The Commentary to the River Classic was written by the Northern Wei scholar Li Daoyuan 酈道元. The classic itself has been compiled in the years of the Three Kingdoms period as can be seen from the names of the counties and commanderies. It has long been attributed to the Jin scholar Guo Pu 郭璞. While the Classic gives a simple report of the origin and the course of the rivers, the commanderies that are crossed, the tributary rivers and the mouth of the rivers, the Commentary presents many interesting aspects of the localities. This work does has not only have geographical importance: it shows how important the element water was for Chinese culture. The commentary presents much examples of secondary literature to us, of which a great part is long lost, about many themes from geography to local tales. But the Commentary to the River Classic does not go so far as the Shanhaijing, to give reports of strange events or appearings. It is rather a clear scientific report of Chinese waterways. The main work it can be compared with is the Yugong 禹貢 "Tribute of Yu" , a chapter of the Shangshu. The following translation gives an overview of the classic (text in red) and the commentary with its many citations of secondary literature.	Chapters of the Shuijingzhu
	Exemplarious translation: １．河水一 【經】崑崙墟在西北， 【注】三成為崑崙丘．《崑崙說（記）》曰：「崑崙之山三級．下曰樊桐，一名板桐．二曰玄圃，一名閬風．上曰層城，一名天庭．是為太帝之居．」 【經】去嵩高五萬里，地之中也． 【注】《禹本紀》與此同．高誘稱，河出崑山，伏流地中萬三千里，禹導而通之，出積石山．按《山海經》，自崑崙至積石一千七百四十里．自積石出隴西郡至洛，準地志可五千餘里．又按《穆天子傳》，天子自崑崙山入于宗周，乃里西土之數．自宗周瀍水以西，北至于河宗之邦，陽紆之山，三千有四百里，自陽紆西至河首，四千里，合七千四百里．《外國圖》又云：「從大晉國正西七萬里，得崑崙之墟，諸仙居之．」數說不同．道阻且長，經記緜禠，水陸路殊，徑復不同，淺見末聞，非所詳究，不能不聊述聞見，以誌差違也． 【經】其高萬一千里． 【注】《山海經》稱，方八百里，高萬仞．郭景純以為自上二千五百餘里．《淮南子》稱，高萬一千里百一十四步二尺六寸． The (Yellow) River Classic: The Kunlun Mountain Range is in the northeast, Commentary: The Kunlun massif consists of three geological terraces. The Kunlunji ("Report of the Kunlun Mountains") says, "Mount Kunlun is made from three terraces, the lower terrace is called Fantong or Bantong, the middle terrace is called Xuanpu or Langfeng, the upper terrace, where the Highest Deity lives, is called Cengcheng or Tianting ("Heavenly Palace")." Classic: 50,000 leagues from Mount Song (modern Henan). This mountain range is just the middle of the earth. Commentary: The Yu Benji ("Imperial Biography of Emperor Yu") says the same. Gao You says, the Yellow River comes from the Kun(lun) Mountain, it flows creeping into the middle lands, 13,000 leagues long. Yu the Great routed the Yellow River and made him a bed, opening at the Jishi Mountain. According to the Shanhaijing ("Classic of Mountains and Seas"), the distance from the Kunlun to the Jishi Mountain is 1,740 leagues, and from the place where the river comes from Mt. Jishi in Longxi Commandery down to River Luo in the plain land, more than 5,000 leagues are measured. Further, the Mu Tianzi Zhuan ("Story of King Mu"), reports that the Son of Heaven came from Mt. Kunlun to the capital Zongzhou, after he had taken a geographical survey of the western regions. From River Chan near Zongzhou to the west (that is, river up, not really west, but in northern direction along the river bend), north until the region of Hezong and Mt. Yangyu, he measured 3,400 leagues, and from Mt. Yangyu to the source of the river in the west, there are 4,000 leagues, totally 7,400 leagues. The Waiguotu ("Maps of Foreign Countries") says further, from the country of the Great Jin Dynasty 70,000 leagues straight to the west, is Mount Kunlun where all immortals live. We can see that all these reports tell different geographical figures. The way to Mount Kunlun is far and difficult, the reports are confuse and accidently; there are only few waterways and streets, and even these few run in different places; only few people have seen or even heard from these places, and nobody has made further investigations. We cannot but write down what others have seen and heard to report only mistakes and errors. Classic: It is 11,000 leagues high. Commentary: The Shanhaijing says, it is 800 leagues long and 10,000 fathoms high. Guo Jingchun thinks that it is more than 2,500 leagues high, from the real top. The Huainanzi says, it is 11,000 leagues 114 steps 2 feet and 6 inch high. 【經】河水 【注】《春秋說題辭》曰：「河之為言荷也．荷精分布，懷陰引度也．」《釋名》曰：「河，下也．隨地下處ㄦ通流也．」《考異郵》曰：「河者，水之氣，四瀆之精也，所以流化．」《元命苞》曰：「五行始焉，萬物之所由生，元氣之腠液也．」．．． 【經】出其東北陬， 【注】《山海經》曰：「崑崙墟在西北，河水出其東北隅．」《爾雅》曰：「色白，所渠並千七百，一川，色黃．」《物理論》曰：「河色黃者，眾川之流，蓋濁之也．百里一小曲，千里一曲一直矣．」漢大司馬張仲《議》曰：「河水濁，清澄，一石水，六斗泥．而民競溉ｉ田，令河不通利．至三月桃花水至，則河決，以其噎不洩ｅ也．禁民勿復引河．是黃河兼濁河之名矣．」．．． 【經】屈從其東北流，入于渤海．【注．．．】 Classic: The (Yellow) River Commentary: Chunqiu Shuo Tici ("Thematical Words as Explanation to the Spring and Autumn Classic") says: The River (He) can be called a water lily (or lotus; he); the essence of the water lily spreads all around, hiding the dark principles by attiring right measurements. The Shiming Dictionary says, the River is something flowing down, because it follows the terrain to the lowest place and seeks its way through it. The Kaoyiju ("Lodge of Investigating Strange Things") says, the River is the universal breath of the element water, the essence of the four great streams (Yellow River 河, Yangtse 江, Huai 淮, and Ji 濟), and through this essence things are able to liquidize. The Yuanmingbao ("Buds of the Primary Mandate") says, the River is the begin of the Five Elements, it is the source of the ten thousand beings, it is muscle and secretion of the primary universal breath. [...] has its source in the northeastern foothills of the Kunlun Range. Commentary: The Shanhaijng says, the Kunlun Range is in the northwest, and the Yellow River comes from the northeastern corner of it. The Erya Dictionary says, it is a colorless river, but the 1,700 tributary rivers make its color becoming yellow. The book Wulilun ("About Physical Matters") says, the color of the River is yellow because the many tributary rivers make the water muddy. Every hundred leagues is a small bend, and every thousand leagues is a great bend, whichafter the river agains flows in straight direction. The Discussions of the Great Marshal Zhang Zhong of the Han Dynasty says, the water of the Yellow River is very muddy. If you separate clear and dirty parts by sedimentation, you see that one picul of water contains six pecks of mud. When the peasant people compete with each other to irrigate their fields, they dam up the water. Only in the third month, during the peach blossom and when the snow-break effects a water rush, the dams are opened, that the accumulated water does not dissipate all over. After this, is is forbidden to dam up again the Yellow River. This is why the River is also called Yellow (Muddy) River. [...] Classic: (The Yellow River) starts from this northeastern corner and flows into the Yellow Sea (Bohai Gulf). [Commentary] 【經】又出海外，南至積石山，下有石門，河水冒以西南流．【注．．．】 Classic: After the Yellow River has come from outside China, is flows south to Mount Jishi. There is a narrow gorge called Stonegate, through which the river hastens to the southwest. [Commentary] ２．河水二 【經】又南入蔥嶺山，又從蔥嶺出而東北流，【注．．．】 Classic: It goes further to the south, to Mount Congling, and from there, the Yellow River flows to the northeast. (We can follow the Classic now along the upper course of the Yellow River to the northeast and then east along the great river bend. As this area is very dry, we will not find any tributary rivers, at least not in this book.) ３．河水三 (In this chapter, we still follow the river along the great northern bend until it changes the direction to south.) ４．河水四 ．．．【經】又南出龍門口，汾水從東來注之．【注．．．】【經】又南過汾陰縣西．【注．．．】【經】又南過蒲坂縣西．【注．．．】【經】又南至華陽潼關，渭水從西來注之．【注．．．】【經】又東過河北縣南．【注．．．】【經】又東過陜縣北．【注．．．】 [...] Classic: Further to the south, the river comes out of the Longmen Gorge, and from the east, River Fen tributes its water. [Commentary] Further to the south, the river passes west of Fenyin County. [Commentary] Further to the south, the river passes west of Puban County. [Commentary] Further to the south, the river arrives at Tongguan Pass in Huayang (County), and from the west, River Wei tributes its water. [Commentary] Further to the east (here is the great river bend from south to east in southwest of modern Shanxi), the river passes south of Hebei County. Further the the east, the river passes north of Shaan County. [...] ５．河水五 (We follow the course of the Yellow River further to the east, when the small River Zhan 湛水 and River Luo 洛水 flow into the Yellow River. For the first time, River Ji 濟水 contributes its floods to the Yellow River, but only to separate again the waters from it. It goes its own course and flows again into the Yellow River shorty before its mouth at the sea. We have further the tributary rivers Qin 沁水 and Qi 淇水. But there are also lots of rivers separating from the main stream in the vast Yellow River delta. We first find the Langdang Canal 蒗蕩渠, then the Huzi 瓠子河 Branch, and finally the Shang Branch 商河. The landscape of the delta and the course of the rivers has changed profoundly since Li Daoyuan's days, compare the map below.) Translated by Ulrich Theobald.