How did ancient Chinese writers describe the hydrologic cycle?

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In the context of hydrologic sciences, the concept of the hydrologic cycle—the process by which water moves from the ocean to the atmosphere as vapor, falls as precipitation, and returns to the sea—was developed independently in China as early as the 4th century BCE.1

This understanding was explicitly documented in the Lüshi chunqiu ("The Spring and Autumn Annals of Mr. Lü"), which was written in the 3rd century BCE. This early recognition of cyclical water movement predates many other historical texts that frame the process explicitly.1