Commentary on the Water Classic

The Commentary on the Water Classic or Shui Jing Zhu is a work on the ancient geography of China, describing the traditional understanding of its waterways and ancient canals, compiled by Li Daoyuan during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534 AD). The book is divided into sections by river, each described with its source, course, and major tributaries, including cultural and historical notes.

The work is much expanded from its source text, the older (and now lost) Water Classic (Shuijing). The original text described 137 different rivers in China and was traditionally credited to Sang Qin (桑欽) during the Han dynasty. Qing-dynasty scholars gave it a later date (during the Three Kingdoms period) because of the names of the counties and commanderies. Its authorship was then attributed to Jin Dynasty scholar Guo Pu. Li Daoyuan's 40-volume, 300,000-character version includes 1252 rivers.

Although very thorough for its time, it did repeat the earlier mistake of the "Tribute of Yu" in viewing the Min as the headwaters of the Yangtze. It was not until the Ming dynasty that Xu Xiake correctly listed the Jinsha as the principal source.

Sima Hui

Sima Hui (birth and death dates unknown), courtesy name Decao (德操) and pseudonym Shuijing (水鏡; lit. "Water Mirror"), was a hermit who lived in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He was from Yingchuan (present-day Yuzhou City, Henan) and lived in northern Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan). He was popularly remembered as the one who recommend Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong to Liu Bei in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, while it was actually his friend Pang Degong who did it in history.

Haohao Xiansheng

Sima Hui was known to never mention others' shortcomings or flaws. His reply to both good and bad news would always be "hao" (好; lit. "good" or "yes"). When someone asked him, "How are you?", he replied, "Good." When somebody told him that their son had died, he said, "Very good." His wife chided him for that, saying, "Everyone sees you as a person of good moral conduct so they are willing to share their problems with you. Why do you say 'very good' when someone tells you that his son had died?" Sima Hui replied, "It's also good to hear what you've just said." This gave rise to the Chinese idiom haohao xiansheng (好好先生; lit. "Mr. Yes" or "Mr. Good").