The ''Commentary on the Water Classic'' (), or ''Commentaries on the Water Classic'', commonly known as ''Shui Jing Zhu'', is a work on the Chinese geography in

ancient times Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...

, describing the traditional understanding of its

waterways A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary ...

and ancient canals, compiled by

Li Daoyuan Li Daoyuan (; 466 or 472 in Zhuo County, Hebei – 527) was a Chinese geographer, writer, and politician during the Northern Wei Dynasty. He is known as the author of the '' Commentary on the Water Classic'' (''Shuijingzhu''), a monumental work o ...

during the

Northern Wei Dynasty Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during t ...

(386-534 AD). The book is divided into sections by river, each described with its source, course, and major tributaries, including cultural and historical notes. The work is much expanded from its source text, the older (and now lost) ''Water Classic'' (''Shuijing'' 水經). The original text described 137 different rivers in China and was traditionally credited to

Eastern Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

and

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

Sang Qin (桑钦) during the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280 AD).

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

scholars gave it a later date (during the Three Kingdoms Period) because of the names of the counties and commanderies. Its authorship was then attributed to Jin dynasty scholar

Guo Pu Guo Pu (; AD 276–324), courtesy name Jingchun () was a Chinese historian, poet, and writer during the Eastern Jin period, and is best known as one of China's foremost commentators on ancient texts. Guo was a Taoist mystic, geomancer, collector ...

. Li Daoyuan's 40-volume, 300,000-character version includes 1252 rivers. Although very thorough for its time, it did repeat the earlier mistake of the "

Tribute of Yu The ''Yu Gong'' () or ''Tribute of Yu'' is a chapter of the ''Book of Xia'' (夏書/夏书) section of the ''Book of Documents'', one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. The chapter describes the legendary Yu the Great and the ...

" in viewing the Min as the headwaters of the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

. It was not until the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

that Xu Xiake correctly listed the Jinsha as the principal source.

References

External links

Chinese Literature: ''Shuijingzhu'' 水經注 "Commentary to the River Classic"
at ''China Knowledge''
Unter dem Himmel
Chinese literature Geographic history of China Chinese geography texts {{China-lit-stub

See also

References

Further reading

External links