Bringing Monsters and Beasts in the Classic of Mountains and Seas to Life

By Zeng Pengling

九尾狐：“青丘之山，有獸焉，其狀如狐而九尾，其音如嬰兒，能食人，食者不蠱。”——《山海經·南山經》Nine-tailed Fox: “On the Qingqiu Mountain, a fox-like cannibal with nine tails yelps like a baby.”—Classic of South Mountain, Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Note:The Classic of Mountains and Seas, a Chinese ancient literary classic, was written by the Chu (now Hubei and Hunan Provinces) people or the Bashu(now Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality) people from the middle and late period of the Warring States to the early Han Dynasty. The book has 22 articles in total, about 32,650 words, among which 18 articles are left now. It is divided into Classic of Zangshan (5 articles),Classic of Areas Overseas (4 articles), Classic of Regions Within the Seas (5 articles),and Classic of Great Wildness(4 articles). This major source of Chinese mythology brings together a treasure trove of rare data and colorful fiction about mythicalfigures, rituals, medicine,natural history, and ethnic peoples of the ancient world. The book preserves many ancient legends and fables, including Kuafu Running After the Sun,the Goddess Mending the Sky,Jingwei Trying to Fill the Sea, and Emperor Yu Taming the Flood.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas has extraordinary literary value and serves as a reference for the study of ancient Chinese history, geography, culture,Chinese and foreign traffic, folk customs, and mythology. The book has many versions and the earliest one is the Biography of the Classic of Mountains and Seas compiled by Guo Wei of the Jin Dynasty. Nowadays most scholars in China believe that the Classic of Mountains and Seas is a highly valuable geographical work with a long history.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas, which depicts all varieties of monsters, freaks, and folktales full of peculiarity and imagination,is the source of Romanticism in China. Tao Yuanming, a poet of the Jin Dynasty, once wrote:“While I scan the classics of the Zhou Dynasty and the charts in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the mysteries of the universe are unveiled in front of me.Why should I be discontented?”

The legendary beasts in the ancient book, Classic of Mountains and Seas, are brought back to life by a contemporary photographer named Huanhuan.

Huanhuan, a post-90s girl who now lives in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, once worked as a model.She found that taking photos of others was more her passion than having her photo taken. Huanhuan chose to be a commercial photographer, turning herself from a model into a shooter.

As a little girl, Huanhuan had long been captivated by the fantastic ghosts and monster stories told by her grandmother. There are mysterious and rare animals, such as the bewitching fox with nine tails,the mermaid weeping pearl-tears, and the fl yingfish with long wings. When Huanhuan grew up, she came across the Classic of Mountains and Seas and was obsessed with this book. Each time reading it, shefinds herself touring in the mysteries that she always dreamed about in her childhood.

乘黃 煥煥/攝 Shenghuang by Huanhuan

After Huanhuan had been working as a photographer for some time, an idea flashed to her mind: why not recover and represent the rare animals in the Classic of Mountains and Seas through the camera. Huanhuan immediately took action. Since 2017, Huanhuan has designed and completed more than a dozen photo series that feature the beasts and monsters from the Classic of Mountains and Seas. The fantasy world narrated in the ancient book has been restored through the camera lens of Huanhuan. The various beasts recreated by Huanhuan are full of spirituality,or are glamorous and fascinating,or savvy and enchanting. Behind these photographic works of distinct personal style is Huanhuan’s relentless pursuit of aesthetic perfection, which is almost nitpicking.

《山海經》 Classic of Mountains and Seas

如魮之魚：“濫水出于其西，西流注于漢水，多如魮之魚，其狀如覆銚，鳥首而魚翼魚尾，音如磬石之聲，是生珠玉。”——《山海經·西山經》“The Lan River is sourced from the west and flows westward into the Han River. There are many rhodeus-like fish in the water and looks like the inverted spear, but with the bird’s head and the fish’s fins and tail. The sound of this fish is like tapping the monolith and can spit out the jade.”—Classic of West Mountain, Classic of Mountains and Seas.

畢方：“一足，赤文青質而白喙，名曰畢方。其鳴自呼也，見則邑有譌火。”——《山海經·西山經》Bifang: “There is an animal called bifang, which has red patterns, dark feather and white beak. Its singing corresponds with the name bifang. The presence of bifang gives promise of blaze in cities.” —Classic of West Mountains, Classic of Mountains and Seas.

For each shooting, preparation is always extremely laborand resource-intensive. First,Huanhuan chooses a subject—a kind of rare beast in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Then she reads all the materials she can find about it to obtain general information of its image,characteristics, and living environment. Then, she finishes the designing job. After that, she makes clothing and accessories,which is one of the most difficult parts of pre-production. For instance, the feather cloth of the bird Bifang was glued by hand,each feather one by one, by Huanhuan. At least a few all night studio sessions are a “common occurrence” for each photo series.Another example is her phoenix photo. The flamboyant phoenix garment was made up of 7,000 peacock feathers, which took three full days to create. Every day Huanhuan and her team worked from daybreak to the early morning hours. “My back is barely straight,” said Huanhuan. As for some corners and scales, the materials bought from the market can hardly match the charm of the legendary beasts. In order to perfectly present her philosophy,Huanhuan sometimes resorts to high technology. For example, the horns of her Shenghuang were made using a 3D printer after several trial printings. Above all,Huanhuan does not care how hard the whole process is, but just concentrates on each and every detail in her works.

鮫人：“氐人國在建木西,其為人人面而魚身,無足”——《山海經·海內南經》Mermaid: “The kingdom of Diren lies west of Jianmu. Its people all have a human face and a fish’s body and they are without feet.”—Classic of Areas within the Seas:South, Classic of Mountains and Seas.

After preparing the clothing and accessories, Huanhuan has to choose the proper environment for shooting. She aims tofind and restore the natural environment described in the book. For this reason, she goes to various places,such as mountains, lakes, and deserts to search for the most ideal and natural background. For example, when shooting the series of the Nine-Tailed Fox and South Sea Butterfly, Huanhuan flew to the Gobi Desert in Dunhuang in Northwest China.

However, the various uncertainties in the process add to the difficulty of shooting. In July of 2017, when Huanhuan took her first shots of the series of “Sheng huang—Classic of Mountains and Seas” in Dujiangyan, Sichuan, a surprising downpour forced them to give up the scene, despite the placid river being perfect for the shoot just a few hours prior. What’s more, the cosmetic bag fell into the water and was washed away.The heavy rain caused the river to soar, and Huanhuan was trapped in the river. Fortunately,Huanhuan escaped the danger and completed the shoot. When it comes to this shooting, Huanhuan still feels regret that they had to redo it, for the once clean river had become muddy during the rainfall.

Huanhuan’s photographic works are full of her personal style: bizarre and enchanting, but full of reasonable imagination.Since Huanhuan is fascinated by Chinese traditional culture, she hopes to let more people know about the charming legendary animals and interesting Chinese myths in her own way—through photography.

鏈接：《山海經》是一部中國古代志怪典籍，大體是戰國中后期到漢代初中期的楚人或巴蜀人所作。《山海經》全書原共22篇，約32650字，現存18篇，分《藏山經》5篇、《海外經》4篇、《海內經》5篇、《大荒經》4篇，主要內容是地理知識，包括山川、道里、民族、物產、藥物、祭祀、巫醫等。書中還保存了夸父逐日、女媧補天、精衛填海、大禹治水等膾炙人口的遠古神話傳說和寓言故事。

《山海經》具有非凡的文獻價值，對中國古代歷史、地理、文化、中外交通、民俗、神話等方面的研究，均有重要參考意義。《山海經》版本復雜，現可見最早版本為晉代郭璞所輯《山海經傳》。對于《山海經》內容性質，現中國大多數學者認為，《山海經》是一部早期的、具有很高價值的地理著作。

中國志怪古籍《山海經》中記載了大量古代怪人、怪事、怪物，全書充滿想象，極盡古怪，卻又奇特浪漫，引人入勝。陶淵明《讀山海經》詩云：“泛覽周王典，流觀山海圖。俯仰終宇宙，不樂復何如？”

古籍《山海經》中的奇珍異獸在一位90后攝影師的鏡頭中“活”了過來。

煥煥，90后成都女孩，曾被攝影師挑中做模特，但她十分熱愛攝影，鐘情于攝影創作，于是，她從“鏡中人”轉身成為“掌鏡人”——一名商業攝影師。在一方鏡頭之中，盡情演繹、拍攝自己心中的故事。

煥煥自小聽奶奶講的鬼怪故事中，九只尾巴的狐貍、淚泣珍珠的鮫人、長翅膀的魚，這些神秘奇特的異獸深深吸引著她。長大后接觸到《山海經》，煥煥更是癡迷于這部古籍，每每翻讀，都仿佛置身于兒時夢寐以求的秘境。

從事攝影一段時間后，煥煥靈光一現，能不能將《山海經》中的奇珍異獸復原拍攝出來呢？煥煥立即付諸行動。自2017年以來，煥煥已創作完成十幾組《山海經》異獸系列攝影作品。《山海經》里的奇幻世界，在煥煥的鏡頭下復原了，各色異獸充滿靈性，或妖艷動人，或詭譎惑人，這一張張特色鮮明的攝影作品背后，是煥煥對攝影、對美近乎吹毛求疵的苛刻與執著。

每次拍攝，準備工作都極為耗費人力物力。首先，確定拍攝對象——《山海經》中的一種異獸，然后翻閱大量資料，了解異獸形象、特性、生活環境，再進行造型設計。之后便是制作服飾和飾品，這是準備工作中的難題之一。畢方鳥的羽衣，所有羽毛都是煥煥一根一根粘上去的，連著幾個通宵是“家常便飯”。拍攝鳳凰時，這件繁復華麗的鳳凰衣是由七千根孔雀羽毛粘合而成，煥煥制作了整整三天，每天從睜眼忙到次日凌晨，“腰都直不起來了。”至于有些犄角鱗爪，市面很難買到能體現神韻的材料，為了完美呈現心中構想，煥煥有時要借助“黑科技”。譬如乘黃身上的犄角，煥煥采用3D打印，反復嘗試，多次打印，最終達到理想的形態要求。雖費時費力，但煥煥不想讓自己的作品留有缺憾。

解決服裝飾品難題之后，還需選擇合適的拍攝環境。煥煥盡量還原《山海經》書中所描述的自然環境，為此她輾轉各地，踏尋符合拍攝要求的山川湖海。拍攝《九尾狐》和《南海蝴蝶》時，她千里迢迢飛去了敦煌戈壁。而拍攝過程中不時出現的各種不確定因素更是給拍攝增添重重困難。2017年7月，煥煥拍攝《山海經》系列第一組作品《乘黃》，場景選在都江堰。拍攝當日，天公不作美，突降暴雨，化妝袋落入水中被沖走，而暴雨使河水猛漲，煥煥被困河中，進退兩難。費勁周折后，終于有驚無險地完成了此次拍攝。但談起此次拍攝，煥煥不無遺憾，因為原定的清澈河水變得渾濁不堪，只得棄用。

煥煥的作品極具個人風格：詭譎、妖艷、充滿了合理的想象。她醉心于充滿魅力的中國傳統文化，希望能用自己的方式——攝影，讓更多的人知道中國有趣的神獸和神話故事。