Dujiangyan Irrigation System
| Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan irrigation system | |
|---|---|
| Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List | |
 |
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| Location |
 China
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| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iv, vi |
| Reference | 1001 |
| UNESCO region | Asia and the Pacific |
| Coordinates | 31°0′6.01″N 103°36′19.01″E / 31.0016694°N 103.6052806°E |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 2000 (24th Session) |
The Dujiangyan (Chinese: 都江堰; pinyin: Dūjiāngyàn) irrigation system was originally constructed around 256 BC by the State of Qin as a water conservation and flood control project. The system's infrastructure is located on the Min River (Sichuan) (Chinese: 岷江; pinyin: Mínjiāng), which is the longest tributary of the Yangtze, in Sichuan, China. The area is situated in the western portion of the Chengdu flat lands at the confluence between the Sichuan basin and the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Originally the Minjiang rushed down from the Min Mountains, but slowed abruptly after reaching the Chengdu Plains, causing the watercourse to fill up with silt, making the surrounding area extremely prone to flooding. Li Bing, then governor of Shu for the state of Qin, and his son headed the construction of the Dujiangyan, which harnessed the river using a new method of channeling and dividing the water rather than simply following the old way of dam building. It is still in use today to irrigate over 5,300 square kilometers of land in the region. The Dujiangyan along with the Zhengguo Canal in Shaanxi and the Lingqu Canal in Guangxi are collectively known as the "three great hydraulic engineering projects of the Qin dynasty."
During the Warring States period, people who lived along the banks of the Min River were plagued by annual flooding. Qin governor Li Bing investigated the problem and discovered that the river was swelled by fast flowing spring melt-water from the local mountains that burst the banks when it reached the slow moving and heavily silted stretch below.
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