[Explanation] With scarlet hyena mane, white limbs, and elegant figure, this beast is named auspiciousness, lying on the bank of a water.

It is recorded in the "Shan Hai Jing" that after riding it, you can live for thousands of years.

There are more than 60 such sculptures beside the Huanghuacheng Reservoir in Jundu Mountain in Beijing.

　　[Explanation] The sculptures of mythical beasts in front of me are all from the hands of Chinese contemporary artist Qiu Qijing. They are all mythical beasts recorded in the "Shan Hai Jing".

　　[Concurrent] Chinese contemporary artist Qiu Qijing

　　We have now made more than sixty of them, large and small, and the time span for them is from 8 to 10 years. It should start in 2012 and 2013.

　　[Explanation] In the past two thousand years, countless sages and literati have used their endless imagination to describe the beasts in the "Shan Hai Jing", but this is the first time that they have appeared on a large scale in three-dimensional images.

　　[Concurrent] Chinese contemporary artist Qiu Qijing

　　There are not many divine beasts that we can see from the three-dimensional statues left over from the tradition. In addition to the early tomb beasts, there are also large lions at the gates of official officials in the later period.

So in the ancient picture books, I want to make some of the beasts in two-dimensional planes three-dimensional, so that they can fill in some of the statues (blanks) of the beasts.

　　[Explanation] "Shan Hai Jing" is an encyclopedia-style ancient Chinese book of the Pre-Qin Dynasty, containing many aspects of geography, history, mythology, astronomy, animals and so on. It is also called the Three Great Wonders of the Ancient Times together with the "Book of Changes" and "The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic" Book.

How to interpret these traditional cultures?

Qiu Qijing chose a more intuitive way.

　　[Concurrent] Chinese contemporary artist Qiu Qijing

　　I think the public is more acceptable and it is more intuitive.

Because everyone is going to look at a profile now, and it feels very exhausting to read the resume of a monster, and I don't want to spend this time.

If this part can be deconstructed and then reconstructed, this is also the most important part of reconstructing our traditional Chinese culture today.

　　[Explanation] There are four wings and six legs, without the chaos of the seven orifices; the heart is kind, does not trample on the grass, only eats naturally dead creatures, the body is like a tiger; it looks like a sheep with a human face and eyes on the armpit Next, the gluttony of eating everything... From the artist's point of view, the ancestors' tenacious and fearless attitude in the face of the unknown is the basic support for writing these great imaginations.

　　[Concurrent] Chinese contemporary artist Qiu Qijing

　　Eastern culture has always advocated a soft culture, which has a very positive side, but its positive side is hidden again, and it is not visible, so I think this is a tenacity of our Chinese nation, and even A flexibility, (like) the most powerful thing we often talk about is that flexibility overcomes rigidity.

　　[Explanation] The popularity of such a fantasy and animal paradise was unexpected by Qiu Qijing. The short video taken by his team attracted more than 700,000 fans in just a few months, especially among children.

　　[Concurrent] Chinese contemporary artist Qiu Qijing

　　The fun of "Shan Hai Jing" is that all children are most interested in. He thinks it is too interesting, it is amazing, it satisfies everyone’s imagination, it becomes easy for you to enter, and when you enter, you will find it inside. There are so many secrets hidden.

　　[Explanation] Compared with Disneyland and Marvel heroes who are well-known to the general public in China, Qiu Qijing believes that there are more essences in traditional Chinese culture that are worth exploring.

　　[Concurrent] Chinese contemporary artist Qiu Qijing

　　Chinese culture, our breadth and our depth can go far and deep, that is, how many things can be digested. I think this is what every individual must think about as a Chinese today. This is what we can do in the future. How far you go depends on this part.

　　[Explanation] Qiu Qijing hopes that if conditions permit, all the 469 sacred beasts in the "Shan Hai Jing" will be made, "It will be my lifelong growth diary."

Qiu Qijing hopes that these mythical beasts can be exhibited in China and around the world in the future.

　　Reporter Jean Baokui reports from Beijing

Editor in charge: [Liu Pai]