Dujiangyan irrigation system
Obra hidráulica de Dujiangyan
- Date
- 256 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Dujiangyan, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- Credited to
- Li Bing, governor of Shu (State of Qin)
- People
- 👤 Li Bing
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A dam-free irrigation system that splits the Min River with a fish-mouth spur, a spillway and a channel cut into rock. It is still in use and irrigates more than 5000 km² of the Chengdu Plain.
A World Heritage Site; the channel's rock was opened by heating it with fire and cooling it with water.
What it led to
- conversion of the Chengdu Plain into Qin's granary
- flood control on the Min River
- model of diversion-based hydraulic engineering