Hongze Lake Dike

Hongze Lake Dike

The Hongze Lake Dike is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Hongze Lake Dike stretches 67 kilometers from Matou Town in Huaiyin District in the north to Jiangba Town in Hongze County in the south, entirely constructed by hand with stone materials. The dike was first built during the Jian’an period of the Eastern Han Dynasty and was not completed until the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty. The planning of the Hongze Lake Dike as a reservoir-forming embankment and its upright strip-style wave-prevention wall dam engineering technology represented the highest level in the world at that time. The Hongze Lake Dike was first built over 1,800 years ago and is known as the “Great Wall on Water.” Historical records indicate that in the fifth year of the Jian’an era of the Eastern Han Dynasty (around 200 AD), Chen Deng, the Prefect of Guangling, built a 30-li-long Gaojia Dyke to prevent the Huai River from flooding eastward — this was the prototype of the Hongze Lake Dike. During the Southern Song Dynasty, warfare caused the Yellow River to change course into the Huai, and it wasn’t until the seventh year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty (1579) that Pan Jixun, the River Conservancy Commissioner, implemented the “store clear water to flush yellow silt” policy. This involved raising and extending the Gaojia Dyke 60 li southward, forming what is now known as the Hongze Lake Dike. Starting in 1580 (the eighth year of the Wanli reign), upright strip stone walls were added to the Hongze Lake Dike. Over the 171 years of the Ming and Qing dynasties, more than 60,000 large stone slabs, totaling over 600,000 cubic meters, were used. These stones were uniform in size and meticulously laid, fully demonstrating the exceptional hydraulic engineering skills of ancient China.

Jiangsu, Huai’an

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units