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The Chinese Isles of the Blest.
The passage reads thus:—
"To the east of the gulf [i.e., the Gulf of Chihli]—it is not known how many myriads of li distant—there is an ocean, vast in extent, and, in very truth, bottomless. In its fathomless depths is the so-called 'Abyss of Assembly,' to which the waters from the eight points of the compass and from the uttermost parts of the earth, and from the streams of the Milky Way all flow. And this they do without causing any appreciable change in the depth of the 'Abyss.'
Here lie the Five Isles, named Tai Yü, Yüan Chiao, Fang Hu, Ying Chou, and P‘êng-lai. In height and round its base each island measures 30,000 li, and the circumference of the plateau on the summit of each is 9,000 li. Each is separated from its neighbours by a distance of 70,000 li. Upon their shores the terraces and pleasure-towers are built of gold and jade, and the birds and beasts are all alike of unblemished white. Thick groves there are, laden with pearls and gems, and not a flower but gives forth fragrant perfume, nor a fruit but has delicious flavour. On those who eat thereof is conferred the boon of youth and immortality. The inhabitants are all hsien and holy sages,[1] who pass their days in happy companionship, which the intervening ocean channels do not interrupt, for they float through the air from isle to isle in countless numbers.
Now originally the bases of these Five Islands were not anchored to any actual spot, and in consequence they always followed the movements of the tides, up and down and to and fro, so that never for a moment were they firmly fixed. Such instability greatly annoyed the hsien and holy sages, and therefore they laid a plaint about it before the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. He, fearing that the islands might drift away to the western confines of the world, and the abode of the saintly hosts thus become lost, commissioned the Great Yü to put a limit to their peregrinations. The latter told off fifteen gigantic turtles to support the islands upon their heads. They were divided into three shifts of five each, each shift being relieved
- ↑ Shêng, here meaning profound illuminates of TAO. The term is also used to describe Confucius and other semi-deified sages of antiquity.
