"Book of the Rivers of Shu" (Shu-shui ching)
By Flobian C. Reiter, Würzburg
The Book of the Rivers of Shu' (Shu-shui ching)^ is a study on the his¬
tory and geography of Shu, which was compiled by Li Yhan*". Li Yüan
lived during the Ch'ing dynasty (1644-1911), and from 1785 untU 1816
he served in Szechwan as local prefect of serveral districts. He is said to
have been a good administrator. He retired from office in 1816, because
that time he did not enjoy good health. Being a productive scholar and
historiographer^ he revised and enlarged in 1802 Yao Ling-i"s Jen-shou
hsien-chih}. He also compUed a number of local gazetteers, the titles of
which are knovm only partly. Some of his books deal with phüologic and
literary themes'. The preface, which he wrote for his Shu-shui ching,
dated 1794, shows that the Shu-shui ching had been written when he still
was in office in Szechwan. It is explicitly for this reason why Li Yüan
used the old geographic name Shu*" to specify the title of his Book of the Rivers.
Li Yüan says in his preface that Shu was a part of the province Liang
(Liang-chou)'^, which was one of the nine provinces described in the
scripture (SÄM* (The Documents) , section Yü-kun{i^ (The Tribute of Yü)".
It is the area where the river Chiang' (Yang-tzu chiang) has its origins.
However, Li Yüan observes that also a statement which would contra¬
dict this notion coidd be made. Mt.Min^ is the name of the vast ranges of
mountains which are associated with the origin of the Chiang. Mt.Min
' See Shu-shui ching. Ch'eng-tu: Pa-shu Comp. 1985, reproducing the copy of
1800 by Ch'ung-ch'ing t'ang. Also see Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chiJi 188 (Ching-chi, shih-
pufu lu) 32 b, 1816 by Yang Fang-ts'an et al. Taipei: Hua-wen Comp. 1967.
^ The editorial preface of the Shu-shui ching contains biographic indications (see note 1). Also see Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih 188.32b, 33apoints out that Li Yüan had composed "many more gazetteers". The Jen-shou hsien-chih was reprinted
by Wen-hsüeh Comp., Taipei 1968.
^ See the editiorial preface of Shu-shui ching.
" "The Tribute of Yü", see J. Legge [Transi.]: The Shoo King. Hongkong
1982, 92-151. Conceming Liang-chou, see Ch'eng Kuang-yü: Chung-kuo li-
shih ti-t'u. Taipei 1980. (Chung-hua hsüeh-slyi yüan.), 3-4.
does not rise from a plain in Shu, but it stretches far into the area of Shu
and constitutes an important part of the territories in the North-West of
Shu'. The same could be said about a number of rivers (chiang) which
flow into Shu, which thus tums out to be a grand receptacle of the
"waters of the West". Li Yüan states that the terrain of Shu is the high¬
est highland in China, and its mountain pealis are the highest ones in
China. Here are the sources of many rivers indeed. Li Yüan notices that
the "blood veins of the Great Earth" pulsate through that area, and the
mountains of Shu all would be towering high above. Li Yüan thinks
that Li Tao-yüan'' (?-527), who compiled the Shui-ching chu} was quite
precise in his presentations conceming the description of the river Ho*",
but spoke only superficially about the Chiang*. Li Yüan explains this
deficiency with the limits of the administration of the Wei dynasty,
which did not extend its realm into that area'. He attempts to supple¬
ment the Shui-ching chu of Li Tao-}man and to continue where Li Tao-
yüan simply was not in the position to be precise enough. Li Yüan
explains that he fortunately lives under a most far reaching administra¬
tion which indeed had created suitable conditions for writing the Shu-
shui ching. He also had realized that the geographic disposition of
mountains and rivers in Shu so far had not been properly documented.
Maps and legends would not fit together. Administrative borderlines
and their documentations would not match the reality. All of this consti-
' The territory of Shu comprises most parts of modem Szechwan province.
This name also represented political and historical administrations and the
respective territories during the San-kuo (220-265) period and also later e.g.
during the Shih-kuo (907-960) period. Any interpretation of the names Pa and
Shu, which points to the very centre of the territory, would have to refer to
Ch'ung-ch'ing and Ch'eng-tu. The two principalities of Pa and Shu are said to
have been in elose contact with each other by intermarriage during the time of the (legendary) ancestors of the Great Yü, see Ch'en Teng-lung: Shu-shui k'ao.
Ch'eng-tu: Pa-shu Comp. 1985, reproducing the edition of 1879, 3,21b-22a. A
good survey on Shu and Pa is Yüan-feng chiu-yü chih. Peking: Chung-kuo ku-tai ti-li tsung-ehih ts'ung-k'an 1984, ch. 7-8.
' Li Tao-yüan' 8 Shui-ching chu is avaUable in several editions. Here we used
the edition by Wang Kuo-wei. Shanghai: Jen-min Comp. 1984.
' The Shui-ching chu contains fairly long chapters on the Chiang (33-35). A
comparison with the introducing sentences in Shu-shui ching, shows that the
basis for the two "commentaries" is not identical. Whereas Li Tao-jTian com¬
ments on a book (Shui-ching), Li Yüan first composes his own geographic text
(Shu-shui ching). Li Tao-yüan has rightly been characterized as "desk geogra¬
pher", see L. Petech: Northemlndia according to the Shui-ching-chu. P. 3: Intro¬
duction. Roma 1950. Li Yüan explicitly combines literary studies with field
research.
tutes indeed a great task, which Li Yüan sets out to tackle. Conceming
the areas and places through which Li Yüan happened to travel, he con¬
sulted the literary sources and documentations, and then he finally
composed the Shu-shui ching. Li Yüan's endeavour surely is quite rea¬
sonable. It was essential for the admirdstration that borderlines, moun¬
tains, rivers and roads could be clearly located and supervised. Gazet¬
teers and maps had to reflect the local realities, and the local authorities
had to keep them up to date. Anyway, the Shu-shui ching which Li Yüan
wrote, is in fact qmte different from the gazetteer (ti-fang chih)", which
actually served general administrative purposes, displaying the con¬
tents in an enzyclopaedic maimer.
The claim Li Yüan's to continue the work of Li Tao-5nian, gave him
the chance to get away from the form of the gazetteer (ti-fang chih) and
to take up the arrangement and the style of the Shui-ching chu. Li Yüan
thus places himself well within a tradition, which during his times was
being revived by scholars like Tai Chen" (1724-1777) and Chao I-
ch'ing'' (C.1710-C.1764), who made efforts to reconstitute Li Tao-yüan' s
Shui-ching chu^. There are several other literary traditions, which Li
Yüan incorporates in his Shu-shui ching. This becomes easüy evident, if
we study his sources. Amongst these sources the Shui-ching chu pos¬
sibly is the most prominent one. Li Yüan quotes this text whenever he
can as his first quotation, which obviously would be followed by less
important titles.
The Shu-shui ching contains sixteen chapters (chüan). Ch. 1-7 deal
with the Chiang and the cities, districts and mountains alongside its
course. The descriptive and explanatory sections of the Shu-shui ching
also speak about the many rivers which flow into the Chiang. The titles
of the remaining chapters refer to other rivers. No doubt, this book
mainly aims at depicting the courses of waterways or rivers. However,
the table of contents reveals quite a few geographic names, which either
contain a word referring to mountains, or they tum out to derive from
the names of mountains. Mountains in fact figure prominently in Li
Yüan's explanatory essays.
' Another book which professes to taclde the same problem is Ch'en Teng-
lung's Shu-shui k'ao (see note 5). Ch'en Teng-lung was prefect in Szechwan
around 1790. Conceming Tai Chen, see A. Hummel: Eminent Chinese of the
Ch'ing Period. Washington 1944, 695-700 (Fang Chao-ying). As to Chao
I-ch'ing, op.cit. 76-77 (K. T. Wu, Fang Chao-ying). The edition of the Shui-
ching chu by Jen-min Comp, (see note 6) contains an editorial preface by Wu
TsE, which features these efforts, see e.g. pp. 4-5, referring to Tai Chen and Chao 1-ch'ing.
This article attempts to describe the characteristic elements in the
descriptions of mountains in the Shu-shui ching. The same time this
article introduces the Shu-shui ching with its intentions, and it also fea¬
tures the literary traditions, which Li Yüan continues to transmit.
The description of historic events, of literary and geographic themes
most likely focuses on definite places, and in this case such definite
places are the mountains of Shu. The rivers either originate from these
mountains or their courses are being directed and bent by these moun¬
tains. Much has been said about 'the mountains in Chinese culture, in
religious or artistic life . . .". And yet, we find it rewarding to analyse
what themes or informations Li Yüan selects and preserves. We also
leam to appreciate how they had been transmitted in the literary
sources of past ages. In which manner did Li Yüan report or comment
upon traditions, which were current during his time?
Li Yüan's commentaries often vary greatly as to their length and
explicitness. This author does not systematically search for or list spe¬
cific informations. Large sections of the Shu-shui ching deal with Real-
geschichte and with administrative history. There is a lot of information
conceming the changes of names and boundaries of administrative
units. This book should provide many valuable details for a "history of
the administration of Shu". For example, having reported that "... the
Chiang ... in the North passes the walls of Ch'ung-ch'ing fu". In the
South the river Han (shui) approaches from the North-West and flows
into the Chiang", Li Yüan describes the administrative history of
Ch'ung-ch'ing fu (Pa-kuo)', from the Ch'in dynasty (221-207 B.C.)
onwards, when Pa-chün and Chiang-chou hsien" had been established,
until his own time. Now, Ch'ung-ch'ing fu would belong to the Eastem
circuit' (Ch'uan-tung tao)'. After that Li Yüan gives a presentation of
events, which are believed to have occurred in the dawn of history (The
Five Emperors . . ., Yü" regulated the waterways and arranged for Pa-
Shu to belong to Liang-chou et al.). Li Yüan continues to speak about
the Chan-kuo and Han periods until the time of Chu-ko Liang* (181-
234), and there his report breaks off'". Li Yüan equally abmptly starts a
new paragraph spealdng about Mt.T'u" (Mt.Mud)This mountain had
neither been mentioned in the sentence of the Book of the Rivers which
originally introduced this paragraph, nor in the preceding historio-
graphic discussions. Mt.T'u of Pa-hsien in Ch'ung-ch'ing fu simply is
' See Shu-shui ching 5.20a-21a.
See Shu-shui ching 5.21a-23a.
" See Shu-shui ching 5.2Sa-26h.
nearby, located on the southem bank of the Chiang which passes the district border'^.
In most cases however, the geographic names which occur in the sen¬
tences of the Book of the Rivers, which introduce each new paragraph,
provide the themes of the subsequent discussions. There are no indica¬
tions that maps ever had been attached to this work. It is most note¬
worthy that Li Yüan frequently concludes his presentatioYis of older
literary sources with his own analytic statements. He compares con¬
flicting opinions and arrives at critical and sometimes agnostic conclu¬
sions. This is most evident whenever he discusses themes referring to
religious traditions". It also must be noticed that Li Yüan's Preface
does not speak about the order or the arrangement of the rivers and the
arable land, which the Great Yü purportedly had effected. It is not Li
Yüan's purpose to describe the deeds of a divine saint or hero. As we
have already said, he intends to supplement the Shui-ching chu. On the
other hand, Li Yüan's quotations show how other, older sources treated
antique traditions, which sometimes are said to pertain to different ter¬
ritories. No doubt, these territories attained fame and legitimation in as
much as they coidd have the flair of being "antique". Fame and legitima¬
tion derived e.g. from the notion that the Great Yü had drawn the
respective place within the realm of Chinese soil and culture. Temples
and steles may have been set up on such grounds. A similar effect
results from the combination of place names with the names of famous
persons or literati like Li T'ai-po". The administrative and scholarly
interest in such a place gradually increased what the quotations of
poems, accounts, steles et al. seem to prove. Li Yüan tries to identify
literary and historiographic information referring to Shu. The descrip¬
tion of the rivers and waterways serves as frame for the literary and his¬
toriographic descriptions, very much the same way as in the Shui-ching
chu. However, we have to keep in mind that Li Yüan himself composes a
Book of the Rivers (shui-ching/. As to the literary frame of his book, he
neither copies the Shui-ching of old, nor some sentences from the com¬
mentary Shui-ching chu. The Shu-shui ching and the Shui-ching chu share
many similarities as far as their form is concemed. Anyway, the book
on which Li Yüan actually comments, is also of his own making.
See Shu-chui ching 5.25a/9.
" See e. g. Shu-shui ching 6.3b-5a, conceming Mt.P'ing-tu and the local tradi¬
tions conceming the deity of the netherworld, Yen-lo wang. Also see Ssu-ch'uan t'ung chih 21.5a-6b (Feng-tu hsien, Chung-chou), and op.cit. 57.31a-32a.
lf we compare the Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih^ with the Shu-shui ching we
find that Li Yüan by no means describes all the mountains in Shu or in
Szechwan'". A systematical approach in a modem geographical sense
must not be expected. Most descriptions of mountains in the Shu-shui
ching are rather short. They locate the mountain and explain the mean¬
ing or origin of its name.
The names of mountains often are suggestive in a very simple way".
Mt.Ma-ling"" (Horse Range) points to the shape of the mountain
(6. 19a) , which makes the onlooker think of a horse. The features of Chi¬
nese characters also may be detected in the very shape of a mountain,
like Mt.Ta-k'uang^"' (Big Dmm) reminding of the character k'uang"'
(15.6a). This mountain is also known by other names, Mt.K'uang and
Mt.Tai-t'ien*". The poet Li T'ai-po (701-762) is said to have lived and
studied at this mountain, and so Li Yüan can report about the existence
ofa "Study Hall ofT'ai-po" (15.6b). Li Yüan introduces aline of apoem by Tu Fu" (712-770) referring to the "Study at Mt.K'uang". He points
to a commentary on this poem, which would identify Mt.K'uang with
Mt. K'uang-lu"*^ near Hsün-yang (Kiangsi)". Li Yüan discusses this
interpretation, which he thinks to be wrong. He says that Mt.Lu"*
(Kiangsi) is called K'uang-lu, but the name of Mt.K'uang would never
be used for Mt.Lu in Kiangsi. He says consequently that Tu Fu means to
speak about the Mt.K'uang of Shu, and only a forced (and wrong) inter¬
pretation had changed the name to be K'uang-lu, "it's K'uang-shan, and
that must not be added to"". Mt.Niu-hsin^'' (Cow's Heart) in P'ing-wu
and Mt.Tien-teng^' (Lit Candle) in Chiang-yu are also called Hsiao
K'uang-shan"^ (Small Mt.K'uang)'*, and they all happen to have a
"Study Hall of T'ai-po"" (T'ai-po tu-shu t'ai)"''.
'" Conceming Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih, see note 1. This comprehensive gazet¬
teer and the Shu-shui k'ao are the most important works of comparison and
reference.
" Compare F. C. Reiter: Bergmonographien als geographische und historische (gellen, dargestellt an Ch'en Shun-yüs ,ßericht über den Berg Lu" ßiu-shan chi)
aus dem 11. Jahrhundert. In: ZDMG 130 (1980), 397-407.
" See Shu-shui ching 15.6a-6b, conceming Mt.K'uang. For the quotation of
Tu Fu's poem, which refers to Li T'ai-po, see Chiu-chia chi-chu Tu shih. Cam¬
bridge, Mass. 1940. (Harvard-Yenching Series. Suppl. 14, Vol. 2.), 24.12.7
(p. 381).
" See note 16.
" See Shu-shui ching 15.6b.
" See note 16.
This illustrates some typical features of Chinese geographical names
and historico-geographical sources, especially the multiplicity of geo¬
graphic names and the difficulty of documenting the historic connection
of one specific location with persons or events of past ages. "Li T'ai-po
had studied here", this phrase or claim must have constituted a back¬
bone for local aspirations.
Another example for a mountain which had been named according to
its very shape may be given. Mt.Ch'in"' (Lute) somehow resembles the
shape of a lute. Now, this is the rare case of a mountain, which had its
form or shape artificially improved in order to match the name. The
mountain did not have "strings", and thus a popular saying was "there
are no strings, and so the lute won't sound" (4.29b). During the Yüan
period earth was brought to the place and then the picture of the lute
had been completed by hmnan efforts^". This action obviously had not
been influenced by geomantic considerations (feng-shui)^'" , which usual¬
ly would have been designed to influence hmnan fate. There are count¬
less mountains, which have been named or renamed after famous per¬
sons had visited them. Mt.Niang-tzu ling"" (The Young Lady Range)
commemorates the imperial consort Yang, who "on her way back to the
capital passed this mountain range" (1.28a). Mountains were places
where immortals choose to leave when their time had come. Mt.Fei-
hsien"" (The Soaring Immortal) is such a place. A bridge nearby came to be called accordingly "Bridge of the Soaring Immortal". "On the 3rd day
ofa 3rd month Chang Po-tzu"'' succeeded in attaining Tao, and when the
emperor smnmoned him, he . . . rose to heaven. Therefore the name Fei-
hsien was given". However, Li Yüan does not know any historic data,
when and where Chang Po-fczu cultivated Tao, and in which year he
actually was successful^'. After all, Li Yüan says, it is oiüy an earthen
mound, not very high, and the place is near to the bustle and dirt of the
city market nearby. Li Yüan finds it strange that an immortal shoidd be
around such a place, and so he concludes that the whole story is a forged
interpretation (3.2a-2b). This way local history or legends and geo¬
graphical features find their expression in names of places and moun¬
tains. We find it quite natural that names of this type caimot be unique
in China and not even in Shu or Szechwan. The above mentioned Mt.
Ch'in (Lute) appears twice in the Ssu-ch'tian t'ung-chih (13.50b, Hsü-
See Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih 13.50b (Lung-an fu). Also see op.cit. 54.8a (again
with a remark on Li T'ai-po and the Tu-shu t'ai).
We do not have further information about Chang Po-tzu.
9 ZDMG I40/I
chou fu; and 18.43a, T'ung-ch'uan fu). The same is true e.g. for the mountains T'ien-chu"", Chen-wu"' and An-lo"'^^.
Mountains seem to be quite individual places in a vast country, and
the rivers could appear to connect them loosely. Li Yiian's discourses
reveal that there are several lines of religious and literary traditions,
which group and categorize mountains in a specific way. Some moun¬
tains may belong to the group of the Ten Great Grotto Heavens like
Mt.Ch'ing-ch'eng"' (Green Wall)", or Mt.P'ing-tu"" (Even City), which
is said to be one of the seventytwo auspicious sites (2.3a-5b; 6.3b-
5a) The latter also is said by some sources to be distinguished by its
beautiful forests and precipies, with trees „onethousand years old".
Furthermore, the mountain has been connected with the cult of Yen-lo
wang, the deity which controls the netherworld. Of course Li Yüan is
quite critical of this tradition. He cannot see why Yen-lo wang"' should
choose such an uninteresting mountain to live upon, and anyway "it's
all just absurd" (6.4a-4b). On the other hand he observes that the pro¬
cessions with candles and incense, moving up and down the mountain
are "beautiful" and very impressive. We feel that the pieces of informa¬
tion conceming the literary sources of this cult clearly indicate the ex¬
clusively analjdiic interests of Li Yüan.
Numbers seem to be most important criteria, which imply normative
concepts. Mt.Ch'ing-ch'eng has 36 peaks, which are divided into two
groups, comprising 18 yang and 18 yin peaks. Each peak is said to have
two small grottoes, and thus the number 72 emerges. The number 72
corresponds with the 72 periods, and as each of these periods has five
days the number 72 in fact represents the period of one year. The eight
big grottoes of Mt.Ch'ing-ch'eng correspond with the Eight Festivals
(2.3a) . Mt.Hao-ming"* (Singing Crane) has on its top 24 grottoes corre¬
sponding with the 24 breaths. Its 72 caves (hsüeh/'' correspond with the
72 periods, see above referring to Mt.Ch'ing-ch'eng. As soon as one
phase arrives, the corresponding grotto opens up, whereas all the other
grottoes would remain closed . . . (16.6a). In this sense we also may
draw the attention to Mt.O-mei"''. This is the place where Huang-ti is
said to have received from Lao-tzu some very exclusive methods of self-
Conceming Mt.T'ien-chu, see Shu-shui ching 13.5a and 16.6a; and also Ssu- ch'uan t'ung-chih 12.3a, 18.3a and 15.14b. Mt.Chen-wu, see Shu-shui ching 5 .iZh
and Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih 13.74a and 18.46a. Mt.An-lo, see Shu-shui ching
5.10a-lla and Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih 14.63b and 18.35a.
" See Ssu-ch'ium t'ung-chih 10.25b-28a (Kuan-hsien, Ch'eng-tu fii).
" See note 13.
cultivation. It is No. 7 in the series of the 36 Small Grotto Heavens
(8.30a). Such mountains w^ere said to have been the ideal terrain for
immortals or Taoist adepts, and Li Yüan occasionally lists their names,
see e. g. Mt.Chin-ch'üan" (Gold / Elixir / Well) with the names of Hsieh
Tzu-jan"", Shih Chien-wu'"'' et al. (13.13a-13b)".
The numeric emblems of the mountains mentioned above, represent
phases of the cosmic developments, and we can say that these moun¬
tains appear to constitute cosmic spheres^*. Of course, this is our own
interpretation, and Li Yüan himself has not stated anything like that.
However, it is safe to assume that he knew the significance of these
munbers, even if he did not hesitate to confront such symbolic numbers
with the reality of the respective mountain. E.g. see his presentations
concerning the "twelve peaks" of Mt.Wu*"^ (Witch, 7.9b-10a). This rea¬
listic attitude has its bearing on the way he features literary and religi¬
ous traditions like those, which focus on the Temple of the Divine Lady
(7.6a-10b, Shen-nü miao)'"'. Li Yüan dismantels the sigiüficance of the
"12 peaks of Mt.Wu" saying "there are only 9 peaks to be seen . . .", and this is quite indicative of his basic attitude.
References to the domains of the Heaveidy Masters of the Taoists
(T'ien-shih chih)''' or to Buddhist temples (e.g. see Mt.P'ing-tu; 6.4b)
easily establish relations which reach far beyond the confines ofa single
mountain. Li Yüan takes up such information, but develops his dis¬
courses into more extended essays only in some cases. Especially note¬
worthy are his most elaborate discourses on Buddhist travellers to the
West, on their routes to Turfan, Tibet and India. The respective section
gives ethnographic descriptions of Tibetan people and finally lists doz¬
ens of Indian states. Here again, Li Yüan hardly suppresses his gnaw¬
ing scepticism, because all these pieces of information are based on the
accounts of people who were involved and interested in giving an
impressive pictiu-e of their efforts to find Buddhist scriptures. It must be
said that this part of the Shu-shui ching deserves a separate treatment
" See Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih 13.2a-3a (Nan-ch'ung hsien, Shun-ch'ing fu), also see op.cit. 52.5a. Conceming Hsieh Tzu-jan see Li-shih chen-hsien t'i-tao t'ung-chien hou-chi 5.8b. As to Shih Chien-wu, see Li-shih chen-hsien t'i-tao t'ung-
chien 45.4 b. Conceming these two titles, see Ta Ming Tao-tsang ching.
There is ample evidence for this concept in Taoist sources, e. g. conceming Mt.Wu-tang, which is one of the 72 auspicious sites, see Wu-tang fu-ti tsung-chen chi 1.1a. Mt.Wu-tang is said to have 72 peaks, 36 precipies, 24 creeks. These nmnbers represent comprehensive religious systems, see Tung-t'ienfu-tiyüeh-tu
ming-shan chi, by Tu Kuang-t'ing (850-933), and also San-tung chu-nang 7, by
Wang HsUan-ho (7th ct.). Conceming all these titles, see Ta Ming Tao-tsang
ching.
9«
( 10.3a-24b) . Another comparatively extensive account features the his¬
tory of Chang Lu*"*^ and this Taoist group, actually starting from a de¬
scription of Mt.Hao-ming (16.6a-7b). Li Yüan mentions repeatedly the
name of Chang Tao-ling''*, and we can say that this name itself consti¬
tutes one of the many hints at local religious traditions, which connect
mountains and areas with events of the history of religion^'.
Besides these more general traditions, which very easily can be
appreciated, we do find yet another set of theories, which give many
areas and mountains in Shu a most specific value and flair. We have to
realize that for most Chinese authors these theories did express historic
or even sacred realities. They focus on the Great Yü and his efforts,
which he is said to have undertaken in order to open up the wilderness
and to cidtivate the land. In the Shu-shui ching the Great Yü is mostly
represented by the book Yü-hmg (Tribute of Yü) , which Li Yüan quotes
very often^*.
We concentrate our attention on three more extended descriptions,
which deal with traditions conceming the Great Yü. Of course, these
quotations also refer to mountains which are qualified by their connec¬
tion with that legendary hero. The actual, physical description of these
mountains becomes quite marginal in the light of those traditions and
theories which Li Yüan presents. Li Yüan's descriptions of Mt.T'u
(Mud; 5.23a-25a),Mt.Shih-niu'"' (RockKnot) andMt.Chiu-lung''' (Nine
Dragons; 15.7b-9a) also reveal again the difficidties, which historico-
geographical sources can present.
Li Yüan says that Mt.T'u is located on the southem bank of the
Chiang in Pa district, Ch'ung-ch'ing prefecture^'. The mountain is said
to be very beautiful with deep and dark ravines and with high mountain
peaks towering above. A popular name is Chen-wu''^ (Perfect Warrior).
There is a grotto usually called Grotto of Lord Lao (Lao-chiin tung)Li
Yüan identifies it with the "Grotto T'u of old"'". An iron pillar stands on
" See Shu-shui ching 2 Ah, 3.24a, 13.5b (Chang Tao-ling).
See note 4.
^' See Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih ll.lb-3b (Pa-hsien, Ch'ung-eh'ing fu). Op.cit.
11.4b refers to Mt.Chen-wu as main peak of Mt.T'u (area). Mt.Chen-wu is a
popular name. Op.cit. 11.11a refers to the Cave of Lao-chiin (Lao-chiin tung),
identical with T'u-tung. These passages contain the same discussions concem¬
ing the identity of Mt.T'u in Shu as Shu-shui ching does. Also see Shu-shui k'ao 3.2 lb-22a and 4. la. The sources quoted are mostly identical with those in Shu- shui ching. We notice that Li Yiian's efforts are paraUeled by Ch'en Teng-lung's efforts and possibly by other authors too, what e.g. the Ching-chi chapter 188 (Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih) could suggest. See Shu-shui ching 5.23a.
^° See note 29.
top of the mountain, and it coidd be seen from a boat sailing on the
Chiang. This pillar had been set up in 1595, reports Li Yüan, and the
Ch'eng-chien''' (Clear Mirror) Pavüion would stand right beside it.
The Hiia-yang kuo-chi^'" says that Mt.T'u is located in the East of the
district, 5200 paces afar, on the eastem baidi of the river Min (Min-
chiang). It is seven li high and has a circumference of thirty lf\
The Huan-yü chi*'" says that the mountain is located eight li to the
South East of the district, on the southem baidi of the river Min'^. It is
seven li high and has a circumference of twenty li.
It is obvious that the very location of the mountain is being described
in a contradictory way, and this is the point which Li Yüan takes up for
his discussions. He first of all refers to a classical tradition.
Li Yüan examines the phrase "Yü takes a wife at Mt.T'u"'', and again
he encounters some very contradictory explanations. One tradition
explains this event saying that "it was in Yü-chou", another says "in K'uai-chi", and again another says "in Tang-t'u" and finally one tradi¬
tion says "in Hao-chou"'''. The commentary on the geographic name
Chiang-chou in the Hou-Han shu*"" quotes Tu Yü''" with the explanation
"in Pa-kuo"; "there is Mt. T'u. Yü took a wife at Mt.T'u"'^
The Hua-yang kuo-chi says "on Mt.T'u in Pa-county. There is a temple
for the Emperor Yü and also an inscription".'*
T'ao Hung-ching's'"' Shui-hsien fv!" comments on the "Rock Tent at
Mt.T'u, and the Green Curtain of the Queen of Heaven, and there it was
that Yü of the Hsia assembled all his officials"".
" This has not been preserved in HiM-yang huo-chih. Ch'eng-tu: Pa-shu
Comp. 1984.
See T'ai-p'ing huan-yü chi. Taipei: Wen-hai Comp. 1963, 136.8a. Tins
source also speaks about the Great Yü, who is said to have married in Mt.T'u
(principality) . It says that the Hua-yang kuo-chih is wrong in locating this event on Mt.'T'u in "present day" Chiang-chou. The Mt.T'u in consideration is located
in Pa-hsien, and this means in Shu.
This could point to Mt.T'u principality. The surname of Yü's wife is some¬
times given as T'u-shan (shih). The locus classicus of tins phrase is Shu-ching,
The Books of Yü, see J. Legge: The Shoo King. Hongkong 1982, 84-85.
This means in Szechwan, Chekiang and Anhui, and again in Anhui respecti¬
vely.
Conceming Chiang-chou, see Hou-Han shu. K'ai-ming Comp. 1934,
33.23.0708d.
See Hua-yang kuo-chih chiao-chu. Ch'eng-tu: Pa-shu Comp. 1984, 1.21.
" Compare Shu-chung ming-sheng chi 17.239, in: Kuo-hsüeh chi-pen ts'ung- shu. Shanghai 1937. Also see Hua-yang T'ao yin-chü cAishang 3b-5a, esp. 4b, in Ta Ming "Tao-tsang ching.
The Shui-ching (chu) says that "Mt.T'u of Chiang-chou has a temple
for Yü of the Hsia, and a shrine for the Queen of (Mt.) T'u"'*.
UntU today, says Li Yüan, a grotto here is called Grotto T'u, and a vil¬
lage VUlage T' u. A torrent nearby is called Che-fu'"' and a rock Ch'i-
mu*"". Li Yüan now lists some other sources (24a/2-3) , which all state that Yü hailed from Kuang-jou''" in Mt.Min county"". It is said that Yü
was bom in Shu and married in Shu. During the time when he regulated
the Chiang, he had been forced to keep moving aU time long, and pass¬
ing (his) home (three times) he could not care (for his new bom son)"'.
Li Yüan thinks this to be a reliable information. The great grand-father
of Yü, Ch'ang-i, married a girl of the Shu-shan family, and so the girl
was married in Shu. Furthermore, there also was a familyT'u-shan"^. Li
Yüan continues the argument saying that it all started with Jen-huang'"'
becoming "Lord of Shu", who was in charge of the governmental seat at
Mt.T'u"' (T'u-shan chih kuo)''". "That's also a prooP, says Li Yüan.
Basing himself on the sources, which he had just introduced Li Yüan
takes it for established that it was Mt.T'u of Chiang-chou to which the
phrase "Yü takes a wife at Mt.T'u" refers, and this of course is the very
, mountain in Shu, Ch'ung-ch'ing prefecture, on which Li Yüan in fact has
to speak"". He says that only Ying Shao*"" in his commentary on the
Han-shv}^ speaks of Tang-t'u in Chiu-chiang county (Kiangsi). Li Yüan
also states clearly that the formulation "Yü had married in the seat of
the marquis of T'u-shan" is an extended or a forced interpretation,
which simply adds something to "Mt.T'u""^
'* See Shui-ching chu 33.1053.
These are local traditions. The names could mean "The Guarding Lord"
and "Mother Opeiung". Ch'i also is the name of the son of Yü. Especially see Lu- shih yü-lun 9.4a (Ch'i-mu shih "The Rock Ch'i's-Mother"). This text features a variety of traditions which say that Ch'i's mother became a rock, after she had given birth to Ch'i.
A source, which here appears to be important is Ti-wang shih-chi 14,15,54, in: Ts'ung-shu chi-ch' eng ch'u-pien. Shanghai 1936.
"' See J. Legge: The Shoo King, pp. 84-85. Compare Shu-shui k'ao 3.21b.
"^ Compare Shu-shui k'ao 3.21b-22a.
*^ As to Jen-huang, see Lu-shih ch'ien-chi 1.2a, 2b-3b, esp. op.cit. 4.2b pp., ed. Ssu-pu pei-yao. This source quotes quite a number of texts dealing with these topics, also referring to Ch'ang-i, who married a "girl of the Shu-shan famUy" (or of the Shu-shan principality). Concenung the Lu-shih by Lo Pi (2nd half of 12th
ct.), see Chun-shu Chang's article in: Y. Hervouet [ed.]: A Sung Bibliogra¬
phy. Hongkong 1978, pp. 87-88.
"" As to Chiang-chou, see note 35.
"^ This means that the Great Yü had married a girl "T'u-shan", and no exten¬
sion of this information is permissible, see Shu-shui ching 3.2 lb-22a, which lists
The Lu-shih}^ says that Tang-t'u originally was in the Hu(-kuang)
area"*. This source says that in the 2nd year T'ai-k'ang of the Chin
dynasty Emperor Ch'eng established (South of the Chiang) Tang-t'u
district, where the refugees from the areas North of the Chiang could
live. This is the Tang-t'u of today, says Li Yüan, quite different from the
Tang-t'u of the Han dynasty"'.
As to the phrase "Mt.T'u in K'uai-chi", it is the Wu-yüeh ch'un-ch'iu"'' which says "Mt.T'u is in K'uai-chi""*. The Feng-su t'ung"*' says that
"Mt.T'u is located in the North of Yung-hsing", and this is the northern part of Hsiao-shan district"'.
However, the Annals say that in the 5th year Yü met the marquises on
Mt.T'u and in the 8th year he met them in K'uai-chi^". Li Yüan con¬
cludes that YüL's tour of inspection brought him to the West where he
reached Mt.T'u, and in the South he reached K'uai-chi. Obviously, this
cannot have been just one and the same activity. He continues consider¬
ing that the Tso-chumf" only speaks about Mt.T'u^'. The books Ktio-
yü"^" and Shih-chi"" only speak about K'uai-chi". Each of them simply
would speak about one of these two activities, says Li Yüan. He also re¬
ibe contradictory statements about the identity of Mt.T'u, which Ying Shao (fl.
178 A.D.) had made. Also see T'ai-p'ing huan-yü chi 128.7b. There seems to be a set of quotations/sources which turns up again and again, and this at least since the time of the Sung dynasty. The statement, which Li Yüan criticized had been
made by Ying Shao, see Han-shu 28 shang, 8 shang, 0422d (on Tang-t'u, Chiu-
chiang chün).
See Shu-shui ching 5.24:h. The quotation from the Lu-shih has not been iden¬
tified.
The date given is wrong. It should be hsien-ho 4 (329). See Tang-t'u hsien- chih 2.38 (chien-chih yen-ko), Chang Hai et al. comp. (1750); repr. Taipei 1980.
Tang-t'u is located in T'ai-p'ing fu (South of the Chiang, in Anhui).
See Wu-yüeh ch'un-ch'iu. Shanghai: Ts'ung-shu chi-ch' eng ch'u-pien 1937,
4.6.123. The traditions concerning the birth of Yü also have been reported in
this work, see p. 124.
The quotation could not be found in Feng-su t'ung-i chiao-chu. Ch'eng-tu:
Pa-shu Comp. 1981.
Seed. Legge: TheShooKing, The Annals of the Bamboo Books fp. 117-118.
Compare Shu-shui ching 3.21b. Also see T'ai-p'ing huan-yü chi 128.5a.
See T'ai-p'ing huan-yü chi 128.7b.
See Tung Ts'eng-ling: Kuo-yü cheng-i. Ch'eng-tu: Pa-shu Comp. 1985, 4.6b
(line 8, commentary, Lu-yü shang).
" See Shih-chi. Taipei: P'ing-p'ing Comp. 1975, 2.2.89; conceming the burial site of Yü in K'uai-chi. Op.cit. 2.2. (Hsia pen-chi) contains Ssu-ma Ch'ien's offi¬
cial account on the Great Yü.
136 Florian C. Reiter
fers to Ying Shao who comments on the Han-shu saying that it was "in
Chiu-chiang", and in his Feng-su t'ung he says "in Hsiao-shan (dis¬
trict)". This woidd prove, he says, that Ying Shao "had no certainty (as to the matter of fact)" (5.24b).
If it were "Mt.T'u in Hao-chou", it is Tu Yii, who says in his commen¬
tary on the Tso-dman that the mountain is located in the North East of
Shou-ch'un district. And this is, says Li Yüan, the present day Hao-
chou'".
Li Yüan continues to introduce some other sources which point to
Hao-chou as location of Mt.T'u (24b-25a). On p. 25a/ 1 Li Yüan starts
to tackle the problem by his own means. He calculates the data: The
Lu-shih says that according to his age "Yü served Shun when he was 20
. . . Aged 30 he married (at) Mt.T'u", and exactly then he was regulat¬
ing the waters below Hsü and Yang . . . For this reason his wedding
took place in Shou-ch'un" (district).
Li Yüan disagrees with this formidation. He holds against it that Hao-
chou or Shou-ch'un is not in the way of the rushing torrents of the rivers
Chiang and Ho. And so there would be no point in regulating the waters
and marrying in that area. Li Yüan points out that Yü had been bom in
a keng-tzu year, which he says to be the 57th year of Yao*^*^. Then it last¬
ed untU the 73rd year (ping-ch'en) of Yao that Shun"^^ assisted in the
government. In the 75th year (hsii-um) Yao ordered Yü to regulate the
waters and to pacify the land. That time Yü was eighteen years old, and
then it took him eight years until the waterways and the land were in
good order. Now, this should be the 83rd year of Yao. At that time Yü
was twentystx years old, according to Li Yüan's calculation. His son
Qji'i'^h bom in the 21st year (ping-tzu) of the assistance of Shun, and
this should be the 93rd year of Yao. Yü already was thirtyseven years
old. He had been away from home for eight years, passed his house
thrice and could not go inside'*. Li Yüan wonders, how the Great Yü
could have spared the time to get married and to have a son bom. The
Documents say, "When I married in T'u-shan 1 remained with my wife
only the days hsin, jen, kuei and chia. When my son Ch'i was wailing and
^* Hao-chou is located in Anhui. See Shu-shui ching 5.24b.
See Shu-shui ching 5.25a. And also see Lu-shih hou-chi 12.6a.
Li Yüan does not give the source of these figures, see Shu-shui ching 5.25a.
Conceming this sentence, seed. Legge: TTie Shoo King, The Books ofYü, pp. 84-
85; and J. Legge: The Works of Menzius. Hongkong 1982, 251. See the discus¬
sions in Lu-shih hou-chi 12.6b.
I
weeping, 1 did not regard him, but kept planning with all my might my labour on the land . . ." (5.25b)".
Li Yüan understands that the quotation of the Docmnents refers to
the activities dealing with the arrangement of the arable land, after the
regulation of the waterways had been completed. The quotation of the
Documents does not give any specific date. On the other hand, the data
given by Li Yüan contradict clearly the indications in Lu-shih. Li Yüan
bases his conclusion that the Mt.T'u in consideration is in fact the
mountain in Shu, on the two tom-s of inspection, which Yü is believed to
have undertaken. Furthermore, the tradition linking Jen-huang with
Shu and the fief at Mt.T'u serves as a proof to pin the name "Mt.T'u"
down on the mountain about which Li Yüan actually speaks in his Shu-
shui ching.
Li Yüan's quotations document the tenacity and great diffusion of
contradictory traditions and interpretations which have their basis in
the suggestive text of the Documents'^ We understand that such tradi¬
tions describe a mountain. The author is not so much interested in
explaining geographic features, but in analysing layers of literary tradi¬
tions, which literally cover up the true identity of a specific mountain.
Even the clearly drawn maps e. g. in T'u-shu pten" hardly give more
than a dim impression of what this or that mountain looks like". It is
much more important for the Chinese author to know where this or that
mountain is located and what one coidd know about its history and
inhabitants. Li Yüan mainly attempts to identify names, which derive
from his own Shu-shui ching, and in this sense his expositions concem¬
ing Mt.T'u are a noteworthy exception. He started out from a sentence
of a classical source (Shu-shui ching 5.23b/5-6). We see that a net of
interpretations had been woven during the centuries, and this net cov¬
ers quite different places with the flair of antiquity. Historico-geogra¬
phical sources teem with this type of information, which says so much
about the Chinese way of perceiving the historical and geographical sur¬
roundings.
Another example of contradictory identifications refers to the "place
of birth of Yü" (15.7b-9a). One mile to the South of the waUs of Shih-
See J. Legge: TTie Books of Yii, as above note 56.
The source is the Shu, see J. Legge: The Shoo King, The Books of Yü,
pp. 84-85.
^' See T'u-shupien5%.%& (vol. 12), ed. Ssu-k'u ch'iian-shu chen-pen, series 5:
244-267. Op.cit. 60. 15b-17b (vol. 13) contains quite comparable discussions on the identity of Mt.T'u.
ch'üan''^ district (Rocky Spring of Water) there is Mt.Shih-niu (Rock Knot), also called Shih-ku'"' (Rock Drum)*". In the morning and in the
evening it is glimmering and shining in the five colours of the radiant
breaths*' . There are two rocks on top of it, entwined with each other like
a knot. Under the light of the winter moon or during the time of the day¬
break, and if there is snow and frost, dim white rays would emanate
from the rocks, shooting straight upwards into the clouds.
Mt.Chiu-lung (Nine Dragons) is located North of the walls, 20 li afar.
The mountain has nine ranges which rise and bend like dragons. Below
the fifth range there is the K'n-erh"^' Plain and a river full of haematites.
On top of the mountain the two characters Yü-hsüeh"" (Cave of Yü)
had been engraved in old seal script. This is, says Li Yüan, the place of
birth of Yü*l
Li Yüan introduces e.g. the Wu-yüeh ch'un-ch'iu, which says that
"Yü's home (chia) was in the area of the Westem Ch'iang tribe (Hsi-
ch'iang)*^" at a place called Shih-niu (Rock Knot). Shih-niu is located in the area of Hsi-ch'uan"^" (Westem Rivers) of Shu"*'. And the respective
commentary says that Shih-niu would be located in the district of Shih-
ch'üan in Mao province. A temple for Yü accordingly had been set up in
this place, as Li Yüan continues to quote. According to this tradition Yü
was bom on a 6th day of a 6th month*'*.
The Shui-ching chu says that Yü was bom in the district Kuang-jou in
Shih-niu county.
The Yüan-ho chih"" says that Yü was a man of Kuang-jou in the Mt.
Min (area). This source specifies that he was bom in Shih-niu county*'.
Compare Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih 15.18b (Chiang-jru hsien, Lung-an fu). This text is very much the same as Shu-shui ching loc.cit. Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih 10.40a lists a "Mt.Rock Drum" like Shu-shui ching 15.7b/9. However, these are two
different mountains. Also see Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih 189.2a-2b p/ü-sheng shu).
" See Shu-shui ching 15.8 a.
See Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih 15.20a (Lung-an fu). This text reports that the Great Yii was born at the 5th peak, and Li T'ai-po is said to have had engraved the words Yii-hsiieb "The Cave of Yii" on a rock, which stands on top of the
peak. We remember that Li Yüan also has to deal with two places, and each of
them is said to have been the "place of birth". Also see Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih 54.8b.
See Wu-yüeh ch'un-ch'iu 4.6.124.
''' See Wu-yüeh ch'un-ch'iu, as note 62.
This may well be derived from the commentary just quoted, see notes 62-
63. It says however "Shih-niu Village". The Shih-niu county had been intro¬
duced (see above) in Shui-ching chu, quoted in the next line of the commentary in Wu-yüeh ch'un-ch'iu.
The Lu-shih comments saying that Siiih-niu is located in the district of
Mt.Min, at the borderline to the Westem barbarians and near the foot of
Mt.Lung-chung'^'' (Dragon Mound)**.
The Ch'ing-ch'eng chi" says that "Yii was bom at Shih-niu and began
(his activities) atMt.Lung-chung"*'. The river Lung-chung has its origin
in Mt.Min. A temple dedicated to Yii guards the mountain. A flat area of
80 mou surrounds the temple, and on each 16th day of a month the pool
leaks water by itself until the drinking water for onethousand persons
has been provided*^.
According to the Wu-yüeh ch'un-ch'iu a lady of the Hsin*^' family
named Nii-hsi'^', received on Mt.Min a water-lily seed and thus became
pregnant. She gave birth to Wen-ming'^", the (Great) Yii*'.
Jung's commentary on the Tun-chia k'ai-shan t'u" says that "the girl
T'i-mo'* came to the foot of Mt.Shih-niu and found in a fountain moon
essences which were shaped like a hen's egg. She liked it and swallowed
it. After fourteen months she gave birth to Yii.'"
Li Yüan still introduces other sources [Shu pen-chi"^, Hua-yang
kuo-chih et al.) which speak about the birth of Yü in Shih-niu (VUlage),
located in the K'u-erh"'(?) Plain". He finally concludes that "it can be believed that the Cave of Yü is located in Shih-ch'üan (district) " (15.9a/
1). "Today", he says, "there is also a Cave of Yü in K'uai-chi, but this is the burial cave"'^.
The K'vx)-ti chih" says that Mt.Shih-niu is located 73 li West of the
district Min-ch'uan".
The Huxm-yü chi says that it is located 40 li North of the district Min-
ch'uan'".
" See Lu-shih hmi-chi 12. lb/12-13.
See Lu-shih hxm-chi 12. lb/13.
This seems to be an observation by the author himself A simUar report
about such a marvellous weU refers to the "Cave of Liu Yu", see Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih 17.45a-45b. We introduce this quotation in order to show that such features are not uiuque at all.
See Wu-yüeh ch'un-ch'iu 4.6.123-124. Also see Lu-shih hou-chi 12.2a.
See Lu-shih hou-chi 12.2a/4.
" All the quotations here (e. g. Shu pen-chi) most likely had been taken from Lu-shih, see Lu-shih hou-chi 12.2a.
Compare Ti-wang shih-chi 15, in: Ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng ch'u-pien. Shanghai
1936. See Shu-shui ching 15.9a. See note 53.
See K'uo-ti chih yün-hsiao. Peking: Chung-hua Comp., 4.207 (Mao-chou).
1980.
See T'ai^'ing huan-yü chi 78.4b-5a (Mao-chou) , ed. Taipei 1963 (Wen-hai Comp.).
Li Yüan objects that all of this is not in ticcord with the actual situa¬
tion. He also says that a "Kou-lou"''" stele stands onMt.Shih-niu, and the
script had been done in a strange and antique style. It is (said to be)
written by Yü of the Hsia dynasty. But Li Yüan observes "that Mt.Kou-
lou is part of Mt.Heng, and therefore this (stele) is a copy".
Finally Li Yüan commits himself only to acknowledging that a Cave
of Yü can be found in Shih-ch'üan district, and no further remark is
being made about the birth of the Great Yü. This again is a good
example for the diffusion of names and themes stemming from anti¬
quity. The same time we see the very cautious methods of reasoning,
which Li Yüan applies.
We notice that in terms of statistics the major part of the information
in Shu-shui ching deals with changes of administrative borderlines,
names of administrative units and so on. In due course of these explana¬
tions many mountains are being mentioned without receiving any fur¬
ther attention. Only a few of them are associated with myths and
legends of a more popular kind. Li Yüan reports about them in a rather
superficial way.
Li Yüan e.g. identifies Mt.Chung O"" (8.13b) with Mt.Sui'^'". The
Lieh-hsien chuan'^'^ says that Ko Yu"*' was a man of the Ch'iang tribe.
During the reign of king Ch'eng of the Chou dynasty he used to carve
wooden figures of sheeps which he sold. One day he came riding such a
wooden sheep to Westem Shu. The princes, marquises and noble people
all chased after him and followed him right up Mt.Sui. Those who had
followed him never retumed. They all attained the Tao of the immortals.
In the hamlet nearby goes the saying "Get one peach of Mt.Sui, though
you shall not become an immortal, it is enough to make you a brave
man"'*. There is a river flowing out of the mountain. When the Ch'in
had eliminated Shu, they moved 10000 families of Ch'in people to this
area". These people thought of their old homeland's river Ching*"^, and
See Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih 17.23b-24a (Chia-ting fu). Compare Shu-shui
k'ao 3.1a.
See M. Kaltenmark: Le Lie-sien tchouan. Peking 1953, pp. 95-96.
" Concerning the history of relations between Ch'in and Shu, a summary is
given in Ssu-ch'uan t'ung-chih 189.3a-5b. Also see D. Twitchett and
M. Loewe [ed.]: The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 1: The Ch'in and Han
Empires. Cambridge 1986, 40. In 316 B.C. Ch'in seizes the territory of Shu from Ch'u, quickly followed by that of Pa. Ch'in obviously could exploit the state of war between Pa and Shu, see Tzu-chih t'ung-chien. 3. Chou-chi 3. Taipei: P'ing-
p'ing Comp., 1975, 84-86. Also compare Shih-chi. Taipei: P'ing-p'ing comp.
called this river here accordingly Ching-shni. Li Yüan reports that in
747 the name was changed to be river Ch'in''*".
Mt-Pi*"" (Wall) is distinguished by its Yellow Gaze Precipice (Huang-
lo yen, 15.22a)''', which is more than 10 cÄan^ tall and very steep. The
big rock on top of the precipice is more than 2 chang broad and absolute¬
ly even. Its colom- is yellow ... Li Yüan also reports that in 1126 a big
figure of the Buddha had been engraved on it. Dimng the Sung a stele
had been set up on the peak of the mountain, and Wei Liao-weng"^ wrote
a few lines on the beauty of the place, where water drips from a clear
pool and the "eyebrows and beard" — the Buddhist figure — can be seen
from a balustrade". There are stone steps leading upwards, which pro¬
duce a sound or echo "like a lute", if someone treads on them. Li Yüan
also reports that a rock cave nearby is shaped like a hall. This may sug¬
gest to the reader that the place once had been inhabited, possibly by
immortals of past ages . . .
The description of mountains in the Shu-shui ching generally is in line
with similar descriptions in historico-geographic sources of earlier
epochs. In this sense we draw the attention e.g. to Ch'en Shun-yü's'"'
Lu-shan chi'^' (11th ct.)*°. Although Li Yüan mainly was interested in
writing on administrative geography, there are substantial pieces of
information about local traditions, sayings and cultural monuments.
Posing to continue where Li Tao-yüan (Shui-ching chu) was less infor¬
mative, Li Yüan consciously continues a specific literary form. How¬
ever, as we have already mentioned, he does not copy a diction, which a
much older text could have provided. He also does not attempt to show
or prove that any specific source could offer correct explanations or
identifications, whereas some other sources would be misleading. In
this sense the classical source Yü-kung enjoys some relative weight
only. Li Yüan did not walk around with the text of the Yü-kung in his
mind, trying to identify or to verify the names and statements in this
text. A few centuries eariier e. g. Chu Hsi""" (1130-1200) and Ch'engTa-
1975, 70, 10, 2281-2284. All of this could constitute the historical background for the local tradition, which Li Yüan had picked up and reported in his Shu-shui ching.
See Chiu T'ang-shu 41.21. 3232d (K'ai-ming Comp.).
" Wei Liao-weng (1178-1237) was prefect in Chia-ting fu in 1199. He spent altogether seventeen years in Shu and was a very distinguished official, scholar and teacher (Ho-shan Academy) , see Sung-jen chuan-chi tzu-liao so-yin. Taipei:
Ting-wen Comp. 1980, pp. 4241-4244. See K. Shimasue/J. CmNG: WeiLixio-
weng. In H. Franke [ed.]: Sung Biographies. Wiesbaden 1976, pp. 1180-1183.
See note 15.
ch'ang''" (1123-1195) just did do that*'. Li Yüan's Shu-shui ching repre-
sents a quite different stage of the development of Chinese scholarly
attitudes. Li Yüan who had arranged for himself the Book of the Rivers
on which he comments, is not being restrained by reflections on any
specific "legacy". Finally we have to remind of the historiographic ac¬
tivities during the Ch'ing dynasty, which resulted in vast collections of
gazetteers of any scope. We especially remind of Ch'en Teng-lung's**"
Shu-shui k'ao''", which largely quotes the same sources as the Shu-shui
ching does. And even the same conclusions had occasionally been fea¬
tured. However, there is no evidence that Ch'en Teng-lung copied Li
Yüan's work. Obviously there was a number of sources, which were
commonly known and used. A comparison with the quotations in Ssu-
ch'uan t'ung-chih coiüd suggest such a hypothesis, which would stUl
have to be properly corroborated. The description of mountains is an
important element, which gives much flavour to the Shu-shui ching.
These descriptions also show that sources of this kind have to be taken
into consideration for any research dealing with the history of religions
in traditional China. Besides this, the Shu-shui ching is a very valuable
document representing the vast field of historical geography.
ll) .^Ini-.s/nii I Ili 111/^:^%^
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ae) TuFu;j;i^' ,
af) K'uang-lu £^
ftf?) I-u, 3^
ah) Niu-bsin,*^ lO"
See F. C. Reiter: Über den Namen Jfeun Flüsse" (Chiu-chiang) und seine Behandlung in der historischen Geographie am Beispiel von Erörterungen Ch'eng
Ta-ch'ang's (1123-1195). In: Oriens Extremus 29 (1982), 161-171.
ai) Tien-U,-ngf^A'f aj) Hsiao K'uang-shan/Jvg
ai<) T'ai-po tu-shu t'ai Ä 13 of
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by) Han-shu
bz) ca) eb) cc) cd) ee) el) eg) ch) ci) '•j) ek) el) cm) cn) co) cp) cq) cr) cs) ct) cu) cv) cw) cx) cy) cz) da) db) dc) dd) de) df) dg) dh) di) dj) dk) dl)
Lu-shih ^^}^
Wu-yiich ch'un-ch 'iu^^^ -0!^
Feny-sii I'ungJ^^^^
Tso-chuanJ^,^^
Kuu-yii Ig gl- Shih-rhi ^
Yao Ä
ShunÄ Ch'i ^jc
T'u-shu pim^' Shih-ch'iiaii:
Shib-kuSfs
K'u-erh ^
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Hsi-ch'iang,5,^
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Lung-chung|| ^
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Wen-ming^ Bf]
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r\-mo2^Xl^
Shu pen-chi ^ 1^ |^
K'u-erh, see above cl)
K'uo-ti chih H tfl^:
± i<S
^mt
Kou-lou lU'g jJ^
Lieh-hsien chuan^\^>^^'^
KoYu^ i
Ching Ch;in:|
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dm) Chu Hsi
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dp) Shu-shui k'ao^ ^
Calveet Watkins [Hrsg.]: Studies in memory of Warren Cowgill (1929-1985).
Papers from the 4th East Coast Indo-European Conference Cornell University, June 6-9, 1985. Berlin-New York: de Gruyter 1987. X, 327 S. (Untersuehun-
gen zur Indogermanischen Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft. NF 3.)
Aus den 14 Beiträgen finden nur die Berücksichtigung, die sich mit Themen
(vorder)asiatischer idg. Sprachen befassen. G. Cardona: OnIndo-Iranian *tva-
'the one', S. 1-6. Ved. tvä- 'dereine' wird „regularly used in speaking of some one in opposition to another" (S. 4) und „should accordingly be analyzed into a pro¬
nominal *t- and an oppositional suffix" (S. 5), idg. *ue. — M. Hale: Notes on Walc- kemagel's law in the language of the Rigveda, S. 38—50. Versuch, die Stellungsre¬
gel für Eidditika zu präzisieren. — S. Insler: The Vedic causative typejäpdyati, S.
54-65. Die älteren Causativa des Typs jäpdyati zu fji. prs. jdyati/te sollen nach dem Muster / dhä, prs. dhdyati, caus. dhäpdyati gebildet sein. Die jüngeren Bil¬
dungen dieses Typs haben rucht-caus. Präsentien auf -iyate neben sich und
könnten nach dem Muster liyate (AV-I-, neben Idyate RV+) : läpdyate entstanden sein. Naeh-rigved. Neubildungen „in order to avoid the sequence -äyäyati which tended to contract or syncopate" (S. 64/5). — Stephanie Jamison: Linguistic and philological remarks on some Vedic body parts, S. 66-91. asndm'mtin MSlll, 9, 6) gen. pl. von asthi „Knochen", später fehlinterpretiert als gen. pl. von asrk
„Blut" und daher der Normalisierung zu asthnäm entgangen. Konsequent wurde der nachfolgende Gen. '^sariränärn „der Körper" zu sirinärn verballhornt und mit s/sirä „Ader" in Verbindung gebracht. — „The semantic history of kuk^i- in the
Samhitä and Brähmana period is as follow. The earliest meaning of kuk^i- was
'cheek', and this meaning persists at least untU the SB. But in the late RV and the post-RV texts it is independently transferred both to the buttocks and to the
belly of a pregnant woman, because of the resemblance of these body parts to
swollen, rounded cheeks" (S. 80). — dhäman- kann auch „Fuß(sohle)" bedeuten und kaJc^a neben „Achselhöhle" gelegentlich auch „Zwickel, Schritt" („the semantic channel is obvious", S. 86), wodurch evident4F6, 127, 2 geklärt wird.
J. scheint nicht abgeneigt, auch kak^a- „Gebüsch" etymologisch anzuschließen (S. 85 o.). Warum nicht? Die Semantik steht nicht entgegen. — J. Jasanoff:
Some irregular imperatives in Tocharian, S. 92-112. J. sieht in den Imperativfor¬
men des Verbums B klyaus-, A klyos- „hören" die Fortsetzer eines alten -si- Imperativs. Der 2. sg. Imper. B pa? A pi§ liege ein gemeintoch. *yä^ zugrunde,
das seinerseits auf idg. *i-dhi zurückgehe. — Sara Kimball: Initial *A/S- in
Hittite, 160-181. K. argumentiert für die von H. Pedersen vorgeschlagene ety¬
mologische Zusammenstellung von heth. sie/ya- mit skt. asyati „wirft". — H. C.
Melchert: Proto-Indo-European velars inLuvian, 182-204. Das Luwische zeigt
eine merkwürdige Dreifachvertretung der idg. Velare: idg. '^k"' > luw. ku, '*k> k und > 2. Es gibt keine klaren Indizien dafür, daß > z ein konditionierter
Lautwandel ist. In diesem Falle wäre das Luw. eine Centum-Sprache. Andem-
faUs stünde es isoliert außerhalb der Klassifizierung centum vs. satem. — Anna
Zeitochrift der Deutschen Morgeniändischen Gesellschaft Band 140, Heft 1 (1990)
© Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft e.V.
