1. Yüan Hao-wen's adoptive father, Yüan Ko, was the younger brother of his real father, Yüan Te-ming. Yüan Ko adopted Hao-wen at the age of seven months. The two of them went to Yeh District, which is in Shan-tung Province, in 1194 when Hao-wen was four years old.

2. Following the surrender of the Chin capital of Pien-ching to the Mongols in 1233, Yüan Hao-wen, then serving as Left Office Manager, was transported along with other Chin officials to the city of Liao-ch'eng, Shan-tung.

3. The original Pavilion Below Mount Li (Li-hsia-t'ing) was located on Mount Li Terrace (Li-shan-t'ai) within the Official Residence of Chi-nan Prefecture. It faced the mountain with its back to Brilliance Lake (Ta-ming-hu). The pavilion was rebuilt a number of times at different sites through the centuries. The present-day pavilion dates from the Ch'ing dynasty and is located on an island in the lake. "Below Mount Li" (Li-hsia) is an ancient name for the city of Chi-nan, referring to the mountain less than a mile south of the city.

4. The state of Ch'i was formed in the eleventh century B.C. as a feudal state under the Chou dynasty and grew to include much of modern Shan-tung Province and the southern part of Ho-pei Province. It reached the peak of its influence under Duke Huan (r. 685-643 B.C.) and lasted until destroyed by the First Emperor of Ch'in in 221 B.C.

5. Encircling Waves (Huan-po) is located within Brilliance Lake. Magpie Mountain (Ch'üeh-shan), named after a nearby mountain, faces a lake of the same name. Northern Isle (Pei-chu), to the west of Brilliance Lake, was built by Magistrate Tseng Kung in 1072 (see below, note 27). Water's Fragrance (Shui-hsiang) is beside Brilliance Lake, whereas Westerly Water (Shui-hsi) is built on the Lake. Misty Ripples (Lan-i), Frozen Waves (Ning-po), and Frolicking Seagulls (Hsia-ou) are names of other famous pavilions.

6. ''Hundred Flowers" (Pai-hua) is a name given to an embankment in the south of the city that leads to Northern Isle Pavilion; it is also the name of a terrace, a bridge, and an island.

7. Quietude Hall (Ching-hua-t'ang) was located within the Prefectural Office, later the Provincial Administration Commission Compound, and was also built by Tseng Kung. Famous Scholars Pavilion (Ming-shih-hsüan) is located in the same compound.

8. Brilliance Lake is in the northern part of the old city of Chi-nan. First mentioned by Li Tao-yüan in The Guide to Waterways with Commentary , it is fed by the city's many springs as well as by rivers. With a circumference of more than three miles and a surface of eighteen square miles, it was the focal point of the old city. Shun's Spring (Shun-ch'üan) at Mount Li is named after the legendary sage-king Shun, who is said to have farmed here.

9. The Wu region broadly refers to the area of modern Chiang-su and Chechiang provinces with their many lakes, the Long River, and islands.

10. The Mongols began their attack on China 1213. In 1216, the city of T'ai-yüan fell, forcing Yüan Hao-wen to flee southward to Ho-nan.

11. Pien-ching was renamed the "Southern Capital" (Nan-tu) under the Chin in 1153. It became the major center of government after 1213 When Emperor Hsüan-tsung (r. 1213-1223) shifted his court there from Peking, which had been the Central Capital.

12. K'uangs' Mountain (K'uang-shan) is located in the northwest of modern Chi-nan.

13. Millet Mountain (Su-shan) is located to the south of Medicine Mountain (Yao-shan); both are in the northwest part of Chi-nan. "Sun stone" ( yang-ch'i-shih ) is a mineral used in Chinese pharmacology as a tonic. It was believed to exist on the mountaintop because of the powerful effect of the sun's energy there.

14. Magpie Mountain, in northern Chi-nan, appears as a verdant screen without peaks. The gathering of magpies on the mountain occurs around the time of the Double Seventh Festival, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. According to a popular legend, the granddaughter of the Emperor of Heaven stopped her weaving when she married the Cowherd of her own free will. In punishment, the two stars Cowherd (Ch'ien-niu) and Weaving Maid (Chih-nü) were separated in the sky and permitted to meet only on the Double Seventh Festival, when magpies form a bridge in Heaven for them.

15. Flower Calyx Mountain (Hua-fu-chu-shan) is located in the northeastern suburbs of Chi-nan, and was named after its shape, which resembles a single flower calyx.

16. See Li Po, "Fifty-nine Ancient Airs," no. 20 ( Ku-feng wu-shih-chiu-shou: ti er-shih ), in CTS: 5:1673. Yüan misquotes the first line slightly; it should read, "Formerly, I traveled to the capital of Ch'i"

17. The southwest part of Chi-nan is located on a higher level than the northern part. Its many springs flow northwest into a canal and then out through North Water Gate (Pei-shui-men). The Relief River (Chi-shui) flows into the Great Clear River (Ta-ch'ing-ho) and eventually into the sea.

18. Recumbent Ox Mountain (Wo-niu-shan) is located in the northeast part of Chi-nan.

19. Tsou-p'ing District here refers to the area that is modern Tsou-p'ing, Shan-tung. The Long White Mountains (Ch'ang-pai-shan) span four modern districts. North of it, the land stretches fiat all the way to Peking; as a result, the mountain peaks appear particularly dramatic to travelers from the north.

20. Fan Chung-yen was from a poor family and lost his father at the age of two. He followed his mother to Ch'ang-shan District when she remarried and studied at the Sweet Spring Temple (Li-ch'üan-szu), scenically situated in the Long White Mountains.

21. Min Tzu-ch'ien (536-487 B.C.) was a disciple of Confucius noted for his filial piety.

22. Buddha's Head Mountain (Ta-fo-t'ou-ling) is also known as Buddha's Wisdom Mountain (Fo-hui-shan).

23. Thousand Buddhas Mountain (Ch'ien-fo-shan) is another name for Mount Li, derived from its many Buddhist carvings. The name Container Mountain (Han-shan) is based on a legend about the goddess Queen Mother of the West, who possessed here a medicine container protected by a white bird.

24. Eruption Spring (Pao-liu-ch'üan), better known as Leaping Spring (P'aot'u-ch'üan), is one of Chi-nan's seventy-two famous springs and was described in a local gazette as "spurting forth from three holes, forming white waves several feet high, sounding like muted thunder through summer and winter" (quoted in Yeh and Pei, Li-tai yu-chi , p. 110).

25. The Lo River (Lo-shui) originates from Leaping Spring and flows east, eventually becoming the Little Pure River (Hsiao-ch'ing-ho).

26. See Shih ching 55:222:2, "Gathering Beans" ( Ts'ai-shu ); and 73:264:7, "Gazing Upward" ( Chan-ang ). Both poems contain the line "flowing forth from the fenced-in spring" ( pi-fei chien-ch'üan ). The changing of the spring's name to Fenced-in Spring (Chien-ch'üan) implies a transformation from a state of uncontrolled nature to one of civilized government. Such moral symbolism apparently did not appeal to the people of Chi-nan, who continued to enjoy the spectacle of "eruption.''

27. Tseng Kung (1019-1083), from Nan-feng in modern Chiang-hsi, was a protégé of Ou-yang Hsiu and became, along with the Su brothers, a Metropolitan Graduate in the 1057 examination. A noted writer later canonized as one of the Eight Masters of T'ang and Sung Prose, he served as a prefect in Chi-nan and was the author of "An Essay on the Two Halls of Ch'i-chou" ( Ch'i-chou er-t'ang chi ), from which Yüan Hao-wen borrowed in several places.

28. Golden Thread Spring (Chin-hsien-ch'üan), located in the western part of Chi-nan, pulses irregularly into a square, stone-lined pond whose bottom is visible through the clear water. Opposing flows of water meet m the middle along a north-south axis, and what appears to be a golden thread undulates on the surface owing to the reflection of the sun.

29. Tu K'ang was a legendary prime minister serving the Yellow Emperor. He was considered the inventor of wine-making and was nicknamed "Magistrate of the Wine Spring."

30. Cold Spring (Ling-shui) was located in the Long River northwest of modern Chen-chiang, Chiang-su. The spot is now a sandy bank.

31. Lu Yü (733-804) was from Ching-ling, Fu Prefecture (modern T'ien-men, Hu-pei). He was known for his satiric wit and his refusal to serve as an official, preferring to devote himself to writing and the art of tea. He is particularly remembered as the author of the definitive Classic of Tea ( Ch'a ching ), and later he was revered as the "God of Tea."

32. Shun's Well (Shun-ching) is another name for Shun's Spring, located east of Shun's Temple (Shun-tz'u). About ten paces north of this is another spring from the same water source.

33. Writings from the Sweet Dew Garden ( Kan-lu-yüan chi ) remains unidentified.

34. Ho-tung was a historical designation for the area cast of the Yellow River. King's Chamber Mountain (Wang-wu-shan) is located between modern Huan-ch'ü and Yang-ch'eng districts, Shan-hsi. It and the Yen River (Yenshui) are mentioned as sources of the Relief River in Shui-ching-chu 7:1a.

35. "Ch'in" may be a misprint, as Shui-ching-chu (ibid.) quotes the Shan-hai ching as calling it the T'ai Marsh (T'ai-tse).

34. Ho-tung was a historical designation for the area cast of the Yellow River. King's Chamber Mountain (Wang-wu-shan) is located between modern Huan-ch'ü and Yang-ch'eng districts, Shan-hsi. It and the Yen River (Yenshui) are mentioned as sources of the Relief River in Shui-ching-chu 7:1a.

35. "Ch'in" may be a misprint, as Shui-ching-chu (ibid.) quotes the Shan-hai ching as calling it the T'ai Marsh (T'ai-tse).

36. Unity Mountain (Kung-shan) is located in modern Chi-yüan, Ho-nan.

37. See Shang-shu: Yü-kung 1:152 ( Shih-san-ching chu-shu ed.).

38. Wen District is roughly equivalent to the modern Wen District, Ho-nan; T'ui-ch'eng is in the northwest of modern Huo-chia, Ho-nan (Yüan's text misprints the character fen for t'ui ; see Yeh and Pei, Li-tai yu-chi , p. 112); Hsing-yang is modern Hsing-yang, Ho-nan; Ts'ao refers to the domain of a Chou feudal kingdom (ca. 11th cent.-487 B.C.), whose capital was northwest of modern Ting-t'ao, Shan-tung; P'u was the name of an ancient district in the southwest of modern Fan District, Shan-tung; T'ao's Hill (T'ao-ch'iu) is in the northwest of modern Ting-t'ao, Shan-tung; the Wen River (Wen-shui) flows through Shan-tung.

39. See Er-ya: Shih-shui 23:12:1. Only the four rivers mentioned are given special status as tu , because they flow into the sea without becoming tributaries. However, they are not all similar in size.

40. The Grand Row Mountains (T'ai-hang-shan) stretch from the northeast to the southwest and divide the Shan-hsi Plateau from the Ho-pei flatlands. The southernmost portion reaches the banks of the Yellow River.

41. There are two Pearl Springs (Chen-chu-ch'üan) in the city of Chi-nan, a northern one and a southern one. The name derives from the appearance of the drops of water.

42. Lei Hsi-yen (1186-1231) was a close friend of Yüan Hao-wen.

43. Jade Bracelet (Yü-huan), Golden Tiger (Chin-hu), Black Tiger (Hei-hu), Willow Catkins (Liu-hsü), Imperial Glory (Huang-hua), Carefree (Wu-yu), Washing the Alms Bowl (Hsi-po), and Crystal Pond (Shui-ching-t'an) are among the seventy-two famous springs of Chi-nan.

44. The Embroidery River (Hsiu-chiang) flows through the eastern portion of Chi-nan.

45. Wu-ch'ang in Pa Commandery was roughly equivalent to modern I-pin, Szu-ch'uan.

46. Pao's Mountain (Pao-shan), is located in the eastern part of Chi-nan. Yüan transcribed the wrong character for pao ; the mountain was named after the feudal lord Pao Shu-ya of the Spring and Autumn period, whose fief included it.

47. Chang Shan (995-1074) was from Li-ch'eng (modern Chi-nan). A high official during the Northern Sung, he rose to vice-minister of the Ministry of Revenue. The schoolhouse where he studied as a youth is located ten miles to the east of Chi-nan.

48. Fan Ch'un-ts'ui (1046-1117) was from Wu-hsien (modern Su-chou, Chiang-su), the fourth son of Fan Chung-yen. He served in the reign of Emperor Che-tsung (r. 1085-1100) as Academician of the Dragon Diagram Hall, as prefect of Ch'ing Prefecture, and, under Emperor Hui-tsung (r. 1100-1126), as an Edict Attendant.

49. The official biography of Chang Shan in Sung shih 31:10699 records his courtesy name as "Wen-yü."

50. The poems were not preserved together with the text. Translated from Yüan Hao-wen, I-shan hsien-sheng, wen-chi 34:11b-15b ( SPTK ed.).