The Four Seas () were four
bodies of water
A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as p ...
that metaphorically made up the boundaries of
ancient China
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...
. There is a sea for each for the four
cardinal directions
The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are a ...
. The West Sea is
Qinghai Lake, the
East Sea is the
East China Sea
The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated ...
, the North Sea is
Lake Baikal, and the South Sea is the
South China Sea. Two of the seas were symbolic until they were tied to genuine locations during the
Han dynasty's
wars with the Xiongnu. The lands "within the Four Seas", a literary
name for China, are alluded to in
Chinese literature and
poetry.
History
The original Four Seas were a metaphor for the borders of pre-
Han dynasty China. Only two of the Four Seas were tied to real locations, the East Sea with the
East China Sea
The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated ...
and the South Sea with the
South China Sea. During the
Han dynasty,
wars with the Xiongnu brought them north to
Lake Baikal. They recorded that the lake was a "huge sea" (hanhai) and designated it the mythical North Sea. They also encountered
Qinghai Lake, which they called the West Sea, and the lakes
Lop Nur and
Bostang in
Xinjiang. The Han dynasty expanded beyond the traditional West Sea and reached
Lake Balkhash, the westernmost boundary of the empire and the new West Sea of the dynasty. Expeditions were sent to explore the
Persian Gulf, but went no further.
Chinese writers and artists often alluded to the Four Seas.
Jia Yi
Jia Yi (; c. 200169 BCE) was a Chinese essayist, poet and politician of the Western Han dynasty, best known as one of the earliest known writers of ''fu'' rhapsody and for his essay "Disquisition Finding Fault with Qin" (''Guò Qín Lùn'' ), wh ...
, in
an essay that summarized the collapse of
Qin dynasty, wrote that while the
state of Qin
Qin () was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Traditionally dated to 897 BC, it took its origin in a reconquest of western lands previously lost to the Rong; its position at the western edge of Chinese civilization permitted e ...
has succeeded in "pocketing all within the Four Seas, and swallowing up everything in all Eight Directions", its ruler "lacked humaneness and rightness; because preserving power differs fundamentally from seizing power". The metaphor is also referenced in the
Chinese adage "we are all brothers of the Four Seas", a proverb with utopian undercurrents. The lyrics of a popular Han dynasty folk song extol that "within the Four Seas, we are all brothers, and none be taken as strangers!"
See also
*
China Seas
The China Seas consist of a series of marginal seas in the Western Pacific Ocean, around China. They are the major components signifying the transition from the continent of Asia to the Pacific Ocean.Pinxian Wang, Qianyu Li, Chun-Feng Li, ''Geolo ...
*
Names of China
*
Tianxia
*
Borders of China
*
Natural borders of France
The natural borders of France (french: Frontières naturelles de la France) were a nationalist theory developed in France, notably during the French Revolution. They correspond to the Rhine, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, the Pyrenees ...
*
Seven Seas
The "Seven Seas" is a figurative term for all the seas of the known world. The phrase is used in reference to sailors and pirates in the arts and popular culture and can be associated with the Mediterranean Sea, the Arabian Seven Seas east of Afr ...
*
List of Seas
This is a list of seas of the World Ocean, including marginal seas, areas of water, various gulfs, bights, bays, and straits.
Terminology
* Ocean – the four to seven largest named bodies of water in the World Ocean, all of which have "Ocea ...
*"
Deutschlandlied", which similarly defines Germany's borders as four rivers
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
{{Portal bar, China, History
Seas
Asia in mythology
Chinese literature
History of China
Literary terminology
Names of China
Seas
Locations in Chinese mythology