The Veritable Records of Jiankang recorded: "In the time of Wu, palisades were erected along both banks of the Huai. From Stone Head, ten li south upstream brought one to Zhapu; from Zhapu, ten li south upstream to Xinting; from Xinting, twenty li south upstream to Sunlin; from Sunlin, twenty li south upstream to Banqiao; from Banqiao, thirty li upstream to Liezhou."
The Huai referred to the Qinhuai River, and Stone Head referred to Stone Head Ford. The seven places listed in the Veritable Records of Jiankang, beginning with Stone Head Ford, were all important points along the Yangtze River's shipping route, hubs where travelers heading upstream and downstream gathered and dispersed. This remained so from Eastern Wu through the Southern Dynasties. (See the image above.)
There was a reason Mister Tan was considered such a fine scholar. None of the points he drew along the Yangtze River on this map was there for nothing. Every one was an important waypoint for travelers of the time, apart from-
(Continuing the explanation of the image above: besides the seven points cited from the Veritable Records of Jiankang, Three Mountains, Cimu, and Banqiao, which I marked on the map with clasped-fist emojis, were all such places. Three Mountains was to Jiankang what Bashang was to Chang'an, which was why Xie Tiao opened "Ascending Three Mountains at Dusk and Looking Back toward the Capital" with "From the Ba's banks, I gaze toward Chang'an; from Heyang, I look upon the capital." Banqiao was where the celebrated scholar Yin Xian threw away letters in New Account of Tales of the World. When he left the capital to take office, many people asked him to carry letters along the way. He sank them all at Banqiao, saying that he, Yin Hongqiao, could not serve as anyone's