Sunshu Ao
Sunshu Ao | |||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 孙叔敖 | ||||||
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Sunshu Ao (
Dams, reservoirs, and irrigation
[edit]Both the ancient historian Sima Qian (in his Shiji) 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.[2] The erection of this dam flooded a flat valley in modern-day northern Anhui province (south of Shouxian City), the reservoir created spanning a circumference of 62 miles (100 km).[2] Since Shunshu's time, this ancient reservoir accumulated tons of north-flowing water that came from the mountains north of the Yangtze River, and supplied an irrigated area of some six million acres (24000 km2).[2] 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 Reservoir).[2]
Subsequent Chinese authorities following the Zhou dynasty, such as the Chinese states of the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) era and the Tang dynasty (618–960 CE) era, repaired and maintained the dam that flooded the reservoir created by Sunshu Ao.[2]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ "
辭典 檢視 「孫 叔敖 : ㄙㄨㄣ ㄕㄨˊ ㄠˊ」" (in Chinese). Retrieved November 3, 2021. - ^ a b c d e Needham 1986, p. 271
References
[edit]- Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
External links
[edit]- Large Dams in China – with a description of Sunshu Ao's dam Archived 2007-03-22 at the Wayback Machine