Ancient Stone Dam

Ancient Stone Dam

The Ancient Stone Dam is a hydraulic engineering structure from the Ming Dynasty located in Yangfan area of Zhongbu Town, Leping City. It sits on a small stream northwest of Xiaodian Village, Hengqiao, Caoxi Town, Yiyang County, at the northeastern foot of Shier Mountain, about two kilometers from the border between Leping and Yiyang. To this day, it remains well-preserved.

The Ancient Stone Dam is a roller-compacted river-blocking dam, a small-scale water storage and irrigation facility, consisting of a main dam and auxiliary dams. The main dam lies between the eastern and western auxiliary slopes, approximately 95 meters long, nearly 8 meters wide at the top, about 30 meters wide at the base, and 4 meters high. The inner and outer slopes have gradients of 1:2.5 and 1:5, respectively. Both the crest and the slopes are built with limestone blocks, while the interior is filled with sand and gravel. Some sections have been repaired with cement. The stacked stones vary in shape and size, with heavier ones weighing four to five hundred jin (approximately 200–250 kg) and lighter ones around one to two hundred jin (approximately 50–100 kg). Wooden stakes were driven into the gaps between the stones to secure them. These stakes are generally about 10 meters long and around 10 centimeters in diameter. The eastern and western auxiliary dams (locally called “bǎi”) are made of earthen materials, with stone masonry on the surface for slope protection. The eastern auxiliary dam is arc-shaped, connecting to Xiaodian Village, and is about 100 meters long. The western auxiliary dam is near the Ancient Stone Dam Management Station and is approximately 20 meters long. Both auxiliary dams are about one meter higher than the main dam.

The small stream that feeds the dam has abundant water resources, with a drainage area of 142 square kilometers. One kilometer southwest of the dam, at the southeastern foot of Wulei Mountain, lies Qianyan Cave, which contains a spring. The area features well-developed limestone fissures and abundant groundwater. It is estimated that even during dry seasons, the average flow rate of this spring is no less than 0.5 cubic meters per second, making it the primary water source for the dam during droughts. As a result, even in dry years or when the upstream flow is cut off, the stream continues to flow steadily due to this “constant source of fresh water.”

Originally known as Gǔ É Shè Bēi, also called Gǔ Shí Bēi, the Ancient Stone Dam was historically referred to as a “purple dam” before the tenth year of the Chenghua era in the Ming Dynasty (1474), as recorded in the “Fufeng Ma Clan Genealogy.” At that time, “mountain timber and driftwood had been exhausted with no further supply available,” so “stonework was initiated to construct the dam.” In the first year of the Guangxu era (1875), the dam was destroyed by a mountain flood and subsequently rebuilt.

The Ancient Stone Dam is the ancestral property of the Ma (Yangfan), Liu (Tangbei), and Hu (Datian'gang) families in the southeastern part of Leping. It is not only a crystallization of the wisdom of ancient laborers but also the lifeline of farmers in the Yangfan area. Since ancient times, local communities have placed great emphasis on the maintenance and irrigation management of this project. During the Ming Dynasty, three dam chiefs and eleven dam lieutenants were appointed, and a building was constructed at the western end of the western auxiliary dam for management purposes. Today, six permanent staff members oversee the Ancient Stone Dam, ensuring that this ancient hydraulic structure remains in excellent condition. The irrigation canal system has been continuously improved, water distribution is rationally managed, and the irrigated area has significantly expanded—from an initial 1,500 mu (approximately 100 hectares) to 5,000 mu (approximately 333 hectares). Nowadays, farmland in villages such as Yangfan, Datian'gang, Xima, and Nijia in Zhongbu Town benefits extensively from the dam, as do nearby villages in Yiyang County, such as Shaojiapu. Over the past five hundred years, the Ancient Stone Dam has played a vital role in the agricultural development of the border region between Leping and Yiyang.