Through the literature review of the “Shan Hai Jing”, it is found that there have always been different opinions on the nature of the “Shan Hai Jing”. Even the current researchers still have some anxiety about the narrowness of the study of the “Shan Hai Jing”.
The dissertation is to study based on its geographical features, observes the development of geographical perspectives in different dynasties, and finds that apart from the academic points of view, the “Shan Hai Jing” also has a brilliant presentation on encyclopedia and maps. The book “Shan Hai Jing” obvious geographical features were questioned in the Han dynasty, this dissertation reviews that the nature of “Shan Hai Jing” should include geographical features, but not purely has the characteristics of geography.
The viewpoint that the “Shan Hai Jing” can be integrated with "travel" has been put forwarded. From the perspective of "travel records", it is found that the question has become who completed these. The study further indicates that either from the travelers or the record keepers’ point of view, it can be confirmed that “fang shih” is a critical clue. This can specify that the alchemist is an important cultural tradition behind the “Shan Hai Jing”, and the historical evidences have always leaded to the same fact.
From the angle of travel, the study discusses various travel methods mentioned in “Shan Hai Jing”, including horizontal and even vertical ways. In other words, it explains the coexistence of both real and illusory travel in the “Shan Hai Jing”. In addition to the discussion of the travel records, travelers, and narrators, the dissertation studies the five-time tours taken from one of the important readers, Qin Shi Huang, who took the “Shan Hai Jing” as the travel guide, and discusses the forming and the spreading process of the book based on Qin Shi Huang's point of view.