What is the "Three Xiang" in Hunan's "Three Xiang and Four Waters"?

The first statement: Li Xiang, Xiaoxiang and Zhengxiang.

This statement closely revolves around the Xiangjiang River, which is divided into three sections, each with a different name. "Water Mirror Notes" records that "Xiang Shui came out of Lingling, at the beginning of Yangshan Mountain in Anxian County (note: now Xing 'an, Guangxi)".

Xiang Li and Xiang Li met at the stone tablet of Yangshuo Mountain, which was named Xiang Li. The river section where Lingling District of Yongzhou, Hunan meets Xiaoshui is called Xiaoxiang. After Hengyang meets with steamed water, it is called steamed Hunan.

The second statement: Xiaoxiang, Zhengxiang and Yuanxiang.

This view holds that Li Xiang can't represent Hunan now, so on the basis of the first view, Li Xiang was removed and the original Hunan was replaced. The reason why it was changed to Yuanjiang is because Yuanjiang is the longest river in Hunan and its influence is great enough. Moreover, the Yuanjiang River flows through Xiangxi and then turns east, which can cover more areas in Hunan.

The third statement: eastern Hunan, western Hunan and southern Hunan.

1979 edition of Ci Hai explains Sanxiang as follows: "Sanxiang: it is generally used as a general term for eastern Hunan, western Hunan and southern Hunan in modern times, generally referring to Hunan province."

Judging from the interpretation of Ci Hai, it is completely interpreted from a modern perspective with only one purpose, that is, to cover the whole of Hunan Province. Moreover, it seems that Xiang here does not refer to Xiangjiang River, but takes Xiang (Hunan) as the orientation, which is divided into east, west and south, in order to achieve the ultimate goal of covering the whole of Hunan.

Extended data

Hunan is located in the south of Dongting Lake, so it is called Hunan. Hunan is nicknamed "three Hunan and four waters". The names of "Sanxiang" and "Surabaya" actually revolve around one core: Dongting Lake.

"Four Rivers" is easy to understand, referring to the four famous rivers in Hunan: Xiangjiang River, Zijiang River, Yuanjiang River and Lishui River, all of which finally flow into Dongting Lake. The concept of "four waters" is basically unambiguous.

"Sanxiang" is actually named because of Dongting Lake's unique geographical and cultural status in Hunan. Dongting Lake is located in the eastern part of northern Hunan, and its topography is mainly lakes, plains and hills, which is obviously different from the mountainous areas in the west and south. The terrain determines that the traffic, history and culture around Dongting Lake are relatively developed.

The plain and hilly areas radiated by Dongting Lake have been developed since ancient times. As the political, economic and cultural center of Hunan, it is called "Central Hunan". The area around Xuefeng Mountain in the west is called "Xiangxi" and the area near Nanling Mountain in the south is called "Xiangnan".

Baidu encyclopedia-sanxiang sishui

Baidu Encyclopedia-Sanxiang