The narrative is detailed and thorough, the language elegant. The waters, channels, lakes, marshes, ponds, and…
The narrative is detailed and thorough, the language elegant. The waters, channels, lakes, marshes, ponds, and dams it records, such as Bitterwater, Duliyi River, Xinghu Lake, the Three Marshes, and the Two Dams, are not found in other texts. Among the names of the seven channels, only Duxiang Channel appears once in Account of a Mission to Khotan. Of the three salt ponds, the Yuanhe Gazetteer mentions only one, omitting the other two. Its records of fortresses and post roads, such as the old Great Wall fortifications of Emperor Wu of Han, and the names and structures of the nineteen post stations, are beyond the scope of historical and modern geographical treatises.