Abstract:

There is a tale in the Chinese ancient book “Legend of Mountains and Rivers” where the sun rises from a “Fusang Tree” in the east, hangs above a “Jian Tree” at noon, and goes down at the “Ruo Tree” in the west. People have debated the reality of such Divine Trees for many centuries and arguments for and against their existence did not stop until Bronze Trees were discovered in Sanxingdui, Guanghan Prefecture, Sichuan Province. This archaeological discovery proved that Divine Trees referred to in folklore existed. Here we report verification of prototypes of the three Divine Trees referred to in “Legend of Mountains and Rivers”, based on botanical knowledge and reference to the ancient literature. We verified that the Fusang Treeg Tprototype may have been Betula platyphylla, the Jian Tree′s prototype was possibly Cunninghamia lanceolata, while the Ruo Tree′s prototype may have been Bombax ceiba.

Key words: Legend of Mountains and Rivers, Divine Tree, Betula platyphylla, Cunninghamia lanceolata, Bombax ceiba, Verification

摘要：

《山海经》中有太阳东出扶桑、日中建木、西归若木的传说，长期以来一直存疑，争论不休，直到四川广汉三星堆遗址出土了青铜神树，才证明了传说的真实性。我们结合《山海经》等相关典籍，从植物学角度对扶桑、建木、若木的原植物进行探讨，基于典籍描述、考古资料、植物形态特征、生态习性和地理分布等，初步考订扶桑的植物原型为桦木科白桦（Betula platyphylla），建木的植物原型为杉科杉木（Cunninghamia lanceolata），若木的植物原型为木棉科木棉（Bombax ceiba）。

关键词: 山海经, 神木, 扶桑, 建木, 若木, 考订