【Protecting historical relics and strengthening cultural self-confidence (7)】
These four newly selected world irrigation engineering heritage sites show the wisdom of Chinese water control that has lasted for thousands of years——
Clear waves, a channel of blue water for all generations
Editor's note
Irrigation is of great significance to the development of human civilization. The mainland is an ancient country of irrigation civilization, and is the country with the richest types of irrigation engineering heritage, the most extensive distribution and the most prominent irrigation benefits. Recently, Tongjiyan in Sichuan Province, Xinghua Yuan in Jiangsu Province, Songyang Songgu Irrigation District in Zhejiang Province, and Shangpu Terraces in Chongyi Province in Jiangxi Province were successfully selected into the 2022 (ninth batch) World Irrigation Engineering Heritage List. So far, the world's irrigation engineering heritage has reached 30 on the mainland, and the unique water management concept and superb engineering technology behind it have once again won the world's attention.
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China made important arrangements for "strengthening the protection of cultural relics and cultural heritage, and strengthening the protection and inheritance of history and culture in urban and rural construction". How to make good use of the successful application to better protect and utilize these precious heritages? We invited four relevant workers to talk about the old appearance and rebirth of the ancient irrigation project, and asked experts to analyze and make suggestions.
【Front-line narration】
Tongjiyan - guarding the harvest dream of the people in the irrigation area
Narrator: Bai Wenbin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Tongjiyan Management Office of Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Development Center, Sichuan Province
"There is no water in the June well in the east, and I look up at the ancient weir running across the cattle." This is Su Dongpo's description of the ancient yan Tongjiyan in Meishan, Sichuan, his hometown. In 141 BC, during the Western Han Dynasty, the Tongjiyan was built by Shouwen Weng of Shu County at the time, and was a large-scale comprehensive water conservancy project in the middle reaches of the Min River.
Tongjiyan borrows the characteristics of curved circulation, high in the west and low in the east, to promote water conservancy and eliminate water damage, reflecting the ancients' ideological concept of "Taoism and nature, harmony between heaven and man", and demonstrating the wisdom of water control of "taking advantage of the situation and adapting measures to the times".
In terms of water control, Tongjiyan pioneered the "movable dam" with bamboo cages as the embankment in the Chengdu Plain irrigation project, which not only made full use of water resources, but also minimized the impact of the project on natural rivers, and in modern times, it was gradually replaced by pile-sandwiched concrete clad dams and barrage dams. In terms of project site selection, the water inlet of Tongjiyan was selected at the confluence of the Xinjin Minjiang, Xihe and Nanhe Rivers in Chengdu, and the abundant water source met the needs of agricultural water in the irrigation area. The right bank, located at the foot of Shujue Mountain, is a hard sandstone that is resistant to erosion. Its barrage crosses diagonally with the South River, and the direction of water diversion and natural river is a natural "golden angle", that is, 137.5 degrees.
The Tongji weir canal system is braided, which widens the riverbed when the flood peak arrives, rapidly lowering the water level and reducing losses. Most of the irrigation sections are discharged, and most of the overflow surfaces are arranged in steps, which is conducive to improving the flood control function.
In the long-term exploration of water control, the ancestors adhered to the water control principles such as "closing in winter and opening in spring, and dividing water from flat beams", summed up water control experience such as "years of repair guidelines" and "fixed-point flying sand", and created engineering technologies such as "natural golden angle water diversion", "masonry hard weir", "basket easy stone" and "iron wall cylinder". They also set up a special water conservancy project management agency, the Weir Engineering Bureau, and implemented the weir chief system and adopted the rotation irrigation system, forming a unique water conservancy management system. In today's water control practice, these management experiences still have important reference value.
Historically, Tongjiyan has played a variety of functions such as irrigation, flood control, and shipping, and has made outstanding contributions to agricultural production in irrigated areas. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Tongji Weir has been continuously built and water-saving transformation, reducing the loss of water transmission in the main canal from 30% to 5%, and the water utilization coefficient of the canal system has been increased from 0.41 to 0.65. Today, Tongjiyan has developed into a large-scale comprehensive water conservancy project with compatible irrigation and drainage and comprehensive functions, gurgling irrigation of 520,000 mu of farmland in the four counties (districts) of Xinjin, Pengshan, Dongpo and Qingshen in Chengdu and Meishan cities, benefiting the people's livelihood and economic and social development in the irrigated area.
During the extremely high temperature and dry weather in August this year, the continuous flow of clean water from Tongjiyan quenched the thirst of rice in the irrigation area, reassured farmers and ensured a bumper grain harvest. Many people in the irrigation area said: This is how Tongjiyan has been silently guarding around, and in the future, we must protect it more carefully and let it play a greater value.
Through the declaration of the World Irrigation Engineering Heritage Site, we have systematically sorted out the development context of the Tongjiyan irrigation civilization and benefited a lot. In the future, we will cherish it doubly, so that the ancient project will continue to benefit the people of the irrigation area and contribute to local development.
Xinghua Stacks - Thousands of "stacks" and ten thousand "stacks", happiness blooms
Narrator: Liu Wenfeng, former director of the Water Conservancy Bureau of Xinghua City, Jiangsu Province
"Ten thousand acres of lotus pond green, thousand islands cauliflower yellow, gathering Jiangnan beauty, my sweet hometown..." Every time I hear this song "Dream Water Town", my heart will be particularly moved. The Xinghua Field, with a total area of about 52.88 square kilometers, is an irrigation and drainage engineering system with a long history, unique type and rich cultural connotation in the Xiahe area of Subei Li. Since my retirement, I have been studying water culture, and in the past three years, I have been invited to participate in the whole process of the Xinghua Stacks Irrigation Project to be declared a World Heritage Site, and I have a deep understanding of the "wonders" of Xinghua Fields.
Photo by Zhu Chunlei of Xinghua Field/Guangming Pictures
Xinghua Fields began to appear in the Tang Dynasty and formed a scale during the Ming and Qing dynasties. At that time, groups of immigrants either chose to live high, or took boats as their home, taking advantage of the dry season to open rivers on the swampy lakes and beaches to build fields and build stacks, gradually forming patches of stacked fields surrounded by water and planted on five sides, the large ones covering an area of several acres, and the small ones only a few points of land, resembling "small islands in the water". Several times a year, the industrious ancestors poured mud and piled mud on the stacks, both as fertilizer and moisturizing, so that the stacks increased year by year, and the stacked surface was always higher than the highest flood level, effectively preventing flood disasters.
In the early days of the founding of New China, under the leadership of the Party, the people of Xinghua strengthened the embankment of the Li Canal and built a new embankment of the Northern Jiangsu Irrigation Canal, ending the history of the Lixia River area suffering from the flooding of the Huai River. At the same time, the Jiangdu Water Turning Station and Gaogang Water Conservancy Hub were newly built, so that the Lixia River area can divert water, drain and flood without worries in case of drought. Since the 70s of the 20th century, the new construction of polder gates and drainage stations, and the use of the second-level flood control and drainage control system, have made Xinghua's farmland and villages more comprehensively protected.
The way the fields are irrigated is amazing. The small rivers surrounding the fields are both irrigation channels and "laneways" for water transportation. Since ancient times, vegetable farmers have used a long-handled water scoop to water their crops along the stacks, and the tall stacks have used three or four stages to turn the water, which is convenient and fast. With the progress of society, today's field irrigation has been mechanized.
Xinghua Yuan Tian has basically maintained the original ecological landform, retained the traditional production methods, and formed a unique cultural landscape. At present, the Qianyuan Cauliflower Scenic Area has become a four-star rural tourism scenic spot in Jiangsu Province, receiving 1.2 million tourists annually and generating 60 million yuan in tourism revenue, which has promoted the city's tourism development and stimulated the tertiary economy. Because the soil is rich in organic matter and a variety of trace elements, and is surrounded by water, the vegetables produced in Xinghua Stack Field are of good quality and high yield, which are well received and have made important contributions to farmers' "rich pockets".
Facing the future, we will strengthen the ecological protection of heritage reserves, further promote the research of the field, and continuously enrich and improve the cultural connotation of the field, so that the wonders of the millennium will be rejuvenated by future generations.
Songyang Songgu Irrigation Area – "Living Museum" Highlights "Water Wisdom"
Narrator: Wang Yijia, Associate Professor, Institute of Water Engineering Heritage, Zhejiang Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower
At the beginning of 2021, invited by the Songyang Water Conservancy Bureau, I and several colleagues from the Water Engineering Heritage Research Institute came to Songyang, located in southwest Zhejiang, as experts in the application of the World Heritage Site.
From the historical data, the ancestors of Songyang were diligent in water control, and since the Han Dynasty, they built weirs and canals in the Songyin River basin. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, the irrigation engineering system began to take shape. By the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, there were 116 ancient weirs in the territory, ranking first among the counties in the Oujiang River Basin. In fact, there are thousands of famous and large ancient weirs in the entire Songgu irrigation area, and there are 14 ancient weirs with an irrigation area of more than 1,000 mu. The large number of ancient dams and the large engineering density are very rare.
Photo by Jiang Xiaodong, Jinliangyan, Songgu Irrigation District\Guangming Picture
With the deepening of the investigation, we found that the ancient irrigation project of Songyang is not limited to the ancient weir dam, and there are also a large number of ancient mountain ponds, ancient canals and ancient wells in the Songgu irrigation area. Among them, the irrigation area is dotted with mountain ponds, which regulate and store water for weir canals, replenish water in the dry season, and store water in the rainy season. On both sides of Songyin Creek, the rational arrangement of "weirs and pond wells" and the orderly organization of "drainage and drainage" can achieve inexhaustible drought, both sunny and rainy, and adapt to the environment. In the same water system, a variety of irrigation technologies are comprehensively applied, covering plains and mountains, and planting rice, tea, mulberry, tobacco and other crops. The unique natural environment and rich and innovative water control practices have made Songgu Irrigation Area the largest grain-producing area in the Oujiang River Basin, and the ancient proverb that has been passed down for thousands of years - "Songyang is ripe, the state is full", which is the true portrayal of Wufu Minfeng in Songgu Irrigation District.
Bright morning picture of Songu irrigation area
In the investigation, the richness and informatence of the historical materials of the Songgu irrigation area are amazing. The Guangxu edition of the "Songyang County Record" has nearly 30 articles, records and records describing the mountain system and water system, field exploration and flat service, and agricultural water conservancy. Treasured in the Songyang Museum, there are more than 30 notices, approvals and inscriptions of 14 county decrees, recording the historical facts of the restoration, management, water diversion and settlement of water conservancy disputes in Fangxiyan in 555 years, and also embodying the unwavering and persistent spirit of local officials and people for hundreds of years. "The Legend of Baichengyan" records the story of Zhou Zongxi in the Ming Dynasty who used the "Seven Three Methods" to select the weir site and solve the drought and flood disputes between the north and south banks, and it was the first time in history that the feasibility study of water conservancy projects was carried out by quantitative analysis method; According to the water needs of different villages, the "Bianshi Water Division" uses the standard-sized "Bianshi" to standardize the length, width and depth of the water diversion channel, rationally allocate the amount of water, and skillfully solve the water intake dispute that has lasted for a hundred years... Even today, these water management methods still have important reference significance.
Songgu Irrigation District is a distinctive "living museum" of irrigation engineering heritage, preserving more than 100 traditional villages with complete layouts and different styles. It lies quietly among the landscapes and countryside, with weirs, ponds, canals, wells, and rich and diverse types of engineering heritage; From water interception, water diversion, water storage, water replenishment, to drainage and irrigation, the functions are complete and coherent; From "private government assistance" to "borrowing land to build Zhen", from "water transfer from ox back" to "segmented rotation irrigation", the practice of water control is wonderful.
The successful selection of the World Irrigation Engineering Heritage will inspire us to carry forward the traditional water management culture, protect the "happy rivers and lakes" for today's people, and inject wisdom and strength into the modernization of mountain water conservancy.
Upper Fort Terraces – Alpine terraces with water
Narrator: Yang Jinping, President of Chongyi County Water Conservancy and Hydropower Survey and Design Institute, Jiangxi Province
"It's a success!" When the happy news came that the Upper Fort Terraces had been successfully inscribed on the World Heritage List of Irrigation Engineering, the whole county cheered. This is the second world-class heritage honor that the Shangpu Rice Terraces in Chongyi County, Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, have received after the "Globally Important Agricultural Cultural Heritage". As a participant in this application, I have mixed feelings. From discovering the value of the Upper Fort Terraces, to in-depth research, initiating the application, and collecting materials... The past is vivid and unforgettable.
Bright picture of the Upper Fort terraces
"Upper fort and upper fort, alpine terraces and water." Shangpu Rice Terraces are located in Shangbao Township, Fengzhou Township and Sishun Township of Chongyi County, distributed between the Zhuguang Mountain Range in the southern section of the Luoxiao Mountain Range, covering an area of about 51,000 mu, with a vertical drop of nearly 1,000 meters and a maximum of 62 terraces, known as the "world's largest Hakka rice terraces".
After receiving the task of applying for the World Heritage Site, the first problem in front of us was to find and verify the remains of the Shangpu Terraces Irrigation Project. I immediately contacted water conservancy experts from Nanchang Institute of Technology and conducted investigations with them throughout the Shangbao rice terraces. In two years, we conducted more than 20 surveys and selected 12 of the most representative sites for in-depth excavation and restoration.
Confirming the size of the terraces is the first step in excavation and restoration. We visited most of the villages around Shangbao Township and found out that the total number of terraced rice fields in Shangbao is 3,400 hectares. When excavating the site, almost every step was difficult because of its age. In order to completely restore a 2-meter-long reservoir, we read a lot of classics and interviewed the elderly villagers in the surrounding area, and finally figured out the mixing ratio of stone, soil and bamboo pieces and the specific methods.
In order to determine the history of the development, construction and operation of the Shangpu terraces, we looked at many genealogies, combined with historical materials such as classics, county chronicles, and township chronicles, and repeatedly investigated and verified them with the help of experts in water conservancy, hydrology, geology and water conservation. For example, we found the origin of the Shangpu Terraces from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, found the remains of water storage projects, drainage and irrigation canal systems and water volume regulation and control facilities, studied the non-engineering sites related to the project, and sorted out the historical development of the Shangpu Terraces. It has been verified that the early development history of the Shangpu Terraces originated in the pre-Qin Dynasty, flourished in the Qin and Han dynasties, matured in the Song and Yuan dynasties, and perfected in the Ming and Qing dynasties, with a history of more than 2,200 years.
The ancestors of Shangbao combined the construction of terraces with the management of mountains and water, forming a unique mode of utilization and management of water and soil resources: water storage on the top of the mountain makes full use of the potential energy of water flow; Cascade arrangement to effectively reduce soil erosion; Engineering energy dissipation, reduce water flow erosion; Collect water and sink sand to ensure the slope type of the mountain. Today, the engineering form and layout of the artesian irrigation system of the Shangbao terraces are still intact and have become an important part of the local agricultural economy. The terraced ecosystem realizes the trinity of water storage, soil preservation and yield increase, which promotes the high-quality development of the local agricultural economy. The ecological concept and construction management experience accumulated by the project provide valuable experience for modern slope cultivated land treatment and soil and water conservation projects.
Looking back on the entire application work, the irrigation system of the Shangpu terraces embodies the precious concepts of the Chinese nation of "unity of heaven and man" and "harmony between man and water", and engraves the light of the spirit of tenacious struggle and innovation of generations of ancestors, which is deeply shocking. Next, we will make good use of the brand of the World Irrigation Engineering Heritage to better protect and develop irrigation projects, so that the Shangpu Terraces can benefit the people for a longer time.
Project team: Guangming Daily reporters Zhang Sheng, Hu Xiaojun, Li Xiaodong, Zhou Hongshuang, Su Yan, Lu Jian, Wang Simin Guangming Daily correspondent Yang Xiaoan
【Expert Learning】
Author: WEI Youxing (Research Fellow, Theoretical Research Base, Xi Jinping Research Center for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Jiangsu Province (Hohai University))
"Water conservancy, followed by agricultural merit; There is agricultural merit, and then Yuguo. "The bearing space of water determines the space for economic and social development. The spatial and temporal distribution of water resources in mainland China is uneven, so promoting the construction of water conservancy engineering facilities such as water diversion and irrigation is not only of strategic significance to ensure agricultural water use, but also provides strong support for national food security and healthy economic and social development.
Since ancient times, building water conservancy and preventing water damage has been the great plan of the Chinese nation to govern the country and security. The Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project, built in 256 BC, transformed the Chengdu Plain from a "Ze Country" and "Red Basin" into a "Land of Heavenly Prefectures" with thousands of miles of fertile fields, and the huge benefits have continued to this day. Up to now, the number of Continental World Irrigation Engineering Heritage sites has reached 30. These precious heritages carry traditional water management techniques, experience and wisdom, engrave the historical trajectory of the continuous and sustainable development of Chinese civilization, and reflect the long-standing and profound wisdom of China's excellent traditional culture.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has clearly put forward the idea of "water conservation first, spatial balance, systematic governance, and two-handed efforts", and made a series of important speeches on ensuring national water security, promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, providing scientific guidelines and fundamental guidelines for water management and rejuvenation in the new era. In the face of the rich water conservancy heritage left by the ancients, we must excavate, protect and make good use of it, strengthen the protection of water cultural heritage such as ancient irrigation areas and ancient ferry ports, promote the activation and utilization of excellent agricultural cultural heritage, inheritance and innovation, comprehensively display its cultural achievements in farmland water conservancy, river control technology, architectural construction and other fields, and promote local economic and social development and moisturize the people's happy and beautiful life.
On the one hand, in the grand practice of managing rivers and managing water, we must be good at finding the source of living water from the excellent traditional Chinese culture. It is necessary to fully absorb the water management concepts of the unity of nature and man, respect for nature, following the trend, and local materials contained in the world's irrigation engineering heritage, as well as the ideas and methods of systematic governance, and inherit and carry forward the excellent traditional Chinese water culture accumulated by the Chinese nation in the long-term practice of water management, such as "those who govern the country well must manage water well" and "good as water". Only when rivers and rivers are safe can the sustainable development of the nation be guaranteed. Today, more than 98,000 reservoirs of various types have been built across the country, with a length of 430,000 kilometers of embankments, and a flood control engineering system with dikes, control hubs and flood storage and detention areas as the backbone has been basically formed in the seven major river basins. Looking at China, water conservancy facilities stand tall, irrigation channels are densely packed with fields, water source projects span north and south, mutual benefit to the east and west, and the new water network of "four horizontal and three vertical" connects the natural picture of beautiful mountains and waters, clouds and sky, writing a vigorous and vast green legend that attracts worldwide attention, reflecting the ever-changing and thriving beautiful China.
On the other hand, we should make overall plans for the protection and utilization of the heritage of irrigation projects, coordinate the governance of water resources, water environment and water ecology, and innovate methods and methods to make more and more heritage alive and beautiful. In 2018, Central Document No. 1 proposed to protect the heritage of irrigation projects. Document No. 1 of the Central Committee in 2022 emphasizes the promotion of the protection and utilization of intangible cultural heritage and important agricultural cultural heritage. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China made important arrangements for "strengthening the protection and inheritance of history and culture in urban and rural construction". At present, it is necessary to do a good job in theoretical and technical research on the protection of the heritage of irrigation projects, effectively protect the heritage of irrigation projects through the preparation and implementation of special plans for protection and utilization, legislation, etc., and let them "dress up" the people for a happy and beautiful life through ecological benefits and ecological benefits.
More importantly, seize the opportunity to be selected for the World Irrigation Engineering Heritage List, tell the world the wonderful stories of China's irrigation engineering heritage, let more people understand the historical significance and epochal value of these heritages, educate and guide the masses, especially the youth, to better understand and identify with Chinese civilization, strengthen historical and cultural self-confidence, enhance the ambition, backbone and confidence of Chinese, and gather more strength for the mainland's comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country.
Guang Ming Daily (November 18, 2022, Version 07)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily