1
《夏書》曰：禹抑洪水十三年，過家不入門。 陸行載車，水行載舟，泥行蹈毳，山行即橋。 以別九州，隨山浚川，任土作貢。 通九道，陂九澤，度九山。 然河菑衍溢，害中國也尤甚。 唯是為務。 故道河自積石歷龍門，南到華陰，東下砥柱，及孟津、雒汭，至于大邳。 於是禹以為河所從來者高，水湍悍，難以行平地，數為敗，乃二渠以引其河。 北載之高地，過降水，至于大陸，播為九河，同為逆河，入于勃海九川既疏，九澤既灑，諸夏艾安，功施于三代。
The Xia Shu says that Yu controlled the floods for thirteen years and passed his home without entering. On land, he used carts; on water, boats; in mud, rush mats; and in the mountains, bridges. He set apart the Nine Provinces, dredged the rivers along the mountains, and assigned tribute according to the soil. He opened the Nine Roads, embanked the Nine Marshes, and surveyed the Nine Mountains. But the Yellow River’s flood damage was especially severe in the Central States. That was his only task. So he traced the Yellow River from Jishi through Longmen, south to Huayin, then east down Dizhu, through Mengjin and Luorui, and on to Dapi. Believing the river’s source was high and its current swift and violent, he found it hard to channel across level ground and often failed, so he split it into two channels to divert it. He led it north to higher ground, crossed Jiangshui, reached the Great Plain, spread it into the Nine Rivers, turned them all into reverse-flowing channels, and sent them into the Bohai Sea. Once the Nine Rivers had been dredged and the Nine Marshes drained, the Xia states were at peace, and his achievement endured through the Three Dynasties.
2
自是之後，滎陽下引河東南為鴻溝，以通宋、鄭、陳、蔡、曹、衛，與濟、汝、淮、泗會。 于楚，西方則通渠漢水、雲夢之野，東方則通［鴻］溝江淮之閒。 於吳，則通渠三江、五湖。 於齊，則通菑濟之閒。 於蜀，蜀守冰鑿離碓，辟沫水之害，穿二江成都之中。 此渠皆可行舟，有餘則用溉浸，百姓饗其利。 至于所過，往往引其水益用溉田疇之渠，以萬億計，然莫足數也。
After this, below Xingyang, the Yellow River was drawn southeast to form the Hong Gou, linking Song, Zheng, Chen, Cai, Cao, and Wei and joining the Ji, Ru, Huai, and Si rivers. In Chu, canals were opened to the Han River and the Yunmeng marshes; to the east, the Hong Gou linked the Jiang and Huai rivers. In Wu, canals were opened to the Three Jiang and the Five Lakes. In Qi, canals were opened between the Zi and Ji Rivers. In Shu, Li Bing, the Shu commandery administrator, cut through the Dui Dike, cleared away the damage caused by the Miao River, and drove the two streams through the center of Chengdu. All these canals could carry traffic; when water was abundant, it irrigated the fields and benefited the people. Wherever he went, he often turned the water there into irrigation canals, and the number ran into the tens of thousands, still too many to count.
3
西門豹引漳水溉鄴，以富魏之河內。
Ximen Bao diverted the Zhang River to irrigate Ye, thereby enriching Wei’s He Nei commandery.
4
而韓聞秦之好興事，欲罷之，毋令東伐，乃使水工鄭國閒說秦，令鑿涇水自中山西邸瓠口為渠，并北山東注洛三百餘里，欲以溉田。 中作而覺，秦欲殺鄭國。 鄭國曰：「始臣為閒，然渠成亦秦之利也。」 秦以為然，卒使就渠。 渠就，用注填閼之水，溉澤鹵之地四萬餘頃，收皆畝一鐘。 於是關中為沃野，無凶年，秦以富彊，卒并諸侯，因命曰鄭國渠。
When Han learned that Qin liked undertaking such works, it tried to stop him and forestall an eastern campaign, so it sent the water engineer Zheng Guo to secretly advise Qin to dig a canal from the Jing River at Zhongshan’s western shore to Hukou and then north along the mountains to the east for more than three hundred li, intending to use it for irrigation. Halfway through the work, Qin discovered what was happening and wanted to kill Zheng Guo. Zheng Guo said: “At first I was sent as a spy, but once the canal is finished it will still benefit Qin.” Qin thought this sensible and ultimately had the canal finished. Once it was completed, it diverted stagnant floodwater to irrigate more than forty thousand qing of saline and marshy land, and the harvest reached a full zhong per mu. Guanzhong thereby became fertile ground, harvests no longer failed, Qin grew rich and strong, and in the end it conquered the feudal lords. For this reason, the canal was named the Zheng Guo Canal.
5
漢興三十九年，孝文時河決酸棗，東潰金隄，於是東郡大興卒塞之。
In the thirty-ninth year after the Han rose, during Emperor Xiaowen's reign, the Yellow River burst at Suanzao and broke through the Eastern Golden Dike. Dong Commandery was then mobilized on a large scale to close the breach.
6
其後四十有餘年，今天子元光之中，而河決於瓠子，東南注鉅野，通於淮、泗。 於是天子使汲黯、鄭當時興人徒塞之，輒復壞。 是時武安侯田蚡為丞相，其奉邑食鄃。 鄃居河北，河決而南則鄃無水菑，邑收多。 蚡言於上曰：「江河之決皆天事，未易以人力為彊塞，塞之未必應天。」 而望氣用數者亦以為然。 於是天子久之不事復塞也。
More than forty years later, in the middle years of the present emperor's Yuanguang era, the Yellow River burst at Huzi, flowed southeast into Juye, and joined the Huai and Si rivers. The Son of Heaven accordingly sent Ji An and Zheng Dangshi to raise laborers and block the breach, but each repair broke open again. At the time, Tian Fen, the Marquis of Wu'an, was serving as chancellor, and his appanage lay at Shu. Shu lay north of the Yellow River. If the river breached and ran south, Shu would suffer no flooding, and the estate's revenues would be large. Fen said to the emperor, “Breaches in the Jiang and Yellow River are all matters of Heaven. Human effort cannot easily force them shut, and sealing them may not accord with Heaven's will.” Those who observed qi and made calculations also agreed. For a long time after that, the Son of Heaven made no further attempt to close the breach.
7
是時鄭當時為大農，言曰：「異時關東漕粟從渭中上，度六月而罷，而漕水道九百餘里，時有難處。 引渭穿渠起長安，并南山下，至河三百餘里，徑，易漕，度可令三月罷； 而渠下民田萬餘頃，又可得以溉田：此損漕省卒，而益肥關中之地，得穀。」 天子以為然，令齊人水工徐伯表，悉發卒數萬人穿漕渠，三歲而通。 通，以漕，大便利。 其後漕稍多，而渠下之民頗得以溉田矣。
At this time Zheng Dangshi was superintendent of agriculture. He said, “In earlier times, grain transport from east of the passes went up through the Wei. It took six months to complete the journey, and the route was more than nine hundred li long. If water from the Wei is drawn off and a canal is cut from Chang'an along the foot of the Southern Mountains to the Yellow River, a distance of more than three hundred li, the route will be direct, transport will be easy, and more than ten thousand qing of the people's fields below the canal can also be irrigated. This would reduce transport costs, spare soldiers, and enrich the soil of Guanzhong." The Son of Heaven approved. He ordered Xu Bo, a water engineer from Qi, to mark out the route, and mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers to cut the transport canal for more than three years. Once opened for transport, it proved extremely convenient. Thereafter, transport gradually increased, and the people below the canal were able to irrigate their fields.
8
其後河東守番系言：「漕從山東西，歲百餘萬石，更砥柱之限，敗亡甚多，而亦煩費。 穿渠引汾溉皮氏、汾陰下，引河溉汾陰、蒲阪下，度可得五千頃。 五千頃故盡河壖棄地，民茭牧其中耳，今溉田之，度可得穀二百萬石以上。 穀從渭上，與關中無異，而砥柱之東可無復漕。」 天子以為然，發卒數萬人作渠田。 數歲，河移徙，渠不利，則田者不能償種。 久之，河東渠田廢，予越人，令少府以為稍入。
Later Fan Xi, governor of Hedong, said, “Transport moving west from east of the mountains amounts to more than a million shi each year. It must pass the hazards of Dizhu, where much is lost and costs are burdensome. If canals are cut to draw the Fen River down to irrigate the land below Pishi and Fenyin, and to draw the Yellow River down to irrigate the land below Fenyin and Puban, we estimate that five thousand qing of fields can be obtained. All five thousand qing are abandoned riverbank lands, where the people do little more than cut fodder and pasture animals. If irrigated and farmed, we estimate they could yield more than two million shi of grain. The grain could travel up the Wei like grain from Guanzhong, and east of Dizhu there would no longer be any need for transport.” The Son of Heaven approved and mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers to create canal-irrigated fields. After several years, the Yellow River shifted, the canal became useless, and the farmers could not recover their seed grain. After a long interval, the Hedong canal-fields were abandoned and assigned to people from Yue, and the Privy Treasury was ordered to count them as added revenue.
9
其後人有上書欲通褒斜道及漕事，下御史大夫張湯。 湯問其事，因言：「抵蜀從故道，故道多阪，回遠。 今穿褒斜道，少阪，近四百里； 而褒水通沔，斜水通渭，皆可以行船漕。 漕從南陽上沔入褒，褒之絕水至斜，閒百餘里，以車轉，從斜下下渭。 如此，漢中之穀可致，山東從沔無限，便於砥柱之漕。 且褒斜材木竹箭之饒，擬於巴蜀。」 天子以為然，拜湯子卬為漢中守，發數萬人作褒斜道五百餘里。 道果便近，而水湍石，不可漕。
Later, someone submitted a memorial proposing that the Bao-Xie road be opened and transport arranged through it. The matter was referred to Imperial Counselor Zhang Tang. Tang investigated and said, “To reach Shu by the old route, one must cross many slopes, and the way is long and winding. If the Bao-Xie road is cut through now, there will be fewer slopes, and the route will be nearly four hundred li shorter. The Bao River connects with the Mian, and the Xie River connects with the Wei, so both can be used for boat transport. Transport from Nanyang would go up the Mian River and enter the Bao. From the Bao's headwaters across to the Xie is more than a hundred li, where carts would transfer the cargo; from there it would descend the Xie into the Wei. In this way, the grain of Hanzhong can be brought in, and shipments from east of the mountains by way of the Mian will be without limit. It will be more convenient than transport through Dizhu. Moreover, Bao-Xie has timber, bamboo, and arrow bamboo in abundance, just as Ba and Shu do.” The Son of Heaven approved. He appointed Tang's son Ang as governor of Hanzhong and mobilized tens of thousands of men to build the Bao-Xie road for more than five hundred li. The road was indeed convenient and shorter, but the water was swift and full of rocks, so it could not be used for transport.
10
其後莊熊羆言：「臨晉民願穿洛以溉重泉以東萬餘頃故鹵地。 誠得水，可令畝十石。」 於是為發卒萬餘人穿渠，自徵引洛水至商顏山下。 岸善崩，乃鑿井，深者四十餘丈。 往往為井，井下相通行水。 水穨以絕商顏，東至山嶺十餘里閒。 井渠之生自此始。 穿渠得龍骨，故名曰龍首渠。 作之十餘歲，渠頗通，猶未得其饒。
Later Zhuang Xiongpi said, “The people of Linjin wish to cut a channel from the Luo to irrigate more than ten thousand qing of old saline land east of Chongquan. If water is truly obtained, each mu could yield ten shi.” More than ten thousand soldiers were then mobilized to dig the canal, drawing the Luo River from Zheng to the foot of Mount Shangyan. Because the banks collapsed easily, they dug wells, some more than forty zhang deep. In many places they sank wells and connected them underground to carry the water. The water was made to pass beneath Shangyan and flow eastward for more than ten li between the mountain ridges. The well-canal began from this. While digging the canal, they found dragon bones, and for that reason it was named the Dragon Head Canal. After more than ten years of work, the canal was partly open, but its full benefits had still not been realized.
11
自河決瓠子後二十餘歲，歲因以數不登，而梁楚之地尤甚。 天子既封禪巡祭山川，其明年，旱，乾封少雨。 天子乃使汲仁、郭昌發卒數萬人塞瓠子決。 於是天子已用事萬里沙，則還自臨決河，沈白馬玉璧于河，令群臣從官自將軍已下皆負薪窴決河。 是時東郡燒草，以故薪柴少，而下淇園之竹以為楗。
More than twenty years after the Yellow River breached at Huzi, harvests failed repeatedly, and the lands of Liang and Chu suffered especially badly. After the Son of Heaven performed the fengshan rites, inspected the mountains and rivers, and offered sacrifices to them, drought came the following year, and Qianfeng received little rain. The Son of Heaven then sent Ji Ren and Guo Chang to mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers and close the breach at Huzi. When the Son of Heaven had performed the rites at Wanli Sha, he returned and personally inspected the breached river, sank a white horse and a jade bi into it, and ordered all the officials and attendants, from the generals down, to carry firewood and fill the breach. At that time Dongjun had burned off the grass, and because firewood was scarce, bamboo from the Qi garden was felled and used as stakes.
12
天子既臨河決，悼功之不成，乃作歌曰：「瓠子決兮將柰何？ 皓皓旰旰兮閭殫為河！ 殫為河兮地不得寧，功無已時兮吾山平。 吾山平兮鉅野溢，魚沸郁兮柏冬日。 延道弛兮離常流，蛟龍騁兮方遠遊。 歸舊川兮神哉沛，不封禪兮安知外！ 為我謂河伯兮何不仁，泛濫不止兮愁吾人？ 齧桑浮兮淮、泗滿，久不反兮水維緩。」 一曰：「河湯湯兮激潺湲，北渡污兮浚流難。 搴長茭兮沈美玉，河伯許兮薪不屬。 薪不屬兮衛人罪，燒蕭條兮噫乎何以御水！ 穨林竹兮楗石菑，宣房塞兮萬福來。」 於是卒塞瓠子，筑宮其上，名曰宣房宮。 而道河北行二渠，復禹舊跡，而梁、楚之地復寧，無水災。
When the Son of Heaven came to the breached Yellow River, he grieved that the work was not complete and composed a song: “The Huzi breach! What can be done? Brightly shining, the embankment itself becomes the river! The river floods the land and gives it no peace; the labor never ends, and my mountain is leveled. My mountain is leveled, and Juye overflows; the fish surge and churn like cypress in the winter sun. The dikes break loose, the channel leaves its old course, and the dragons and serpents gallop off to roam far away. Return to the old channel, ah, and the spirit flourishes! Without feng and shan, how can one know the wider world? For my sake, tell the River Lord: why are you so cruel, flooding without end and grieving us people? When the mulberry banks are gnawed away and float, the Huai and Si are full; when it has been away for some time, the water level falls slack.” "The river surges and roars, rushing and rippling; crossing north through the foul current makes dredging hard. Raise the long cattails and sink the jade; if the River Lord agrees, the firewood will not be lacking. If firewood is not lacking, then the fault lies with the people of Wei; if the withered reeds are burned bare, ah, how can one hold back the water! Pile up the forest bamboo and stake the stone dike; once Xuanfang is sealed, ten thousand blessings will surely come.” They finally blocked the Huzi breach, built a palace over it, and named it Xuanfang Palace. Thereafter, they diverted the Yellow River into two channels to the north, restored Yu’s old traces, and the lands of Liang and Chu again became peaceful and free of flood disaster.
13
自是之後，用事者爭言水利。 朔方、西河、河西、酒泉皆引河及川谷以溉田； 而關中輔渠、靈軹引堵水； 汝南、九江引淮； 東海引鉅定； 泰山下引汶水：皆穿渠為溉田，各萬餘頃。 佗小渠披山通道者，不可勝言。 然其著者在宣房。
From that time on, officials vied to speak of water control. In Shuofang, Xihe, Hexi, and Jiuquan, they all diverted the Yellow River and mountain streams to irrigate the fields; and in Guanzhong, the Fu Canal and Lingzhi turned the Du River aside; Runan and Jiujiang turned the Huai aside; Donghai turned aside Juding; At the foot of Mount Tai, they diverted the Wen River: all of them cut canals for irrigation, each spanning more than ten thousand qing. Countless other small canals that cut through mountains and opened passages cannot be fully described. But the most famous was Xuanfang.
14
太史公曰：余南登廬山，觀禹疏九江，遂至于會稽太湟，上姑蘇，望五湖； 東闚洛汭、大邳，迎河，行淮、泗、濟、漯洛渠； 西瞻蜀之岷山及離碓； 北自龍門至于朔方。 曰：甚哉，水之為利害也！ 余從負薪塞宣房，悲瓠子之詩而作河渠書。
The Grand Historian says: I myself climbed the south face of Mount Lu, observed Yu’s diversion of the Nine Rivers, then went on to Kuaiji and Taihuang, ascended Gusu, and looked out over the Five Lakes; to the east, I gazed upon Luorui and Dapi, met the Yellow River, and followed the Huai, Si, Ji, Ta, and Luo waterways; To the west, I looked upon the Min Mountains of Shu and upon Lidui; to the north, I traveled from Longmen to Shuofang. How great indeed are the benefits and harms of water! I followed the men carrying firewood to block Xuanfang, grieved over the poem of the Huzi breach, and thus wrote the Book of Rivers and Canals.