"May the great spirit of Blood Eye bear witness! This mighty Huntong River has dozens of tributaries. From its lower reaches to its upper reaches, it runs for thousands of li—perhaps even ten thousand!..."
"It is a true great river, and it has a spirit. They say this was the great flood released when the Sky God Abka Enduri split heaven from earth... Afterward, the Sky God's little daughter, Princess Baiyun, stole the Sky God's treasure casket and scattered mountains and plains from it, making the flood form into a great river..."
The Harman chieftain Ali rambled on, recounting the ancient myths passed down among the southern Tame Jurchen tribes. Maha Aguda, the Wild People chieftain who had come south from the north, looked puzzled, hearing these southern Jurchen legends for the first time. As for the Main God Priest Zuwaro, he had stretched out a finger and was tracing, bit by bit, upstream along the thick blue line on the map that represented the Heilongjiang.
"The lower reaches of the great river, from the river mouth at Ussuri Ula in the south to the northeasternmost mouth where it enters the sea, are roughly two thousand li. That is the 'black dragon's tail'! At the Ussuri River mouth where the tail begins stands the Xishen Guard, which locks the river. And where the Hengu River flows into it at the very end, there are the Nurgan Regional Military Commission and the Manjing Guard, which likewise lock the river..."
"These two places, one at the head and one at the tail, are the most crucial strategic points along the two thousand li of lower river! The Great Ming court not only enfeoffed large numbers of tribal guards along the great river, it also sent official troops to build camps and stockades,