Additional information about 塘
說文解字: 【塘】，隄也。从土、唐聲。 【徒郎切】
- Criteria
- RIVERS
1. NB: Hé 河 is normally a proper name of Yellow River and its tributaries. [The term Huanghe was in use since the Han times. The river flows through the following provinces Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong. In the northeastern part of the Shandong province, it flows into the Bohai gulf.
2. Jiāng 江 is a proper name for the Yangtse River and its tributaries. [The greatest river of China. It flows through the following provinces and areas Xizang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu. Overall length 6300 km.]
3. Huái 淮 belonged to the Four Great Rivers of antiquity. It springs from the Dongbo mountains in the Henan province, and then flows through the Anhui and Jiangsu. There it flows into the Jiāng.
4. Zhè shǔi 浙水, Zhè jiāng 浙江 is an ancient name of the modern Qiántángjiāng 錢塘江. It is the greatest river of the modern Zhejiang province. It flows into the Hangzhou bay south of the city of Hangzhou. Overall length 450 km.
5. Xiāng shǔi 湘水 is the greatest river in the modern Hunan province. It springs from the western slopes of the Donghaiyang mountains [Guangxi], and then flows through the cities of Hengyang and Changsha into the Dongting lake. Overall length 817 km.
6. Mì luó shǔi 汩羅水 is the river in the northeastern part of the modern Hunan province. It springs from the Xiang mountains near the city of Ningzhou [the modern Jiangxi province]. The overall length 250 km. The poet Qu Yuan is said to commit suicide by throwing himself into this river.
7. Yuán jiāng 沅江 is the river in the western part of the modern Hunan province. It springs from the Yunwu mountains in the Guizhou, and then flows to the east into the Dongting lake. Overall length 993 km.
8. Xiāo xiāng 瀟湘 is another name for the Xiāng shǔi 湘水. The name sometimes refers to the middle part of the Xiāng shǔi, where it meets with the Xiāo shǔi 瀟水. Mentioned already in the Shanhaijing.
9. Luò shǔi 洛水 is the river in the modern Henan province. The name was originally writen like 雒, in the period of the Three kingdoms it has been changed to 洛. Its spring is located in the Luonan county in the Shaanxi province, then it flows to the East through the cities Luoning, Yiyang, and Luoyang. In the modern Gong county, it flows into the Huanghe.
10. Hàn shǔi 漢水, Hàn jiāng 漢江 is one of the most important rivers of ancient China. It springs from the Panzhong mountains in the modern Shaanxi province, then flows through the southern part of the Shaanxi, northwestern and central Hubei, and in the Hanyang city [Wuhan] it flows into the Changjiang. Overall length of the river is 1532 km.
11. Wèi shǔi 渭水, Wèi hé 渭河 is the most important tributary of the Huanghe. Its spring is located in the Niǎoshǔ 鳥鼠 mountains [Weiyuan county, Gansu province]. The river flows to the east, into the Huanghe. Its overall length is 787 km.
12. Jīng hé 涇河 is the northern tributary of the Wèi shǔi 渭水. It has two springs - the northern, which is located in the Pingliang, and the southern, located in Huating [both counties belong to the modern Gansu province]. The river flows into the Wèi shǔi 渭水 in the modern Gaoling county [Shaanxi province]. Its overall length is 451 km.
13. Lì zé 笠澤 is an original name of the later Sōng jiāng 松江. It springs from the Taihu lake, and flows to the east into the sea. An overall length of the river is 125 km.
14. Luòshǔi 洛水
15. Yīshǔi 伊水
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- DIKE
1. The general word for a dike preventing the passage of water is tí 堤 / 隄. Huge water works started in the Warring States period.
2. Bēi 陂 refers specifically to a dam surrounding a rain water reservoir. [Mentioned already in SHIJING]
3. Yàn 堰 refers to a low dam.The oldest evidence of the word dates from the Eastern Han period.
4. Táng 塘 refers to a very large dam constraining the water in a large river or lake. See also POOL. It was also built to protect against sea water.
5. Fáng 防／坊 refers to protective dikes of varying size; it is mentioned already in SHI.
6. Tí fáng 隄防 is a current general way of referring to the dams and dikes in the country.
NB: Bà 壩 is a post-Buddhist term for a dam.