Site of the Fan Gong Dyke

Site of the Fan Gong Dyke

The Site of the Fan Gong Dyke is a cultural tourism attraction.

A famous cultural relic and scenic spot in Jiangsu, located in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province. In the first year of the Tian Sheng era (1023) during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, when Fan Zhongyan was supervising the salt warehouse at Xixi (now part of Dongtai), he mobilized over 40,000 laborers from Tongzhou, Taizhou, Chuzhou, and Haizhou to construct a seawall to block tidal surges. The dyke was completed in the sixth year of Tian Sheng (1028). The dyke was 181 li long, with a base width of 3 zhang, a top width of 1 zhang, and a height of 1 zhang 5 chi. During the Southern Song Dynasty, the defending dikes of Tongzhou, Taizhou, and Chuzhou were constructed; in the Yuan Dynasty, the construction continued, starting from Lusi Port in Tongzhou and extending to Miaowan Salt Field, totaling over 700 li, with nearly 40 li within Funing County. Out of gratitude to Fan Zhongyan, later generations named it the “Fan Gong Dyke.” The site now preserves temples and stone statues commemorating Fan Zhongyan, making it a renowned cultural relic in Jiangsu.

The areas around Hai’an, Rudong, Dongtai, and Dafeng border the Yellow Sea to the east. After these lands emerged from the sea, the coastline gradually shifted eastward. To make a living, people developed farmland and salt fields, but whenever tidal surges occurred, houses along the coast were swept away, salt fields were destroyed, and families perished—scenes too tragic to behold.

In the first year of the Dali era (766) during the Tang Dynasty, Li Chengshi, the Censorate Official and Inspector of Huainan Circuit, built a seawall to protect against tides, stretching from Gaowan in Chuzhou to Haizhou County in Yangzhou, covering a length of 142 kilometers, and named it the Changfeng Dyke. During the Kaibao era (968–976) of the Song Dynasty, Wang Wenyou, the Prefect of Taizhou, reinforced the seawall, but it gradually collapsed over time due to age.

During the Tianxi era (1017–1021) of the Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan, just past thirty, was transferred to serve as the Supervisor of the Salt Warehouse at Xixi (now Dongtai) in Taizhou. In the Tian Sheng era, filled with the “desire to benefit the realm,” Fan Zhongyan, together with Zhang Lun, the Prefect of Taizhou, proposed urgently repairing the seawall to save the people from disaster. Some criticized Fan Zhongyan for overstepping his authority, to which he replied: “I am the salt supervisor. If the people flee famine, how can I collect salt? Building a dyke to block the tides is precisely my duty!” Others opposed the project, arguing that after building the dyke, drainage would be difficult and waterlogging would easily occur. Unexpectedly, Zhang Lun, well-versed in hydraulic engineering, stated: “The threat of tides is nine-tenths, while waterlogging is only one-tenth. Building a dyke to block the tides brings more benefits than harm.” Thus, they adopted Fan Zhongyan’s suggestion, petitioned the imperial court for approval, and appointed Fan Zhongyan to oversee the construction of the Taizhou Seawall.

In the second year of the Tian Sheng era (1024) of the Northern Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan mobilized over 40,000 soldiers and laborers to build the seawall. It was the height of winter, with continuous snow and rain, and the tides were fierce, surging toward the shore. The workers, panicked and scattered, fled and over two hundred drowned in the mud. Some took the opportunity to accuse the court, opposing the dyke construction, so the court decided to temporarily halt the project and sent Hu Lingyi, the Transport Commissioner of Huainan, to investigate the situation in Taizhou. Hu Lingyi, a native of Kaifeng in Henan, had served as the Magistrate of Rugao County during the Chunhua and Zhi Dao eras (990–997) of the Northern Song Dynasty and was well aware that the ancient seawall had long been neglected, leaving farmland, salt fields, and people’s lives and property unprotected. After inspecting the site, Hu Lingyi and Zhang Lun jointly petitioned the court, which approved the resumption of construction.

In the fourth year of the Tian Sheng era (1026), Fan Zhongyan’s mother, Lady Xie, passed away, and Fan Zhongyan left his post to observe mourning in his hometown. During this time, he repeatedly wrote to Zhang Lun, urging him to complete the seawall no matter what, and offered to take full responsibility if the court held anyone accountable.

In the fifth year of the Tian Sheng era (1027), Zhang Lun took charge of the seawall project. Construction began that autumn and was completed the following spring, taking a total of four years to finish the seawall. The dyke was 25,696.6 zhang long (approximately 71 kilometers), with a base width of 3 zhang (approximately 10 meters), a height of 1 zhang 5 chi (approximately 5 meters), and a top width of 1 zhang (approximately 3.3 meters). After completion, the benefits were significant: “Floodwaters could not damage the salt industry, and tidal surges could not harm the crops.” Over two thousand households that had fled returned home, and the people were able to live in peace, benefiting both agriculture and salt production. Although a shrine was erected for Zhang Lun, who oversaw the completion of the project, later generations never forgot the initiator and key facilitator, Fan Zhongyan. From the Ming Dynasty onward, the seawall from Funing to Lusi came to be collectively known as the Fan Gong Dyke.

In ancient times, those who climbed the Fan Gong Dyke and looked east would see over seventy smoke mounds (beacon mounds) lined up in the distance. In case of mutiny or bandit alerts, fires were lit on the mounds as alarms; there were also 103 tide mounds (life-saving mounds) where shellfish gatherers would climb to escape the rising tides. The smoke mounds and tide mounds were scattered like stars, shrouded in sea mist, presenting a vast and solemn view. The Qing poet Gao Cen wrote the poem “Mist and Rain over the Fan Dyke”:

Strolling leisurely, I pick the green with ease,

The willow eyes gaze through mist at dawn’s first light,

Peach cheeks smile in rain beneath the spring breeze.

Surrounded by blue waters in hazy sight,

Ten miles of green fields lie in distant haze.