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Li Daoyuan

Northern Wei official from Fanyang who wrote the Commentary on the Water Classic and was killed by Xiao Baoyin while on a mission to the west in 527

Also known as Zi Shanzhang

Li Daoyuan, courtesy name Shanchang, came from Zhuo county in Fanyang (modern Zhuozhou, Hebei) and inherited his father Li Fan's title as Earl of Yongning. He served as aide in Jizhou, governor of Luyang and Dongjingzhou, and intendant of Henan, and the Book of Wei (Weishu) lists him among its harsh officials. In 525 he put down the revolt of Yuan Fasheng at Xuzhou, and as censor-in-chief he impeached the powerful without fear, earning the enmity of Yuan Yue, Prince of Runan. In 527 Yuan Yue had him sent as commissioner to the lands west of the passes; Xiao Baoyin, governor of Yongzhou, suspecting a plot, besieged him at the Yinpan post station and killed him with his brother and two sons. His Commentary on the Water Classic (Shuijing zhu), in forty chapters, describes the waterways of the realm and the places along them. Collations by Quan Zuwang, Zhao Yiqing and Dai Zhen in the Qing and Yang Shoujing's subcommentary made it the subject of a field called Li studies.

Life and times

  1. c. 466 CEBornNorthern and Southern
  2. 527 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Prose42
    1. Commentary on the Water ClassicNorthern and SouthernLi Daoyuan's Northern Wei commentary tracing 1,252 waterways and their lands, in forty juan
    2. Commentary on the Water Classic: Yellow RiverNorthern and Southern
    3. Commentary on the Water Classic: Yellow RiverNorthern and Southern
    4. Commentary on the Water Classic: Yellow RiverNorthern and Southern
    5. Commentary on the Water Classic: Yellow RiverNorthern and Southern
    6. +25 more
      1. Commentary on the Water Classic: Yellow RiverNorthern and Southern
      2. Commentary on the Water Classic: Fen, Kuai, Su, Wen, Yuangong, Dongguo, Jin and Zhan RiversNorthern and Southern
      3. Commentary on the Water Classic: Ji RiverNorthern and Southern
      4. Commentary on the Water Classic: Ji RiverNorthern and Southern
      5. Commentary on the Water Classic: Qing, Qin, Qi, Dang and Huan RiversNorthern and Southern
      6. Commentary on the Water Classic: Zhuozhang and Qingzhang RiversNorthern and Southern
      7. Commentary on the Water Classic: Yi and Kou RiversNorthern and Southern
      8. Commentary on the Water Classic: Sheng and Juma RiversNorthern and Southern
      9. Commentary on the Water Classic: Lei RiverNorthern and Southern
      10. Commentary on the Water Classic: Shiyu, Gu, Baoqiu, Ru, Daliao, Xiaoliao and Pei RiversNorthern and Southern
      11. Commentary on the Water Classic: Luo, Yi, Chan and Jian RiversNorthern and Southern
      12. Commentary on the Water Classic: Gu, Gan, Qi, Chan and Ju RiversNorthern and Southern
      13. Commentary on the Water Classic: Wei RiverNorthern and Southern
      14. Commentary on the Water Classic: Wei RiverNorthern and Southern
      15. Commentary on the Water Classic: Wei RiverNorthern and Southern
      16. Commentary on the Water Classic: Yang and Dan RiversNorthern and Southern
      17. Commentary on the Water Classic: Ru RiverNorthern and Southern
      18. Commentary on the Water Classic: Ying, Wei, Yi and Zhen Rivers; the Qu Canal (Sha River)Northern and Southern
      19. Commentary on the Water Classic: Yingou, Bian and Huo RiversNorthern and Southern
      20. Commentary on the Water Classic: Sui, Huzi and Wen RiversNorthern and Southern
      21. Commentary on the Water Classic: Si, Yi and Zhu RiversNorthern and Southern
      22. Commentary on the Water Classic: Shu, Juyang, Zi, Wen, Wei and Jiao RiversNorthern and Southern
      23. Commentary on the Water Classic: Mian RiverNorthern and Southern
      24. Commentary on the Water Classic: Mian RiverNorthern and Southern
      25. Commentary on the Water Classic: Mian, Qian, Tuan, Jun, Fen, Bai and Bi RiversNorthern and Southern
    7. Open all works→
  2. Literature · Sayings3
    1. Layer upon Layer of CliffsNorthern and SouthernIdiom from Li Daoyuan's Commentary on the Water Classic: ranks of towering cliffs
    2. Setting Out at Dawn and Arriving by DuskNorthern and SouthernIdiom from Li Daoyuan's Commentary on the Water Classic: from Baidi to Jiangling in a day
    3. Cliffs That Hide the Sky and Blot Out the SunNorthern and SouthernIdiom from Li Daoyuan's Commentary on the Water Classic: the Three Gorges' walls of rock