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The Du fangyu jiyao 讀方輿紀要 "Important notes on reading the geographies of the empire" is a comment on books on geography written by the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Gu Zuyu 顧祖禹. The original title was Ershiyishi fangyu jiyao 二十一史方輿紀要 "Important notes on the treatises of geography in the twenty-one official dynastic histories". It is therefore also known with the title Du shi fangyu jiyao 讀史方輿紀要 "Important notes on the imperial geography made during the lecture of the histories". The book is 120 juan "scrolls" long. In the first part Gu Zuyu gives a general overview of the territorial extent of the empires through history and an insight into the local administration. The largest part, 114 juan, deal with the geographic history of the Ming empire 明 (1368-1644), the precursor of the Qing. For the two capitals and the 13 regional administration zones, the "provinces", Gu gives a detailed account on physical geography, administration, borders, garrisons, touristic spots, fords and passes, and historical events. In a 6 juan long part (Chuandu yitong 川凟異同 "Different and identical information about rivers and streams") Gu Zuyu deals with the course of important rivers and canals through history, as well as with the maritime border. The last juan (Fenye 分野 "Divisions of the wilderness") deals with borderlands (?). An appendix of 4 juan called Yutu yaolan 輿圖要覽 "Important overview of the geography" provides maps to the provinces, borderlands, the Yellow River and the maritime transport route from the lower Yangtse area to Beijing, the Grand Canal, as well as foreign countries like Korea, Annam, Southeast Asian and Central Asian countries.
The Fangyu jiyao was finished during the early Qing period when information about the Ming period geography was not yet systematically gathered. The first draft therefore had to be revised thoroughly. Extant versions of the draft and of the final product differ considerably. A copy of the draft is preserved in the Shanghai Library, as well as a manuscript. The oldest preserved printing is from 1811 from the Longwanyufu wenge Studio 龍萬育敷文閣.
Source: Zhao Yongfu 趙永復 (1992). "Du fangyu jiyao 讀方輿紀要", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書， Zhongguo lishi 中國歷史, vol. 1, pp. 193-194. Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe.
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