Shui Jing Zhu Volume 33
Author: Li Daoyuan
Shui Jing Zhu Volume 33 River Water
Minshan is Dushan, and the water is called Dushui; it is also called Wenfu Mountain, which is far outside the Great Wall, and the river originates there. "Yizhou Ji" says: According to current knowledge, the source of the river flows from the foot of Yangpao Ridge. The water spreads along the cliff, with hundreds of trickles, so shallow that even a wine glass cannot float. The water flows southeast for more than a hundred miles, reaches Baima Ridge, and passes through Tianpeng Que, also called Tianpeng Valley. King Zhao of Qin sent Li Bing as the prefect of Shu County. Li Bing saw that there was Tianpeng Mountain in Didao County. The two mountains faced each other and were shaped like a gate. They were called Tianpeng Gate and Tianpeng Que. From here, the upper flow of the river is very weak. It is said that when it originates, it can only float a wine glass. This is what it means. During the Yan period of the Han Dynasty (12-9 BC), Minshan Mountain collapsed and blocked the river, so that it stopped flowing for three days. Yang Xiong wrote a poem in "Anti-Li Sao": He was thrown into the river from Minshan Mountain to pay homage to Qu Yuan, and it was named "Anti-Li Sao". The river flows from Tianpengque in the east, through Wenguan, and then through the north of Didao County. In the sixth year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (111 BC), Wenshan County was set up in the northern part of Shu County to administer the county. Didao County was originally established by Qin Shihuang, but was later changed to a promotion county. "Yizhou Ji" says: The river flows from Baima Ridge for more than 20 miles to Longgan; another 80 miles to Canling County; another 60 miles south to Shijing; and another 60 miles to Shijing. In the north, the river is only a little over a hundred steps wide. The river flows west for more than 120 miles, and when it reaches the old Wenshan County, it is only more than 200 paces wide; then it flows southwest for another 180 miles, and when it reaches Shiban, the river is a little bigger.
Li Bing built a large weir here to intercept the confluence. There are water outlets on the left and right sides of the weir and dam, called Jianwei. The big river flows into Pijiang River and Jianjiang River for navigation. "Yizhou Ji" says: The river flows to Du'an, so a weir was built on the right to block the water, and a dike was built on the left to control the flow. The main stream of the river was then moved to the east, and its position was on the right side of the Pi River. Taking advantage of the mountain slides, bamboo trees can be transported into the river without much effort, and the water can also be used to irrigate the counties. Li Bing also dug through the Yangmo River to irrigate the fields in Jiangxi. In Baishayou under the Jade Girl's house, three stone figures were made and stood in the water. On the stone figures, they engraved the agreement with the water god: no feet should be exposed when the water is low, and no shoulders should be exposed when the water is high. Therefore, Shu people can use it for irrigation when there is drought, and the water flow will not be blocked when it rains. Therefore, "Yizhou Ji" says: Floods and droughts are all arranged by people, famines are eliminated, fertile fields are thousands of miles away, so the world calls it land and sea, and also calls it Tianfu. The postal pavilion is located on the weir. The people call this weir the Du'an Weir, also called the Jian Weir, and also called the Golden Causeway. Zuo Si's "Ode to the Capital of Shu" says: Crossing the Golden Embankment to the west refers to this embankment. During Zhuge Liang's northern expedition, he regarded this weir as the lifeblood of agriculture and the country relied on it for supplies. He recruited 1,200 soldiers to protect the weir and appointed weir officers.
The river flows eastward and passes through Quwutan, which is Xiaqutan, also called Bowangtan; Tangxi water flows into it on the left bank. The water source of Tangxi flows out of Shangyong boundary, more than 600 miles north of the county, and flows southward through the county. There are more than 100 salt wells on both sides of the bank. Ba and Sichuan rely on these salt wells for self-sufficiency. The salt grains are one inch square in size, with a bulge in the center, shaped like an open umbrella, so it is called umbrella salt. Although some are not umbrella-shaped, they must be square, which is different from ordinary salt. Wang Yin's "Jin Shu·Di Dao Ji" said: Forty-three miles from the mouth of the soup, there are stones that can be boiled to produce salt. The stones are as big as a liter and as small as a fist. Boil until the water is gone and the salt will form. It’s done. This is probably similar to the natural gas wells in Shu. Water and fire cooperate with each other to cook good salt.
The river continues to flow eastward, passing through Guangxi Gorge, which is the upper end of the Three Gorges. The gorge is thirty miles long, with dangerous rocks and sloping trees in it. It seems that the two sides are almost connecting with each other. There is a divine abyss on the mountain on the north bank, and in the north of the abyss there is a white salt cliff, more than a thousand feet high, overlooking the divine abyss. The locals saw that it was tall and white, so they gave it this name. When there is a drought, they burn trees on the shore and push the ashes into the deep pool, making the water dirty and it will rain immediately. Chang Quan said: The god of mountains and rivers in the county beats drums to pray for rain when there is a drought, and it will definitely come true, and there will be sweet rain. This is what "Ode to the Capital of Shu" says: As soon as the drum is beaten, it will rain. There are two dangerous shoals in the gorge, Qutang and Huangqian. In summer, floods stir up whirlpools, making people on both sides of the beach cautious. There is a temple on Qutang Beach, which is particularly efficacious. Officials of the provincial governor, Erqian Shi, are not allowed to play trumpets or drums when they pass by here. When the merchants were on the water, they would wrap the lower end of the pole with cloth to avoid making any noise when hitting the rocks. Although it is no longer necessary to do this, worshiping the water god has not been interrupted. There are many apes in the gorge, but there are no apes on the north bank - this does not refer to just one place. Someone captured the apes and put them in the Beishan Mountains, but they could not hear their screams at all. Maybe they were like raccoon dogs after they passed Wen Water cannot survive.
The three volumes of Volumes 33, 34, and 35 are "River", because the Yangtze River is a famous river in the country. It has been explained in the previous chapter "River" that in ancient times, "river" "江" is the proper name of the Yellow River, and "江" is the proper name of the Yangtze River. Jiangshui is the formal name for the Yangtze River in ancient times, and the abbreviation is just "jiang". There are nearly twenty articles in "Shui Jing Zhu" that mention "jiang", which refers to the Yangtze River. In addition, just as the Yellow River is called a "big river", the Yangtze River is often called a "big river". There are also more than ten volumes in "Shui Jing Zhu" that mention the name "Dajiang". However, including the "Jing" text and the "Notes" text, the name "Yangtze River" does not appear in the entire "Shui Jing Zhu" book. However, searching from existing ancient books shows that the name "Yangtze River" had already appeared in the Three Kingdoms era. "Three Kingdoms, Book of Wu, Biography of Zhou Yu": "The only general who can refuse to control the general situation is the Yangtze River." And "Biography of Lu Su": "As far as the Yangtze River is concerned, it is within the reach of the Yangtze River.
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