confined within its proper limits. The (waters of that of) Ko were led to (the marsh of) Măng-kû.
The soil of this province was mellow; in the lower parts it was (in some places) rich, and (in others) dark and thin. Its fields were the highest of the middle class; and its contribution of revenue was the average of the highest class, with a proportion of the very highest. Its articles of tribute were varnish, hemp, fine cloth of dolichos fibre, and the bœhmerea. The baskets were full of chequered silks, and of fine floss silk. Stones for polishing sounding-stones were rendered when required.
They floated along the Lo, and so reached the Ho.
9. The south of (mount) Hwâ and the Black-water were (the boundaries of) Liang Kâu[1].
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) Zhâi and Mâng on the regulation (of the country about them).* (The country of) the wild tribes about the Ho was successfully operated on.
- ↑ 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.
