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Classic of the Western Mountains · Mount Tian

Dijiang

帝江

Deity

Dawn beside Mount Tian

“There is a deity shaped like a yellow sac, red as cinnabar fire, with six feet and four wings. Its features are undifferentiated and it has no face, yet it knows song and dance. This is Dijiang.”公版原文：有神焉，其状如黄囊，赤如丹火，六足四翼，浑敦无面目，是识歌舞，实惟帝江也。— Shanhaijing · Classic of the Western Mountains

HISTORICAL IMAGE EVIDENCE · 古籍圖像依據

From historical diagram to a living DijiangStructural evidence and original digital reconstruction

The historical figure at left preserves the Dijiang schema in Wu Renchen's 1667 edition. At right is a web preview extracted from the approved scene master. The reconstruction keeps the headless, faceless sac-like body, six legs, four wings and four-toed feet, while translating the diagram into a credible living being through weight, material, light and habitat.

IHISTORICAL SOURCE

Open historical image ↗

Historical DijiangHistorical depiction · 1667

Work: Shanhaijing Guangzhu, Wu Renchen
Edition: Qing dynasty edition, 1667
Repository: University of Washington Libraries
Call number: DS707.S4 1667
Evidence boundary: The old image locks the core schema; material, colour and habitat are project reconstructions

P/ADIGITAL RECONSTRUCTION

Open web preview ↗

Digital reconstructionShanhai Wonders™ | 山海萬象志

The reconstruction preserves the headless, faceless, compact sac-like body, six legs, four wings and four toes. Symmetry, gravity, gait and grounded feet make it biologically coherent; living tissue, feathers, transitional colour and the Mount Tian habitat are original interpretations grounded in the source.

TEXT

Recorded in the text

Yellow sac, cinnabar fire, six legs, four wings, faceless yet knowing song and dance.

IMAGE

Visible in the old image

A compact sac-like body, three legs per side, layered wings, four toes and a headless silhouette whose ends closely correspond.

INFERENCE

Modern reconstruction

Tissue, feathers, joints, weight-bearing feet, transitional colour, light and Mount Tian habitat.

01 / FIELD NOTE

Field note

A deity with no differentiated facial features, shaped like a yellow sac and red as cinnabar fire, with six legs and four wings. Its defining gift is rhythm and dance.

02 / RECONSTRUCTION

Original reconstruction

A soft sac-like body defines the silhouette. Six feet create a triple rhythm and four wings steer its dance; no eyes, mouth or nose are added.

Colour, material and movement not stated in the source are evidence-led artistic reconstructions.

CLASSIC STORY · 經典故事

Faceless, Yet Knowing Song and Dance

無面而識歌舞

Source narrative + cross-text distinction

Dijiang's central narrative is already in the Shanhaijing: it has no face, yet knows song and dance. The image suggests undifferentiated life, rhythm and vitality rather than simple horror. Zhuangzi's famous tale of boring seven openings into Hundun is related by later interpretation, but Hundun and Dijiang should not be silently treated as identical.

Reading boundary: Zhuangzi's Hundun story may be discussed comparatively, but it cannot replace the Dijiang passage in the Western Mountains.

THREE READING ANCHORS · 三個閱讀錨點

Read Dijiang without giving it a face

Text, later comparison, and reconstruction answer three different questions.

01 · SOURCE
Six legs, four wings, no differentiated face
The Western Mountains describes a deity like a yellow sac, red as cinnabar fire, with six legs and four wings. Faceless, it nevertheless knows song and dance.
02 · RECEPTION
Dijiang is not automatically Zhuangzi's Hundun
The famous story of boring seven openings into Hundun is a valuable comparison, but the identification is interpretive rather than explicit in the Dijiang passage.
03 · RECONSTRUCTION
Rhythm replaces facial expression
The project builds character through weight, six-beat gait, four wings, rotation, and colour while refusing to add eyes, mouth, or a hidden face.

PLACE & HABITAT · 主場與棲境

Mount Tian

天山

W舞E

This diagram expresses textual direction and relation only; it does not claim unverified modern coordinates.

WESTERN MOUNTAINS西山經THIRD WESTERN ROUTE西次三經Mount Tian天山 · 帝江主場

The Shanhaijing World Atlas · Western Mountains

HOME RANGE

Mount Tian · Western Mountains

The Western Mountains text places Dijiang at Mount Tian. Region, route and mountain appear together so Dijiang remains connected to the landscape described by the source. This atlas position follows the text; it is not a claim of modern latitude and longitude.

Open the Shanhaijing World Atlas ↗

SCENES OF MOUNT TIAN · 天山景象

Faceless yet knowing dance, in two visions of Mount Tian.

Six feet settle beside the jade-coloured falls; under cinnabar dawn, four wings gather the mountain wind into rhythm.

Dawn Terrace at Mount TianDawn crosses Mount Tian as six feet settle into a measured rhythm on stone.

Moonrise at Mount TianMoonlight enters the valley; four wings and six feet hold a quiet balance.

FREE WALLPAPERS · 免費壁紙

Bring Dijiang to every screen.

Multiple ratios use independent compositions or controlled background extension—not mechanical crops. Open any framed preview to view the full image. Free editions carry a light brand mark.

Desktop2560 × 1440Open full image ↗

Phone1440 × 2560Open full image ↗

Long phone1440 × 3200Open full image ↗

Tablet2560 × 1920Open full image ↗

SOURCES, RIGHTS & METHOD · 來源、權利與方法

A traceable lineage from text and old image to approved master.

TEXT

Shanhaijing · Classic of the Western Mountains

The Dijiang passage remains distinct from Zhuangzi's Hundun story, so a later parable does not replace the source record.

IMAGE

Wu Renchen, Shanhaijing Guangzhu (1667)

University of Washington Libraries; call number DS707.S4 1667. The image supplies Dijiang's core historical schema.

RECONSTRUCTION

Shanhai Wonders™ | 山海萬象志

The reconstruction keeps six legs, four wings, a faceless form and sac-like body, then gives it life through weight, gait, feathers, and the Mount Tian habitat.