Making a picture book out of the mythical beasts from “The Classic of Mountains and Seas”— it is definitely a bold and weird idea. The legacy left by our ancestors is so valuable that we wanted to share with our children so desperately! The painter of this book use his paintbrush to make the ancient plain line drawings to life, making these beasts be lifelike in front of us. The beasts play with us, for us to appreciate, let us have endless reverie... May the great culture of the Chinese nation be passed on from generation to generation, this book is a shining example.
—Tang Yaming (A renowned publisher and translator, former director of the Japanese Board on Books for Young People (JBBY), a jury member of the Painting Prize at the Bologna Book Fair in Italy, and a jury member of the Feng Zikai Picture Book Award, etc.)

To know the world through mountains and seas, and to deepen the mind by exploring the exotic and the strange. This book is based on the ancient book from Pre-Qin Dynasty “The Classic of Mountains and Seas” that it gets the sweet springs of imagination from the vast ancient mythology. What a magnificent and marvelous world of the ancient mythical beasts that Liu Liwen has constructed with a modern perspective.
—Xiang Hua (A well-known picture book writer, a teaching consultant of the Central Academy of Fine Arts’ Picture Book Creation Studio)

★An original collected picture book of the ancient Chinese mythological wondrous book “The Classic of Mountains and Seas”. Opening the door of Chinese mythology for readers, the ancient mythic beasts in “The Classic of Mountains and Seas” are vividly painted on papers, telling the story of the creation history of mythic beasts from scratch.
★Chinese young artist Shi Lin, specializing in gods and beasts, focuses on painting the ancient creatures in “The Classic of Mountains and Seas” in an attempt to reshape the world’s reverence for the ancient beasts, and has spent five years creating a collection of books called “MYTHIC BEASTS”.
★This masterpiece blends classical temperament with modern spirit that it was noticed by the father of Japanese picture books, Matsui Tadashi, supervised by experienced picture book editor Tang Yaming, and designed by Niwa Tomoko, a veteran designer of Japanese children’s book bindings.
★Honoring all creatures in the world and showing the charm of Chinese mythology, this creation perfectly interprets Chinese aesthetics and vividly portrays visualized mythical beasts for readers. The book also recreates traditional classics and opens the door to Chinese mythology for readers. It is worth having for every child and the adult with childlike heart.

What the world was as described in “The Classic of Mountains and Seas” like before the birth of mankind?

“The Classic of Mountains and Seas”, an important ancient book from the pre-Qin period more than 2,200 years ago, is one of the oldest Chinese myths and legends, and the earliest illustrated book existing in China. Although it is an absurd and strange book, it is also an important book that carries history. Artist Shi Lin has condensed the entire book into a single picture book, guiding us to understand the fantastical world from a whole new perspective.

The simple and honest Dijiang, the charming Nine-Tailed Fox, and the greedy Taotie... Each of the beasts in the book is pictured using the typical Plain line drawing of bird and flower paintings of the Song Dynasty, with exquisite and delicate brushwork, which is rich in the aesthetics of “Chinese realism”. In this creation, the painter integrates the dimension of time and tells the great history of the creation of the “World of mythical beasts”, which is rich in poetic wisdom, from the beginning of chaos to the coexistence of peace and strife, which fully demonstrates the artist’s understanding of the charm of the ancient myths: The balance and beauty of transcendent between divinity, humanity and animal nature.

SHI LIN
A young artist, the generation after 85s, specializing in gods and beasts, and also the top original illustrator on related trend ranking. Graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and won many awards for his school works. After graduation, he worked as an art editor, photographer and art director. Traveling in Yunnan for many years, he collected folklore as well as mythological images, and created the book “MYTHIC BEASTS” after five years.