Li Daoyuan

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Li Daoyuan (Chinese: 酈道元; pinyin: Lí Dào Yuán, born 469AD or 427AD^[1] in Zhuo County, Fanyang, Hebei Province, died 527AD^[2]) was a Chinese geographer during the times of the Northern Wei Dynasty. He is known as the author of the Commentary to the River Classic (Shui Jing Zhu).

Li Daoyuan used his position as an official with business in different places to carry field investigations^[1]. He is known to have visited the area belonging to the present-day Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, and Jiangsu provinces^[1].

Another source for his geographical knowledge was the study of ancient geographical books he had access to such as the Mountain and Sea Classics (Shan Hai Jing, completed by the time of the Qin Dynasty or early Western Han Dynasty) and the River Classic (Shui Jing, written by Sang Qin during the Three Kingdoms Period).

Using the results from his own field work, Li Daoyuan was able to greatly expand on the River Classic. Whereas the River Classic covers only 137 watercourses with a total of about 10,000 characters^[1], Li Daoyuan's Commentary to the River Classic contains information on 1,252 watercourses written with about 300,000 characters in total^[2].

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