Lilingyan () was an ancient

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

system built in 250 AD during the

Three Kingdoms period The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Western Jin dynasty. Academically, the ...

to irrigate the Beijing Plain around Jicheng (modern-day

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

). The irrigation system consisted of Lilingyan, a dam across the Shishui (

Yongding River The Yongding River () is a river in northern China. It is one of the main tributaries in the Hai River system and is the largest river to flow through Beijing. In recent years, the Beijing segment of the river has dried up due to environmental ...

) at the foot of Liangshan ( Shijingshan), and the Chexiangqu, a diversion channel that carried the water west into the Beijing Plain. The diversion channel fed water to the fields north, east and southeast of Jicheng and emptied into the Gaoliang River, which flowed back into the Yongding River. The irrigation system was an important development in Beijing's early history and helped increase food production and population in and around the city. Lilingyan was named after ''Liling'', the tomb of Liu Dan, Prince of Yan, who was buried in Liangshan after his death in 80 BC.(Chinese
"永定河与戾陵堰"
2011-06-29

History

Lilingyan was built in 250 AD by Liu Jing, a military commander of

Youzhou You Prefecture or You Province, also known by its Chinese name Youzhou, was a prefecture ('' zhou'') in northern China during its imperial era. "You Province" was cited in some ancient sources as one of the nine or twelve original provinces o ...

, a prefecture in north China based in Jicheng. Liu Jing was the son of Liu Fu, who had built irrigation systems along the

Huai River The Huai River, formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in East China, about long with a drainage area of . It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...

. As the commander of the local garrison, Liu Jing had to purchase grain from afar due to limited food production locally.(Chines
戾陵堰
Accessed 2013-01-06 To improve local agricultural output, Liu Jing diverted the waters of the Yongding River, which flowed south of Jicheng to irrigate the plains to the north of the Yongding River. He deployed soldiers to dam the Yongding in the hills west of Ji and channeled the water eastward along the Chexiangqu into the Beijing Plain. The dam was 2.4 meters high and piled from woven baskets of stone. To withstand the flash flood of theYongding as the river flows out of the

Western Hills The Western Hills () are the hills and mountains in the western part of Beijing. Geography Being an extension of the Taihang mountain range from the Hebei Province, the Western Hills cover approximately 17% of the Beijing municipality, incl ...

, the dam was 72 meters thick and gently sloped so that flood water can flow over the dam. The Chexiangqu made use of the old river bed of the Yongding, which used to flow north of Jicheng before it changed course and flowed south of the city.(Chinese
魏晋十六国时期的幽州城, 北京城市历史地理
2005-12-30 In 262, a sluice gate was added to control the flow of water into the diversion channel. The irrigation system greatly improved agricultural output of the region and helped increase the population of Ji. In 295, Liu Jing's son, Liu Hong, repaired and expanded the irrigation system by extending the aqueduct further east to modern-day Tongzhou. During the Northern Qi dynasty, the irrigation system was repaired in 519 and further expanded in 565 by connecting channels to the Sha River further north. The system was again repaired in 650-655 during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, and later became part of subsequent irrigation systems of Beijing. Much of the land irrigated by the Lilingyan is now under urban Beijing, after the city shifted northward from Jicheng to Dadu in the 13th century.

References

{{coord missing, Beijing Irrigation projects Irrigation in China Canals in China History of Beijing History of agriculture in China

History

See also

References