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
China has great physical diversity. The eastern plains and southern coasts of the country consist of fertile lowlands and foothills. They are the location of most of China's agricultural output and human population. The southern areas of the ...
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
Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, 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 language, Sumerian c ...
, 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 researche ...
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
Sang or SANG may refer to:
Organizations
* Saudi Arabian National Guard, Saudi Arabian military force
Places
* Sang, Kerman, a village in Kerman Province, Iran
* Sang, Northern Region, a town in Mion District, Northern Region, Ghana
*Sang, Seka ...
(桑钦) during the
Three Kingdoms Period
The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...
(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-speak ...
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
Min or MIN may refer to:
Places
* Fujian, also called Mǐn, a province of China
** Min Kingdom (909–945), a state in Fujian
* Min County, a county of Dingxi, Gansu province, China
* Min River (Fujian)
* Min River (Sichuan)
* Mineola (Am ...
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 Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
that
Xu Xiake
Xu Xiake (, January 5, 1587 – March 8, 1641), born Xu Hongzu (), courtesy name Zhenzhi (), was a Chinese travel writer and geographer of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), known best for his famous geographical treatise, and noted for his bravery ...
correctly listed the
Jinsha as the principal source.
See also
*
Yang Shoujing
Yang Shoujing (; 1839 – 9 January 1915) was a Chinese antiquarian, bibliophile, calligrapher, diplomat, geographer, and historian. He is best known for the historical atlas ''Lidai yudi tu'', commonly called the ''Yangtu'' ("Yang's atlas"), t ...
and
Xiong Huizhen
Xiong Huizhen (; died 1936) was a Chinese historical geographer and a disciple of the late-Qing dynasty scholar Yang Shoujing. He is known for completing the ''Shui jing zhu shu'', a monumental annotation of the 6th-century geographic classic '' ...
, authors of the 19th-century annotation ''Shui Jing Zhu Shu'' (水經註疏)
References
Further reading
*Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3''. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
*Strassberg, Richard E.: ''Inscribed Landscapes: Travel Writing from Imperial China.'' University of California Press, Berkeley, Calif. 1994
*''
Cihai
The ''Cihai'' is a large-scale dictionary and encyclopedia of Standard Mandarin Chinese. The Zhonghua Book Company published the first ''Cihai'' edition in 1938, and the Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House revised editions in 1979, 1989, 19 ...
'', Shanghai cishu chubanshe, Shanghai 2002,
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