Li Bing (administrator)

Li Bing (Chinese: 李冰; pinyin: Lǐ Bīng; c. 3rd century BC) was a Chinese engineer and politician of the Warring States period. He served the state of Qin as an administrator and has become renowned for his association with the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, the construction of which he is traditionally said to have instigated and overseen. Because of the importance of this 2000-year-old irrigation system to the development of Sichuan and the Yangtze River region, Li Bing became a great Chinese cultural icon, hailed as a great civil administrator and water conservation expert. In Chinese mythology, he is known as the vanquisher of the River God and is compared to the Great Yu. Dujiangyan is still in use today and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

King Zhaoxiang of Qin (r. 306–251 BC) dispatched Li Bing as joint military and civilian governor (shou) over Shu, a recently defeated state in Sichuan province, Southwest China, just west of modern Chengdu. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, Li Bing was appointed governor of Shu in c. 277 BC. However, the Chronicles of Huayang place Li Bing in Shu in 272 BC. He arrived just as Zhang Ruo had put down the last of the marquis rebellions and moved out to engage the Chu city of Yan. Zhang Ruo did not leave any incumbent ministers, and Li Bing had complete control over Shu. (Sage, 149) "When he arrived in Shu, Li Bing witnessed the sufferings of local people from frequent flooding of the Min River." Additionally, the Qin monarchy had been sending its exiles to this state and the Qin military needed food and infrastructure.

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