Putian Mulan Weir

Putian Mulan Weir

Putian Mulan Weir is a national AAA-level tourist attraction, a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level, and a National Water Conservancy Scenic Area.

Mulan Weir is located at the foot of Mulan Mountain in Mulantou Village, about 5 kilometers south of Putian City, Fujian Province.

Mulan Weir is one of the large-scale ancient water conservancy projects in China. The weir head is a sluice-type roller dam, 219.3 meters long and 7.5 meters high, featuring 32 sluice gates and 33 weir piers. At both the north and south ends of the weir head, there are two stone embankments totaling 500 meters in length. The stream water within the weir flows through the "Huilan Bridge Sluice" and "Wanjin Steep Gate" at the north and south ends of the weir head into a network of canals totaling approximately 120 kilometers in length, irrigating the southern and northern Yangtze plains of Putian. Eventually, the water is discharged through over 300 spillways, steep gates, and culverts along the route into Xinghua Bay.

In the first year of the Zhiping era during the Northern Song Dynasty (1064), Qian Siniang from Changle came to Putian with funds and began building the weir by piling stones in front of General Rock near Zhanglin Village. Later, due to a mountain flood that destroyed the weir head structure, the project failed, and Qian Siniang, in despair, drowned herself in the river. Soon after, Lin Congshi, a fellow townsman of Qian Siniang and a successful imperial examination candidate, donated 100,000 strings of cash to build another weir at Wenquan Mouth, but it also failed due to rapid currents and poor site selection. In the eighth year of the Xining era of the Song Dynasty (1075), Li Hong from Houguan, Fujian, arrived with 70,000 strings of cash in response to an imperial call. Together with the monk Feng Zhiri, he learned from the failures of his predecessors and chose to construct the weir at Mulan Mountain, where the stream was wide, the current slow, and the riverbed rocky and stable. After eight years of arduous construction and the piling of tens of thousands of stones, Mulan Weir was finally completed.

The completion of Mulan Weir transformed the vast fertile fields of the southern and northern Yangtze plains into rich agricultural land, spurring rapid economic development in Putian. Its benefits have lasted for millennia. For nearly a thousand years since its completion, despite enduring attacks from wind, rain, floods, and tides, Mulan Weir has remained steadfast and continues to play a vital role in the local economy.

To commemorate the pioneers who built the weir—Qian Siniang, Lin Congshi, Li Hong, Feng Zhiri, and others—later generations constructed the "Xieying Temple" on the southern bank of Mulan Weir, which is now the Mulan Weir Memorial Hall. The hall houses statues of the four pioneers and preserves numerous stone tablets inscribed by famous individuals since the Ming Dynasty. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Mulan Inverted Siphon was newly built, bringing in water from the Dongzhen Reservoir, thereby expanding the irrigated area from 150,000 mu to 250,000 mu. The area around Mulan Weir boasts beautiful scenery. During spring tides when the stream overflows the weir into the sea, the view is spectacular, earning it the name "Mulan Spring Tide." (National Cultural Heritage Administration)

Mulan Village: Mulan Village...... More details about Mulan Village++

Further Reading:

· World Heritage Irrigation Structure

· Third Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level