Chapter 25 Section 3 Hutang Jingpu in the Six Dynasties

In 220 AD, the Three Kingdoms period began.In 589 AD, the Southern Dynasties ended.During these 370 years, due to the following two reasons, the construction of farmland and water conservancy in the Taihu Lake Basin has made great progress, and a large number of lakes, ponds and Jingpu have been built. One reason is due to the migration of northerners to the south.Since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the political situation in the Yellow River Basin has been in turmoil for a long time. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was the Yellow Turban Uprising and warlords. In the Western Jin Dynasty, there was the Eight Kings Rebellion. Wars broke out repeatedly among the Han, Xiongnu, Jie, Di, and Qiang ethnic groups.The war forced a large number of Han people who originally lived in the Yellow River Basin to continue to move southward, forming a famous population migration in Chinese history.The Taihu Lake Basin is the main area that accepts people from the south to the north.The substantial increase in population made it necessary and possible to expand water conservancy in this area to develop agriculture.Another reason is due to the attention of the rulers of the Six Dynasties.From Wu in the Three Kingdoms, through the Eastern Jin Dynasty, to the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen Dynasties in the Southern Dynasties, Jianye-Jiankang (Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province) was the capital.The capitals of the Six Dynasties are closely connected with the Taihu Lake Basin, and the Taihu Lake Basin has become an important place for Gyeonggi.It is not only the rear of the capital, but also the main source of food for the capital.Therefore, the rulers of the Six Dynasties paid special attention to the construction of farmland and water conservancy here.In this way, in the past four centuries, a large number of farmland drainage and irrigation projects have been built in the Taihu Lake Basin.

During the Three Kingdoms period, the most important farmland water conservancy projects organized by Wu State were located in Jurong County, Jiangsu Province.It was built in the second year of Wu Chiwu (AD 239) as an irrigation project for water storage and drought prevention.Later, after several expansions, it was called Jiangyan Lake in the Tang Dynasty and developed into a very famous farmland water conservancy facility in the south of the Yangtze River.Another project is Pulitang, which was started in the third year of Yong'an (AD 260). It is located more than 20 miles south of today's Lishui County.Due to the rush of construction, many soldiers and civilians died of exhaustion, and the construction was not fully completed.At about the same time, the State of Wu built a green pond on the edge of Taihu Lake between Wuxing and Changxing, with a length of tens of miles, to isolate the water potential of Taihu Lake and defend the farmland along the embankment.In addition, the state of Wu also dug a waterway called Pogangdu between Jurong and Yunyang (now Danyang, Jiangsu). Although this is a channel for transporting grain, it is also beneficial for irrigation.Since the state of Wu built many water conservancy projects here, it has formed a scene of "fields and ponds covering thousands of miles".

During the Jin Dynasty, the construction of water conservancy continued here.In the first year of Guangxi (306 A.D.), Chen Min stored water from a stream in the west of Qu'a (now Danyang, Jiangsu Province) to form a lake with a circumference of 120 li. It was called Lianhu or Liantang in history.Lianhu Lake was originally a water conservancy facility mainly for irrigation. In the late Tang Dynasty, due to the slightly higher terrain in the west of the Jiangnan River and insufficient water, it needed to be replenished constantly. Put one inch, the river will grow one foot".After opening Lianhu Lake, in the fourth year of Daxing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (321 A.D.), Zhang Kai [kai Kai] built a new Fengtang in Qu'a. Irrigate 800 hectares of farmland.Danyang belongs to the hilly area in the west of the Taihu Lake Basin, and the terrain is slightly higher. Therefore, the Jin Dynasty repeatedly built water storage projects here to irrigate the fields.The Eastern Jin Dynasty also built Ditang (also known as Digang) in the territory of Wuxing, Zhejiang today.

During the Southern Dynasties, two large-scale water conservancy facilities were built in Wuxing and Changxing.One is called Wuxingtang, which was presided over by Shen Youzhi, the prefect of Wuxing in the Liu Song Dynasty. It can irrigate more than 2,000 hectares of land.The other is called West Lake, which is 15 miles away from Changxing City in the northeast, and has a larger irrigated area of ​​about 3,000 hectares.Another important water conservancy facility in the Southern Dynasties was the construction of drainage works.Because there is a lot of water in the depressions in the lower reaches of Taihu Lake, the threat of floods is very serious. Therefore, it has attracted the attention of Yao Qiao, a native of Wuxing.After more than 20 years of investigation and research, he drew up a plan for drainage from Zhu (Zhuzhu) Creek to the southeast into Hangzhou Bay.This plan was put into practice in the Liu Song Dynasty, but it was not completed due to the large amount of work.Decades later, in the second year of Liang Datong (530 A.D.), the construction continued and achieved obvious results, so that "Wu Xing is in one place, and there is no recovery from flooding."This is the earliest and largest project built in the Taihu Lake Basin with drainage as the main purpose.

According to the "New Book of Tang Geographical Records", there are "three hundred ancient jings" in the territory of Haiyan, Zhejiang today.Of course, many of these "ancient Jings" in the minds of Tang people were built during the Six Dynasties.Changshu County, Jiangsu Province was originally named Haiyu, and it was changed to Changshu in the sixth year of Xiaoliang Datong (AD 540) in the Southern Dynasty.The reason for the name change is related to the construction of farmland water conservancy.The "Changzhao Hezhi Manuscript" compiled by the Qing people explained that because here "there are twenty-four Pudong tides in the high township near the river, which are used for irrigation, and there is no worry about drought; If it is not a trouble, it is Changshu because of it, and the county is named Yan."It can be seen that in the northeast of Taihu Lake, there were already good water conservancy facilities in the Southern Dynasties.

In the Taihu Lake Basin, there were many lakes, ponds, Jing, Pu and other water conservancy projects built during the Six Dynasties, which can be used for irrigation and drainage, the water conservancy conditions have been greatly improved, and agricultural production has greatly developed.Therefore, at that time, it not only took off the hat of "Xia Xia Tian", but also comparable to Guanzhong, which is "rich in the whole country".

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