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Revision as of 22:56, 24 February 2010 by Admin (talk | contribs) (New page: thumb|A drawing of a ''shēng shēng'' father and child from a 1596 edition of the ''Shan Hai Jing''. Mythical creatures named '''shēng shēng''' (狌狌) or "x...)
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A drawing of a shēng shēng father and child from a 1596 edition of the Shan Hai Jing.

Mythical creatures named shēng shēng (狌狌) or "xīng xīng" (猩猩) are mentioned in three passages of the Shan Hai Jing ("The Classic of Mountains and Seas"). Birrell, who translates the creature's name as "live-lively", thus translates the passages:

There is an animal on the mountain which looks like a long-tailed ape, but it has white ears. It crouches as it moves along and it runs like a human. Its name is the live-lively. If you eat it, you'll be a good runner.—Book One--The Classic of the Southern Mountains--Chapter 1 (p. 3) Drift Forest is 300 leagues square. It lies east of the land of the live-lively apes. The live-lively apes know the names of humans. These animals are like hogs, but they have a human face.—Book Ten--The Classic of Regions Within the Seas-- The South (p. 135) There is a green animal with a human face. Its name is live-lively.—Book Eighteen--The Classic of Regions Within the Seas (p. 192)

Birrell also includes the following note on the creature:

Live-lively (hsing-hsing): A type of ape. The translation of its name reflects the phonetic for ‘live’ (sheng) in the double graph. It is sometimes translated as the orangutan. [Hao Yi-hsing (郝懿行)] notes that its lips taste delicious. He also cites a text of the fourth century AD that gives evidence of their mental powers and their knowledge of human names: ‘In the Yunnan region, the live-lively animals live in mountain valleys. When they see wine and sandals left out, they know exactly who set this trap for them, and, what is more, they know the name of that person's ancestor. They call the name of the person who set the trap and curse them: “Vile rotter! You hoped to trap me!”’—(p. 236)

Reference

Birrell, Anne, translator (1999). The Classic of Mountains and Seas. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0140447194.