The reporter learned from the "2023 Shaanxi Six New Archaeological Discoveries Selection and Public Archaeological Report" held on February 1 that as the largest archaeology of water conservancy projects in the Han and Tang dynasties so far, the archaeology of Cao Canal and Kunming Pond in the Han and Tang dynasties clearly and clearly reveals the grand appearance of the national water conservancy projects in the Han and Tang dynasties.
The Cao Canal was a canal dug by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to solve the grain problem of the capital Chang'an, and it continued to be maintained and used during the Sui and Tang dynasties. Kunming Pond is an artificial pond dug by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty for the training of the navy, and the Kunming Pond is connected with the Cao Canal after being excavated, and together form a huge water network. Since 2012, the archaeological team of Afang Palace and Shanglinyuan, jointly formed by the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Xi'an Institute of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology, has carried out large-scale archaeological exploration of the Kunming Pool site in the Han and Tang Dynasties, and has obtained a series of important cognitions centered on water conservancy projects such as the Cao Canal and Kunming Pond in the Han and Tang Dynasties.
Determine the inlet area and outlet channel of the Han and Tang Cao Canal and Kunming Pond. According to archaeological determination, the water from Cao Canal and Kunming Pond comes from an artificial river that goes down from the stone head valley of the Qinling Mountains, which is the pickaxe water dug for the Zhou Dynasty to use for the pickaxe Beijing. On the south and east sides of the Kunming Pond site, a large artificial ditch was successively determined. Archaeological excavations have determined that the ditch was dug in the Han Dynasty and was used until the Tang Dynasty, and it was abandoned and silted up in the Song Dynasty.
The location and depth of the bank of Kunming Pond were determined. After exploration and excavation, it was determined that the area of Kunming Pool in the early period was about 14.2 square kilometers, and the expansion reached about 15.4 square kilometers in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. The elevation of the shore of Kunming Pond is about 401 meters. No islands were found in the pool, and the maximum depth of the pool was not more than 3.3 meters. Exploration and excavation have determined that there is only one water inlet of Kunming Pool, which is located on the west side of Shijiakou Village, and its location is completely consistent with the documentary record.
During the archaeological exploration of Kunming Pond, archaeologists found a ditch located next to the ruins of Hojing, the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty, at the bottom of Kunming Pond, which is southwest to northeast, and the exploration length is about 4,200 meters. After archaeological exploration and excavation, it was determined that the ditch and the Cao Canal, the Kunming Pond Inlet River was originally an artificial ditch, which was dug in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Cao Canal first took water from the opening of the ditch, and after the Kunming Pond was excavated, the ditch from the water intake of the Kunming Pond to the Pickaxe Pond section was sunk to the bottom of the Kunming Pond. According to the literature, this ditch should be dug in the east and south of Haojing after the construction of Haojing, and it is an important project for the Zhou people to solve the water use of Haojing by "South-to-North Water Diversion". The discovery and determination of the water can be said to be an important discovery in the history and geography of the Chang'an region.
Original title: Han and Tang Dynasty National Water Conservancy Project Archaeological Discovery Zhou People's "South-to-North Water Diversion" Project
Source: CCTV News
Author: Lei Kai