It describes in detail the geographical conditions of the area where the river flows, including mountains, land, products, the location and evolution of cities, the rise and fall of villages, water conservancy projects, historical relics and other ancient and modern conditions, and has a clear geographical Concepts of direction and distance. A geographical work with rigorous writing and rich content like this was unparalleled in China at that time and even in the world.
It can be seen from the "Shui Jing" that Li Daoyuan used his full writing style to show the geographical appearance of China 1400 to 500 years ago, so that people can understand the geography of various places after reading it. Have a clearer understanding of the state and its historical changes. For example, from the description of the Beijing area, we can know the city site of Beijing at that time, the historical relics in the suburbs, the distribution of rivers and lakes, etc. We can also learn about some of the early large-scale activities that changed the natural environment that people in the Beijing area carried out, such as blocking The construction of river weirs, the guidance of natural rivers and the excavation of artificial channels, etc. This is the earliest geographical information about the Beijing area that is currently available, and it is also an important place for studying the historical and geographical changes in the Beijing area. This information is still very useful today. Science and experience tell us that geographical conditions are constantly changing with changes in natural conditions and intensification of human activities. To truly understand and deeply understand today's geographical situation, it is not enough to study the current geographical situation alone. It is also necessary to have an in-depth understanding of the changing process of the geographical situation and its causes, in order to understand and master its development laws, and to lay the foundation for today's construction. Career Services. In this sense, "Shui Jing" still has vitality today and is a rare and precious historical and geographical document. In addition to the information obtained by Li Daoyuan's personal investigation, the content in "Shui Jing" also quotes a large number of historical documents and materials, including 437 citations from previous works, and many from the Han and Wei dynasties. inscription materials. Most of these books and inscriptions were later lost due to historical changes. Fortunately, thanks to Li Daoyuan's citations and transcriptions, some of them still exist, making it possible to know part of the contents of these books and inscriptions. This is extremely valuable information for studying the history of the development of Chinese civilization.
Such a magnificent masterpiece was limited by the times and conditions at the time, and it was inevitable that there would be many errors. Du You of the Tang Dynasty clearly pointed out his "mistakes" on the source of the Yellow River in his "Tongdian". In addition, since it was impossible for him to conduct field surveys in remote areas and the south, there were many mistakes in this area. The citations in some places are not trustworthy, etc., but these do not damage the value of the book.
The "Shui Jing" originally had 40 volumes, but 5 volumes were missing in the early Song Dynasty. Later generations reorganized the remaining 35 volumes into 40 volumes. Due to repeated copying and reprinting of scriptures, errors and forgery were very serious, and some chapters were even difficult to read. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many scholars did a lot of work to study the "Shui Jing", and some corrected more than 500 confusions in the annotations, basically restoring the original appearance of the annotations. Some did a lot of compilation work, and even more did collation and annotation work. In the late Qing Dynasty, the famous scholar Yang Shoujing and his disciple Xiong Huizhen spent their whole life writing "Shui Jing Commentary" and compiling "Shui Jing Annotation" comparing ancient and modern times and printing in red ink. "Annotations on Pictures", Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House recently published "Annotations on the Water Classic", edited by Duan Xizhong and revised by Chen Qiaoyi, which provides convenience for future research and use of the "Water Classic".