Building sea dikes (1)

Standing at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Huanghai Sea, Nantong has long suffered from floods.

As a result, local governments have made water conservancy a top priority.

The first dike, "Rengong Dike" was built by Ren Jianzhong, the deputy governor of Tongzhou, during the Baoyuan period (1038-1039) of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

The most important water conservancy project for Rugao, Hailing, and Tongzhou is the Jiangbei Hanhai Dam (Zhongyan Dike).

As the Hanhai Pond (Changfeng Dam) built during the reign of Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) was in disrepair, tidal flooding was frequent and many people and animals drowned along the coast.

In the first year of Tiansheng of the Northern Song Dynasty (1023), Fan Zhongyan was appointed as a salt officer of Xixi, Taizhou.

He submitted a proposal to Zhang Lun, a shipping deputy of Jianghuai, to repair the dam and received approval from the central government. In the following year, Fan was instructed to build a dam.

It took five years to complete the project, which was called "the Fan Zhongyan" by locals.

Building sea dikes (2)

During the Qingli period of the Song Dynasty (1041-l048), Di Zunli, governor of Tongzhou, built the "Di Dike", which spanned from Shigang through Xiting and Jinsha to Yuxi.

After that, Shen Xingzong (Shen Qi), the governor of Haimen during the Zhihe period of the Song Dynasty (1054-1055), built a sea dike from Yuxi to Lusi, which was called "the Shengong Dike."

This dike was built east of the Di Dike about 10 years after the latter.

The dikes along the coastline saved locals' coastal agricultural fields from sea flooding, and areas full of alkali halides were gradually transformed into fertile fields.

Building sea dikes (3)

A total of 56 dike construction projects were recorded during the 842 years between the first year of the Qingli period in the Song Dynasty (1041) to the ninth year of Emperor Guangxu's reign (1883).

In the ninth year of the Yongle period in the Ming Dynasty (1411), "the sea tides overflowed and the dike collapsed, and the sea flooded hundreds of Chinese miles from Haimen to Yancheng."

In October of the following year, Chen Xuan, the chief military officer, arranged for 400,000 soldiers to build a sea dike with a length of more than 18,000 Chinese zhang (60,000 meters).

In the 43rd year of the Wanli period (1615), Xie Zhengmeng, the imperial salt oversight officer, expanded the Fan Zhongyan Dike to more than 800 Chinese miles, 5.3 times longer than the original dike in the Song Dynasty.

This marked the basic completion of ancient dike patterns.

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the government again strengthened the construction of dikes and water gates.

The ancient sea dikes were to protect coastal residents from sea tides over the past 1,000 years.

They are now collectively known as the Fan Zhongyan Dike in honor of ancient intellectuals and sages.

Editor-in-chief: Yu Lei

Editor: Wang Yun

Photo by Gu Yao

Translated by Wang Haifei from the Shanghai Waiyuan Translation Agency