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What is the earliest book about ghosts in China?
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It should be Shan Hai Jing.

Shan Hai Jing is an ancient book in the pre-Qin period of China, and it is also a fantastic book. The author of the book is unknown. Modern scholars think that this book was not written in a moment, and the author is not alone.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas consists of 18 articles, with 22 articles of about 32,650 words. There are 5 Tibetan classics, 4 overseas classics, 5 domestic classics and 4 wild classics. Hanshu 13, excluding Ye Jing and Jia Jing. The contents of Shan Hai Jing are mainly geographical knowledge in folklore, including mountains and rivers, Taoism, nationalities, products, medicines, sacrifices and witch doctors. It has preserved many famous ancient myths, legends and fables, including Kuafu's day by day, Goddess's mending the sky, Jingwei's reclamation and Dayu's harnessing the water.

Shan Hai Jing has extraordinary literature value, which can be used as a reference for studying China's ancient history, geography, culture, Chinese and foreign transportation, folk customs and myths, among which the mineral records are the earliest related documents in the world.

The edition of Shan Hai Jing is complicated, so the earliest edition is the Biography of Shan Hai Jing in Guo Pu. But when it comes to Historical Records, the title of Shan Hai Jing, the earliest bibliography is Hanshu Yiwenzhi. As for the real author of this book, many predecessors thought that it was Yu, Bo Yi, and was collated by Liu Xiang and Liu Xin in the Western Han Dynasty before it was handed down from generation to generation. Nowadays, many people think that the exact date and author of this book cannot be confirmed.

Shan Hai Jing has a great influence and is highly valued by international sinologists. Scholars in ancient and modern times have different understandings of its content and nature. For example, Sima Qian bluntly said that its content was "dare not say anything", and Lu Xun thought it was "the book of wizards and alchemists". At present, most scholars believe that Shan Hai Jing is an early and valuable geographical work.