Sunshu Ao (孫叔敖, c. 630 – c. 593 BCE) was a Chinese hydraulic engineer and politician. He was a court minister serving the administration of

King Zhuang of Chu King Zhuang of Chu (, reigned 613-591 BC) was a monarch of the Zhou dynasty State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period in ancient China. His personal name was Xiong Lü (), his ancestral name was Mi (), and his posthumous title was King Zhua ...

during the

Eastern Zhou Dynasty The Eastern Zhou (; zh, c=, p=Dōngzhōu, w=Tung1-chou1, t= ; 771–256 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the second half of the Zhou dynasty. It was divided into two periods: the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States. History In 770 ...

. During his governmental career, Sunshu Ao was given notice by King Zhuang, who had him promoted to the rank of Prime Minister in the State of Chu. Sunshu Ao was entrusted with many endeavors of the state, and because of a large

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

, reservoir, and irrigation project he had established, he is also credited as the first known hydraulic engineer of China.

Dams, reservoirs, and irrigation

Both the ancient historian Sima Qian (in his ''

Shiji ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'') and the author of the ''Huai Nan Zi'' wrote of Sunshu Ao and his works. Their records state that Duke Zhuang had given Sunshu Ao the responsibility and oversight of the construction of a large river dam that would create an enormous planned reservoir for means of agricultural irrigation. The erection of this dam flooded a flat valley in modern-day northern

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

province (south of Shouxian City), the reservoir created spanning a circumference of . Since Shunshu's time, this ancient reservoir accumulated tons of north-flowing water that came from the mountains north of the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

River, and supplied an irrigated area of some six million acres (24000 km²). In ancient times, the Chinese had called this reservoir the ''Si-Si Bei'', as well as the ''Shao Bei'' ( Peony Dam). Today, the large reservoir created thousands of years ago by Sunshu Ao still exists, known in modern times as the

Anfeng Tang Anfeng may refer to: ;Towns * Anfeng, Dongtai (安丰镇), a town in Dongtai, Jiangsu Province * Anfeng, Shou County (安丰镇), a List of township-level divisions of Anhui#Shou County, town in Shou County, Anhui Province ;Townships * Anfeng, Anx ...

(Anfeng Reservoir). Subsequent Chinese authorities following the Zhou Dynasty, such as the Chinese states of the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

(202 BCE – 220 CE) era and the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

(618–960 CE) era, repaired and maintained the dam that flooded the reservoir created by Sunshu Ao.

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Large Dams in China – with a description of Sunshu Ao's dam
7th-century BC Chinese people 6th-century BC Chinese people 630s BC births 590s BC deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Chinese chancellors Chinese hydrologists Chu state people Engineers from Henan Hydraulic engineers Lingyin of Chu Politicians from Xinyang Zhou dynasty politicians {{China-politician-stub

Dams, reservoirs, and irrigation

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