Gaochun Dongba marquee lamp
Friends who are familiar with the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom know that Gaochun Dongba was a town that the Taiping Army and the Qing Army repeatedly fought over. Speaking of Dongba, except for the locals, I don't know a lot, but if you want to say four hundred years ago, it is completely different.
The question is, why do the two armies repeatedly fight for this place, and what is the story of this East Dam?
According to the Records of Gaochun County, in the third year of Xianfeng, the Taiping Army had already occupied Jinling. In the fourth year of Xianfeng, the Taiping Army slid from the Yangtze River into Dongba. In the sixth year of Xianfeng, the Taiping Army entered by land again, the officers and soldiers were defeated, and the Taiping Army occupied the territory for more than two months, and then Qin Hu and others attacked Dongba. In the tenth year of Xianfeng, the Taiping Army re-entered Dongba, this time staying for more than four years, until October of the second year of Tongzhi, when Bao Chao, the admiral of Zhejiang, and Peng Yulin, the commander of the water division, advanced by land and water, and restored Gaochun, and the East Dam gradually became secure.
From the above historical data, we can see that the two sides are fiercely contesting gaochun dongba. Although it is not like Anqing's status in Nanjing, both sides attach more importance to it.
What exactly is the reason for this?
From the map, we can see that Gaochun Dongba Town is located in the south of Nanjing, since the Ming Taizu dredged the Xu River to build a dam, river boats can go from Taihu Lake to Qinhuai River, enter the Yangtze River system, access to Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and other places, and can flow through the Taihu Lake and Qiantang River basins, thus reaching Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou and Zhejiang, Fujian and other places. Such a boat not only shortens the journey of nearly 100 kilometers, but also avoids the risks of the river. As a result, Guangtong Town (now Dongba) became the transportation hub of the "Seven Provinces Thoroughfare".
Originally, the geographical location of Dongba was very important, it was the throat of Suzhou and Changzhou, and the gateway to Nanjing.
So what other stories does Dongba have? When did the East Dam start building? What was the original purpose?
Schematic diagram of Gaochun East Dam
According to relevant literature, since the Ming Dynasty, the Construction of Guangtong Gate Dam (East Dam) has begun, and the purpose of construction is mainly to facilitate shipping. From the above figure, we can see that the East Dam is a sluice dam built on the Xuxi River, and the Xuxi River is not a natural river, it is an artificial waterway dug for transportation.
As early as 506 BC, in order to attack the State of Chu, the State of Wu excavated the Xuxi River, from which ships could enter Taihu Lake from Suzhou and enter the Yangtze River from Wuhu, greatly shortening the distance from Suzhou in Jiangsu to Chaohu Lake in Anhui. You see, the names are also related to Wu Zixu.
Taihu Lake sailing
However, since the Ming Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing, most of the grain transportation routes passed through the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal from Zhenjiang and Yangzhou to the north. In this way, the shipping status of the Xu River is no longer important. Therefore, the gate was changed to an earthen dam, and the river channel was blocked. Since then, the water level of the dam has been very low and leaked everywhere. Ships could only barely pass.
In addition, in the event of a flood, the East Dam has also been recorded as being destroyed by water. As soon as the East Dam is broken, the fertile fields in Suzhou, Changzhou and other places downstream will be submerged, and if the disaster is very serious, it will not be possible to collect national taxes. The Taihu Lake Basin is the important place where the imperial court pays the national tax every year, and in order to protect the fertile land in the Taihu Lake Basin, which is more economically developed, the government decided to increase the height of the East Dam. In this way, the water west of the dam is completely cut off, the natural geographical conditions are destroyed, and the Xu River flows in a reverse westward direction.
Since then, the river water in Gaochun has been accumulated and there is nowhere to be discharged, the river floods, and the people of Gaochun County suffer from floods.
In the 29th year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty (1849), the Xu River flooded again, and the water level of Gucheng Lake was as high as 13.26 meters, and the residents of Gaochun privately dug the East Dam, causing an extremely rare flood in the Taihu Lake area.
On the one hand, the Qing government ordered major repairs to be strengthened, on the other hand, to prevent the people from digging privately, and in the first year of Xianfeng (1851), the East Dam was changed from a Ming Dynasty earthen dam to a stone dam.
During the Republic of China period, the basic thinking of the central government was not much different from that of the Qing government. Or in order to ensure the safety of the Taihu Lake Economic Zone and safeguard the national interests, the government has choked the upstream water in Gaochun, Dangtu and other places, reducing the amount of water entering the Taihu Lake. However, due to the dam barrier in the upper reaches, the water has not been discharged, and Gaochun and other places have become water storage areas, the land is submerged, and the flooding is flooded, and the upstream "one county has been affected by water for more than 500 years".
When the lake floods during the rainy season, the three counties of Gaochun, Dangtu and Xuancheng become huge reservoirs, and the polder houses sink, and flooding becomes the main content of life here.
Xuanchengjing County Qingyi River scenery
In order to drain the water, the upstream and downstream people have long clashed, and even lost their lives, but due to the special economic status of Su, Song, and often because of their special economic status, the government supports the suppression of floods upstream of the dam. Obviously, the Republic of China government lacks macro-planning for the water control cause, and tries to sacrifice the interests of a small part of the region in exchange for the development of another region, but the areas that make sacrifices not only do not get any policy adjustments, but are ignored.
Fortunately, after the founding of New China, a new situation of water conservancy governance in the Taihu Lake Basin was created. In 1957, the Central Ministry of Water Resources decided to abolish the East Dam and rebuild the gate. At the same time, ditches were dug deep in the lower reaches of Taihu Lake, dredging drainage trunk roads such as Wusong River and Baimao River, combining farmland irrigation with flood prevention, and successfully solving the water conservancy problem in the upper reaches of Taihu Lake.
More and more people are beginning to discuss how to make full use of the development of the Wushen Canal through the East Dam.
Scenery of Ishiusu Lake
Do you also know what stories of Gaochun Dongba, welcome to share the message!
This article is original by Jiangnan Yizheng, welcome to pay attention to, take you along with long knowledge!
Original link: What kind of existence is the Gaochun Dongba that the Taiping Army and the Qing Army repeatedly fought over?
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