Historical explanation of Dujiangyan

Dujiangyan is located in the west of Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province, on the Minjiang River in the west of the Chengdu Plain. The Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project was built in 256 BC. It is the oldest and only remaining grand water conservancy project in the world that is characterized by diversion of water without dams. It is also the most complete ancient water conservancy project in China. It is a national key cultural relic protection unit. The scenery near Dujiangyan is beautiful and there are many cultural relics and historic sites, including Fulong Temple, Erwang Temple, Anlan Cable Bridge, Yulei Pass, Lidui Park, Yulei Mountain Park and Lingyan Temple. ?

The origin of the name of Dujiangyan: In the early days of the construction of the weir by Li Bing, the prefect of Shu County in Qin Dynasty, the name of Dujiangyan was "Jiang". This is because the Yulei Mountain next to Dujiangyan was called "Jianshan" before the Qin and Han Dynasties, and that At that time, the main ethnic group living around Dujiangyan was the Di Qiang people. They called the weir "勋", so Dujiangyan was called "拔勋".

During the Shu-Han period of the Three Kingdoms, Du'an County was established in the Dujiangyan area. Due to the name of the county, Dujiangyan was called "Du'anyan". At the same time, it is also called "Golden Embankment", which highlights the role of the dike that separates the water from the fish's mouth, and the dike is used instead of the weir as the name.

In the Tang Dynasty, Dujiangyan was renamed "Jiweiyan". Because the materials and methods used to build embankments at that time were mainly "broken bamboo cages, with a circular diameter of three feet, and solid stones in the middle, which would be tired and block the water." That is, bamboo cages were used to fill the stones, which was called "Juwei".

It was not until the Song Dynasty that Dujiangyan was mentioned for the first time in the history of the Song Dynasty: "The Yongkang army managed Dujiangyan in the 19th century, and the stone snakes cut the river to contain the water to irrigate several county fields."

About The origin of the name Dujiang, "Shu Shui Kao" says: "Fuhe, also known as Chengdu River, has two sources, namely Pijiang River and Liujiang River." Liujiang is another name for Jianjiang River, Chengdu Plain The upper Fu River is the Pijiang River, and the Nanhe River is the Jianjiang River. Their upper reaches are the Baitiao River and Zouma River, which are branches of the inner river of Dujiangyan. "Kuo Di Zhi" says: "Dujiang is the Chengdu River." Starting from the Song Dynasty, the entire Dujiangyan water conservancy system project was summarized and called Dujiangyan, which more accurately represents the entire water conservancy project system, and it has been used to this day.

The Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project consists of three main projects: the Yuzui Diversion Dike, the Feishayan Spillway, and the Baopingkou Water Diversion Entrance when it was founded, as well as ancillary projects such as the Baizhang Dike and the Herringbone Dike. Scientifically solved the problems of automatic diversion of river water, automatic sand discharge, and control of incoming water flow, eliminating floods and turning the western Sichuan plain into a "land of abundance" where "floods and droughts follow people". For more than two thousand years, it has been playing a role in flood control and irrigation. As of 1998, the irrigation scope of Dujiangyan has reached more than 40 counties, with the irrigated area reaching 668,700 hectares.

Yuzui is a water diversion dam built in the middle of the river. It divides the turbulent Minjiang River into an outer river and an inner river. The outer river drains floods and the inner river diverts water for irrigation. Feishayan plays the role of reducing floods, discharging sand and regulating water volume. The mouth of the treasure bottle controls the flow of water. Because the shape of the mouth is like the neck of a bottle, it is called the mouth of the treasure bottle. The water from the Neijiang River flows into the western Sichuan plain through Baopingkou to irrigate farmland. The part of the hill cut off from Yulei Mountain is called "Lidui".

The Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project makes full use of the local geographical conditions of high in the northwest and low in the southeast. According to the special terrain, water veins, and water potential at the mouth of the river, it takes advantage of the situation to divert water without dams and implement gravity irrigation, so that embankments and distribution systems can be used. Water, flood discharge, sediment discharge, and flow control are interdependent and form a system to ensure that the comprehensive benefits of flood control, irrigation, water transportation, and social water use are fully exerted.

The area around Dujiangyan has beautiful scenery and many places of interest, making it an ideal tourist destination. There are places of interest such as Erwang Temple, Fulong Temple, and Anlan Cable Bridge in the Dujiangyan area.

The Erwang Temple is located on the hillside on the right bank of the Minjiang River, in front of Dujiangyan. It was originally a temple to commemorate the King of Shu. During the Jianwu period of Qi Dynasty (494~498 AD), it was renamed "Chongde Temple" to commemorate Li Bing and his son. temple". After the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), Li Bing and his son were successively named kings by the emperor, so later generations called it the "Two Kings Temple". The main hall of the temple enshrines statues of Li Bing and his son respectively, and also collects famous quotes on water control, poet inscriptions, etc.

Fulong Temple is located in Lidui Park. Legend has it that Li Bing subdued the evil dragon here when he was controlling floods. There are now three levels of the temple. In the center of the front hall is a stone statue of Li Bing carved during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD). There are also stone statues of weir workers in the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Flying Dragon Cauldron, a relic of Princess Jinxian and Princess Yuzhen from the Tang Dynasty when they practiced Taoism in Qingcheng Mountain.

Anlan Cable Bridge is also known as "Anlan Bridge" and "Couple Bridge". It was built before the Song Dynasty. Located above the fish mouth of Dujiangyan, it is known as the "Five Great Bridges in Ancient China" and is the most distinctive landscape of Dujiangyan. The cable bridge is supported by wooden rows of stone piers, and thick bamboo cables are used to hang across the river. Wooden boards are laid on top as the bridge deck, and bamboo ropes are used as railings on both sides. The total length is about 500 meters. It was destroyed by war in the late Ming Dynasty (17th century AD). The current bridge is made of steel cable concrete piles.

Dujiangyan is not only a world-famous ancient Chinese water conservancy project, but also a famous scenic spot. In 1982, Dujiangyan, as an important part of the Qingcheng Mountain-Dujiangyan Scenic Area in Sichuan, was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national scenic areas. On May 8, 2007, Chengdu Qingcheng Mountain-Dujiangyan tourist attraction was officially approved by the National Tourism Administration as a national 5A-level tourist attraction.

According to the definition of cultural heritage in Article 1, paragraph 2, of the United Nations Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage: “Buildings: Buildings: buildings that, from a historical, artistic or scientific point of view, are distinguished by their architectural style, uniform distribution or A single or connected building group that has outstanding universal significance value in combination with the environmental scenery."

Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project has a long history, large scale, reasonable layout, scientific operation, and harmonious integration with the environment. It has outstanding universal value in history and science. In 2000, the 24th Session of the United Nations World Heritage Committee Dujiangyan is designated as a world cultural heritage. Extended information

The construction background of Dujiangyan:

The Chengdu Plain, known as the "Land of Abundance", was a place with very serious floods and droughts in ancient times. This situation is caused by the "harsh" natural conditions of the Minjiang River and Chengdu Plain.

The Minjiang River is a major tributary of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The western Sichuan Basin it flows through is a rainy area in China. Originating from the southern foothills of Minshan Mountain at the junction of Sichuan and Gansu, the water of the Minjiang River rises and falls rapidly, and its water potential is turbulent.

The Minjiang River flows out of the Minshan Mountains and flows southward from the west side of the Chengdu Plain. It is an authentic overhanging river for the entire Chengdu Plain, and it hangs very strongly. In ancient times, whenever the Minjiang River flooded, the Chengdu Plain was a vast expanse of ocean; when there was a drought, the land was barren for thousands of miles, with no harvest. Floods in the Minjiang River have long affected Xichuan, devouring fertile farmland, intruding on people's livelihood, and becoming a major obstacle to the survival and development of the ancient Shu Kingdom.

The creation of Dujiangyan has its specific historical roots. During the Warring States Period, swordsmen rose to prominence and wars broke out. The people who suffered from wars longed for the early reunification of China. Coincidentally, the Qin State, which had undergone Shang Yang's reforms, had many famous kings and virtuous ministers, and the country became increasingly prosperous. They correctly understood the special strategic position of Ba and Shu in the process of unifying China.

In this historical context, at the end of the Warring States Period, King Zhao of Qin appointed Li Bing, who knew astronomy and geography and lived in seclusion in Min'e, as the prefect of Shu County. After Li Bing took office, he first determined to eradicate the floods in the Minjiang River, develop agriculture in western Sichuan, benefit the Chengdu Plain, and create an economic foundation for the Qin State to unify China.