B.C., in the compass of a few pages. In the classification of the Books of the Shû, according to their subject-matter, this is rightly considered as a Canon. The first section of it is divided into one short introductory chapter, and nine others, each containing the account of one province.
Section 1.
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.
- ↑ Kî Kâu embraced the present provinces of Shan-hsî, K'ih-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 Ki Kâu and the other provinces.
