page_title: Simians (Chinese poetry)
section_title: "Mountain Spirit"
hierarchical_section_title: Simians (Chinese poetry) / Poetry / Chu Ci / "Mountain Spirit"
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: L'esprit des montagnes. Li sao de Qu Yuan, illustré par Xiao Yuncong (1596-1673), gravé par Tang Yongxian. English: "Mountain Spirit" (Shan Gui), from Nine Songs section, poem number 9 0f 11, of annotated version of Chu Ci, published under title Li sao, author attribution as Qu Yuan (actual authors of the Nine Songs section unknown), and with illustrations by Xiao Yuncong.
context_page_description: Simians of various sorts are an important motif in Chinese poetry. Examples of simian imagery have an important place in Chinese poetry ranging from the Chu Ci poets through poets such as Li Bai, Wang Wei, Du Fu, and more. Various poetic concepts could be communicated by the inclusion of simian imagery in a poem, and the use of simian allusions can help provide key insights into the poems. The use of simians in Chinese poetry is part of a broader appearance of macaques and other monkeys in Chinese culture as well as the monkey-like gibbons and sometimes monkey-like creatures from Chinese mythology.
context_section_description: Mountain Goddesses frequently appear in poetry, in the Classical Chinese tradition many of the best known ones being associated with certain specific well-known mountains. One of the poems of the Nine Songs section of the
  Chu Ci bearing the title "The Mountain Spirit" ("Shan Gui") describes such a being; but, one known only by means of this poem, although various scholarly research plausibly suggests a relationship with the modernly named Wushan, famous for its cloud and rain, and simian sounds (Hawkes 1985, 115). Wushan (巫山, Wū Shān) is a range of mountains through whose deep gorges the rapids of the Wu River and the Yangzi River flow. Travel between the Sichuan Basin and the rest of what were then the other more populated areas of China was most frequently done by boat trips during which the poets or other passengers experienced the difficulties of navigating dangerous waterways, above which soared the dramatically scenic heights of Wushan, while their ears were impressed by the loud sounds of the indigenous population of gibbons and/or other simians.  Wushan is sometimes translated as "Witch Mountain": wu literally means "shaman", and the manifest spirit of its Goddess was commonly believed to persist there, although perhaps not exactly being the Mountain Spirit of the poem. Typical attributes of mountain goddesses include her transportation by riding a chariot pulled by large members of the cat family, as does the Mountain Spirit of the poem—simian accompaniment being one of the more particularly distinctive features of this specific spirit or deity. The poet invokes the sound and image of simians while singing to his muse, in the poem's concluding lines (Hawkes translation, 116):
       The thunder rumbles; rain darkens the sky:
       The monkeys chatter; apes scream in the night:
       The wind soughs sadly and the trees rustle.
       I think of my lady and stand alone in sadness.
  From its time of first publication, this particular type of imagery from the Chu Ci would prove be an enduring one in Chinese literature through the ensuing ages.
caption: The Nine Songs verse Mountain Spirit and commentary from the Chu Ci, 1645 annotated and illustrated edition, with the title changed to The Illustrated Li Sao (離騷圖), depicting the Mountain Spirit together with a simian companion.
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