Haining Seawall

Haining Seawall

The Haining Seawall is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Zhejiang Province.

The Haining Seawall is located in Haining City and dates back to the Qing Dynasty.

Among the existing seawalls along the Qiantang River, the Haining Seawall has the most complete heritage elements of its deep-defense system and the longest preserved section, making it a model of ancient seawalls still in continuous use today.

The earliest written record of the Haining Seawall’s construction dates back to the Tang Dynasty (713 AD), over 1,300 years ago. Interestingly, from the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Ming Dynasty, the term "seawall" went through various names: before the Northern and Southern Dynasties, it was called fanghai datang (Flood-Defense Great Dike); before the Song Dynasty, it was known as hǎnhǎitáng (Sea-Guarding Dike); during the Song Dynasty, it was called hǎiyàntáng (Peaceful Sea Dike); in the Yuan Dynasty, it was termed tàipíngtáng (Peaceful Dike); during the Ming Dynasty, it was referred to as zhànghǎitáng (Barrier Sea Dike); and it was not until the Qing Dynasty that it became known as hǎitáng (Seawall).

The Qiantang River Seawall is often referred to as the “Great Wall of the Sea.” The current Haining Seawall stretches from Wengjiabu in the west to Gaoyang Mountain in the east, with a total length of approximately 53,600 meters, accounting for 33.5% of the total length of the northern bank seawalls. The section of the seawall included in this World Heritage nomination is the frontline riverside seawall, extending from the Old Yancang Dam in the west to the Tashan Dam in the east, with a total length of about 32,558 meters, making up about 49.0% of all existing frontline seawalls along the Qiantang River.

It is worth mentioning that the existing frontline seawall includes various structural types such as Qing Dynasty fish-scale stonewalls and modern concrete seawalls, among which the fish-scale stonewalls account for 81.1%. The fish-scale stone seawall is a remarkable human achievement in resisting natural disasters and represents the pinnacle of ancient Chinese seawall engineering technology.

On January 13, 2017, the People's Government of Zhejiang Province listed it as part of the seventh batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units.

Further reading:

· Seventh Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units