Liǎnghé qīnghuì 兩河清彙
Compendium on the Two Rivers (Yellow River and Grand Canal) by 薛鳳祚 (Xuē Fèngzuò, 1628–1680) — zhuàn 撰
About the work
An 8-juan early-Qīng compendium on the Yellow River and the Grand Canal, by the Qīngzhōu (Shāndōng) calendrical-mathematician Xuē Fèngzuò — one of the foremost early-Qīng practitioners of Western mathematical astronomy and the Qīngzhōu xué school. The work integrates Pān Jìxùn’s late-Míng Héfáng yīlǎn and Cuī Wéiyǎ’s early-Qīng Héfáng materials with Xuē’s own original essays. Volume 1 opens with maps of the Yellow River and the Grand Canal; vols. 1–4 cover the Grand Canal from ChāngpíngTōngzhōu in the north to Zhèjiāng in the south, with detailed coverage of rivers, lakes, and spring-source feeding; vols. 5–6 cover the Yellow River with treatment of officials, labor levies, route-distances, and a chronicle of dynastic management achievements; vol. 7 transcribes Pān Jìxùn’s Héfáng biànhuò and Cuī Wéiyǎ’s Chúyì and Huòwèn dialogues; vol. 8 is Xuē’s own composition, with subsections Chúlùn, Xiūshǒu shìyí, Héfáng xùyán, Héfáng yǒnglài. Notes a misguided proposal to revive Yuán-era sea-transport to parallel the canal — judged by the Sìkù compilers as the work’s lone defect.
Tiyao
We respectfully note: this is the work of Xuē Fèngzuò 薛鳳祚 of our dynasty. Fèngzuò has the Shèngxué zōngchuán, already catalogued. Although Fèngzuò also studied under the masters of moral-philosophy lecturing, his learning issued from Lù Shànjì 鹿善繼 and Sūn Qíféng 孫奇逢, advocating the practical application of useful knowledge. Hence his arithmetic, received from the Westerner Mu Niccolò 穆尼閣 (Smogulecki?), brought him fame as an astronomer. At the founding of the dynasty, those who spoke of calendrical methods placed him uniquely among the masters; this is what Méi Wéndǐng’s Wùān lìsuànshū jì called the Qīngzhōu xué — the Qīngzhōu school. He also penetrated thoroughly into geography; hence he was able to investigate in detail the merits and demerits of the Two Rivers, and on this basis composed the present book.
The opening lists maps of the Yellow River and Grand Canal. Juan 1 to juan 4 deal with the topography of canal repair and construction — north from Chāngpíng and Tōngzhōu, south to Zhèjiāng — with the various items of rivers, lakes, and spring-waters all set out in detail. Juan 5 and 6 deal exclusively with the Yellow River’s officials, labor-levies, route-distances, and the achievements of management of successive dynasties through to the present dynasty. Juan 7 records the previous Míng’s Pān Jìxùn’s Héfáng biànhuò, and our dynasty’s Cuī Wéiyǎ’s Chúyì and Huòwèn — the two books. Juan 8 is what Fèngzuò himself composed: titled Chúlùn (Discussions on the Bank), Xiūshǒu shìyí (Affairs of Maintenance), Héfáng xùyán (Continuing Words on River Defense), Héfáng yǒnglài (Eternal Reliance for River Defense).
The book draws on the past and present, with its proofs on the merits and demerits of river-defense fairly clearly demonstrated. Only the chapter on sea-transport, which proposes to revive the old Yuán-era transport route to parallel the canal-river — this still inherits the old bequest of Qiū Jùn 邱濬, and is round-and-erroneous and far from the situation of the matter — accordingly constituting the small flaw in the white jade. Without this, the work would be impeccable.
Abstract
The Liǎnghé qīnghuì is the principal early-Qīng compendium on Yellow River and Grand Canal management, integrating the late-Míng Héfáng yīlǎn tradition of Pān Jìxùn (KR2k0066) and Cuī Wéiyǎ’s early-Qīng Héfáng materials with Xuē Fèngzuò’s own original engineering essays. Its author Xuē Fèngzuò (1628–1680, zì Yífǔ 儀甫, hào Liùyī 六漪 / Liùjiè 六介; CBDB record by alternate id) was one of the foremost early-Qīng practitioners of Western mathematical astronomy: a student of the Polish Jesuit Mikołaj Smogulecki (sinicized 穆尼閣 MùNígé, 1611–1656) on Western mathematical astronomy, and the principal of the Qīngzhōu xué (Qīngzhōu School) of mathematical astronomy that Méi Wéndǐng’s Wùān lìsuànshū jì identifies as the rival to Méi’s own Xuānchéng pài. The work’s distinctive feature is the application of kǎojù and mathematical methodology to traditional hydraulic-engineering literature.
The Sìkù tíyào identifies one substantive defect: the chapter on sea-transport advocates the revival of the Yuán-era Bohai-Sea sea-grain-transport route to parallel the canal — judged by the Sìkù compilers (correctly, given the Qīng’s commitment to the canal monopoly) as a misguided revival of Qiū Jùn’s late-Míng proposal. The text is preserved in the Wényuāngé Sìkù quánshū (vol. 579.3).
Translations and research
No English translation. The Smogulecki–Xuē Fèng-zuò mathematical-astronomical exchange is the subject of: Michael J. Saletnik, “Mikołaj Smogulecki SJ and Astronomy in Late-Ming China,” Annals of the Xavier Centre 26 (2014); Catherine Jami, The Emperor’s New Mathematics: Western Learning and Imperial Authority during the Kangxi Reign (Oxford, 2012); Benjamin Elman, On Their Own Terms: Science in China, 1550–1900 (Harvard, 2005). For the Qīng-zhōu xué see Wáng Yáng-zōng 王揚宗, Xīxué dōng-jiàn yǔ Zhōng-Xī shù-xué jiāo-liú 西學東漸與中西數學交流 (Hé-běi rénmín, 2007). For the hydraulic content see Yáo Hàn-yuán, Zhōngguó shuǐlì shǐ (1987).
Other points of interest
The Liǎnghé qīnghuì is one of the few early-Qīng hydraulic monographs to integrate Western mathematical methods (drawn from Smogulecki) with traditional engineering literature — though the Sìkù tíyào does not draw out this aspect explicitly. Méi Wéndǐng’s Wùān lìsuànshū jì identifies the Qīngzhōu xué as a major early-Qīng tradition rivalling Méi’s Xuānchéng pài, but most of Xuē’s strictly mathematical works did not survive to the Sìkù; the Liǎnghé qīnghuì is the principal preserved monument of the school.