The Dujiang Weir is located at the starting point of the middle reaches of the Minjiang River, west of Guanxian County, 59 kilometers west of Chengdu City. The Dujiang Weir is a great water conservancy project in ancient China, constructed by the Shu Prefecture leader Li Bing in the Warring States Period (475-221BC) during the reign of King Zhaowang of the Qin State. Historical records show that the MinJiang River often ran wild. Based on experience of his predecessors, Li Bing drafted the principle for water control as guiding water to irrigate lands and distracting the flood to relieve disasters. He organized people to divide the original river into two in Chengdu and irrigated the vast fields. As a result, the project not only effectively curbed the flood, but also irrigated thousands of hectares of farmland in the Chengdu Plain, considerably boosting the local economic development.
The project of the Dujiang Weir mainly includes three dams: Yuzui, Feisha Weir and Baopingkou. Yuzui is a watershed built in the middle of the river to divide the surging Minjiang River into two parts: the inner river and outer river. Feisha Weir plays a role in discharging floodwater, removing sand and modulating water quality. Baopingkou is the entrance of the inner river canal. It is narrow so that the amount of water inflow is controlled. The Liyulei Hill that had been separated from Yulei Mountain is called Lidui.
The Dujiang Weir divides the Minjiang River into two parts, guiding part of water to Jintang in the east, so that the southern plain can avoid floods, and the northern can keep away from drought. The weir helps well irrigate the Chengdu Plain and makes waterway transportation more convenient. After the founding of new China, the Dujiang Weir underwent some renovations and maintenance, enlarging the irrigated area around the weir to more than 8 million mu (15 mu = 1 hectare.).
At the foot of Yulei Mountain stands the Erwang Temple, a memorial temple for Li Bing and his son, on the east bank of the Minjiang River and opposite to the Dujiang Weir, The temple was originally built in the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386 — 581) and has been rebuilt several times. At present, most of the buildings were rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty (1644 — 1911). In the temple stand many buildings and houses with green tiles and red eaves. They are beautiful and delicate. In front of the temple there is a map of irrigated area near the Dujiang Weir, which was drawn at the end of the Qing Dynasty. There are also steles, couplets, and monuments praising Li Bing and his son. In the middle there is a stone inscription of Li Bing’s knack of water control. At the rear part of the temple there is Li Bing Hall and Erlang Hall, in which stand the sculptures of Li Bing and his son molded in 1974. There are also valuable cultural relics such as iron vase, iron candlestick, etc. Some pictures of stone inscription by Xu Beihong and Zhang Daqian are also displayed there.
To the north of Lidui, there is a memorial building named Fulong Guan (Conquering Dragon Taoist Temple). It was said that Li Bing and his son brought an evil dragon under control when they fought against floods, and locked it in the Conquering Dragon Pond just under Lidui. People then built a temple to offer sacrifices. The temple was named “Fulong Guan” in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty (960 — 1127). The extant halls were rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty (1644 — 1911). The halls rise from the front to the back. The highest one is the Guanlan Pavilion. The stone sculpture of Li Bing in the grand hall was built in the first year (168) of the Jianning reign in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 –220). It is 2.9 meters high and weighs 4.5 tons with inscription and the date of production on the chest. It is a valuable cultural relic about the Dujiang Weir.
The Anlan Bridge, also known as the Rope Bridge, lies over the Minjiang River in front of the Erwang Temple. In ancient times, bamboos were used as hawser, and wooden stakes as piers to support bamboo hawsers, which were connected to form a rope bridge with wooden boards spreading on it and handrail ropes on both sides. This 500-meter-long bridge was established before the Song Dynasty (960 — 1279) and was ruined by war at the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368 — 1644). It was rebuilt in the Jiaqing reign during the Qing Dynasty. It is said that it was a private school teacher named He Xiande and his wife that first proposed building the bridge. Afterwards, the plan was abandoned because the fund for building the bridge was grafted by the local governors. He Xiande was killed when he disclosed the evil deed of the governors. The publics were enraged and they chose his wife to manage the construction of the bridge. Upon completion, the bridge was named as the Husband and Wife Bridge to commemorate the couple. A Sichuan opera named Wife and Husband Bridge was composed according to this story.
In the year of 1974, some other relics were discovered in the river, such as the sculpture of Li Bing carved in the Han Dynasty (206 BC — 220AD).
(Source: chinaculture.org)
