Mountain forests,
Or simply, “forests.” I follow the _T‘u Shu_ in omitting the 行
before 山林, given in the standard text, which is not only otiose
but spoils the rhythm of the sentence.
rugged steeps, marshes and fens—all country that is hard to traverse:
this is difficult ground.
圮 _p‘i_^3 (to be distinguished from 圯 i^4) is defined by K‘ang
Hsi (after the _Shuo Wên_) as 毁 “to destroy.” Hence Chia Lin
explains 圮地 as ground 經水所毁 “that has been ruined by water
passing over it,” and Tu Yu simply as 沮洳之地 “swampy ground.” But
Ch‘ên Hao says that the word is specially applied to deep
hollows—what Chu-ko Liang, he tells us, used to designate by the
expressive term 地獄 “earth-hells.” Compare the 天井 of IX. § 15.