A Chinese Model: The "Ideal Universe" in Yü-Kung I-SHOU WANG" A chapter entitled Yü-Kung, which means the Tribute of Yu, is found in one of the oldest Chinese documents, Shu-Ching or The Historical Classic. While little is known positively about either the author or the exact time the book was written, it is believed that YuKung was written during the first half of the third century B.C.1 The Tribute of Yu is considered to be the most sophisticated geographic work of ancient China.2 It was written in classical Chinese and is therefore subject to diverse interpretation. This study is based primarily on the author's and Chieh-kang Ku's interpretation of the original work.3 The Tribute consists of three parts: ( 1) a regional geography of ancient China, (2) a tracing of the mountain and river systems, and (3) a description of a spatial system which I believe is the abstract expression of the first part. The purpose of this paper is to examine the spatial system, which may be considered as a model of an ideal universe. The ideal universe presented in The Tribute (see Figure 1) was centered on the royal capital. The universe was divided into five * Mr Wang is an Assistant Professor of Geography at San Fernando Valley State College, Northridge, California 91324. This paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Association at San Fernando Valley State College in June 1969. The author wishes to acknowledge the encouragement and assistance of Gordon Lewthwaite, San Fernando Valley State College, and Fred Lukermann , University of Minnesota. 1YtUIg Wang, The History of Chinese Geography (in Chinese), Taipei, reprint, 1965, pp. 12-16; Chieh-kang Ku, 'Tu Kung," Selected Readings in Ancient Chinese Geographic Literature, (in Chinese) edited by Jen-chih Hou, Hongkong, 1963, p. 4. 2 Wang, op. cit., p. 2; Ku, op. cit., p. 6. 3 Ku, op. cit. 167 168association of pacific coast geographers concentric zones, each 500 Ii wide.4 Outward from the center, these zones were the royal domain, the princely domain, and the zones of "pacification," "allied barbarians," and "cultureless savagery." For revenue purposes the royal domain was further divided into five subzones, each having a width of 100 Ii. All the people in this domain paid taxes in crops directly to the central government. However , for each subzone the form of tax payment varied according to its distance from the center—the closer to the center, the bulkier the payment. Inhabitants of the innermost zone paid taxes with stalks— the whole plant minus its roots—but as distance from the center increased , stalks were progressively replaced by heads, kernels, coarse grains, and finally by refined grains. The princely domain was divided into three subzones. The inner, some 100 Ii broad, was the domain of the "educated elite," the second zone of similar breadth was under the control of the "high rank elite," while the remaining area, some 300 Ii wide, was the domain of the prince. In the zone of the educated elite the people were under the direct control of the royal government. However the revenue was collected locally and each individual member of the elite retained the revenue for local expenditure. In the intermediate zone the ruling power was partially transferred to the local authority, but the royal government still had direct control over the land and the people. In the outer zone all the power was delegated to the princes, who had the full control over the land, the people, and the revenues. However, each prince had his obligation to pay appropriate tributes to the emperor. The zone of pacification consisted of two subzones: an inner 300 Ii wide and an outer 200 Ii wide. In the inner zone the educational personnel were installed to educate the local people; in the outer zone, where defensive power was needed, the royal territory was fortified to form a buffer zone. The zone of allied barbarians also was divided into two subzones . The initiation of acculturation was expected to take place in the inner zone of 300 Ii. In the outer zone the people were only 4 The exact distance of one ancient...