Supreme Virtue

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJul 2024

3.5

Word count: 903 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Zhide is the birthplace of Yao hometown culture and has long been known as the "hometown of Yao and Shun"; it is also a flourishing center of Huizhou culture and Wanjiang culture. With a history of more than 2,400 years, Zhide is an ancient Jiangnan commandery. Dali Mountain within its borders is said to be where Shun plowed the fields; when Yao came to visit Shun, he crossed the river here, leaving behind many sites and legends. The county seat of Zhide was therefore called "Yaodu," and the Eight Sights of Zhide are spread around Yaodu Meicheng. A relatively well-preserved Song dynasty Guanzi paper-money printing plate was excavated in Zhide.

Editor's review

Built around the ancient southern Anhui commandery of Zhide, this book weaves together the legends of Yao and Shun, the history of the town's founding, and the threads of regional culture. It presents Zhide as the birthplace of Yao hometown culture: Dali Mountain is said to be where Shun plowed the fields; Yao crossed the river on his visit to Shun, leaving sites and legends; the county seat thus came to be called "Yaodu," and the Eight Sights of Zhide are distributed around Yaodu Meicheng. Zhide is also a flourishing center of Huizhou and Wanjiang culture, and the excavation of a Song dynasty Guanzi printing plate here adds a tangible footnote to local history. The book serves as a regional-culture reader that helps readers build a spatial and historical imagination of this part of southern Anhui; it also offers reference value for those studying the localization of Yao-Shun legends and the evolution of ancient Jiangnan commanderies. Readers should distinguish legends, sites, and documentary records, appreciating cultural memory while remaining cautious.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Travelers planning a trip to the Zhide area of southern Anhui who want advance knowledge of local lore
Readers interested in the humanities who follow the localization of Yao-Shun legends and regional cultural memory
Teachers and writers gathering material on Anhui local history and the evolution of ancient commanderies
General readers curious about comparing Huizhou culture and Wanjiang culture

Not a good fit for

Researchers who need rigorous archaeological reports or detailed gazetteer data
Readers seeking systematic historical verification of Yao and Shun and rejecting legendary narratives
Those who want only general histories and have no interest in county-level local culture

Reading tips

Read the passages on Yaodu and Dali Mountain first, then consult a map to confirm the spatial relationship between the sites and the county seat.
Record legendary accounts separately from physical evidence such as the Guanzi printing plate, so as to distinguish cultural memory from historical clues.
If visiting in person, use the order of the Eight Sights of Zhide as a pre-trip index, reading one chapter and visiting one place at a time to deepen impressions.
After reading, compile a timeline of Zhide's history, marking the different nature of items such as the town's founding, legends, and artifact discoveries.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
至德第八

FAQ

Why is Zhide called the "hometown of Yao and Shun"?

According to the source material, Zhide is the birthplace of Yao hometown culture. Dali Mountain within its borders is said to be where Shun plowed the fields; when Yao came to visit Shun, he crossed the river here, leaving many sites and legends, and the county seat was therefore called "Yaodu." These accounts belong to local cultural memory and should be read alongside documentary and archaeological materials.

What is the Guanzi printing plate mentioned in the book?

The source material indicates that a relatively well-preserved Song dynasty Guanzi paper-money printing plate was excavated in Zhide. It is an important local historical artifact that offers clues for studying Song dynasty printing plates and local history. Specific details of its form and research conclusions should follow the book's account and specialized scholarship.

How should the Eight Sights of Zhide be understood while reading?

The Eight Sights of Zhide are distributed around Yaodu Meicheng and represent a summary of local landscape culture. Readers can treat them as a thread organizing the spatial narrative and understand them in light of the site legends, but should not equate the list of sights directly with historical fact.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.