Li Xiaojie's team at the Research Center for Historical Geography of Fudan University focuses on mountains, rivers, lakes and seas to repaint ancient rivers
Li Xiaojie (front row, first from right) and team members discuss the ruins of Luoyang City in Han Wei. Photo by Huang Xuechao (file photo)
Some members of Li Xiaojie's team inspected the Yusaka Ancient Road in Yuncheng, Shanxi. Profile photo
Editor's note: Since 2011, Li Xiaojie's team from the Research Center for Historical Geography of Fudan University has conducted in-depth research on the "Notes on Water Classics" from the four aspects of school, note, interpretation and figure. The research team not only follows the traditional research methods of historical geography, but also innovates in "precision restoration", using mapping software to present ancient rivers on today's scale maps. So far, the research team has completed the research of 4 river basins such as Weishui and Luoshui, and published a 6-volume collection of achievements.
When I met Li Xiaojie, he was sitting in a pile of books and studying it intently, and he talked about the "Notes on the Water Classic": "This is our encyclopedia of great rivers and rivers more than 1,000 years ago!" ”
The team of Li Xiaojie of the Research Center for Historical Geography of Fudan University has made a high-level study of the difficult "Notes on Water Classics". In the huge project "Illustration of the Annotation of water through the school", listen to the rushing of the great river in the depths of history...
New Notes new painting ——
Rivers cascade to the desk
January 7, 2022, the last discussion before the winter break. The 10-square-meter meeting room was filled with 13 team members and stacks of books taller than people.
Where is the county seat of Jiangdu County recorded in the Notes on water classics? Gong Yingjun posted written evidence and sketches, and others also showed clues, supporting and refuting. The researchers sitting around the long table were: Li Xiaojie, Huang Xuechao, Yang Changyu, Yang Xiaoyang, Yang Zhiyu, Wang Yuhai, Qu Kale, Han Hutai, Gong Yingjun, Yan Weiguang...
Words start from the beginning. The original book of "Water Classic" is minimalist, and the Northern Wei Dynasty Daoyuan Zhuan "Notes" "Water Classic", extensive search and citation, combing and picking, made a huge work of more than 300,000 words, including rivers, cities, counties, people, history, architecture, inscriptions...
Li Daoyuan was full of "water" and flowed to Li Xiaojie's desk. 11 years ago, a student in the classroom asked, "Can the teacher just talk about the Water Sutra?" Li Xiaojie's mind was moved, and he plunged into the study of the "Notes on the Water Classics" from then on.
The "Notes on Water Classics" involves thousands of rivers, lakes, pi, ze, springs, canals, ponds and other water bodies, and records more than 2,800 cities and more than 180 ancient capitals. Rivers have been diverted, cities have been abandoned, some are well-documented, and some are only a few words, and it is difficult and unimaginable to examine the "restoration" one by one. But Li Xiaojie was more energetic. "Thanks to the current academic level and technical means, we can restore accurate maps on scale maps!"
A competition is 11 years. The condensed descriptions that are dormant in the line-bound books are restored one by one by them with "telescopes" and "microscopes". Long-disappeared waterways and water conservancy projects have also been presented one by one.
Why spend such "stupid" effort? Li Xiaojie said: "No matter how complex historical phenomena and research results are, they can be clearly defined through maps. "Maps, often used as a supporting role in the writings of Chinese scholars, have become the protagonists this time, providing an important reference for today's mountain and river governance and landscape transformation."
Where is the exact location of the water bodies and cities in the "Notes on water classics"? From Weishui to Fenshui, Shuishui, Luoshui, and then to huaishui, which is currently being studied, Li Xiaojie's team has been studying intensively for 11 years and carefully restoring - the series of research on "Water Commentary" has been published in six major volumes of achievements.
Intensive study of ancient books——
Repeated examination and careful presentation
The first time I listened to Li Xiaojie talk about "Notes on the Water Classics", Yang Changyu felt that he was very fashionable - the homework of the ancient books class required the use of drawing software to draw the old rivers and rivers on the scale map. Some of the new software, the first to try is always him.
Li Xiaojie handed over his mobile phone and said: "You see, this is the famous water diversion project in Luoyang that has long disappeared - the 3D restoration map of Qianjinbei, I did it!" "For this restoration map that can be dynamically displayed, he and his team have done a lot of text proofreading and fieldwork... Li Xiaojie taught himself 3D modeling software, and repeatedly deduced the scale drawing of "Qianjin Gong" with students, and gradually took shape.
"The picture that cannot be read by the text is presented with scientific research and innovative methods!" It was my greatest pleasure. Li Xiaojie said.
Version verification is also a difficult problem. Since the beginning of the Song Dynasty, there have been many scattered engravings in the "Notes on the Water Classics" and many versions, which one shall prevail? The new annotation and new drawing, the two tasks were carried out simultaneously, and the team sorted out the genealogy of the version of the "Water Commentary".
Deciphering the "big book" requires repeated examination and completion of one word at a time. Others look bored, but they find it interesting. Searching from ancient documents, archaeological finds, high-definition maps, and even in dialect slang contains many clues to crack the Notes on the Water Classics.
In 2015, the first draft of the Weishui study was completed, but it was two years later. From font to typography, from index diagram, schematic diagram to full image, compare and modify over and over again. Even whether the cover should be based on the fragments of the Southern Song Dynasty has been carefully considered. Listening to the suggestions of other scholars, the team identified the longitude and latitude of the key nodes of the river... The integration of traditional methods of governance and new technologies has found a new development direction of historical geography.
Field visits -
Take a walking expedition to find monuments
On paper, it is finally shallow, and the field visit is the truth. The "Water Classic, River Water Notes" records: "The river water is east, the right gate water, the door water, that is, the branch of the Luoshui river flows." "Menshui" actually refers to today's Hongnongjian River, and scholars have always believed that Li Daoyuan's statement that "menshui flows out of luo water into the Yellow River" is wrong, but it does not explain the source and stop point of the men's water.
Will the "gate water" be two rivers, one into the yellow and one into the penluo? Li Daoyuan may not have visited many on the ground, mainly looking at the graphic data, will he mistakenly treat the two rivers as one river? The team is bold in its assumptions and careful in its verification.
The team rushed to the scene, along the Hongnongjian River tributary West Hongnongjian River against the current, to The Zhuyang Town, Lingbao City, Henan Province, Cangzhuyukou, found that the terrain of the canyon turn here is very obvious, climbing to a hill can clearly see that the West Hongnongjian River flows into the Yellow River, and the Xiyu River flows into Luoshui. Since the upper reaches of the Xihongnongjian River are extremely close to the source of the Xiyu River, when drawing maps in ancient times, ink lines may have been connected, which may be the reason why Li Daoyuan recorded that the Menshui river and Luo Ershui were connected.
They walked through Weishui, Fenshui, and Luoshui, and each time they walked back, it was more than half a month. "With your luggage on your back, you are not tired after hiking for more than ten miles, because there are too many problems that need to be solved urgently!" In the evening, Yang Changyu wrote a log until two or three o'clock in the evening, sent an email to Li Xiaojie, adjusted under the guidance of the teacher, and rushed to the next inspection point the next morning.
Huang Xuechao and Yang Zhiyu are both introverts. Picking words in the pile of old papers is as willing as rapture; going to the village and chatting with strangers is difficult to ascend to the sky. When doing Luoshui research, looking for "Xiangyang City", walked to Xiamo Village, Baisha Town, Yichuan County, Henan Province, the two of them were red-faced and hardened their scalps, asking from the head of the village to the end of the village, not much was gained, the sun was about to go down, and they could not understand the dialect, and they were very anxious. Finally, from an elderly villager, I learned where the "Annihilation City" was.
Passing on the torch ——
Set up a team to reserve talents
After the 60s, Li Xiaojie brought out a research team of post-80s and post-90s. He instructed the students: "Dare to challenge, imagine, and be willing to be more realistic, otherwise you will not be able to do good learning." ”
Yang Changyu drew for the first time according to the "Notes on the Water Classics" and stayed up all night. A picture has been modified dozens of times, "Teacher Li is a perfectionist." In Yang Changyu's eyes, Li Xiaojie has more foresight and a mind in addition to academic excellence. "He doesn't ask about the background of the students, as long as he is interested in the "Notes on the Water Classics" and is willing to study it, he will not refuse to come."
In 2018, after Dr. Yang Changyu graduated, when she taught in the History Department of Yunnan University for Nationalities and instructed students to write papers, she would also remember the thesis that Li Xiaojie changed for her, from the framework of the article to the expression of the text, from the word making to the punctuation.
Yang Xiaoyang graduated from Tsinghua University majoring in electronic information engineering and entered an Internet company, but he remembered the Yongding River that flowed through his childhood. 10 years ago, he resigned to apply for a graduate student majoring in historical geography at Fudan University, and he wanted to realize his dream of studying great rivers and rivers. When listening to the discussion class, Yang Xiaoyang opened his mouth, which made people look at it with astonishment - a software-engaged person, who was not willing to speak, but had a unique view of the "Notes on the Water Classic".
Yang Xiaoyang fulfilled his dream. With extraordinary memory, he became a living dictionary in the team, which text appeared in which version, which place name came from which book, he had no choice.
The team of talents has emerged, some continue to cultivate deeply, and some have left the academic circle. "We hope to have a more stable team to pave the way for future research on the Yellow River and the Yangtze River." Li Xiaojie was full of confidence. "I can't finish the water of the Water Commentary until I retire, but I will never give up halfway." Li Xiaojie touched the map of China on the wall and said slowly. (Reporters Li Hongbing and Huang Xiaohui)
Source: People's Daily