{{Short description|Work on Chinese geography in ancient times}} {{italic title}} {{Chinese | pic = Weishui.png | piccap = A map of the Wei River from ''Shui Jing Zhu'' | t = 水經注 | s = 水经注 | p = Shuǐ Jīng Zhù | w = {{tonesup|Shui3 Ching1 Chu4}} | j = seoi2 ging1 zyu3 | mi = {{IPAc-cmn|sh|ui|3|.|j|ing|1|.|zh|u|4}} | ci = {{IPAc-yue|s|eoi|2|.|g|ing|1|.|z|yu|3}} | y = Séui Gīng Jyu | bpmf = ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄐㄧㄥ ㄓㄨˋ | shinjitai = 水経注 | kana = すいけいちゅう | kyujitai = 水經注 | hangul = 수경주 | hanja = 水經注 | hn = 水經注 | rr = Sugyeongju | romaji = Suikeichū | qn = Thủy kinh chú }} The '''''Commentary on the Water Classic''''' ({{zh|c=水经注}}), or '''''Commentaries on the Water Classic''''',<ref name="Yü2016">{{cite book|author=Ying-shih Yü|title=Chinese History and Culture: Sixth Century B.C.E. to Seventeenth Century, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mb-lDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA127|date=20 September 2016|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-54201-2|pages=127–}}</ref> commonly known as '''''Shui Jing Zhu''''', is a work on the Chinese geography in ancient times,<ref name="Lu">{{cite book|author=Ji Lu|title=Biography of Li Daoyuan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QySMDwAAQBAJ|publisher=DeepLogic|id=GGKEY:PS5B7KYN5KH}}</ref> 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).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.shine.cn/sunday/%E6%B0%B4%E7%BB%8F%E6%B3%A8-Commentary-on-the-Waterways-Classic-Geographers-ideas-flow-like-a-fresh-spring/shdaily.shtml|title=Commentary on the Waterways Classic – Geographer's ideas flow like a fresh spring|work=Shanghai Daily|date=September 2, 2012}}</ref> 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's 40-volume, 300,000-character version includes 1252 rivers.

Together with the commentaries ''Wen Xuan zhu'' (by Li Shan), Pei Songzhi's ''Sanguozhi zhu'', and Liu Xiaobiao's ''Shishuo Xinyu zhu'', Li Daoyuan's work is regarded as one of the “Four Great Classical Commentaries” of China.<ref>guoxue.com: [http://www.guoxue.com/?p=3913&u_atoken=6998dbc2-fb70-2d2d-e53f-af5eb82714d3&u_asig=7160819e17716254103738460e Si da ming zhu ... 四大名注——三国世说，水经文选]</ref>

Although very thorough for its time, it did repeat the earlier mistake of the "Tribute of Yu" in viewing the Min river of Sichuan as the headwaters of the Yangtze. It was not until the Ming dynasty that Xu Xiake correctly listed the Jinsha as the principal source.

==See also== *Yang Shoujing and Xiong Huizhen, authors of the 19th-century annotation ''Shui Jing Zhu Shu'' (水經註疏)

{{Clear}} {{Wide image|Yang Shoujing calligraphy of Shui Jing Zhu.jpg|1800px |dir=rtl |An excerpt from the ''Shui Jing Zhu'', in Yang Shoujing's calligraphy (1899)}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==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'', Shanghai cishu chubanshe, Shanghai 2002, {{ISBN|7-5326-0839-5}}

==External links== {{wikisourcelang|zh|水經注|Commentary on the Water Classic}} *"[http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Science/shuijingzhu.html Chinese Literature: ''Shuijingzhu'' 水經注 "Commentary to the River Classic" ]" at ''China Knowledge'' *"[http://www.schaab-hanke.de/publikationen/Schaab-Hanke_HSS_3_Unter_dem_Himmel.pdf Unter dem Himmel]" {{in lang|de}}

Category:Chinese geography texts Category:Chinese literature Category:Historical geography of China

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