Here is the translation of the given content into English: "Notes on the Waterways of the Han Dynasty[Exquisite]"

Author: (Northern Wei) Li Daoyuan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1995-01-01
Features: The "Xuan Shen Ji" states: "Among the many things in the world, water is the most abundant. It floats the sky and carries the earth, reaching everywhere high and low, nourishing all things. Rivers, lakes, and oceans cover more than 70% of the Earth's surface. Without rivers and oceans to hold water, the Earth would not exist; without water, all living beings and humans would be unable to survive. Since ancient times, water has been indispensable. Although water can cause harm—flooding mountains and covering plains, overwhelming life and property, claiming billions of lives—without water, crops would wither, factories and mines would shut down, and fertile land would turn into deserts. Therefore, it is essential to manage water properly, turning harm into benefit. Throughout history, both in China and abroad, water management has been considered a major national policy. As a result, records about water have been continuously documented. Ancient China had Sang Qin's "Shui Jing," which described 137 watercourses and was annotated by Guo Pu and Li Daoyuan. Guo's annotations are now lost, while Li's "Shui Jing Zhu" describes 1,252 watercourses and also includes detailed records of mountains, rivers, lakes, cities, passes, scenic spots, and historical sites. Reading Li's annotations not only reveals the branching and tributaries of watercourses but also provides insights into the local culture, history, and geography, helping us understand the past and learn from it. Thus, since the Song Dynasty, this book has been published in various versions, with many scholars annotating and discussing it. The "General Catalogue of the Siku Quanshu" in the History section under Geography includes three versions of Li's "Shui Jing Zhu": one is the "Yongle Dadian" edition, another is Shen Bingxun's "Shui Jing Zhu Jixi Dingye" (40 volumes), which was annotated and corrected based on Huang Shengzeng's Ming Dynasty Jiajing edition, and the third is Zhao Yiqing's "Shui Jing Zhu Shi" (40 volumes) and "Shui Jing Zhu Kanwu" (12 volumes), which were compiled based on Quan Zuwang's theories. Wang Guowei's "Guangtang Collection" (Volume 12) includes prefaces for various editions of Li's annotations: one is "Preface to the Fragments of the Song Edition of Shui Jing Zhu," a pre-Song Dynasty edition with eleven volumes remaining; another is "Preface to the Yongle Dadian Edition of Shui Jing Zhu," where Wang only saw the first twenty volumes of the "River to Dan River" section, though he knew of Zhang Mu's annotated "Yongle Dadian" edition but did not see it. Another is "Preface to the Ming Manuscript Edition of Shui Jing Zhu," which was preserved by the Zhu family of Haisan and shared the same format as the Song fragments and the Ming shadow-copied edition from Wu Gate Guo's collection. Another is "Preface to Zhu Mou's Annotation of Shui Jing Zhu," which was annotated by Zhu Mou in the Ming Dynasty, with Wang Guowei noting that Zhu used the "Historical and Miscellaneous Records" edition as the base. Another is "Preface to Sun Qianfu's Annotation of Shui Jing Zhu." Another is "Preface to the Collectanea Edition of Dai's Annotated Shui Jing Zhu," which briefly criticizes Dai Zhen for appropriating the merits of others while claiming all the credit for himself, with gentle words but deep criticism. Wang Guowei also mentions other versions such as Liu Daizhong, Gui Zhenchuan, Zhao Qingchang, and Quan Xie's "Whole Mountain," among others, but does not list them all. Fu Zengxiang's "Collected Records of the Zangyuan Collection" in the History section under Geography includes eight versions of Li's "Shui Jing Zhu": one is the 40-volume "Shui Jing Zhu" in a Song edition, with only 12 volumes remaining, some missing pages. This is the same as Wang Guowei's mentioned Song fragment. Another is the 40-volume "Shui Jing Zhu" in a Ming Jiajing 13th-year edition by Huang Shengzeng. Another is the 40-volume "Shui Jing Zhu" in a Ming Chongzhen 2nd-year edition by Yan Ren Gong of Wulin. Another is the 40-volume "Shui Jing Zhu" in a Qing Kangxi-era edition by Xiang Yun, with annotations by He Zhao. Another is the 40-volume "Shui Jing Zhu" in a Ming manuscript edition, annotated by Han Luqing and Ying Bian based on Zhu Mou's edition. Another is the 40-volume "Shui Jing Zhu Jian" by Zhu Mou in the Ming Wanli 43rd-year edition by Li Changgeng. Another is the 40-volume "Shui Jing Zhu" by Zhu Mou in the Ming Wanli 43rd-year edition by Li Changgeng, annotated and preface by Sun Qian and Yuan Tingtao. Another is the 40-volume "Shui Jing Zhu Shi" with one preface volume, two appendices, and the 12-volume "Shui Jing Zhu Jian Kanwu" by Zhao Yiqing in the Qing Guigong 51st-year edition of Zhao Yiqing's Xiaoshantang. This is the same as the third edition mentioned in the "General Catalogue of the Siku Quanshu." Wang Zhongmin's "Catalogue of Chinese Rare Books" in the History section under Geography includes four annotated Ming editions of Li's "Shui Jing Zhu": one is the 40-volume "Shui Jing Zhu" in a Ming Wu Juan edition, which is the "Historical and Miscellaneous Records" edition. Another is the 40-volume "Shui Jing Zhu" in a Ming Chongzhen edition with a page listing the reviewers, including Zhong Xing, Bo Jing, Zhu Zichen, Wuyi, and Tan Yuanchun. This is the same as Fu Zengxiang's mentioned Chongzhen 2nd-year edition by Yan Ren Gong of Wulin. Another is the 40-volume "Shui Jing Zhu Jian" in a Ming Wanli-era edition (43rd-year), annotated by Zhu Mou and edited by Li Changgeng, Sun Ruchen, and Li Kejia, with prefaces by Li Changgeng, Huang Shengzeng, and Zhu Mou. Another is the 40-volume "Shui Jing Zhu Jian" with the same annotators and editors as above, but only with a preface by Li Changgeng. These three and four editions are the same as the sixth and seventh editions mentioned in "Collected Records of the Zangyuan Collection," all derived from Zhu Mou's annotations and editions. Combining the records from these books, the old editions of Li's "Shui Jing Zhu" after the Song fragments include the "Yongle Dadian" edition, the Ming Wu Juan "Historical and Miscellaneous Records" edition, the Ming Huang Shengzeng edition, the Ming Zhu Mou edition, the Ming manuscript edition (copied from the Song edition), the Ming Yan Ren Gong edition, the Qing Shen Bingxun edition (derived from the Ming Huang Shengzeng edition), the Qing Zhao Yiqing edition, the Qing Quan Zuwang edition, and the Qing Collectanea edition by Dai Zhen. All of these were considered fine editions at the time. However, the Song fragments only have eleven volumes, Wang Guowei's "Yongle Dadian" edition only has twenty volumes, and Sun Qianfu and Yuan Shoujie's annotations only have fifteen volumes, all incomplete. The Collectanea edition by Dai Zhen also has the flaw of appropriating others' merits, so Wang Guowei believed that the Ming manuscript edition should be considered the old edition. Zhu Mou's "Shui Jing Zhu Jian" also made significant contributions to Li's book. As for modern times, there is Wang Xianqian's combined annotated edition of "Shui Jing Zhu," Yang Shoujing and his disciple Xiong Huizhen's "Shui Jing Zhu Shu" and "Shui Jing Zhu Tu," and recently, the Shanghai People's Publishing House published Wang Guowei's "Shui Jing Zhu Jiao" based on Zhu Mou's "Shui Jing Zhu Jian." Thus, there have always been dedicated scholars working on Li's annotations. Wang Xianqian's "Combined Annotated Shui Jing Zhu" incorporates the strengths of various scholars and represents the culmination of their efforts—truly the best of the best! Yue Lu Book Company, recognizing the excellence of Wang Xianqian's combined annotations, published Li's annotations with annotations and punctuation based on this edition, included in the "Classical Masterpieces Popular Library," with Guan Qiaoling editing and writing a preface. Upon hearing this, I was delighted to write this preface. Publishing classical masterpieces annotated by local scholars by Yue Lu Book Company not only promotes academic excellence but is also a grand achievement in a prosperous era—how could this be inappropriate! Moreover, this new fine edition allows us to once again observe the changes in ancient waterways, the rise and fall of cities along the rivers, and the reasons behind them, reflecting on the past and thinking about the present—how greatly does this contribute to understanding the natural and human world! Therefore, I briefly mention some editions of "Shui Jing Zhu" recorded since the "General Catalogue of the Siku Quanshu" to illustrate the difficulty of preserving and disseminating ancient books, urging us to find ways to cherish and utilize them. Then, the efforts of scholars in annotating "Shui Jing Zhu" will not have been in vain, and it is also a great fortune to reprint this book. On the first day of the first month of the spring of the Jiaxu year, Han Yankan wrote this in the Old Banyan Book House.