Question : From which area of China and what body of water did koi originate ?

Question : From which area of China and what body of water did koi originate ?

Answer to be posted shortly. In the meantime, what do you think ?

Just guessing I would say central China as to what River I do not know.

Question : From which area of China and what body of water did koi originate ?

Answer : Recent results suggest that koi carps were developed from Chinese carp (Mabuchi, 2014). Recent results suggest that koi carp originated from Oujiang color carp (where it has been reared in terrace ponds on a mountainous area in Zhejiang Province in China for over 1200 years).

The origin of the koi carp is, however, ‘shrouded in the mists of antiquity, and speculations abound as to how far back its first appearances go’ (Balon, 1995). Most Japanese specialists (Amano, 1968; Kataoka, 1989; Kuroki, 1990) agree that there is little evidence for coloured carp having existed before 1800 in Japan, but some others still speculate whether they might have appeared earlier in China (Axelrord, 1973, 1988; Davies, 1989; Tamadachi, 1990). According to Hulata (1995), however, koi carp have been developed in Japan probably from colour mutant types arising in wild carp of central Asia.

Answer : Contemporary thinking indicates that Koi originated in China, possibly in Zhejiang Province.

According to my text books there is evidence of culture of carp prior to 2000 BC. There is even a Chinese text called Yogyokyo dating from 533 BC that explains how to spawn carp.

As far as the actual region of China that these fish would have came from in the 1500's , I have nothing.

Steve