demolished Qing dynasty temples." --