HSIÂ is the dynastic designation under which Yü and his descendants held the throne for 439 years (B.C. 2205-1767). On the conclusion of his labours, according to what was the universally accepted tradition in the Kâu period, Yü was appointed by Yâo to be earl of Hsiâ, a small principality in Ho-nan, identified with the present Yü-kâu, department Khâi-făng, which thus still retains the name of Yü. It has been repeatedly said in the Introduction that the Tribute of Yü describes what was done before the death of Yâo. The reason why it got its place as the first of the Books of Hsiâ was, no doubt, because the merit set forth in it was the ground of Yü's advancement to the throne. Altogether the Books of Hsiâ are properly no more than three;--a fact which shows that in so early a period the duty of the recorder was little exercised, or that the destruction of its monuments in the course of time was nearly complete. We may assume that it was in consequence of both of these things that, when the collection of the Shû was made, only three documents of Hsiâ were found, to go into it. The word 'Tribute' in the name of this first Book is not to be understood only in the sense of a contribution paid by one nation to another in acknowledgment of subjection, but also as the contribution of revenue paid by subjects to their proper ruler. The term, moreover, gives a very inadequate idea of the contents, which describe generally the labours of Yü in remedying the disasters occasioned by the inundation with which he had to cope, and how he then defined the boundaries of the different provinces, made other important territorial divisions, and determined the quality of the soil in each province, and the proportion of revenue it should pay, with other particulars. The Book, if we could fully credit it, would be a sort of domesday book of China in the twenty-third century 1. Yü divided the land. Following the course of the hills, he cut down the trees. He determined the highest hills and largest rivers (in the several regions). 2. With respect to Kî Kâu 1, he did his work at Hû-khâu, and took effective measures at (the mountains) Liang and Khî. Having repaired the works on Thâi-yüan, he proceeded on to the south of (mount) Yo. He was successful with his labours on Tan-hwâi, and went on to the cross-flowing stream of Kang. The soil of this province was whitish and mellow. Its contribution of revenue was the highest of the highest class, with some proportion of the second. Its fields were the average of the middle class.
The nine branches of the Ho were made to keep their proper channels. Lêi-hsiâ was made a marsh, in which (the waters of) the Yung and the Ȝü were united. The mulberry grounds were made fit for silkworms, and then (the people) came down from the heights, and occupied the grounds (below). The soil of this province was blackish and rich; the grass in it was luxuriant, and the trees grew high. Its fields were the lowest of the middle class. Its contribution of revenue was fixed at what would just be deemed the correct amount; but it was not required from it, as from the other provinces, till after it had been cultivated for thirteen years. Its articles of tribute were varnish and silk, and, in baskets, woven ornamental fabrics. They floated along the Kî and Thâ, and so reached the Ho. 4. The sea and (mount) Tâi were the boundaries of Khing Kâu 2.
The Hwâi and the Î (rivers) were regulated. The (hills) Mang and Yü were made fit for cultivation. (The waters of) Tâ-yeh were confined (so as to form
The (lake of) Phăng-lî was confined to its proper limits, and the sun-birds (= the wild geese) had places
The Kiang and the Han pursued their (common) course to the sea, as if they were hastening to court. The nine Kiang were brought into complete order. The Tho and Khien (streams) were conducted by
The Î, the Lo, the Khan, and the Kien were conducted to the Ho. The (marsh of) Yung-po was
The (hills) Min and Po were made capable of cultivation. The Tho and Khien streams were conducted by their proper channels. Sacrifices were offered to (the hills) Ȝhâi and Mâng on the regulation (of the country about them).* (The country of) the wild tribes about the Ho was successfully operated on.
The Weak-water was conducted westwards. The King was led to mingle its waters with those of the Wei. The Khî and the Khü were next led in a similar way (to the Wei), and the waters of the Fêng found the same receptacle. (The mountains) King and Khî were sacrificed to.* (Those of) Kung-nan and Khun-wû (were also regulated), and (all the way) on to Niâo-shû. Successful measures could now be taken with the plains and swamps, even to (the marsh of) Kû-yeh. (The country of) San-wei was made habitable, and the (affairs of the) people of San-miâo were greatly arranged.
The division of the Book into two sections is a convenient arrangement, but modern, and not always followed. The former section gives a view of Yü's labours in each particular province. This gives a general view of the mountain ranges of the country, and of the principal streams; going on to other labours, subsequently, as was seen in the Introduction, ascribed to Yü,--his conferring lands and surnames, and dividing the whole territory into five domains. The contents are divided into five chapters:--the first, describing the mountains; the second, describing the rivers; the third, containing a summary of all the labours of Yü thus far mentioned; the fourth, relating his other labours; and the fifth, celebrating Yü's fame, and the completion of his work. 1. (Yü) surveyed and described (the hills), beginning with Khien and Khî, and proceeding to mount King; then, crossing the Ho, Hû-khâu, and Leî-shâu, going on to Thâi-yo. (After these came) Tî-kû and Hsî-khăng, from which he went on to Wang-wû; (then there were) Thâi-hang and Mount Hăng, from which he proceeded to the rocks of Kieh, where he reached the sea. (South of the Ho, he surveyed) Hsî-khing, Kû-yü, 64:1 Kî Kâu embraced the present provinces of Shan-hsî, Kih-lî, the three most northern departments of Ho-nan, and the western portion of Liâo-tung. It had the Ho--what we call the Yellow river--on three sides of it. On the west was all that part of the Ho which forms the dividing line between Shen-hsî and Shan-hsî. At the south-western corner of Shan-hsî, the Ho turns to the east: and in Yü's time it flowed eastwards to about the place where Kih-lî, Shan-tung, and Ho-nan all touch, forming the southern boundary of Kî Kâu. Thence it ran north and east, till its waters entered the present gulph of Kih-lî, forming, so far, the eastern boundary of the province. The northern boundary must be left undefined. It would be foreign to the object of the present publication of the Shû, and take too much space, to give notes on the details of Yü's operations in Kî Kâu and the other provinces. 65:1 Yen Kâu was a small province, having the Ho on the north, the Kî on the south, the gulph of Kih-lî on the east, and Yü Kâu, Yü's seventh province, on the west. It embraced the department of Tâ-ming, with portions of those of Ho-kien and Thien-king, in Kih-lî, and the department of Tung-khang, with portions of those of Kî-nan and Yen-kâu, in Shan-tung. 65:2 Khing Kâu, having mount Tâi and Hsü Kâu (the next province) on the west and south, Yen Kâu and the sea on the north-west and the north, and the sea on the east and south, 67:1 The Hwâi was the boundary of Yang Kâu on the north, and we naturally suppose that the other boundary mentioned, the sea, should be referred to the south of the province. If it were really so, Yang Kâu must have extended along the coast as far as Cochin-China, and not a few Chinese scholars argue that it did so. But that no southern boundary of the province is mentioned may rather be taken as proving that when this Book was compiled, the country south of the Kiang--the present Yang-ȝze--was unknown. Along the greater part of its course, the province was conterminous on the west with King Kâu, and in the north-west with Yü Kâu. We may safely assign to it the greater portion of An-hui, and a part of the department of Hwang-kâu, in Hû-pei. All this would be the northern portion of the province. How far it extended southwards into Kê-kiang and Kiang-hsî, it is impossible to say. 68:1 Mount King, which bounded King Kâu on the north, is in the department of Hsiang-yang, Hû-pei, and is called the southern King, to distinguish it from another mountain of the same name farther north in Yung Kâu. Mount Hăng, its southern boundary, is 'the southern mountain of the Canon of Shun in Hăng-kâu department, Hû-nan. Yang Kâu was on the east, and the country on the west was almost unknown. King Kâu contained the greater portion of the present provinces of Hû-pei and Hû-nan, and parts also of Kwei-kâu and Sze-khüan. Some geographers also extend it on the south into Kwang-tung and Kwang-hsî, which is very unlikely. 69:1 Yü Kâu was the central one of Yü's nine divisions of the country, and was conterminous, for a greater or less distance, with all of them, excepting Khing Kâu, which lay off in the east by itself. It embraced most of the present. Ho-nan, stretching also into the east and south, so as to comprehend parts of Shan-tung and Hû-pei. 70:1 Liang Kâu was an extensive province, and it is a remarkable fact that neither the dominions of the Shang nor the Kâu dynasty, which followed Hsiâ, included it. Portions of it were embraced in the Yü and Yung provinces of Kâu, but the greater part was considered as wild, savage territory, beyond the limits of the Middle Kingdom. It is difficult to believe that the great Yü operated upon it, as this chapter would seem to indicate. The Hwâ at its north-eastern corner is the western mountain of Shun. The Black-water, or 'the Kiang of the Golden Sands,' is. identified with the present Lû. The province extended over most of the present Sze-khüan, with parts of Shen-hsî and Kan-sû. I can hardly believe, as many do, that it extended far into Yün-nan and Kwei-kâu. 71:1 The Black-water, which was the western boundary of Yung Kâu, was a different river from that which, with the same name, ran along the south of Liang Kâu. Yung Kâu was probably the largest of Yü's provinces, embracing nearly all the present provinces of Shen-hsî and Kan-sû, and extending indefinitely northwards to the Desert.BOOK I. THE TRIBUTE OF YÜ.
Section 1.
