ChinaKnowledge.de -
An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History and Literature

Dongnan shuili lüe 東南水利略

Dec 16, 2013 © Ulrich Theobald

Dongnan shuili lüe 東南水利略 "Concise Reprot on River Conservancy in the Southwest" is a book on river conservancy compiled by the Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Ling Jiexi 凌介禧, original name Ling Xingzhu 凌杏洙, courtesy name Shaoming 少茗. He hailed from Wuxing 吳興 and was a private writer an publisher.

In 1883, when the whole region was inundated, he and circuit intendant Wang Fengsheng 王鳳生 suggested to the throne some measures to bring disaster relief. Later on these methods found their way into his book. It is 6-juan long and was published by the Ruizhu Xianguan Studio 蕊珠仙館. The book begins with 26 maps of the region of Lake Taihu 太湖 and its water system, from Nanjing at the Yangtze River, to the sea. The book is very important because it fills a gap in the reports about waterways in that region, about which not a lot of books were written. It gives insight into the practical management of hydraulic works in early modern China.

Source:
Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰, eds. (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典 (Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe), Vol. 1, 1068.