HOME





Water Classic
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, describing the traditional understanding of its waterways and ancient canals, compiled by Li Daoyuan during the Northern Wei dynasty (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 scholar and geographer Sang Qin (桑钦) during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD). Qing dynasty 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. Li Daoyuan ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Wei River
The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization. In ancient times, such as in the Records of the Grand Historian, the river was called Wei Shui (). The total length of the Wei River is , covering a drainage area of . Some of the major tributaries include the Luo River, Jing River, Niutou RiverFeng Riverand the Chishui River. In a direct line, it travels due east for before draining into the Yellow River at Tongguan County near the tri-provincial boundary between Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan provinces, with a series of major cities along its course including Tianshui, Baoji, Xianyang, Xi'an and Weinan. Course The source of the Wei River starts in the mountainous region in southern Weiyuan County (literally meaning "Wei's source"), Gansu province, with the westernmost headwater of its mainstem Qingyuan River (清源 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Jin Dynasty (265-420)
Jin may refer to: States Jìn 晉 * Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), major state of the Zhou dynasty, existing from the 11th century BC to 376 BC * Jin dynasty (266–420) (晉朝), also known as Liang Jin and Sima Jin * Jin (Later Tang precursor) (晉國; 907–923), Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period * Later Jin (Five Dynasties) (後晉; 936–947), Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period Jīn 金 * Jin dynasty (1115–1234) (金朝), also known as the Jurchen Jin * Later Jin (1616–1636) (後金; 1616–1636), precursor of the Qing dynasty Others * Jin (Korean state) (辰國), precursor of the Jinhan Confederation * Balhae (698–713), originally known as Jin (震) Places * Jin Prefecture (Shanxi) (晉州), a former Chinese prefecture centered on present-day Linfen, Shanxi * Jin Prefecture (Shaanxi) (金州), a former Chinese efecture centered on present-day Ankang, Shaanxi * Jin Prefecture (Hunan) (锦州), a former Chinese prefecture centered on Luyang in presen ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Chinese Geography Texts
Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of various ethnicities in contemporary China ** Ethnic minorities in China, people of non-Han Chinese ethnicities in modern China ** Ethnic groups in Chinese history, people of various ethnicities in historical China ** Nationals of the People's Republic of China ** Nationals of the Republic of China ** Overseas Chinese, Chinese people residing outside the territories of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan * Sinitic languages, the major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family ** Chinese language, a group of related languages spoken predominantly in China, sharing a written script (Chinese characters in traditional and simplified forms) *** Standard Chines ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

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, 1999, and 2009. A standard bibliography of Chinese reference works calls the ''Cihai'' an "outstanding dictionary". Contents The ''Cihai'' is a semi-encyclopedic dictionary and enters Chinese words from many fields of knowledge, such as history, science, mathematics, philosophy, medicine, and law. Chinese lexicography dichotomizes two kinds of dictionaries: the traditional (, lit. "character/logograph dictionary") for written Chinese characters and the modern ' ( "word/phrase dictionary") for spoken expressions. For example, the '' Hanyu Da Zidian'' for characters and ''Hanyu Da Cidian'' for words. The ''Cihai'', as the title indicates, is a '. The American sinologist George A. Kennedy, who wrote a student's guide to using the ''Cihai ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


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 '' Shui jing zhu''. Biography Xiong Huizhen was born in Zhijiang County, Hubei during the Qing dynasty, and studied under the prominent historical geographer and bibliophile Yang Shoujing, who was also a native of Hubei. Yang spent most of his life annotating the 6th-century geographic work '' Shui jing zhu''. Having completed 40 volumes of annotation, he died in 1915 without completing the work. Xiong carried on the project and wrote another 40 volumes. He also made the final editing of the entire work, painstakingly proofreading the annotations word by word. It took Xiong 22 years to complete the work, known as the ''Shui jing zhu shu''. He refused offers made by Japanese scholars to purchase the book. However, when he learned that the d ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




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"), the most complete and scholarly historical atlas of China produced during the Qing dynasty. He devoted most of his life to the annotation of the 6th-century geographic work ''Shui jing zhu'', which was completed by his disciple Xiong Huizhen and published as the ''Shui jing zhu shu''. As a Qing diplomat posted in Japan, Yang purchased tens of thousands of ancient Chinese books from Japanese libraries and archives, many of which had become rare or lost in China. After his death, the government of the Republic of China purchased his collection and preserved most of the books in the National Palace Museum. Yang was an accomplished calligrapher of the Stele School and became highly influential in Japan. The introduction of his art was said to h ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Jinsha River
The Jinsha River (, Classical Tibetan, Tibetan: Dri Chu, འབྲི་ཆུ, ) or Lu river, is the Chinese name for the upper stretches of the Yangtze River. It flows through the provinces of the PRC, provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan in western China. The river passes through Tiger Leaping Gorge. It is sometimes grouped together with the Lancang River, Lancang (upper Mekong) and Nujiang River, Nu (upper Salween) as the ''Sanjiang'' ("Three Rivers") area, part of which makes up the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas. The river is important in generating hydroelectric power, and several of the world's List of largest hydroelectric power stations, largest hydroelectric power stations are on the Jinsha river. Name The river was first recorded as the Hei (, ''Hēishuǐ'', lit. "Blackwater") in the Warring States period, Warring States' "Tribute of Yu". It was described as the Sheng (traditional characters, t , simplified characters, s , '' ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Xu Xiake
Xu Xiake (, January 5, 1587 – March 8, 1641), born Xu Hongzu (), courtesy name Zhenzhi (), was a Chinese explorer, geographer, and travel writer of the Ming dynasty, known best for his famous geographical treatise, and noted for his bravery and humility. He traveled throughout China for more than 30 years, documenting his travels extensively. The records of his travels were compiled posthumously in ''Xu Xiake's Travels, The Travel Diaries of Xu Xiake'', and his work translated by Ding Wenjiang.Needham, Volume 3, 524. Xu's writing falls under the old Chinese literary category of 'travel record literature' ('youji wenxue'“遊記文學”), which used narrative and prose styles of writing to portray one's travel experiences.Hargett, 67–69. The People's Liberation Army Navy barracks ship ''Chinese barracks ship Xu Xiake, Xu Xiake'' was named after him. Life With ancestors from Jiangxi province, Xu Xiake was born in what is today Jiangyin (in Jiangsu province) as Xu Hongz ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, the majority ethnic group in China. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the short-lived Shun dynasty), numerous rump state, rump regimes ruled by remnants of the House of Zhu, Ming imperial family, collectively called the Southern Ming, survived until 1662. The Ming dynasty's founder, the Hongwu Emperor (1368–1398), attempted to create a society of self-sufficient rural communities ordered in a rigid, immobile system that would guarantee and support a permanent class of soldiers for his dynasty: the empire's standing army exceeded one million troops and the naval history of China, navy's dockyards in Nanjing were the largest in the world. H ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Yangtze
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, in a generally easterly direction to the East China Sea. It is the fifth-largest primary river by discharge volume in the world. Its drainage basin comprises one-fifth of the land area of China, and is home to nearly one-third of the country's population. The Yangtze has played a major role in the history, culture, and economy of China. For thousands of years, the river has been used for water, irrigation, sanitation, transportation, industry, boundary-marking, and war. The Yangtze Delta generates as much as 20% of China's GDP, and the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world. In mid-2014, the Chinese government announced it was building a multi-tier transport network, comprising railway ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Min River (Sichuan)
The Min River () is a in central Sichuan province, China. It is a tributary of the upper Yangtze River, which flows through Chengdu and joins at Yibin. Within China, it was traditionally taken as the main course of the upper Yangtze before extensive exploration of its sources. Geography The Min River flows in the general southern direction. It starts in north-central Sichuan, where its basin is limited by the Qionglai Mountains in the west and the Min Mountains in the east. The river passes through the Longmen Mountains and enters the plains of the Sichuan Basin near Dujiangyan. In that area, the ancient Irrigation System and the modern Zipingpu dam are located. The Giant Buddha of Leshan is built into the stone banks of the Min River. Names Some 19th-century Western authors used the name Blue River as the "colloquial name" for the Minjiang, after the former local Chinese name ''Qingshui'' (, lit. "Clear water"), and the belief that the Min constituted the main c ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Tribute Of Yu
The ''Yu Gong'' or ''Tribute of Yu'' is a chapter of the ''Book of Xia'' ( Chinese: ''Xià Shū'') 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 provinces of his time. Most modern scholars believe it was written in the fifth century BCE or later. Contents and significance The chapter can be divided into two parts. The first describes the nine provinces of Ji (), Yan (), Qing (), Xu (), Yang (), Jing (), Yu (), Liang (), and Yong (), with the improvement works conducted by Yu in each province. The second enumerates Yu's surveys of the rivers of the empire, followed by an idealized description of five concentric domains of five hundred li each, from the royal domain ( ''Diānfú'') around the capital to the remote wild domain ( ''Huāngfú''). Later, this would become important in the justification for the concept of ''Tianxia'' or "All Under Heaven" as a means to b ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]