Chapter 27 Chapter 26 Dongting Lake, the blue question mark

Everything related to water, whether it is legend or reality, is full of impermanence and vagaries of good fortune.Perhaps no water area in the world has been changed so much under the combined force of nature and manpower like Dongting.Dongting Lake, a piece of water whose origin is difficult to know and where it is going, what will it look like in the end? "Hanshu Yugong", the oldest geographical work in China, records 11 large lakes, but there is no name for Dongting Lake; "Zhou Li Zhifang", a geographical work of the Warring States Period, has no record of Dongting Lake "Erya", a dictionary of the Han Dynasty, contains "Shisou", but there is no name for Dongting Lake; "Hanshu Geographical Chronicles", there is no record of Dongting Lake; ...

Tracing back the origin of Dongting Lake from historical records, even historians are entangled.The folklore is: Immortal Cave Mansion, the place where the Dragon King lives.The beautiful fairy tale "Liu Yi Biography" uses the love between the scholar Liu Yi and the dragon girl to interpret a fantasy and wonderful secular dream.And Dongting Lake is the carrier for this secular dream to entrust and let its imagination run wild. There is a saying that the earliest Dongting Lake was just a small water area surrounding the beautiful Junshan Island. Junshan was called "Dongting Mountain" in ancient times, and the lake got its name from the mountain.From the beginning of the AD to the early Western Jin Dynasty, the Dongting Lake area today presents a plain shape cut by a river network. This small lake of about 260 square kilometers at that time did not have the intricate relationship with the rivers as it did later.

What is the reason that the waters surrounding the "Dongting Mountain" related to love and romantic legends spread into a huge existence?There are different opinions on its origin and development, and there is no unified statement so far.Perhaps, all because of this name, it is full of too many mysterious and fantastic colors.The earliest record of the place name "Dongting" is an ancient book in the pre-Qin period: "One hundred and twenty miles to the southeast, it is called the mountain of Dongting...the emperor's second daughter lives here, and they often swim in the Jiangyuan. The abyss of Xiaoxiang is between the Jiujiang River, and there must be wind and rain when going in and out. It is a strange god, who looks like a human and carries snakes." The two beautiful daughters of Emperor Yao in ancient times, one named Ehuang and the other named Nvying, lived in On Dongting Mountain, they often go to Jiangyuan to play. The cool breeze blowing from Lishui and Yuanshui meets the quiet Yuantan of Xiangshui, which is the middle of the confluence of nine rivers.Both of them were accompanied by whirlwind and torrential rain when they went in and out.There are still many strange gods living in Dongting Mountain, who look like people but have snakes around their bodies... There are also many strange birds on this mountain.In the records, is there another place name that can compare with the strange and magnificent "Dongting", not to mention love and folklore?Dongting should not be just a place name for a small mountain and a small body of water. There is no reason why it should not be vast, sprawling, or mysterious.

In the indistinguishable historical narrative mixed with legends, the small waters gradually became larger.Poets don’t care about so many. The famous poem describing Dongting Lake, Tang Dynasty poet Meng Haoran’s "Wang Dongting Lake Presents to Prime Minister Zhang": "August Lake is level, and the emptiness is too clear. The air vaporizes Yunmengze, and the wave shakes Yueyang City "Dongting Lake is called the Yunmeng Lake, which was once vast but is increasingly annihilated. The false narrative is earlier than the poet Meng Haoran, and it has been followed to this day. In fact, Dongting Lake is not Yunmengze. To clarify this topic, it is best to leave it to historical geographers to explain.In the era when Yunmengze was vast, the waters where Ehuang and Nvying played, those famous rivers had not yet met the pool of water at the foot of Dongting Mountain, and now Dongting Lake is just a plain and swamp.The Yangtze River, Xiangjiang River, Zishui River, Yuanshui River, and Lishui River have no way to flow into the deep pool at the foot of Dongting Mountain.In the "E Junqi Festival" made in the sixth year of King Chuhuai of the Warring States period [323 BC] unearthed in Shouxian County, Anhui in 1957, an inscription describing the southwest waterway of the Boat Festival is recorded as follows: "From Hubei [now Hubei Echeng] to : Shangjiang, Ruxiang, Ruzi, Yuan, Li, You." The confluence of water flow mentioned in the boat festival inscriptions does not involve Dongting Lake.

However, Dongting Lake is destined to be magnificent.While Yunmengze to the north of the Yangtze River was gradually shrinking due to silt deposits, the inland delta of the Jingjiang River [another name for the section of the Yangtze River from Zhicheng, Hubei Province to Chenglingji, Yueyang, Hunan] was also expanding.During the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties, as the water level of the Jingjiang River continued to rise, the river water began to pour into Dongting Lake, and the situation of "the river does not violate the lake" was rewritten.Human reclamation has exacerbated the changes in Dongting Lake. The construction of the golden embankment on the north bank of the Jiangling section of the Jingjiang River, the surging and roaring water of the Yangtze River poured to the south bank of the Jingjiang River. On the Dongting Swamp Plain, a vast and vast swamp began to form.By the time Li Daoyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty wrote "Shui Jing Zhu", the landscape of the plain cut by the river network had changed. Xiang, Zi, Yuan, and Li said, "All these four waters are injected into Dongting at the same time, and the big river meets in the north." The circle is more than five hundred miles, and the sun and the moon seem to haunt it."

Dongting Lake gradually expanded, and in the Tang and Song Dynasties, it expanded further westward.In "Ode to Dongting" written by Kepeng, a poet monk in the Tang Dynasty, describing the magnificence of Dongting Lake, there is a sentence that "the circumference is eight hundred miles, and you will be tired if you stare at it".Standing by the edge of Dongting Lake, the poet stared intently at the huge waters, feeling visual fatigue immediately.This should not be a kind of aesthetic fatigue, because of its vastness and magnificence, people looking from afar feel their own insignificance.

In the description of Fan Zhongyan from the Song Dynasty, Dongting Lake "holds distant mountains, swallows the Yangtze River, has a vast soup, and is boundless...", which expresses a kind of heroic passion and joyful feelings.The Dongting Lake in the ancient majestic "Yueyang Tower" and the Dongting Lake that was rendered by the romantic poets of the Tang Dynasty to the fullest, through the chanting and narration of generations, stimulate people's rich imagination of this magnificent water area, However, it is not Dongting Lake today. On the satellite map, the deep blue Dongting Lake is like a huge question mark, the curved part above it is the East Dongting Lake, and the question mark extends downwards obliquely, the South Dongting Lake is long and narrow blue, and the West Dongting Lake is no longer lake-shaped. Only the small Muping Lake supports the embellishment of the question mark.

The question mark is slightly inclined, and the gap at the upper right of the top draws out a ribbon-shaped light blue track. The gap is called Chenglingji, and the light blue track is called the Yangtze River. Published by Yuelu Publishing House in 2007 and compiled by Yueyang City Archives Bureau using the archives of Dongting Lake in the collection, "200 Archives of Dongting Lake" clearly outlines the changes of Dongting Lake in the past 200 years [1803-2003]. The overview and historical and cultural conditions of eight aspects, including river and lake governance, scenic spots, product resources, ecological environment, customs and customs, schistosomiasis control, arts and literature, and folk literature.

What the 200-year history presents is a boundless Daze in Tang poetry and Song literature, how its fate was changed by human beings, and its complicated relationship with the Yangtze River. In fact, to trace this complex relationship, history has to be sorted out.The Dongting Lake in Tang poems and Fan [Zhongyan]’s essays has more romantic imaginations of poets and essayists. However, relying on this imagination is the beautiful scenery seen in the eyes of writers, which is indeed Dongting Lake. The most beautiful era in the history of the lake: Yunmengze in the north of the Yangtze River gradually evolved into the Jianghan Great Plain, and the prototype of the Jingjiang River Channel began to appear. The small lakes receive the water from the mouth of the Jiangbei cave, and the Dongting Lake in the south is endlessly interpreting the beautiful and colorful scenery in the expansion and change.After "connecting the green grass in the south", Dongting Lake also "swallows the red sand in the west", spanning "seven or eight hundred miles" ["Baling Zhi"].

But the beautiful scenery cannot be maintained for too long. At the same time as the "nine holes and thirteen mouths" diverted from north to south, a large amount of sediment carried by the Jingjiang flood gradually silted them up. Naturally, manpower found an excuse. Massively block the mouth and build embankments.In the 21st year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty [1542], the mouth of the Hao cave on the north bank of the Jingjiang River was blocked. As the mouths of the caves on the north bank of the "nine caves and thirteen mouths" were blocked, and the Jingjiang embankment on the north bank was reinforced, the flood was restricted to the Jingjiang river channel. Then divert to the Jianghan Plain, the water level of the Jingjiang River continues to rise, the diversion of the flood to the south increases, and the surface of Dongting Lake expands accordingly.By the fifth year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty [1825], the area of ​​Dongting Lake had reached 6,300 square kilometers, which was the heyday of the largest area of ​​Dongting Lake.

After three generations of compilation, the only annals record of Dongting Lake so far——"Dongting Lake Chronicles" was written in this heyday. "Dongting Lake Records" contains: "The northeast belongs to Baling, the northwest spans Huarong, Shishou, and Anxiang, and the west connects Wuling, Longyang [now Hanshou County, Hunan], Yuanjiang, and Yiyang in the south and Xiangyin in the south. Four prefectures and one prefecture are divided into nine towns, spanning eight or nine hundred miles, and the sun and the moon seem to haunt them." Tao Shu, the editor of the chronicles at that time, the Minister of the Ministry of War during the Daoguang period, and Wan Nianchun, a Juren from Huarong County by Dongting Lake Unexpectedly, this chronicle was compiled and compiled by three generations, and it took more than 70 years to complete the book. It was published in the fifth year of Daoguang [1825] when Meng Dong was in trouble, but it was impossible to predict the future changes of Dongting Lake. This change took only 27 years. In the records of flood history, 1852 does not seem to be a year of great flood.This year was the third year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty. According to historical records: Longyang, Baling, and Anxiang were flooded.The mouth of Ouchi in Shishou collapsed and rushed to Ouchi Street, but it did not recover. This unrecovered breach finally led to a major collapse in 1860, eight years later, when the entire Yangtze River basin was flooded.The water conservancy and historical geography circles agree that the Ouchikou River embankment first collapsed in the second year of Xianfeng in the year of Xiaoshui, but it was not repaired at that time due to the shortage of people's resources. In the tenth year of Xianfeng [1860], a flood occurred on the Yangtze River. Then it rushed into a big river. Zhang Zhidong, governor of Huguang, said in the memorial to survey Ouchi in the 19th year of Guangxu [1893]: "Ouchi is a levee on the south bank of the Jingjiang River. On that day, because there were too many sandbars in the center of the river, the river was forced to go straight to the south bank. Ouchi is just at the southwestern bend. In the second year of Xianfeng, it became a huge mouth, and it was diverted into a big slip." The "big mouth" formed in the Xiaoshui years eventually led to the "big slip" of Jingjiang.In the view of Mr. He Peijin, an expert on historical records, Zhang Zhidong's remarks are a bit of an understatement.The folk theory is different, and this major event that changed the fate of Dongting Lake was traced to an act of garrison officials on the north bank of the Jingjiang River. Duan Yuyun, a squire from Nan County, wrote in "On Filling the Four Mouths of the Jingjiang River" written in the 20th year of the Republic of China [1931]: "Chaouchikou has undergone unimaginable vicissitudes in the past 80 years. Cloud: "At the time when the Xianfeng chaos in the Qing Dynasty [Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement] was not settled,... the autumn water was flooded, and the yellow valley was not cut. Unexpectedly, in order to protect the embankment of Hubei, the Manchu garrison general in Jingzhou used cannons to bombard the south bank in order to protect the embankment of Hubei. The river embankment opened the mouth of the lotus pond. The Hunan gentry’s protest was ineffective, so the water from the Yangtze River rolled down into the Dongting, and the counties by the lake became like a country. Regardless of whether it was the unreasonable act of the Manchu garrison officials, or an understatement during the investigation of the Zhang Zhidong incident after 40 years, Ouchikou was defeated after all. Eighteen years later, in the ninth year of Tongzhi [1870], a catastrophic flood occurred in the entire Yangtze River basin. This was the largest flood that occurred on the Yangtze River since the 23rd year of Song Shaoxing [1153].The Songzikou on the south bank of the Jingjiang River collapsed, and with the original Taiping and Tiaoxian two mouths, by 1873, the situation began to form that the four mouths diverted into Dongting Lake. The relatively stable balance between rivers and lakes that had been maintained for more than 300 years was broken. The flood carried a large amount of sediment into Dongting Lake, and the lake island grew rapidly at an astonishing rate of 60,000 mu every year. In 1896, the water surface was reduced to 5,400 square kilometers; in 1949, the water surface was 4,350 square kilometers; in 1977, the dry area of ​​Dongting Lake in satellite photos was only 645 square kilometers.The misty Dongting Lake has become a seasonal lake with land in winter and water in summer. The lake covers an area of ​​2,740 square kilometers and has a volume of 17.4 billion cubic meters, which is smaller than Poyang Lake in Jiangxi. After the four mouths entered the lake, how much sediment was carried with them?In different statistical years, there are different data. From 1951 to 1998, the measured sediment concentration statistics show that the annual average sediment volume entering the lake from the four mouths of the Jingjiang River and the four rivers of Xiang, Zi, Yuan and Li is 173.02 million tons, of which the sediment volume entering the lake at the four mouths is 139.61 million tons. The amount of sediment entering the lake from Sishui is only 33.41 million tons, while the annual average amount of sediment discharged from Chenglingji by Dongting Lake is only 44.64 million tons. A simple numerical calculation can be concluded that the amount of sediment deposited in Dongting Lake every year reaches 128.38 million tons. Some experts estimate that the annual average thickness of siltation in Dongting Lake is 3.49 cm.Since the amount of deposition in the lake area far exceeds the subsidence of the lake basin structure, Dongting Lake has been experiencing a process of natural siltation and demise for more than 100 years after the diversion of the four outlets. With the accumulation of a large amount of sediment, the relationship between the rivers and lakes has become sinister. In the initial stage of Ouchi and Songzi's collapse, more than half of the flood in the Yangtze River was diverted. While the Yangtze River poured a large amount of sediment into Dongting Lake, this caused the Lower Jingjiang River [From the mouth of Ouchi to Chenglingji is the Lower Jingjiang River, and the mouth of Zhicheng to Ouchi is Upper Jingjiang】The river channel quickly silted up, shrank, and bent due to the sharp decrease in flow.Dongting Lake was gradually silted up by sediment, and the Lower Jingjiang River became more meandering. Everything seemed not so smooth.The complex and sinister Jianghu relationship can be seen only here. In "Dongting Lake 200 Years Archives", it collects in detail the struggles and debates of various factions formed due to this complex relationship between the rivers and lakes on the issue of governance of Dongting Lake. Can you go back in time?Back to the era when the river diverged from north to south with "nine caves and thirteen mouths", back to the beautiful scenery in Li Taibai's poem "The view of the building and the Yueyang is exhausted, and the Dongting is open in the river" [Li Bai's "Climbing the Yueyang Tower with Xia Twelve"], back to Fan Zhongyan The grandeur of "huohaotangtang, boundless horizon".In the eyes of writers, the river flows into the vast distance, and the surface of Dongting Lake is vast and endless.Rivers and lakes flow in their own most comfortable ways, inspiring people's unrestrained imagination... However, all of this is just conjecture. In the eyes of water conservancy experts, the complex situation of the rivers and lakes has become a foregone conclusion. The times when the Yangtze River is diverted from the mouth of the cave, and the Dongting is adjusted and stored, and there are fewer floods are gone forever.Faced with the fact that the lake surface is narrowing, its capacity is decreasing day by day, and the floods in Binhu and Jingnan are intensifying, since the Qing Dynasty, various schools and factions have come up with management strategies. Is it to return the abandoned fields to the lake or to return the plug to the river?Is it to give up the South to save the North, or to give consideration to both the North and the South?Is it mainly for storage or for venting?The debate centered on these three areas. In the twenty-eighth year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty [1763], Chen Hongmou, governor of Hunan Province, said that the reclamation became more and more, the lake surface became narrower, the cracks became more serious, and the damage was greater. Destroyed, the West Dongting Lake area in the twenty-eighth to thirty-three years of Qianlong, abandoned Tuzhu, Majia, Hudou, Pantuo, Haozi, Shanjuan and other barriers.The action of returning the abandoned fields to the lake was highly praised by Emperor Hongli of the Qing Dynasty.Wei Yuan, the magistrate of Gaoyou during the Daoguang period, also believed in "Huguang Water Conservancy Theory" that "it is impossible to avoid the obstruction of water and avoid the collapse of water. If you want to guide water, you must dig water obstacles." The theory of returning the mouth to the river has been discussed in the late Qing Dynasty.In the period of the Republic of China, Peng Maoyuan, a member of Hunan Province, refuted the theory of returning the abandoned fields to the lake in "My Views on Water Conservancy", "The source of the flood in Dongting Lake is not the reclamation of lake fields, but the accumulation of sediment. Without the four mouths of the Jingjiang River, there will be no There is a lot of sediment, but without a lot of sediment, there is no lake field", "It is better to return the river to the river than to abandon the field and return it to the lake." Looking closely at these two theories, it is thought-provoking that in Chen Hongmou's time, the situation of four-port diversion to the south was far from formed, and it was not until 1873, more than 100 years later, that the four-port diversion was a foregone conclusion.Returning the river from the mouth of the mouth and returning the lake from the wasteland, these two competing viewpoints are actually the confrontation of viewpoints belonging to different eras, just like "Guan Gong vs Qin Qiong", disrupting the historical situation.It is unknown how much influence Chen Hongmou, the governor of Hunan Province during the Qianlong period, "forbidden the new embankment of the lakeside" would have on later generations.When more than 100 years later, Ouchi and Songzi collapsed one after another, and the diversion of the four outlets became a fixed trend. When the sediment carried by the Yangtze River made Xinzhou in Dongting Lake spring up like bamboo shoots after rain, those who were stimulated by Xinzhou were so excited. The local tyrants who are frantically reclamation and enclosure have already thrown the "abandoned land back into the lake" into the sky.The contradiction between the river, the lake and the field became more and more intense. The river silted up the lake, the lake gave birth to continents, and the continents gave birth to fields. Behind all these, human eyes are inseparable. The dispute over regions and interests has further complicated the relationship between the rivers and lakes. In fact, as early as the Southern Song Dynasty, the conflict of interests between the North and the South due to the relationship between the rivers and lakes had already emerged.According to "Yudi Jisheng" written by Wang Xiangzhi of the Southern Song Dynasty: In the fourth year of Qiandao [1168], the Jingjiang River was flooded.Sending people to dig the Hudu embankment in the dark to make the flood surge south to preserve Jingzhou City is not like an aboveboard move.This move by Fang Zi started the precedent of "giving up the south to save the north". In 1542 during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the last Haoxue point on the north bank that diverted the river flow was blocked. In the early years of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the Hudu River was dredged, and floods in the southwest Dongting increased. In the second year of Xianfeng [1852], the embankment of Ouchi Ma Lin Gong burst.Duan Yuyun's "Southern Country Notes" contains: "The Manchu generals stationed in Jingzhou are also in charge of the embankment. When the flood is high and does not recede, they plan to open to the Ouchi to kill the water. The cannons were aimed at the south bank and the rescuers ran for their lives, and the south bank was finally decided." From Fang Zi in the Southern Song Dynasty who secretly sent people to dig the Hudu embankment, to the reckless Manchu general in the Qing Dynasty who ordered the bombardment of the embankment on the south bank, saving the south to save the north, and beggar-thy-neighbor, a narrow thinking of water control dominated the Ming and Qing dynasties. Li Zhenyi of the Republic of China wrote in his book "Circle of Dongting Lake": "At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, there was a Beijiang embankment built to protect the north bank of the Jingjiang River in the north of the Yangtze River, and a Nanjiang embankment built in the south of the Yangtze River to protect the south bank of the Jingjiang River. Starting from the safety of the north, the Ming and Qing dynasties called the North River embankment, which stretched for more than 600 miles from Jing to Mian, the "Huangdi". , let it fend for itself.” Interests, once they have a relationship with the royal family, they are so strong that they have no scruples. In the eyes of water conservancy experts, giving up the south to save the north is essentially giving up the south, but it can't save the north, which is harmful to others and not beneficial to oneself.Sediment from the four mouths of the Jingjiang River poured into Dongting Lake. Over time, the lake bed gradually became silted up, and the terrain in the north of Jingjiang was relatively low.Zhang Xixuan, an engineer of the Yangtze River Water Conservancy Committee during the Republic of China, said in the article "The Dangers of the Jingjiang River Embankment and Discussion on Remediation and Remedy": "The more water in the south of the Yangtze River leaks, the more the ground in the south of the Yangtze River becomes silted. The height of the flat land on the southern bank is the nearest Some of them are more than two feet higher than the flat land on the north bank. I am afraid that the bottom of Dongting Lake will also be higher than the flat land of Jiangling and Jianli counties. Year after year, the bottom of Dongting Lake is constantly increasing. There will be a day when the four mouths will be blocked. At that time, the water of the Jinghe River will have no way to divert it, so it must choose a low-lying place to pour it. If we speculate in detail, it may be more than that.” Zhang Xixuan's worries are not unreasonable.The late Mr. Liu Guangrun, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, investigated the Jianghan Plain and found that due to the lack of sedimentation due to long-term tectonic subsidence, the terrain of the Jianghan Plain is significantly lower than that of the Dongting Lake Plain, with a difference of 2.38 meters.With the passage of time, the flood disaster energy of Jianghan Plain and Dongting Lake Plain will continue to increase, and the Jianghan Plain will be faster than Dongting Lake Plain. In the future, the flood threat of Jianghan Plain will become increasingly severe. Between the great rivers and the great lakes, whether in the south or in the north, there is the same hidden worry of the threat of floods in the rivers and lakes. While Dongting Lake is constantly being silted up, how can the surging Yangtze River safely cross the beautiful and fertile plains in the north and south of the Yangtze River? Dongting Lake accepts the four estuaries of the Jingjiang River and the four rivers of Hunan, Zi, Yuan and Li, and flows into the Yangtze River from Chenglingji, Yueyang. It is the only lake that accommodates the four rivers, swallows the Yangtze River, and regulates the flood of the Yangtze River. Whether to continue to maintain or to play the role of Dongting Lake The regulation and storage function of the lake is to support its regulation and storage of the flood of the Yangtze River under the shrinking capacity, or to reduce the burden of flood discharge on the Jingjiang River while fully considering the changes in the regulation and storage capacity of Dongting Lake, so as to effectively ensure the safety of the river and lake? History has chosen the second option. The water control strategy of benefiting both rivers and lakes and taking into account both storage and discharge has become the mainstream view of governance and mediation of the relationship between rivers and lakes. From the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the Republic of China, the entangled relationship between the rivers and lakes and the conflicts and conflicts of various viewpoints derived from the governance of the rivers and lakes are nothing compared to the complexity of rivers and lakes.Rivers and lakes, the vast waters meandering on the affluent two lakes plain [Jianghan Plain and Dongting Lake Plain], are like a bowl of water that no one can handle unevenly. Have enough tolerance to level this bowl of water. On March 18, 1952, the "Yangtze River Daily" wrote: "Since the founding of the young People's Republic of China, under Chairman Mao's great determination and wise leadership, and immediately after the Huaihe River was eradicated, the Central South Military and Political Committee was established in the Central People's Government Administration Council. The decision to divert floods from the Jingjiang River was issued under the instructions." This is the most magnanimous declaration issued by a new era. In history, there has never been an era where such bold words have been made to mediate the complicated relationship between the rivers and lakes. On March 31, 1952, Xinhua News Agency Beijing Telegraph "Regulations of the Central People's Government Administration Council on the Jingjiang Flood Diversion Project" detailed the reasons for the implementation of the Jingjiang Flood Diversion Project: "The Jingjiang section of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River is not able to bear due to the narrow silt pad of the river channel and the bending of the downstream. A large amount of flood is discharged, and the height of the dike is more than ten meters above the ground. During the flood season, the flood peak is approaching, and dangerous constructions are constantly emerging, and there is a danger of collapse. If it collapses, not only the vast plains of Jianghan will be submerged, but also the navigation of the Yangtze River will be affected. In the short term, it is difficult to block the mouth and deal with the aftermath. If the water level of the Yangtze River rises, the amount of water flowing into Dongting Lake from the four mouths [Songzi, Taiping, Ouchi, and Tiaoxian] will inevitably increase, and most embankments along the lake will collapse. In order to protect the lives and property of millions of people in the two lakes and lakes, before the completion of the fundamental project of the Yangtze River, strengthening the Jingjiang embankment and opening a flood diversion area on the south bank are urgently needed measures at present.” "Based on both storage and discharge, with discharge as the main focus", "Equal emphasis on Hunan and Hubei, benefiting both rivers and lakes", the value and greatness of the Jingjiang flood diversion project lies in this, and the complicated conflicts of interests in the rivers and lakes that have lasted for more than 100 years are in front of this world-famous project. Finally a comma was added. The nascent government has enough passion and courage, and the whole country responds to the order.Tens of thousands of industrial workers from Wuhan, Changsha, Hengyang, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Shanhaiguan and other places, 160,000 male and female migrant workers from Hubei and Hunan provinces, plus 100,000 PLA ​​officers and soldiers, a total of 300,000 people, such as The group army is fighting in general, and is involved in this huge project. Construction started on April 5, 1952, and 75 days later, on June 20, the reinforcement of the Jingjiang embankment, the flood gate, the control gate and the embankment of the south line were announced to be completed. Between Taipingkou and Ouchikou, a pocket-shaped area of ​​921.34 square kilometers was named the Jingjiang flood diversion area. In that fiery era of changing the world, 300,000 people firmly believed with their blood, sweat and passion that the complicated relationship between the world and the world has since come to a successful conclusion. On June 20, 1952, the Jingjiang Flood Diversion Headquarters issued the "Jingjiang Flood Diversion Project Successfully Completion Bulletin", saying boldly: "The Jingjiang Flood Diversion Project, which marks the great creation of the Chinese people, was completed on the 20th of this month. Among them, the Jingdi reinforcement project was completed on June 14, the Taipingkou flood gate project was completed on the 18th, and the Huangshantou control gate and the south line embankment project were completed on the 20th. Since then, millions of people on both sides of the Jingjiang River have been forever. They got rid of the disasters of history and started their own new era. They already have a 54-hole flood gate like the Great Wall, which is located at the northern end of the flood diversion area and is more than one kilometer long [1,054 meters]. , will handle the flood from the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, and has an equally majestic 32-hole control sluice, located at the southern end of the flood diversion area, with a length of 336 meters, regulating and blocking the huge torrent; The embankment of the flood diversion area constitutes a natural reservoir from all directions, with a flood storage capacity of five to six billion cubic meters, which can be used to eliminate floods and develop water conservancy and irrigation. The Jingjiang embankment in the era of reactionary rule was once called by the people It is called 'coal ash, brick slag, tofu skin', and now it has become a copper wall with a length of more than 130 kilometers." Nature does not give people such an optimistic expectation. 1954 came quickly. This is a year soaked in rain. Since the flood season, the vast area of ​​the Lianghu Plain has been shrouded in overcast rain. In the far upper reaches of the Yangtze River, successive torrential rains have caused the many flood peaks of the Sichuan River to quickly cross the Three Gorges. And Yichang, like a thousand ravines thundering, rushed to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. When they reached the ancient cities of Jingzhou and Shashi, the flood quickly filled the curved river.At the same time, the water system of Dongting Lake is also surging rapidly. The fierce confrontation with the flood was fixed in July of this year.What the new regime is most worried about is that the Yangtze River is dangerously close to the Jingjiang River. Once the Jingjiang levee breaks, the lives and property of 75 million people in the three towns of Wuhan, the thoroughfare of the nine provinces, and the two lakes along the river will be at stake. Jingdi cannot collapse.But the massive flood had to find a way out. What is a massive flood?From the perspective of the commander of the Jingjiang flood diversion project, this figure is "five to six billion cubic meters." Five to six billion cubic meters of water can cover an area of ​​five to six billion square meters with water 1 meter deep.The area of ​​the Jingjiang flood diversion area is 921.34 square kilometers. According to the design requirements, the flood storage capacity of this project during flood diversion is 5.4 billion cubic meters. According to later statistics, the excess flood volume of the Yangtze River this year [including natural flood diversion in the middle and lower reaches] was more than 100 billion cubic meters. The Jingjiang flood diversion project must be enabled. From 2:20 am on July 22 to 13:10 on July 27, the newly completed two-year-old Jingjiang flood diversion project was put into use for the first time.In five days, the total amount of floodwater entering the flood diversion area reached 2.35 billion cubic meters. In addition to the accumulated water in the flood diversion area itself, the total water storage capacity of the flood diversion area this time was about 3.3 billion cubic meters. Not enough, obviously not enough!At the same time as the Jingjiang flood was diverted, the Jinsha River and Minjiang River in the far upper reaches of the Yangtze River surged again, and encountered floods from the Jialing River and Wujiang River.Jingjiang had to divert the flood again, and the Taipingkou flood gate, which had been closed for less than two days, was reopened. After the second flood diversion, the accumulated floodwater in the flood diversion area had reached 4.72 billion cubic meters. Still not enough!The rain on the upper reaches of the Yangtze has not yet fallen, and the danger of flooding the Jingjiang embankment is still increasing. On August 1, the flood gate opened for the third time.The storage capacity of the flood diversion area has already been overwhelmed, and it is difficult to continue flood storage. The high-level officials decided to open the south gate, and ordered the Hudong embankment and Huxi embankment to be opened, so that the excess flood water in the flood diversion area would enter Dongting Lake and Huxi storage area. The sluice also began to discharge the flood, and the flood diversion area is like a huge river channel, with flood inflow and flood discharge going on at the same time. At this time, in the Dongting Lake area on the south bank of the Jingjiang River, a continuous rain curtain enveloped the land of Sanxiang. After the flood season, the water level has been rising and there is no sign of falling. The rare flood in the entire Yangtze River basin has raised the downstream water level. into the river. At the end of July, the Yuan, Zi, and Li rivers experienced high flood peaks at the same time, and the lake surface became bigger and bigger, and the water level continued to rise. In early August, the most frightening scene in folklore of "Southern Water" and "Northern Water" meeting appeared in Dongting Lake.The horrifying flood history records the flood scene of Dongting Lake in 1954: the water level of Chenglingji is 34.55 meters, there are 356 embankments and 881 breaches, the area of ​​damage is 3.85 million mu, the area of ​​waterlogging is 2.04 million mu, and the affected population is 1.6 million. Thousands of Yuan people were killed by floods and plagues. According to later statistics, the Jingjiang River diverted the flood water three times, with a total of about 13 billion cubic meters of floodwater being stored, and a total of 5.4 billion cubic meters of floodwater entering the lake were reduced.If there is no Jingjiang flood diversion area, the amount of water entering the lake at the four mouths will increase, and the losses will be even more serious.Another data, the data observed on July 30, shows that because Dongting Lake accommodates four mouths of water, the flood flow of the Yangtze River has been reduced by 39.7%. Dongting Lake has tried its best to divert the flood with a capacity beyond its own capacity . The frightening memory of 1954 became a nightmare over Dongting Lake. As time goes by, the memory will never fade away.Accompanied by this year, there are groups of data in the history of river and lake governance, the precise calculations in the flood control plan, the flow of the Yangtze River, the water levels of Shashi and Chenglingji, the flood diversion of the Jingjiang River, the number of people and the estimation of economic losses, etc. A series of indicators composed of numbers.The layout of rivers and lakes governance and flood control in the future will be designed according to these indicators. 1954 was destined to be a dividing line in the history of Dongting Lake governance.After the flood, the embankment restoration project of Dongting Lake was carried out across the entire Binhu Lake in the winter of that year. This was a more massive project after the renovation of South Dongting Lake in 1952.The "Decision of the People's Government of Hunan Province on Repairing the Dongting Lake Embankment Project" issued on October 18 of that year said: "The policy of the Dongting Lake embankment restoration project this winter and next spring is to focus on renovations, heal wounds, and eliminate hidden dangers. Reinforce the dangerous embankments, block the mouths in parallel in a planned way, build a large circle together, and strive for a good agricultural harvest.” The 700,000 to 800,000 migrant workers in the Dongting Lake area healed the scars caused by the catastrophic flood, and went to heal the wounds of their homes after the flood. The counties and districts of Binhu Lake mobilized to start an indomitable contest with nature on the beach of Huzhou, which was a mess after the flood.Some scattered embankments were surrounded by merged circles according to their geographical location, and the newly repaired embankments became taller and stronger. The memories of the 1954 catastrophic flood left to the people of the Lake District are not only the disaster, but also the struggle and passion after the disaster.Continuing this passion, history quickly advanced to 1958. A ballad sang like this: "Plant seedlings in the middle of the water, and plant fields on high mountains." Under the reclamation management mode of the military system, a large number of farms around Dongting Lake came into operation. And born. It was a crazy era, an era when the mountains dared to bow their heads and the rivers were diverted. At the poetry competition for farm reclamation at that time, a farm worker boldly declared: "There is no Jade Emperor in the sky, and there is no Dragon King on the ground. I am the Jade Emperor, and I am Dragon King, order Jianghu Continent to present treasures quickly, and send me a million cotton grains!" In such an era, the rivers and lakes cannot be a threat or a hidden worry. No matter how dangerous the conflicts between the rivers and lakes are, they can be ignored in the face of great manpower. In June 1956, after a great man swam the Yangtze River in Wuhan three times in a row, he swayed such a dream in a famous poem: "Establish the stone wall of the Xijiang River, cut off the clouds and rain in Wushan Mountain, and leave the Pinghu Lake in the high gorge. The world is different.” This is not just a dream of one person, it represents the dream of an era: we will build a huge dam in the Three Gorges area of ​​the Yangtze River in the future ["Xijiang Stone Wall"] to store water and generate electricity. The surface of the river will turn into a large calm lake. At that time, all the rainwater from Wushan will flow into this "Pinghu Lake". Of course, the goddess on Wushan will be alive and well. Seeing this unexpected scene, she should be amazed at how much the world has changed. up. The world has indeed changed!The great man's dream was put into practice in the 1990s. In December 1994, the world's largest hydropower project, the Three Gorges Dam Project, officially started. This project, which took 17 years to complete, was completed in 2009.According to the engineering design, the normal water storage level of the Three Gorges Dam is 175 meters, with a total storage capacity of 39.3 billion cubic meters, of which the flood control storage capacity is 22.15 billion cubic meters, which can withstand the once-in-a-century flood. Under this circumstance, the Three Gorges Dam can meet the once-in-a-century flood control standard.Some experts estimate that after the completion of the Three Gorges Project, it can replace the 9.5 billion to 22 billion cubic meters of flood storage in Jingjiang, reducing the amount of flood storage by two-fifths in one fell swoop. This is no different from the ancient Yunmeng Daze and the Dongting Lake in its heyday. To understand it vividly, it is to move Guyunmengze and Babaili Dongting to the Three Gorges Dam. Are the rivers and lakes safe from now on?We have a huge reservoir constructed by manpower and modern technology, can we keep the rivers and lakes safe forever?This is just a naive idea. It is obviously wrong to pin the dreams of Jianghu Anlan and He Qinghaiyan on a magnificent project. More than 300 years ago, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, when answering the generals guarding Gubeikou to the court to "please build" the collapsed Great Wall, said: "Since the Qin Dynasty built the Great Wall, the Han, Tang, and Song Dynasties have often repaired it. How can there be no dangers at that time?" ?At the end of the Ming Dynasty, my Taizu led the army to march straight in. All the roads collapsed, and there was nothing to do. It can be seen that the way to defend the country is to cultivate virtue and calm the people. The people's heart is happy, the country is at its core, and the border is self-reinforcing. "Although this is an overly proud statement of the Qing emperor, what can inspire future generations is that a person as great as the Great Wall is not the only guarantee against foreign aggression. The strategy of defending the country is a "systematic project" such as "cultivating virtue and calming the people". . History is grateful for a year, 1998.The flood in this year is consistent with the flood in 1954, dating back to the 20th century, and the flood in 1931 is similar to this, and they are all called catastrophic floods in the entire Yangtze River basin.荆江和洞庭湖，1954年那场特大洪水所诞生的一系列数据指标被改写，一个个新的指标高地正在形成——8月8日，沙市水位达到44.95米，超过1954年分洪水位0.28米，8月20日，城陵矶最高水位达35.94米，比1954年水位数据上升了1.39米，是城陵矶1886年有水文记录以来的最高水位。南北水碰头的可怕场面又在洞庭湖区出现了。最终，荆江在没有分洪的情况下保住了江汉平原和武汉三镇，而洞庭湖，在经历近三个月艰苦卓绝地与洪水不懈抗争后，以溃垸142个【其中万亩以上堤垸7个】的代价，赢得了抗洪的胜利。 洪灾过后，一组矛盾的数据引人关注：从洪水量级来看，1998年的洪水小于1954年，而中下游水位却普遍高于1954年；从超额洪水分流量来看，1998年比1954年减少了300多亿立方米，调动的防汛资源却大大高于1954年时的相对标准。而在水利和水文专家们那里，还有更加复杂也更加精细的数据分析。 可以想到的是，这些简单抑或复杂的数据，直接影响了最高层的决策。江湖的治理方略，魂系大工程，毕其功于一役，显然是不够的。也许这一组记录洞庭湖洪灾史的数据更能说明问题：公元276至1524年，大洪灾平均间隔80年；1525至1851年，大洪灾平均间隔20年；1852至1948年，大洪灾平均间隔5年；20世纪50年代至70年代，每5年一次大水；20世纪80年代，每3到4年一次大水；90年代除1990、1997年外，其余年份都有不同程度水灾。史志专家用结论式的语言作出这样的归纳：频率加快，强度加大，范围加宽，时间加长，损失加重。这所有的“加”累计起来，比不过人类面对自然时无止境的利益攫取和欲望叠加。 历史得感谢1998年，这个年份留下的不仅仅是一种人类精神，还有比这精神更可贵的是：面对大自然，我们终于开始学习谦卑。也许这种谦卑态度得益于1998年这个年份因那场大汛产生的那些矛盾交织的数据，也许更缘于一种新的理念和愿景。高度精炼的32个字浓缩了一种新的江湖治理方略：“封山育林，退耕还林；平垸行洪，退田还湖；以工代赈，移民建镇；加固干堤，疏浚河湖。”千百年来与水争地、围湖造田一改为给水让路、退田还湖，无休止的与水拼争一改为以退为进并最终实现人水的和谐相处。这是中国历史上自唐宋以来的1400多年里，第一次从围湖造田自觉主动地转变为大规模地退田还湖。从1998年至今，洞庭湖区搬迁的垸内移民达55.8万人，这是洞庭湖区自明代中叶以来最大的一次移民。2004年的数据统计，洞庭湖区实施人耕双退垸有84个，退人不退耕的单退垸55个，共扩大行洪面积554平方公里。最新的数据统计是，洞庭湖面积已扩大779平方公里，增加调蓄洪水容积34.8亿立方米，洞庭湖面积自20世纪以来首次出现恢复性增长。 200年的江湖路，走得太艰难。 2009年10月的一天，城陵矶，三江口。 这是被古人称为“江会”的地方，三江，古指荆江、湘江和沅江，如今沅江尾闾踪迹难寻，在东洞庭湖和南洞庭湖之间，一片浩大的围垦平原，早已隔断了水路，而湘江的交汇河道，具体在哪里？No one can tell.一个地名，只知道它的源起，却无法辨析它的状貌了。 “三江到海风涛水，万水浮空岛屿轻”，三江口壮观的景象，留在了古人的诗句里，如今比水更壮观的，是散乱行驶在水中的巨大的运砂船和沿岸正在修筑中的气势宏伟的新港区。 但是洞庭水和长江水交汇的场景，在这里仍然依稀可辨。一个当地人说，以前是长江水浑，洞庭水清，这几年清浊却发生了改变，洞庭水比长江水要浑浊些了，他猜测这可能与那个遥远的三峡大坝有关。在专家们看来，江湖关系的变化，不仅仅是这种水流交汇清浊关系的变化，还有其他更多更深层次的变化，三峡大坝启用后，三口分洪【1958年调弦口堵塞】的作用降低，荆江进入洞庭湖的水量比以往减少了，虽然洞庭湖行洪面积和调蓄容积扩大了，但是水面却变小了。江湖旧的平衡被打破，新的平衡远还没有建立起来。 洞庭湖，这个“长江之肾”，会以另一种方式衰竭吗？ “借问蓬莱水，谁逢清浅年？伤心云梦泽，岁岁作桑田。”我想试着问一问那蓬莱的水，除了长生不老的神仙麻姑之外，又有谁见到过陆沉陆升和沧海桑田的变迁？我担心这洞庭湖的命运，会不会像那消亡的云梦泽一般，慢慢地由浩大的水域变成陆上的桑田。这是唐朝诗人李群玉《洞庭干》里的诗句，这个个性旷逸的湖南澧县举人，毫不留恋长安官场的沉浮，别官回乡，泛舟洞庭，却对那片浩茫水域的沉浮，产生了悲观的联想。 沧海桑田，这只是一个神话里描述的虚幻故事，出自东晋葛洪《神仙传》。故事中那个叫麻姑的美貌仙女，在一次神仙聚会的时候，自称亲眼见到过东海三次变成了桑田，她看见蓬莱的水，也有可能干涸变成陵陆。神话里的故事，陆沉陆升的传说，诗人李群玉泛舟洞庭时的悲观联想，在后世居然真正变成了现实，诗人言中了洞庭湖的命运，与消失的云梦大泽一般。 往昔的田墓庐舍，曾几何时，变成了一片泽国；曾经烟波浩淼的水域，如今早已是屋宇楼台，田畴秩秩。一两百年间，洞庭湖地貌的改变，宛若神话一般。这一切，缘于洲，缘于堤，缘于人类的垦殖。湖洲是围垦的前提，有了洲，才会有垦殖，为了保护垦殖成果，堤垸便形成了。洞庭湖那些大大小小的堤垸，宛如人类戳在大地上的醒目图章，记载着洲土变迁的故事。 其实，沧海桑田一般的洲土变迁，只是近代才出现。清道光年间刊刻的《洞庭湖志》，卷四之“税课八”中记载，环湖一带，只有巴陵、华容、龙阳三县有纳“芦课”的洲土面积2030顷零87亩17分，所征的银量数目仅仅1250多两而已。那个年代，洞庭湖洲土的财富价值还没体现出来，朝廷征纳的赋税科目里，仅仅是基于芦苇生长而产生的微薄利益。 一望无际的洞庭湖洲，和与湖洲伴生的人类大规模垦殖活动，以及源于垦殖而产生的利益纠葛，只是到荆江四口分流入湖之后，才逐渐形成的。 在藕池口挟带的大量泥沙中，一座叫南县的县城诞生了。这是洞庭湖中成陆最晚的地方，咸丰二年【1852年】藕池溃口后，从洞庭湖大泽心腹地带淤出了大片绿洲，到光绪二十一年【1895年】南洲厅建立，仅仅过了40余年。 其实这片新洲还有更遥远的历史遗迹，上世纪五十年代，考古专家曾经在南县发掘出新石器时代遗址有19处之多，年代在距今7000年前。专家得出这样的结论，在洞庭湖形成之前，南县的地貌并不像如今这样平坦，在局部可能有小山、岳岗。陆沉陆升的痕迹，记录在南县绵延千万年的历史跨度里。 咸丰二年的那次江湖变故，藕池口带来的泥沙，使荆江以南的华容、巴陵【岳阳】、安乡、龙阳【汉寿】、武陵、沅江等地的湖面大片淤塞，形成了长宽五六十公里的淤洲，淤洲上，芦柳丛生，禽鸟飞翔。陡然生出来的这一片荒洲，是上天的馈赐吗？人们没有理由不做那样的联想。 远近湖民纷至围垦，沿湖豪绅竞相争占，况且这新垦的洲土不需纳赋税，恐怖的械斗命案接连不断。光绪年间，湖南巡抚召集藩、臬两司会议，决定由岳常澧道在龙阳、华容两县交界处乌嘴设“龙华司”，办理洲土围垦、征收赋税、抑制械斗诸事宜。光绪十年，设立“南洲垦务局”，署湖南巡抚派兵驻扎南洲，防止垦民争斗。 然而县际之交这片新淤出来的肥沃土地，牵连的矛盾越来越多，令岳常澧道和各县的官员们寝食难安。他们向湖广总督张之洞禀陈，这个叫南洲的地方，必须划疆设治，最好设“丞倅”【佐贰之官，指副职】一职来协调管理。六个县争占涉讼的新增淤地，被逐一划入了南洲。藩、臬两司开始拟设成立“南洲厅”的计划。光绪二十一年【1895年】，“南洲直隶厅抚民府”在乌嘴成立。1913年，南洲直隶厅改名为南县。 与其说南县县治的成立离不开湖洲变迁，不如说离不开人类向自然攫取时的利益贪求，最早成立的“龙华司”，主要职责之一，就是抑制垦民之间的争占械斗，而“抚民府”这个新机构的名称，更是不言自明。考察洞庭湖的垦殖史，沾染着血泪斑斑的痕迹。 湖洲地势平坦，土壤肥沃，宜于耕作，既可收田、土之利，又可得芦、渔之益。财富的沃土，一个新的垦殖地。官与民竞相争夺。其实早在南洲直隶厅成立前的光绪八年【1882年】，湖南布政使司就发出告示，“此洲【南洲】本属官地，一切应由官经理，不能听任豪强恃众争占。以后如有愿备籽种开垦者，亦许报官垦辟，给照营业，永远不许再凑股份，擅自垦种。宽其既往，严禁将来，以杜争端而免后衅。”因垦殖而引发的纠纷似可抑制了，但觊觎利益的官府机器本着“裕库入、辟税源”的堂皇理由，滥发证照，乐此不疲。从清末到民初，文献记载的名目繁多的证照就有15种。 开垦洲土的证照，成为湖区的祸患之源，滥围滥垦，掠夺经营，洲土纠纷，连年不休。到了民国年间，证照已经成为社会流弊，这一时期，国家多事，江湖失治，官府贿赂成风，豪强趁火打劫。凭借证照，已围垦的，可以按亩征收田赋，新增的淤洲，可以围堤垦殖。拥有证照的，大多是军阀政客、富商巨贾、土豪劣绅、流氓恶棍。证照到手，便竞相围垦，招佃垦荒，滨湖一带农民迫于生计，纷纷移民湖乡承佃垦荒。洞庭滨湖一带，俨然成了冒险家的天堂。官垸和私垸如雨后春笋一般，在洞庭滨湖蔓延开来。 民国三十五年【1946年】出版的《明日之土地》一书中，描述天祜垸【今大通湖】的文章“罪恶的渊薮、勇敢的械斗场——如谜一般的天祜垸”，记述当时的情景：“……追求财富的人们便趋之若鹜。而他们为了取得占有者资格，便利用证照来做护身符。据说天祜垸正式由政府发给的真照不过八万亩，而人们伪造的假照则在十倍以上，而其他利用飞照、罩照、重照而企图争取洲土者，不一而足。”证照一旦到手，“豪绅们……便又以派枪登洲，勒令耕种的农夫写佃约或者换佃，然后每年按时去收租，是一笔非常庞大，几千或几万元的收入。他们只要有照有枪，便可以毫无忌惮地去剥削劳苦的农夫，他们为了要控制这一个大的空间、控制这一群无知而可怜的愚农，以及防止外来强有力者的再侵占，于是上面勾结官府，下面利用会党，一切罪恶在假借'发展农业'、'增加生产'、'安置难民'等等漂亮而堂皇的幌子下，掩蔽起来。” 在《沅江文史资料》第一辑里，更是记载了这样一个惨绝人寰的洲土争夺故事。 清宣统三年【1911年】，一个叫陈熙珊的来自滨湖湘阴的帮会首领，带领一伙会众来到洞庭湖南大膳附近的湖洲上，先是看管柴山，充当棚头，后邀场放赌，强占草洲，搜刮钱财。陈凭借自己的团防武装，在该地居住的30多年里，共掠夺垸田6000余亩、洲土2万余亩，还有3个近10万亩的大渔场，成为当时滨湖湘阴县内“田霸一方、土霸一方、湖霸一方”的“洲土大王”。 民国初年，一块新淤的湖洲让陈熙珊燃起财富的梦想。陈于民国十三年、二十四年、二十六年三次用贿赂的办法，买通当时的湖南省财政、建设两厅要员，领得管取湖洲一万三千余亩的产业执照，先后招募民工2万多人，主修民垸。然而这个叫官塘洲的新淤洲滩，同时也吸引了另一豪强、益阳人龚墨西的目光。民国二十六年【公元1937年】，时局混乱，龚墨西找到在军界任要职的族人援助。强势军方与地方豪强为了争夺洞庭湖洲土的交锋就此拉开惨烈一幕。 史料记载，争夺的另一方——龚氏族人龚墨西就此介入，并充分调动了军方和政府资源，由当时的沅江警察局长出面，以益阳思齐中学校产的名义，将128张空白民业田照，填上官塘洲洲名，并在官塘洲上建立场部局屋，屯垦招佃。军队也被调动了，以演习的名义，进驻官塘洲。在多次械斗中，强势的军方占了上风，抗战后，龚墨西借军方要人之名，正式开办农场，设立场警，试图谋下整个淤洲。 “洲土大王”陈熙珊不甘罢休，民国三十五年【1946年】2月农历春节前夕，陈组织数十人的武装，趁夜间对官塘洲实施突然袭击，捣毁场部，夺取场警枪支，烧毁办公处所一栋，房屋12间，芦柴130万捆，总值【折戽谷】1.9万石。龚墨西不甘示弱，退守黄茅洲修整，借助警局的枪弹支援，率领数百人持机枪、步枪共三十余枝，在农历春节清晨，冲入官塘洲，双方激战两个小时。正月初八至十四日，龚墨西的这支武装队伍，又在官塘洲和南丰垸一带，袭扰陈熙珊的队伍，枪伤多人，陈氏奋力死战后，龚氏才告退。3月12日，龚氏又组织数百名兵丁反扑，激烈的决战中，打死打伤佃民土夫40多名，烧毁房屋数十栋。冲突逐渐升级，陈氏急电湘阴县团防大队派一百余人赶来支援，双方激战两昼夜，战事才暂时消歇。 龚墨西到益阳后，通过休整补充，又在4月16日组织60余枝步枪、4挺机枪，以便衣队方式，分散潜入官塘洲，和陈熙珊的团防武装展开激战。 从1937至1946年，这一场争夺湖洲的战役，比八年抗战还要漫长，滨湖两县牵涉其中，军、警、民接踵介入，真枪实弹的械斗达10余次，双方杀死兵丁和无辜百姓64人，打伤100多人，烧毁民房647栋，芦苇200多万捆，数万亩蚕豆和油菜籽未曾收割，双方局屋场部、仓库，全被焚毁，总计损失折戽谷2.7万石，双方佃户和邻近百姓日夜惶恐，流离失所，苦不堪言。 生死械斗之后是争讼，湖南省府六次发电敦令益阳专区取消非法成立的思齐中学农垦处及场部和场警武装，惩办龚墨西等人，结果不过是一纸空文。随后省府主席又下达六条紧急命令，仍不了了之。此后，陈、龚两人最后诉讼至南京政府，岌岌可危的南京政府自顾不暇，当然是置若罔闻。 关于龚墨西这个人的记载，后来叙述不详。而“洲土大王”陈熙珊，湘阴县志是这样记载的：1949年9月上旬，驻县城人民解放军横渡洞庭湖，出奇制胜，一举歼灭了大恶霸陈熙珊部，缴获大批枪支弹药及其他物资。陈熙珊畏罪潜逃，伪装成老和尚，藏匿在一座古庙里，后被抓获，押回南大膳枪决。 如今那个叫官塘的湖洲，经历了上世纪五十年代的合修大圈和“大跃进”时期的堵口并垸，再经历八九十年代的两期洞庭湖区治理，也许早已湮灭成洞庭湖区那些浩大堤垸里一个默默无闻的小地方，可能划属为大通湖大圈，也可能划入到共双茶垸内，可能成了一个村落或村组的地名，更可能没有了具体的地名。那场延续九年之久惨绝人寰的洲土争夺战，那场以垸民的血泪和巨大灾难为代价的豪强之争，仅存在史料的斑驳记载里，如过往云烟，连地名都佚失无踪。 洞庭湖的新洲，在孕育出肥田沃土和令人惊羡的财富奇迹的同时，也更加激起了人类的贪婪。官塘洲的历史翻过去一页，与财富有关的惨烈争夺故事似乎也被翻过去了，新的一页历史被翻开，只是，仍然离不开人类面对自然时气势汹汹褫夺一切的欲望。 与一个浩大工程有关的死亡数据，至今仍难查询。这个工程叫汨罗江尾闾围垦工程，被围垦的大垸叫屈原垸，如今这个位于东洞庭湖和南洞庭湖接壤处的地方，叫做屈原管理区，早先是一个围垦面积达30多万亩的大型国营农场。 汨罗江，继湘、资、沅、澧之后，汇入洞庭湖的一条水量较少的河流【另有一条新墙河】。与湘、资、沅、澧不同的是，汨罗江是一条著名的河流，它的著名，离不开一个伟大诗人的名字：屈原。司马迁的《史记·屈原贾生列传》里，这样描绘这个敏感、自恋又憔悴的诗人：“屈原至于江滨，被发行吟泽畔。颜色憔悴，形容枯槁。渔父见而问之曰：'子非三闾大夫欤？何故而至此？'屈原曰：'举世混浊而我独清，众人皆醉而我独醒，是以见放。'渔父曰：'夫圣人者，不凝滞于物而能与世推移。举世混浊，何不随其