Dujiangyan is a water-management system associated with the Minjiang River and the Chengdu plains. It forms a UNESCO World Heritage property together with Mount Qingcheng.
How old is the system?#
UNESCO places the beginning of construction in the third century BCE. Its synthesis gives an approximate original date around 256 BCE and records later modification during the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. The surviving system should therefore not be described as completely unchanged since its foundation.
What does it do?#
The system combines irrigation, sediment drainage, flood control and flow management. UNESCO explains these functions in relation to the terrain and river conditions, rather than describing a single conventional dam.
What should be kept separate?#
The irrigation works and Mount Qingcheng are different parts of the same heritage property. Hydraulic history and the mountain's religious history answer different questions.
Source#
UNESCO: Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, description and Brief synthesis