Chapter 19 18. Sanmenxia Dam and its lone rebel

Construction of the Sanmenxia Reservoir, which began in 1957, was a much-anticipated effort by the Chinese to tame the Yellow River, but has since become controversial.Sanmenxia City is located in the west of Henan Province, at the junction of Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces.This place has a long history and was once the central area ruled by the Xia and Shang dynasties; the Western Zhou Dynasty belonged to the Guo State, the Qin Dynasty established Sanchuan County, the Western Han Dynasty established Henan Prefecture, the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established Hongnong County, and the Northern Wei Dynasty established Shanzhou until the Ming and Qing Dynasties.According to legend, Dayu used his ax to control the water and split the mountain into three canyons: "Human Gate", "Shenmen Gate" and "Ghost Gate". name.Only in the history of the People's Republic of China, Sanmenxia became famous because of the construction of the first dam of the Yellow River, the Sanmenxia Dam.Because of the Sanmenxia Dam, Sanmenxia was established as a prefecture-level city under the provincial jurisdiction in March 1957 with the approval of the State Council.As the first large water control project on the Yellow River, the Sanmenxia Reservoir once caused crowds to revel, and it is a project that inspires pride like the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge and the Hongqi Canal.However, in the ensuing 44 years, the debate on the waste of the Sanmenxia Reservoir has never stopped. The pros and cons of building a "dam", the decision-making process of building a "dam" and any project with huge impact, etc., are still being debated and discussed by the Chinese until today.

In 1866, American missionary Martin Martin, who once served as the chief professor of Beijing Tongwenguan and Jingshi University, stared at the rolling Yellow River in North China, and shouted loudly: "The turbulent and turbid waves bring thoughts to the future. The rolling Yellow River ignores The power of the natives has yet to be tamed scientifically by Western engineers." Not without Western engineers declaring war on the river. 69 years later, Oliver Todd, a hydraulic engineer from Michigan in the United States, began to think hard about ways to tame the Yellow River.Todd regards the river as "China's tragedy" because he has personally witnessed how the river's flooding can wash away people's homes, make people die of starvation, or become beggars.But the engineer dubbed "Todd the Almighty" failed anyway.His efforts first faced resistance from divisive warlords and distrust from the Chinese.He is regarded as a "representative of the Western powers", or a Westerner who hinders the continued formation of the warlords.

This is just one of countless attempts by the Chinese to tame the river with the help of outside forces.Either way, the Chinese have never stopped trying to tame this river, because this river is called the "Mother River" by the Chinese, but the river that Oliver Todd called "China's Sadness" has never been Has not ceased to cause disaster and sorrow. On October 25, 1952, Mao Zedong, who had just established his own political power, left Beijing and spent a week inspecting the Yellow River.The area he inspected was the section of the Yellow River in Shandong and Henan that flooded the most and caused the greatest harm.Mao Zedong left a famous saying, "The affairs of the Yellow River must be handled well."The founding fathers who enshrined the principle that man can conquer nature believe that there is nothing that a determined person cannot do.

Also in 1952, China invited water conservancy experts from the former Soviet Union to assist China in planning the management of the Yellow River.Zhu Youdi, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency and later director of the Research Office of the State Council, wrote in the "Looking Book": "Unfortunately, the experts in the former Soviet Union were hydraulic experts, mainly engaged in water conservancy projects. They were all good at building strong dams. But he was not good at managing the entire river. At that time, the Soviet experts pointed at them casually and said to the accompanying Chinese counterparts: "Sanmenxia is a rare and good dam site!" Chinese water conservancy experts also nodded frequently."

Zhu Youdi advocated judging the pros and cons of the Sanmenxia Water Conservancy Project from a non-controversial perspective.One of his criteria is that the Sanmenxia water conservancy project has destroyed the landscape of Sanmenxia. "No one said that Sanmenxia is the most spectacular spectacle on the Yellow River and the best tourist attraction. Except for the gathering of water conservancy experts, when investigating such a major project, There is no place for experts in other disciplines... The landscape of Sanmenxia can definitely be included in the world natural heritage." In January 1954, an expert group of more than 100 people, headed by Kololyov, deputy chief engineer of the Leningrad Hydropower Design Institute, spent several months conducting surveys along the Yellow River.Kololyov finally decided that Sanmenxia was the best place to build a dam on the Yellow River. In April, under the guidance of Soviet experts, the Yellow River Planning Committee of the Ministry of Water Resources completed the "Economic Report on Comprehensive Utilization Planning of the Yellow River". This report was then jointly submitted to the leaders of the Communist Party of China, including Mao Zedong, by the State Planning Commission and the Construction Commission.This report was subsequently adopted by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the plenary session of the State Council.The urgency to control the Yellow River made them completely attracted by the prospects described in this report.

On July 18 of this year, at the Second Session of the First National People's Congress, Deng Zihui, Vice Premier of the State Council, made the "Comprehensive Planning Report on Cure Yellow River Water Damage and Develop Yellow River Water Conservancy" on behalf of the State Council.Zhu Youdi described the report in his article on Sanmenxia: "According to the plan, the Yellow River flood disaster can be completely avoided. A Sanmenxia reservoir can reduce the envisaged maximum flood volume of the Yellow River from 37,000 seconds to 8,000 seconds. And 8,000 The flow of a second cubic meter can safely enter the sea through the narrow river channels in Shandong... Moreover, since the Yellow River sediment has been intercepted by the Sanmenxia Reservoir and a series of reservoirs on the main stream and tributaries above Sanmenxia, ​​the downstream river water will become clear, and the river body will The river channel will be more stable when it is continuously brushed deeper by clear water."

The envisioned Sanmenxia Dam is almost as good as it gets.Deng Zihui said at the meeting: "This can't help but remind people of a sentence that was said as early as the Zhou Dynasty, 'When the water is clear, the life expectancy is long'. But now we don't need hundreds of years, we only need decades. You can see that the water and soil conservation work has taken effect in the entire Yellow River area, and in just 6 years, after the completion of the Sanmenxia Reservoir, you can see that the water in the lower reaches of the Yellow River will basically become clear. Our representatives here and the people of the whole country will be able to In the lower reaches of the Yellow River, we can see the day that people have dreamed of for thousands of years—see the Yellow River clear!"

In a new country, everything seems to be new.People enjoy the favor of fate and mistakenly believe that they are omnipotent.The planning report was approved by the National People's Congress, and Kololyov became the chief engineer of the design of the Sanmenxia Water Conservancy Project. However, in June 1955, at a meeting of experts chaired by Zhou Enlai and convened by the Ministry of Water Resources at the Beijing Hotel, this much-anticipated project met its opposition.Those were two lone opponents: Huang Wanli, a professor at Tsinghua University, and Wen Shanzhang, a technician at the State Administration of Water and Electricity.Wen Shanzhang proposed to rebuild the low dam, but Huang Wanli completely opposed it.

Huang Wanli is the son of Huang Yanpei. His early ambition was in bridge engineering, just like many young people who were looking forward to building a country at that time. In 1932, 21-year-old Huang Wanli graduated from Tangshan Jiaotong University with a major in railway and bridge engineering. He went to work as an engineer's assistant on the Jianghang Railway construction site, but he witnessed two catastrophic floods: In 1931, the Yangtze River and Han River flooded, and only one county in Yunmeng, Hubei Province was flooded. , 70,000 people were swept away by the flood; in 1933, the Yellow River suffered a severe flood, and more than a dozen embankments burst.Huang Wanli immediately gave up his major in railway engineering and transferred to study water conservancy—one theory is that he heard that the Yellow River was the most difficult to manage, so he determined to study water conservancy to control the Yellow River. After studying in the United States, he successively obtained a master's degree from Cornell University and the University of Illinois Ph.D.

Huang Wanli said in front of Zhou Enlai: "You say 'the sage comes out, the Yellow River is clear', but I say that the Yellow River cannot be cleared. The Yellow River is not a merit, but a sin." Huang Wanli subsequently put forward the "Opinions on the Current Planning Method of Sanmenxia Reservoir on the Yellow River" by the Yellow River Basin Planning Committee, which was later published in the 8th issue of the magazine "China Water Conservancy" in 1957. "Four thousand years of experience in river control led Chinese sages to summarize four flood control methods first in the world thousands of years ago: ditches or blocking the river to store water, embankment construction to block water, dredging deep rivers to control rivers, and gap drainage. In addition In the past 40 years, Chinese and foreign scholars have integrated the theories and experiences of the Germans in river management, and have accumulated a lot of new knowledge. It is inappropriate to ignore this knowledge and think that the downstream flood control problem can be solved with a dam.”

Huang Wanli's objections focused on two points.First of all, the construction of a dam in Sanmenxia will slow down the water flow in the reservoir area. The Yellow River is originally a siltation section in the Tongguan section of the Three Gorges. The storage of water and sediment in the reservoir will increase the siltation of the Yellow River, which will cause the estuary of the Weihe River to be raised due to siltation, threatening For the safety of Qinchuan and the west bank of the eight hundred miles, the floods in the lower reaches are transferred to the middle reaches; secondly, it is against the objective law to expect the water of the Yellow River to be clear. The Yellow River itself is a river with a lot of sand. It takes a lot of effort to prevent it from being scoured so quickly." "In a word, having a dam is enough for everything, and the design idea of ​​clearing the river without mud will cause serious consequences in history. The function of the dam is only to regulate the flow rate, thereby creating good conditions for river governance. It must not be thought that having a dam is enough Heal the river." After the Sanmenxia dam is built, the downstream flood damage will be moved to the upstream, and the clear water coming out of the reservoir will endanger the downstream embankment. The Sanmenxia water conservancy project is inevitable. While opposing it, Huang Wanli also proposed a remedial strategy, that is, the Sanmenxia Dam must be able to remove sand from the reservoir, so as to prepare for a large amount of sediment deposition in the future. Next, at the symposium on the Sanmenxia Water Conservancy Project held from June 10 to 24, 1957, Huang Wanli once again challenged the Confucian scholars.At the seminar, there were three factions: the Gaoba faction who blocked the flood and sediment, the Low Dam faction who blocked the flood and sediment discharge, and the anti-Shanghai faction (opposing the Upper Sanmenxia Project) with only Huang Wanli alone. The Gaoba faction advocated the immediate construction of the Sanmenxia Dam to block floods and store sand, and clear water to flow out of the reservoir. They also opposed the reduction of storage capacity and advocated the construction of a 360-meter dam. The Diba faction is also a minority, represented by Wen Shanzhang, who advocates flood control and sand removal.They hope to protect cultivated land, reduce storage capacity, and lower water storage lines (335 meters or 330 meters, 320 meters). Huang Wanli belonged to the isolationist faction. He later recalled that the people present at the meeting "mostly agreed with the design of the Soviet experts, but the author was the only one who opposed the construction of the dam at all, and pointed out that the dam would silt up the fields and cause the city to be miserable. Debate for seven days After the failure, the author retreated and proposed: If the dam must be built, it is recommended not to block the six drainage holes so that gates can be set up to discharge sand in the future. This point was agreed by all. However, during construction, Soviet experts insisted on dismantling the six drainage holes according to the original design. The bottom holes are all blocked.” As a result, in the 1970s, these bottom holes were opened again at a cost of 10 million yuan each. All the problems that Huang Wanli said later became reality. The Sanmenxia Reservoir was built less than two years ago, and the siltation of the reservoir was serious. The silt at the mouth of the Weihe River was more than 4 meters high. In 1968, the Weihe River breached in Huaxian County, Shaanxi Province, causing extensive flooding.The water level of the Sanmenxia reservoir is also afraid to raise due to concerns about sedimentation, and the installed capacity of the reservoir is only a quarter of the original design.At the same time, the clear water coming out of the reservoir will cause erosion to the downstream river and severely scour the river bank.At this time, Huang Wanli had already been labeled as a rightist because of his opposing remarks, and he was sent to a labor camp.During his career as a rightist, Huang Wanli did not stop expressing his opinions on the Sanmenxia Water Conservancy Project. He still hoped to turn the situation around and wrote to the Central Committee through Dong Biwu, a good friend of his father and vice president of the country. The devastating Weihe River flood in 2003 made people point their fingers at the Sanmenxia Water Conservancy Project.The media even pointed to the Sanmenxia Reservoir as the "culprit" of the Weihe flood.All of a sudden, the controversy over Sanmenxia Reservoir fees began to emerge.The victim of the Wei River, Shaanxi Province, believes that "the Tongguan elevation has risen, the Weihe River has poor drainage, and the small flow has caused a big disaster. The responsibility lies with Sanmenxia, ​​and the Sanmenxia Reservoir should be abandoned."——The so-called Tongguan elevation refers to the flow of the Yellow River at 1,000 meters per second cubic meters, corresponding to the height of the water level, many experts believe that the Sanmenxia Reservoir is the reason for the elevation of Tongguan.Zhang Guangdou, a well-known water conservancy expert, also said in an interview with CCTV that the Sanmenxia Hydropower Station should be abandoned.There are not a few experts who agree with this view. On the other hand, some people believe that "after the 1990s, the uplift of Tongguan elevation was a natural uplift, not unique to the Weihe River, nor unique to Tongguan elevation. As the climate warms, there is less incoming water in the north, and the river bed is silted up. It is a natural phenomenon, and the entire Yellow River and all the riverbeds in the north are being uplifted."Therefore, "abandoning the Sanmenxia Reservoir is a wrong idea".Sanmenxia City even called out to the Ministry of Water Resources: "Sanmenxia City cannot do without the Sanmenxia Reservoir! The people of Sanmenxia cannot do without the Sanmenxia Reservoir!" This debate continues to this day.In contrast, no one can refute Zhu Youdi's criticism of the Sanmenxia Project from a cultural standpoint. "The normal high water level of the Sanmenxia Reservoir is set at 360 meters. According to this water level, the nearby ancient cities of Shanzhou, Tongguan, Puzhou and villages with a radius of hundreds of miles will all sink into the reservoir. Hundreds of thousands of people will be forced to move out of the reservoir. But later, the actual water storage did not reach the originally planned water level, which threatened the safety of the Guanzhong Plain and was forced to be lowered. A large number of fertile fields were not submerged, and the above-mentioned ancient city did not sink into the reservoir. However, the residents have moved. The abandoned city is desolate, and it has caused waterless submersion and destruction.” This is a scenic spot that can be listed as a world natural heritage, and it also has rich cultural landscapes, as well as countless people who could have avoided migration and cities that could have been avoided. It's a pity that they were all submerged by imaginary water.The reason can only be returned to Huang Wanli's lonely resistance.Human beings are not defeated by nature, but fooled by themselves.