If the Yellow Emperor's move of "painting wild areas and dividing States" is not reliable, perhaps ordinary people will not have any objection, but most people in ancient times thought that administrative divisions should start from Dayu, who managed floods three times without entering the house. The basis of this view is that in another Confucian classic, Shangshu, there is an article called Gong Yu, which describes the geographical division of Dayu Kyushu in great detail. Because Kyushu's statement is not only recorded in Confucian classics, but also recognized by many scholars in later generations, no one questioned this statement for a long time. At the same time, Kyushu has been regarded as synonymous with the whole country since its appearance. This is the meaning of "Kyushu" in the famous sentence "Xiuzi" by Lu You, a patriotic poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, which we all know well. So how credible is this statement? Before we judge whether this statement is credible, let's look at what Kyushu said in Gong Yu.
From the name, Gong Yu's Kyushu is Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Liangzhou and Yongzhou. Yanshan Mountains and Bohai Bay in the north, Qinling Mountains in the south, the sea in the east and Longdong Plateau in the west. The specific division of Kyushu is as follows:
Jizhou is bounded on the west, south and east by the Yellow River. It is equivalent to the east of the Yellow River between Shanxi and Shaanxi, the north of the Yellow River between Henan and Shanxi, the west of Shandong and the southeast of Hebei. There are Hukou (in the northwest of Jixian County, Shanxi Province and northeast of Yichuan, Shaanxi Province), Liangshan (in Hancheng, Shaanxi Province) and Qishan (in the northeast of Qishan, Shaanxi Province, it was called Tianzhu Mountain in ancient times); Sichuan has (now Zhangshui), Heng (now Tanghe) and Wei (now flood below Lingshou). This state is considered to be the seat of the imperial capital.
Yanzhou "has only Yanzhou in economy and rivers". Between the Gujishui River and the ancient Yellow River, it is equivalent to the junction of Hebei, Henan and Shandong provinces today. There are nine rivers in Sichuan (the lower reaches of the Yellow River, nine means the majority, not the real meaning), Longshui (a tributary of the Yellow River) and Qushui (a tributary of Jishui).
Qingzhou "Haidai only Qingzhou". Between the Bohai Sea and Mount Tai, it is equivalent to Liaodong and Shandong Peninsula today. There are Weishui, Zishui and Warm Water (today's warm water) in Sichuan.
Xuzhou "sea, Dai, Huai, only Xuzhou". The Yellow Sea, Mount Tai and Huaihe River are equivalent to southern Shandong, northern Jiangsu and Anhui today. There are Mengshan (south of Mengyin County, Shandong Province) and Yushan (northeast of Tancheng County, Shandong Province). There are Huaishui and Yishui in Sichuan.
Yangzhou "Huai, Yang Wei Yangzhou". From the south of Huaihe River to Haidong, it is equivalent to today's Jiangsu, southern Anhui and eastern Jiangxi. There are Peng Li (now Poyang Lake) and Zhenze (now Taihu Lake).
Jingzhou "Jing and Hengyang are just Jingzhou". From Jingshan to the south of Hengshan, it is equivalent to today's Hunan, Hubei and western Jiangxi. There are Jingshan (now Nanzhang, Hubei) and Hengyang (now Hengshan, Hunan). There are Jianghan (now Jialing River), Tuoshui (a tributary of the river) and diving (a tributary of Hanshui River).
Yuzhou "Jing, the river only Yuzhou". Between Jingshan and the Yellow River, it is equivalent to northern Henan and Hubei today. Sichuan has four waters: Yi, Luo, Zhuo and Jian.
Liangzhou "Huayang, Blackwater only Liangzhou". South of Huashan Mountain and east of Nujiang River are equivalent to today's southwestern Shaanxi and Sichuan areas. There are Minshan (now Songbo, Sichuan), Panchu Mountain (now Ningqiang, northern turbid Zhongshan, Shaanxi), Xiqingshan (now northeast of Tongde, Qinghai), Caishan (no test) and Mengshan (now west of Chongqing County, Sichuan). There is a lot of water and diving in Sichuan.
Yongzhou "black water, Xihe only Yongzhou". To the north of Qinling Mountains, there is the Yellow River in the east and the Zhangye River in the west, which is equivalent to today's north-central Shaanxi, Gansu and its west. There are Jingshan Mountain (now Jingshan Mountain in the northwest of Chaoyi, Shaanxi Province), Qishan Mountain, Zhong Nanshan Mountain (now Qinling Mountain), Bird and Mouse Mountain (now southwest of West Weiyuan in Longxi County, Gansu Province) and Sanwei Mountain (now southeast of Dunhuang, Gansu Province). Sichuan has weak water (now Zhangye River in Gansu), Wei water, water mirror water, lacquer water, qu water and Feng Shui.
Through the above division, we can see that these areas involved in Kyushu could not be recognized in the Dayu era. Therefore, in modern times, after textual research by scholars, it is concluded that Gong Yu was actually written by Dayu in the Warring States Period, and the geographical situation recorded in the book is a phenomenon in the Warring States Period. The so-called "Kyushu" is just a utopian fantasy popular in the Warring States period, which reflects the scholars' longing for a unified country in the future. In fact, Dayu Kyushu has never been realized. Therefore, Kyushu is not the earliest administrative division of China, which was generally believed by the ancients.
In addition to Kyushu in Shangshu Gong Yu, ancient books such as Li Zhouzhi Fang, Erya Dish and Lv's Spring and Autumn Tour also have their own Kyushu systems. However, these Kyushu, like Kyushu in Gong Yu, are just ideal divisions, which have never been realized.