Zhexi shuili shu 浙西水利書

Zhexi shuili shu 浙西水利書 "Water conservancy of the Zhexi region" is a book on water control written during the early Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Yao Wenhao 姚文灝 (jinshi degree 1484), courtesy name Xiufu 秀夫, style Xuezhai 學齋, from Guixi 貴溪, Jiangxi.

Yao was assistant prefect (tongpan 通判) of Changzhou 常州, educational intendant (tixue qianshi 提學僉事) of Hu-Guang 湖廣, secretary in the Ministry of Works (gongshu zhushi 工部主事) and hydraulic works supervisor (tidu shuili 提督水利) of the route of Zhexi 浙西. His 3-juan-long study on irrigation in the region of Lake Taihu 太湖 in Jiangsu (Zhexi is the region between Lake Taiku and River Qiantang 錢塘江) quotes from a lot of older writings on the issue. It was finished in 1497. Commentaries added by the compiler accompany the text. The text is divided along chronological lines and assembles information from the Song 宋 (960-1279), the Yuan 元 (1279-1368), and the then-present period. All periods are dealt with roughly in the same intensity, with 20 chapters on the Song, 15 on the Yuan, and 12 on the Ming period, resulting in 47 chapters. Yao tried to select statements that were proven in practice and discarded passages with wrong information.

The text is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書. In 1984, the Nongye Press 農業出版社 published a modern edition, commented on by Wang Jialun 汪家倫.