''Shi Yi Ji'' () is a Chinese mythological / historical treatise compiled by the

Taoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

scholar Wang Jia (died 390). The title of the work has been variously translated into English as ''Record of Heretofore Lost Works'', ''Researches into Lost Records'', ''Record of Gleanings'', or ''Forgotten Tales''. The verb ''shiyi'' (拾遺) is translated by modern dictionaries as "to appropriate lost property", or, when used in book titles, "to make up for omissions". Accordingly, the work is based on "apocryphal" versions of early (legendary) Chinese history, which must have been produced during the

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

. For example, ''Shi Yi Ji'''s version of the story of

Yu the Great Yu the Great or Yu the Engineer was a legendary king in ancient China who was credited with "the first successful state efforts at flood control", his establishment of the Xia dynasty, which inaugurated Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic ru ...

has a yellow dragon and a black turtle helping Yu to create the geographical features of China, and to name them – details not found in the ''

Classic of Mountains and Seas The ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', also known as ''Shanhai jing'' (), formerly romanized as the ''Shan-hai Ching'', is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. Early versions of the text may have existed si ...

''. (especially, notes 90 and 97)

References

Citations

Sources

王嘉
on hudong.com {{Chinese mythology Chinese literature Chinese mythology 4th-century books