Luoshui

The Lo River enters the account not as a landscape described for its own sake, but as the source of a portent: a tortoise is said to have emerged from its waters bearing a patterned writing. Presented alongside a map associated with the Yellow River, this tradition gives the lineal figures a sacred and supernatural history, while also linking the river to Great Yu and a foundational text on governing the kingdom.

The River and the Writing

The passage recounts that the Lo produced a writing in the form of a scheme like the Yellow River map, but carried on a tortoise’s back. The animal emerged from the river and showed the pattern to Great Yu while he was engaged in draining the floodwaters. The river’s role in this account is therefore the point of origin for a sign that arrives at a moment of practical state-building.

Connection to Great Yu and the Great Plan

The tortoise’s writing is said to have suggested the Great Plan to Great Yu. The account describes that document as a mystical yet consequential work: Gaubil characterizes it as treating physics, astrology, divination, morals, politics, and religion, and as the great model for governing the kingdom. The river legend thus connects an extraordinary natural sign with a comprehensive scheme of political and moral order.

Interpretive Significance

The Lo River story belongs to a tradition that lends supernatural authority to the trigrams and related schemes. The author regards that purpose as likely, but questions whether the accepted diagram accurately preserves the form used in the Zhou dynasty. The river’s significance in the discussion rests on this tension: its legendary writing helps sacralize systems of interpretation, while the account remains cautious about the historical reliability of the representation.