Chapter 74 Chapter 73 "Shui Jing Zhu", a unparalleled geographical masterpiece

In the long history of China, the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties are a very special era - this is an era of national division and political turmoil; this is also a period of national integration and frequent cultural exchanges; more importantly, it is also a period of Inherited from the Qin and Han Dynasties at the top and started from the Sui and Tang Dynasties at the bottom, it has a profound influence in the development of Chinese history and thus appears to be an extremely important stage. It is generally believed that in an era of divided countries and political turmoil, it is difficult for culture to flourish.However, for the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, this was an exception.In this special era, the process of cultural development has not stagnated, let alone regressed. On the contrary, in this turbulent era, remarkable achievements have been made in the fields of thought, culture, and academics.The golden horse and iron horse seem cruel, but its "lethal power" is far inferior to Qin Shihuang's "burning books and burying scholars" that happened before it and the "literary prison" that happened after it; What it fights for is just political power, and does not obscure the aura of thought and culture... This is the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, which people can't say enough about.

It was in such a special age that a person appeared, and because of the appearance of this person, an immortal work was born in the treasure house of Chinese culture—— This person is Li Daoyuan! This work is "Shui Jing Zhu"! Fan Yangli's family lived in North China for generations. This family is a well-known wealthy family in the local area, and it is also a famous family of officials and eunuchs in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Li Daoyuan's great-grandfather, Li Shao, once served in Houyan, founded by the Murong family of the Xianbei family, and served as the prefect of Puyang.During the Northern Wei Dynasty, Li Shao was an official for life, and his son, Li Daoyuan's grandfather Li Song, could also be an official in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the official was the prefect of Tianshui.After two generations of management by Li Daoyuan's great-grandfather and grandfather, the Li family reached its peak in the generation of Li Daoyuan's father, Li Fan.

Li Fan was an official all his life. During the reign of Tuoba Sitai, Emperor Mingyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty [AD 416-423], he was appointed as the East Palace of Gishi. His main duties were to serve and educate the prince. After the prince Tuoba Tao took the throne, Li Fan Fan had a title and a higher official position, and his outstanding intelligence made him continuously promoted in the political arena of the Northern Wei Dynasty at that time.In the era of Tuobahong, his political career reached its peak—"Except General Pingdong, the governor of Qingzhou, and fake Fan Yanggong" [see "Wei Shu Shu Li Fan Biography" for the above quotations].Li Fan has been an official for fifty years and has served five monarchs successively. It seems that the regime of the Northern Wei Dynasty did not treat this loyal minister badly. The successive kings continued to give him more officials and promotions, until finally he was honored as "Fan Yanggong"—— — This was also the highest title that a hero with a foreign surname could get at that time.When Li Fan won this supreme honor for the Li family, it also heralded that the political heyday of the Li family had reached the end.However, this political ultimate gave birth to an eternal bright spot of the Li family in the history of Chinese cultural development-this is Li Daoyuan and his "Shui Jing Zhu".

Li Daoyuan [? —527 years], with a long character, was born in Zhuozhou, Fanyang, Northern Wei Dynasty [now Zhuo County, Hebei Province].The records of Li Daoyuan's life are mainly found in two historical books, namely "Wei Shu" written by Wei Shou, a native of Qi during the Northern Wei Dynasty, and "Northern History" written by Li Yanshou, a native of Tang Dynasty.These two history books have Li Daoyuan's biography. In addition, in "Shui Jing Zhu", Li Daoyuan also has some records of his whereabouts. According to Li Daoyuan's family background, it is not difficult to imagine that being born in such a family of officials for generations, Li Daoyuan has at least two "natural" advantages over other people born in ordinary families: one is that he can Get a good education and cultural influence; second, you can get a relatively smooth opportunity to enter the official career.The same is true.

A total of 480 kinds of documents and 357 kinds of inscriptions were cited in "Shui Jing Zhu". The acquisition of these materials should be mainly through two channels - family collection and Li Daoyuan's personal collection. Among these two main channels , and should be based on family collections; Daoyuan's father, Li Fan, has been an official for fifty years, and most of them worked in Shandong prefectures and counties. It can be said that Li Daoyuan mainly spent his youth in the capital and Shandong, and this This kind of life of traveling with his father gave him the opportunity to contact and understand the cultures of different regions very early. In other words, the cultural influence of different regions began when he was young. The seeds of interest were planted when he was a teenager.

Li Daoyuan entered the official career relatively smoothly. After he became an adult, he inherited his father's title and was named "Yongning Bo".Later, he served as Taiwei, Shushi Yushi, Jizhou Zhendong Governor, Yingchuan Taishou, Luyang Taishou, East Jingzhou Governor, Henan Yin, Huangmen Shilang, Shizhong and Shexingtai Shangshu, Yushi Lieutenant etc.However, his road to becoming an official was obviously not as smooth as that of his father Li Fan, and, in his short official career, he encountered three setbacks.What was really fatal was the third setback. This setback not only ruined Li Daoyuan's political future, but also ruined his life.An elite with both civil and military skills died in revenge and the rebellion of traitors. The tragedy seems to be stronger than the tragedy.

However, to the comfort of future generations, Li Daoyuan's life has been preserved forever in "Shui Jing Zhu"! Li Daoyuan's life data mainly come from "Wei Shu" and "Northern History", as well as sporadic records in "Shui Jing Zhu". "Book of Wei" records that Li Daoyuan's native place is very simple, just four words: "Fanyang people." The relevant records in "Northern History" are like this: "Fanyang Zhuolu people." Volume 64 of "Yulu" says: "Li Pavilion is 20 miles south of Zhuozhou, and it is the former residence of Li Daoyuan." "Shui Jing·Juma Water Note" says:

The giant horse water is east again, and the Liting ditch flows into it.On the water, the Dukanggou water flows in the east and southeast of Pixian County, and flows to the east of Ziyuan. The place names mentioned in this passage of "Shui Jing Zhu", such as Juma Water, Litinggou Water, and Pixian County, all exist in today's Juma River Basin, which is today's geographical entity, Litinggou Water Of course, it is the small river that flows through Li Ting, Li's hometown.There is no doubt that Li Daoyuan's hometown is in Zhuo County, Hebei Province today. Regarding the date of Li Daoyuan's birth and death, there is no record in the biography of Li Daoyuan in "Book of Wei" and "Northern History", so important issues in Li Daoyuan's life have not been well resolved.Under the current circumstances, it seems impossible to accurately guess Li Daoyuan's birth year. Only by waiting for the discovery of new materials can we truly unravel this mystery that has puzzled people for more than 1,400 years with conclusive evidence.

Why is Li Daoyuan interested in "Shui Jing"?Under what circumstances did he comment on the "Shui Jing"?These are not clearly recorded in official history or related historical materials, but in "Shui Jing Zhu", we can find some clues from them.Li Daoyuan once believed in the preface of "Shui Jing Zhu" that among the geographical documents at that time, there was almost no related geographical document that not only described the waterways of the country, but also introduced the situation outside the waterways in detail. He is also a person who has traveled extensively and has accumulated rich knowledge, so he deeply feels that there should be a systematic and comprehensive geographical monograph on rivers and waterways—although in his preface, there are some references to his own talents, insights, etc. There are many doubts, which say: "I have no interest in searching for mountains, and I have long violated the nature of studying. Unknown, the ancients hurt his loneliness; donated funeral dictionaries, Dashi sighed on his wall. The silent room seeks the depth, and the boat asks the distance, so it is also difficult." Such and so on are actually his self-effacing words, Because he has proved with his own actions that he can take on this important task.Secondly, Li Daoyuan believes that geographical phenomena are constantly changing. From the distant ancient times to the Northern Wei Dynasty where he lived, the rise and fall of cities, the migration of tribes, the changes of rivers, and the replacement of names... These geographical features have undergone complex changes. Therefore, it is necessary to publish a comprehensive geographical literature that mainly introduces river systems.Third, this is also a desire hidden in his heart, that is, he hopes that the motherland can be unified.Li Daoyuan lived in an era when the north and the south were divided, and he very much hoped that China would be unified. For such a grand wish, he knew that it was beyond his power, so he took the rivers and waterways of the whole country as the key point, and thoroughly Breaking the north-south boundary to express his desire for national unity.

The above-mentioned factors can be regarded as the subjective motives why Li Daoyuan wanted to annotate the "Shui Jing", and the objective reasons or external stimuli that really prompted him to put this great project into action were probably his political experience. second blow. "Northern History Li Daoyuan Attached Biography" records: "In Yanchang, he is the governor of East Jingzhou, and he is in charge of the government with mighty power, such as in Jizhou. The barbarians are serious about the lawsuit. Please ask the former governor Kou Zuli. And send troops seven Ten people sent Daoyuan back to Beijing, and the two sat together to be dismissed." Li Daoyuan was dismissed for the second time in the fourth year of Yanchang [AD 515], after this dismissal, until the fourth year of Zhengguang [AD 523], It took 8 years for Li Daoyuan to come back because of the invasion of Nanliang.Li Daoyuan was dismissed for the first time in the 22nd year of Taihe [AD 498], and his reinstatement time was in the second year of Jingming [AD 501], which lasted about 3 years.Li Daoyuan said to himself in "The Preface to the Water Classics" that he "steals a lot of time and spends his time empty, describing the "Water Classics" and distributing the previous texts." "Shui Jing" seems to be more reasonable during the second dismissal period.There are two reasons: even if Li Daoyuan had the desire to annotate the "Shui Jing" in his youth, he could not start this grand and voluminous project due to limitations in knowledge accumulation, level of education, academic vision, and cultural experience. ; After embarking on an official career, although the official position is not high, he is too busy with government affairs, so he can't concentrate on writing. Even if there is a "vacancy" for the first dismissal, the time is too short, and it seems impossible to complete this project.It can be inferred from this that the 8 years when Li Daoyuan annotated "Shui Jing" was dismissed for the second time, this time period was Li Daoyuan's prime of life. The best time period for this project to run.And the time of 8 years is also consistent with what he said, "steal more time and spend time with nothing".Of course, it cannot be ruled out that Li Daoyuan started this project before he was dismissed for the second time, and it cannot be ruled out that the actual completion of this project was after the second dismissal.But in any case, it can be inferred that the eight years of the second removal from office were the crucial time period for Li Daoyuan to annotate the "Shui Jing", which should be beyond doubt.

History is so interesting. The occurrence of a tragedy often heralds the birth of a great epic.Qu Yuan was like this, Sima Qian was like this, and so was Li Daoyuan.Those political enemies who framed Li Daoyuan may not have thought that it was their frame that Li Daoyuan seemed to ruin his political future, but this political tragedy made Li Daoyuan cultural and academic success.Li Daoyuan himself may not have thought that it was he who "inadvertently" wrote "inadvertently" in order not to "empty time" when he was in political downturn, and actually added an immortal epic masterpiece to the history of Chinese civilization! "Shui Jing Zhu" is known as an epic masterpiece of Chinese geography, and some people call it an encyclopedia endowing geography with time and space.The reason why it has such a high reputation is not only that the investigation of rivers in this book is clearer and more detailed than that of "Shui Jing", but also that it is full of quotations, detailed textual research, and rigorous attitude. Important documents in history and archaeology. "Shui Jing Zhu" records the origin, flow areas, distribution of branch canals and historical changes of more than 1,200 rivers across the country. It is the most detailed record of river systems in China before the 6th century; "Shui Jing Zhu" is a This is an all-encompassing geography masterpiece. So far, domestic and foreign academic circles have conducted in-depth and specific studies on "Shui Jing Zhu", and scholars have included historical geography, natural geography, economic geography, urban geography, and military geography. etc. "Shui Jing Zhu" recorded and studied ancient Chinese water conservancy projects, volcanoes, hot springs, paleontological fossils, limestone landforms, etc., which provided valuable data for our research today; "Shui Jing Zhu" also It is a famous literary work, and many of its articles are excellent works of landscape prose in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, such as its description of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, which is a well-known masterpiece.As a comprehensive collection of Chinese geography works before the 6th century, "Shui Jing Zhu" is neither a chaotic assortment nor a simple list of rivers criss-crossing the land of China when it presents rich and colorful and all-encompassing content. Has its own unique logical arrangement and strict system.The well-known scholar Hou Renzhi has a very fine summary of Li Daoyuan's great work: "He endows the geographical description with the depth of time, and also gives many historical events a sense of concrete space reality." "There are so many things in the world, water is also, floating in the sky and carrying the earth, up and down everywhere, and everything is omnipotent." This is a famous saying from "Xuanzhongji" quoted by Li Daoyuan in "Shuijing Zhu·Preface". One sentence is also the best summary of the importance of rivers.It was based on this understanding of rivers that Li Daoyuan embarked on a masterpiece that he may not have realized at the time, which is to comment on the "Shui Jing". "Shui Jing" is China's first monograph describing the river system.In the past, it was mostly believed to be written by Sang Qin from the Western Han Dynasty, but after research by scholars in the Qing Dynasty, it is believed that the author should be from the period of the Three Kingdoms. Who is it?It is unknown. There are only 137 large and small rivers listed in "Shui Jing", and the content is very brief.Moreover, before this book, China did not have a complete book describing rivers.In "Shui Jing Zhu · Preface", Li Daoyuan expressed his emotion about this phenomenon: In the past, the "Da Yu Ji" wrote about mountains and seas, but they were not prepared; Meaning: Although the "Shui Jing" is rough and detailed, it also lacks bypasses. It is said that each speaks its own ambitions, but few can prepare for its propaganda. In order to make up for this defect, Li Daoyuan started the great work of making detailed annotations to the "Shui Jing". Li Daoyuan's commentary on "Shui Jing" undoubtedly focused on "Shui Jing". "made dozens of supplements, for example, he added 1252 rivers; if lakes, lakes, lakes, ponds, lakes, springs, canals, ponds, Gudu and other water bodies are included, then he actually recorded all kinds of water bodies 2596 places.Moreover, "Shui Jing Zhu" has a total of 40 volumes [5 volumes were missing in the early Song Dynasty, and later generations reorganized the remaining 35 volumes into 40 volumes], with a full text of more than 300,000 words. This capacity is also unmatched by "Shui Jing" .Moreover, "Shui Jing Zhu" "explains the source, branch, flow direction, flow area, confluence and river channel overview of each water one by one, and describes the landform, climate, soil, plants, agriculture, water conservancy, mineral deposits and cities in each basin. , Places of interest, geographical evolution, customs, historical stories, myths and legends, etc., are all described in detail. The objects written in "Shui Jing Zhu", in addition to the territory of the Western Han Dynasty, also involved many areas outside the territory at that time, including today's India, the Indochina Peninsula, and certain areas of the Korean Peninsula have an unprecedented coverage” ["Illustrated <Shui Jing Zhu>"]. We often say that "Shui Jing Zhu" is a comprehensive and extensive geographical masterpiece, so how rich is the content of this book?If we open this great book, we will find that we seem to be in a splendid treasure trove woven by physical geography, human geography, historical geography and such things as literature, architecture, history, toponymy, ethnology, and religion. among. In this treasure house, people can swim in 1,252 rivers of various sizes, and they can learn about the main stream, tributaries, valley width, river bed depth, water volume, sand content, and water level changes in different seasons and along the river. Have a detailed understanding of the undercurrents, rapids, waterfalls, lakes, etc. that the river passes through; you can interpret more than 500 lakes, swamps, more than 300 wells, springs and other groundwater all over the land of China; you can walk into those mysterious Waterfalls [64 places] and underground currents [about 30 places].In addition, we can also go ashore from the river to appreciate the wonderful landforms of the land of China, such as mountains, mountains, peaks, ridges, hills, hills, mountains, hills, hills, barriers, rocks, plains and other highlands, rivers, flats, plains, You can have a panoramic view of lowlands such as fields, and enjoy browsing, because there are nearly 2,000 mountains, mounds, etc. in the book, and more than 70 caves with karst landform characteristics, which allow us to stay in them and linger; In the plains, we can also obtain rich knowledge of animal geography and plant geography, because more than 100 species of animals and more than 140 species of plants are recorded in the book; From the punishment of nature to human beings, floods, droughts, locust plagues, earthquakes, etc., have left human beings with permanent, cruel, sad, and painful memories... This is the rich nature of China shown in "Shui Jing Zhu" Geographic world! In this treasury, people can see the administrative regional system that is so far away from us that it seems very strange, and can see more than 2,800 county-level cities and other cities that have disappeared or still exist, as well as 180 ancient capitals; While watching the city, get to know more than 1,000 ten types of townships, towns, pavilions, lis, gatherings, villages, markets, garrison, docks, forts and other settlements in China before the 6th century; surprisingly, in these Cities, ancient capitals, and settlements are also mixed with exotic scenery, such as the ancient Indian city of Balenfoy, Boronai City, etc., which are also swaying their strange figures in this treasure house; in this masterpiece , we can also get in touch with ancient Chinese economic geography data, such as slope lakes, water gates, dykes, ponds, weirs, heaps, lumps and other farmland water conservancy projects, all of which are extensively described in the book; we can also increase the knowledge of transportation geography, There are comprehensive reflections of the dotted water transportation system and land transportation—only more than 100 bridges and nearly 100 ferry crossings are recorded here; you can also see the prosperous handicrafts with their own characteristics, such as mining and metallurgy. , machinery, textiles, coinage, food, etc., are introduced in detail in the book; you can also enjoy rich mineral treasures, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, mercury, salt, sulfur, mica, realgar, Graphite, quartz, stone, petroleum, coal, natural gas, etc., are all recorded in the book... Reading "Shui Jing Zhu" is to accept the rich knowledge of human geography in ancient China! In this treasure house, people have found the key to unraveling the historical mystery - because of the records in "Shui Jing Zhu", later generations used this as a basis to calculate the historical erosion degree of the Shaanxi section of the Yellow River; because there are With the records of "Shui Jing Zhu", later generations were able to explore the former site of the ancient city of Yu, the predecessor of Guangzhou; because of the records of "Shui Jing Zhu", people were able to uncover the mystery of ancient rock paintings stretching 21,000 square kilometers in Inner Mongolia ; Because of the records in "Shui Jing Zhu", people can restore the ancient water conservancy projects around Beijing, describe the history of changes in the Mu Us Desert, and understand that the surrounding lakes of West Lake and Xiang Lake have all been abandoned and other lakes have been destroyed. Only by keeping the unique mysteries can we appreciate the hardships of the trestle bridge and Zuodan road in the treacherous mountains and rivers of the ancient Bashu, feel the changes of waterways and coastlines, and read the ancient urban planning Only then can we appreciate the ever-changing climate change... "Shui Jing Zhu" leads us into a mysterious historical and geographical world! In this treasure house, we can master more than 20,000 various ancient place names and understand the reasons of more than 2,400 ancient place names; we can browse more than 120 palaces, more than 30 ancient Chinese and foreign pagodas, 26 temples, and more than 260 famous tombs And various gardens; you can immerse yourself in a literary atmosphere with vivid images, rich emotions, vivid language, and excellent sensuality... "Shui Jing Zhu" combines history, archaeology, toponymy, water conservancy history, ethnology, religion, etc. Science, literature and art are intertwined together to form a gorgeous panorama of ancient culture. The rich and extensive "Shui Jing Zhu" not only makes people amazing, but also shows its own uniqueness. The author of "Illustrated "Shui Jing Zhu" uses very refined and refined language to explain the "Shui Jing" The uniqueness of the Note is summarized as follows: 1. Created the original geography writing with water channels as the key link, and created the description method of "evidence of the land because of the water, that is, the preservation of the past by the land", which had a great influence on the development of geography in later generations. 2. Taking the waterway as the key point, it also covers the geography, history, economy, characters, legends, folk customs and many other aspects of the places where the waterway flows through. The content is extremely rich and detailed.The regions recorded almost involve all counties and counties in the official history of the Han and Jin Dynasties and even the extraterritorial areas not recorded in the official history. 3. 437 kinds of ancient books and about 350 kinds of Han, Wei, Jin and stone inscriptions were quoted mainly from geography.Most of the original books have been lost. It is because of the spread of "Shui Jing Zhu" that future generations can see it and preserve a large number of valuable documents for future generations.It also collected and absorbed realistic materials such as hydrology, water conservancy, farming, irrigation, architecture, and gardens from various places in the contemporary era, so it became the collection of ancient geographical knowledge in my country before the Southern and Northern Dynasties. 4. Remembering water is not limited to north and south. "Shui Jing Zhu" regards the north and the south as a whole geographic unit geographically. Although it depends on the natural attributes of the distribution of water systems, it also expresses the author's high recognition of the ideal of unifying the world and his love for the magnificent mountains and rivers of the motherland. 5. The writing is concise and elegant, with rhetorical characteristics of parallel style, which can be called vivid and beautiful landscape prose.For example, the precipitousness of Huashan Mountain, the variety of Lushan Mountain, the magnificence of the Three Gorges, and the fantasy of Wuxie are all wonderful and have a great influence on the landscape prose of later generations. "Shui Jing Zhu" is an immortal geographical masterpiece, which undoubtedly has made great contributions to the development of Chinese culture.When discussing the contribution of "Shui Jing Zhu", ancient and modern scholars have highly praised it.However, among the many evaluations, there is a famous contemporary scholar whose evaluation seems to be more comprehensive, more systematic, and more accurate, and thus more authoritative and representative.This scholar is Mr. Chen Qiaoyi, an expert on Li studies.In "Li Daoyuan's Commentary on Biography", based on his deep understanding of "Shui Jing Zhu" and his deep love for the protagonist, he highly commented on and warmly praised the outstanding contribution of "Shui Jing Zhu", an epic geographical work. Praise, he said: "Li Daoyuan's thought of great unification and the patriotic spirit of 'China's love of nature', as well as his thought of conquering nature, not believing in ghosts and gods, lashing out at heavy burials, opposing war, rejecting evil and promoting good, and his scholarship. Methods are actually the contribution of "Shui Jing Zhu" to future generations." He believes that, in addition to these, the contribution of "Shui Jing Zhu" to future generations specifically has the following eight aspects: First, the era of "Great Exchange in Geography" is an era in which my country's geography talents emerge in large numbers and a large number of geographical works emerge. It is an extraordinary era in the history of geography in my country. The representative work in "Six Dynasties Topography" is the most important work in an important era in the history of geography in my country. Second, "Shui Jing Zhu" is the most famous river hydrogeography work in the history of geography in my country.Before Li's annotation, although "New Book of Tang·Yiwenzhi" recorded three volumes of Guo Pu's annotation of Han Sangqin's "Water Classic", but the book has long been lost, and the volume is short, and the content is conceivably crude.After Li's annotation, Li Jifu of Tang wrote ten volumes of "Zhan Shui Jing", and Jin Caigui wrote three volumes of "Bu Zheng Shui Jing", both of which have been lost.There are still one volume of "Jin Shui Jing" written by Huang Zongxi in the early Qing Dynasty, which has few contents; Qi Zhaonan's "Outline of Waterways" in the Qianlong period has 28 volumes, which is rigid in style.None of them could compare with Li Zhu.Therefore, "Shui Jing Zhu" is a masterpiece of river hydrology unparalleled in the history of geography in my country. Third, "Shui Jing Zhu" is not only a masterpiece of river hydrology and geography, but also a masterpiece of regional geography with rivers as the key link.It is based on the territory of the Western Han Dynasty and extends beyond the territory. It provides a comprehensive description of many important rivers and their basins in such a vast area, including physical geography and human geography.Therefore, Needham, a famous British expert on the history of science, believes that "Shui Jing Zhu" is "a broad description of geography".In the history of Chinese geography, although national works on regional geography can be traced back to "Yugong", as mentioned above, "Yugong" is a work of fictional geography, and it is short in length and simple in content, which cannot be compared with "Shui Jing" Note" compared with. Fourth, none of the geographical works before the "Shui Jing Zhu" was based on field investigations, but Li Daoyuan advocated "visiting du and searching canals", so he included a large number of field investigation results in his annotations.Writing geography books based on the results of field investigations is a common feature of many geography books that emerged in the era of "Great Geographic Exchanges". The results of field investigations in "Shui Jing Zhu" are indeed the most abundant, which is beyond the reach of other books. Therefore, "Shui Jing Zhu" is the beginning of the combination of field investigations and writing of geographical works. Fifth, regional geography works tend to be stereotyped in content, which is called "geographical stereotypes" in recent times.In fact, this situation did not start today.For example, the prefectures in "Yu Gong" and the counties and counties in "Hanshu·Geography" are all written in the same way.In the future, such as "Yuanhe County Tuzhi", "Taiping Shuanzi Ji", "Yuanfeng Nine Regions Chronicles" and the like will not be able to jump out of this rut.However, "Shui Jing Zhu" describes each river basin, but the text is vivid and the content is changeable, which makes people never get tired of reading it.This is an outstanding example of regional geography works in the history of geography in our country. Sixth, "Shui Jing Zhu" is not only a work of geography, but also a work of toponymy.It collects a large number of place names from the Northern Wei Dynasty and before that, including non-Chinese place names and place names outside China, and explains the origin of many of them.In our country, although documents earlier than "Shui Jing Zhu" such as "Gu Liang Zhuan", "Yue Jue Shu" and "Han Shu Geography Zhi" have explained the place names, but they are completely incompatible with " Shui Jing Zhu "compared.Starting from "Shui Jing Zhu", toponymy has a complete concept. Seventh, "Shui Jing Zhu" is not only a monograph on geography with high academic value, but also a patriotic reading with rich emotions and strong appeal.Between the lines, the whole book is full of the author's unification thought and "China's love of nature".It describes the rivers and mountains of the motherland with vivid and beautiful words, and describes the fragmented land that was separated from the north and the south into a beautiful picture, showing a strong national cohesion. Eighth, there are very few examples of a book forming a science, not only in the history of geography, but also in the history of other sciences. "Shui Jing Zhu" is precisely because of its comprehensiveness and extensive involvement, it has formed the knowledge of Li Xue, which has a vast content, and since the Ming Dynasty, it has achieved great development. The Sutra is also something to be proud of in this respect. "Shui Jing Zhu" is a geographical work with water as the key link, and water is the key word of this work.When examining, describing, explaining, and introducing rivers and lakes, floods, water control, water utilization, and water conservancy projects have become important contents that must be covered in this work.Indeed, in this work, in addition to recording more than 30 floods, it also records numerous water conservancy projects, water control, and water utilization deeds, and these records are closely related to Li Daoyuan's understanding of water.Therefore, when commenting on the records of water control in "Shui Jing Zhu", it should be combined with Li's concept of water. He and Li's concept of water cannot be separated. Flood records in "Shui Jing Zhu": According to the statistics of Mr. Chen Qiaoyi, an expert on "Li Xue", in the entire "Shui Jing Zhu", Li recorded many floods.Among them, there are major floods whose age and disaster situation can be checked. From the fifth year of Zhou Dingwang [602 BC] to the fourth year of Northern Wei Dynasty Dahe [AD 480], a total of 19 times were recorded, some of which were extremely large-scale floods, such as Juan Fifteen "Yi Shui Zhu" records the flood on June 24th in the fourth year of Wei Huangchu of the Three Kingdoms [AD 223]: "The flood came out, and the height was four feet and five feet." In the seventh year of Taishi [AD 361], the flood occurred on June 23: "The flood burst into a waterfall, and it often flowed up to three feet." Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also came to the scene in person, worried and helpless; Volume 24 "Huzihe" wrote "Huzihe flows out of the Beihe River in Puyang County, Dongjun County": All the generals and below are paid to fill up the river. To lament the failure of the meritorious deeds, they sing a song: "The gourd will be judged, what will the general do?" The mountains are flat and the wilds are overflowing, the fish are boiling and the cypresses are wintery, the righteous way is relaxing and the flow is far away, the dragons are galloping and traveling far away, returning to the old Sichuan and the spirit is full, not enshrining Zen and knowing what is outside, the emperor calls the river, why is it so unkind, The overflow is more than enough to worry us." In addition to the above-mentioned disasters of river breaches and floods, "Shui Jing Zhu" also recorded many incidents in which water was used to replace soldiers in wars.For example, in the twenty-eighth volume of "Mian Shui", it is recorded in the note of "Across the east of Yicheng County in the south again, and the Yi water comes from Fangling, and flows into it from the east". In the northeast corner, the people follow the flow of water, and hundreds of thousands of people died in the east of the city, and the east of the city stinks." Volume 31 "Fu Shui Zhu" records the battle of Kunyang in the early Eastern Han Dynasty: "It will rain heavily, and Fuchuan will flourish Overflow, tigers and leopards all fight, soldiers fight to go, drowned tens of thousands, and the water does not flow." Volume 32 "Zitong Water" records in the note "And southwest to Xiaoguang Weinan, into Dianjiang" The famous battle between Cen Peng and Gongsun Shu said: "The Cen army was defeated, more than ten thousand people were beheaded and drowned, and the water was a turbid stream." Therefore, Li Daoyuan wrote in "Huishui" in Volume 6 that "the water came out of Donghui, Jiangxian County, east of the river. "Jiaodong Gaoshan" quotes Zhibo's words recorded in "Historical Records" to illustrate the terrible and harmful degree of water in a certain situation: ""Historical Records" stated that Zhibo led Han and Wei to divert water to Jinyang, and three people who did not disappear Version. Zhishi said: I didn’t know that water can destroy a country, but now I know that Fen River can soak Anyi, and Jin River can soak Pingyang.” While recording floods, Li Daoyuan also paid attention to the harm of water shortage. Mr. Chen Qiaoyi listed several related stories recorded in the book "Shui Jing Zhu" in "Li Daoyuan's Commentary", such as in The story of the well-drilling in Shule City recorded in the note of "Shui Jing Zhu" volume five "river water" "one originates from the Nanshan Mountain of Tianguo, flows north to the Congling Mountain, and then flows into the Puchang Sea in the east". Example: In the eighteenth year of Yongping in the Han Dynasty, Geng Gong used Wuji as a lieutenant, and was forced by King Zuoluli of the Xiongnu. Gong moved from Jinpu to this city with a stream beside the river.The Xiongnu came to attack it again, blocking up the stream.Gong went through a well in the city, which was fifteen feet deep, and there was no water. The officials were thirsty and drank the dung juice of the horses.In a desert area like Shule City, where the groundwater level is extremely low, the digging went to a depth of fifteen feet without water.There are also examples of this in the Northern Wei Dynasty where Li Daoyuan lived.In the note of "The River Water" in Volume 5, "passing east to the north of Chenggao County, Jishui came to inject it from the north", it records the story of the Northern Wei Dynasty's attack on Hulao City [located on the south bank of the Yellow River in the northwest of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province today]: Wei attacked the north Mao Zude, the governor of Sizhou, was in Hulao. After 200 days of war, he failed.The only well in the city is forty feet deep. The mountain is so steep that it cannot be defended. It is used as a tunnel to get the well.Yu Qing went there because of his business, so he went to find it, and the cave still exists.The "underlying tunnels to get wells" mentioned here, according to "Tongjian" volume 119, recorded in the first year of Yingyang King Jingping: "Wei people made tunnels to vent the wells in the city of Hulao." It shows that the Northern Wei Dynasty used the terrain to reach deep A tunnel was dug at the bottom of the forty-foot-long well to drain the well water and cut off the only water source in the city.Mao Zude defended Hulao City for 200 days, but in the end, the only deep well that the whole city relied on was leaked by the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the city was finally broken. "Song Shu Suolu Biography" also records the lack of thirst of the officers and soldiers guarding the city after the well water was drained: On the 21st, the prisoner made a tunnel to steal the well in the city. On the twenty-third day, the men and horses were thirsty and hungry, their bodies were dry, and the wounded were no longer bleeding.The Battle of Hulao City took place in the eighth year of Taichang in the Northern Wei Dynasty [AD 423], less than a hundred years after the time of Li Daoyuan. Li took advantage of official business to personally visit the tunnels dug in the Northern Wei Dynasty. ".Well water is of life and death significance in war, and Li Daoyuan certainly bears this in mind.对于这些缺乏地表水的地区，郦道元在《水经注》中，还特别对地下水作了详细的介绍【全书记载的泉水包括温泉达240处左右】，尤其是对井水的介绍，往往注意到井的深度，如卷十九《渭水》经“又东过华阴县北”注中记载的长城以北平原上的井：“长城北有平原，广数百里，民井汲巢居，井深五十尺。”又如卷二十五《泗水》经“西南过鲁县北”注中记载的曲阜武子台附近的大井：“台西百步有大井，广三丈，深十余丈。”像这类井所在的地区，都是地下水位很低的地区。郦道元十分清楚，在人与水的关系中，井水在某种情况下可能是生死攸关的。 关于水灾的记载，在《水经注》中还有不少，如，对中国最早的一次洪水记载就是在《水经注》中，其卷十五“洛水”篇载：“昔黄帝之时，天大雾三日，帝游洛水之上，见大鱼，杀五牲以醮之，天乃甚雨，七日七夜，鱼流始得图书，今《河图·视萌篇》是也。”这就是传说的中国最早的一次暴雨洪水记载。再如，黄泛区内的一些湖沼，像已见于先秦记载的柯泽、雷泽、菏泽、巨野泽、孟诸泽等，均见存于《水经注》中，这些湖泽的形成，大概是因为战国西汉时黄河下游堤距很宽，两岸相距五十里，大量泥沙随流落淤，决出堤外的泥沙相对减少，故而那些虽经受黄河洪水漫淤的湖沼，尚未遭完全淤平的厄运。像巨野泽在南北朝时湖区辽阔，“南近洙泗，北连清济”，巨野县为湖水所围。这恐怕是汉武帝时河水决入巨野泽后，湖底抬高，湖面扩大后因来水不断而长期未消的结果。对这些湖泽，《水经注》既有记载，更有对其洪涝情况的分析。总而言之，《水经注》关于水灾的记载，无论是天灾，还是人祸，从这些记载中，我们可以清楚地看到，郦道元对于人与水的关系是十分关注的。而在这些关注中，我们还可以探寻到他那独特的治水认识和治水思想。 郦道元在《水经注》卷十二中，对巨马水介绍时，有这样一段记述： 其水又西南转历大利亭，南入巨马水，又东径容城县故城北；又东督亢沟水注之，水上承涞水于涞谷，引之则长津委注，遏之则微川辍流。水德含和，变通在我。 “水德含和，变通在我。”这是郦道元关于水的重要观念或思想，它反映了郦氏对人与水的关系的认识。正是在这种认识的指导下，《水经注》中关于人与水的关系的记录为数不少。如，在《水经注》中，郦道元十分重视河渠水利工程的记录，因为这类工程最能体现人与水的关系。在该书的卷十四“鲍丘水”中，郦道元重点介绍了魏刘靖在嘉平二年【公元250年】修建的车箱渠，他在“又东过潞县西”注中记述：“高粱河水者，出自并州，潞河之别源也。长岸峻固，直截中流，积石笼以为主遏，高一丈，东西长三十丈，南北广七十余步，依北岸立水门，门广四丈，立水十丈。山水暴发，则乘遏东下；平流守常，则自门北入，灌田岁二千顷。”12年之后，魏人又对这个工程进行了扩展，景元三年【公元262年】，樊晨对车箱渠做了延长，从昌平县到达潞县，再一次提高了车箱渠的灌溉功效。书中是这样记载的： 景元三年辛酉……樊晨更制水门，限田千顷，刻地四千三百一十六顷，出给郡县，改定田五千九百三十顷，水流乘车箱渠，自蓟西北迳昌平，东尽渔阳潞县，凡所润含，四五百里，所灌田万有余顷。高下孔齐，原隰底平，疏之斯溉，决之斯散，导渠口以为涛门，洒滮池以为甘泽，施加于当时，敷被于后世。 这是对车箱渠的记述。在卷十六“沮水”注中，郦道元关于郑渠的记载是这样的： 沮水东注郑渠。昔韩欲令秦无东伐，使水工郑国间秦，凿泾引水，谓之郑渠。渠首上承泾水于中山西邸瓠口，所谓瓠中也。《尔雅》以为周焦获矣。为渠并北山，东注洛三百余里，欲以溉田。中作而觉，秦欲杀郑国，郑国曰：始臣为间，然渠亦秦之利。卒使就渠，渠成而用注填阏之水，溉泽卤之地四万余顷，收皆亩一钟，关中沃野，无复凶年，秦以富强，卒并诸侯，命曰“郑渠”。 郑渠，是关中地区历史上著名的农田水利工程，书中对这个重要的水利工程作了详细的描述。在卷三十三“江水”之经“岷山在蜀郡氐道县，大江所出，东南过其县北”的注释中，郦道元对李冰修建的水利工程是这样记载的： 江水又历都安县，县有桃关汉武帝祠。李冰作大堰于此，壅江作堋，堋有左右口，谓之湔堋。江入郫江、捡江以行舟。《益州记》曰：江至都安，堰其右，捡其左，其正流遂东，郫江之右也。因山颓水，坐致竹木，以溉诸郡。又穿羊摩江、灌江西，于玉女房下白沙邮，作三石人立水中，刻要江神：水竭不至足，盛不没肩。是以蜀人旱则借以为溉，雨则不遏其流。故记曰：水旱从人，不知饥馑，沃野千里，世号陆海，谓之天府也。邮在堰上，俗谓之都安大堰，亦曰湔堰，又谓之金堤。 以上是郦道元关于三处水利工程的记述，一处是：“山水暴发，则乘遏东下，平流守常。则自门北入，灌田岁二千顷。”一处是：“溉泽卤之地四万余顷，收皆亩一钟，关中沃野，无复凶年，秦以富强。”一处是：“水旱从人，不知饥馑，沃野千里，世号陆海，谓之天府也。”这三个水利工程都是人与水的关系十分密切的体现，也是人们利用水资源造福人类的典范。这三个水利工程也是对郦道元在《水经注·序》中所说的“万物无所不润”的极佳诠释。 除了这些著名的水利工程外，《水经注》还记录了其他的水利工程，如，我国淮河流域最早的大型水利工程芍陂，在书中有所记载，其云： 又东北迳白芍亭东，积而为湖，谓之芍陂。陂周百二十许里，在寿春县南八十里，言楚相孙叔敖所造，魏太尉王凌与吴将张休战于芍陂，即此处也。陂有五门，吐纳川流，西北为香门陂。陂水北迳孙叔敖祠下，谓之芍陂渎。又北分为二水，一水东注黎浆水，黎浆水东迳黎浆亭，南文钦之叛，吴军北入，诸葛绪拒之于黎浆，即此水也。东注肥水，谓之黎浆水口。 再如，长湖【即鉴湖】，这是我国东南地区最早的大型水利工程。《水经注》对此有以下记 又东北得长湖口，湖广五里，东西百三十里，沿湖开水门六十九所，下溉田万顷，北泻长江。湖南有覆斗山，周五百里，北连鼓吹山，山西枕长溪，溪水下注长湖。 《水经注》在记载灌溉万顷良田的大型水利工程的同时，还记录了许多灌溉超过千顷的农田水利工程中，如卷二十八“沔水注”中的白起渠，卷二十九“湍水注”的六门陂，卷三十一“淯水注”的豫章大陂，卷三十三“江水注”的湔堋，卷三十七《沅水注》的涔坪屯等等。 郦道元很重视陂湖的水利价值，因而他在《水经注》中，对这方面的记载，有人评之为“不遗余力”。书中关于陂湖的记载比比皆是，各种陂湖记载就达560处左右，除上文所列举的大型陂湖外，对于那些面积很小的陂湖，郦道元也给予了充分的关注。如卷十五中的慎望陂，面积不过十方里，但郦道元对它也留下了宝贵的笔墨；再如卷十一中的阳城淀，面积只有几方里，但郦道元却为这个小小的陂湖留下了一段优美的文字： 又东迳阳城县，散为泽渚。渚水潴涨，方广数里，匪直蒲笋是丰，实亦偏饶菱藕，至若娈婉丱童，及弱年崽子，或单舟采菱，或迭舸折芰，长歌阳春，爱深绿水，掇拾者不言疲，谣咏者自流响，于时行旅过瞩，亦有慰于羁望矣，世谓之为阳城淀也。 优美的文字，其实也传达了郦道元对人、水关系的重视，当人、水关系和谐密切时，陂湖虽小，他也同样给予了自己的热情，给予了自己的高度赞扬，给予了生动的描述。正是因为对水与人关系的重视，因此，郦道元对兴修水利的人和事，他都赞赏，都歌颂，都弘扬。而对漠视甚至破坏水利的，他也秉笔直书，甚至严厉抨击，无情揭露。同样以陂湖为例。在卷三十“淮水”中，关于“又东过新息县南”条下，郦道元注云： 慎水又东流，积为燋陂，陂水又东南流，为上慎陂，又东为中慎陂，又东南为下慎陂，皆与鸿却陂水散流。其陂首受淮川，左结鸿陂。汉成帝时，翟方进奏毁之，建武中，汝南太守邓晨欲修复之，知许伟君晓知水脉，召与议之，伟君言：成帝用方进言毁之，寻而梦上天，天帝怒曰：何敢败我濯龙渊？是后民失其利。时有童谣曰：败我陂，翟子威，反乎覆，陂当复，明府兴，复废业。童谣之言，将有征矣。遂署都水掾，起塘四百余里，百姓得其利。 在这段文字中，郦道元详细叙述了一个发生在汉成帝时期的事情，这就是毁陂和复陂的故事。在文中，郦道元看似信手拈来，引用了一些“天帝”之言和当时流传的“童谣”，但读者如果细加品味，就会发现郦道元对于毁陂和复陂的态度，全隐含在这褒贬毁誉之中。 郦道元对于治水是有自己明确认识的，在他看来，人与水的关系，应该是和谐融洽的。但是，自然灾害的发生是不以人的意志为转移的，当水灾发生时，人们必须保证生命财产安全，而为了预防水灾，人们也必须采取防治手段。因此，如何治水？便成了郦道元在《水经注》中关注的话题。对于那些采取正确的、科学的治水方法的人，他都给予了充分的肯定和高度的赞扬，如在《水经注》中，他提得最多，而且给予了充分肯定和评价的一个治水人物就是大禹。同样，对于那些采用愚昧落后的所谓治水方法，他都给予了批评，并主张摈弃。而对于那些以治水为名，实际上是用迷信手段坑民害民的人和事，他都给予无情的谴责。 在《水经注》中，郦道元收录了一个大家十分熟悉的关于治水的故事，这就是西门豹治邺的故事。这个故事最早见于《史记·日者传》，但司马迁的记录很简单，仅是在文末提了几句：“西门豹即发民凿十二渠，引河水灌田，田皆溉。”在《水经注》中，郦道元广泛收集了其他文献材料，使得这个故事更加丰满。在书的第十卷“浊漳水”中，于“又东出山，过邺县西”条目下，郦氏注云： 漳水又北迳祭陌西，战国之世，俗巫为河伯取妇，祭于此陌。魏文侯时，西门豹为邺令，约诸三老曰：为河伯取妇，幸来告知，吾欲送女。皆曰：诺。至时，三老、廷掾赋敛百姓，取钱百万。巫觋行里中，有好女者，祝当为河伯妇，以钱三万聘女，沐浴脂粉如嫁状。豹往会之，三老、巫、掾与民咸集赴观。巫妪年七十，从十女弟子。豹呼妇视之，以为非妙，令巫妪入报河伯，投巫于河中。有顷曰：何久也？又令三弟子及三老入白，并投于河。豹磬折曰：三老不来，奈何？复欲使廷掾、豪长趋之，皆叩头流血，乞不为河伯取妇。 女巫利用人们对水灾的惧怕心理，采取迷信的手法，愚弄、诈骗百姓，对于这种敛财害人的事情，西门豹采用了巧妙的手法给予惩治。郦道元在《水经注》中记录这件事，治水应该像西门豹那样，采取合乎自然规律的方法，而不是像女巫那样，用迷信的手段去坑民敛财。 郦道元是一个不信鬼神的人，而且对于那些以鬼神故事混淆是非的事，他都要以自己深入的研究和考证，来取得令人信服的证据，以澄清那些荒诞的鬼神故事，还事物以本来面目。书中关于铜翁仲传说的考辨就是一个著名的事例。在《水经注》卷四“河水”篇中，于“又东过陕县北”条目下，郦道元的注文中，记录了一个关于铜翁仲没入黄河中的故事，其云： 河南，即陕城也，昔周召分伯，以此城为东、西之别，东城即虢邑之上阳也，虢仲之所都。为南虢，三虢，此其一焉。其大城中有小城，故焦国也，武王以封神农之后于此。王莽更名黄眉矣。戴延之云：城南倚山原，北临黄河，悬水百余仞，临之者咸悚惕焉。西北带河，水涌起方数十丈，有物居水中，父老云，铜翁仲所没处。又云，石虎载经于此沉没，二物并存，水所以涌，所未详也。或云，翁仲头髻常出，水之涨减，恒与水齐。晋军当至，髻不复出，今唯见水异耳，嗟嗟有声，声闻数里。 注文中所记述的铜翁仲，就是司马迁在《史记·秦始皇本纪》中所记载的：“收天下兵，聚之咸阳，销以为钟，鐻金人十二，各重千石，置廷宫中。”这件事在《正义》中也有记录，此书引《汉书·五行志》云：“时大人见临洮长五丈，足履六尺，皆夷狄服，凡十二人。故销兵器，铸而象之，所谓金狄也。”然而，对这件事的记载，《水经注》的记录，与《史记》和《正义》相比更为详细完备： 按秦始皇二十六年，长狄十二见于临洮，长五丈余，以为善祥，铸金人十二以象之，各重二十四万斤，坐之宫门之前，谓之金狄。皆铭其胸云：皇帝二十六年，初兼天下，以为郡县，正法律，同度量，大人来见临洮，身长五丈，足六尺，李斯书也。故卫恒《叙篆》曰：秦之李斯，号为工篆，诸山碑及铜人铭，皆斯书也。汉自阿房徙之未央宫前，俗谓之翁仲矣。地皇二年，王莽梦铜人泣，恶之，念铜人铭有皇帝初兼天下文，使尚方工镌灭所梦铜人膺文。后董卓毁其九为钱。其在者三，魏明帝欲徙之洛阳，重不可胜，至霸水西停之。《汉晋春秋》曰：或言金狄泣，故留之。石虎取置邺宫，苻坚又徙之长安，毁二为钱，其一未至而苻坚乱，百姓推置陕北河中，于是金狄灭。 关于这件事情，其实只有秦始皇在咸阳铸十二金人于正史可证外，其余的记载大多都是牵强附会的传说。假如像传说所言，每个金人都重达一百多吨，如此沉重的金人，要从长安到邺宫，其距离长达一千多里，即便是在今天，我们利用现代交通运输工具，要将这些庞然大物运到目的地，这也是一件十分困难的事。然而，传说却将此事说得玄乎其玄。对于这个荒诞的传说，郦道元显然是不相信的，非但不信，反而视之为无稽之谈。然而，既然是无稽之谈，郦道元为何又要将其载入注文？其实，郦道元记录此事，就是要通过自己收集的材料来澄清事实。He said: 余以为鸿河巨渎，故应不为细梗踬湍；长津硕浪，无宜以微物屯流。斯水之所以涛波者，盖《史记》所云：魏文侯二十六年，虢山崩，壅河所致耳。 郦道元之言，依据是《史记·魏世家》：“【魏文侯】二十六年，虢山崩，雍河。”《正义》引《括地志》云：“虢山在陕州陕县西二里，临黄河，今临河有冈阜，似是颓山之余也。”由此可见，郦道元的说法，是有史料根据的。陈桥驿先生对此有这样的评价：“戴延之【《西征记》撰者】却只凭道听途说，连《史记》这样的权威著作都未曾查阅一下，宜有此误。当然，在古代这个充满牛鬼蛇神的传奇故事的社会里，戴延之记下了这种荒谬传说并不足怪，因为在当时，像郦道元这样具有科学思想而又愿意寻根究底的人，毕竟是少数。” 有史料依据，或经过自己实地考察，从而得出正确的结论，这样的记载在《水经注》中不乏其例。然而，由于文献缺乏，足迹难至，对于这样的地区所流传的神怪故事，郦道元的态度如何呢？我们不妨看看《水经注》关于钱塘江涌潮所引起的潮神记载。在《水经注》第四十卷“渐江水”篇，郦道元在“北过余伉，东入于海”条目下注云： 县东有定、包诸山，皆西临浙江。水流于两山之间，江川急浚兼涛，水昼夜再来，来应时刻，常以月晦及望尤大，至二月、八月最高，峨峨二丈有余。《吴越春秋》以为子胥、文种之神也。昔子胥亮于吴，而浮尸于江，吴人怜之，立祠于江上，名曰胥山。《吴录》云：胥山在太湖边，去江不百里，故曰江上。文种诚于越，而伏剑于山阴，越人哀之，葬于重山，文种既葬一年，子胥从海上负种俱去，游夫江海，故潮水前扬波者，伍子胥；后重水者，大夫种。是以枚乘曰：涛无记焉。然海水上潮，江水逆流，似神而非，于是处焉。 身居北方，而且当时还是处于南北分治的状态，郦道元不可能亲历实地，去观察钱塘江涌潮现象，因此，对于涌潮这一特殊的自然现象，郦道元只能借助其他文献来加以解释，于是，在注文中的文献涉及了枚乘的《七发·观涛》。枚乘的这篇文章，对涌潮描绘，颇有些骇人听闻。在科学并不发达的古代，面对这一特异的自然现象，谁也无法作出合理的、科学的解释，所以相关的记载就不可避免地要涉及荒诞。郦道元自然也无法对这一特异现象作出科学的解释，然而，在无法得出正确答案时，郦道元既不轻下断语，他也不会轻信《吴越春秋》“以为子胥、文种之神也”的说法，他只是给这一特异现象作了一个充满疑虑的简单的概括：“似神而非。”陈桥驿先生对郦道元的这个概括作了一个恰如其分的评价：“'似神而非'，意思就是说，事情确实神奇，但并不是伍子胥和文种所引起。由于他没有目击过这种现象，也找不到记载这种现象的可靠文献，所以他无法像批判铜翁仲那样说出一番道理。但对于伍子胥和文种与这种自然现象的关系，他显然是不屑议论的。所以就简单地用'似神而非'四字结束这个荒诞的故事。”而对于郦道元的这一概括源自何处，陈桥驿先生也作了详细的辨析，他说：“有人认为郦道元之所以不信伍子胥和文种与涌潮的关系，是受了王充《论衡》的影响。因为《论衡·书虚篇》中有一段有关这个问题的话：'传书言，吴王夫差杀伍子胥，煮之于镬，乃以鸱夷橐投之于江。子胥恚恨，驱水为涛，以溺杀人。今时会稽、丹徒大江，钱塘浙江，皆立子胥之庙，盖欲以慰其恨心，止其猛涛也。夫言吴王杀子胥，投之于江，实也；言其恨恚，驱水为涛者，虚也。'《书虚篇》中在上述文字以后，还有一大段约900字的文章，用以证明子胥恚恨而为涛的无稽。在全部郦注中，卷五《河水》经'又东过平县北，湛水从北来注之'注中，曾引及《论衡》一次。说明郦道元确实是读过《论衡》的。不过在《渐江水注》中，他没有引及《论衡》的话，可能是因为他认为涌潮无关乎子胥、文种，这是理所当然，用不着引述《论衡》；也可能是他认为《论衡》虽然驳斥了涌潮与子胥、文种的关系，但毕竟没有讲出涌潮的道理，所以他无须引目。因此，他在《渐江水注》对涌潮所作'似神而非'的结论，是否受到《论衡》的影响，这里无法肯定。”为了进一步说明自己的观点，陈先生又指出：“与王充习惯用第一人称表达自己的意见迥异，郦道元常常借古人古书表达自己的意见。例如卷十九《渭水》经'又东过霸陵县北，霸水从西北流注之'注云：《汉武帝故事》曰：'【汉武】帝崩后见形，谓陵令薛平曰：吾虽失势，犹为汝君，奈何令吏卒上吾陵磨刀剑乎？自今以后，可禁之。平顿首谢，因不见。推问陵旁，果有方石，可以为砺，吏卒常盗磨刀剑。霍光欲斩之，张安世曰：神道茫昧，不宜为法，乃止。'这里，'神道茫昧，不宜为法'这句话，虽然是从《汉武帝故事》中引及的张安世所说的话，但郦道元却以此表达了他自己的意见。”陈先生关于这段注文的考辨，确实很有道理，而对“神道茫昧，不宜为法”的阐释，也确实合乎郦道元的治水思想，道出了郦道元治水思想的实质所在。 《水经注》作为中国古代独一无二的地理著作，它在中国古代文化发展史上的地位，乃至它在每位读者心目中的地位，都应该是至高无上的： 宏富。博大。精深。严谨。完备…… 举世无双。独一无二。包罗万象。史诗巨著…… 与《史记》双璧交映。用江河讲述中华文明史…… 这一切的赞语，一切的称颂，对于《水经注》而言，似乎都不过分！能够享受这份殊荣的文献经典，在中国不多！在世界也不多！ 郦道元为我们创造了一个奇迹！ 郦道元为我们创造了一个神话！ 【夏汉宁：江西省社科院文学研究所所长】